People bring their own maids to the training camp

58. Karuizawa Megumi

"The secrecy you mentioned before, was it Karuizawa Megumi?"

Chihaya glanced at Hayasaka with a subtle expression after seeing the message Kushida sent her.

He couldn't see anything worthwhile about Karuizawa Megumi. Her grades were below average, her athletic ability was below average, and she had poor self-control. Apart from her pretty face, she had no other distinguishing features.

Not even half as useful as Kushida, what good would it do to lend her 100,000 yen and make her grateful? Chihaya didn't quite understand.

"Yes, Chihaya-sama, you must think Karuizawa is completely useless, right?"

"Isn't that right? If you tell me she's hiding her true strength because she's a fool who spends 100,000 points in a month, I won't accept it!" Hiding strength? But being a spendthrift? What kind of strength is she hiding? Her spending power is obvious, though.

"Actually, I learned about a piece of information that she had been hiding by chance."

"What? This person from Karuizawa owns a villa in Karuizawa?"

"She probably doesn't have any, but you do, and more than one set."

"...This kind of thing doesn't need to be reported to me!"

Because he didn't have many friends, he never went to Chihaya's villas and spent most of his time staying at his family home.

“Then you can take Karuizawa to your villa in Karuizawa for vacations in the future,” Hayasaka suggested earnestly.

"So why did I take Karuizawa on vacation? Do I even have the slightest connection with her?"

"It's coming soon."

"Are you serious? Karuizawa can act as my spy in Class D to monitor Kikyo? I bet she could do it even if I gave her ten lives." Chihaya waved her hand. "The girls in Class D are strange. Apart from Kikyo, those with brains have no influence, and those with influence have no brains."

The one with brains refers to Horikita Suzune, who gets excellent exam results, while the ones without brains are Karuizawa and Shinoen.

"You're not referring to Horikita Suzune when you say someone has a brain, are you?"

“Yes, although this person is good at offending people, her abilities are definitely unquestionable,” Chihaya commented. “If she is the student council president’s sister, then as someone who followed in her brother’s footsteps to this school, she must be dissatisfied with being assigned to Class D, so she will take action next.”

“I understand, you have a higher opinion of Horikita Suzune, right?” Hayasaka instantly understood Chihaya’s intention in suddenly mentioning Horikita Suzune. “But don’t you think that girl is too straightforward?”

"Yes, so some guidance is still needed—you should know about Ai, right? Kikyo's previous actions."

"You mean, her feelings for Horikita Suzune?"

"Horikita Suzune also graduated from that school. Given the current situation, even if the school's order collapses, she probably won't care. After all, she never associated with those people, so she might not even notice that the atmosphere in her class has become strange."

“That possibility certainly exists,” Hayasaka nodded.

"Don't you think someone who has no dark history or any dirt on them that others can use against them is very strong?"

"Your perspective is really strange; isn't this just being overly blunt?"

"In short, I think highly of her, and since her brother is the student council president, she will definitely try to join the student council."

"I heard that all the first-year students who applied to join the student council failed, including people like Ichinose and Katsuragi."

On the surface, Ichinose and Katsuragi are definitely among the most outstanding students. If there are requirements for the class, then Katsuragi shouldn't have been rejected.

The student council is so strange that Chihaya still hasn't figured it out.

The main reason was that he didn't have a good impression of the student council president and vice president, so he was somewhat reluctant to have contact with them.

"Nan Yunya seems like a scoundrel, either a scumbag or a playboy; Horikita Manabu, on the other hand, is too shrewd. He doesn't seem like someone you can treat with a normal attitude. You have to be on your guard every second you're with him, because he might throw a punch at you the next second."

"So, in your eyes, Horikita Manabu is really that terrifying?"

“Oh, no, I’ve observed him. He’s at most a mid-level disciple at the dojo. I guess it’s because he can’t manage both.” Chihaya said dismissively. “I’m just describing my impression, but Nagumo is definitely a pervert, no doubt about it. He’s a sleazy guy with blond hair. He looks like he deserves a beating.”

"Got it. I'll beat him up if he's alone tomorrow," Hayasaka immediately said. "Since he likes picking up girls, he'll definitely be alone sometime, and then I can..."

“There’s no need. We won’t get anything out of beating him up, understand?” Chihaya stopped Hayasaka. “Our current goal is to plant a mole in Class D and then get the information we need from Sakayanagi in Class A.”

"Let's put aside the matter of Class D for now. How do you plan to get the information we need from Sakayanagi? Aren't you going to keep it hidden?"

“Yes, so help me change. Lend me the boys’ school uniform you got last time,” Chihaya said.

"Are you sure? Your features are too obvious, and you'd be very conspicuous even in men's clothing. It might give you away," Hayasaka cautioned. "Perhaps using anonymous emails..."

“Sakayanagi is not that simple. I suspect she has studied psychology, so a face-to-face meeting would definitely put her at ease.”

"You've really thought this through," Hayasaka remarked. "You wouldn't have been eyeing that girl all along, would you?"

"The chairman's daughter, and the leader of Class A, do you think she'd be an idiot? If I approach her as a man, she won't suspect me. As for distinguishing features, don't you have a wig? Get your hair cut and give it to me."

“Yes, I understand,” Hayasaka said helplessly. “Then please allow me to practice on your face, otherwise the other party might analyze your facial features.”

"Yes, we should also prepare some height-increasing shoes, and broaden our shoulders as well," Chihaya continued. "There's no need to rush, let's prepare slowly."

"Understood." Hayasaka nodded. "What about Karuizawa? Kikyo has already agreed. Would you like to meet her first, and I'll tell you the little secret I discovered when I get back?"

“Okay, it’s just borrowing points or something, I’ll lend her 10,000 points, there’s no harm in it anyway.” Chihaya didn’t refuse, “It’s not entirely useless.”

“At least she’s good-looking, isn’t she? If she can’t pay back the money, then—” Hayasaka pointed to the bed, “Perfect.”

"..."

59. Palette

Chihaya's consistent principle is that she will never give up halfway. If she decides to do something, she will definitely do it, and if she doesn't want to do something, she will definitely not do it.

As for dealing with Karuizawa Megumi, he listened to Hayasaka's advice, since the latter would certainly not harm him.

Furthermore, Kushida had already spoken with Karuizawa, and refusing at this point would inevitably seem rather unreasonable.

Therefore, Chihaya met Karuizawa with a mindset similar to "spending a fortune to buy a horse's bones," which ultimately wouldn't do any harm.

However, despite being called "a thousand gold coins," Chihaya only planned to lend Karuizawa 10000 points; anything more would be a waste.

The final arrangement was that Kushida and Karuizawa would meet Chihaya at Palette, as the latter would be a little late due to club activities.

Chihaya's club today is the cooking club, and he plans to use the club's ingredients to make some small desserts and then bring them to the Palette party—if he's going to do it, he might as well do it properly and go all out to build goodwill, not just do a perfunctory job.

......

On the other side, Karuizawa followed Kushida to the Palette after class to wait.

Kushida generously ordered two coffees, knowing that Karuizawa was short of money and probably only had a few thousand dollars left.

“Let’s wait a bit. Chihaya is in the cooking club today, so she’ll be here soon,” Kushida explained to Karuizawa. “She might even bring her cooking club creations! Karuizawa probably doesn’t know, but Chihaya is incredibly good at cooking! Her dishes are so delicious you’d want to swallow your tongue.”

Kushida wasn't lying. She had indeed had the privilege of eating dinner prepared by Chihaya once, but only once—Chihaya usually called her over after 8 or 9 pm, long past dinner time.

Furthermore, Hayasaka is in charge of cooking 80% of the time, while Chihaya is in charge of taking orders. Occasionally, Chihaya will cook when she feels like it on weekends, but the dishes she makes for the cooking club are given to the club members on the spot, and a small portion is brought back as a side dish.

"Hime-kun is truly an all-rounder," Karuizawa remarked after hearing this. She had previously heard about Chihaya's effortless victory in swimming class. "She's good at sports, even cooking and archery. It feels like she perfectly fits many people's requirements for a partner."

"Does this also meet Karuizawa-san's requirements for a lover?" Kushida joked.

"Of course it's true... Seriously, Kushida-san clearly knew I was dating Hirata, right?" Karuizawa subconsciously gave an affirmative answer, only to belatedly realize what she meant.

"Haha, sorry, I accidentally said it." Kushida clasped his hands together and apologized with a smile. "But if it's Chihaya-san, I don't think Hirata-san would be jealous, right?"

"Hime-kun is a girl, why would Hirata be jealous of a girl?"

"If Princess Hiyomi were a boy instead of a girl, the girls at school probably wouldn't even have eyes for any other boys, right?"

"That's actually possible!" Karuizawa silently imagined it and realized it was indeed true.

Especially now, Richu, who is ranked number one on the handsome list, is a student in Class A, but in the past month, apart from being handsome, no one has discovered any other characteristics - he is neither a leader, nor a member of any club, nor a top student. He is just averagely handsome in Class A.

"Although she's a girl, I heard that the male-to-female ratio in Chihaya's fan club is still predominantly female?"

"A fan club?" Karuizawa asked, puzzled. "There are actually organizations like that?"

"Yes, there are some, but everyone is usually quite restrained and doesn't promote it in a big way—there are probably more than thirty people who have joined so far."

"Kushida seems so familiar, could it be?" A possibility surfaced in Karuizawa's mind.

“Yes, I’m a member~” Kushida said, pulling his membership card out of his bag. “Isn’t it pretty interesting?”

"Hmm..." Karuizawa didn't know how to evaluate it; she just felt something was off.

"Karuizawa-san must be wondering why I joined, right?" Kushida waved the membership card in his hand. "Because the president of this fan club is Hayasaka-san."

"Huh?!" Karuizawa exclaimed in shock. "...But that's not surprising."

"At first I was also curious, wouldn't Chihaya mind? Later I found out that Hayasaka was even planning to make a magazine, with Chihaya as the model, and then publish fashion tips and beauty tips and the like."

"I want to buy this kind of magazine immediately after hearing about it," Karuizawa declared. "Most girls would probably buy it, right?"

"Yes, everyone is very curious about Chihaya's 'secret recipe'."

The two chatted idly for a while.

"Sorry I'm late. Have you been waiting long?"

Finally, a pleasant voice rang out, and Karuizawa turned her head, only to be greeted by a beautiful silver-haired girl with a bright smile on her face, her back to the sunlight.

In that instant, Karuizawa felt that he would agree to whatever the other person asked without hesitation.

"My dear Karuizawa-kun, and also Kikyo."

What followed was an elegant and warm greeting, like a spring breeze in April.

"Good afternoon, classmate Fei Gong."

Good afternoon, Chihaya-kun!

Chizaki first placed a box on the table, then gently stroked the back of her skirt and sat down.

"I made some egg tarts during club activities, and I brought a few for you two. If you don't mind, why don't you try some?" Chihaya said, opening the box to reveal the Portuguese egg tarts inside. The aroma of the egg tarts, mixed with steam, wafted out the moment the box was opened.

This drew the attention of students at several nearby tables, who then looked on with envy.

"Let's eat it while it's hot?" Chihaya said with a smile. "Shouldn't you two have some refills too?"

So Chihiro asked the two of them about their preferences and then went to the bar to order three coffees.

Karuizawa carefully held the egg tart and tried taking a small bite.

"So delicious!" Karuizawa's eyes lit up, as if something was dancing on her taste buds. "It's even better than the egg tarts from the bakery!"

Kushida, on the other side, also put some in her mouth—it was also her first time eating Chihaya's sweets, and she was equally amazed. However, she quickly suppressed her amazement, since as Chihaya's "friend," she must have eaten them before.

"Is it to your liking? Please let me know if you have any suggestions, and I will adjust the proportions accordingly."

"It's so delicious!" Karuizawa exclaimed. "It's almost like we could open a shop here!"