People bring their own maids to the training camp

"Okay, the president should already know about the magazine we're preparing, right? The student council has approved it."

"Yes, so what do you need?"

"Since not all the people on the handsome guys and beautiful girls list are classmates, I'd like to know their rankings and scores on the entrance exam and quizzes." Hayasaka started listing names like a menu, "I want the scores of these people, is that alright, President?"

“Yes, but you need to use points to purchase it,” Horikita Manabu said.

“Of course, I didn’t expect it to be free either~” Hayasaka nodded, then handed the list to Horikita Manabu from the file bag he had brought.

Horikita Manabu took the list and glanced at it, and sure enough, he found Ayanokouji's name on it.

If he hadn't unexpectedly discovered Ayanokouji's special qualities tonight, he certainly wouldn't have thought there was anything wrong with this list.

Looking at the list now, he couldn't help but wonder if the dumplings were prepared just to vent his jealousy. But outwardly, he had no reason to object. After all, school rules stipulated that anyone with a bit of money could buy anything, and he couldn't stop students from having good entrance exam scores.

Moreover, Hayasaka's reasoning was beyond reproach: she wanted to compare entrance exam scores and quiz scores to analyze whether the target student had undergone significant changes after enrollment—this would be linked to evaluations such as financial management skills and self-discipline.

The seemingly plausible reason is that the organizer is a woman, so opinions should be given from a woman's perspective.

“I can sell you the entrance exam scores, 10000 points per person,” Horikita Manabu said. “There are 10 names on the list, 100000 points in total. Come to the student council office tomorrow to pay.”

"Wow, that's way too expensive! I can find out the general results of my quiz by asking around, so you're charging 10000 points just for the entrance exam score, President? That's way too expensive!" Hayasaka exclaimed.

“If you think it’s too expensive, you don’t have to buy it,” Horikita Manabu said calmly. “This is just a school regulation, not my personal profit-making business, so don’t talk to me about discounts or anything like that. I can’t make that decision.”

"How did the president know I was going to say I was going to offer a discount?!" Hayasaka was shocked.

“Even Xiao Ai thinks it’s too expensive, so the next step is definitely to try to bargain, right?” Chihaya reminded her.

"Oh, right!" Hayasaka exclaimed, feigning sudden realization. "Indeed!"

"...Do you need to pay?"

"Ten people is too expensive! I'll streamline things a bit," Hayasaka said. "Then I'll only keep four people!"

Hayasaka ultimately left behind a list of four people, including Hirata and Ayanokoji.

"Come directly to the student council after school tomorrow afternoon," Horikita Manabu said. "Do you have anything else to do?"

"Oh?" Hayasaka grinned and leaned closer, showing Horikita Manabu his phone screen. "Recently, many people have received anonymous emails containing midterm exam papers, so we hope the student council can investigate this matter."

"I understand. The student council will investigate this matter later." Horikita Manabu adjusted his glasses. "But are you sure you want the student council to get involved?"

"Of course! This is just a bunch of profiteers! You go to the cafeteria at lunchtime and run into two or three upperclassmen asking you if you want some past exam questions, and they even guarantee they'll be the same as this year's questions—how is that possible! The school wouldn't be that stupid, right, President?"

"I understand the situation." Horikita Manabu remained noncommittal, completely avoiding a direct answer to Hayasaka's question about the midterm exams.

"Okay, then I'll leave it to you, President. It's really not a good feeling to be sold to all the time."

"That's about it. Thank you for your help, Chairman." Chihaya also bowed slightly. "Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to listen to our story."

“It’s alright, this is the student council’s responsibility.” Horikita Manabu nodded. “However, Himeko, my invitation still stands. As long as you agree to join the student council, the position of vice president is yours.”

"Please allow me to formally decline," Chihaya said. "I have no intention of joining the student council, nor do I plan to work with Vice President Nagumo, so I cannot accept the president's invitation."

"Well, then let's leave it at that." Horikita Manabu didn't press the issue; it wouldn't be in line with his understanding of Chihaya if she agreed so easily.

Although he couldn't say he knew Chihaya very well, the abilities she had demonstrated so far, based on what he knew, were among the best of the new students.

Although Hayasaka explained and applied for many things during today's meeting, anyone who isn't a fool can guess that Chihaya and Hayasaka are undoubtedly a deeply intertwined community of interests—Hayasaka's actions represent Chihaya's actions.

In other words, Chihaya was behind using the guise of creating a magazine to gather information on other students and reporting upperclassmen for selling past exam questions. This kind of disruptive strategy is indeed rare. Originally, the four first-year classes could have worked together to get through the midterms, but Chihaya's report was clearly intended to sabotage things: no one should try to rely on past exam questions to get through the exams; everyone should rely on their own abilities to pass the exams!

Based on the results of first-grade quizzes, if past exam questions become ineffective, the probability of students dropping out due to failing grades will increase significantly.

Was this a scheme devised to target Class D? Or was it specifically aimed at Ayanokouji? Horikita Manabu didn't believe that Chihaya and the other two's appearance was a coincidence.

The only problem is that this is really a case of hurting the enemy a thousand while hurting yourself eight hundred, since not everyone in Class B has a completely safe record.

Horikita Manabu didn't quite understand Chihaya's thinking, but that didn't stop him from giving Chihaya a very high evaluation.

After all, Chihaya's approach to dealing with the current situation is the most distinctive.

----split line----

Chihaya and Hayasaka quickly returned to their room, and after closing the door, they finally spoke.

“Now the archaeology question is completely useless.” Hayasaka helped Chihaya take off her coat and then went to pour tea. “What a waste of our previous setup.”

“There’s nothing to regret. Originally, people from Class A and Class C, and even the second-year students, had already started investigating the archaeological questions,” Chihaya said. “We harmed the interests of some second-year students, so they started investigating in secret. Now is a very appropriate time to stop.”

"That's true, but Senior Kiryuin might be in a little trouble."

"She was a complete slacker in second grade. She couldn't cause any trouble, and she couldn't beat anyone in a fight. Her class didn't have any potential for improvement either. She was completely indifferent to everything."

"But isn't President Horikita already suspicious of us? Is this really okay?"

“Horikita Manabu actually cares a lot about her younger sister, which is why she pretends to have a bad relationship with her,” Chihaya said, waving her hand. “So what if he suspects us? He doesn’t know our true purpose.”

"understood."

78. It's a good thing to have contact with Ichinose, isn't it?

“Young lady, I have a question that I hope you can answer for me,” Hayasaka suddenly said.

"Go ahead and ask. What could I possibly be hiding from you?"

"Did you decide to change the plan because of Vice President Nagumo?" Hayasaka asked bluntly. "The archaeological questions he provided must be reliable, which means Ichinose will have to owe him a favor. Given Ichinose's current respect for Nagumo, plus this favor, it's hard to say what might happen."

“Yes, I have to admit, I did consider that.” Chihaya nodded frankly in agreement. “As a friend, I don’t think I should watch her jump into a fire.”

Even if it's the other party's own wish?

“Yes.” Chihaya nodded. “So I didn’t try to persuade her, but instead moved the fire pit away.”

"You're making me misunderstand."

"What misunderstanding could possibly arise?" Chihaya picked up her teacup nonchalantly.

"This will make me misunderstand that you have a crush on Ichinose."

Upon hearing this, Chihaya nearly spat out his tea. Fortunately, he had undergone rigorous training, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to maintain his elegance.

"What nonsense are you spouting?!" Chihaya put down her teacup and glared at Hayasaka. "Didn't I already say I was acting as a friend? And aren't I a woman now?"

"While I'm glad you're becoming more self-aware, what you're doing now is like the devoted male protagonist in a romance novel, silently helping the female lead clear obstacles for her, isn't it?"

"...In short, that's definitely not the case."

“Just because it doesn’t happen now doesn’t mean it won’t happen in the future, Chihaya-sama.” Hayasaka picked up the teapot and filled Chihaya’s teacup with tea. “However, I can completely understand. You’ve never really had any serious contact with girls, so it’s normal for you to develop feelings for a sunny, energetic, and positive girl like Ichinose. Most people have a positive opinion of Ichinose.”

"I already said I'm not..."

"Young Miss, you haven't had much contact with normal people before, so it's a good thing that you're spending more time with Ichinose, isn't it?"

"...Are you implying that you yourself are not a normal person?"

"Do you think I'm normal?" Hayasaka retorted. "The girls in this school are probably all more normal than me, whether it's being a maid or anything else."

"Is this considered abnormal?"

"Of course, a normal person wouldn't act as an all-purpose maid to accompany their male master, who is dressed as a woman, to sneak into the school and play the role of best friends. So, Miss, you and I can hardly be considered normal."

"To say you love me is already sophistry, isn't it?"

"Please don't worry about these details. What I'm trying to say is that Ichinose is a great girlfriend. With your charm, you should be able to win her over easily, even if she perceives you as a woman."

"One minute you're jealous, the next you're playing matchmaker. Do you have too much free time to love you?"

“A little.” Hayasaka nodded unexpectedly. “And I’ve already bought the carpet, but I have no use for it!”

"..."

"From now on, please treat Ichinose as your private property and protect her. It doesn't matter if a few unknown students are sacrificed for this."

"That's a bit too much. Although I really didn't consider whether other people would drop out of school because of it."

"Strictly speaking, both classes C and D will have a higher probability of failing after the old exam questions became invalid, but that has nothing to do with us. We don't know whether the school will provide a backup exam paper or something else."

"It's not important. In the first place, Class B didn't receive the archaeology questions that Honami got from Nagumo," Chihaya said. "The best approach is to review steadily. Even if everyone passes this time because of the archaeology questions, will there be the exact same archaeology questions in future exams? It's better to sacrifice those who are not academically strong now to figure out what impact dropping out will have on the class."

“It’s a pity that there’s a high chance that no one will drop out of Class B.” Hayasaka shook his head with regret. “If someone does drop out of Class B, you can comfort Ichinose and take this opportunity to win her heart.”

"Alright, stop trying to match us up. The real issue is still Ayanokouji." Chihaya put down her teacup. "We're certain he came to Koyuu while hiding his true strength, but the question remains—what exactly is he here for?"

Atsuomi Ayanokouji was once a member of the Naoe faction, but the Naoe faction no longer exists. He also couldn't be from the Onigashima faction, since that facility overlaps with Gaoyu's, and it's the Pro Max version.

"Assuming Ayanokouji Kiyotaka is the son of Ayanokouji Atsuomi, what is the significance of him coming to this school?"

"To prove that he is better than Gao Yu by being promoted to Class A? That doesn't make any sense at all. Gao Yu could also say that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka became better because of Gao Yu's training."

"Therefore, it is not feasible to deny the model of higher education based on individual abilities."

"Could it be that they want to test the best masterpiece they've set up?" Hayasaka raised another possibility.

"Then why does he hide his strength?" Chihaya asked, puzzled. "He pretends to be weak on the surface, not even scoring 70 points. Is that considered a test of strength? Shouldn't he stand in the open and face attacks from all sides if he wants to test his strength? If he only thinks about stabbing people in the back, then Mr. Ayanokouji's facility is nothing special in my opinion."

“Indeed, the most reasonable way is to take care of high school students, then skip a grade to enter university, and then actively engage in related activities to make a name for himself in front of the public and then enter politics,” Hayasaka said. “If Ayanokoji Atsuomi wants to return to politics, it is obvious that this approach is more efficient. No matter how outstanding he is during his three years of high school education, it is not as efficient as the approach I just mentioned.”

“Onigashima is currently at the peak of his political career. It would be very difficult for someone who is not a direct successor of Naoe to reach that position.” Chihaya pondered, “Do you think it’s possible that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka had a conflict with his father? So he joined the ranks of his father’s political enemy, Kouyuki?”

"...Isn't this a bit too dramatic?"

"Hanami once saw Chabashira-sensei call Ayanokouji to the counseling room."

"That Chabashira-sensei?" Hayasaka was a little surprised, after all, Chabashira-sensei gave people the impression of being a lazy bum.

“I think Chabashira-sensei probably knows some inside information,” Chihaya speculated. “In that case, let’s go and make contact with her.”

79. New Examination Rules (Combined)

The next day, Class D.

Sudo and the others huddled together, whispering amongst themselves. However, judging from a few keywords, it was clear they were discussing something related to points.

Horikita Suzune remained unmoved, but Ayanokouji took the initiative to strike up a conversation.

"It seems Sudo and the others are planning to pool their points to buy archaeology questions; they've clearly decided not to attend the study group," Ayanokouji said.

“Isn’t this expected?” Horikita Suzune said without any surprise. “But buying past exam questions makes me think they’re even more foolish.”

"Didn't he swear last night that he wouldn't let anyone in Class D drop out?"

"Ayanokouji-san, you said you'd help last night, right?" Horikita Suzune stared at Ayanokouji with an unfriendly expression. "Don't think you can get away with it just because you listed out my flaws last night!"