People bring their own maids to the training camp

"Okay, then Ichinose-san, please come to my office later to pick up your registration form."

“Okay, teacher.” Ichinose nodded. “So, what are the requirements for participating in the competition?”

"Yes, the entry fee is 10000 points," Hoshinomiya-sensei replied casually, as if she were saying, "The weather is nice today."

"..." In an instant, the classroom, which had just been as lively as a vegetable market, became completely silent.

"Oh dear, it seems the threshold is a bit high," joked Hoshinomiya-sensei on the podium. "But weren't you all given 100000 points?"

"Teacher, is it necessary to pay this 10000-point registration fee for the preliminary round?" Ichinose asked, raising her hand.

"Yes, and that's not all. If you advance to the finals, you'll need to pay an additional fee," Ms. Hoshinomiya replied. "Specific details will be announced to those who advance after the preliminary rounds. The registration deadline is tomorrow afternoon before school ends, so students who want to participate should hurry up."

"So what are the specific rewards for achieving a ranking?" This time, it was Kanzaki who raised his hand to ask the question.

"It's currently unknown."

"In other words, it's an activity with a considerable degree of risk. You'll need at least 10000 or even 20000 points, and there's no guarantee of a reward. Considering it's a knowledge quiz, it should also be quite challenging to have a substantial knowledge base." Kanzaki went on to analyze, "Given that the reward is unknown, I don't recommend participating in this activity. Of course, if you're confident enough and have some spare money, you might as well give it a try."

"It sounds interesting, but the registration fee is a little bit high, hahaha." Ichinose laughed and scratched his head, deciding not to participate in the trivia quiz.

"Isn't Ichinose the top student in the entrance exam? If you participate, you're sure to get a ranking, right? Why don't you participate?" It was Chihiro Shirahami who spoke, and she seemed to be encouraging Ichinose to participate.

"Haha, grades don't determine knowledge reserves, Shiranami-kun. I'm just familiar with the textbook content, but my knowledge reserves are completely lacking." Ichinose waved her hands repeatedly. "As Kanzaki-kun said, there are risks in this quiz competition, so I personally prefer not to participate—but if any students are planning to participate, remember to come here for a registration form!"

After saying that, Ichinose thought for a moment and added another sentence.

"I can keep this a secret. You can contact me privately or send me a message on a chat app, and I will reply as soon as possible!"

......

That evening, in Chihaya's room.

“Message Ichinose and ask him to participate in this competition,” Chihaya said.

Should I participate alone or with others?

"...I'll participate myself, and I don't want to reveal anything for now."

"Okay." Hayasaka nodded and started operating her phone. "As a young lady, winning a mere trivia quiz is definitely not a problem, and it fits her character."

“It’s not necessarily a guarantee of victory.” Chihaya tossed her long hair. “This school is definitely not as simple as we imagine.”

"Your movement just now was very feminine; please continue."

"..." Chihaya fell silent for a moment.

"I'm sorry, Chihaya-sama, I just subconsciously..." Hayasaka apologized, but there was not a trace of remorse in her tone; instead, there was a hint of amusement.

"Laugh if you want to. I'm not some heartless boss." Chihaya wanted to roll his eyes, but he couldn't for the sake of his image.

“You are completely unscrupulous, and I am very satisfied with my current treatment,” Hayasaka quickly stated. “Please feel free to use me.”

"...Could you please not say such ambiguous things?"

“I don’t see any ambiguity in this; addressing your physiological needs is part of my job.”

"Alright, alright, stop talking!" Chihaya covered her face with her hands. Her maid seemed to be very enthusiastic about driving now, and could drive on any kind of rough road.

"Ichinose replied," Hayasaka said. "Should we have her bring it here?"

"Yes, if she asks, just say that you asked me to participate."

"Understood." Hayasaka nodded, his fingers flying across the keyboard. "She said she'd be there soon."

"Hmm." Chihaya responded, picked up an upside-down teacup from the coffee table, and then poured tea into it.

About five minutes later, the doorbell rang.

"Here she comes~ Is that Ichinose-kun?"

"It's me~" The girl's clear voice rang out from outside the door.

"Welcome, welcome—though this is Chihaya's room." Hayasaka changed his expression the moment he opened the door, greeting Ichinose with a smile.

"Excuse me," Ichinose said. "Haha, when I saw Hayasaka-san say she was coming to Himegami-san's room, I roughly understood what was going on."

"Please have a seat, Ichinose-san. I've already poured you some tea." Chihaya smiled slightly and gestured to the newcomer.

"Wow! Thank you so much!" Ichinose took a piece of paper out of her bag and handed it to Chihaya. "This is the registration form. You just need to fill in these few pieces of information and then scan this QR code with your phone to pay. Hoshinomiya-sensei said that a detailed notification will be sent after the payment is completed."

"Okay." Chihaya accepted the registration form, but did not fill it out immediately.

"Are there any other students in our class who have signed up? If you need to keep it confidential, you can just tell me the number." Hayasaka asked impatiently after Chihaya took the registration form.

"It's a shame that only Princess has signed up so far. The registration fee is indeed a bit high," Ichinose remarked. "Especially since the cost and rewards for the second round are unknown."

"Hehehe, that's why I encouraged Chihaya to sign up."

"Eh?"

16. Santa Claus

"Hehehe, that's why I encouraged Chihaya to sign up."

"Eh?"

"Of course, I sponsored 8000 of them!" Hayasaka said, hands on his hips, looking very proud.

"...So, Princess Hikiya has to pay out of her own pocket 2000 points." Ichinose was utterly speechless. "Princess Hikiya actually agreed to that?"

"Well, how should I put it? What if the reward is really good?"

"Haha, I didn't expect that Princess Himeko has such an adventurous personality."

“Don’t underestimate Chihaya! She’s loved reading since she was little and has a huge reading volume!” Hayasaka said. “So these 8000 points are my investment in Chihaya! If she wins more points, I can get 8% of the profits.”

"I just used the time Ai spent browsing beauty bloggers and market magazines to read," Chihaya said quietly. "Besides, even if I did win points, Ai wouldn't be able to take 80% of them, you know?"

"Why? Didn't I already pay 80% of the points???"

"Yes, but as a participant in the competition, this is considered a technology-based investment, and it's quite core. Therefore, Xiao Ai only has 10% of the shares."

"Oh no, I'm an employee now!" Hayasaka exclaimed.

"You two have such a good relationship, it's truly enviable."

"Don't be envious of Ichinose-san, I already told you you're my second favorite." Hayasaka said, putting his arm around Ichinose's shoulder. "Now I'm got two girls on my arms, hahaha—ouch!"

Chihaya put away the murder weapon in her hand: the cell phone.

Why did you hit me!?

"Calm down, you scared Ichinose-san."

"This is just my way of showing friendliness!"

"turn down."

"Uh-huh." Hayasaka pretended to cry.

"Ichinose-san, have some tea." Chihaya smiled at Ichinose. "Don't pay any attention to this drama queen. She's always causing trouble if you don't discipline her."

"Hahaha, Hayasaka-san is quite lively." Ichinose picked up her teacup to hide her embarrassment.

"In short, we just need to wait for Chihaya's triumphant return." Hayasaka sat up straight. "And since there's a threshold of 10,000 points, the number of people shouldn't be too large."

“I think there are probably one or two people in each class who are confident in themselves,” Ichinose said after thinking for a moment. “After all, there are 10 points a month, so maybe someone will be willing to take a gamble.”

"Then let's see how Chihaya sweeps away all obstacles and cleanses the world."

"Xiao Ai has far too much faith in me."

"Of course! Even if you told me there's no Santa Claus in the world, I would still believe it."

"So, Hayasaka-san actually believes in Santa Claus?"

"No, I have Irish ancestry, not Finnish ancestry."

"Hmm, I feel like Hayasaka would be a good fit for this trivia quiz."

"It's all thanks to Chihaya. Sometimes she tells me some useless trivia, like the fact that Santa Claus's hometown is in Finland." Hayasaka chuckled.

"As expected of Princess, I wish you great success." Ichinose said, standing up. "It's getting late, so I'll head back to my room now."

"Okay, take care, Ichinose-san." Chihaya also got up and saw him to the entrance.

"Alright, alright, don't see me off anymore, I'll be tempted to stay." Ichinose joked before parting, she was quite enjoying chatting with the two of them.

It's just that there are occasional moments that are a little awkward.

"Hey hey hey, stay here!" Hayasaka teased from inside the house. "But I'm the main wife, so I'll sleep on the bed and you can sleep on the floor."

"what?"

"Ignore her, she's having another episode."

"Haha, see you tomorrow then."

"Yes, nice to meet you, Ichinose-san."

"Wow, for a moment I felt like I was also studying at Seio-O." Ichinose said with a smile as she left.

......

"It seems Ichinose didn't notice anything unusual." Hayasaka immediately returned to his expressionless state after Ichinose left.

“She may have noticed something, but she didn’t investigate it deeply.” Chihaya sat down and poured herself a cup of tea. “She has a conservative mindset and is someone who seeks stability.”

“The entire Class B is full of people like her,” Hayasaka said. “Also, I’ve noticed that Class C seems a bit different.”

"That guy who's always fighting, right? I've seen him a few times."

"It seems they've now won over that black man and several other tall, strong students."

"He's someone worth paying attention to."

"Furthermore, there are signs that Class A is splitting into two factions, while Class D is a complete mess," Hayasaka continued, reporting the information she had gathered.

"Does the so-called meritocracy mean that students are assigned to classes based on their overall performance?" Chihaya suddenly said. "Will Ichinose, who ranked first in the written exam, be placed in Class B because she is too conservative and lacks initiative?"

"Whether they can maintain the status quo remains to be seen," Hayasaka said. "Compared to Class C's actions, Class B's approach is a bit too mild."

“It would indeed be disadvantageous to have inter-class competitions,” Chihaya recalled her students. “However, the premise is that there are competitions on a class-by-class basis.”

"The usual things are academic and physical education scores, right? Those disadvantages aren't too obvious."