Hachiman Hikigaya, who returned from his studies after completing his training.

Sakayanagi was also enjoying the spectacle, while Katsuragi and Ayanokouji watched silently, seemingly lost in thought and not saying a word.

"Three hundred and fifty thousand." Nan Yun gritted his teeth and forced out a price that pained him, barely suppressing his anger.

"Hachiman is my good brother, Vice President Nagumo."

"So what do you want, Longyuan?"

Facing the grinning Ryuen, Nagumo silently stood up, left Hikigaya, that bastard, and walked to stand in front of him, looking down at him expressionlessly.

Dealing with Bikigu is not easy, but he is confident in dealing with Longyuan, this small-time hoodlum.

"You have to pay more."

Facing the overwhelming pressure from Nan Yun, Long Yuan casually put his hands on the back of the chair and looked up to meet his gaze. He knew that the man in front of him was already in a difficult position and was just bluffing.

The fact that he could add 50,000 in one go shows that Nan Yun is incredibly wealthy.

After a moment of silence, Nan Yun sat back down, resting her elbows on her knees and lowering her eyelids.

"400,000 per vote, if you say another word, I'll abandon you."

Chapter 141 Deus Ex

"boom!"

As the door to the private box slammed shut, Nagumo, who had received permission from Katsuragi and Ryuen to sell tickets at 400,000 yen per person, stormed off in anger.

Bathed in colorful yet gentle spotlights, Hikigaya sat silently in the main seat, replacing Nagumo.

If it weren't for his arrival, the tickets for Class A and Class C would never have sold for such an outrageous price. Now that things are done, it's time to share the profits with him.

"Two million." Katsuragi knew who had given them so many personal points. If Hachiman hadn't stepped in to compete for student council president, Class A would have been left with nothing. These sixteen million personal points would have been like a windfall for Class A.

"I can, but I have one condition."

The one-eighth commission wasn't a high price, but Hachiman agreed without hesitation because he had another request.

However, he didn't want Ayanokouji to know.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and he was certain that Ayanokouji would contact Nagumo.

Ryuen was puzzled by Ayanokouji's presence in this private room, since Ryuen had stopped keeping him by his side after Ayanokouji lost control during the preferential treatment exam.

This is very wrong.

Picking up the glass of beverage left behind by Nagumo, Hikigaya swiftly splashed it directly in the direction Ayanokoji was.

The beverage, once released from the cup, scatters through the air like petals, before striking the empty sofa back with a crisp, swishing sound.

"What are you doing, Hachiman?"

"You managed to dodge that? Ayanokouji, you're really surprising me more and more."

While Katsuragi was shocked by his behavior, Ryuen, whose buttocks were halfway off the seat, slowly stopped getting up and sat back down.

Ayanokouji, who had dodged his sudden attack, still had that expressionless look on his face.

"Does being the student council secretary give you the right to attack people at will? I didn't do anything."

"Then tell me, what did I do?"

Ignoring Katsuragi's question, Hikigaya put down the empty cup. Ayanokoji's reflexes were indeed very strong; he managed to dodge it.

If you get splashed, there are ways to deal with it; if you don't get splashed, it's as if nothing happened.

Just as Ayanokouji said he did nothing, Hikigaya also couldn't produce any evidence that he remotely controlled Manabe and others during the preferential treatment exam.

Seeing that Hikigaya had refilled the empty glass that Nagumo had used with a drink, Ayanokouji wisely left the private room without further entanglement.

The sticky feeling of the drink on his body was unpleasant, and Ayanokouji knew that even if he was splashed, it wouldn't make Hachiman pay a heavy price to get away.

He had no choice but to leave.

After the door to the private room closed again, Katsuragi looked at Hachiman with a hostile gaze, "You're getting more and more outrageous, Hachiman."

The Hachiman in front of him felt increasingly unfamiliar. The somewhat gloomy and lazy image he had when selling information at the beginning of the school year had completely disappeared, and his aura had become more and more majestic and domineering.

Just like the current student council president.

"Aren't you also becoming the new tyrant of the first-year students?" Hachiman smiled helplessly, and when Katsuragi had nothing to say, he also put forward his condition, "There is something I would like to ask Yamamura-kun to help me with, which does not involve the first-year students."

"No, it's too dangerous."

Before Sakayanagi could speak, Katsuragi immediately refused. If it didn't involve the first-year students, then it was obvious who Hachiman's target was: Nagumo was too dangerous.

The fact that nearly ten second-year students dropped out proves Nagumo's ability. He and Sakayanagi were confident that even if Nagumo got angry, he couldn't do anything about it, so they ripped Nagumo off.

He's not suited for mountain villages; he's too timid in character.

"I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong." Hikigaya looked at Katsuragi seriously.

He had great faith in the fact that the mountain village had a weak presence, and that as long as no one tipped him off, Nan Yun would never find out about her.

He'll cover for you if anything goes wrong. It's not long before the start of the new school term, and he can easily gather 20 million personal points by the time school starts on the 1st.

"I will convey your message to the village; whether she agrees or not is up to her to decide."

"Thanks."

After the deal was struck, Katsuragi saw that Hikigaya didn't follow up and Ryuen didn't say anything either, so he took Sakayanagi and left on his own.

The luxurious private room that could accommodate more than ten people was now only occupied by Hikigaya and Ryuen.

"What's going on with Ayanokouji?"

“I’ve been tricked.” Ryuen’s smile vanished, his face turning grim. “I never imagined that bastard Sakagami would betray me.”

Not long after the start of the semester, Kazuma Sakagami, as the homeroom teacher of Class C, indulged his violent control over Class C to the point of being blatant, so the students in Class C had little desire to resist.

Apart from Albert crippling him somewhat, Class C was successfully brought under his control.

Despite being the pure-blooded student of Class C, Ryuen couldn't understand why Sakagami supported Ayanokouji, a transfer student from Class D, and even went so far as to present Ayanokouji with evidence of his past violent control over Class C.

You should know that he was almost completely unprepared for Sakagami.

"What's the situation in Class C now?" Hikigaya was stunned; yet another teacher had failed in their duties.

He probably guessed why Sakagami suddenly betrayed Ryuen, and it's no wonder that Ryuen suddenly fell for it.

It must have been Ayanokouji's father who subtly hinted that Ayanokouji in Ichiban no Sakagami's class was a 'good kid' and that he should pay more attention to him.

Just like a deus ex machina in a novel, Longyuan, without any powerful backing, can never win.

"Ayanokouji has the support of academically excellent students like Kaneda, and the militant faction is still under my control. Just like Class A used to be, it has split up, but only Kaneda, Ayanokouji, and I know about this."

"Now Ayanokouji is officially my second-in-command."

"Then who's in charge?"

Hikigaya realized that Ryuen hadn't reached a dead end yet, and he could tell from the fact that Ryuen was no longer under Ayanokouji's control by not leaving with him.

“Ayanokouji will follow my decision until I fail the next special exam. After that, he will take over the reins behind the scenes.” Ryuen slammed his fist on the table.

In exchange for the evidence, Ryuen had no choice but to concede and agree to Ayanokouji's suggestion.

"Then there's no hope, just wait to die." Hachiman suspected that Ryuen might be lying to him.

Given Class C's abilities, how could they possibly not lose a single special exam? And if Class C doesn't lose, then it's the other classes' turn to lose.

Although the cooperation with Ryuen went smoothly and both sides benefited, Hikigaya would not protect him from betraying Class D's interests.

"Don't worry, I'm not asking you to go easy on me." Seeing the suspicious look in Hikigaya's eyes, Ryuen immediately understood what he was thinking; there was still more to the contract with Ayanokouji.

"When Ayanokouji loses, the decision-making power will return to me. The person I want you to help is Ayanokouji who dropped out of school."

"It's very difficult; I don't think it's possible."

Hikigaya knew Ayanokouji's cunning, and it was almost impossible for him to frame Ayanokouji and force him to drop out of school, since Ayanokouji's abilities made the special exams no challenge for him.

Unless another deus ex machina appears.

But it would be better if Ayanokouji didn't have a deus ex machina; it's not his turn to be deus ex machina.

Chapter 142 Ichinose Isn't Going Back

"Hachiman, we're almost out of soy sauce."

In the afterglow of the setting sun, Ichinose, with her long ponytail, was waving the last few bottles of soy sauce she had left in her hand at Hikigaya in the room from the kitchen.

Three-quarter length plain-colored home shorts, with a beige apron tied in a bow at the back.

With a happy smile on her face, Ichinose gave Hikigaya the feeling of a newlywed housewife.

"Yes, yes, I'll remember to buy it when I come back tomorrow."

As he spoke, Hachiman walked into the kitchen, and the enticing aroma of stew filled the air.

Yesterday, Ryuen's request was not granted by Hikigaya, who only stated that he could provide assistance to the best of his ability.

The more mountains you climb, the more likely you are to encounter a tiger; the risk of being framed is not small.

Ichinose scooped a little pork rib soup onto a small plate with a soup spoon, tucked her long hair behind her ear to reveal her delicate profile, parted her cherry lips slightly, blew on it twice, and then took a sip.

"Is this flavor a little bland, Hachiman?"

"If you've tried it and think it works, that's fine."

When faced with the small plate that Ichinose had already tasted, Hachiman turned his head away somewhat shyly, avoiding looking into Ichinose's bright, piercing eyes.

Even though he had done everything he was supposed to, he was still too embarrassed to do it.

"But I want to hear Hachiman's opinion, is that not allowed?" Ichinose appeared in Hikigaya's line of sight relentlessly, a smug smile on her face.

Now Hachiman has no way to dodge.

"What opinions could I possibly have...?"

I quickly took a sip of the rich soup from the plate, the intense aroma of meat filling my mouth, with a hint of sweetness.

"Fanbo, your cooking skills have improved a lot! The taste is just right."

Ichinose's cooking skills used to be about the same as his, but I never expected them to suddenly become so good.

Ichinose's smile grew even more smug. "Hehe, I only learned this recently. I only recently found out that Yuki's mother is a head chef at a big restaurant."

Xiaoxue? That must be Jiye.

Hachiman never expected that this non-mainstream girl with dyed hair and earrings would also be such a good cook. You really can't judge a book by its cover.

I wonder whose cooking skills are better, hers or Horikita Suzune's.

Himeno called him a scumbag with good cooking skills, and Horikita Suzune also called him a scumbag with good cooking skills.

"How's the cooking at NetWarehouse?" Hachiman recalled that another girl had also called him a scumbag.

"Asashi?" Ichinose asked, puzzled. "Asashi doesn't seem to be very good at cooking. Why is Hachiman asking that?"

"It's nothing, I'm going to wipe the table."

Realizing he shouldn't voice his speculations, Hikigaya quickly left the kitchen, leaving Ichinose with a face full of question marks.

..........

..........

Inugari Momoko: [What is it?]

After having dinner with Ichinose, Hikigaya offered to help with the dishes but was refused.

As he sat down at his desk to continue creating exam papers for the third-year students he was tutoring, his greeting text message identifying him to Inugari-senpai received a reply.

Hikigaya: [When will you have time to meet up, Inugari-senpai? I have something important I'd like to discuss with you.]

The contact information for Pig Hunting is from [unintelligible text].

With Class A and Class C having already sold their tickets to Nanyun, Nanyun now has the support of seven classes in total: four second-year classes, two first-year classes, and one third-year class.

Hachiman has already seemingly lost, so he can't do nothing.

Doing nothing will only make Nagumo pay closer attention to his actions.

Inugari's Class 3-B was just a smokescreen for Hachiman.

Inugari Momoko: [Explain clearly.]