A youth story of a passerby at the end of the world

"I'll send these men back with you to see if you can maneuver the boat smoothly. We'll also clear a clean shoreline here. We'll discuss the details next time we meet."

“…It seems we don’t have enough consensus yet. Let me think…how about we write down what we can agree on in a memorandum first?” Uesugi Genshin nodded.

“Yes, that’s what I was thinking too.” Shirogane Miyuki had no objection.

The memorandum states that both parties have no objection to the alliance, and that details will be discussed at the next visit, once it is confirmed that the transaction will proceed smoothly without any difficulties. The alliance will be signed when the first transaction of goods is completed.

The visitor was Uesugi Genshin, who came to Shuchiin. Shuchiin was under much more pressure in Tokyo than Sobu-taka was in Chiba, so Uesugi Genshin was understanding.

"This," Shirogane Miyuki pushed a wooden box over from the table, "is the deposit."

This scene seemed familiar to Uesugi Genshin. He thought to himself, "No wonder they're a couple." Upon opening it, he found jewelry and gold, but it wasn't the one from Shinomiya Kaguya; even the boxes were different.

"In the exchange of supplies, your side first sends the food to Tokyo, and then we load the goods here onto the ship and transport them to Chiba. Sobu Takagi is at a disadvantage in the process."

Uesugi Genshin closed the box and placed his palm on it.

"I am very grateful that you, Uesugi, could come in person, and I will probably do the same next time. I value living people more than inanimate objects that are simply left unused. I hope this transaction can be completed smoothly."

Shirogane Miyuki had no regrets about using the precious metals he had collected from the surrounding area; this was a conclusion he reached after careful consideration.

"Yes, I accept it." Uesugi Genshin did not refuse. Unlike the private exchange with Shinomiya Kaguya, this time it was something he deserved.

One day, he too will probably exchange these inanimate objects for something important, just like he does with silver.

"Knock knock knock," the heavy wooden carved door of the Xiuzhiyuan Student Union room was knocked on.

“I’ve summoned our Shuchiin’s accountant,” Shirogane Miyuki explained, then called out towards the door, “Please come in.”

"President." With black hair, similar to the disheveled hairstyle of Uesugi Genshin before, a tall and thin build, and a seemingly weak appearance, the newcomer was none other than Ishigami Yu, who looked very lazy and casual.

“Ishigami, you’ve come at the right time. We might need your input later.” Shirogane Miyuki gestured for Ishigami Yu to sit down beside him.

He introduced Uesugi Genshin, "This is our Shuchiin's accountant."

"Hello," Uesugi Genshin said with a smile and a nod.

"Hello," Ishigami Yu replied listlessly. "President, who is this?"

"Ah, as I told you before, this is an envoy from Chiba Sobu High School."

Yu Ishigami averted his gaze as if trying to avoid looking at the other person. The other person's lively and cheerful appearance was too dazzling! It was like a magical attack on a gloomy guy like him. Light could dispel darkness, and he was almost blinded by the light.

Ah~ Ah~ Ah~, that's why I say, "normies" (or "real-life people")...

"That is, the swordsman from Chiba, well, I should say the sword saint."

"Ha!!!" With a "smack" on the table, Ishigami Yu suddenly stood up and shouted, "You're the one who spread rumors about me!"

"Huh?" Shirogane Miyuki didn't understand.

Uesugi Genshin seemed thoughtful. "Did the Great Buddha tell you that?"

Thinking about it carefully, Koyasu Tsubame wouldn't have said it herself, and Iino Miko is a girl too; she would feel ashamed, so it couldn't be her. Hayasaka Ai is even less likely; she and I were just there for the amusement. That means it must be the only person still present at the time, Oobutsu Kohachi—only her.

“You admit it!” Ishigami Yu pointed at Uesugi Genshin and shouted triumphantly.

"Well, what's there to be ashamed of? I'm just telling the truth," Uesugi Genshin said calmly, practically grinning from ear to ear. "Don't you like Koyasu Tsubame?"

"Ah..." Ishigami Yu stammered like a robot, unable to speak, then rolled around in his hands, clutching his head, "What are you saying?! No! You caused Yan-senpai's abnormality too?!"

"That's quite surprising." Shirogane Miyuki finally understood a bit. "I didn't expect that, Ishigami, you like Koyasu Tsubame."

"This...this...it's not that I like it, it's just...ah, it hurts!" Yu Ishigami's head hit the coffee table.

"So I'm saying I didn't spread any rumors about you from beginning to end. These are all gossip, cough, secrets I heard from someone at Shuchiin." If you delve into it, he'll just pin the blame on Hayasaka. After all, how could someone from another school know so much?

"Ishigami, calm down." Shirogane Miyuki held Ishigami Yu down. In his opinion, liking someone was no big deal.

“Your training is still not enough.” Uesugi Genshin clicked his tongue. “Look at Shirogane, he also likes Shinomiya Kaguya.”

"Eh?"

"Eh?"

The two people opposite them turned their heads blankly to look at Uesugi Genshin.

"Huh!!! The president likes Shinomiya-senpai!?" Ishigami Yu turned to Shirogane Miyuki to confirm.

Meanwhile, Shirogane Miyuki screamed, "What the hell are you saying here?!"

"Isn't this the truth? Put your hand on your heart and tell me, haven't you always hoped that Kaguya Shinomiya would confess to you first?"

"So, the president is also..." Ishigami Yu was shocked to learn that the two student council members had no relationship whatsoever and were just colleagues.

did not expect!

The president, her important benefactor, also has romantic troubles.

"Stop talking!"

Chapter 119: Agreement

"Okay." Uesugi Genshin zipped up his mouth, ceasing his teasing of the two.

"Speaking of which, Chairman, why did you call me here?" Ishigami Yu propped himself up on the sofa and got up from the floor.

"Ah..." Shirogane Miyuki wiped away a cold sweat, "The deal I told you about with Soubu High School before..."

"Hmm." Ishigami Yu, who was prepared, took out a few sheets of paper from his pocket and unfolded them. "I have done statistics on the food consumption of Shuchiin."

He tugged at the creased paper and read aloud, "Currently, there are 1141 people in Xiuzhiyuan. Not counting the newcomers, let's calculate it as 1200 people. Each person needs to eat about 200 grams of staple food per day, which is the minimum amount."

If we're talking about 200 grams of rice, that's two small bowls, which is exactly the amount of rice you'd find in a typical Japanese set meal.

They didn't ask for more rice, nor did they eat breakfast.

“In a 30-day month, a total of 7.2 tons of staple food is consumed. In fact, people who travel need to eat even more; this is just the minimum amount,” he emphasized.

"Considering the round-trip transportation, it might be more troublesome. It would be best to complete it in one go and not have to trade again for a short period of time. In reality, we hope to have a storage capacity of two to three months, which is about 15 to 20 tons. Ah, this is also the minimum requirement."

“It’s not just staple food, the demand for vegetables is even greater, but…” Yu Ishigami looked across at the other side.

Uesugi Genshin shrugged. "We're also short of supplies there, and we don't have any land to farm. It's very frustrating."

The head of the culinary department did submit an application to open a vegetable garden, which he readily approved. However, this garden was at best a small one, and at most it would grow one type of spice, such as scallions, garlic, chives, cilantro, basil, etc. Most people's vitamins actually come from canned fruits and vegetables.

Ha, this reminded him of those unspeakable canned seaweed. If they were to sell them, at least they should make them taste better.

“As expected.” Yu Ishigami turned to Miyuki Shirogane and said, “President, although we have started planting, it will take at least two months depending on the variety of cabbage. Even the fastest cabbage will take a month and a half.”

It's just the beginning. That means it will be another month and a half to two months before the vegetables are harvested. It's going to be a long time.

“Yes, I know.” After listening with his head down, Shirogane Miyuki looked up at Uesugi Genshin and said, “If you don’t have a place to grow crops, I can provide some assistance. However, in reality, the planting is on campus, so there might not be that many places available.”

Yu Ishigami sighed with worry, "Chairman, do you think our thousand people here are just for show? The crops grown by those people in the agricultural department are probably only enough for us to eat."

He turned to Uesugi Genshin and said, "Don't listen to the chairman's nonsense. If we need seeds, we should be able to squeeze some out here. As for the others, we'll have to wait until after the first harvest to discuss them."

"Hmm." Uesugi Genshin rested his chin on the back of his hand. There were enough seeds; vegetables that weren't stored properly were starting to rot at this time of year.

Yu Ishigami continued flipping through the papers, "And then there's the intake of protein and lipids. That's not so urgent, since junk food contains them all."

"Hey, hey, hey..." Shirogane Miyuki reminded him, "This isn't very healthy."

“There’s nothing we can do about it.” Ishigami Yu rolled his eyes. “Once the coast is cleared up, maybe we can consider fishing?”

"Ha, yeah." Shirogane Miyuki crossed his arms and considered.

Ishigami Yu folded the paper again and asked Uesugi Genshin across from him, "How are things on your end?"

"Is it his turn?" Uesugi Genshin sat up straight. "Rice? We don't have much over there. But because we have a flour mill, we can supply flour; a dozen tons shouldn't be a problem."

He tapped his fingers on the table. "There's also a frozen food processing plant that makes frozen fried rice. It contains a small amount of vegetables and a negligible amount of meat. How much we can get depends on the specific situation."

The frozen food processing plant was right next to the flour mill, with its main gate facing the road. In the end, Hayato Hayama was in charge of this matter, but he didn't have time to see the summary report.

Of course, there are more than just these two food factories, but the others are not so important and are not convenient to access.

"Besides these, there are other things, such as building materials, tools, wood, oil, and natural gas. I don't have a list here, so I may not be able to give you details."

These are all items from Newport that they haven't yet taken over. They're just sitting there, but they definitely belong to the General Staff High Command; no one can take them!

"I see." Ishigami Yu thought seriously. "Aside from food, Shuchiin doesn't have anything urgent. Materials and energy can wait a little longer, it's fine. Chairman?"

"Ah." Shirogane Miyuki realized what was happening and handed over another list. "This one was compiled by Shinomiya, and Ishigami, the accountant, added some more later. These are the things we can exchange."

"Hmm." Uesugi Genshin took it, flipped through it casually, and found that it hadn't changed much compared to last time. "I'll take it back to show my accountant over there."

"That's a huge help." Shirogane Miyuki breathed a sigh of relief, finally reaching a general agreement.

I glanced up at the clock. "It's already this late."

He invited Uesugi Genshin, "Would you like to stay for dinner? It's specially prepared for you."

"..." So, does that mean he has to stay?

“Okay.” Uesugi Genshin had no objections.

They chatted for a while longer, discussing their experiences with the two schools and sharing some other topics.

"Knock knock knock," the student council door was knocked on again.

"We've arrived," Shirogane Miyuki called out. "Please come in."

"President~" It was Fujiwara Chika who opened the door. She was a girl with a somewhat quirky look and cute pink hair.

"Oh, thank you for your hard work, Secretary Fujiwara," said Miyuki Shirogane, raising his hand.

As the junior, Ishigami Yu stood up and took the plate from Fujiwara Chika's hand. "Huh? There's no food for me?"

The plate contained a serving of Mapo Tofu in the center, a bowl of rice, and two small bowls for serving the rice. It smelled delicious, glowed red, and had a very tempting spicy and pungent aroma.

"Ah... Shinomiya didn't prepare anything?" Shirogane Miyuki had entrusted this matter to Shinomiya.

"Ha, then I'll take my leave now. If you go to the cafeteria late, there won't be much left." Ishigami Yu put down his tray, looking a little sad.

"What are you talking about?" Fujiwara Chika patted Ishigami Yu on the back. "We've already prepared portions for both of us, we just won't eat them here."

"Huh? Really?" Ishigami Yu perked up.

"Mmm." Fujiwara Chika cupped her large breasts in her arms, swaying them up and down, and nodded. "Of course, let's go eat together."

"Great!" Ishigami Yu followed Fujiwara Chika like a zombie.

"Then let's say goodbye."

"Oh." "Bye~"

After the door closed, Shirogane Miyuki personally divided the rice into two small bowls.

"This is the surviving chef of Shinomiya's family. He is said to have studied cuisines from various countries. He claims this is authentic Sichuan Mapo Tofu, and he said it was his confident creation when he was preparing it yesterday."

Uesugi Genshin took the rice and responded.

but......

Is it authentic?

"No, it's completely inauthentic, okay?" he complained.

"What's wrong?" Shirogane Miyuki asked, looking at the Mapo Tofu dish with a puzzled expression.

“Authentic Mapo Tofu should have green garlic sprouts on it.” Uesugi Genshin pointed to the green color on the Mapo Tofu. “He actually used chopped green onions!”

"Huh?" Shirogane Miyuki tilted his head, clearly unaware. "Really?"

"Yes." Apart from that, there's nothing much to say about the Sichuan peppercorn powder, minced beef, and tofu.

"Excuse me, but what nationality is the chef who makes this dish?"

"Ah, it seems to be a French chef from Algeria."

Algeria?

Black? Or Muslim?

A French chef?

"That's not surprising."

What do the French know about Chinese food?!