Chapter 690: LWH Chapter 678: Pull Off a Job

“Turns out their subsequent test papers didn’t have that kind of trap at all, causing me to become overly suspicious and waste quite a lot of time.”

Asakura slumped onto the sofa in the activity room, his entire expression looking utterly drained and feeble.

“So Asakura-kun failed this exam?” Yukino looked down at him from above and asked.

“Not at all—don’t underestimate my speed!”

Asakura reached out and wiggled his fingers, their freakish agility making the girl involuntarily knit her brows, producing a physiological discomfort akin to seeing a spider.

“Besides, although there were no traps afterward, there were clearly some clever little designs. The champion of the first event of the Triwizard Tournament might very well end up being Toyogasaki, you know.”

After all, the teaching paces of the three schools were completely different. For the sake of fairness, the exam scope designated for this joint exam referenced the school with the slowest current curriculum pace—which was precisely Toyogasaki & Tsukinomori Joint Private Academy.

This point wasn’t hard to guess. Shuchiin’s public image had always been that of educating elite figures destined for future politics and business, so the teaching quality went without saying. Coupled with the fact that those students from wealthy and noble families had no worries about ‘cram school tuition being high’ or ‘not being able to afford private tutors,’ Shuchiin’s curriculum pace was inherently very fast. Although Sobu High lacked such advantages and was a public school, it was still an established Chiba high school with a high college advancement rate, so its teaching pace was naturally not slow either.

As for Toyogasaki and the merged Tsukinomori… their teaching quality was probably only slightly better than the kind like Otonokizaka, which had almost faced closure.

To be honest, if this joint exam were compared by average scores or the like, Toyogasaki would likely fall to last place with zero suspense. Yet the format this time was a contest among the top ten honor students of each grade—presumably because Shuchiin, which proposed the rules, felt that as a school specifically recruiting Super High School Level honor students, they held a massive advantage under such conditions—which left a lot of room for maneuvering.

Assuming the level of the honor students across the three schools wasn’t separated by an insurmountable gap, under equal time constraints, the students of one school could dedicate all their time to reviewing the effective exam scope, whereas the other two schools had to review an extra 50% of useless material; the former would clearly hold a greater advantage.

Furthermore, the trap on the mathematics paper—which was the easiest place to create a score gap—along with those subtle tricks in subsequent subjects, magnified Toyogasaki’s advantage even further.

That was why Asakura said Toyogasaki might temporarily seize the throne of first place.

This was quite ironic; before the Triwizard Tournament began, neither Shuchiin nor Sobu High had actually paid any mind to Toyogasaki…

At this moment, there was no one else in the activity room, evidently having not yet recovered from being squeezed by consecutive exams.

Looking at the time, though, it was about ready.

“I’m going out to buy some drinks. Want me to bring you anything?” Asakura stood up and asked.

“How rare,” Yukino glanced at him: “Don’t you always conjure up whatever you want to drink directly?”

“Drinks ‘conjured’ like that are too refined and aren’t suitable for times like this,” Asakura shook his head. “Occasionally, I also want to let my taste buds re-experience the cheap taste of artificial flavorings; it feels like it relieves fatigue a bit better.”

“A quirk.”

Yukino categorized it flatly.

“This is merely my life philosophy,” Asakura argued, quickly stepping out of the activity room at the same time: “If your taste buds always get used to the good stuff, you’ll become a picky eater.”

“Strawberry milk.” Suddenly, the girl’s quiet voice came from behind.

“No problem.”

Asakura smiled and flashed an ‘OK’ sign at her.

☆

After buying the coffee he wanted and Yukino’s strawberry milk at the vending machine, just as Asakura was about to head back, he heard the sounds of people arguing.

Considering the joint exam had just finished, most students were still lost in a state of having mush for brains, and almost no one was around the club building. Curious, Asakura leaned over, only to discover that the one speaking was Amakusa Shino, while the one standing before her with an annoyed face was the stock-god girl he had encountered a few times… Oh wait, wasn’t her name Sakiko?

“Please help us out, Togawa-san,” Amakusa Shino said. “The student in the Performance Club in charge of the piano injured her finger and can’t play properly. I heard that Togawa-san is quite accomplished on the piano, so…”

“I refuse.”

Sakiko refused stiffly.

The stiffness here referred to her tone, not the breast size of a certain second young lady.

“Is it really impossible no matter what?” Amakusa Shino asked somewhat helplessly.

“Yes.”

Sakiko said.

“Not even if I offer ten meal vouchers for Set A as a reward?” Amakusa Shino tempted her with perks.

Sakiko: “……Dame desu wa.”

She just hesitated, didn’t she?

“What if I add ten meal vouchers for Set B right now?” Amakusa Shino suddenly seemed to notice a tell and immediately increased the stakes.

“Setting aside that I have absolutely no desire to make an appearance in the club battles—” Sakiko let out a sigh: “The roster of tournament participants has already been submitted, hasn’t it? So according to the tournament rules, even if I wanted to replace that student, wouldn’t that be a foul?”

“There’s actually no need to worry about that point,” Amakusa Shino smiled slightly: “Because our school has plenty of wimps—of course, I don’t specifically mean those cowards in the tennis club—who might still chicken out once the official competition begins even after signing up. So early on when the three schools were discussing the rules, I had already made preparations.”

The Student Council President lady puffed out her chest—which was of a similar scale to Yukino’s—with complete confidence and said: “If a student withdraws from the club battles due to an ‘accident’, the school can use a substitute student. However, the substitute player can only be someone from the student council.”

“Then I’m not a member of the student council either,” Sakiko said.

“It doesn’t matter. Just join now, and there’s no issue if you quit after the tournament ends.”

Amakusa Shino took full charge and made grand promises.

Sakiko looked at Amakusa Shino with a suspicious expression that said, ‘You wouldn’t just be taking this opportunity to capture some fresh, free labor for the student council, would you?’

Facing the girl’s suspicious scrutiny, Amakusa Shino didn’t feel guilty at all; instead, after a momentary freeze, a look of sudden realization broke across her face.

She lightly winked at Sakiko: “If you join now, I can also make the call to give you some extra good stuff.”

“Good stuff?” Sakiko’s eyes were full of doubt, having no idea what kind of trick this unreliable Student Council President was about to pull.

“For example, the er*tic books confiscated from the boys during previous school inspections,” Amakusa Shino said.

“Who on earth would want that?!” Sakiko instantly bristled, her cheeks flushing bright red.

“I can guarantee they’re all top-quality goods in exquisite condition.” Amakusa Shino didn’t think there was any problem with her proposal at all.

“You’ve actually read them?!” Sakiko held her forehead, her body swaying slightly, her eyes filled with despair. How could anyone say such things so righteously: “Pull yourself together, Student Council President!”

“This is also an important duty of the Student Council President!” Amakusa Shino thrust out her chest, looking dead serious, planting both hands on her hips as she declared loudly.

Rather, this is the exact reason I joined the student council in the first place!

Although she didn’t say it out loud, Sakiko felt as though she could read that exact message written across her face.

“I’m starting to lose all faith in Sobu High’s student council,” Sakiko muttered helplessly, her eyes completely filled with exasperation.

“Otherwise, what did you think a student council president does?” Amakusa Shino tilted her head, her eyes brimming with natural matter-of-factness, as if Sakiko’s question was bizarre.

“Manage the students, I suppose,” Sakiko said.

“Put that kind of trivial matter aside first,” Amakusa Shino waved her hand nonchalantly.

“Don’t place your personal lust above all the students!” Sakiko complained loudly.

“What are you saying? I respect the lust of other students very much—respect!” Amakusa Shino said in all seriousness, even making a deliberate ‘respect’ gesture.

“Being respected in a place where it is completely unnecessary!” Sakiko held her forehead and sighed, starting to feel that Sobu High’s student council was like a dirty-joke syndicate.

Yet Amakusa Shino seemed completely oblivious to her breakdown, stepping closer instead to ask: “So, Togawa-san, are you on the ‘index finger faction’ or the ‘middle finger faction’?”

“Although I don’t understand what you mean in the slightest, I can sense a darkness no less severe than the Togawa family’s desu wa. Please excuse me, I will take my leave!”

“Ah, right. Although twenty meal vouchers is already the limit, if Togawa-san can help out, I can also lend a bit of a hand on the scholarship application at the end of the semester.”

Amakusa Shino said with a beaming smile.

Sakiko’s movements suddenly froze.

From her expression, which kept morphing like an amoeba, one could see the girl was intensely torn and wavering.

In the end, however, she still shook her head: “I apologize. I have my own reasons; I absolutely do not want to appear before the students of Tsukinomori… I still have business. Excuse me desu wa.”

Having said that, as if terrified that Amakusa Shino might offer another condition that would tempt her further, the girl took off rapidly as if running for her life.

Seeing this, Amakusa Shino couldn’t help letting out a disappointed sigh.

“The solicitation failed, huh.” At this moment, Asakura finally stepped out from around the corner and strolled leisurely up to Amakusa Shino: “Miss Student Council President.”

“Oh, isn’t it Asakura? You’ve actually been hiding in the corner doing OMO all this time? How mean,” Amakusa Shino grumbled.

“I did want to help, but that girl seems to hold a bit of a prejudice against me,” Asakura glanced in the direction where Sakiko had vanished: “I always feel she regards me as some kind of weirdo. Even if I came out, I wouldn’t be able to help; it would only make her even more resistant.”

“Oho, turns out there are actually girls who dislike Asakura-kun,” Amakusa Shino teased mischievously.

“In terms of the proportion of girls at Sobu High, the portion that keeps me at a respectful distance makes up the absolute majority,” holding drinks in his hands, Asakura could only shrug casually as he spoke.

After all, in the eyes of average students, he was an oddball who would wear a wizard’s hat even when entering an examination room.

“By the way, Asakura-kun, you must have suffered a bit of a setback in the joint exam too, right?” The girl suddenly looked at Asakura.

“Yeah, so what?” Asakura let out a light hum: “Me getting weaker doesn’t mean the others have gotten stronger.”

“In any case, getting plotted against definitely doesn’t feel great inside. In that case,” the girl fished out a club joining application form from her chest. Except the entry under the club column wasn’t a regular club name, but Sobu High Student Council—this thing even already had the Student Council President’s official seal stamped onto it: “Want to pull off a job in the club battles?”

Looking at her chest, which had deflated all at once, Asakura hesitated, wanting to speak yet holding back, holding back yet wanting to speak.

Still, thinking about it, being plotted against was indeed very irritating.

And so, Asakura flashed a dashing smile and took the application form from her hand.

“Let’s do it!”