Kaguya-sama Wants Me to Surrender

If only I could bring pets.

Bringing in a cow would allow me to pass smoothly in minutes. Blood is fine, and freshly squeezed milk could also be food... but unfortunately, Fujiwara-san can't do that.

As they spoke, a vengeful spirit girl with black hair covering her face and her school uniform stained with blood approached.

"Back up, back up."

Fujiwara Chika quickly tugged on Amamiya Natsuki's sleeve, pulling him aside.

The vengeful spirit girl wasn't targeting the three of them. She lowered her head and approached the food pick-up window, extending her right hand to offer a white bone coin. She received a plate of pork cutlet rice with ingredients she couldn't identify, then turned and left silently, sitting down in a corner.

This vengeful spirit girl's body seemed quite rigid. She clumsily picked up her chopsticks, grabbed a piece of unidentifiable meat, and it fell to the floor with a clatter before she could even bring it to her mouth.

Under Amamiya Natsuki's gaze, a line of text suddenly appeared above the vengeful spirit girl's head:

[Danger, danger, danger. Good thing the Head Chef didn't see, or I would have been dragged to the kitchen as an ingredient.]

"Shouldn't you tie up your hair before eating?" Fujiwara Chika couldn't help but whisper, "I really want to tie her hair up for her."

Amamiya Natsuki saw this and suddenly had a bold idea.

As long as they could use the currency circulating in the Vengeful Spirit School, they could buy food. Humans were fine too.

The players didn't have money.

But these vengeful spirits in the cafeteria definitely had money.

Since that was the case, why not just take their money?

The plan was complete!

"There isn't much time left," Shinomiya Kaguya reminded them, her tone calm. "I don't have the energy to worry about others right now."

"Even if you say that, Kaguya..." Fujiwara Chika said with a pained expression, looking pitiful. "They only gave us one stone bowl. It's not donating blood, it's making us bleed out!"

"I have an idea I want to test."

Amamiya Natsuki pondered for a moment and then stepped towards the vengeful spirit girl.

"Huh?" Fujiwara Chika was startled. "What is Amamiya-kun going to do?"

Amamiya Natsuki waved his hand. "You'll know in a moment."

He walked up to the vengeful spirit girl and sat down right beside her. He extended his right hand and got straight to the point:

"Please give me hush money."

"Meow?"

The vengeful spirit girl, who was clumsily eating, looked up blankly at Amamiya Natsuki, confused.

What was this human saying?

Hush money?

Who gave him the courage?

"You dropped your food just now and didn't pick it up, but kicked it away," Amamiya Natsuki said with a serious expression. "How dare you waste food in the cafeteria! Give me hush money quickly, or I'll call the Head Chef over."

"..."

The vengeful spirit girl pushed her hair aside with both hands, revealing a pair of dark, empty eye sockets. Her face was pale and bloodless, and her voice was hoarse. "Foolish human, unless you know the Head Chef's name, the Head Chef won't pay you any mind."

"I see," Amamiya Natsuki nodded. "Thanks for the advice."

A sinister smile spread across the vengeful spirit girl's face as she slowly leaned closer. "Foolish human, become my food!"

Amamiya Natsuki said a name without changing his expression:

"Oink."

"..."

The smile on the vengeful spirit girl's face froze abruptly, and she opened her mouth in disbelief.

Amamiya Natsuki continued:

"There's someone here wasting food..."

Before he could finish, the vengeful spirit girl trembled and quickly clasped her hands together. "I'm sorry, I'm extremely sorry, please forgive me."

The Head Chef usually didn't come out of the cafeteria kitchen, but whenever they did, they brought terror. They hated food waste the most. Once they discovered someone wasting food, they would be dragged into the kitchen to become reserve ingredients.

So, the vengeful spirit girl in front of him immediately backed down.

Even though she was a vengeful spirit now, she didn't want to be treated as reserve ingredients.

"I, hush money, I'll pay."

Amamiya Natsuki unceremoniously extended his right hand.

Was it illegal to bully vengeful spirits?

Of course not.

"..."

The vengeful spirit girl's black hair swayed as she dejectedly took out a bone coin and offered it with both hands.

Amamiya Natsuki took the coin. It felt cool and smooth, surprisingly so for something made of bone, like jade.

"This is your hush money?"

Amamiya Natsuki gripped the coin, displeased.

Giving me just one cent, who are you looking down on?!

"I'm sorry," the Vengeful Spirit Girl said, even more dejected, on the verge of tears. "This is all the money I have."

All she had was money for her last meal. Truly heartbreaking.

Seeing the words "[Absolutely nothing left]" appear above the Vengeful Spirit Girl's head, Amamiya Natsuki pocketed the coin and stood up to leave.

"Um..." Fujiwara Chika, who had been eavesdropping with pricked ears, whispered, clutching her chest, "It feels like a delinquent shaking down a grade-schooler for their allowance."

A vengeful spirit that size is hardly a grade-schooler.

Amamiya Natsuki looked over expressionlessly. "Fujiwara-san, it's time for you to donate blood."

"I'm sorry, I was wrong."

Fujiwara Chika quickly apologized, knowing when to yield.

"So that's how it works," Shinomiya Kaguya pursed her lips, thinking rapidly. "That old player mentioned before that every game scenario has hidden rules for clearing it. Is the hidden rule in the cafeteria to make deals with vengeful spirit students?"

"There was no deal from start to finish," Fujiwara Chika couldn't help but retort. "Amamiya-kun was clearly just bullying the vengeful spirit, and that girl was crying!"

Chapter 11: The Villainess Shinomiya Kaguya

Everyone's a Villain

"That vengeful spirit student was too poor; they only managed to borrow one dollar."

Amamiya Natsuki sighed.

"But you just called it hush money!"

Fujiwara Chika couldn't help but whisper.

"We're running out of time, don't waste it on trivial matters," Amamiya Natsuki said, his expression unchanged. "We still need to borrow more money."

"It's best to borrow a lot," Shinomiya Kaguya said, crossing her left arm and resting her chin on her right hand, analyzing calmly. "Since this school has 'currency,' it should be usable in places other than the cafeteria..."

"It's best if we can borrow from everyone in the cafeteria," Kaguya-sama lowered her gaze, slightly pursing her pink lips. Her voice echoed with the darkness of night, making her seem more terrifying than any vengeful spirit. "I've heard a saying: money makes the world go 'round... As long as we become those who control capital, we can control everything."

"Kaguya is scary!"

Fujiwara Chika crossed her arms.

Amamiya Natsuki nodded in agreement. "Very scary."

Fujiwara Chika continued, "Exploiting even vengeful spirits, you're an evil capitalist!"

Amamiya Natsuki: "Evil capitalist."

I was just thinking about borrowing money to pass, but you're already planning to extort the entire cafeteria. Truly an evil capitalist!

"Let's split up," Amamiya Natsuki said quickly. "Fujiwara-san and Shinomiya-san, you two go together. I'll go alone."

Extorting vengeful spirits isn't illegal, no reason to refuse.

Amamiya Natsuki strongly agreed with the saying "money makes the world go 'round." If they had enough money, they might truly be able to walk all over this vengeful spirit school.

Even if not, at a critical moment, he could use his "money-scattering" skill to create an escape opportunity.

In short, the more the better.

"Kaguya-chan, are we really going to extort people?" Fujiwara Chika asked softly.

"It's hush money," Shinomiya Kaguya corrected.

"It's the same thing," Fujiwara Chika grumbled. "We're going to become school villains."

"..."

Amamiya Natsuki ignored the girls' murmurs and walked up to another vengeful spirit student in the corner.

This vengeful spirit was a boy, his eyes blood red, his face covered in crisscrossing wounds. He only had one arm, and black mist seemed to flow from the wounds, making him look quite terrifying.

"Me, hush money, give money."

Amamiya Natsuki sat down beside the boy, his expression calm, and extended his right hand.

If this were before yesterday, I wouldn't be able to be this calm. But after seeing countless evil spirits, I've become accustomed to it.

Although the vengeful spirit boy in front of him was scary, he still maintained a human form. Many of the twisted things in reality don't even have human forms. Compared to the giant vengeful infant from this morning, the vengeful spirit boy was almost handsome.

"..."

The vengeful spirit boy didn't speak. His head suddenly bent at a ninety-degree angle, his cold, blood-red eyes staring at Amamiya Natsuki. His mouth opened, revealing sharp, ferocious teeth.

"What are you looking at?"

Amamiya Natsuki pointed under the table. "Isn't that the food you dropped?"

"How dare you litter food in the cafeteria? Have you forgotten the Head Chef's rules?"

Hearing "Head Chef," the vengeful spirit boy flinched, a clear look of hesitation on his face.

However, this male vengeful spirit was clearly harder to fool. After a brief hesitation, the chilling aura around him intensified, and his voice turned cold, as if it could freeze a person solid:

"You're lying to me. Humans can't possibly know the Head Chef's name..."

Amamiya Natsuki interrupted him directly.

"Oink..."

The male vengeful spirit stopped his movements in a panic.

How is this possible?

This outsider actually knows the Head Chef's real name?

Danger, danger, danger.

If he really calls the Head Chef out from the kitchen, I'll definitely be dragged in and become reserve ingredients!

"I'm sorry, please forgive me."

The male vengeful spirit's expression shifted, and he quickly bowed his head to apologize.

When you're under someone else's roof, you have to bow your head.

Vengeful spirits were no different.

Apologizing was just losing face, but not apologizing would turn him into reserve ingredients.

"I, hush money, give money."

Amamiya Natsuki extended his right hand.

"..."

The male vengeful spirit silently took three bone coins from his pocket and handed them over.