It would have been nice if we could bring pets.
If we could bring a cow in, we'd pass in no time. Blood would work, and freshly squeezed milk could count as food too... Too bad Fujiwara-classmate couldn't manage it.
As they spoke, a Vengeful Spirit Girl approached, her black hair covering her face and her school uniform stained with blood.
"Back up, back up."
Fujiwara Chika hurriedly grabbed Amamiya Natsuki by the hem of his clothes and pulled him aside.
The Vengeful Spirit Girl wasn't after Amamiya Natsuki and the others. With her head lowered, she went to the serving window, held out her right hand, and offered a white bone coin. She took a plate of pork cutlet rice made from unknown ingredients, then silently turned and walked away, sitting down in a corner.
The Vengeful Spirit Girl's body seemed quite stiff. Awkwardly picking up her chopsticks, she lifted a piece of unknown meat. Before it could reach her mouth, it slipped and fell to the floor with a clatter.
As Amamiya Natsuki watched, a line of text suddenly appeared above the Vengeful Spirit Girl's head:
[Danger, danger, danger. Good thing the Head Chef didn't see that, or I'd have been dragged into the kitchen as an ingredient.]
"Shouldn't she tie her hair back before eating?" Fujiwara Chika muttered under her breath. "I really want to help her tie it up."
Watching this, Amamiya Natsuki suddenly had a bold idea.
All they had to do was use the currency circulating in Vengeful Spirit School to buy food. It didn't matter that they were human.
The players didn't have any money.
But the Vengeful Spirits in the cafeteria surely did.
So why not just take the money off them?
Plan set!
"There isn't much time left." Shinomiya Kaguya reminded them, her tone calm. "We don't have the time or energy to worry about other people."
"But even so, Kaguya..." Fujiwara Chika looked troubled and pitiful. "They only gave us one stone bowl! This isn't donating blood; they want us to bleed ourselves dry!"
"I have an idea I'd like to test."
Amamiya Natsuki spoke thoughtfully, then headed toward the Vengeful Spirit Girl.
"Huh?" Fujiwara Chika stared at him. "What's Amamiya-classmate going to do?"
Amamiya Natsuki waved a hand. "You'll see."
He walked over to the Vengeful Spirit Girl and sat down beside her. Extending his right hand, he got straight to the point:
"Please give me hush money."
"Meow?"
The Vengeful Spirit Girl, awkwardly trying to eat, raised her head in confusion and looked at Amamiya Natsuki.
What was this human talking about?
Hush money?
What gave him the nerve?
"You dropped your food just now. Instead of picking it up, you kicked it away." Amamiya Natsuki's expression was stern. "How dare you waste food in the cafeteria? Hand over the hush money, or I'll call the Head Chef."
"..."
The Vengeful Spirit Girl parted her hair with both hands, revealing a pair of black, empty eye sockets. Her face was deathly pale, and her voice hoarse. "You foolish human. Unless you know the Head Chef's name, he won't listen to you."
"I see." Amamiya Natsuki nodded. "Thanks for the tip."
An evil smile spread across the Vengeful Spirit Girl's face as she slowly moved closer. "You foolish human, become my food!"
Amamiya Natsuki called out a name without changing expression:
"Oink."
"..."
The smile on the Vengeful Spirit Girl's face froze. Her mouth fell open in disbelief.
Amamiya Natsuki continued:
"There's someone here wasting—"
Before he could finish, the Vengeful Spirit Girl shuddered and hurriedly pressed her hands together. "I'm sorry, I'm terribly sorry. Please forgive me."
The Head Chef rarely came out of the cafeteria kitchen, but whenever he did, terror followed. He hated people who wasted food most of all. If he caught anyone wasting food, he would drag them into the kitchen and turn them into reserve ingredients.
So the Vengeful Spirit Girl immediately caved.
Even as a Vengeful Spirit, she didn't want to become reserve ingredients.
"I. Hush money. Pay."
Amamiya Natsuki held out his right hand without the slightest hesitation.
Was it illegal to bully Vengeful Spirits?
Of course not.
"..."
The Vengeful Spirit Girl's black hair swayed as she reluctantly fished out a bone coin and offered it with both hands.
Amamiya Natsuki took the coin. It felt cold, and though it was made of bone, its texture was smooth and delicate, like jade.
"This is your hush money?"
Amamiya Natsuki clenched the coin in displeasure.
You're giving me just one coin? Who do you think you're looking down on!
"I'm sorry." The Vengeful Spirit Girl looked even more aggrieved, almost on the verge of tears. "This is all the money I have."
She only had enough money for one last meal. It was the kind of thing that made anyone who heard it feel heartbroken.
Seeing the words [There really isn't a single drop left] appear above the Vengeful Spirit Girl's head, Amamiya Natsuki pocketed the coin and stood up to leave.
"Um..." Fujiwara Chika had been listening with her ears perked up. She covered her chest and whispered, "That felt like a delinquent extorting a primary school student for her allowance."
That Vengeful Spirit was huge. There was no way she was a primary school student.
Amamiya Natsuki looked over without expression. "Fujiwara-classmate, it's time to donate blood."
"I'm sorry, I was wrong."
Fujiwara Chika hurriedly apologized. The wise knew when to yield.
"So we can do that too." Shinomiya Kaguya pursed her lips and thought quickly. "That veteran player said every game scenario has hidden rules for clearing it. Is the cafeteria's hidden rule to trade with the Vengeful Spirit Students?"
"There was no trade from beginning to end." Fujiwara Chika couldn't help muttering. "Amamiya-classmate was just bullying that Vengeful Spirit. She even started crying!"
Young Lady Kaguya, the Villainess
All Villains
"That Vengeful Spirit-classmate was too poor. I only managed to borrow one coin."
Amamiya Natsuki sighed.
"You just called it hush money!"
Fujiwara Chika couldn't help muttering under her breath.
"There isn't much time. Don't waste it on trivial things." Amamiya Natsuki kept a straight face. "We still have more money to borrow."
"We should borrow as much as possible." Shinomiya Kaguya folded her left arm across her chest and rested her right hand against her chin, analyzing calmly. "Since this school has 'currency,' we should be able to use it elsewhere besides the cafeteria..."
"Best if we can borrow from everyone in the cafeteria." Young Lady Kaguya lowered her gaze and pressed her rosy lips together. Her voice held the dark tones of night, making her seem even more terrifying than the Vengeful Spirits. "I've heard a saying: money makes the world go round... Once we control the capital, we can control everything."
"Kaguya-chan is so scary!"
Fujiwara Chika hugged herself.
Amamiya Natsuki nodded in agreement. "So scary."
Fujiwara Chika continued, "You're even exploiting Vengeful Spirits. Evil capitalist!"
Amamiya Natsuki said, "Evil capitalist."
He'd only been thinking of borrowing enough money to clear the stage, but she was already planning to extort the whole cafeteria. No wonder she was an evil big-time capitalist!
"Let's split up," Amamiya Natsuki said quickly. "Fujiwara-classmate, go with Shinomiya-classmate. I'll go on my own."
Extorting Vengeful Spirits wasn't illegal, so there was no reason to refuse.
Amamiya Natsuki quite agreed with the saying that money made the world go round. With enough money, maybe he really could strut around Vengeful Spirit School.
Even if not, he could use the 'money-throwing' skill at a critical moment to create a chance to escape.
In short, the more, the better.
"Kaguya-chan, are we really going to extort people?" Fujiwara Chika asked quietly.
"It's hush money," Shinomiya Kaguya corrected.
"That's clearly the same thing," Fujiwara Chika muttered. "We're turning into the school bullies."
"..."
Amamiya Natsuki didn't listen to the two girls' whispered chatter. He walked over to another Vengeful Spirit Student sitting in a corner.
This Vengeful Spirit was a boy. His eyes were bloodred, and his face was covered in crisscrossing wounds. He had only one arm, and something like black mist seeped from the wound. He looked terrifying.
"I. Hush money. Pay."
Amamiya Natsuki sat down beside the boy, his expression calm, and held out his right hand.
Before yesterday, he definitely couldn't have stayed this calm. But after seeing countless evil spirits, he'd gradually gotten used to them.
The Vengeful Spirit Boy in front of him was scary, but at least he still looked human. Many of the twisted things in the real world didn't even have a human shape. Compared to the enormous vengeful infant from that morning, the Vengeful Spirit Boy almost looked handsome.
"..."
The Vengeful Spirit Boy said nothing. His head suddenly bent at a ninety-degree angle, and his cold, bloodred gaze fixed on Amamiya Natsuki. He opened his mouth, revealing a set of vicious, sawlike teeth.
"What are you looking at?"
Amamiya Natsuki pointed beneath the table. "That's your food, isn't it?"
"How dare you throw food around the cafeteria? Have you forgotten the Head Chef's Rules?"
At the mention of the Head Chef, the Vengeful Spirit Boy twitched. A clear note of hesitation crossed his face.
But this boy was harder to fool. After a brief hesitation, the ominous aura around him suddenly intensified. His voice was icy enough to freeze a person solid.
"You're lying. There's no way a human could know the Head Chef's name..."
Amamiya Natsuki cut him off at once.
"Oin—"
The Vengeful Spirit Boy stopped in a panic.
How could this be?
This outsider really knew the Head Chef's true name?
Danger, danger, danger.
If he really called the Head Chef out of the kitchen, he'd definitely be dragged inside and turned into reserve ingredients!
"I'm sorry. Please forgive me."
The Vengeful Spirit Boy's expression shifted, and he quickly lowered his head to apologize.
When you were under someone else's roof, you had to bow your head.
The same went for Vengeful Spirits.
"I. Hush money. Pay."
Amamiya Natsuki held out his right hand.
"..."
The Vengeful Spirit Boy silently took three bone coins from his pocket and handed them over.
Before you continue