Just Want to Be a Slacker

Looking at Sakayanagi in front of him, with Kamuro Masumi following beside her, Kamio Tatsuya spoke without hesitation.

This Kamuro girl has completely become Sakayanagi's lackey.

But that's fine.

Even if she's your lackey, I can still use her!

Chapter 43—So What If You're Class A? You Still Have to Hand Over the Money!

Seeing the puzzled expression on Kamio Tatsuya's face, Sakayanagi Arisu smiled cheerfully.

"May I sit here?"

Kamio Tatsuya twitched his lips in exasperation as he looked at the seat across from him that Sakayanagi was pointing at.

There's no one there, and the school isn't my property—sit wherever you want!

Besides, if I said no, would you actually just leave obediently?

No, you'd definitely stand here and finish talking to me even if I refused, and then I'd end up with a reputation for bullying a little girl.

Anyway, aren't you already sitting down?

Why bother asking me?

So annoying!

"Please, sit." After saying that, Kamio Tatsuya looked over at Kamuro Masumi beside her. "Aren't you going to sit down?"

Kamuro Masumi felt a sense of relief and sat down next to Sakayanagi.

They had arrived at the cafeteria before Kamio Tatsuya and had already finished lunch. It was only as they were about to leave that they spotted him sitting alone in a secluded spot.

So Sakayanagi decided to greet him. First, she sent him a message on his phone to grab his attention.

Then, using the slightly noisy atmosphere of the cafeteria, she quietly approached Kamio Tatsuya.

Thus, the conflicted expression on Kamio Tatsuya's face right after he rejected the deal was fully visible to Sakayanagi.

But just as she had guessed, Kamio Tatsuya didn't easily admit that he had been conflicted.

Still, she didn't mind. After sitting down, she spoke directly to him: "So, about the deal—what has Kamio-kun decided?"

"I refuse."

Hearing this, a bright smile immediately spread across Sakayanagi's face. Kamio Tatsuya's refusal was within her expectations, but...

"Then that means you're admitting you're the anonymous poster, right?"

"Of course I'm not admitting that. What nonsense are you talking about?"

"If you're not admitting it, then why are you refusing my invitation on behalf of that person?" Sakayanagi said with a smile, as if talking to herself. "If Kamio-kun weren't that anonymous poster, your answer just now should have been, 'Hmm—I told you, you've got the wrong person.'"

Mimicking Kamio Tatsuya's tone, her words left him a bit speechless.

Damn, I really am not suited for this kind of behind-the-scenes role. Got seen through at a glance, and even got tested out.

"You've got the wrong person. I swear on the Prime Minister of Japan's life—if I'm lying, may he die a horrible death."

Hearing Kamio Tatsuya's oath and seeing his righteous expression, Kamuro Masumi felt something was off.

Only Sakayanagi Arisu twitched the corner of her mouth.

"Do you hate the current Prime Minister that much?"

Hearing this, a cold smirk curled on Kamio Tatsuya's lips. Anyone who's visited a shrine should just drop dead, alright?

And at Sakayanagi's words, Kamuro Masumi realized she'd been tricked.

Who swears on someone else's life? Honestly.

But that also meant Kamio Tatsuya really was the anonymous poster, didn't it?

His strategy was so good even this scheming Sakayanagi couldn't crack it. Impressive.

People naturally admire strength, and without even realizing it, Kamuro Masumi had developed a trace of admiration for Kamio Tatsuya.

After this round of probing, Kamio Tatsuya hadn't admitted to being the anonymous poster, but both of them knew the truth.

Still, Kamio Tatsuya wasn't worried at all that Sakayanagi would spread the news that he was the anonymous poster.

After all, she had no evidence, so any accusation would just be slander.

If she dared to slander him.

Kamio Tatsuya would just go straight to the teacher.

It's like in business warfare—when you find out a rival company is using substandard materials, the simplest, most straightforward move is to report them.

And if the school ignored it, then Kamio Tatsuya would have something to say.

Rumors, after all—who can't spread them?

After finishing lunch and returning to the classroom, Kamio Tatsuya used his anonymous account to post on the forum: "I hope Class A can donate 20,000 Private Points per person to Class D. Otherwise, no one knows what Class D students might do."

That's double what the other two classes would give.

When Class D students saw this post, those who had originally planned to accept Ryuen's employment offers were left a bit confused.

"Looks like our Class D's hidden boss doesn't want to take Ryuen's job."

"So should we still do it?"

"What's the big deal? Class A hasn't paid up yet anyway."

Ever since Ike found out his buddy Yamauchi had swindled a hundred thousand points from Ryuen, he'd gotten intensely interested in Ryuen's hired task. So he immediately rounded up people to get started. But after Kamio Tatsuya sent out the message, those few students started hesitating. Seeing this, Ike got anxious.

"Think about it—Class A looked down on us first. If we don't teach them a lesson, how are they ever gonna pay us protection money?"

"That's right! We're not doing this for Ryuen's job—we're fighting for our class's interests, making sure our classmates have living expenses!"

Ike and Yamauchi played off each other, quickly steadying the group. Their whispered scheming was loud enough that plenty of girls in the class shot them contemptuous looks, especially at Yamauchi. Kamio Tatsuya shook his head again.

Hopeless. Class D was truly hopeless.

Let's not even get into those two's motives. But if they stirred things up, Class A would definitely be more willing to hand over protection money. And that money was your living expenses—what right did you have to look down on them for it? Honestly, even though Kamio Tatsuya was pulling the strings behind the scenes, without Yamauchi's reckless charge, Ryuen's Class C and Ichinose's Class B wouldn't have given up their points so easily. No matter how unreliable Yamauchi's methods were, for that alone, these idiots in Class D owed him a favor. And yet you're sneering at him now? Sneer at your own damn selves.

You pick up the bowl to eat, then put it down to curse the cook. If you've got the guts, don't take points from Hirata. A bunch of morons, same level as Yamauchi—no, Yamauchi's better than you!

Though he wasn't defending Yamauchi, seeing this scene made Kamio Tatsuya completely disillusioned with Class D. Over in Class A, Sakayanagi noticed the forum posts and just smiled faintly. How childish, Kamio-kun.

That afternoon after school, before Class D's students left the classroom, Katsuragi from Class A showed up at Class D's door with one of his classmates. The forum drama had been buzzing among the first years for two days, even reaching the teachers. Some teachers were even betting on whether Class D's scheme would succeed. Now, seeing Katsuragi at Class D's entrance, Chabashira Sae knew she'd won her bet. As she left the classroom, she glanced at Kamio Tatsuya packing up to go, feeling like Class D had stumbled onto a gem.

Chapter 44: Meeting in the Library

Kamio Tatsuya had no interest in listening to Katsuragi and Hirata's conversation, but since Katsuragi was backing down, it meant Yamauchi and Ike's harassment had worked. Following Class B and Class C, Kamio Tatsuya received a total of eight hundred thousand Private Points from Class A's aid. He had to admit, designating Hirata Yosuke as the contact was the right call—no risk of embezzlement.

Days passed, and Kamio Tatsuya's life fell into a steady rhythm: paying attention in class, then having Horikita explain anything he didn't understand after school. After that, he'd read the book he'd borrowed from the library. It wasn't long, but since he read carefully and thought things over, he didn't finish it until Friday. Truly a world-renowned work—absolutely brilliant!

Closing the book, Kamio Tatsuya walked to the library checkout counter to return it.

"So it was with you. I'd been wondering why I couldn't find it these past few days."

As he was handling the return, a girl with silver-tinged gray long hair suddenly spoke up. Not only that, she picked up the book he'd set on the counter. Kamio Tatsuya turned to look, struck by her ethereal aura and the pure light in her eyes. A girl like this existed at school? Even he found it hard to believe.

"Sorry, that was abrupt. I'm Shiina Hiyori from first-year Class C. Nice to meet you."

"First-year Class D, Kamio Tatsuya."

After the introductions, she immediately started chatting.

"Kamio-kun likes mystery novels too? I was looking for this book a few days ago, but the librarian said it was checked out."

"Reading novels is just a way to relax after studying, but this one is well-written," Kamio Tatsuya replied.

Hearing this, Shiina Hiyori's face broke into a smile. "Actually, I really like mystery novels, but there's basically no one in Class C who shares my interest. It's so nice to meet a kindred spirit at school."

"If Kamio-kun doesn't mind, could we exchange some reading experiences?"

Kamio Tatsuya really hadn't expected that the reason a strange girl would strike up a conversation with him in this world was because he also liked reading novels...

What?

You say Horikita also approached him?

How could that count?

And that wasn't really a chat-up—it was an interrogation.

As for Kamuro, Kamio Tatsuya was the one who took the initiative.

Being approached by a strange girl, and such a pretty one at that.

Even Kamio Tatsuya couldn't help feeling his mood lift quite a bit.

As for whether she might be someone Ryuen sent to get close to him deliberately, Kamio Tatsuya wasn't worried at all.

Who would use a honey trap on a slacker character like him?

It just wasn't worth it!

So Kamio Tatsuya simply nodded.

"No problem, but I need to head back today. We can discuss our thoughts another time when there's a chance."

Shiina Hiyori smiled and nodded too, then pulled out her phone from her pocket.

"Oh, right, let's exchange contact info."

Kamio Tatsuya didn't refuse. This was just another female contact in his phone, after Kushida, Horikita, Asahina, Kamuro, Sakayanagi... he'd lost count of how many.