The Student Council's First Task

After the meeting ended, Nagumo Miyabi and Kiriyama Iki left one after another. According to Tachibana Senpai, they both worked outside the student council room, so only Tachibana Akane and Horikita Manabu usually stayed behind in the student council room every day.

Whether it was an illusion or not, Konoe felt a strong gaze fixed on his back.

Thump... Tachibana threw a pile of documents, stacked like a small mountain of A4 paper, in front of Konoe.

"Since I'm in charge, you'll go through all these documents first. Ask me if there's anything you don't understand. You have to finish reading them today, and you're not allowed to leave the student council room until you're done." Konoe inexplicably felt that Tachibana Senpai seemed aggressive towards him.

"...Can I ask if you've forgiven me for that incident earlier?" Konoe was asking about the time he casually gave Tachibana a nickname and called it out loud to his face.

"I've forgiven you for now, but that doesn't mean I approve of you joining the student council, even though you're indeed intelligent." Tachibana then glanced casually at Horikita Manabu, who was working. Seeing that Horikita Manabu didn't react, Tachibana breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is that so... I need to go back to the classroom to tutor my classmates at five, so can I leave a bit earlier today?"

"Didn't I tell you? You have to finish reading them today, and don't be perfunctory. If you're confident, I'll ask you a few questions after you're done. If you answer them all correctly, I'll let you leave early."

"Let me leave early, huh... Then pour me a cup of hot tea first. I was invited by the president, after all. It's not too much to ask for a cup of tea, is it?"

"What an arrogant junior. However, as a senior, it's necessary to show appropriate care." With that, Tachibana Senpai went to make tea.

Seeing Tachibana Senpai go to make tea, Konoe felt a bit surprised. He turned his head to look at the pile of documents in front of him. Just reading them once would take a considerable amount of time. Konoe sighed and began to flip through the documents.

"...No, reading them page by page is too slow. At this rate, I might not finish until tonight." Konoe sighed and activated his Mind Palace.

This time, Konoe didn't imagine things in his mind. He focused his attention on the documents in front of him. He first flipped through the documents page by page, trying to read them as quickly as possible while slowly adjusting his posture and flipping motion to save time.

Then, his posture became stiff and fixed, his reading speed increased, but his hands could accurately flip to the next page. He read the documents at an almost eerie speed, and the sound of pages flipping became more and more frequent.

"Hey! Didn't I say not to be perfunctory? You this..." It turned out Tachibana Senpai had returned with the freshly brewed tea. But Konoe seemed not to have heard her; his movements were completely unaffected, not even a slight pause.

"Tachibana, wait a moment." Horikita Manabu interrupted her, and Tachibana placed the tea aside.

In just over ten minutes, Konoe finished reading nearly two decimeters of A4 paper documents. He immediately closed his eyes, and after another minute, he opened them.

"Hoo..." Konoe took a deep breath, then picked up the tea and took a sip. The temperature was just right. "Let's begin, Tachibana Senpai."

"...Begin... Begin what? Were you counting the pages just now?"

"You have a good sense of humor, Senpai. If I were counting pages, why wouldn't I measure the height of the paper, since they're all A4?"

"What..." Tachibana Akane clearly hadn't grasped what Konoe was saying, so Horikita Manabu began to ask questions in her stead.

"How many people make up the School Board?"

"Twelve."

"What was the last financial transaction point for the Kendo Club?"

"21,000 points, for the purchase of bamboo swords and their maintenance tools."

"What are the monthly revenues and expenditures of the nearest convenience store from here?"

"Negative 35,424 points, mainly due to insufficient customer traffic and excessive product accumulation leading to spoilage."

"...You can leave now. You need to attend the student council meeting every Monday after school. We'll contact you via text message if anything comes up, so remember to reply promptly. If other members ask you to do something, report it to me immediately." Horikita Manabu then returned to his work.

Konoe downed the tea in one gulp and prepared to take his leave. "Then I'll be going now, President, Tachibana Senpai."

"...What?" Tachibana Senpai still hadn't reacted, staring blankly at Konoe, while Horikita Manabu behind her simply nodded. Seeing this, Konoe left directly.

"Tachibana, come here for a moment, I have something to say..."

Konoe took out his mobile phone and checked the time. There were only a little over ten minutes left until five o'clock. He wiped the sweat from his forehead. It seemed he would have to postpone the Study Group every Monday; time was a bit tight.

While checking his mobile phone messages, Konoe walked towards the classroom.

Ayanokoji: "The exam questions have been obtained. You were right, the mini-test questions are exactly the same. The test paper is currently with Kushida."

Ayanokoji: "Is there anything? I was planning to have Kushida bring it out on the last day, what do you think?"

Konoe looked at the time the text messages were sent. They were all sent an hour ago. He had been in a meeting at the time, so he had muted his phone.

Konoe: "Sorry, Ayanokoji. I was just at the student council for a bit. Let's proceed with the test paper as you said. How is Horikita's study group going?"

Ayanokoji: "Horikita thought of a plan. She said the after-school study group was canceled, and she seemed to be going to find Sudo. What about the student council matter?"

Konoe: "I've temporarily joined the student council. Do you want to come to the classroom this afternoon to check on the study group?"

Ayanokoji: "Is that so? I'll pass, but you can call me if you want to eat."

Konoe: "Understood, see you later then."

Konoe realized he was about to pass a corner, but he heard a strange sound.

'Drip... drip... drip...'

'It doesn't sound like human footsteps, but it's very rhythmic and getting closer. What could it be?' Konoe was very curious, but he was also afraid that if he went out, his body might bump into the person.

Normally, at this time, he could just walk a few steps to the side and leave, but Konoe, perhaps driven by curiosity or perhaps too tired from using his Mind Palace earlier, inexplicably pressed himself against the wall of the corner and slowly poked his head out.

"...What are you doing, Konoe-kun?" A cute voice came.