A Strange Request

"Wait! If that's the case, then why did you buy the past exam papers? And why did you take the initiative to suggest the idea of buying points?! These aren't things a normal student would do, right?"

"Because..."

"Because someone has already paid the bill, right? Am I wrong, Shintō?"

Shintō nodded, acknowledging Ayanokōji's guess.

"You!"

At this moment, Horikita Suzune couldn't help but feel shaken.

In her eyes, Shintō was an incredibly clever person, and this kind of cleverness was something she couldn't learn from books; it was exactly the kind of strength she needed right now!

Even though he had refused to join her Ascension Plan, the thought that he was, after all, someone who cared for his friends—someone who would step up to turn the tide when the class needed him—made her disappointment at being rejected vanish.

Such a person had earned the recognition of her brother; no, it should be said that only such a person was qualified to be recognized by her brother, which was why her brother had said she still had a long way to go.

(Horikita Manabu: That is not what I meant.)

However, it wasn't until today that she realized how wrong she had been.

What drove Shintō Katsuya forward wasn't friendship, but... profit.

"You aren't going to tell me you can't accept this, are you? I am, after all, a part of Class D. At the very least, I can guarantee that I will never accept a request to frame Class D, and I will never betray this class."

"Horikita just feels the contrast between your actions is a bit jarring..."

"That can't be helped. After all, I am just this kind of egoist... Besides, people like me should be everywhere in this school, right? People like Kushida or Hirata are the minority, after all."

Ayanokōji nodded upon hearing this (because the timeline had shifted somewhat, he hadn't seen Kushida's dark side yet, only sensing that she might be a wolf in sheep's clothing, but he had no proof).

Speaking of egoists, Horikita was actually the same kind of person.

If one doesn't look out for oneself, heaven and earth will destroy them.

Fortunately, because Horikita and Shintō weren't actually that close, it only took her a short while to return to normal.

"Then, Shintō-kun, may I understand that if I want to ask for your help with Sudō, I must pay you some kind of benefit?"

"Heh, it's great that you can get into the rhythm so quickly. In fact, regarding this matter, I have a choice I can offer you."

"First, if you just want me to put in the effort to help Sudō, you don't need to place any formal request. I've already said I will contribute to the class. However, if you want me to help Sudō get cleared of the charges, that is undoubtedly much more difficult, and for that, you would need to place a request."

Horikita nodded after hearing this; she finally understood the difference between the Yorozuya and Shintō.

The Yorozuya was equivalent to the full-spec Shintō, capable of exerting greater influence, but the cost was high.

Shintō himself was equivalent to a defective product, capable of exerting limited influence, but free of charge.

"I understand... Then, if I were to request you to help Sudō get cleared of the charges here, could you really do it?"

"Hahaha! Rule number one of the Yorozuya: don't do what you can't. So, any request I accept is within my capabilities. However, since the difficulty is not low at the moment, the request fee won't be cheap, you know~"

"I see. Ayanokōji, let's go."

Horikita called out to Ayanokōji, and before leaving, she left one last sentence for Shintō:

"I hope I never have the thought of requesting your services."

Who would want to spend money unless they were at their wit's end? Although she didn't have Shintō, fortunately, she still had Ayanokōji!

There was still some time until next Tuesday; as long as she could solve it before then, she wouldn't need to beg the Yorozuya.

"Then I wish you success."

Two days later, the Yorozuya received a very strange request.

"Hey, Katsuya! Look at this request letter. It doesn't list a class, and it doesn't even have a name on it!"

Shintō, who was resting with his eyes closed, curled his lip upon hearing this:

"Then just ignore it. It's probably just some harassment letter someone dropped in."

"But if that were the case, the content of the request wouldn't be written so strangely, right? It says there's a weird clerk at the digital specialty store who always looks at girls with a very creepy gaze, and they hope we can investigate."

Shintō slowly opened his eyes. Usually, things like this would be reported to the Student Council, right? Even if Horikita Manabu was too lazy to do it himself, he should have sent a necessary request over.

Moreover, the sender didn't seem to want others to know their identity.

It had to be a student... otherwise, they wouldn't need to be so roundabout, and it was highly likely to be a girl.

"No contact information, no name or class, just telling us to investigate. In the end, where are we supposed to collect the payment?"

"Bu... but if there really is a clerk like that, it should be a very bad thing for all the girls in the school, right?"

Karuizawa seemed a bit frightened.

"That may be true, but doing things without any benefit is really boring. Why don't we just call Horikita Manabu and have him send someone to handle it?"

No sooner said than done, Shintō reported the matter of the strange request letter to Horikita Manabu, but the diligent Student Council President immediately classified this request as a necessary request, demanding that the Yorozuya uncover the truth within one day.

"Hey! This guy is definitely just passing the buck, isn't he?!"

A necessary request could not be refused, and as the first request of the week, it didn't even pay a request fee.

"This is actually not bad, though. After all, we might even be removing a blight from the school!"

Karuizawa waved her small fist, her painful experiences from years ago making her wish that a champion of justice existed in this world at all times.

"But I still don't have any motivation."

"How about... I treat you to some pudding?"

Shinjo slowly sat up from the beanbag chair, picking up his jacket while saying indignantly:

"Karuizawa-san, do you think I'm someone who can be bought so easily?"

"Hard to say... the way you are, if I promised to buy you a Brunch Cake, I'm afraid you'd even be willing to drink someone's foot bath water for it, right?"

"It is impossible for me to betray my principles for a mere Brunch Cake!"

[Then you should have refused, you idiot!!]

Before he knew it, Shinjo had already walked to the door:

"So, is it a deal?"

"Huh? You're actually going to change my foot bath water?!!"

Karuizawa turned bright red as usual; she knew she was prone to blushing in front of him, but she couldn't help wanting to test his reactions.

But what was he doing right now?

Does he like me? Does he like my feet? Compared to a Brunch Cake, I have absolutely no competitive edge at all!!!

"Stop messing around, I was talking about the pudding."

[If you want me to change your foot bath water, it would have to be at least two Brunch Cakes... pfft! I am a dignified member of the underground Yorozuya! Although... if it were Brunch Cake...]

As he thought about it, Shinjo inadvertently glanced at Karuizawa's feet...

But in that split second, she tucked them under the table.

"Hey! You were just peeking, weren't you?!"

"Oh my, oh my~ how strange~"

"Playing dumb won't work!!!"