Miyabi Nagumo Wants to Restore the Empire?

"We're almost at summer break. Why is everyone else preparing for final exams while I'm the only one who has to come here and work for free?"

Have you ever seen Kouiku at four in the morning?

Ying had.

"Ying, thank you so much for today!"

"It's no trouble, ma'am. This is what we in the Student Council are supposed to do."

With summer approaching, Kouiku was making all sorts of preparations. One of the most important was switching its products over to summer stock.

At Keyaki Mall, Ying was helping renovate a newly opened ice cream shop. He'd been working since four in the morning, and it was almost eight, yet he hadn't seen a single other Student Council member. It reminded him of what Nagumo had said yesterday...

"Accountant Baiye, as the Student Council, we need to help the school prepare for the seasonal change. The shops in the mall will be renovating at four o'clock, so starting tomorrow, we'll have to get there very early to help them."

Nagumo had sounded so righteous at the time. Ying had complained, but he also knew the responsibilities he had to shoulder as a member of the Student Council.

But today, they'd stood him up...

"I'm so pissed! You damn Nagumo Miyabi! Is this how you take advantage of an honest person? You've been acting so normal these past few months that I almost forgot you're a sneaky schemer."

After carrying over a big box of ice, Ying ate a popsicle the ice cream shop owner had given him and grumbled.

"Accountant Baiye, you're here early."

Ying looked toward the voice and saw Nagumo and Kiriyama approaching.

Ying's eyelid twitched, but he forced a smile. "Vice President Nagumo and Vice President Kiriyama are early too. It's already eight~."

"Ahahaha, sorry. I forgot to tell you yesterday, Baiye. The Student Council only needs to get here at eight. You haven't been here long, have you?" Nagumo said with a smug, scheming look.

"No, no. I just got here and happened to help the lady at the ice cream shop move some ice. I only got here 0.16 days before you, at most. Hahaha..."

"Hahaha! Baiye, you sure know how to joke. Well, I look forward to working with you until summer break." After saying that, Nagumo gave Kiriyama a few instructions and then left.

"If he wasn't going to help, why did he even come here?" Ying grumbled.

"Nagumo just came to check on things. He's much busier than we are, so I'll help you from here on out," Kiriyama said, joining Ying in carrying the boxes.

As he walked, Nagumo's thoughts had already turned to the second semester...

I've completely taken control of the second-years. I just need to make sure I hold on to the Student Council President position, and then I'll be able to carry out my plan easily in the second semester. There's just one thing I don't understand: why does the lofty Horikita Manabu think so highly of someone who seems so ordinary?

Nagumo couldn't figure it out. He'd investigated the student named Baiye Ying before, but aside from learning that Ying was good at academics and sports, he hadn't found anything else remarkable about him. Yet Kouiku had plenty of students like that. Why did Horikita Manabu think so highly of him?

That was precisely why, after taking control of the second-years, he'd decided to test Ying's mettle. But the result disappointed him. He'd assumed that Ying must be impressive to have earned Horikita Manabu's approval, yet he hadn't even seen through such a simple verbal trap.

It seemed Horikita Manabu was simply getting old and had picked the wrong person.

There was no point wasting any more time on an ordinary student. He needed to figure out how to secure the Student Council President position...

That was the conclusion Nagumo ultimately reached.

In the Student Council, the large-scale renovations taking place at Kouiku's shops had caused Ying's workload as the accountant to increase exponentially.

"Baiye, have Nagumo and Kiriyama been up to a lot lately?"

Ying had just finished a task and was stretching when Horikita Manabu suddenly asked him.

"Huh? Nagumo? Yeah, actually..." A few days had passed since that incident, and Ying had nearly forgotten the stunt Nagumo had pulled on him.

Horikita Manabu was troubled. Since Nagumo had taken complete control of the second-years, he'd grown bolder lately and started making a lot of moves that were close to crossing the line.

But when Manabu had first recommended Nagumo for the Student Council, Nagumo hadn't been like this. Manabu felt that something had gone wrong with the way he'd mentored his junior, so he wanted to ask Ying for his opinion.

"Baiye, why do you think Nagumo has become like this?" Horikita Manabu asked. Tachibana looked curious too. She wanted to help ease Manabu's worries, and his biggest concern lately had been Nagumo's change.

"Maybe... Nagumo wants to restore the empire," Ying said. He felt like Nagumo had taken control of one grade and started thinking he was invincible. Now he wanted to rule the entire school. It really did seem like he was trying to restore an empire.

But that was bound to fail. Ayanokoji would overthrow him. Thinking about all the hardship Nagumo would face in the future made Ying feel a little better, even after what he'd gone through a few days ago.

"Then... what should I do?" Horikita Manabu asked, looking lost. He didn't know whether he could really hand the Student Council President position over to Nagumo in the future.

"Nothing, really. It's not that big a deal," Ying said. After all, Nagumo became Student Council President in the original story.

"Why don't I tell you a story?" Ying wanted to tactfully let Horikita Manabu know that Nagumo would eventually be humbled by Ayanokoji. He began:

"Once upon a time, there was a shepherd named Nagumo. He kept a flock of sheep. One day, he found a little wolf named Shika. The shepherd wanted to raise the wolf into a watchdog that could protect the pasture. But when the wolf grew up, it ate all the sheep and ran away from the pasture."

Ying thought the story was a rather tactful way of telling Horikita Manabu that Nagumo would be humbled by Ayanokoji.

"Is that so? You're saying Nagumo was a hidden wolf all along, and no matter what, he can't change his nature. It's only a matter of time before he eats all the sheep in the pasture."

Horikita thought it over, then said this.

"Uh... you could put it that way, but think about it some more?" Ying figured that someone as clever as Horikita Manabu would surely understand what he meant.

"The shepherd was also named Nagumo... Is that what you mean? Hahaha! I can't believe you noticed something so subtle. I knew I was right about you." Horikita Manabu seemed to understand the story's true meaning and laughed with relief.

Ying: He got it right this time, didn't he...?

At the same time, outside the Student Council Office, Nagumo had listened to Ying and Horikita Manabu's entire conversation. Gritting his teeth, he headed toward the second-years.

"Hmph! Baiye, I underestimated you. You're a formidable opponent. But what you predicted won't happen. In the Kouiku I rule, no wolf will ever disobey my orders. Because I'll never let any wolves into my pasture. Just like you, Baiye!"