The Cutest Face

In this deadlock, such a variable was needed. Kitagawa Ryo curled up, enduring the waves of discomfort churning in his mind, and chose to use it.

[Please specify character name]

[Sakayanagi Arisu]

[Are you sure you want to get Marriage Contract to Sakayanagi Arisu?]

[Confirm]

[Successfully used]

[You have entered into Marriage Contract with Sakayanagi Arisu]

"It seems the plans are progressing quite well lately, Ayanokoji."

Despite being in his eighties, the elderly man appeared quite energetic. Naoe Jinnosuke, a prominent figure in politics who had held important positions such as Minister of Transport, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, and Secretary-General, calmly began to speak:

"After all, I wouldn't dare visit my teacher if the plan didn't go smoothly."

Ayanokoji Atsuomi quickly chimed in, his humble expression completely betraying the domineering aura he displayed inside the White Room.

"The importance of this plan will increase as it progresses, do you understand?"

Naoe Jinnosuke smiled and nodded, taking a sip of his wine glass as he asked.

"I think I know a little bit."

Ayanokoji Atsuomi knew that he absolutely could not immediately shake his head and say he didn't know. He tactfully refilled the other man's empty sake cup while carefully speaking:

"Recently, the president of a large company contacted me. He's a womanizer with many lovers, but one of them secretly didn't take the necessary contraceptive measures as he requested. She's a woman hoping to use a child to climb the social ladder."

"As a result, when she finally gave birth and happily told the president the news, she realized that some things cannot be overcome simply because she was born out of wedlock. The enraged president threw her into Tokyo. I heard that his wife is quite a jealous person."

"But what made him hesitate was the child that had already been born. After a DNA paternity test, he confirmed that the child was his biological child with his blood. He was reluctant to kill the child, but he also didn't want to raise it openly. Finally, he heard about the project I was working on."

"After all, I've always followed the teacher's instructions and packaged the program as a secret talent development institution with better conditions than Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School."

"So, the president of that company hoped I could bring this illegitimate child into the White Room, let him grow up there and succeed."

"Moreover, this is not the only example of this."

Naoe Jinnosuke clapped his hands, then downed the drink in one gulp; his hearty movements belied his age.

"Not only large corporations, but if the plan goes smoothly, conglomerates and politicians will also become increasingly interested in it."

"Like your example, there are many children among them who cannot be publicly acknowledged, children whose education is extremely secretive. They cannot openly provide financial assistance, so these children often cannot receive a proper education. If, at this time, a secret and stable talent training institution secretly supported by the government is discovered..."

"They will proactively send their children in."

Ayanokoji Atsuomi nodded, which is why he showed no mercy to the earlier test subjects; they were necessary experiments for the sake of the illegitimate children who would follow.

As for whether this educational philosophy is too distorted?

The old man in front of me answered casually:

"Remember to train them well; they'll be the backbone of the faction in the future."

Rather, Naoe Jinnosuke needed were branded, obedient servants—the kind of successful products.

Ayanokoji Atsuomi gleaned another, unspoken, intention from the other man's eyes:

These illegitimate children, though born out of wedlock, have actually inherited the bloodline of their fathers, whether from conglomerates or politicians.

If conditions are right in the future, we could even use this to push them to higher positions.

This is a rather dangerous plan, but the potential rewards are staggering.

Furthermore, Ayanokoji Atsuomi was well aware that if the plan failed, Naoe Jinnosuke would not be implicated in any way, and he would be the one to take full responsibility, with the most likely outcome being suicide as an apology.

"How is the Sakayanagi Family doing lately?"

"No problem. As soon as Sakayanagi Narimori arrives at the White Room, it will become clear that the Sakayanagi Family is also actively involved in the construction of the talent development institution."

"Where's Tsukishiro?"

Ayanokoji Atsuomi was slightly taken aback. He hadn't expected the other party to suddenly mention Tsukishiro's name. Tsukishiro was a man of similar age who had been introduced to him by Naoe Jinnosuke when he took over the White Room project. In Tsukishiro's own words, he was a jack- Yorozuya who could do anything from bodyguards to intelligence gathering.

However, considering that the other party was not from the Naoe Faction, he never really made any further contact with them.

"Don't underestimate that man; he's quite useful, not only in our faction but also on the other side."

Naoe Jinnosuke then gave Ayanokoji Atsuomi another instruction.

Ayanokoji Atsuomi nodded.

"Tsukishiro...?"

"Mr. Tsukishiro, it's nice to see you again."

"It's been a long time since I've visited, Sakayanagi-sensei."

With a faint smile, Tsukishiro Tsunehira welcomed Sakayanagi Narimori to a seat and diligently stood up to pour him tea.

"Regarding the matter I asked you to do last time..."

However, Sakayanagi Narimori did not drink the tea immediately. He simply held the teacup and asked somewhat impatiently.

"We've got some leads, and I believe we'll have the results soon."

Tsukishiro returned a reassuring smile, then tapped the table with slight interest and asked:

"Speaking of which, Sakayanagi-sensei is about to take over as the Chairman of the board of directors of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, right? Congratulations in advance."

"Mr. Tsukishiro's information network is still so efficient."

Sakayanagi Narimori also smiled:

"Actually, it's just something I inherited from my father; I don't really have any confidence in it myself."

"Not at all, Sakayanagi-sensei's abilities are evident to all."

Tsukishiro called over the butler who was serving nearby and gave him a few words of advice before speaking again:

"I heard that the matter I'm currently investigating seems to be related to Old Man Sakayanagi?"

"Yes."

Sakayanagi Narimori made no attempt to hide anything, and with a wry smile, said:

"She said she suddenly remembered that she had been Marriage Contract to the Kitagawa Conglomerate before. It was supposed to be my generation, but both sides had sons, so it was dropped. And Arisu's health was not good before, it was never mentioned again."

"Oh, I do recall that. It seems Sakayanagi-sensei's daughter has recently been undergoing a new type of treatment."

Tsukishiro showed an expression of interest.

"Yes, that's true... but it's a bit strange."

A mixture of surprise and doubt appeared on Sakayanagi Narimori's face:

"That new treatment plan... was found by Arisu under a tree in the hospital courtyard a year ago."

Even after so much time has passed, Sakayanagi Narimori still finds it hard to believe when talking about it, let alone Tsukishiro on the other side.

"It was a USB drive filled with detailed pathological studies of congenital heart disease and various treatment plans. I don't know who put it there, and the surveillance cameras didn't capture any trace of anyone. It's like it just fell from the sky."

"We decided to adopt this approach only after confirming with several experts multiple times, and thankfully, it really works."

Tsukishiro twitched the corner of his mouth; he felt like he was listening to a fairy tale.

"Well, at least it works."

"We will also release it under the name of the Sakayanagi Family in the future, which should allow for faster dissemination and help treat more patients."

Sakayanagi Narimori nodded, and Tsukishiro showed a knowing expression.

As expected, it must be your Sakayanagi Family secretly maintaining a medical team. Just admit it honestly.

"It was precisely because of this matter that the old man brought up the Marriage Contract from back then."

Sakayanagi Narimori couldn't explain any further, since no one would listen to the truth no matter what he said, so he changed the subject.

"However, there are no men in the current generation of the Kitagawa Conglomerate. Even the Head of the Family who was my generation has already died of illness. Currently, only their patriarch is still struggling to keep it going."

"However, it was from there that we obtained information that the former head of the Kitagawa family seemed to have fathered an illegitimate child, but they didn't dare to make it public at the time. Now that the Kitagawa family has no direct heir, they are searching for one."

"It was because of the Marriage Contract with our family that we came to you, Mr. Tsukishiro."

"Um..."

Tsukishiro didn't seem surprised. After all, apart from Sakayanagi Narimori, who was an oddball with a doting father, they were quite open about their relationship, and illegitimate children weren't anything unusual.

"Mr. Tsukishiro just said that there's some progress on this matter. What do you mean?"

"We have indeed found some clues."

Tsukishiro nodded. Just then, the butler who had left returned, and he took the organized documents from his hands and handed them to Sakayanagi Narimori.

"Although it happened six or seven years ago, some things were still found out."

"The White Room"

"That child was very likely sent there."

Touching the day at the beginning of the month

Let me also organize the outline.

Bocchi the Rock! is so good!

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Chapter 88: The Cutest Face

[White Room].

Hearing the familiar words from Tsukishiro's mouth, Sakayanagi Narimori frowned. Perhaps the word might seem a little unfamiliar to others, but Sakayanagi Narimori and Tsukishiro, who were present, were very familiar with it, and could even be said to know it inside and out.

The White Room, a plan secretly proposed and implemented by the Naoe Faction, the largest faction in the ruling party, has been underway for ten years. Although there has been no promising progress so far, the plan has not been abandoned. Ayanokoji Atsuomi from politics to take charge and focus on promoting the plan. All of this shows Naoe Jinnosuke himself values it.

Sakayanagi Narimori knew even more. His father was a key figure in Onigashima Faction, another major faction within the party. Onigashima and Naoe Jinnosuke were rivals for the position of Prime Minister. It was with Onigashima's support that the Sakayanagi Family was able to successfully establish Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School.

Thanks to the positive impression of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, Onigashima has gained a lot of media exposure in the past two years, and its votes have also risen accordingly.

In this light, the creation of the White Room seems to have a sense of competition between the Naoe Faction, since both initiatives are in the field of education.

The pursuit of 100% college admission and employment rates, along with the creation of artificial geniuses, even share some similarities in their goals...

But Sakayanagi Narimori quickly regained his composure and said with a somewhat grim expression:

"Based on her age, she should be a member of the fourth or Fifth Generation in the White Room."

"But from what I understand, a large number of children from the Fourth Generation and Fifth Generation have already been eliminated."

Tsukishiro took a sip of the tea in his hand:

"What, are you hoping that child has already been eliminated?"

Sakayanagi Narimori shook his head, his tone somewhat complicated:

"I don't know, because I can't even tell whether it's better for that child to be eliminated or to stay there."

"Oh."

Tsukishiro chuckled softly, and said mischievously:

"The truth is, once they were sent there, they had no good options left."

"Um."

Recalling that encounter he had once had, Sakayanagi Narimori couldn't help but sigh again and said:

"That's not what an educational facility should be like, and it's impossible for it to produce true geniuses."

"Sakayanagi-sensei seems to be different from the rumors."

"Rumors?"

Sakayanagi Narimori was slightly taken aback.

"Of course, after all, Sakayanagi-sensei is going to visit the White Room soon, isn't he?"