The Deal Was Made

"So, do you still think all this stuff of mine is really useless?"

As An Xiao finished speaking, the expression on Ryuen's face softened a little. He looked at An Xiao, then downed the drink in his glass.

"Looks like I underestimated you."

"Tell me, what exactly do you want?"

"I just want to get a few points from you guys. You know how useful points are at this school." An Xiao shrugged. His opinion of the person in front of him had shifted a little.

He'd heard that the guy in Class C had quickly united the class through violence, so An Xiao had assumed he was just another red-haired gorilla.

Though the guy across from him had red hair too, he clearly had a brain as well as brawn.

As long as there was a brain in there, that was good enough.

Just as An Xiao was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Ryuen, who had been fiddling with something, suddenly seemed to think of something. He took out his phone and glanced at it, then chuckled.

"No wonder you came to see me at this time. You even factored this in?"

An Xiao raised an eyebrow and smiled without confirming or denying it.

An Xiao understood what Ryuen meant. That was the main reason he'd chosen to meet Ryuen at this particular time.

That was, the day before the Student Council held its hearing to deal with this incident between Classes C and D.

If he'd made a deal with Class C too early, then since Class C was the party that filed the complaint, those three students from Class C could withdraw it at any time.

Once the complaint was withdrawn, the matter would be downgraded from a school-level issue to a class-level one. The evidence An Xiao had would become far less useful, and getting a decent number of points out of it would be very difficult.

But the day before was different. The Student Council had already gone through all the required procedures, so withdrawing the complaint wouldn't be nearly as easy. From every angle, it would cause a lot of damage to Class C.

After all, in a way, it would also count as wasting the school's resources.

In this situation, the upper hand in the negotiations shifted from Ryuen to An Xiao.

"Since that's the case, let's talk about the points." Ryuen had figured it out too, and got straight to the point.

"About that..." An Xiao stood up, pulled Kanzaki over from where he stood beside him, and sat him down in his seat. Then he looked at Ryuen and said, "Please discuss it with him. He's better at this."

Yeah, right. An Xiao could prepare all the conditions for the deal, but when it came to the actual negotiation, he just couldn't handle it.

To be precise, he couldn't judge where to draw the line.

He'd practiced a few times with Kanzaki, but not once had he managed to get a decent number of points. Instead, Kanzaki talked him into asking for less and less.

So he'd simply brought Kanzaki along to negotiate for him.

Watching Kanzaki carry the conversation with Ryuen while clearly keeping the upper hand, An Xiao nodded in satisfaction. He sat down beside Honami Ichinose, picked up some snacks from the table, and began eating as he asked her, "What do you think?"

"I feel... pretty uncomfortable with it."

"But that's how this school is. You'll have to try to get used to it." An Xiao sounded a little helpless. "That's why I brought you here—to see the school's 'dark forces.'"

"Sometimes I feel like you're too kind, Ichinose. Someone might trick you one day."

"Like this time. If you'd been the one holding this evidence, what would you have done?"

"You'd probably have helped Class D directly instead of going to Class C. At most, you'd have asked them for a tiny number of points just to make a token gesture."

Ichinose pressed her lips together and lowered her head.

If she'd been in An Xiao's place, it probably would have turned out just as he said. She might not even have asked for any points in the end.

Seeing Honami Ichinose hunch over like a quail, An Xiao chuckled in exasperation. "You really think that? At least try to argue back."

"Sorry..."

"I'm not blaming you." An Xiao sighed and softened his tone. "Being kind is a good thing, but being too kind isn't good for you."

"Besides, you're not very good at judging people, Ichinose. You'll get taken advantage of sooner or later."

"For example, this morning you said I was a good and gentle person." An Xiao pointed at himself, then gestured around them. "But given what's happening now, there's no way 'good' and 'gentle' describe me."

I'm basically a scumbag blackmailer using evidence to extort people, aren't I?

"And Kanzaki too. That makes two of us with black hearts..."

"An Xiao, I can hear you." Kanzaki walked over with a helpless expression and stopped in front of them.

"I did come here to help you, you know. Could you at least be a little more careful?"

"Done talking?"

"Done."

Ryuen stood up, casually draped his jacket over his shoulders, and headed for the door. He looked distinctly displeased. As he passed An Xiao, he said ominously, "I never thought you Class B guys would win this time."

"Hope you're this lucky next time."

Ryuen left without looking back. The other students from Class C hurried after him.

The room, which had been rather crowded, was now left with just An Xiao and the other two.

"So, how did the negotiations go?"

"We settled the basic terms just about as we'd discussed beforehand. Once Class C pays the points, we can't use any of this to interfere in the incident between Classes C and D. If we do, we'll have to pay a huge amount of points. It's all written into the contract."

"As for the points..." Kanzaki took out his phone and tapped on the screen, transferring all the points he'd just received from Ryuen to An Xiao.

"Class C might still benefit from this incident, but probably not by much."

"Your black heart is something else... I mean, your skills!" An Xiao looked at the 500,000 points that had just appeared on his phone and nodded in satisfaction. Then he sent 50,000 points back to Kanzaki.

"Consider this your fee. I can't ask you to help for free."

"...Then I'll accept, even if it feels a little cheeky." Kanzaki smiled helplessly.

The three of them said goodbye outside the shop and headed off in different directions.

As he walked, An Xiao lazily stretched.

"Mm~ This matter's finally wrapped up. It has nothing to do with me anymore."

Looking at the nearly two million points on his phone, An Xiao couldn't hide the smile at the corners of his mouth.

Just then, a text notification appeared at the top of his screen.

"Hm? A message from Ichinose? Did she have something else to say?"

[Honami Ichinose: Xiao An, thanks. Also, I feel like I'm pretty good at judging people.]

P.S. I feel like I didn't write this chapter very well. Next time, the author will never stay up late playing Civilization VI again.