You've Got Nothing but Yourself on Your Mind

The cafeteria at Advanced Nurturing High School had three floors. Its overall style was simple, but it offered a wide variety of dishes.

You could order at a staffed counter or use one of the self-service machines.

After looking around, Chihaya Rei chose a Seafood Feast worth over a thousand points.

He never skimped on food.

Besides, after a busy day, he'd used up quite a bit of energy.

But if he ate meals that expensive three times a day, even the hundred thousand points the school gave them each month wouldn't be enough.

Fortunately, Chihaya Rei felt that points were never a problem.

Never underestimate his intelligence network, which was ahead of everyone else's!

He'd definitely make a fortune while his information was still ahead of everyone else's.

Points were money, and the school would even buy them back at a certain rate when students graduated.

He already had a plan.

He'd start by selling the school's first-month daily conduct exam to Classes B and C.

Just then, someone came over with a bowl of noodles and sat down across from him.

Chihaya Rei looked up, recognized the newcomer, and felt slightly surprised.

Wasn't this his number one Torture target, Horikita Suzune?

What Chihaya Rei found strange, though, was—

Given her personality, why would she choose to sit across from him when there were plenty of empty seats around?

At that moment, Horikita Suzune casually swept the hair beside her ear back with one hand. With the other, she lifted some noodles with her chopsticks, gently blew on them with her rosy lips, and brought them to her mouth.

It was as if she hadn't seen him at all...

Chihaya Rei immediately realized that [Stealthy Aura] was working.

He'd turned it on and simply forgotten to turn it off.

It seemed [Stealthy Aura] was even more powerful than he'd imagined.

If he suddenly activated this skill someday, when force was all that mattered, and landed a punch on someone, they probably wouldn't even react in time.

Chihaya Rei had a thought and finally switched off [Stealthy Aura]. Then he said:

"Horikita, you're pretty professional when it comes to slurping noodles."

"Hm?"

Horikita Suzune suddenly looked up. Her eyes widened involuntarily as they met Chihaya Rei's faintly amused gaze.

"Chihaya?! How... did you... end up sitting..."

With noodles in her mouth, Horikita Suzune spoke in broken fragments. She quickly realized how improper that was and hurriedly closed her mouth.

At that moment, Horikita Suzune was full of confusion and embarrassment. He'd seen her in that state.

But... when she'd chosen this seat, she'd thought there were two empty seats.

How had Chihaya Rei suddenly appeared like a ghost?

If she'd known Chihaya Rei was sitting here, she absolutely wouldn't have come and sat across from him. Absolutely!

"I've been sitting here the whole time. I got here before you."

Chihaya Rei stated the facts calmly, claiming the moral high ground. Then he put on a look of disgust and said:

"Also, you should swallow your noodles before you talk. I don't want you spraying imported noodles all over my face."

Horikita Suzune's cheeks flushed slightly. She turned her head and chewed and swallowed.

Soon, Horikita Suzune's expression had returned to its usual coolness. Her lips parted slightly, as if she were about to speak, but Chihaya Rei beat her to it:

"What an annoying coincidence."

Horikita Suzune: "?"

How did this guy seem to know what she was thinking?

Unwilling to back down, Horikita Suzune glared at Chihaya Rei and replied:

"That's exactly what I was going to say."

But now that she'd sat down, Horikita Suzune had no intention of leaving.

If she picked up her bowl and left just like that, wouldn't it make her look like she was chickening out? She wasn't afraid of Chihaya Rei.

Chihaya Rei fought back a grin, planning to use Horikita Suzune to farm experience.

The moment Horikita Suzune picked up her chopsticks again and was about to put the noodles into her mouth, Chihaya Rei chose his moment and interrupted her.

"Horikita, the day's almost over. Have you discovered anything about this school?"

Horikita Suzune had no choice but to put her chopsticks down. She couldn't help feeling that Chihaya Rei had interrupted her on purpose.

Still, she looked up at Chihaya Rei.

She was clearly somewhat interested in the topic too. She also felt that there was something strange about this school.

So Horikita Suzune asked, keeping her expression neutral, "What have you discovered?"

Chihaya Rei didn't mind and answered casually:

"I've noticed quite a few things. For example, there's something we can figure out from this cafeteria we're in right now."

"What?" Horikita Suzune asked, unable to hold back her curiosity.

"Come on, you haven't noticed? I thought you were pretty smart, considering you ranked third on the entrance exam."

Chihaya Rei feigned surprise.

Horikita Suzune furrowed her brow slightly. Then, as if to prove herself, she looked around at the students and the cafeteria counters, trying to find the clue Chihaya Rei had mentioned.

If Chihaya Rei could see it, there was no reason she couldn't.

"Like the school store, this place has a free food counter."

"And then?"

"And then..."

Horikita Suzune fell silent for a moment.

Honestly, she had no idea. She couldn't guess what the school was up to.

"You're so stupid."

Chihaya Rei said bluntly.

[Torture Horikita Suzune, gained 1050 Torture Points]

Before Horikita Suzune could retort, Chihaya Rei pointed his long index finger at several upperclassmen sitting in different parts of the cafeteria.

"Look at that spiky-haired upperclassman in the far-left corner, and that upperclasswoman wearing flesh-colored tights, and..."

"What do you think they have in common?"

Chihaya Rei asked.

Horikita Suzune focused her gaze and studied them carefully.

"They're all sitting by themselves."

"Mm, not bad. That's the first thing you noticed, but there's more."

"Their expressions look unnatural. It seems... like it's hard for them to swallow what they're eating."

"And?"

"They seem to be eating the same thing? It's... it's the set meal from the free food counter."

Horikita Suzune hesitated, then her uncertainty gave way to sudden understanding.

"Correct. It's called the Mountain Vegetable Set Meal."

Chihaya Rei confirmed.

"To find out how the Mountain Vegetable Set Meal tastes, all you have to do is get one and try it."

"Why aren't they eating Tonkotsu Ramen like you, or a Seafood Feast like me? It can't be that they're sick of those, can it?"

Chihaya Rei said with a chuckle.

Horikita Suzune couldn't help pondering it.

By putting together these seemingly insignificant clues, she could figure out quite a lot.

These students eating the free set meal had clearly run into a points shortage, and there seemed to be quite a few of them.

They were upperclassmen. Surely they hadn't already spent all their points and been forced to eat something that hard to swallow.

In other words, they hadn't been given enough points to cover their expenses.

"Do you know why you didn't notice it earlier?"

"Why?"

Horikita Suzune asked instinctively, though part of her felt that she'd only been careless for a moment.

But she also had to admit that Chihaya Rei was more observant than she was.

Chihaya Rei lifted his head and looked straight at Horikita Suzune. Then he spoke slowly:

"Because you've got nothing but yourself on your mind!"

[Torture Horikita Suzune, gained 3080 Torture Points]

I've got nothing but myself on my mind?!

When Horikita Suzune heard Chihaya Rei's words, she felt as if a huge boulder had suddenly crashed into the depths of her mind.

Her eyes widened slightly, and for a moment she forgot to argue back.

Chihaya Rei was very satisfied with Horikita Suzune's reaction, as well as the Torture Points she'd given him.

He picked up a plump, delicious oyster from his bowl with his chopsticks and ate it, narrowing his eyes in enjoyment.

Was Horikita Suzune bad at observing things?

No. Horikita Suzune was quite observant.

He'd only given her a little nudge, and she'd already gotten close to the answer.

It was just that, in Horikita Suzune's proud and aloof nature, there was no reason to pay attention to students who had nothing to do with her.

That meant she never bothered to notice what other people were eating.

So, naturally, she'd overlooked these clues.