Turtle Soup

Half a month after the start of the school year, U Amakusa's campus life had become a simple routine.

Commuting, fortune-telling, eating, sleeping, and teasing Kamuro whenever he had nothing better to do.

Since he bought a tent and set it up, business had actually improved; it turned out that people really did value their privacy.

Looking at the points on his phone—which had already recouped the initial investment and then some—U Amakusa felt an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.

[Name: U Amakusa
Gender: Male
Class: Class A, First Year
Personal Account: 319480.
Actual Personal Points: 1461w7342.]

Even though the price for a fortune-telling session was as high as 5000 personal points, U Amakusa also sold so-called "lucky charms."

Because his readings were exceptionally accurate, the number of people coming for divinations didn't drop much; after all, the most important thing was that the first-years currently didn't lack points at all.

Once this month passed, his income would likely decrease; only then would the first-years realize the importance of points.

Aside from the first-years, those who came for readings were mostly from the upperclassmen in Class A and Class B; Class C and Class D were not entirely absent, but they were rare.

Hmm, nothing to do today, time to go tease Orange.

At the end of the school day, it wasn't Naoki Shimizu being abandoned by the two of them this time, but U Amakusa being abandoned.

Satoshi Satonaka had run off because the Soccer Club had activities today, and the same went for Naoki Shimizu, who had joined the Literature Club.

Of course, was a guy like Shimizu really someone who enjoyed reading? Absolutely not, U Amakusa could be certain of that.

The reason was very simple: Ryoko Nishikawa was in the Literature Club.

A girl with glasses in the Literature Club—yes, that made perfect sense.

That kid was chasing after the girl; hmph, superficial. How could such worldly vanity corrupt the original heart of this Daoist?

Those with different paths cannot make plans together.

After judging Naoki Shimizu in his heart for a moment, U Amakusa glanced nonchalantly toward Kamuro, who was still in the classroom.

She was chatting and laughing with other girls in the class, as if they had made plans to do something together.

Well, it seemed she didn't need me either.

U Amakusa, who had originally intended to give himself a day off, sighed. He could always just go back to fortune-telling.

He thought about it and decided against it; words once spoken are like spilled water, and he had already told his fated customers yesterday that he wouldn't be working today.

"Sigh, the world is so vast, can it really not contain a small person like me?"

Shaking his head, U Amakusa remembered there was one place he could go at any time; perhaps she would be there.

Arriving at the library, U Amakusa wasn't looking for books, but for a certain figure.

The answer was that he could find her.

That waterfall of silver hair draped softly over her shoulders, shimmering with a silver luster like moonlight.

Even just from her back, U Amakusa was certain that this figure was her: Shiina.

She was wearing the same gray over-the-knee socks she had on the bus, the fabric clinging to her slender calves and further accentuating the beautiful lines of her legs.

Should he just approach her so rashly? Wouldn't that be a bit too obvious? Shiina's mind was very sharp, after all.

Casually picking out a book, U Amakusa went to the seat opposite Shiina and sat down, greeting her naturally.

"Yo, Shiina, long time no see."

Looking at her from the front.

Her skin was as white as snow, and her features were impeccably exquisite. Her small, straight nose was beautiful, and despite being such a cute, beautiful girl, her expression didn't reveal much emotion.

Shiina looked up and recognized the connection from the bus at a glance.

She slowly closed the book she was reading and chuckled, "Shouldn't a normal person start with something like 'what a coincidence'? Amakusa."

"Is that so? Does that mean I'm a man who stands out from the crowd?"

Shiina was slightly taken aback; she had considered many responses, but she hadn't expected U Amakusa to answer like that.

But she quickly returned to normal.

"You certainly are different, the famous 'pursuer' student."

Uh...

U Amakusa felt a bit embarrassed. He had a feeling Shiina might be a bit of a black-bellied character; had her character design gone wrong or something?!

"Let's not talk about that, let's exchange contact info first, Shiina."

As he spoke, U Amakusa took out his phone. "By the way, I'm in Class A. It's a real pity that I'm not in the same class as you, Shiina."

"I already knew you were in Class A, Amakusa. After all, you're really quite famous. I'm in Class C."

"..."

Seeing U Amakusa fall silent, Shiina tried to change the subject.

"Amakusa-kun, you must know about the Smiling Mask and the Cat Mask, right? They did something quite interesting."

That was me too...

U Amakusa didn't want to continue this topic either, so he changed the subject again. "Shiina-san, what book are you reading?"

"Ah, this?" Shiina held up the book in her hand. "It's a book for playing little games by yourself."

"Playing little games by yourself?"

Shiina showed him the title: [Turtle Soup].

"Oh, this."

U Amakusa thought for a moment and decided. "It's boring alone. Let's play together."

"Sure!" Shiina naturally wouldn't refuse; in fact, a happy smile bloomed on her face.

Her eyebrows were like crescent moons, and a joyful smile slowly spread across her face. The warmth in her eyes made U Amakusa's heart skip a beat.

"I ask and you answer? Or you ask and I answer?"

"Either works for me."

Playing like that didn't seem very fun. What Shiina wanted was a book friend, a friend to discuss mystery novels with.

Rather than just taking turns asking and answering, it would be better to find a judge to present the scenarios so that U Amakusa and Shiina could discuss them together.

That would be much more fun. U Amakusa didn't really care, but he knew Shiina would definitely prefer a discussion.

For a mystery novel fan, being able to discuss and deduce cases with someone else was an incredibly happy thing.

U Amakusa stood up and said softly, "Shiina-san, could you wait for me for a moment?"

Shiina was a bit confused. Weren't they going to play Turtle Soup? But she swallowed her doubts; perhaps he just needed to use the restroom or something.

"Mm."

U Amakusa left with a clear goal in mind. He needed to bring back a judge to present the Turtle Soup stories and answer their questions.

Of course, U Amakusa didn't have that many friends. Naoki Shimizu, Satoshi Satonaka, Kamuro, and Kosei Sanada, who sat in front of him and was a neighbor, could barely be considered acquaintances.

But calling them over wasn't realistic.

Fortunately, in this school, there was a way to solve any problem.

"Hello."

U Amakusa reached out to a staff member at the library front desk, wanting to offer a symbolic handshake.

"Is there something you need?"

"Could you do me a favor? I want to play Turtle Soup with my friend, and I need someone to present the scenarios and answer our questions."

The name tag read Bu Xiang Quming. Bu Xiang Quming frowned and said, "I'm on duty. I can't help you with that."

With that, he waved his hand, trying to shoo U Amakusa away.

U Amakusa just smiled and tapped his hand lightly. "What if I said I could pay points?"

Hearing this, Bu Xiang Quming froze for a moment, then said seriously, "You... what grade are you in?"

"You don't need to know that, Bu Xiang-san. How about this: 2,000 personal points per story? A story takes at most ten minutes or so.

How about it? Your hourly wage is probably around 1,500, right? Isn't this a very tempting price?"

Bu Xiang Quming thought for a few seconds and agreed. Regardless of whether U Amakusa was an upperclassman or a lowerclassman, he couldn't afford to offend him.

If he were a first-year, he would be a bit terrifying; the month hadn't even passed yet, and if an upperclassman had points to spend like this, they certainly wouldn't be short of them.

Besides, he wasn't losing anything by doing a job for points, was he?