"What did you come up with?" Sogo Doma asked again.
"..."
"The reason I managed to secure so much funding back then was because I proposed an ambitious goal, because..." When it came to shirking responsibility, Sogo Doma ranked second—everyone else fought to be first. Why? Because the one in first place was always the scapegoat!
"But what did you do after taking over the Oolong Tea Research Club? Nurse hangovers? Snatch people?"
"I get it..." Fujigami suddenly realized. "What we're lacking is a huge lie?"
"..." What you lacked wasn't a huge lie, but some common sense. Sogo Doma gave a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Forget it. I already spun that lie once. No one would believe it if I tried again, and besides..."
"Hm?"
"Do you think anyone would believe what I just said?"
"Huh?" Fujigami froze. "If they don't believe it, then the funding..."
"Even if that huge lie wasn't believable, plenty of people responded to it..." Sogo Doma shrugged. "As the saying goes, repeat a lie often enough and it becomes truth. Back then, so many people thought oolong tea was worth researching..."
"There are even more people now!"
"Have you heard the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf?" Sogo Doma said again. "There may be more people now, but just like in that story, the school won't believe it anymore."
"So that means the Oolong Tea Research Club's funding..."
"Most likely, there's no hope. Fujigami, take my advice—the waters here run too deep. You can't handle them. Five hundred thousand is already plenty..." Sogo Doma truly didn't want to get tangled up with them. "And with Shizuka Hiratsuka involved..."
"We're a legitimate club!"
"..." This guy was actually this stubborn?
Just as someone was grumbling inwardly, Fujigami said, "Master Doma, you said