"Bzzzt~"
A burst of piercing electrical noise broke the awkwardness between them.
"A broadcast? That's strange!"
"School's almost over, isn't it?"
Miyuki Shiba found it rather strange.
"Attention, all students!"
"We are the 'Alliance of the Willing Dedicated to Abolishing Discrimination on Campus'!"
"Pfft!"
"The alliance of the 'willing,' huh!"
The moment Chiba Yeyou heard the voice coming over the school broadcast, he knew what was happening. When he heard that part, he couldn't help laughing.
"We demand negotiations with the Student Council and the Club Activities Group on equal footing!"
"Come on, let's go watch this farce!"
As soon as Chiba Yeyou finished speaking, he took the lead and headed toward First High School's broadcasting room.
"Do you know what's going on?"
Miyuki Shiba hurried after Chiba Yeyou, looking at him with some surprise.
"What?"
"Don't tell me you don't know!"
Chiba Yeyou glanced back at Miyuki Shiba, then continued toward the broadcasting room.
"Huh?"
"I should know..."
At that point, Miyuki Shiba suddenly stopped talking, as though something had occurred to her.
Her first reaction was: So it's those people!
Her second reaction was: How does he know that I know?
Miyuki Shiba followed silently behind Chiba Yeyou, feeling a flicker of curiosity about this teacher she had picked up for the first time.
This guy seems to know my real identity!
That was Miyuki Shiba's first thought. Then, judging by the time she had spent with him, he didn't seem to be plotting anything involving her, and that little flicker began to grow considerably.
When Chiba Yeyou arrived on the broadcasting room's floor with Miyuki Shiba, whose head was full of questions and curiosity, the entire corridor was already packed with people. They had left a clear passage, though quite a few were whispering off to the sides.
"Since when did the 'Weeds' get so gutsy?"
"Who knows?"
"Maybe something set them off?"
"Them?"
"Do they even need something to set them off?"
"Are they even worth provoking?"
"A bunch of 'Weeds' actually dare demand the same treatment as us?"
"What a joke!"
In short, every comment dripped with superiority. Some even looked angry, as if their status had suffered some outrageous challenge.
Past this crowd of idle people asking for a beating, the three heads of the Student Council, Public Morals Committee, and Club Activities Group were all gathered at the broadcasting room's entrance... no, that was a mistake. That person was Suzune Ichihara.
Tatsuya Shiba and Erika Chiba stood beside the three of them. Opposite those three stood two neat rows of Public Morals Committee members, enough to show that this incident had already caused an uproar at school.
Despite such a major incident, not a single school employee was anywhere in sight. It was clear that the school's hands-off attitude toward its students had reached an absurd degree. Even student management had been dumped directly onto the students themselves. This could be called a miniature society with distinctly social characteristics, truly worthy of a national magic academy.
Still, although the scene was somewhat noisy, basic order was being maintained very well.
"Brother!"
Miyuki Shiba walked over to Tatsuya Shiba and stood beside him, looking at everyone.
"Were we attacked?"
Chiba Yeyou came over and took a look at the massive turnout.
"What took you so long?"
"Didn't these two only just arrive too?"
Chiba Yeyou pointed at Erika Chiba, who had clearly only just arrived, and Tatsuya Shiba, who looked as though he wanted to say something but held back. He had just seen the two of them from behind.
"Let's explain the current situation first!"
Suzune Ichihara interrupted their pointless exchange.
"The power has been cut, and no more sound is coming out. We've confirmed that they can no longer broadcast, but the people inside have locked the door from within and are barricading themselves in!"
"Where's Senior Saegusa?"
For once, Chiba Yeyou didn't use frivolous language like "my dear president." After all, he knew that such remarks had their time and place.
"She went to get the spare key!"
Suzune Ichihara explained.
"So that means there's no way to open this door from outside, correct?"
Tatsuya Shiba seemed to be confirming something.
"They stole the key beforehand. Otherwise, Saegusa wouldn't need to go looking for the spare."
Mari Watanabe sighed as she spoke.
"This is clearly criminal behavior, isn't it?"
"Precisely!"
Hearing Tatsuya Shiba's assessment of the people inside, Suzune Ichihara agreed.
"So, to prevent them from rioting further, we haven't stormed the room. We should handle this cautiously and avoid escalating the situation."
"These people really left themselves no way out right from the start!"
After hearing Mari Watanabe and Suzune Ichihara's explanations, Chiba Yeyou understood that the people inside had more or less staked everything on this.
"Exactly. Even if we want to handle this carefully, I doubt whether the other side can understand our intentions!"
"So we should resolve this quickly, even if that means taking some forcible measures!"
Mari Watanabe voiced her concerns, but there was clearly some disagreement among them.
"What do you think, Chairman Jumonji?"
"I think we can agree to negotiate with them. They're simply making trouble out of nothing. We should try to handle this as gently as possible and avoid taking it to the legal level."
"Besides, through an open and fair debate, we can also make an example of them and prevent similar incidents in the future."
In response to Tatsuya Shiba's question, Jumonji offered his own opinion.
It had to be said that Jumonji really did see the bigger picture and had something of the air of a current family head. His approach was very much grounded in reality, with thorough consideration given to every aspect.
"Aren't you going to say something?"
Miyuki Shiba quietly edged closer to Chiba Yeyou and asked in a low voice.
"I'm just here to watch the fun!"
"You call this fun?"
Miyuki Shiba rolled her eyes at Chiba Yeyou.
"Though it isn't lively enough yet!"
Chiba Yeyou added quietly.
"?!?!"
This still isn't lively enough?
Miyuki Shiba's eyes widened, her expression stunned.
"It'll get livelier soon!"
"Hm?"
Tatsuya Shiba glanced in surprise at Miyuki Shiba and Chiba Yeyou, who were leaning close together and whispering.
Still, given his personality, he wouldn't ask any further questions. As long as his little sister wasn't in danger, he didn't need to concern himself with anything else.
"Then... are we just going to stand here waiting?"
Tatsuya Shiba looked away from the two of them and returned to the matter at hand.
"I can't make that judgment either. Although we don't intend to punish them severely, we can't ignore illegal behavior. And their offense isn't serious enough to warrant such drastic measures as damaging school facilities."