Suginami Ward: Mizunotsuki Residence
What a sensible woman…
Seiran Mizunotsuki sincerely admired Sae Chabashira's understanding of her position.
From the very beginning, she had said "Woof," accepting her role without complaint. She didn't fight or compete for meaningless titles with the other girls. Finally, and most importantly, she would immediately report to Seiran if she felt anything was wrong, no matter how big or small the matter was.
It was exactly because of Sae's timely "reminder"—reporting the sudden, highly suspicious dropout of Class C's dictator, Kakeru Ryuen, and the unnatural undercurrents flowing through the Advanced Nurturing High School—that Seiran had a good idea of what the secular "rats" were planning.
"What do you want?" Seiran asked softly.
Holding Sae's slender waist, he genuinely liked the way she served him wholeheartedly.
His question made her expression pause slightly.
Sae was surprised. She seemed to be getting rewarded by her man.
Did I do anything special?
Oh.
I reported a small anomaly at the school.
At this moment, Sae suddenly realized the dynamic.
She obviously had not made any grand, world-saving contributions, nor could she say she was deeply meritorious. But being rewarded meant that Seiran was very satisfied with her performance—specifically, her loyalty, her vigilance, and her transparency.
She thought she deserved it.
Her "goodness" was completely highlighted by the failure of her peers.
Here, she had to mentally criticize a certain "down and out" woman whose name contained the word "Snow" (Yukino).
Sae remembered how Reiko Yukinoshita used to push her butt up in a very high-spirited, arrogant manner around the house. Now, the Yukinoshitas were basically exiled from the inner circle because they tried to hide things.
When she thought of the meaning behind Seiran's "promise" of a reward, Sae's heartbeat began to accelerate.
She leaned close to Seiran's ear.
Her wet, sticky voice was as gentle as water as her lips inadvertently brushed across his earlobe.
"I wore black stockings today, Master..."
Hiss…
She's really good at this.
All right.
Since she wouldn't explicitly ask for a material reward, Seiran would decide the physical reward himself.
Take off your armor!
Advanced Nurturing High School
He should be a lunatic.
Kakeru Ryuen originally thought so.
Ryuen was a student, a gang leader, and the absolute dictator of Class C (First Year) at the Advanced Nurturing High School.
He should have been living in great glory, ruling as a tyrant in the school, eventually graduating from Class A, and obtaining the elite social position promised by the government-backed academy.
But he was wrong.
His current failure, and his posture standing like a lost dog outside the school gates, was the ironclad proof.
Tsk…
Turning around, Ryuen found that the man who never showed any expression was watching him from the other side of the gate.
Yes.
Ryuen had just dropped out of school. He was forced to drop out by this man.
The man had said to him:
"I will find you a good job that will support you for the rest of your life. But in return, you need to ensure that I can live a normal, peaceful life in society."
"...The conditions are very good," Ryuen had replied. "But why do you think I will cherish an opportunity born of your charity?"
Guarantee a good job for the rest of his life?
Even if Ryuen successfully graduated from Class A, he would not dare to guarantee such a thing.
School is school; society is society.
The cruelty of the real-world pyramid is far worse than that of the ivory tower.
Moreover, Ryuen's arrogant personality would not allow him to accept charity from an inconspicuous, gloomy student who had seemingly behaved very ordinarily in the past.
Thus, a brutal, underground gambling battle between the two had begun.
Not surprisingly, Ryuen lost. And he lost miserably.
"What do you want to do?" Ryuen had asked from the floor, bleeding.
"I have a lot to ask of you on the outside," the boy replied. "So I will pay you the due reward in advance."
"What reward?"
"Becoming a pawn of the Fujiwara Family."
"...This is really an unexpectedly generous reward."
Even Ryuen was stunned by the other party's "generous move."
Perhaps "becoming a pawn of the Fujiwara family" doesn't sound good to a proud man. It gives people a feeling of low status and selling one's dignity.
But not everyone can even qualify to be a pawn of the Fujiwara family!
The Fujiwaras are a premier political dynasty. They have deep roots in the government and many relatives who control massive businesses. Overall, they might not be as wealthy as the absolute top Chaebols (like the Suzukis or Shinomiyas), but they possess immense hard political power.
Otherwise, a chaotic girl like Chika Fujiwara couldn't have become the best friend of Kaguya Shinomiya.
Even if Ryuen really graduated from Class A, he couldn't get a better starting job than working directly for the Fujiwara political machine.
"Perhaps it is not easy to get such a generous reward?" Ryuen had asked.
"Yes. But are you afraid?"
Afraid?
Ryuen waved dismissively at the man and left the High School grounds without looking back.
Kiyotaka Ayanokoji.
An interesting man.
Ryuen didn't mind being used by this mysterious, emotionless monster. After all, the reward was genuinely unimaginable.
So, first of all, I should try my luck at the Fujiwara Estate…
Holding the sealed envelope Ayanokoji had given him, Ryuen had no intention of opening it to take a closer look.
Don't read what you shouldn't read.
He understood the rules of the underworld perfectly. Especially since the recipient of the letter was the famous "Fujiwara" patriarch.
If you read what you shouldn't read, you won't even know how you died.
Tokyo: The Fujiwara Estate
Oh?
A delinquent boy who was just expelled from school came to see me?
Daigo Fujiwara (Minister of State) was a little surprised.
What surprised him was not that a teenage boy was bold enough to demand an audience with a Cabinet Minister. What surprised him was that his security actually dared to inform him about it.
Why?
The servant bowed and handed over a sealed letter.
Signed: Kiyotaka Ayanokoji.
Ayanokoji?
Interesting…
Why did the estranged son of Professor Ayanokoji look for him?
Daigo Fujiwara knew exactly how terrifying Professor Ayanokoji was. The man was a pure political creature, devoid of any human emotions. The Professor had even sent his own son, Kiyotaka, into the cruel, illegal human-experimentation facility known as the White Room.
However, the very first sentence after opening the letter made Daigo frown deeply.
> [Mr. Fujiwara. Do you want to be the Prime Minister?]
>
Ridiculous.
A mere high school student dares to talk about political rotation at the highest level?
And as a son, he is actually proposing a plot on how to drive his own father out of power?
Is this an alternative form of "fatherly love and filial piety"?
Thinking of his own chaotic daughters, Daigo rubbed his eyebrows with a headache.
He wanted to throw the letter into the trash can.
But some of the "covered" words later in the text made the Minister interested.
The letter was written in a serious, calculating manner. It was not empty talk.
Some things do not need to be verified; they can be inferred just by investigating the current political climate. Because the Fujiwara family essentially represents the traditional Japanese government bureaucracy.
Maybe saying this is suspected of "boasting," but it is true. The tentacles of the Fujiwara family are all over the government. Even Professor Ayanokoji has to give way to the deeply entrenched Fujiwara roots occasionally.
As a political master, Daigo naturally wanted to seize the ultimate position: Prime Minister.
But Professor Ayanokoji's methods were genuinely cruel, which was the main reason why the Fujiwara family was afraid to act rashly against him.
One more chess piece?…
After hesitating for a while, Daigo made a decision.
Keep him.
It's just one more mouth to feed; the Fujiwara family can afford to hire a high school dropout as a thug.
Let's first see what that brat, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, is revealing for my family.
The boy had been very secretive when writing the letter, as if he was afraid of revealing too much information on paper in case it was intercepted.
According to the content of the letter, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji asked the Fujiwara family to dedicate massive resources to visiting and investigating Local Religions and Shrines.
Religion?
Is it a cult?
Or are the Chaebols making secret plans using shrines as fronts?
Whatever it was, Daigo smelled blood in the water. There was probably something incredibly profitable hidden in it. It would be a pity not to get a piece of the pie.
If he could really get considerable benefits from this "Shrine Investigation" and use it to drive Professor Ayanokoji out of office, then—as Kiyotaka Ayanokoji requested in the letter—it would not be a big deal to grant the boy a stable, undisturbed, normal life in return.
"Let the long-haired kid (Ryuen) come in," Daigo ordered his guards.
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