People bring their own maids to the training camp

“Understood, please leave it to me,” Hayasaka replied.

A few seconds later, the blonde girl spoke up: "Are you sure you don't need to get some more? One box might not be enough."

Hayasaka's answer was a cushion that flew in—she easily caught it and placed it under her bottom.

"Thank you for your generosity, Miss."

"You really are..." Chihaya was both amused and exasperated, and could only shake her head helplessly, "I'll use a whole box on you next time, so you can replenish it every day."

“Okay, I’ll look forward to it,” Hayasaka replied calmly. “However, I suggest it be after today. After all, if you use it on me today, you can’t use it on Kushida later. If you don’t replenish it in time, the head of the family might have to make you drop out of school and go back to arranged marriages.”

"..."

This time, Hayasaka responded with a flying pillow, which was even faster than the cushion from before.

“Then, Miss, please allow me to take my leave.” Hayasaka caught the pillow with both hands. “Please also rest and recharge in the meantime so you can perform well. I will order an oyster set meal for you as a late-night snack.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Hayasaka left the room at a speed that would put even a horse racer to shame, successfully closing the door before Chihaya could get angry and start cursing.

"This child, has she become more and more unruly since she reached adulthood?" Chihaya smiled helplessly, hesitated for a few seconds, and then took out the box of balloons that Hayasaka had forced on her earlier from under her pillow.

Opened the box.

----split line----

In the afternoon after finishing the exam, Chihaya received a text message from the school informing him that he would be participating in the finals.

The time, location, and registration fee were still clearly stated.

The final exam will no longer be a test set by the school and a competition based on scores. Specific details will be announced on-site, and no other information is currently available.

Compared to the final, what Chihaya was more interested in was his old friend.

Hayasaka has already investigated everything that happened after arriving at the training center. After all, it's been less than a month since the start of the semester, so even if they wanted to do something, it would be difficult to achieve any significant results.

Chihaya's strategy was simple: he wanted to "stir up trouble" first, giving Kikyo Kushida, who was addicted to social games, a little "shake-up about her dark past".

When he encountered something interesting, he wasn't in a hurry to finish it off immediately; instead, he enjoyed the cat-and-mouse game even more.

The scariest thing isn't that the mouse encounters the cat around the corner, but that the cat tells the mouse: I've found you.

A quirky announcement with a "Here's Johnny!" vibe.

However, Chihaya considered himself much gentler than GetBackers, after all, he had only used an anonymous email address to send Kushida some random messages.

Whether the poor little mouse would overthink things and conjure up a whole new drama was not Chihaya's concern.

19. Class Funds

Despite only seven participants, the preliminary results still generated quite a bit of discussion among the first-year students.

On the one hand, those who pass the preliminary round without taking an exam can definitely be called top students to some extent, and in a place like school, students with good grades are always the envy of others.

The day after the exams was a normal school day, and Chihaya was immediately surrounded by Ichinose and the others as soon as she arrived at the classroom.

"How did it go? Did you pass the preliminary round?"

Seeing the expectant yet somewhat nervous expressions on everyone's faces, Chihaya, feeling playful, first sighed, then shook her head and sat down.

"Ah...it's okay, Hime-miya-san, there will be other opportunities in the future," Ichinose comforted her.

"Yes, yes, Princess is so excellent, she'll definitely be fine next time!"

The girls all spoke up, afraid that Chihaya might do something rash.

"Thank you so much everyone." Chihaya lowered her head, her long hair obscuring her eyes so no one could see her expression. "But—I passed the preliminary round!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Chihaya smiled, raised her head, and gave a "yeah" sign.

"Oh no! We've been scammed!"

"My classmate Fei Gong has a bad heart!"

The girls immediately became dissatisfied.

"Hahahaha, I told you Chihaya would be fine, you all got fooled, didn't you?" Hayasaka burst into laughter, clutching his stomach. "Chihaya is the kind of person who would never fight a battle unprepared."

"Hime-kun, really! Everyone was really worried about you!" Ichinose said.

"Sorry, sorry, I'll treat you after the finals, okay?" Chihaya immediately showed her sincerity, which soothed the dissatisfied girls.

"The boss is so generous, I thank her on behalf of everyone!" Shibata shouted from a distance, "Everyone, thank you with me, Sister!"

"Thank you, big sister!" Several boys immediately responded in a jeering manner.

"Hey, hey, hey, Princess Hiyomi didn't say she was inviting you boys, don't flatter yourself," Amakura said to Shibata with a smile. "This is a girls' event~"

"I can do that too~" Shibata tried to imitate a female voice in a high-pitched voice, but the result was quite unsuccessful.

"Shibata, you better shut up, hahaha, what kind of comedian are you?" The boy next to him slapped Shibata's junior.

"Kanzaki, you should say something fair!"

"Congratulations to Princess Hime-kun on advancing to the finals! I hope you win the championship!" Kanzaki ignored Shibata and instead offered his blessings to Chihaya.

"Thank you, Shibata-kun. I'll do my best," Chihaya replied with a smile.

"As for treating everyone, since Shibata suggested it, he can take care of the boys' part."

"Hey? How about one piece of chewing gum for each of you?"

"How stingy." Shibata's miserly behavior was immediately criticized by his classmates.

However, after hearing these words, Ichinose fell into deep thought, seemingly inspired.

"Kanzaki-san and Himegami-san, I have something I'd like to discuss with you two. Do you have a moment?"

"of course."

"I'm OK."

Kanzaki got up and went to the vicinity of Ichinose and Chihaya.

“What Shibata-kun just said gave me some inspiration, so I thought I’d share it and you two can give me your opinions,” Ichinose said. “Right now, we all receive the same number of points every month, right? So I’m thinking of implementing a ‘class fund’ system for our Class B’s team-building activities in the future.”

“Class funds? That’s definitely a good idea,” Kanzaki immediately replied. “We can use class funds for expenses such as future school festivals and sports festivals.”

“Then the question is about the quantity to be collected.” Chihaya agreed.

"That depends on what the students in the class think. The first month of school is the most expensive, since we need to prepare all sorts of things." Ichinose nodded. "If everyone agrees, I hope we can collect the class fees after the points are deposited in the second month, so that everyone will have more money on hand."

Bedding and daily necessities are not fixed expenses, so once purchased in the first month, they do not need to be purchased again in the second month.

"No matter what, it's impossible to spend all 100,000 points in the first month, right? Surely there aren't really people who live paycheck to paycheck?" Kanzaki asked.

“Kanzaki-san, your thinking is a bit too idealistic. I’ve seen some people buy game consoles and even digital cameras,” Ichinose said. “I would say Kanzaki-san is a rather self-disciplined type.”

“Ichinose-san is right, girls do need to buy some cosmetics and skincare products,” Chihaya said. “However, what Ichinose-san said also makes a lot of sense. It would be better to wait until next month’s points are distributed before discussing the specific amount of class funds.”

"Speaking of the points deposited each month, I have a little something to say."

"Kansaki-san, please go ahead."

"Have you two noticed the mountain vegetable set meal at the restaurant?"

Ichinose and Chihaya exchanged a glance, then both nodded.

"If they were students who spend money lavishly, they would at least leave some points for their meals, right? In fact, people who spend money lavishly would definitely care a lot about the quality of their food—but it doesn't make sense that upperclassmen are eating vegetable set meals so soon after the start of the semester."

"I've noticed this too. Some of the seniors are indeed eating the mountain vegetable set meal. Although I haven't tried that set meal, I imagine it's not very tasty."

“Xiao Ai said she’d tried it once,” Chihaya interjected. “She described it as hard to swallow and not filling.”

“How could a plate of vegetables possibly fill you up?” Kanzaki shook his head. “Leaving aside the girls’ appetites, that portion is definitely not enough for a male high school student to have a full lunch.”

"Could it be that the distribution of points is linked to some kind of standard?" Ichinose pondered. "Could it be something like exam scores?"

"We'll probably only know the exact situation when the exams come around," Kanzaki said. "However, I suggest reminding everyone to focus on their studies and not let their grades affect their living expenses."

"Yes, I think we can hold a book club when the exams are closer~" Ichinose said, "And I'll ask you two for help then?"

"I have no objection," Kanzaki nodded.

"Me too."

"Okay, let's start by collecting everyone's opinions on collecting class funds anonymously."

Extra: Chinese Valentine's Day

The time was three years before I enrolled in the program.

"Chihaya-sama, your schedule for today is as follows: chess and self-defense in the morning, foreign language after lunch break, followed by afternoon tea and etiquette, and archery after dinner."

"Okay, let's go." Chihaya nodded, changed her clothes in Hayasaka's clothes, and headed to the restaurant.

The restaurant was empty as always.

"The head of the family did not return last night, and the lady returned to the Hime-no-kami family early this morning." Seeing Chihaya glance in the direction of the main seat, Hayasaka immediately understood and offered an explanation.

"So busy, huh." Chihaya sneered, pulled out a chair, and began to eat breakfast.

Hayasaka stood quietly to the side, waiting.

The television was broadcasting the news, and the anchor's standard broadcasting voice echoed throughout the restaurant.

Apart from Chihaya's slight chewing sounds, only one important but unimportant news item after another was broadcast.

It's important because it's addressing some crucial issues, but unimportant because Chihaya doesn't care about such things at all.

Although Chihaya was scheduled to attend various classes every day, he never stuck with any of them—he would switch classes whenever he felt he had a good grasp of them, and none of them were based on his interests or hobbies.

For Chihaya, learning these things was for knowledge and skills, not for happiness and joy.

A few minutes later, as Chihaya finished her breakfast and got up, Hayasaka turned off the TV.

The two went to the chess room.

The chess teacher was already waiting there.

The two entered the room. Hayasaka first bowed to the teacher, and then moved the soldiers to Kuroko's side.

Chihaya sat quietly to the side, watching the battle.

As the name suggests, this chess room is where Chihaya learns various types of chess. In addition to the table with the international chess set, there are also various other types of chess such as Chinese chess, Go, and Shogi—all of which Chihaya is already tired of.