During lunch break, students can eat and rest. For meals, they can choose to make their own bentō, visit the cafeteria, the school store, or explore the nearby shopping street with its variety of lunch options.
However, Houtarou and Kikyō opted for coffee and dessert cake — mainly because that's all this particular shop served.
It was a bubble tea shop, specifically Miyabi's "Cloudy Haven".
Miyabi had invited Houtarou here, but when the appointed time came, the Vice President was nowhere to be seen.
While waiting, Houtarou ordered lunch. Twenty minutes past their meeting time, someone finally pushed open the café door.
"Welcome, boss." Said the server, their tone notably more respectful than usual.
Though Miyabi owned the store's rights, students couldn't work there, so he had to apply to the school to hire service staff. Now that students could work part-time, the staff had to be more mindful of their behavior.
This show of respect seemed to greatly please their owner.
As Houtarou had anticipated, Miyabi arrived with a female companion — a beautiful girl with long orange hair and a sunflower clip in her bangs.
His behavior upon entering was peculiar. He scanned the room as if searching for something, then deliberately ignored it and began chatting with his companion.
His companion, however, seemed uninterested in his constant chatter.
This was Nazuna, his childhood friend. Finding Miyabi's behavior tiresome, she glanced around and quickly spotted Houtarou sitting in the corner with Kikyō.
"Isn't that Oreki-kōhai?" Nazuna walked right over.
"..." Miyabi.
He had spotted Houtarou immediately upon entering — in fact, that's exactly who he'd been looking for. His ignorance was deliberate.
He felt like laughing. Despite his intentional twenty-minute delay, this kōhai hadn't left, still waiting foolishly to settle their bet.
Yes, foolishly. In his view, Houtarou was finally about to fall.
Indeed, yesterday's work permit system had deeply unsettled Miyabi, making him fear losing everything. Not only would his kōhai followers slip away, but his control over the second-years would crumble too. After all, if everyone could work, they wouldn't need to follow his orders.
He knew that while some students supported him fervently, many more were dissatisfied. These people had to remain passive, unable to find ways to challenge him, simply accepting his orders.
But now... with the work permit system... damn!
He had counted — of the 134 remaining second-year students, 100 wanted to buy Work Permits. Their choice to work essentially meant they wanted to break free from his control and earn Points independently.
Realizing his greatest advantage was about to be destroyed, Miyabi did his best to salvage the situation. He managed to convince 60 of the 100 students not to buy work permits, leaving only 40 who successfully transferred money to Houtarou.
With each transfer being 100,000 Points, Houtarou had collected 4 million just from the second-years — and that was only counting those Miyabi hadn't managed to dissuade.
While first-years might lack funds, third-years had money to spare. Working was a common strategy among students, and even those from Class C and D with zero Points would find ways to scrape together or borrow Points to buy Work Permits.
The number of buyers from the third year could easily exceed 80 people.
Was Houtarou really going to make another 8 million? Could earning Points from second and third-years be this simple?
It seemed unbelievable, yet it was happening right before Miyabi's eyes, filling him with envy.
Yes, envy — because he knew Houtarou's Work Permit system was an evolution of the one he already possessed. If he had thought it through more carefully, he could have been the one earning all these Points.
Damn it.
But just when things seemed darkest, Manabu delivered welcome news: due to the enthusiastic student participation in the Work Permit sales, the School Board had decided to terminate the system.
This meant Houtarou would have to return all the Points he had collected.
Miyabi was delighted. This kōhai still thought he had earned 5 million and could collect 300,000 from their bet? How adorably naive.
Thus, he arrived in high spirits.
"Hey, isn't this Oreki-kōhai? You're still here at this hour?" He greeted.
He noticed Kikyō was here too, though Suzune was absent.
But that was fine — today, they weren't his target.
He had deliberately brought his childhood friend to witness Houtarou's humiliation. The girls in class were too difficult to deal with, and even his childhood friend kept mentioning this guy.
After his plan to recruit Class B's Honami as a backup had failed, he'd decided to focus on appeasing Nazuna first.
Since she showed interest in this troublesome Houtarou, he would destroy the boy's image in front of her. That's why he had brought her here to witness his moment of failure.
Finding Kikyō here was an unexpected bonus — now both girls could witness Houtarou's downfall.
But then…
"I've been waiting a long time, Nagumo-senpai." Houtarou stood up with his phone, "Though you're my senior, using that status to keep someone waiting — I don't think that's very polite. Also, I don't want to talk to you right now, but please transfer the 300,000 points you lost to me."
Saying this, he displayed his phone's payment QR code.
"In three days' time to earn 5 million, less than a day has passed and I've already completed the task. And Nagumo-senpai, you need to honor the results." He said with a playful smile.
"..."
After Houtarou finished speaking, both girls turned to look at him.
Though Miyabi's face fell slightly, he maintained his composure.
"Hehe... you don't know yet, but your work permit system has failed. As a student council member, I learned about this in advance. The school has decided to terminate the work permit system. All the points you collected will have to be returned."
"The work permits were revoked by the school?" Nazuna asked.
"Yes." Miyabi nodded, "After all, this would impact the school's point distribution system — they wouldn't allow it. I'll admit, Oreki-kōhai has good insight, but taking too big a step will only hurt yourself."
As he spoke, he watched Houtarou and Kikyō's expressions.
However... neither showed any surprise. Had they anticipated the Work Permits would be revoked?
"Then let's continue with the QR code scan." Houtarou maintained his initial expression, "Nagumo-senpai, you talk too much. You invited me here, made me wait twenty minutes, and I don't want to waste any more time on you."
"..." Miyabi glared, "You...! Don't you get it? You lost our bet — you didn't earn 5 million! The work permits were revoked, so you lost!"
But Houtarou remained calm, gazing steadily at him with his green eyes.
"When did I ever say my money-making plan involved selling work permits? When I bought out the work permit rights, I also signed an agreement allowing the school to revoke them at any time."
"Could it be—" Nazuna had already figured it out.
Houtarou nodded slightly.
"Yes, I figured such an accommodating board of directors, who knowingly allowed the sale of work permits despite the disruption it would cause, wouldn't treat me unfairly. And now that Nagumo-senpai has come here so confidently, it seems the school's measures have already begun."
『3,000,000 Points have been credited to your account!』
『Sender - XF10001』
As he spoke, a voice notification came through with the account update.
Three million — this was the money Houtarou had paid to the school: one million for the Work Permit and two million for the buyout, the same price as Miyabi's Store Permit. Now the school had returned all of it.
Miyabi and Nazuna's expressions changed instantly.
As students who had been at the school for a year, they knew well what transfer account XF10001 meant — it was the account the school used to deposit Points on the first of each month.
The school had decided to terminate the contract but quickly refunded Houtarou. Could this mean... there might be compensation? And how much?
Was this actually the Points he was aiming to earn?
Miyabi bit his lip and held his breath, waiting for the school's next transfer.
『50,000 Points have been credited to your account!』
『Sender - XF10001』
The account notification chimed.
"Haha, only 50,000 in compensation—" Miyabi started, seeming somewhat relieved.
Just then, an upperclassman in the corner stood up, phone in hand.
"The work permits were revoked?" The upperclassman exclaimed in surprise, looking at his screen.
『Note: We regret to inform you that after careful consideration, the School Board has decided to revoke the work permits, refunding your purchase price of 100,000 points, along with 50% compensation.』
This was the upperclassman's notification. He had bought work permits the previous night, and now the school was terminating them with compensation as consolation.
So Houtarou wasn't the only one who received 50,000 Points in compensation.
'Tch!' Miyabi could barely maintain his composure.
He felt somewhat relieved. Those who bought Work Permits only received their Points refunded plus 50% compensation.
Since Houtarou got his 3 million Points returned, with 50% compensation he would only earn 1.5 million.
Even earning 1.5 million in one day seemed absurd — how could money be that easy to make?
Miyabi felt envious.
As he was pondering this…
Ding!
『1,00—
Houtarou's phone rang, but he cut off the notification mid-way and appeared lost in thought.
Kikyō stood beside him. Though the voice notification was cut off, she glimpsed the account information on his student ID. The result seemed to shock her.
"How is this possible—" She exclaimed.
"I see, it must be 1.5 million compensation, half the amount." Miyabi said, noticing her expression, "So, Oreki-kōhai, you overestimated the school. Getting half as compensation is already quite good — you paid 3 million and made 1.5 million for free. And since it hasn't even been a day since our bet, you'll have to work harder to earn my 300,000!"
Having lost face these past two days, he wanted to maintain some dignity in front of the cute kōhai.
"No." Houtarou shook his head, "What are you talking about, Nagumo-senpai? I didn't overestimate the school — if anything, I underestimated them. That's why I'm surprised. Because..."
He showed him the transfer notification from the school.
Miyabi's eyes widened. What was displayed wasn't 1.5 million in transfers, nor was it 1 million in compensation. Rather...
A 1 followed by 7 zeros. This was 10,000,000!
Damn! The school was truly generous. They had given Houtarou more than triple!
『10,000,000 Points have been credited to your account!』
『Sender - XF10001』
『Note: Houtarou Oreki, this is compensation for your work permits. We look forward to your development.』
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