NOVEL WEB Chapter 17
Chapter 17: Hachiman: I Suspect I Was Deceived by a Bad Woman!
The student council president started by saying that this wasn’t information that should be known at this moment and that he had to pay a million yen.
Then he followed up by saying the maximum amount of hush money he could offer was 500,000 yen.
Is the student council president this rich, being from the higher class?
But forget about the million yen; right now, Hachiman couldn’t even get 500,000 yen.
Because he didn’t have any recordings, nor did he take any photos.
Still, he could try to deceive the student council president and fake it. At least get the points.
However,
Hachiman didn’t feel the need to make that kind of money.
Because,
“You probably misunderstood,” Hachiman said. “I just ate too much tonight, and I felt a little uncomfortable, so I came out for a walk to help with digestion, and then grab a coffee to speed up my stomach.”
Is that so?
You’re just passing by, right?
Of course, that’s the case.
Hachiman directly walked in front of the Horikita siblings to the vending machine, where he ordered a Max Coffee.
Then he took out his phone and scanned his student ID’s QR code.
“Beep!”
“Clink!”
The sound of points being deducted was followed by the sound of a can of Max Coffee rolling off the shelf.
Hachiman grabbed the coffee.
He opened the can and took a sip.
The sugar content was low, and it was quite bitter, but it was effective for staying awake.
“…” Horikita Manabu.
Horikita Manabu watched Hachiman’s movements and pushed his glasses up again.
But his sister spoke up. “Hikigaya-kun, did you really record something that’s harmful to my brother?”
Then she turned to Horikita Manabu with a serious expression.
“If my existence has caused such a big risk for my brother, then… I… maybe… should, would, choose to withdraw from school.”
Earlier, she had been about to be hit but didn’t withdraw from school, but now Horikita Suzune was casually mentioning the idea of withdrawing.
“…” X2
Both Horikita Manabu and Hachiman seemed to have the same expression at that moment.
It meant that Horikita wanted to protect her brother.
Well, that’s great.
This also showed that the relationship between the siblings was quite good.
Hachiman glanced back at the student council president, who was still maintaining a cold expression.
But Hachiman felt like, deep down, he was probably screaming like a groundhog.
Because even though his sister chose to withdraw from school, was it really something that could be said out loud just like that?
And,
She probably didn’t understand the intent behind how Horikita Manabu treated her.
Horikita Suzune completely didn’t understand her brother’s good intentions.
And before we even talk about whether Horikita would withdraw from school, if she did, then Hachiman’s task of collecting information about her to help Chabashira-sensei create a file would be ruined.
The points he could gain: -200,000.
It looked like a loss.
Since it was clear that this school values strength above all, there was no need to offend someone like Horikita Manabu, who was a third-year student in Class A and the student council president.
Especially since during the opening ceremony, Hachiman had noticed that the student council was the one hosting the ceremony, with no teachers or the principal in attendance.
So, it was likely that the student council had much more power than the typical student council in other high schools.
Which meant there was no reason to offend someone like him.
Also, this Horikita probably had his own troubles.
Because he had a younger sister who wasn’t very emotionally intelligent.
Looking at it this way, he was quite lucky—his sister Komachi had high emotional intelligence.
So,
“I didn’t record anything,” Hachiman said. “If the news of the student council president hitting his sister got out, it might have a negative impact on the president.”
“And to avoid this scandal, the student council president would naturally want me to keep quiet.”
“Just like earlier.”
“But I really didn’t record anything,” Hachiman said. “Because I didn’t think there was any valuable information to record, and I wouldn’t be able to take any valuable photos.”
“…” Horikita Manabu pushed his glasses again.
His gaze was cold and sharp. “You think I wouldn’t hit her?”
This was to say that if there was a photo of the student council president hitting his sister, it could create a huge stir.
But if there was no hit, it would just be a rumor.
It could get dealt with.
Meaning, the probability of safely getting the money was low.
It would instead bring a lot of trouble.
So, only if something concrete happened and was captured could it be used as leverage.
In that case,
“Yes, you wouldn’t hit her” Hachiman said. “Since I know you won’t hit her, then… why take the picture?”
“…”??
Hearing Hachiman’s words, Horikita Suzune seemed to be moved because she had just thought that she would definitely get slapped.
But it seemed her brother didn’t have that intention after all?
“You’re interesting,” Horikita Manabu said again as he pushed up his glasses. “Hikigaya Hachiman, Class D of the first year, with all sorts of black history since childhood, the most notable being that you’re alone. In other words, you have no friends. You’re even suspected of having some tendencies toward being antisocial. But you can’t judge everything just from the file. Hikigaya, you’re a sharp observer.”
“…?” Hachiman looked at the student council president.
“As the student council president, my authority is higher than you can imagine,” Horikita Manabu said. “This includes the authority to expel students.”
Oh.
So, you’re quite terrifying.
You can just expel students whenever you want.
But this also means that, since you didn’t choose to threaten me just now, it was the right decision.
But, the file you mentioned… does it mean the file of all the students?
And does the homeroom teacher also have access to this file?
And if the homeroom teacher can access it, then… why does Chabashira want him to investigate the students in the class?
What does she want to do?
A slight doubt rose in Hachiman’s heart.