Saiki's actions surprised Horikita Suzune. In her impression, Saiki usually didn't actively involve himself in class matters, but this time, he seemed somewhat interested in the maid café.
Could it be that Saiki was particularly interested in elements like maids?
'Hey, hey, hey, what I care about is the taste of the food, which is the standard for measuring the quality of a café. Whether it's maids or anything else, those aren't the core elements of a café. The only thing that can truly retain customers is the taste! This is absolutely something that can't be neglected.'
Saiki shouted in his mind.
"Understood, Master."
Hearing Saiki's words, Sato Maya and the others immediately nodded with a smile and then walked to the other side of the partition.
"You guys actually came!"
At that moment, Hasebe Haruka, who had been waiting outside, walked up to the two of them with a smile.
Now that it was almost certain no one else would come, she entered the classroom.
"Hasebe, I didn't expect you to actively participate in this event."
Horikita Suzune expressed her confusion.
In her impression, Hasebe Haruka was the kind of student who didn't have much presence in the class and usually didn't participate in such activities.
But Saiki knew the reason very well—
It was because Sakura Airi was also participating in this event.
Saiki could clearly hear Sakura Airi's thoughts from the partition in the classroom.
[Kusuo-kun has finally come here. I must leave a good impression on him!]
[That's why I've been practicing for a long time... I've let Haruka and the others taste it, and they all thought it was pretty good... But they might just be trying to be nice to me.]
[I remember Kusuo-kun likes sweets, so I should add more jam and sugar.]
Sato Maya and the others were responsible for being the maids, while Sakura Airi had taken the initiative to handle making the coffee and desserts in the kitchen.
"Since Airi-chan rarely takes the initiative to participate in projects like this, I decided to join her."
Hasebe Haruka said with a smile.
"I see. But Sakura hasn't come out yet."
Horikita Suzune nodded.
[Sakura actually took the initiative to participate in this event? Although the nearly 600,000 personal points are certainly attractive, I don't think Sakura is the type of student who would act just for the points... The enthusiasm of several students has exceeded my expectations.]
Although Horikita Suzune was puzzled, she didn't voice her doubts.
"She probably wants to focus on preparing the food and drinks. Although it's unlikely anyone else will come, I'll go outside just to be safe."
After a brief exchange with the two of them, Hasebe Haruka left.
Horikita Suzune's gaze immediately shifted to Saiki:
"Saiki, what do you think of this proposal?"
"We'll have to wait until the food comes out to evaluate it. For a café, the most important thing is the taste of the coffee and desserts."
Saiki immediately said.
"It's rare to see you so serious."
Horikita Suzune's eyebrows twitched slightly.
Saiki didn't know how to respond for a moment. He cleared his throat and, after thinking for a few seconds, said:
"I was also pretty serious during the last exam."
"Pretty serious? Just being 'pretty serious' allowed you to defeat Nagumo and become the top student in the school?"
Horikita Suzune's gaze fixed on Saiki.
Although Saiki had ultimately shifted all the blame onto Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, saying that Ayanokoji had told him to hide his abilities, and Ayanokoji had acknowledged this since Saiki had indeed helped him.
However, Horikita Suzune was still full of curiosity about Saiki.
"Nagumo wasn't serious, and I was just lucky."
Saiki shrugged.
"Lucky, huh..."
Horikita Suzune pursed her lips. Of course, she wouldn't accept such an explanation.
Being lucky couldn't achieve something like that.
Moreover, Saiki seemed to be a student that Horikita Manabu valued.
"But no matter why you hid your abilities at first, I won't dig deeper into it. After all, you've made a huge contribution to our class. Not only have you solidified our position as Class A, but you've also turned Koenji into a powerful asset for our class."
Horikita Suzune said very seriously.
After a brief conversation, the two of them fell into silence. After all, neither of them was particularly fond of small talk, and they didn't have much in common to discuss.
About ten minutes later, Sato Maya carried a tray and brought the desserts and coffee to Saiki.
The coffee was freshly ground by hand, and Saiki, with his透视 ability, naturally knew this.
'The taste is passable. It's naturally incomparable to high-end cafés, but for a high school student who just learned about this, it's a decent level.'
'As for the cake, the taste is also average. The jam isn't spread evenly, but the overall flavor is okay.'
'Overall, there's room for improvement, but for a cultural festival, it should be more than enough.'
Although Saiki was quite picky about food and had given it a very serious evaluation in his mind, he still finished everything in front of him.
"Master, how does it taste?"
Sato Maya asked, while Sakura Airi peeked out from the partition, looking at Saiki.
[Will Kusuo-kun think it's delicious... What if he doesn't like it...]
At this moment, Sakura Airi was nervous. She didn't know that Saiki was already aware of her presence.
Saiki thought for a moment and then nodded:
"It tastes good. There shouldn't be any problems."
"That's great, Master!"
Hearing Saiki's words, Sato Maya jumped for joy, and Sakura Airi also showed a happy smile.
"Very good. But has the total budget been finalized? I'd also like to know the specific process and details."
Horikita Suzune turned and said.
"Um, we've tried to consolidate everything in the proposal!"
Wang Mei Yu immediately took out the proposal from the side and handed it to Horikita Suzune.
"This is more complete than any proposal I've seen so far. Impressive."
Horikita Suzune nodded, highly praising Sato Maya and the others.
"It's indeed an interesting proposal. Although it's not a particularly rare theme, as long as it's done with care and effort, I think there's a possibility of success. However, there are also drawbacks. The rental cost for the outfits is 4,000 points per piece. According to the proposal, ten outfits would cost 40,000 points. Then there's the cost of preparing drinks and food, which is about 50,000 points. Just these two things alone add up to 90,000 points. The decorations in the classroom cost 5,000 points. If we include the rental fee for the venue, the expenses will definitely not be small."
"W-well, that's true... But I think we can make up for it by slightly raising the prices!"
Sato Maya immediately said.
"Just to confirm, this proposal hasn't been seen by anyone else, right?"
"Of course not!"
"I think the maid café proposal can be approved, but please refine the proposal further to reduce costs."
Hearing Horikita Suzune's words, the other girls in the room immediately smiled happily.
"Don't celebrate too early. Don't forget this is just one step forward. We still have a lot of work to do. Your coffee is hand-ground, right? Although it tastes good, it's more costly and time-consuming. During a cultural festival with many guests, this would be a disadvantage. We need to speed up the process to attract more customers. So I think it's better to switch to pre-ground coffee beans. The same goes for other drinks. As for the food, I suggest choosing lighter dishes that are cheaper and easier to prepare. Plus, light dishes can be sold at higher prices."
"Got it!"
The others nodded vigorously.
"One more thing. As a café, we'll undoubtedly need a manager. I think we should leave that to you, Saiki."
"Huh?"
Saiki was stunned. He hadn't expected to be assigned this task out of nowhere.
This meant he would have even more trouble to deal with.
"Since it's a maid café, as a guy, you'll naturally have more authority than us. So I think it's fine to have you manage them as the manager."
"I..."
Before Saiki could refuse, Sato Maya nodded vigorously:
"Yes, I also support Saiki-kun being the manager!"
[This way, I can openly chat with Saiki-kun!]
Sato Maya's thoughts were loud and clear.
Of course, she wasn't the only one.
Sakura Airi's thoughts were pretty much the same.
Saiki couldn't help but suspect that Sato Maya's real goal in inviting him here was this.
"Of course, if you have someone else in mind, you can inform the intended person about today's events. But don't forget to keep it a secret. If anything goes wrong, we'll have to cancel the plan."
Horikita Suzune said.
"And you..."
Then, Horikita Suzune went on to explain a bunch of precautions to Saiki, leaving him feeling somewhat helpless.
Of course, he didn't want to add more trouble to his life.
But at this moment, Saiki couldn't help but recall what Kiryuin Fuka had said to him earlier.
'Yare yare, since it's a café and the taste isn't bad, I'll agree for now.'
In the end, Saiki nodded.
...
The next morning.
Before the first class began, Chabashira Sae entered the classroom and announced important news.
"Before the sports festival in October, you'll be taking on a new special exam."
[Huh? Another special exam?]
[I thought the school would finally give us a break.]
[But for us now, it shouldn't be a big problem, right?]
The students were shaken. After all, at this time last year, they were already fully preparing for the sports festival, and there were no other special exams.
"To be honest, neither the first-years nor the third-years have ever had a special exam before the sports festival."
Chabashira Sae's expression was quite serious today.
"It's precisely because you second-years are so outstanding that the school is evaluating you accordingly. That's why they've prepared this exam for you."
[This exam will be a very significant challenge for you.]
Chabashira Sae's thoughts reached Saiki's ears.
[It seems simple, but in reality, this exam is very dangerous.]
"The exam you'll be taking is the Unanimous Vote Special Exam."
"The rules of this special exam are very simple. If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask questions at any time. The exam is scheduled for tomorrow. As the name suggests, the entire class will vote to select one option from multiple choices until a unanimous decision is reached."
"Since the rules of this exam are simple, the school believes there's no need for prior discussion. That's why it's fine to hold it suddenly tomorrow."
Chabashira Sae explained slowly.
"So this time... do we need to compete with other classes?"
Hirata Yosuke asked worriedly.
"No, this is just an internal class exam. On the day of the exam, the school will present you with five tasks. The tasks will be the same for all classes, with no differences."
Chabashira Sae said as she turned on the projector.
"To help everyone understand, I'll give you an example."
Example: Lose 5 class points, and all class members gain 10,000 personal points.
Options: Agree / Disagree
"For this task, all 39 members of your class will vote anonymously on one of the options."
"No matter how many people choose one option, if the class doesn't reach a unanimous decision, you'll have to vote again. Each vote will be 10 minutes apart, and free discussion is allowed."
"The chosen option will be implemented by the school. For example, in this case, if the vote is unanimously 'Agree,' each of you will receive 10,000 personal points, and the class will lose 5 class points. Conversely, if the final result is 'Disagree,' the task will be invalidated and have no effect."
Chabashira Sae explained the rules of the exam.
[You absolutely cannot underestimate the tasks in this exam.]
[Perhaps, some students might even be expelled.]