Inside the Foreclosure Task Force's clubroom at Abydos High School.
A girl glared at the cash transport ledger, her anger growing with each line she read, until she finally burst out:
"This is outrageous! What even is this?!"
Serika, who had also been feeling angry and was just about to speak, looked blankly at the fuming Aru, confused as to why Aru seemed even more enraged than the actual victims here.
"The previous entry shows Kaiser collecting 7.88 million yen from Abydos, and the very next one shows 5 million paid to Helmet Gang as mission support. Isn't this basically using your money to hire people to attack you?!"
Everyone looked at each other in silence.
Was there maybe, just maybe that Aru herself had also once been one of those Kaiser-hired attackers against Abydos?
Even though she was now an ally, in light of her original position, it was more than a little awkward.
The gentle Nonomi broke the silence first. "But why would Kaiser do something like this? If the school goes bankrupt, they can't recover the loan either, right…?"
Aru frowned. "Hmm… maybe they just have some grudge against Abydos?"
Serika shot that down immediately. "Then why even lend us money in the first place?"
"Uh…"
Aru thought it over and realized that did make sense.
"Whatever the reason is," I cut in gravely, "with the intel we have now, all we can do is guess. What matters most is figuring out how to deal with Kaiser's next move."
That was only half the truth.
Yes, priorities mattered. But if we knew their true purpose, it would help shape our strategies and countermeasures.
Sharpening the blade does not delay the chopping of firewood.
Besides, with the crucial intel that Kaiser had already bought up most of Abydos's land, the range of possible motives had narrowed considerably.
Hoshino, as the former vice president of the student council, might already suspect something.
But that was also the problem.
As I had considered from the start, I didn't know how Hoshino or the others would react when they learned of the betrayal by the former student council.
The academy they had fought so hard to protect, already sold out until nearly nothing remained?
There would be anger, despair, maybe even complete breakdown.
Which meant, if I revealed this information now and pushed to uncover Kaiser's true aim, we might come up with a more precise plan, but we would also introduce instability into our actions.
In my view, the harm outweighed the benefit.
So I decided to wait until we survived this current crisis before privately discussing it with Hoshino.
Until then, as long as this crucial intel had to remain hidden, there was no point wasting time chasing answers here.
That was my true reasoning.
Once the decision was made, everyone grew fired up, preparing for the next assault, including the newly joined Problem Solver 68.
Aru slapped her chest proudly. "Don't worry, Abydos, we'll give it everything we've got to help you!"
I nodded. "Good. For the time being, Schale will handle supplying your ammunition."
"Heh heh∼ Then I'll gladly take it~ Haruka, come here for a sec…"
Just as Aru was calling Haruka to set up explosives.
Kayoko couldn't help but remind her. "President, shouldn't we move house first?"
"Eh?"
"Kaiser knows where our office is, right?"
"Eh???"
Mutsuki teased with a grin. "Ooh, that's bad∼ Aru-chan~ There's a lot of personal stuff left in the office, isn't there∼ What should we do now?"
Aru's expression darkened. Glancing at the time, it was nearly evening, she hesitated a long while before awkwardly muttering,
"Um… we've still got some things to take care of today…"
Hifumi spoke up at just the right moment. "Everyone, I should be heading back to school too."
"Yaaawn∼ Then let's call it a day. This old man's exhausted after running around all day, I'm about to keel over~"
After Hoshino said that, everyone agreed and decided to disperse.
The Foreclosure Task Force saw their new friends to the school gate. The four members of Problem Solver 68 said their goodbyes and hurried off, rushing home to pack.
Hifumi, however, paused at the gate. She still had something to say.
"Everyone, really, thank you so much."
"Sorry for dragging you into something so strange, Hifumi-chan."
"Ahaha…"
After a bit of polite chatter, Hifumi got to the point, holding up a copy of the ledger.
"The details are still unclear… but this is real proof of ties between Kaiser, criminals, and the mafia. I'll report this to the Tea Party as soon as I get back!"
The mention of the Tea Party triggered a thought.
My relationship with the Tea Party's Big Three wasn't bad at this point, was it?
We sometimes even exchanged a few casual messages on Momotalk.
Once Hifumi reported this, I might be able to slip it into a casual chat with either Nagisa or Seia.
As for Kaya… well.
Also, I was fairly familiar with the Seminar students from Millennium.
Now that we had solid proof, even if it couldn't be made public, quietly showing it to Yuuka or Noa should be enough to sway their views on Kaiser.
From what I knew, both of them were upright, good students…
Well, at least Yuuka was. Noa… I wasn't so sure.
Her usual calm, polite smile gave away nothing. I could never tell what she was really thinking.
In any case, inspired by Hifumi, I was already thinking of ways to sour Kaiser's image among the students I knew.
"And then, there's also the situation in Abydos…"
"Eh, the Tea Party probably already knows about that."
Hoshino's words left Hifumi wide-eyed in surprise. But Hoshino herself only smiled. Bitter, yet strangely relieved.
"With the scale of their academy, it's impossible they don't know. Their intelligence department isn't just for show."
I sighed. "Honestly, just doing nothing is already kindness enough."
Reaching out to a failing school doesn't necessarily come from goodwill. In fact, it's often the opposite.
The Kaiser Corporation was the best example of that.
Hoshino glanced at me. "As Sensei says. Right now, Abydos is facing closure. We have no power to stand against massive academies like Trinity or Gehenna…
"Or other authority groups, for that matter. You understand what I mean, don't you?"
"You mean, if someone came under the pretense of helping, but with the intent to harm, you'd be powerless to resist, right?"
Hifumi frowned, troubled. "That… really could happen. Uuu… politics is so complicated…"
"Senpai, aren't you being too pessimistic? Maybe someone really would help us with pure intentions…"
But to Nonomi's doubt, Hoshino only chuckled.
"Eheh∼ I've already become a dirty, hopeless old man who can't take people's kindness at face value~"
Suddenly, her smile faded.
Her expression turned serious, a rarity for her, as she spoke with quiet conviction.
"It was because we ignored the 'what ifs' that Abydos fell to this point. So…
"I will not make the same mistake twice."
So said Hoshino.