Uchiha Ryo walked into Yukino's living room with a complicated expression.
How should I put it? When he came up, Yukinoshita had already explained that they were going to hold a meeting to discuss the "Hyouka" issue.
I was overthinking things...
A moment later, the person who opened the door and walked out was none other than the president of the Classic Literature Club, Amakusa Shino. As the host, Yukino had already prepared tea for four.
"Please, find a seat anywhere. I'll go get 'Hyouka' from my room."
Yukinoshita got up and walked into her bedroom, while Amakusa Shino sat next to Chitanda, across from Uchiha Ryo.
When Yukinoshita returned to the living room with "Hyouka," Uchiha Ryo also took out the backpack he was carrying.
"Did you prepare something else?"
Yukino frowned. Uchiha lives just downstairs. What could he possibly need to bring up?
Uchiha Ryo silently unzipped his backpack. The backpack shook a few times, and a cat's head suddenly poked out.
Enyun-chan: "Meow— (Next time, leave the zipper open a bit. I was suffocating in there.)"
"Kawaii— x3"
[Yukinoshita Yukino's affinity for Enyun has increased—G-Points +30]
[Chitanda Eru's affinity for Enyun has increased—G-Points +30]
[Amakusa Shino's affinity for Enyun has increased—G-Points +30]
Now this is a truly useful summoning beast! From now on, I'll just summon Enyun-chan whenever I meet them and crazily farm their G-Points.
"Is this the cat you're raising, Uchiha-kun? Can I pet it!"
Chitanda took the initiative to take the backpack and lift Enyun-chan out.
Enyun-chan struggled out, then met her master's gaze, which made a cat break out in a cold sweat.
Life is hard, the kitty sighs. Enyun-chan could only helplessly jump onto Yukino's lap and lie down...
[Yukinoshita Yukino's affinity for Enyun has increased—G-Points +40]
As expected of a top-tier cat lover. In the future, with Enyun-chan and me working together, how can we not capture a little Yukino like you?!
Amakusa Shino cleared her throat, pulling Yukino's attention away from the cat and back to reality. "Well then... let the first 'Hyouka' meeting begin."
Chitanda Eru raised her hand. "Isn't our Classic Literature Club missing one person?"
Yukinoshita shook her head. "Don't worry about unimportant people. Let's start the meeting."
The host was naturally Amakusa Shino, as she was the president. However, after the host gave her opening remarks, it was all up to Yukino to lead the discussion.
"First, let's hear what member Yukinoshita has discovered!"
Yukinoshita Yukino nodded. "This matter began when, through our conversation with Chitanda, we found 'Hyouka' through her memories."
"Hyouka" was the club journal of the Shuchiin Classic Literature Club from about thirty-three years ago, and Chitanda-san's uncle seems to have been a student at Shuchiin thirty-four years ago.
"So our primary idea is to use 'Hyouka' to deduce the events concerning Chitanda-san's uncle thirty-three years ago."
Yukinoshita took out another notebook and continued.
"I've read through the second volume of 'Hyouka,' the one Chitanda-san asked her uncle about."
"Finally, I found a few keywords that appeared frequently. You can take a look."
[Senpai Sekitani, Legend, Cultural Festival, Hero, Dispute, Sacrifice, Forgotten.]
Chitanda Eru spoke first. "My uncle's real name is Sekitani Jun."
Yukino nodded. "There are also a few key pieces of information and questions that need to be answered that I've recorded."
"The reason senpai left, the reason he named the publication 'Hyouka' before he left, and also... 'dispute' and 'sacrifice,' are these related to Sekitani-senpai?"
After Yukino finished speaking first, Amakusa Shino took over.
"I asked the student council president, and learned that Sekitani-senpai didn't finish high school at Shuchiin. So his 'leaving' was not graduation, but dropping out..."
Chitanda Eru nodded. "And then, our clues suddenly ran dry. Namely, the reason my uncle dropped out, and what that 'dispute' and 'sacrifice' from thirty-three years ago were."
Uchiha Ryo pondered for a moment.
"Our next line of thinking probably shouldn't be limited to 'Hyouka'. Since the event has been confirmed to be thirty-three years ago, we can just check the school's archives, right?"
Amakusa Shino sighed. "No good. I asked the student council president about that too, if we could see the records from thirty-three years ago. But for some reason, that section of the archives has been sealed. Only Shuchiin VIPs are qualified to view them."
Yukino looked at Amakusa Shino in confusion. "Shuchiin VIP?"
"Ah, you freshmen probably don't know yet. The students at Shuchiin all have impressive backgrounds, you should know that. And among this group, there are a few with top-tier status. Those are the VIPs."
Uchiha Ryo was thoughtful. "In other words, as long as we can get help from one of the Shuchiin VIPs, we can directly investigate the records from thirty-three years ago?"
In other words, as long as I use my Sharingan to control one Shuchiin VIP, the problem will be easily solved.
Yukino gave him a look as if he were an idiot.
"Uchiha-kun, you heard what President Amakusa just said. Do you think you can even get close to someone at the top of Shuchiin's hierarchy?"
Uchiha Ryo turned to meet Yukino's gaze. "Isn't there one in your class?"
Yukinoshita Yukino fell silent. She really didn't know what Uchiha Ryo was thinking. Shinomiya Kaguya... as the eldest daughter of a top financial conglomerate, she was indeed at the pinnacle of Shuchiin. If she wanted to look at the school's records, it would be no problem at all.
"Why would she help us? Don't tell me you're going to beg her..."
Uchiha Ryo chuckled. "The Ice Princess Kaguya, born on the moon, wouldn't care about mortals on the ground. But if, in this upcoming monthly exam, someone can pull her down..."
Yukino's eyes widened. "You... are you serious?!"
"What do you think? Did you think I was joking?"
Chitanda's face showed confusion—
"Um, what are Uchiha-kun and Yukinoshita-san talking about?"
Yukinoshita pursed her lips. "This person is attempting to take the first-place position in the monthly exam, knock Shinomiya Kaguya down to get her attention, and then ask Shinomiya-san to investigate this matter."
Amakusa Shino's eyes widened. "Surpass that... Shinomiya?"
Uchiha Ryo nodded. That's right, he was going to surpass Shinomiya. When it came to academics, Uchiha Ryo had never been afraid of anyone.
With Shinomiya Kaguya's personality, as long as he surpassed her in academic ability, he could get her attention. At that time, regardless of whether she came personally or sent Hayasaka Ai, Uchiha Ryo could take the opportunity to harvest G-Points.