General 103

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Chapter 103. Put Your Hands On The Wall And Quietly Stare At It

"Is that so? The contents of what Major General Kamiya and Second Lieutenant Hayami brought back from the enemy country the other day—was that what was inside?"

[Ho-ho. Fifth Seat Suo is quite a character. I thought, given her adolescent purity, she would have scolded the neighboring country’s people in a more vulgar manner.]

"I had anticipated it beforehand. I am deeply grateful for your advance notice. Seat 4 of Anazama."

Listening to Mina’s singing echoing through the school building from the window of the student council room, Suo Marin responded to the flattery from Seat 4 of Anazama on her smartphone with a lifeless voice. It seemed as if she was deliberately maintaining a certain calmness.

[Oh, there’s no need for thanks. After all, with your Soul Armor ability, hiding it would be useless.]

"So, will this matter be made public?"

[Distort the truth.]

"...So you mean the fact that the neighboring country is using weapons powered by human fuel will be disclosed?"

From Seat 4 of Anazama’s brief response, Marin calculated the national interests behind it and assessed how much information would be disclosed.

[Do you agree with this as well?]

"I don’t think there’s a need to disclose everything to the public. Revealing everything might provoke more sympathy rather than revulsion."

[That’s right. But for your age, that’s quite impressive. With a prodigy like you around, Grandpa can retire with peace of mind.]

"No, I need you to continue working for this country for another ten years."

[Ho-ho. You’re quite the hard taskmaster.]

"That’s the way of life for those with Soul Armor abilities..."

[Hmm. Well then, until next time, Suo-dono.]

"Yes, excuse me."

With the call ended, Marin sank deeply into the sofa and gazed up at the ceiling of the student council room.

"Really... why does the truth always seem so dirty?"

Perhaps from the release of tension, she muttered to herself.

[Marin-chan, you look tired.]

[Oh, Espio. No, I’m fine.]

Marin responded casually to Espio, who spoke to her internally.

[Marin-chan, are you regretting being possessed by someone like me?]

[What’s this, Espio, out of the blue?]

[Well, Marin-chan’s secrets are only growing bigger. Eventually, you’ll be immobilized by their weight.]

[Ah... well, I can’t go back to being just a mischievous girl peeking into other people’s secrets out of curiosity. Now that I’ve shown my power to the world, this is unavoidable.]

[...Then.]

[Don’t misunderstand, Espio. I’m grateful for the espionage abilities you gave me. It was thanks to this power that I was able to save my brother.]

[Is that so?]

[Yes. So, though I’ll likely be a burden to you going forward, please continue to support me, Espio.]

[Got it, Marin-chan! By the way, about stalking your brother, if you could allocate resources to other espionage tasks, it would be a lot easier for me.]

[That’s a no-go. In fact, with the risk of undesirable females getting close due to brother’s rising popularity from this school festival, we need to pour even more resources into this.]

[Ughhh~]

"Oh, speaking of my brother, the concert by Kohou-senpai is about to end. A successful event is one where everything wraps up smoothly, so I need to go to the concert venue and assist my brother."

Since Kamiya-senpai and the others hadn’t returned yet, Marin would temporarily leave the student council room. However, prioritizing her brother’s matters, she put up a sign indicating her absence and left the room.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

"Kyah~ so cute!!"

From beyond the student council room door, I heard Kotomi and President Nase’s excited voices as I waited in the hallway.

I was kicked out since I was a guy and had to leave due to Mizuki-chan’s injury treatment and changing clothes.

"Hey? Yuu-sama, what are you doing?"

Standing idly in the hallway, Hayami-san happened to pass by.

"How about you, Hayami-san? Is everything alright with the class's yakisoba booth? And, um, that outfit..."

"Ah...! This is..."

Hayami-san hurriedly tried to hide her chest, but my sharp gaze didn’t miss the prey.

"Second Lieutenant Hayami. Turn your body 90 degrees towards the wall, then place your hands on it."

"Yuu-sama... what is this..."

"Can’t you hear a superior’s orders? Put your hands on the wall and quietly stare at it."

"Y-yes."

I used my authority to enforce a near-abusive attitude, making Hayami-san comply. She hesitantly placed her hands on the wall and cautiously presented her lower body towards me.

"Just as I thought, it’s the class T-shirt!"

The back of Hayami-san’s T-shirt was adorned with the words ‘1-A Unity’ and ‘Hayami Group!’ in a stylish font.

"Yuu-sama, please calm down..."

"Calm down? How can I stay calm when treated like this! It’s cruel to not give me the class T-shirt from the cultural festival! How much does the class hate me?!"

Did I really make such a bad impression on everyone in the class?!

Sure, I couldn’t participate in the class’s project at all. But it’s not like I was goofing off. I’ve been working hard with the student council’s death march...

I’ve broken down... completely broken down... my heart...

I entered full sulk mode.

"We do have a class T-shirt for you as well!"

"Really...?"

Despite sulking, I still couldn’t completely give up hope, and I listened to Hayami-san’s desperate explanation.

"It’s true. The class was just worried about how to give it to you and missed the chance because you were so busy!"

Maybe the class had considered my busy schedule and tried to accommodate me...

Now that I think about it, the officer training materials I was shown long ago said that if a superior appears busy, subordinates find it hard to approach, so one should consciously make time to appear relaxed.

I see. This was my fault. Then it can’t be helped!

I’m really glad it wasn’t bullying!

"Well, it can’t be helped. Since I’m free right now, I’ll help with the class’s project."

"Ah... Yuu-sama. Right now, those kids are excited about the post-festival party, and if you go there now, um... it might freeze the atmosphere..."

"It really is bullying then! Damn itttttttttt!!"

Hayami-san’s words, though awkward, cut straight through, deeply wounding and causing me to sink even further.