When I woke up, the sound of pages turning drifted into my ears.
Opening my eyes, the corner of my vision caught a pair of slender legs in white socks. Looking up, Hoshino was sitting beside me, absorbed in the marine life encyclopedia.
Morning light streamed through the window and fell across Hoshino's delicate profile, making her smile look even brighter.
I could not bring myself to ruin that moment with words, so I watched quietly, wanting to etch the scene into my memory.
Hoshino soon noticed my gaze, her smile folding in as she closed the book and greeted me, "Good morning, Sensei."
"Good morning, Hoshino."
"Uhee~ Sorry for peeking at your book without asking. But if this old man isn't wrong, this is the present you gave me, right? You went and secretly checked my tastes, what a terrifying adult you are."
I scratched my face awkwardly at her teasing.
"I actually saw the whale keychain by your bedside and thought you might like this kind of thing."
"Mm. Since it came from you, I'll accept it gratefully. Oh right, today is the day Kaiser Loans comes to collect interest. I look forward to seeing how a grown-up like you handles it, Sensei."
With that she yawned, hugged the pillow, and shuffled upstairs.
After washing up, I ate breakfast while going over my plan. When the time felt right, I woke Hoshino and we headed to school together.
By the time we arrived, Ayane had already prepared this month's interest, stuffing the cash into a black canvas bag.
We waited by the school gate for the Kaiser Loans representative to arrive.
Before long, a black armored cash truck pulled up and stopped at the gate. A suited, well-groomed robot stepped out, greeted the Foreclosure Task Force members, and began to verify the cash.
"...Sorry to have kept you waiting. After adding the floating interest and penalties, the total comes to 7,883,250 yen. Payment in full has been made in cash. Thank you for your continued support of Kaiser Loans. Please look after us next month as well."
The bank clerk instructed the armed guards to load the canvas bag into the vehicle and prepared to leave.
At that moment, I spoke up and stopped them, "Wait a moment."
"Eh? Who are you?"
I handed over my business card. "I'm the head of Schale's official club under the General Student Council. I'd like to discuss some business with you."
The bank clerk hesitated, the face on his display flickered into an eager emoticon, and he agreed, asking to speak privately for a moment.
Once we were away from the crowd, I got straight to the point.
"For the loan you made to Abydos, the General Student Council is interested. We will buy sixty percent of it from you at a ten percent premium."
As a third party, buying debt from the lender at a premium is a common investment move. Buying from the borrower would change the interest conditions, so we bought the loan on the lender's side to keep the rate intact.
Holding sixty percent would give the General Student Council priority in disposing of Abydos's remaining assets if the school entered closure proceedings.
Of course, I was only using the Student Council's name as a pretense. The Student Council was in no position to deal with Abydos right now.
That did not stop me from having Rin spread an ambiguous rumor.
Kaiser Loans's executives would surely ask around people who had ties to the Student Council, then act on whatever faulty intelligence they received, just as I hoped.
With the Student Council president missing, a shift in the council's stance would not seem implausible.
The bank clerk stammered, "I-I'm just a regular employee. I don't have the authority to decide such things."
"Then get permission from whoever does. If you refuse, I'll simply sign a new contract directly with the Abydos students. Even if the interest rate comes down, there's still profit to be made over time."
The clerk hurried off to make calls.
I knew that once I guessed Kaiser's plan for Abydos's remaining territory, my stratagem was bound to work.
High interest was only one method to drive students away. The real foundation was the debt itself, which Kaiser wanted to hold tightly.
So this negotiation was less about the outcome and more about the process.
I wrapped my true purpose in the guise of a legitimate business transaction to confuse the enemy, to keep them from knowing how much I actually knew.
Now I had made my move, and all that remained was to see how they reacted.
—
[Kaiser PMC headquarters]
In the director's office, a broad-shouldered robot, furious after being extorted by Problem Solver 68 under contract and forced to send them off with gifts, was still boiling over.
At that moment the director received a call from a subordinate. After hearing the full report, he exploded in impotent rage.
"Damn it! It has to be Schale's Sensei's scheme!"
Ever since Schale's Sensei had appeared, nothing had gone according to plan...
First, the transport helicopter sent to ambush Abydos exploded the moment it returned to the hangar, triggering a chain reaction that destroyed most of the hangar.
Then he had poured money into equipping the Helmet Gang with a new full arsenal, only for the five defenders from Abydos to beat them. They even managed to free a kidnapped victim midway.
And now, the newly hired Problem Solver 68 had grabbed a hold and ran to claim Kaiser was at fault, threatening to turn traitor if not paid more...
It had to be all the doing of Schale's Sensei.
The Kaiser PMC director grew angrier by the minute, but a gleam of calculation passed through his electronic eyes.
How could the General Student Council possibly meddle in school affairs? Schale's Sensei must be underestimating him, using such crude scare tactics.
He smiled grimly and dialed another number.
"Hello? Director Shiranui? It's me."
"I wanted to ask if the General Student Council has been..."
"Hah, so it was false information. Oh? Where did you hear this from?"
"What?! The source might be real?!"
The Kaiser PMC director put down the phone, his face turning serious.
Once he heard the source was Schale's Sensei, even Director Kaya Shiranui, who had been adamant there was no such thing and had close ties to the Kaiser Group, suddenly changed his tune.
The director slumped back into his chair, weighed his options, and finally instructed his waiting subordinates.
"Refuse Sensei's demand, then tell the Abydos students we'll reduce their rate, cut it in half... no, to one third. Make up any reason you like."
After hanging up, he could not contain his fury and hurled the phone to the floor, smashing it to pieces.
"Schale's Sensei," he ground out through clenched teeth, "you must have a death wish."