Chapter 6: The First "Collaborator"
The classroom, after the crowd had dispersed, was filled with a suffocating, deathly silence.
Mary Saotome remained slumped on the floor. Her twin-tails were a disheveled mess, and that head—once held high in arrogance—was now buried deep between her knees.
Ten million yen.
The figure was like a mountain that had snapped her spine. At Hyakkaou Private Academy, debt meant becoming "livestock." If she didn't pay it off quickly, what awaited her was the "Life Schedule" dictated by the Student Council—forced marriages, mandatory labor, and a total loss of human dignity.
"Reduced to... a Mike..."
She muttered to herself, her fingernails clawing into the gaps of the floorboards.
Footsteps stopped in front of her.
They were ordinary student loafers, but the owner of these shoes had just kicked her straight into hell.
"Haven't you cried enough yet?"
The flat, unfluctuating voice drifted down from above.
Mary snapped her head up, eyes brimming with tears of humiliation as she glared at me ferociously. "Are you here to mock me? Or to collect the debt? Ayanokoji! I don't have any money... even if you report me, I still..."
"I don't need money."
I interrupted her hysteria and crouched down, bringing my gaze level with hers.
In my hand was a neatly folded piece of paper, which I held out to her.
"This is..." Mary froze.
"A debt transfer contract," I explained calmly. "As long as you sign, I will assume responsibility for that ten million yen debt. In other words, nominally, you won't owe anyone money, and you won't have to fall to the status of 'livestock.'"
Mary looked at me in disbelief, as if looking at a madman. "You... why would you do this? That's ten million yen! Do you want me to pay you back with my body? Don't be ridiculous! I'd rather die than—"
"I have no interest in your body."
I spoke those incredibly cutting words in the most matter-of-fact tone possible.
"Furthermore, I don't possess such low-class tastes as to find pleasure in tormenting the defeated."
"Then what is your objective?"
"I want you."
Mary's face flushed crimson instantly, then turned pale just as fast.
"Don't misunderstand," I continued. "What I need is your 'ability' and your 'status.' In this school, those who try to climb to the top are too conspicuous, and those who try to idle their time away are too passive."
I moved closer, lowering my voice to a volume only the two of us could hear:
"Be my dog... no, be my 'collaborator.'"
Mary's pupils constricted violently.
"On the surface, I am merely an escapist with slightly good luck and no ambition. You, Mary Saotome, will remain that aggressive, perhaps even arrogant, gambler."
"You will act as my cover, handling the troubles I find inconvenient to deal with myself, gathering intelligence for me, and even winning the gambles I don't wish to enter personally."
"This is the trade. I buy your life, and you work for me."
Mary bit her lip until a bead of blood appeared.
This was a contract of indenture. In essence, it was no different from becoming the Student Council's livestock.
However...
She looked at the man named Kiyotaka Ayanokoji before her.
In those amber eyes, there was no victor's ecstasy, no pity for the loser—not even a flicker of emotion. There was only a bottomless void.
It was something more terrifying than "malice"—it was pure "nothingness."
Her intuition told her that if she refused this man, her end would be ten thousand times more miserable than becoming a "Mike."
"...Give me the pen."
Mary reached out with a trembling hand.
I pulled a signature pen from my breast pocket and handed it to her.
She signed her name on the paper in a scrawl so forceful it nearly tore the sheet, as if she were trying to cut through it.
After signing, she shoved the paper and pen back into my hands, standing up unsteadily. She messily wiped the tears from her face, struggling to restore her expression to its usual aggressive arrogance.
"Don't think I've submitted to you, Ayanokoji!"
She pointed at my nose; though her finger was still shaking slightly, the fire in her eyes had reignited.
"I'm just... doing this to pay the debt! This is a business partnership! Once I've repaid this favor, I will definitely defeat you and win back this ten million with interest! When that time comes, just you wait and see—you'll be crying and begging me for mercy!"
A typical defense mechanism. Using verbal aggression to mask inner vulnerability and submission.
However, this is fine.
If she had turned into a timid, broken person from a single defeat, she would have lost her utility to me.
What I need is this rabid dog—one that, despite being wounded, still wants to bite.
"I look forward to that day," I said blandly as I tucked the contract away.
"Well then, I look forward to our cooperation, Saotome-san."
I turned and walked away without looking back.
The process was slightly troublesome, but the first piece of the puzzle was now in my possession.
With her out front drawing the fire, it would be much easier for me to explore the depths of this school—and the truth behind the Student Council President hiding in the shadows.