People bring their own maids to the training camp

As expected, Chihaya did not simply intend to remove her mask, but rather used the pretense of removing it to close the distance and launch an attack.

If one strike misses, Qiancao will quickly turn around and deliver a powerful and heavy roundhouse kick.

Ayanokouji dodged with a backflip, but Chihaya, who had just finished her roundhouse kick and landed on one leg, followed up with three consecutive kicks from her other leg, targeting the upper, middle, and lower body. Then, she landed a straight punch, giving Ayanokouji no chance to catch her breath.

The attacks were fluid and continuous, but Ayanokouji either dodged or blocked, and his stance bar remained unchanged.

Hayasaka, watching the battlefield from a distance, noticed that although Chihaya was seemingly suppressing Ayanokouji, she would eventually exhaust herself if the fight continued like this.

If Ayanokouji doesn't take action, the number of variables will increase dramatically over time.

Having been granted the authority to act according to circumstances, Hayasaka decided to disrupt the battlefield.

The specific action was very simple: using the "hidden weapons" she had prepared, she would launch them at Ayanokouji's feet and back with a "finger flicking technique." This would distract Ayanokouji, who was defending with all his might, thus creating an opening in his defense.

And in fact, she did just that; Hayasaka, who was high up and dressed in all black, was not noticed by Ayanokouji at all.

A pebble appeared in Ayanokouji's retreating path, and then another pebble struck him in the back.

Ayanokouji inevitably became distracted, especially after discovering someone was attacking from a distance. He realized he needed to find that person quickly, otherwise he would become increasingly passive.

Chihaya noticed Hayasaka's assist and his attacks became increasingly fierce, leaving Ayanokouji no time to locate Hayasaka. Hayasaka also constantly moved between the walls, like a triangular arrow that never touched the ground.

With the interference of the "hidden weapons," Ayanokouji was already in a precarious situation, as he was not taking the initiative to attack and was only trying to defend himself.

Seeing his advantage widening, Qianzao took out a pair of brass knuckles from his pocket and put them on while using his kicking technique. The gloves he had prepared beforehand were not only to prevent fingerprints, but also for this reason, otherwise his fingers would definitely have left marks from using the brass knuckles.

“…” Ayanokouji frowned slightly, feeling a bit tricky. His opponent was well prepared, while he felt that he had been a bit too arrogant—he had never expected that there would be someone with such fighting power in this school.

Especially since his opponent didn't choose to fight him with two people at once, but instead attacked him from both the open and the shadows, this tactic was far more intimidating than two people attacking simultaneously. After all, it was getting late, and he couldn't lock onto Hayasaka who was moving between the walls.

Wearing brass knuckles, Chihaya's punches became even more powerful, aiming for Ayanokouji's throat and eyes with every blow. Occasionally, she would circle behind Ayanokouji and attack vital areas such as the back of the head.

This attack was clearly meant to tell Ayanokouji that this was not a friendly sparring match, and that if Ayanokouji failed to defend himself, Chihaya's attack would definitely leave him in deep trouble.

Finally, forced into a corner, Ayanokouji began to launch counterattacks while maintaining his defensive stance, and the situation instantly changed from Chihaya's absolute advantage. With each of Ayanokouji's proactive moves, Chihaya's advantage was diminished.

After a dozen or so moves, Chihaya was gradually being suppressed by Ayanokouji, who even had time to locate Hayasaka and throw a pebble back at him.

After a few more moves, Chihaya was hit in the shoulder by Ayanokouji and staggered back several steps.

Left with no other choice, Hayasaka gave up her roaming and threw her last three pebbles in a triangular pattern. She then used the momentum to launch a flying kick at Ayanokouji in a rider kick stance.

Hearing the sound of a stone cutting through the air, Ayanokouji dodged to the side without turning his head. He did dodge the stone, but Hayasaka's flying kick was unavoidable.

Because Chihaya steadied herself and accelerated, she charged towards Ayanokouji, who had just dodged the rock, with a "Iron Mountain Lean". This fighting style was completely different from her previous style, and Ayanokouji was caught off guard.

Ultraman Dekae's usual aggressive Iron Mountain Strike is a bit clumsy at the start, but it's a different story if there's someone behind the target launching a flying kick.

The space where Ayanokouji was located was cramped, and Chihaya's iron-leaning stance further compressed this already small space.

In a flash, Ayanokouji made his decision. He simply jumped up, kicked the wall, and slipped through the gap just as Chihaya was about to crash into him.

Their combined attack failed.

Despite having deflected their attack, Ayanokouji frowned, a rare occurrence for him. The reason was simple: the two fighters' strength far exceeded his understanding—normal high school students shouldn't possess such fighting power.

Both of them are far superior to Horikita Manabu in terms of strength.

This interruption left the three of them staring at each other, each waiting for the other to attack, thus freezing in place.

Apart from Hayasaka, Chihaya and Ayanokouji's breathing quickened slightly.

“I kind of understand how you feel,” Hayasaka said softly. “How can there be such a freak?”

"Would you be even more surprised if I told you that this kind of freak could be mass-produced?"

"...No wonder his father wanted to seek a higher political position; I would have done the same."

94. Truth or Dare Game

After this exchange, the two-on-one fight ended in a narrow draw, leaving Hayasaka stunned.

She originally thought that even if Chihaya couldn't win in a one-on-one fight, with her help, she should be able to win easily, if not crush her. However, she realized that Chihaya's fear was not unfounded.

If even a maid like her, who received special training from a large family, and Chihaya, with her explosive talent, couldn't defeat the opponent, then ten ordinary bodyguards could probably defeat them—and would only suffer a crushing defeat without weapons.

However, the advantage of large families lies in their possession of firearms—weapons that no human can match.

After all, this isn't Rikolis's film set, so there won't actually be a situation where a whole magazine of ammunition is fired only to be dodged by the enemy.

It's possible to take down an opponent wielding a pistol at very close range, but in a situation like the one just described, where Chihaya and Ayanokouji were fighting and Hayasaka had a gun, Ayanokouji would have been certain to die.

Even without mentioning a gun, if Hayasaka had a crossbow or a throwing star, Ayanokouji would be doomed.

Unfortunately, Chihaya didn't come to the appointment with the intention of killing Ayanokoji, otherwise the two of them would have had quite a few ways to deal with Ayanokoji.

If such prodigies could be mass-produced, it would be perfectly normal for them to have ambition. In fact, it would be strange if such people didn't have ambition. Moreover, they are far superior to the talents cultivated by Gaoyu.

"Should we continue fighting?" Hayasaka asked Chihaya in a low voice. The two sides had been staring at each other for two minutes, not moving an inch like three idiots.

“…I’m not fighting anymore.” Chihaya relaxed completely and, to show her sincerity, took off her brass knuckles and tossed them to Hayasaka. “Ayanokouji-san, what do you think of this ‘proof’? If it hadn’t been an ordinary pebble that was thrown, you would be unconscious by now, and I could have easily taken you out of the school, but I didn’t do that.”

Ayanokouji nodded upon hearing this. While hitting a vital spot with a pebble could be effective, if the opponent threw something like a hypnotic or anesthetic substance, he would definitely be affected.

Although the two opponents plus a helper could defeat him if they went all out, this is not a street brawl after all.

"Now we can probably have a proper talk?" Chihaya asked. "I'm curious, why did you come to a place like Gaoyu? Have you reached the age of a rebellious teenager?"

"..."

"Alright, how about we play a game to exchange information?" Chihaya suggested, seeing that Ayanokouji seemed reluctant to speak.

"How to play?"

“We’ll each ask the other two questions, but the answers must be one true and one false,” Chihaya said. “As for the specific truth or falsehood, we’ll each decide for ourselves, shall we?”

“…Okay.” Ayanokouji thought for a moment and agreed.

"To show your sincerity, you should ask a question first," Chihaya gestured.

"There is absolutely no possibility of cooperation between the forces you represent and Ayanokouji Atsuomi." Ayanokouji asked this question after thinking for a while. This was also the most important thing to him, since his greatest threat came from his father, not from anyone else.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

“Yes, we have no future cooperation with Ayanokoji Atsuomi, neither in the past nor now,” Chihaya replied.

"It's your turn."

"If other forces were willing to accept you, would you agree?" This was Chihaya's question.

“I will not agree,” Ayanokouji replied calmly. “My second question is, is it true or false that Gaoyu has three grades: first year, second year, and third year?”

“Wrong.” Chihaya didn’t lie about her first question, so she had to lie about her second. “Is it really worth it to use one question to verify the correctness of the previous one? You could have gotten more information from it.”

"That's something you need to think about. It's your turn now."

"So my second question is: Was your first answer a lie?"

“…” Ayanokouji fell silent, because although the question was convoluted, it was completely meaningless.

After all, as Chihaya just said: is it really worth using one question to verify the correctness of the previous one? We could have gotten more information from asking.

"Haha, sorry, the real question is this: you're not going to drop out of school, right?"

"...Yes, I will not drop out of school."

“Okay, then the game is over.” Chihaya nodded. “I’ll contact you again later. Goodbye.”

Ayanokouji watched the departing duo but made no attempt to chase after them. Instead, she put her hands in her pockets and went straight back to her dormitory.

......

After confirming they were not being followed, the two changed back into their school uniforms, then took a long detour to a convenience store, bought some items, and pretended to be shopping before returning to their room.

"Lord Chihaya, what do you think of his answer?"

“He used a clever trick to confirm what he wanted to confirm.” Chihaya didn’t immediately analyze Ayanokouji’s answer, but first analyzed her own problem. “He’s trying to confirm whether we might be in cahoots with Ayanokouji Atsuomi.”

"The second question is indeed one that can be confirmed without thinking, so he now knows that we cannot cooperate with Ayanokoji Atsuomi. Although introducing ourselves can dispel his concerns, it is too early to say. He is not worthy of our complete trust."

"So your first question is about trying to recruit him?"

Chihaya's first question was whether Ayanokouji would be willing to join a faction other than Ayanokouji Atsuomi. Although Ayanokouji answered that he would not join, the truth of this question could only be determined by his answer to the second question.

The second question was whether Ayanokouji would drop out of school, and the answer was no.

If Ayanokouji wasn't lying about his second question and he wouldn't drop out of school, then his first answer was a lie, meaning he would join some faction.

If he lied and said he would drop out of school, then the first question is the real answer: he will not join another faction.

Hayasaka was curious about this answer because both explanations seemed plausible no matter how you looked at them.

“Turning him to his side is more efficient than opposing him,” Chihaya said. “However, it’s easy to tell which of his statements are false. If he’ll drop out of school and not join any faction, it means he’ll only go back to his father’s side. After all, if he drops out, that’s the only place he can go back to. But—”

"but?"

"But if he's going to drop out of school, why bother confirming whether we're in contact with Atsuomi Ayanokoji? Is it just to put Atsuomi Ayanokoji at ease through us?"

"That can't be it, right?"

"So, it's true that he won't drop out of school, but it's a lie that he won't join. In other words, it's possible that he will join us."

95. Kiryuin

"Lady Chihaya, Kiryuin Fuuka wishes to meet with you," Hayasaka said to Chihaya.

"Kiryuin? Oh, the second-year student." Chihaya paused for a moment before remembering who Hayasaka was referring to. "Looks like Nagumo came knocking on his door after the exams."

"Yes, although Nan Yun can't do anything about her, she can't do anything about Nan Yun either."

"Then what does she want from me?" Chihaya asked, puzzled. "Is she asking me to team up with her against Nagumo? Or is she here to swear allegiance? She can't possibly be here to complain and vent, can she?"

"If she intends to swear allegiance, I'll prepare a cane for her first."

"But wouldn't that be fake loyalty? It would lead to betrayal."

"That's true, so do you want to see her?"

“It’s not impossible,” Chihaya said. “I’ll go see her dressed as a man, before I completely change back.”

"So where should we meet?"

"The usual place, shall we?" Chihaya said. "Oh, and get a card with 20,000 points on it, and give it to Kiryuin."