I, the mastermind behind the scenes at Soubu High, refuse to be caught in a bloodbath.

"Ah! That...that's not finished yet! No! I can't...show you this first!"

She handed the drawing board to him with both hands tightly gripping it, as if she were handing him a love letter.

"...You almost scared me."

Ji Xiaolu took the drawing board while muttering to herself.

The armor is Western-style, mainly covering the skirt armor, breastplate, back armor, and wrist armor. It slightly exposes the shoulders, while the rest of the armor is quite conventional. Based on the design drawings, Himekoji thought of two well-known anime characters: Jeanne d'Arc and Mordred.

Looking back at the two people, they also looked expectant of their evaluation.

“Great, let’s use this design,” Himekoji nodded in satisfaction, handed the drawing board to Kawasaki, and walked to the large tote bag on the ground, saying, “Let me see the sample…”

"Waaah! That...that won't do! Ah—!"

Kawasaki was so nervous that he tripped and fell flat on his face, knocking Himekoji over. Himekoji landed on the large tote bag. It wasn't a big problem, but he clearly felt Kawasaki's breasts on his back. The breasts were flattened on his back like meat patties, and then bounced up again because of their elasticity.

Hmm, good job.

"Oh ho..." Zaimokuza and Ebina pushed up their glasses in unison, giving the impression that a conspiracy had succeeded. It's really rare for otaku and fujoshi to reach a consensus.

However, no matter how shy Kawasaki was, Himekoji still brought out the final sample. This sample was made according to Kawasaki's physique, and she had decided to participate in the mounted battle, so Himekoji simply had Kawasaki stand up, picked up the armor, and showed it off in front of her.

"H-How...can we finish now? This is really embarrassing..."

Kawasaki kept his face red and his head down, looking like he wanted to run away but didn't dare to.

“Great, great, and it suits you just as well.”

Himeko took the sample from in front of her and put it back into the bag.

"Well, that's alright then..."

She let out a long sigh, placed one hand on her chest, and looked relieved.

Due to material limitations, the armor was made of foam board and corrugated cardboard, but the shape was already there. Kawasaki was supposed to pay for the fabric. Himekoji patted her on the shoulder and said, "The student council will reimburse the cost."

"Huh? Well... since I plan to keep it, I'll just... pay for it myself."

"Then consider it a reward for the designers, and for both of you as well. Kawasaki will receive a reward of 50,000 yen, and you will each receive 25,000 yen. Is that alright?"

This is what is meant by clear rewards and punishments, and that hard work will always be rewarded.

"Long live--!!"

Ebina and Zaimokuza shouted, while Kawasaki still seemed quite embarrassed.

In short, Himekoji brought the armor to the student council room. After considering everyone's opinions, they decided to produce a small batch, but they needed to count the number of participants before that.

“Using only corrugated cardboard and foam would be too shabby. Since it’s armor, let’s make something more substantial.”

Kasumigaoka touched the so-called "armor" and offered his suggestions.

"Thin metal sheets can easily cause scratches, and since the contestants are all girls, this kind of thing is super troublesome."

Ju immediately voiced her objection, saying, "You're a boy, aren't you?"

"What if we used resin casting for everything? And then we polished the edges and corners until they were smooth..."

Himekoji was also thinking of her own solution.

"The cost must be very high..."

Accountant Jasmine held up a sign of opposition.

"I actually think it's pretty good. At least it can prevent safety accidents like scratches, which will shut a lot of people up. Finally, resin casting also has a pretty strong structure, so even if it's accidentally dropped, it can provide good protection..."

"Don't worry about money," Ju said, stroking her chin as she analyzed the situation.

"Then let's go with resin casting, that's decided. Or how about we just commission the Yukinoshita family's building materials company? (laughs)"

"I guess they'll just say we're messing around... pfft."

"But it will be very interesting...and there's nothing they can do about it."

"And in the end, it has to be custom-made, and we have to rush the production..."

Mariya and Himekoji were having a long talk, while the rest of the members looked on with blank expressions.

Because this year's competition is more interesting and not as punitive as last year, there's no need to worry about the number of participants. The prize money can also be adjusted accordingly, instead of giving it to everyone.

Work is progressing steadily, and the sports festival is drawing ever closer.

One day, Himekoji happened to be looking at her phone and suddenly noticed that Eriri, Megumi Kato, and Tomoya Aki were on TV. It was a short interview, and at the end, Tomoya Aki suddenly said, "Our company, Blessing Software, is making a..." and then the interview was cut.

"That idiot, promoting himself at a time like this is just ridiculous..."

Ji Xiaolu rubbed her temples and tossed her phone into her pocket.

Inside the conference room, the work, which never stops, continues.

Chapter 167 Too Busy, [Miura Yumiko] Chooses to Help

"Yay~ Hello!"

Suddenly, Yuihama pushed open the door. She should belong to the decoration production team. If she came over at this time, it was most likely because she was slacking off. So the members of the leadership team looked at her with a bit of hostility.

"I, I wasn't slacking off!" Yui Hama took out her phone and waved it nervously, saying, "I saw that there seemed to be only one member in charge of the broadcast commentary... hahaha, so I tried to ask someone else for help."

"There's only one person because we're short-staffed... but if you could find someone, it'll be a huge help." Ji Xiaolu took out the report of those in charge, pointed the pen at the blank space, and looked up to ask her, "Who did you call?"

"Yumiko!"

"Uh..." Sagami instinctively felt a little scared.

"Yumiko it is, let's call her over and discuss it."

"Uh-huh!"

As she spoke, Yuihama immediately contacted her, and Miura arrived at the conference room very quickly, though he kept his face turned away and occasionally stole a glance at them, mainly looking at Hayama.

"Yui asked me to come over; she hasn't decided whether she'll do it or not yet."

However, Miura coldly replied with a dissatisfied look on his face.

"Huh!? Didn't we just agree on that?"

"Yuhihama said in surprise, and Miura immediately turned his face away. The Queen is always so unpredictable, there's nothing we can do about it."

Although he didn't really want to do it, Miura's gaze didn't wander elsewhere.

Instead, he stared at Sagami.

“Miura-kun.”

Sagami tried to speak to him, but Miura simply nodded.

"It's Miura-kun who's coming to help..."

Sagami seemed to still harbor complicated feelings for Miura, and she spoke with a somewhat bewildered tone. Miura seemed displeased with that attitude and replied coldly.

So, I haven't decided whether to do it yet.

"Yes, yes..."

Seeing Miura's piercing gaze directed at Sagami, Sagami shrank back slightly. This attitude seemed to irritate Miura even more; she sighed briefly and crossed her arms.

Although Sagami's smile was somewhat stiff, he said something unexpected.

"We're short-handed, it would be great if Miura-kun could come and help. Could you come and help? Could you...?"

Then, she lowered her head.

This felt somewhat subservient. Yet, it was unprecedented in the relationship between Sagami and Miura so far. Miura seemed to sense this as well; she uncrossed her arms, turned her face to the side, and played with her confident curls, as if considering how to respond.

"...Hmph, is that so?"

Then, he answered listlessly. Upon hearing this, Yuihama translated with a smile.

"That means she agreed."

"Wait a minute! I didn't say anything!"

Sagami watched the two playfully interacting people with a smile on his face.

It seems that the relationship between Sagami and Miura has taken a small step forward.

So it ultimately turned out to be this kind of growth-oriented ending... not so bad.

That's why youth stories and romance novels are the most boring things.

Before the sports festival finally began, all preparations were complete, and everyone was on edge. Before that, Hayato Hayama, representing the Soubu High School soccer team, conducted the draw.

Each school has two teams. Since they represent each school, they don't have any strange names. They are just the very standard Soubu High School First Team and Soubu High School Second Team. Hayama Hayato is the captain of the second team and wears the number 9 jersey.

The schedule, times, and locations for the first day's matches are as follows:

Haibin Team 1 vs. Zongwu High School Team 1 – Haibin Comprehensive High School, 9:00 AM

Biyang Team 2 vs. Zongwu High Team 2 – Zongwu High School, 2:30 PM

Seaside Team 2 vs. Biyang Team 1 – Biyang Academy, 5:30 PM

Soubu High School seemed a bit deserted in the morning, since the first game was being held at Seaside High School. Some of the students who supported Team One had already gone to Seaside High School early on, but of course, the players who were going to participate in the game couldn't run away.

Himekoji and Mariya were directing the on-site coordination team to mark out the viewing area in the stands. The second game was about to take place this afternoon, a highly anticipated match between the popular forward Hayama Hayato and Hekiyo Academy. It was understood that Hekiyo Academy's student council vice president, Sugisaki Ken, was also personally taking to the field. Seriously, does Hekiyo Academy have no one else? Our Hayama is really good, you know.

Himekoji didn't know that Sugisaki Ken could play soccer. He only knew that Sugisaki Ken was a super academic genius and an all-around part-time worker. Perhaps it was because he was all-around that he could play soccer. This time, he was being cheered on by several girls from the Hekiyo Academy student council.

The sunshade had already been set up, and before the first men's 100-meter race, Yumiko's voice came over the loudspeaker.

"Good morning, fellow students of Soubu High School, teachers, guardians, and friends from all walks of life. I am Yumiko Miura, your narrator today. Please take good care of me."

"I'm Hina Ebina, who's also responsible for the commentary. Nice to meet you."

"I am Saki Kawasaki..."

Yumiko: "Well, the first race of the day is about to begin! Ah, we see all our dear athletes are already getting ready and warming up near the track. You can't skip a proper warm-up before strenuous exercise..."

Ebina: "Yes, yes, all sorts of safety accidents are always likely to happen. On the other hand, this sports festival has assigned a strong medical team of one hundred people and ten ambulances that are on standby at any time."

Kawasaki: "Huh—? Doesn't that sound like I'm hoping something bad happens to everyone?"

Ebina: "Ahahaha, no, no, it's just that we're better prepared."

Yumiko: "By the way, the entire medical team for our school's sports festival is provided by hospitals under Gido Trading. Thank you to all the medical staff for sticking to their posts and ensuring the health of our athletes."