I'm in a real religion, why are all the people who confess to me girls?

"What are you crying for! Is this like Shibata Hayate? Saying you have no spirit is just a way of saying you have no motivation. Staying in Class D with zero points, and being a notorious loser, you probably think that rather than being defeated and humiliated by others, you'd rather be an observer until graduation and then get into a decent university based on your own grades. Am I right?"

Ichinose's words made Shibata's eyes widen. It turned out that Ichinose really could see through all his thoughts.

Such a person is absolutely terrifying. How could they have come to the conclusion that the other person was just an innocent young girl?

That's right.

"I knew it. Here's a deal: you work hard to help Class D get promoted to Class A, and I'll make sure you graduate from Class A when graduation is near. You can choose the school you like, how about that?"

As soon as Ichinose spoke, Kanzaki excitedly blocked Ichinose's path.

"How can we make such a hasty decision? What if—I mean, what if we can't come up with 20 million points by then? Besides… I don't think Shibata is worth 20 million personal points."

This is probably what Kanzaki really thinks, right?

Shibata felt a mix of self-mockery and sadness, but he wasn't surprised. He knew he wasn't worth 20 million points, so he anticipated Kanzaki's objection as soon as Ichinose finished speaking.

"Kanzaki, I don't need you to make decisions for me, and I don't need 'we' to judge Shibata-kun's value. Everyone has their own value, but the value of each person is different in different people's eyes. For example, Shibata-kun is priceless in his parents' eyes, but useless pawn in Ayanokouji-kun's eyes. In my eyes, Shibata-kun is worth 20 million points. Besides... who said that you need 20 million points to change classes?"

Ichinose gave a mysterious smile.

"To tell you the truth, I only pawned that prop to Amane. If needed, it can be redeemed for just five million personal points, so there's no need to worry. The condition is that everyone agrees to use it. It might be a bit difficult for other classes, but it's a piece of cake for me. So, Shibata, are you willing to accept this condition?"

Shibata knew this was Ichinose's greatest sincerity.

Shibata's eyes were somewhat misty. Although he was so incompetent and pathetic in the eyes of others, Ichinose was still willing to forgive him and wanted to save him at all costs, dragging him into the quagmire of despair. Although it was Ichinose who pushed him down, it didn't matter anymore.

"I...I...am willing"

……

After seeing Shibata off, who was crying his eyes out.

Ichinose picked up the water glass next to her and drank several glasses of water in a row, which slightly relieved her thirst.

Kanzaki just stood there quietly watching Ichinose's somewhat rough actions.

He suddenly asked a question.

"You're lying, aren't you? That prop definitely couldn't have been something you pawned to them."

"Yes, I lied. I mixed one fatal lie into a hundred truths, and Shibata will believe me."

"What will happen then? When it really comes time to fulfill the promise..."

Kanzaki was somewhat worried that Ichinose would break his promise because of this.

"What can we do if he can't keep his promise? Let Shibata hit or scold us if he wants. We'll graduate anyway, so it won't matter, right?"

Kanzaki looked at Ichinose, who seemed indifferent, and a sense of fear inexplicably arose within him.

Is it really a hundred truths mixed with one lie? Or... a hundred lies mixed with one truth?

Perhaps only Ichinose himself knows the answer to this question.

Chapter Thirteen: You also play goldfish scooping?

"Arisu! Arisu, look! They're scooping goldfish! And it only costs 100 points! I want to play too!"

Amane hugged Sakayanagi's arm and shook it incessantly. She looked at Amane and then at the goldfish scooping stall. Something about it seemed a little out of place.

"How old are you? You're still playing games like goldfish catching, which are only for kids. Besides, what are you going to do if you catch a goldfish? You can barely support yourself, why would you want to raise goldfish?"

"No way! Look! I'm perfectly fine, what's the big deal?"

To prove herself, Amane even jumped around a couple of times in front of Sakayanagi. The way Amane dribbled the ball made the veins on Sakayanagi's forehead throb.

Was this jerk really not doing this on purpose to annoy me?

Just as Sakayanagi was about to refuse Amane's childish request, she suddenly saw Amane point to a very familiar figure at the goldfish scooping stall next to her.

"Look, even the maple leaves are playing! I want to play too! Play! Play!"

Looking at Kiryuin's earnest goldfish scooping, and the dozen or so tattered paper nets already discarded at his feet, Sakayanagi finally understood why goldfish scooping was a game played in middle school.

Because there will always be some suckers who will take the bait.

"Why don't you just pay for it yourself? It's only 100 points. Even if you collect all the paper nets from their stall, you'll still have more than enough points, right?"

Sakayanagi's words enlightened Amane.

"Oh right! I completely forgot I could pay for it myself."

"..."

So you only brought your mouth with you when you went out?

Sakayanagi covered his forehead, feeling that his blood pressure would rise significantly every time he went out with them.

"Maple Flower, you..."

"Hey! You're cheating, aren't you!"

Tianyin was about to ask Guilongyuan about the battle situation when she was startled by Guilongyuan's loud shout, causing her chest to tremble.

Guilongyuan stood with one hand on his hip and the other pointing at the vendor, loudly questioning him.

Upon hearing what Guilongyuan said, many people turned to look at the vendor.

If even a goldfish vendor has to cheat to catch fish, that's just too much...

"How could I possibly cheat? It was you, little sister, who scooped up the goldfish. I sat here without moving an inch. It's impossible for me to cheat. Besides, didn't you just see that girl scoop up a goldfish?"

Upon seeing this, the vendor quickly answered loudly in an attempt to mitigate the negative impact of Kiryuin's actions.

Kiryuin pondered for a moment and nodded.

Just when the vendor thought that Kiryuin understood that not being able to catch goldfish was purely a matter of her skill, Kiryuin suddenly raised her fist, intending to punch him. Fortunately, the girl next to her grabbed her waist and pulled her back with all her might, otherwise she might have lost her hundred-odd pounds of flesh here today.

"Do you think I'm stupid? There's definitely something wrong with the paper net! Was that guy a shill too? He actually tried to fool me? I'll teach him a lesson!"

"Stop! Stop it, Kaede! Arisu! Arisu, help! Kaede's going to bite!"

Upon hearing Tenon's words, Kiryuin, who was initially in a state of rage, calmed down.

"Idiot! How many times have I told you not to spread rumors! There was that time I just kicked a puppy that was blocking the road aside, and you told the dog owner that I bit the dog, and we ended up having a huge argument. Have you forgotten all that?"

"Wow, I didn't even remember that happening!"

Looking at Tianyin's innocent expression, Guilongyuan wished he could strangle her on the spot.

However, considering the slight difference in strength between himself and Tianyin, he decided to let this guy go for now.

Before leaving, seeing that Tianyin seemed quite interested in scooping goldfish, I couldn't help but remind her.

"If you're thinking of playing with that, I advise you to forget it. After all, even I can't catch those goldfish, so you'd be even less likely to."

Upon hearing Guilongyuan's words, Tianyin's cheeks puffed up immediately.

"What? Maybe you're just too bad, Maple? I'm sure I can catch one... no, I mean three goldfish! I definitely will!"

After saying that, Tianyin paid 100 points.

Seeing Tenon's confident expression, Kiryuin shrugged.

She didn't believe Tianyin could catch goldfish.

really.

With a bang.

The goldfish slipped out of the paper net.

Tianyin slowly raised her head and looked at the vendor.

"I didn't do anything."

"Give me one more!"

boom!

"Give me one more!!"

boom!

"Give me...one more!"

"Tianyin, are you alright?"

Guilongyuan looked at Tenon, whose eyes were starting to turn bloodshot, with some concern.

"Me? I'm perfectly fine, boss, one more!"

boom!

boom!

boom!boom!

……

Tianyin stopped playing like this until the twentieth paper net missed a goldfish.

"I understand"

"Huh? You figured out how to play this game so quickly?"

Guilongyuan looked at Tianyin with some surprise. Tianyin had mastered the trick of catching goldfish after only twenty failures? This was... learning too fast.

"I get it... It was definitely you cheating, right, sir?"

As Tianyin spoke, she rolled up her sleeves.

Seeing this, Kiryuin grabbed Amane, who was about to pounce on the vendor.

"Wait, calm down! Arisu! Arisu, come quick! Something's going to happen if you don't come soon! Stop it now! If you can't catch the goldfish, it's the goldfish's fault, don't hit me... Huh? You really stopped?"

Kiryuin stared dumbfounded at Tenon, who actually obeyed and stopped.

Tianyin turned around and looked at Guilongyuan with a serious expression.

"I didn't expect you to be so clever, Maple. Indeed, this must be the goldfish's fault. Let me teach the goldfish a lesson."

As she spoke, Tianyin changed her fist into a claw and planned to scoop up goldfish in a physical sense.

Seeing that things had gotten out of hand, Guilongyuan immediately hugged Tianyin again.

"No way! Goldfish can't take a slap from you! Arisu! Arisu, come quick..."

Seeing the two of them joking around, Sakayanagi covered his face in pain.

She's starting to regret bringing those two people along; at the very least, she shouldn't have brought two people with her at the same time.

If you only take one idiot out with you, then if something happens, the idiot will most likely be the one who gets watched.

But if you take two idiots out, and something happens, the one who gets watched will definitely be the normal person.

Meanwhile, Sakayanagi was the one being watched, and the others were whispering about the relationship between Sakayanagi and these two seemingly abnormal guys.

"Ugh"

With a heavy sigh, Sakayanagi slowly approached the goldfish scooping stall, asked for a paper net, and gently scooped up a small goldfish, which was then placed into a small bag of water next to him.

"Oh"

Tianyin exclaimed in surprise.

Sakayanagi glared at Amane with annoyance, then shoved the goldfish into her hand, and then scooped up another one for Kiryuin.

"I never expected Arisu to be this amazing!"

Kiryuin happily took the goldfish, then flicked it on the forehead while muttering something strange.

Sakayanagi looked at the two happy-looking idiots with a bit of speechlessness.

Just as Sakayanagi was about to leave, several uninvited guests appeared in front of him.

"Hey, isn't this Sakayanagi from Class A? What a coincidence! What's this? Are you catching goldfish? What a childish little girl."

"Ryuen, shouldn't you take a closer look at who these 'childish little girls' are before you speak?"

Sakayanagi has completely given up on fighting against life. Just accompanying those two idiots shopping is exhausting enough, and now a thug has come along. What a troublesome day.

Chapter Fourteen: You've switched to highway robbery?

"Oh? So besides your few tagalongs, there are other people...?"

Longyuan's voice came to an abrupt halt.