Chapter 11: Generously Greedy【Part 2】
【言語に関するご注意 / Language Notice】本作はすべて、英語と英語の表現で書かれています。翻訳作品ではなく、オリジナルの英語ライトノベルです。あらかじめご了承の上、作品をお楽しみください。
See chapter one for the main author's note.
Vali
[Time slows down to an agonizing crawl as the corpse of justice plummets down into the dark abyss of the chute.
Thud.
The dull drop of the bottle forces us all to freeze.
“That is unreal, I never thought you could shake it like that!” the boy gasps, fishing his ill-gotten prize out of the plastic tray.
The girl hums a cheerful tune, snatching her lemon water back from his hand.
They walk away together into the summer evening, sharing a lighthearted laugh. Oblivious to the existential wreckage they leave in their wake.
W-what!?
Is she...
IS SHE BLIND!?
How can you be that utterly unaware to the trap set before you—are you doomed by sheer ignorance? Or... was it a terrifyingly deep power play of absolute psychological control?
It… it is a haunting endless thought.
To this day, I still do not know, and I would drop down to my knees just to learn the truth…
Why did the girl shake the machine for the boy?]
Jiro
D… A… N… G… E—
Shun shoves my shoulder with a grin.
“Yeah, looks like Vali got more than just a soda on that day, huh?” he chuckles.
“Do you know him?” I stoically push him back.
“Yes, great guy, hard worker. Apparently possesses a big imagination, too.”
“I thought you said these books are used to convey information to future generations, but this is…”
“Complete crap?” He grins. “There are no rules on what you can write in here. You just get one page per year in the club for uncensored bogus. Hey, I heard the Cooking Club just uses theirs as a recipe book!” He bursts out into a sharp laughter.
I cup a hand over my left ear to mute the noise.
“But why would a commander of the force write such… things in it?”
He shrugs. “Don’t know. We slowly lost contact near the end of the year. He became more reclusive as the final months set in before his graduation.”
I move my hand to hover over the page again— continuing to trace the pattern—but Shun shoves right into my space.
“You know, we didn’t always have to log boring homework in a dusty old book. Apparently, it was introduced by some random president years ago.” He pulls a sour face. “And somehow nobody since has thought of stopping it.”
Behind us, the door opens. A group walks in, and Shun turns to them. “Hey guys! Welcome back.”
He starts moving toward them. “Do you guys remember when exactly that stuffy president forced us to start writing in a Club Diary?”
I watch him leave over my shoulder. Glancing around the room, people still sit glued to their work behind their desks.
Quickly, I return my finger to the page, skittering over the paper as I lean closer. My eyes plunge down the margin, frantically skimming the start of the remaining dialogue in the story.
R… I… M… M… I—
“Hey, who is that!?” a voice calls from behind me.
I bolt upright and snap my head around.
“Oh, he is my key witness on a case I am working on,” Shun says, offering a casual wave to the fuming boy.
“Shun, this place isn’t an amusement park for civilians.” The boy swirls his finger, tracing a small circle in the air. “You might act like a clown, but—”
His gaze darts sideways, locking onto the open book before launching straight up to lock with my eyes.
I whirl around to face him, keeping my arms low and pushing my hands out flat in a frantic, defensive gesture. “No, no! I was just—”
“—waiting around for me,” Shun cuts in, gliding over my words as if rehearsed. “I was checking some notes earlier and left it open.”
“So if you could—” Shun strides over to me in a straight line, a twitching smile plastered on his face as our eyes lock. “—excuse me and my star witness, we can both be on our way again.”
I give him a subtle nod.
He throws an arm over my shoulders and drags me forward, steering us toward the exit with a large grin. “Yep, great seeing you guys! Sorry we can’t stick around—duty calls!”
The boy raises a lecturing finger. “Shun, if the Chief—” We bolt out of the room before he can foam up another word.
Sayoko
“Please.” He smoothly gestures toward a plush armchair.
I sink back, resting my umbrella across my lap. My eyes dart around while the boy frantically bustles about, gathering glassware.
Someone had too much fun designing this place...
An untouched gourmet buffet sits in the corner, congealing under the harsh glow of a heating lamp. Eccentric glass and marble statues litter the room.
The space is carved into four private booths, each featuring a quartet of armchairs angled toward a central table.
“Elegant,” I mutter under my breath.
“Hmmm?” The boy glances back, the sharp splash of pouring liquid cuts through the quiet.
“Yes.”
Sunlight bleeds through the glass at the far end of the lounge. My head tilts back toward the gold chandelier hanging above the table in front of me. Unlit.
Humming a cheerful tune, he approaches and sets down a frosted bottle of bubbling purple liquid.
He slides a glass my way without making eye contact. Grabbing his own, he drops into the lounge chair diagonal from mine. “Compliments of the bank.”
“Cheers.” He raises his glass and takes a deep gulp, letting out a satisfied sigh.
I just stare at the drink from a safe distance, watching the violet liquid fizz faintly.
I clear my throat, squinting up at the ceiling as if his name is written up there. “So, um… Ma… Mo… Miaz—”
“Taro,” he cuts in, lifting his chin as if expecting applause.
“Right, Tetsu—Tell me more about this… meg—“
“Super loan?”
I nod.
“Of course!” He leans forward to snap up the embedded tablet from the table and crosses his legs.
“It is very simple, actually.” He says, fingers flying across the screen. “Each student has a specific allotment of ‘favors’ they can expend daily. By signing a super loan, you forfeit this leisure to the bank to use in your stead.”
He looks up, raising a finger enthusiastically. “So, what are we looking at? A twenty-five, fifty, seventy-five, or full one-hundred percent tier?”
I blink a few times with a blank face.
* * * * *
Discover what happens next in: Chapter 11: Generously Greedy【Part 3】
Written by Limited_Infinity. Extras, official publishing platforms and updates are publicly available only on the Patreon page “_Limited_Infinity_”
To support this series, you can engage with it and rate it
* * * * *
