Volume 3.5, Idiots, Tests and the Summoned Beasts ～Preparation ～(1/2)
Please fill in the name of the historical person in the blank below.
_________ instituted the Rakuichi Rakuza policy which abolished and prohibited monopolies to stimulate business and economy.
Himeji Mizuki's answer:
"Oda Nobunaga"
Teacher's comment:
Correct.
Shimada Minami's answer:
"That fella with the topknot"
Teacher's comment:
Have you got yourself familiarized with Japan yet? I'm a little worried when I saw your answer.
Yoshii Akihisa's answer:
"Nobu"
Teacher's comment:
You're getting a little too familiar with him.
Sis seemed worn out after moving here.
Is someone bullying her in school? Or is someone irritating her?
Then again, her classmates sounded really interesting from the stories she told me, and she seemed to like them a lot..
So, what is wearing her out?
Is it because of her studies? She told me she had difficulties catching up.
I hope she can recover soon.
Her birthday's coming.. Would she cheer up if I give her a huge doll? She loves stuffed dolls, after all.
Mm.. I'll do that! I'll buy a really big stuffed doll to cheer her up!
I wonder if I have enough pocket money..
☆
"EVERYONE, FREEZE! PUT YOUR BAGS ON THE TABLE AND OPEN IT!"
No sooner has the homeroom period start than our homeroom teacher, Iron— I mean, Mr. Nishimura, declared this, without any prior warning.
Crap! The stuff I brought today has nothing to do with studies!
An idea popped up in my mind for that moment. I'll grab my bag and run as fast as my legs could go!
"Let me warn you: don't even think of running away."
It'll be one hell of a task to outrun this homeroom teacher. After all, he's sinewy, promptly nicknamed as "Ironman". He'll just utilize those powerful muscles of his, trained from participating in numerous 'Ironman' triathlons, to relentlessly pursue those who dare to run away.
"Good, I'm going round to check. Any items I find unrelated to studies will be confiscated."
Starting from the first row near the corridor, he went round the rows to check the contents of the bags, confiscating trump cards, magazines, and the such.
"Sakamoto, show me the contents of your pocket."
One student has not only his bag, but his pockets as well checked.
"Damn it!"
Sakamoto Yuuji shouted in agony. By the way, he's my best friend, and also my worst friend.
Still, he rummaged through his pocket obediently and pulled out an MP3 player.
"Thought so. I'll be taking this."
Ironman put his MP3 player into his sack of confiscated items. Yuuji, who never expected his pocket to be searched, glared at Ironman defiantly.
"Quite a disaster for you, eh?"
I whispered to him.
"Damn it! He doesn't usually check our pockets, does he?! Why am I the only one having this special treatment?!)
"Too bad. Who asked you to be such a badass?"
"Damn it!"
On a closer look, how thorough Ironman checks depends on who the person is. He'll just glance through the bags of good students, but for others, he'll check them thoroughly, including the hidden pockets.
"You're next, Yoshii Akihisa."
"Ah, yes."
Ironman stood in front of me. I'm sure he wouldn't ask me to go through my pockets like Yuuji—
"Take off your uniform and change into your gym clothes."
"Eh?! You're kidding, right?!"
I can't believe how low his trust was in me.
"Besides.. You know, it's a little embarrassing to change in front of the girls.."
"That won't do. You might have prohibited goods hidden up your pants, so change your clothes right now."
"What?! Even I wouldn't stoop that low! You should at least trust me—"
As I stepped forward to bring my point across, something dropped out from the leg of my pants with a loud thud.
"Oi, Akihisa, your dropped your DS."
I thanked Yuuji, who kindly picked up my handheld console, and faced the Ironman once again.
"As I was saying, trust me, will ya?"
"Don't bother changing. You can't be trusted even in your gym clothes."
Wha- What the hell? He tightened up his guard instead!
"You actually brought game consoles, manga, light novels, DVDs to school.. What on Earth are you treating school as?!"
My precious treasures went into his sack, one by one. Just my luck for him to do a spot check on the day I brought them. The combined value of those items might go up to thousands of yen.
"Is this everything? Let me repeat this again: the school is a place for you to learn. Next time, don't bring anything that is not related to your studies."
Ironman returned to the podium with the sack of confiscated items. Farewell, my precious treasures..
"All right, since the spot check took quite a bit of time, there will be no homeroom session for today. The first lesson will be the Summoning Practicals, so get to the gym as soon as possible."
Marking the end of his class with that, Ironman left the classroom, with everyone's treasures in his sack.
☆
"Summon!"
With calls of summoning echoing throughout the gym, I turned to Yuuji, who was sitting beside me.
"It's just an hour into school and we're already got hit by a nuke."
"No sheet. Man, I can't believe my one-month-old MP3 got confiscated!"
"Whoa, that's quite some fresh meat."
"And it was bloody expensive!"
A vexed look warped the wild features on his face. I understand his feelings very well.
"Akihisa, your games got done for as well, right? Quite a lot of them, too."
"Mm.. The total value could easily hit thirty thousand yen."
A console, games, DVDs and CDs.. Looking from the value of the confiscated items, the one with the highest loss would either be me or Muttsulini. How unlucky..
"Next, Himeji Mizuki, please step forward."
"Y-Yes."
"Hey, it's Himeji's turn! Muttsulini, aren't you gonna take that rare photo of her in gym clothes?"
"..My camera was confiscated."
"Oh, right.. A pity indeed. It's pretty hard to see her in gym clothes when we're in different classes."
"And this is the only Summoning Practicals we'll ever get."
".."
Depressed, Muttsulini's head sunk even lower. Oh well, can't blame him for that.
With that silky long hair, and that cute, innocent look, coupled with those bouncy chests of hers which seemed to have a mind of its own, it's easy to figure out why any guy would want to take a photo of her. I, for one, would die to take a photo of her at this moment.
"I-Is this how you do it? Summon!"
She mumbled that out diffidently. A geometrical magic array formed near her feet, and her summoned beast appeared in front of everyone.
"Just like I thought, her summoned beast sure looks pretty strong."
"Totally. Wouldn't have guessed that from its cuteness."
Himeji's summoned beast looked really cute. Since a summoned beast takes the appearance of its caster, there's no need to explain further when the caster's such a babe as well.
Speaking of which, what made her summoned beast so impressive was—
"I'm sure her beast's the only one capable of wielding such a huge sword."
"Yeah, probably only those at her level could pull that off."
Her summoned beast was wielding a Western longsword several times longer than her height effortlessly. Anyone could tell that this summoned beast isn't one to be underestimated.
Class C, Himeji Mizuki, Combined Subjects 3943 points
vs
Class C, Furukawa Ayumi, Combined Subjects 1264 points
The points were displayed in front of them. These were probably the results from the previous mid-term exams.
"No wonder it's so strong."
"Gosh, it's almost 4000 points. She sure is smart."
Holed up in a corner, we nod in agreement to each other.
The strength of a summoned beast is directly proportional to the exam results of the student. So basically, in a Summoning Exam, the higher your exam scores are, the stronger your summoned beast will be.
"Oh yeah, Akihisa, don't you know her?"
"Mm. She was my classmate in grade school, but we haven't spoke to each other for years. She'd probably have forgotten about me, I guess."
Since we're in different classes now, I've became distant with her. I'd definitely talk to her if I have the chance, but the probability of that happening is close to nil. It would most likely look like a confession if I were to barge into her class and say to her "I've got something to tell you".
"I supposed.. Since the chances of you getting to be in the same class with her next year is close to zero, you'd eventually disappear from her memory."
"Next year? You mean the streaming exams?"
"Duh. You'll definitely won't be in the same class as her."
"That might be true, but.."
Just like any other school in Japan, we were streamed into different classes upon entering the academy. However, it will be different from the next year onwards. We'll be sorted according to our grades. Though Himeji is in Class C, with those grades of hers, she'll definitely be sorted into Class A next year. That's why Yuuji and I will probably be in different classes with her again since we're both straddling about in Class D.
"Will she really forget about me? It feels kinda lonely when I think of that."
"She will, since there's no point remembering a loser like you."
"What did you say?!"
We continued chatting while looking at the practicals of others when a voice called out:
"Next! Yoshii Akihisa and Shimada Minami!"
Ironman- I mean, Mr. Nishimura's voice rang loudly through the gym. Looking around, I realized that the others had finished their practicals.
"I'll be right back."
"Sure. You're a candidate for the "Punishment Inspector" anyway, so use the chance to learn how to control your summoned beast."
"Hey! I'm not a badass like you, Yuuji!"
I rolled my eyes back at Yuuji. Really, me as candidate for the Punishment Inspector? How rude. Having that title is the same as being labeled as the most problematic student in school. How could I possibly be a candidate when no one in the history of the academy had that title before?
"Hurry up, Yoshii!!"
"Coming!"
Hearing Ironman's roar at me, I hastily increased my pace. My training partner had already finished the summoning process.
".."
My training partner was staring blankly at the summoned beast in front of her. This energetic girl, with a ponytail and a pair of sexy, slim legs, is my classmate, Shimada. However, a worried expression was registered on her face now. What's wrong? Was she disappointed by how weak her summoned beast looked?
"What's wrong, Shimada? Were you shocked by your unexpectedly weak summoned beast?"
I attempted to console her with my kind words. For a moment, the grey clouds over her head seemed to have disappeared, and she beamed a smile at me.
"Ah, so you're my opponent. I'm so happy!"
She blushed slightly. Seeing her blushing made me happy as well. Geez, I didn't think she'd do that in front of everyone.. I don't know how to handle her.
"It feels good to be able to beat you up!"
..Seriously, someone teach me how to handle this crazy girl.
"Shimada, our beasts are going to do the battling, not us."
I'm a little worried, so I confirmed the rules with her again. This summoning practical was meant for the summoning battles next year, so it should be a battle between summoned beasts. At least, that's what I thought.
"You're right. It ain't gonna be a fight between us."
She nodded her head in agreement. Great, seems like she got my point.
"Since I'll be the only one dishing out the beating anyway."
THAT'S NOT THE POINT!
"Did you hear that, sir? She's threatening me! If you have the time to check our belongings, shouldn't you do something about this explicit display of violence in school?!"
"Shimada, violence is bad, even if it's Yoshii we're talking here."
"But, sir.."
"No buts. A no is a no, you understand?"
"..Fine."
"I'm glad you understood. So-"
A wide smile appeared on Ironman's face,
"—I'll make this an exception."
"Wait.. That's weird.."
Am I thinking too much? That conversation sounded as if a teacher had just allowed a case of violence in school.
"I'll do my best!"
"Good luck!"
"Ahaha, both of you are really dumb. Do you think I'll go down that easily and forgive you guys? I'll have you satisfy my demands before I-I'M SORRY! IT'S MY FAULT, PLEASE SPARE ME!!"
They didn't spare me, even after my numerous begging.
Was it something I said that lead to this disaster..?
☆
"Man.. Ever since the morning inspection, it's been one disaster after another today.."
School finally ended. I was b*tching about the day with the guys I usually hang out with.
"That's because you brought so many unnecessary things to school."
Sitting beside me and showing me a smile is Kinosheeta Hideyoshi, who's in the same class as me, Yuuji and Muttsulini. It's already weird to hear him speak like an old man, and he has a beauty's face on him. He really likes to make comments. Even so, I do feel that he's the most normal person after me, since the other two are so abnormal that words can't describe them.
"Speaking of which, Hideyoshi didn't get anything confiscated, right?
"Of course I did, I got some costumes and props confiscated from me. Even though I told sensei that it's for the drama club, they still got confiscated either way."
The school has already provided some props and costumes for Hideyoshi, so Hideyoshi himself doesn't need to bring them. If so, these are unnecessary things. However—
"There's no need to confiscate them all anyway, he could have given us some leeway. Who expected Ironman's brain to be so hard."
"..(Nods head forcefully)."
"His brain's definitely filled with lead."
Muttsulini and Yuuji seem to agree with me. This can't be helped, since they got quite a few things confiscated as well.
And I actually thought that 'we're just having summoning practical today, so there're no lessons; should be rather relaxing today'.
historical
It was supposed to be relaxing, but I guess it's better to have lessons without the search.
"Summoning practical.."
Hearing my little grumbling, Yuuji muttered to himself.
"Eh? What's wrong, Yuuji?"
"Nothing. It's just that I remembered that we have to take part in summoning war next year."
For some reason, he sure seemed happy when he said this.
Speaking of summoning war, well, it's about having a summoning battle between classes with the class facilities on the line. If we can move onto second year without any mishaps, we'll have this summoning war system on us.
"But why must we have this summoning war system? If we want to differentiate the scores clearly, can't we just stick grades onto everyone?"
"Well, most likely, they prefer a summoning war to tests since it can motivate students, right? As a class, the students will work hard to not drag their classmates down."
"I see. So they intend to make us work together and improve our grades without breaking us, right?"
"Yeah, this allows the school to do what they want the most, and that's 'to groom students who can showcase their real potential in society'."
"Oh~ Is that so?"
Just as the four of them were chatting away.
"Ah..really, that Yoshii actually left the cleaning work to me. Where did he go off to?"
A certain student can be heard shouting on the corridor. Is that Shimada-san?
"What the heck, Akihisa. You're in charge of cleaning today?"
"Mm, but I left the cleaning work to Shimada-san and ran off first."
"Hmm, according to how I see it, you two have quite the relationship."
"..(Nods head forcefully)."
"Ah haha, it's not what you think it is."
"Really. Once I catch him, I'll tie his limbs up and throw him down the 3rd level!"
That's a highly difficult stunt even a stuntman will be afraid of.
"Sorry, I don't think I can protect my own life any longer. I'll be leaving now!"
Without saying anything else, I grabbed my bag and dashed out of the corridor. I love my life.
"Ah, Yoshii! So you're hiding here! Hold it right there!"
"I'm not going to wait! You're going to kill me, right?"
"I'm not angry at all. Just hold on, will you!?"
That's definitely a lie.
"These two really have rather good feelings."
"..(Nods head forcefully)."
She said that she's not angry, but she's holding onto a rope for some reason.
☆
"Hoo..that was scary~"
It's been past 30 minutes since I came running out of school, and before I knew it, I'm on a shopping street.
"Well. I don't intend to buy anything, so I guess I'll go back home—hm?"
Just as I intended to head home, I saw a familiar figure walk into a shop. Isn't that Himeji-san?
"I guess it's somewhat of a fate for us to meet here. Should I be courageous and call her.."
Though we did study in the same class during elementary school, we were separated into different classes during middle school. Before I knew it, Himeji-san seemed so distant from me. To see her in front of me after so many years, I really want to talk to her—the reason why I feel this way is most likely because of Yuuji's words 'She'll erase you from her memory anyway'.
In order to turn my thoughts into action, I follow Himeji-san closely as I walked into the shop..only to find that there're so many dolls here, it's unbelievable. Seems like this is a doll shop that a girl will love the most—what the heck, this shop's basically a doll shop!
"Well, let's go back. This shop really doesn't suit me."
I immediately hasten my pace and walk towards the exit. Anyway, the most important thing right now is to leave this place.
"This is Hazuki's only request of this lifetime. Please, uncle!"
"Even if you say that, I have to do business, you know.."
The moment I reached the exit, I suddenly heard this conversation. It seemed like a girl's standing at the counter and telling the cashier something. She seems rather insistent on this. What's going on?
I felt a bit mindful, so I turn my head to where the voice came from. As I expected, it's a cashier uncle and a girl who looks like she's in elementary school.
"I want to get that big Noi doll no matter what. Please, I beg you!"
"Even if you ask me like this..we're doing business. Wouldn't it be unfair to the other customers if I give you a little discount? We shopkeepers do have to treat all customers equally."
"Even so, please!"
"Uuu..really can't handle you.."
The cashier uncle looked rather troubled as he said this and scratches his face. The girl however continued to beg earnestly. Seeing such a small girl beg like this, I'll be seen as really cruel if I'm to walk away like this..
"Hey, little girl, why do you want this doll?"
I know that I'm too nosey, but I still ended up getting involved.
Now that a 3rd party has suddenly appeared, the little girl and the uncle revealed a surprised look on their faces.
"Be, because onee-chan didn't look too good recently. I wanted to buy the doll that she always wanted to hopefully motivate her.."
"Not looking good?"
"Most likely, because she just came back from Germany and couldn't understand Japanese well!"
Shifted houses..even if it's within Japanese land, anyone will feel lonely when the friends and environment changes, let alone coming back to Japan.
"Even then, onee-chan took over mommy and daddy and did all the housework like sweeping and washing clothes nicely, and often play together with Hazuki.."
Seemed like it hit her sore spot as Hazuki-chan's wide eyes start to tear up.
"Waa! Don, don't cry! Nii-san will help you out here!"
"..Really?"
"Mm, really."
"..Thank you, onii-chan!"
Wiping away the tears, Hazuki-chan reveals a delightful smile.
"Speaking of which, how much does this doll cost?"
The doll in Hazuki-chan's arms is about 1m tall. If I make a rough estimate, I don't think 5,000 yen's going to be enough.
"Including tax, it'll be a total of 24,800 yen."
"Sorry, nii-san already tried, but he can't do it."
"Onii-chan?"
Hazuki-chan looks rather sad.
Argh! Didn't expect one to be that expensive. Under these conditions, the declaration of surrender came out of my mouth without thinking through.
"Then how much does Hazuki-chan have?"
"I only have 10,000 yen.."
So we're missing 15,000. Including my entire fortune, there's only 11,699 yen. We can't even hit the price of 24,800 yen! The most we can pay is half.
"Excuse me, can you sell this doll to us at 11,699 yen?"
"Eh, I just said before that that we're doing a business here.."
The reply's still the same.
"Onii-chan, this isn't any different from before."
Hazuki-chan whispered to my ear.
She's right. Up till now, I've been doing the same thing as what Hazuki-chan's been doing. However, things will be different from now on. I'm not an elementary school student; let's show her how an adult (high school student) does things!
"We have only 11,699 yen in total, that's about half the price of the doll, right?"
"Ya. That's still not quite enough."
"Hazuki-chan wants this doll, and uncle wants to sell this to her, but you're unwilling to sell it to her at half price. If so, I have a great idea!"
"Hm? What is it?"
"We can rip the doll in half and sell the right side to—eh? What? Why are you two seeing me as an idiot?"
"..Are you really a high school student?"
"..Onii-chan's an idiot!"
I, I actually got called stupid by an elementary school kid!
"I can't give you a discount, but I can guarantee that I won't sell this doll away for the time being. You can go back to discuss with your parents first."
Making this conclusion, the uncle ended the conversation just like this.
"Can't you ask your parents to buy it for you, Hazuki-chan?"
Having walked out of the shop, we came to the park to discuss our plans.
"Mommy and daddy aren't normally at home..so they would leave the money to onee-chan. If I want to buy something, onee-chan will definitely ask for a reason.."
"I see, uu~"
Wanting to do something for her beloved older sister—Hazuki-chan's heart's ever so glamorous, it's way different from my family who sent me to Fumitzuki Gakuen on the excuse of 'not wanting to waste school fees'. I must help Hazuki-chan in order to prevent her from losing this intimacy with her family.
But speaking of which, what should I do? It'll be good if I have some more money, but my money's about to be used up..
"Oh ya! Hazuki can get money if she sells her manga to a second-hand shop, right?"
Hazuki-chan thought of this brilliant plan as her eyes sparkle. It's true that we can get money just like this, but I think that she can't get so much anyway. Of course, it's a different case altogether if I have those handheld games that were confiscated this morning—
"Hm? Oh ya, there's this plan after all!"
"..Onii-chan, have you thought of something?"
"I can't possibly get it back in my hands anyway. If I'm successful, we may be able to get enough money to buy the doll.."
Though I don't think it can work..mm! It's still worth a try though.
"Okay! Hazuki-chan, can you come back to the park tomorrow?"
"Y, yes. I can come over.."
"Then we'll meet here tomorrow. It's getting dark now, let's go home."
I waved my hands and said goodbye to Hazuki-chan. Anyway, I got to discuss it with Yuuji and the rest tomorrow.
"Ah, mm, bye bye.."
Speaking of which, did Himeji-san really enter that shop?
☆
"So you want to take back those confiscated items?"
The next morning, in the same classroom, I talked to the trio as per usual.
"I do feel that it's a pity to leave those things that got confiscated yesterday, but.."
"Uu~mm..ya, but the opponent's that Ironman. We may be designated as 'Punishment Inspectors' if we're not careful.."
Yuuji and Hideyoshi lower their chin and ponder. Seems like they don't intend to help me. This is bad, looks like I have to deal with this on my own.
"..I approve of Akihisa's proposal."
"Eh? Muttsulini? You're willing to help me?"
"..(Nods head forcefully)."
Great! Now at least I have someone who specializes in stealth helping me out.
"..Never mind, let's give it a go."
"Ah? So Yuuji's okay with it?"
"Yeah. I just bought that MP3 recently, and I accumulated quite a debt to Ironman, so let's settle this once and for all."
Yuuji smirked. What an enthusiastic bad guy's face.
"If so, I'll help out as well. If I can get back those things, I don't want to give up as well."
In the end, even Hideyoshi nodded his head, and everyone decided to take part in this. As expected of the group of problematic first-years.
"Right now, the most important thing is to investigate where our targets are."
"That's right. If we don't even know where Ironman hid those confiscated items, we can't possibly get them back even if we want to."
The confiscated items may have ended up being abandoned, but they were just confiscated yesterday, so Ironman should still have them with him.
"That's the case. Akihisa, remove the silence function of the phone."
"Eh? Why?"
"Don't ask too much, just do it. You want those confiscated items back, right?"
"..I'm not really sure what's going on, but I just need to remove the silence function, right?"
"That's right."
The phone can't poss-->>