"What exactly are you trying to do?"
Horikita Suzune's eyes were filled with caution. She wasn't sure what Ryuen Kakeru and his group were up to.
"I've already said it. We're here to make a deal."
Ryuen Kakeru, on the other hand, stared intently at Saiki, speaking with utmost seriousness,
"Saiki, you're the manager of the café, right? So I'll talk directly to you. No need for that guy to interfere."
Horikita Suzune, standing to the side, was visibly annoyed, but this time she didn't say anything. Instead, she also shifted her attention to Saiki.
"Shall we move somewhere else to talk?"
Saiki quickly led Ryuen Kakeru, Shiina Hiyori, and Ibuki Mio to a nearby spot. At the same time, he eavesdropped on Ryuen's thoughts, trying to discern his true intentions.
[Saiki, as expected of you!]
'Huh?'
[I saw Ichinose Honami running around in your class's maid outfit at the entrance of our class's café. What kind of trick did you use to turn Ichinose into your pawn?]
'To be honest, I was quite surprised about that.'
[There's no way our class can win against yours in this cultural festival. I'm well aware of that. The moment I entered your café, I knew we couldn't surpass you no matter what. Since the rankings for this cultural festival are already decided, I might as well give up on it and try to secure some benefits for myself.]
'Yare yare..... It's just a cultural festival...'
[What method did you use to convince Ichinose? I heard that it was your intervention that turned Class D's struggling business into a booming one... Our café had built up some popularity, but after Ichinose hurriedly passed by, all our customers were drawn away—wait, if that's the case, was this all intentional? Did you deliberately have Ichinose pass by our café?]
'It was just a coincidence, wasn't it?'
[If it were anyone else, I'd think it was a coincidence, but this is Saiki we're talking about. He probably planned it this way to intimidate me, right? He probably even anticipated that we'd come to negotiate... Only Shiina Hiyori in our class saw through this and suggested the deal to secure some benefits for our class.]
'Yare yare..... So it was Shiina after all?'
Saiki sighed inwardly. This development was somewhat beyond his expectations.
"My request is simple. After this cultural festival ends, you give me 300,000 points. In exchange, Shiina will contribute to your class's café—"
As Ryuen Kakeru spoke, he observed Saiki's expression.
Saiki's face was serious, and he wasn't sure how to handle this situation.
However, in Ryuen's eyes, the fact that Saiki didn't immediately agree could only mean one thing: Saiki wasn't satisfied with the offer.
[300,000 points—that's not a problem for our class, but the issue is the price...]
Just as Horikita Suzune was deep in thought, Ryuen suddenly changed his offer.
"100,000! Just 100,000 points! That's all we need!"
[Our business has been completely taken over. If we don't follow Saiki's plan, we might not even get 100,000 points in the end!]
Ryuen thought to himself, then continued:
"100,000 points, and not only will you get Shiina, but I'll also throw in Ibuki Mio!"
"Hey, hey, hey! Ryuen, what do you mean by that? I just came along to discuss how we could improve our class's sales. Why am I being thrown into the deal? And why am I the freebie? Why am I the freebie?!"
Ibuki Mio was extremely unhappy about being treated as a 'freebie.'
However, Ibuki Mio, dressed in a kimono, looked completely different from her usual tomboyish self, exuding a certain cuteness.
Meanwhile, Shiina Hiyori, who hadn't said a word the entire time, was clearly thinking something that Saiki could easily hear.
[Please, hire me. That way, I can work closer to Kusuo.]
At this moment, listening to Ryuen's words, Horikita Suzune fell into deep thought.
[100,000 points? If we can get two workers for just 100,000 points, that's an absolute steal! The current customer flow has far exceeded our expectations. Even with ten maids working, we're struggling to keep up..... And although Saiki said the kitchen isn't under much pressure, Aiura Mikoto was practically exhausted after just an hour. So, if we can get two people for such a low price, it's definitely worth it.]
Horikita Suzune turned to Saiki and nodded.
'...'
At this point, Saiki had no choice but to agree to the deal.
"Hey, hey, hey! Why am I the freebie? You better explain this to me!"
"Great, Kusuo! Please take care of me!"
Soon, Class 2-A's café began operating even more efficiently.
"Welcome, Master!"
"Welcome!"
"What would you like to order today, Master?"
Every maid was diligently performing her duties.
Shiina Hiyori, who also had social anxiety, had mostly stood at the entrance of Class C's café, attracting customers. Although she was dressed in a kimono, her charm was no less than anyone else's, adding a unique touch to the maid café.
Her job was to help deliver dishes from the kitchen, so she didn't need to interact much with customers.
Ibuki Mio, on the other hand, was responsible for delivering desserts alongside Ichinose Honami, trying her best to fulfill customer orders.
Although Ibuki Mio was extremely reluctant to do this, after Horikita Suzune said, "You're not pretending to be unwilling because you're too slow and inefficient, are you?" Ibuki was instantly provoked. She began rushing back and forth between the dessert shop and the café at an incredible speed, her eyes practically glowing red.
Even though they had rented two classrooms, allowing their café to accommodate twice as many customers as expected, a long line still formed at the entrance. To ensure a good experience for the customers, Kushida Kikyo took the initiative to chat with those waiting in line and handed out cookies and desserts.
As for Aiura Mikoto, she eventually returned to her 'original job.' After making a purchase at the café, customers could get a free fortune-telling session.
Sakura Airi seemed to have fully adapted to the environment, energetically welcoming customers like a cheerful girl.
The café was bustling with customers, and business was booming. Everyone was busy running around, completely overwhelmed.
However, Saiki clearly knew that none of them harbored any complaints. In fact, they seemed to be enjoying themselves.
In this school, the daily academic pressure was immense, and this cultural festival had become the best way for them to relieve that stress.
'Yare yare, seriously, is a cultural festival supposed to be this troublesome?'
Saiki shook his head—
But he couldn't help but smile.
Just then, another commotion broke out at the entrance of the café.
"It's, it's Chabashira-sensei!"
"Chabashira-sensei is wearing a maid outfit?!"
"Quick, take a photo! Take a photo!"
'Did Ayanokoji drag our homeroom teacher into this?!'
Just as Saiki was surprised, another customer swaggered in, drawing everyone's attention.
Kiryuin Fuka.
Being the free-spirited person she was, she naturally hadn't chosen to help Class 3-B during the cultural festival. Instead, she had come to Saiki's café.
"Saiki, your café's doing really well."
Kiryuin Fuka said with a smile. During the cultural festival, she had naturally experienced all the different class projects.
And now, she had finally arrived at Saiki's café.
"Are you here as a customer too?"
"Not just that."
"Huh?"
"Do you have an extra maid outfit? Can I borrow one?"
"?"
"I've never tried being a maid before. It seems interesting. I want to give it a shot."
"Hey, hey, hey....."
Finally, at 4 p.m., the cultural festival came to an end. The point calculation software shut down its servers, and any further sales would no longer count toward the total score. However, the extra points earned were allowed to be distributed as personal points to each class.
The final results of the cultural festival could be checked on their phones after 6 p.m.
Although the event had ended, the maid café was so popular that they extended their business hours until 6 p.m.—of course, Chabashira Sae had already made a quick exit by 4 p.m.
After making their purchases, customers shared their experiences with the students, giving positive feedback like "fun" and "enjoyable." Such praise made the students, who had been working hard all day, incredibly happy, and their fatigue seemed to vanish—
Of course, this wasn't just a psychological effect.
Saiki had indeed used his restoration ability to restore their physical condition.
At exactly 6 p.m., the rankings for the cultural festival were announced.
1st Place: Class 2-A +100 Class Points
2nd Place: Class 2-D +100 Class Points
3rd Place: .....
As the rankings were announced, the students in the class immediately began celebrating.
Winning first place in the cultural festival was definitely something to be happy about.
Class 2-D, which had initially struggled with sales, had also seen a huge boost in revenue due to their collaboration, securing second place.
As for Nagumo Miyabi's class, they were in 11th place. Class 3-A had abandoned the idea of winning from the start, focusing instead on entertaining the guests. Their haunted house and other attractions cost only 100 points to enter, which was a stark contrast to the huge amount of points they had initially spent. It was clear they wouldn't break even.
For Nagumo Miyabi, who was about to graduate soon, he simply let his classmates do what they wanted.
As for Sakayanagi Arisu's Class 2-B, they seemed to have collaborated with the first-year students and achieved a relatively high ranking.
After all, he had already had his fun.
"Everyone, you've worked hard during this cultural festival.... How about we all go out for dinner tonight!"
Hirata Yosuke raised his hand and made the suggestion.
The rest of the class immediately agreed.
However, since the café's success wasn't just due to the efforts of their own class, they also invited others to join the dinner.
First was the entire Class D, as the two classes had helped each other and formed a cooperative relationship. Ichinose Honami, as the leader, gladly agreed, and the other students didn't object either. In their eyes, this dinner felt like a 'matchmaking' event.
As for Class C, Horikita Suzune invited Shiina Hiyori and Ibuki Mio. Shiina Hiyori declined, saying she wasn't comfortable in large gatherings, while Ibuki Mio outright said she'd rather die than attend.
Aiura Mikoto, of course, would attend, and Kiryuin Fuka had even expressed her intention to join before anyone could invite her.
Although she had only worked as a maid for an hour before leaving, her efficiency during that hour far surpassed everyone else's.
Kiryuin Fuka was still very curious about Saiki, so she decided to join the dinner.
'Yare yare, can I finally rest now?'
Saiki sighed and looked up at the sky. The sunset had already painted the sky in golden hues, and the afterglow of the sun bathed the clouds in a beautiful scene.
He was also looking forward to school life after tomorrow.
After all, not long after the cultural festival ended, they would have their school trip.
"Saiki, let's go!"
At that moment, several pairs of eyes turned to Saiki.
"Alright."
Saiki nodded and walked over to them, a slight smile forming on his lips.
The End—
'Wait a minute?'
Saiki seemed to hear something, like a somewhat familiar scream.
'Did I mishear? It seems to be coming from the gym. I feel like I've forgotten something. Oh well, it's probably not important.'
Meanwhile, in the dark, power-out gym, Saiki Kuniharu was curled up in a corner, crying silently.
Originally, he had planned to use this opportunity to visit Saiki at school, but after entering the haunted house set up by Nagumo Miyabi's class in the morning, he hadn't been able to leave until night.
"Kusuo, save me!"
—
Yare yare.