Chapter 67: The End-of-Term Exam
A blue sky. White clouds.
A blue sea. White sandy beach.
Squinting against the blazing sunlight, I was hit by the kind of oppressive heat that made me groan. It felt like spring had only just ended, yet summer had already arrived. Before I knew it, it was the second half of July. Time really flies when you're busy enjoying yourself.
We were currently at a famous, popular beach. Lined up on that beach in swimsuits were the second-year students of Totsuki Academy's high school division, including myself. The guys' swimwear was whatever, but the girls in swimsuits were a feast for the eyes. Alice and Ryoko, along with the other women I loved, stood out as exceptionally beautiful.
Now in their second year, Alice had grown her hair longer, while Ryoko had trimmed hers to just past her shoulders. Both had gained a more mature charm, making them even more attractive. I'd have to make sure no strange guys tried to approach them.
"—Attention. We will now begin the first-semester end-of-term exam."
Standing out just as much was my lover, Erina. She wore a yellow parka draped over her black bikini, and the fact that she wasn't showing everything only made it more erotic.
Erina had considered changing her hairstyle to project more dignity as headmaster, but I had firmly rejected the idea. Honestly, I never liked her second-year hairstyle from the original story. She had already been perfect from the start, so I wanted her to stay that way. After some persuasion, Erina accepted tying her hair up in a ponytail as her official headmaster look. The sight of her exposed nape was perfect.
Of course, I felt genuine anger at the thought of other men seeing Erina in a swimsuit, but I couldn't complain about it. After all, she was standing before us to fulfill her duties as headmaster of the academy.
The End-of-Term Exam.
It was the test held at the end of the first semester of the second year. Students were divided into three courses—sea, mountain, and river—then formed teams of ten. They had three days to complete their assigned challenge. I was assigned to the sea course. Alice and Ryoko were in the same group, but Hisako and Miyoko were in the mountain course and weren't here. It was a shame, since I had wanted to enjoy their swimsuits as well.
"What you'll be doing for the sea course is… managing a beach house! We have specially rented out the shops lined up along this beach. Over the next three days, you will work at these beach houses. Naturally, this includes everything from sourcing ingredients and prep work to creating the menu and sales. You must handle it all within those three days."
I already knew the details of this 'End-of-Term Exam' because I had attended multiple meetings with Erina. Though calling them meetings was generous—I had mostly just nodded like a yes-man while Erina proposed one harsh condition after another.
"The passing requirement is—total sales of three million yen! Since we are lending you these shops, any result that fails to generate proper revenue will not be tolerated!"
Erina shouted that they must not tarnish the name of Totsuki. Seeing their headmaster like this, my classmates turned pale with fear, their faces as white as the sky and sea.
"As for the Council of Ten members, you seven will form a single team. Additionally, the beach house you will operate will be given the lowest-ranked location and facilities compared to the other students. That is all. The exam begins now."
After declaring the start of the exam, Erina turned and walked away. As headmaster, she had to inspect the other courses as well, so she couldn't stay in one place.
While watching the students being divided into teams under the supervising teachers' instructions, I walked over to my own group. Since Erina had already explained everything to me, I didn't need to wait for the teachers.
"Hehe, we're on the same team! Looking forward to working with you, Shogo!"
"S-Santoku-kun. I'll try not to drag everyone down… Let's do our best!"
"Yeah, nice to be working with you. Let's give it our all."
I replied to Yukihira Sōma and Tadokoro as they greeted me.
Together with Aldini Takumi, Hayama Akira, Kurokiba Ryo, and the adorably cute Alice, our team of seven would take on the end-of-term exam.
"…Still, Nakiri really gave us a harsh handicap."
"We have three fewer people than the other teams, our beach house is way off at the edge of the beach, and… it looks like it's about to fall apart, it's so old."
Just as the two said, we members of the Council of Ten had been given a significant handicap.
While the other students were assigned beach houses near the center of the beach, ours was at the very end—practically the edge of the world. On top of that, it looked run-down and lacked any sense of cleanliness suitable for a food business.
"So this is the kind of handicap we have to overcome to be worthy of the Council of Ten."
"Complaining won't change anything. Let's get to work."
"Fufun♪ Let's show them what our teamwork can do!"
"Young miss… please don't slack off, okay?"
In the original story, I recalled they spent the first two days repairing the shop and earned three million on the third. Realistically, that was probably the correct approach, but spending three whole days on something like this exam was out of the question. We had come all the way to the sea—there was no way I was going to waste it just working at a beach house.
"Anyway, we can't do anything until we fix up the shop. We'll have to sacrifice today and tomorrow for repairs, then push hard on the third day to—"
"Wait a second, Hayama."
"…What is it, Santoku?"
Hayama turned to me with a slightly puzzled look, probably because I had cut him off so abruptly. Sorry, but I wasn't going to waste time on something so pointless. I wanted to finish this quickly and enjoy the beach with the women I loved.
"I'll be taking charge of this exam. It'll be more efficient that way. We finish repairing the shop today, open tomorrow, and earn three million on the second day to pass."
"Wha…! There's no way we can fix a shop in that condition in just one day!"
"We can."
My immediate reply silenced Hayama. There was no reason this should be impossible. I was a man who had overcome far worse unreasonable situations since childhood due to my family circumstances.
Sōma, Tadokoro, and Alice supported me, while Hayama, Kurokiba, and Takumi reluctantly agreed. It seemed my ability was acknowledged, as there was less resistance than I expected.
"For now, before the sun sets, our priority is removing debris and cleaning. Everyone, give it your all."
I assigned the guys—Sōma, Takumi, Hayama, Kurokiba, and myself—to debris removal, while Alice and Tadokoro handled cleaning. We immediately got to work.
With me working seriously, the tasks progressed at an incredible speed. Tadokoro was highly capable as expected, and Alice worked diligently without slacking when given direct orders from me. Just as planned, we completed the debris removal and cleaning before sunset.
"Aaah~, I'm exhausted~!"
"Good work, Sōma-kun."
"Shogo-kun~! I worked hard too, so praise me?"
"Yeah, thanks to Alice, we finished perfectly. Thank you."
"Ehehe~ You can praise me more, you know!"
She was adorable. The pure white bikini Alice wore suited her perfectly. Seeing her like this only reinforced my decision that there was no way we were spending three days working at a beach house. Not enjoying the sea with such a cute Alice would be unmanly. Of course, that included "playing" in the sexual sense as well.
"…Hey, Santoku. We only managed to clean up today. There's no way we can open the shop tomorrow, right?"
"About that—leave everything to me. Hayama and the others, I want you to prepare the menu items by tomorrow. I'll provide the ingredients, so create dishes that can earn us three million in a single day. You can do that, right, Sōma?"
"Hell yeah! If you're going that far, I don't have to worry about the shop. I'll come up with some insanely delicious stuff!"
As expected, Sōma was quick to understand and very helpful.
It was already past 6 PM. The beach houses' business hours had ended, and students could be seen heading back to the hotel. I told Sōma and the others that today was over and sent them back to the hotel.
"Hm? What's up, Shogo? You're not heading back? Pushing yourself will make tomorrow tough, you know?"
"Yeah. Even though it's summer, the nights by the sea get chilly. Let's head back soon, Shogo-kun."
"Sorry, I'll stay here a bit longer. I want to think about the shop's image."
"Oh, got it! See you tomorrow then! Make sure you rest~!"
"Mou… I wanted you to come to my room…"
I stroked Alice's head as she cutely puffed out her cheeks, making sure Sōma and the others didn't see.
"—I'll come by tomorrow night."
Those words alone made Alice's eyes change color. Her expression instantly turned lewd with anticipation. Seeing that face made me excited too, so I wished she'd stop—it was impossible to hide an erection in swim trunks.
Suppressing the blood rushing to my cock, I watched Alice's back as she left. Now the real work would begin.
I contacted the Santoku family personnel I had kept on standby and had them bring in the items I had prepared. Lumber and tools for restoration, benches for customers, parasols for shade, painting supplies, lights for night work, and many other tools were laid out on the beach.
I postponed bringing in the kitchen equipment until morning, since the shop structure needed to be ready first. I had to finish building the shop with that in mind.
"Thanks for your hard work. I'll only need you to bring in the kitchen tomorrow morning."
I thanked the subordinates who had worked exactly as instructed and quickly sent them off. Using the family's power to make things easier was fine, but having them help build the actual shop felt wrong. I needed to do at least that much myself, or the guilt toward the other students would be too heavy.
Hayama had said it was impossible, but I never say things I can't do. The beach house would open at 10 AM on the second day. That gave me roughly sixteen hours from now. With that much time, nothing was impossible.
All I had to do was work without sleep or rest.
The debris had already been cleared. As long as the basic foundation was there, it wasn't that difficult. It was still somewhat bright out, but setting up the lights later would be a hassle, so I turned them on in advance.
Preparations complete. I focused my concentration and began working to turn the image in my mind into reality.
***
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