"Serious? I am incomparably serious!" Chinatsu said earnestly, while extending a finger to point at her wide-open, oversized eyes.
If an unsuspecting person saw her like that, they would think Chinatsu was the Mental-type Ability User, currently using her eyes to unleash mental brainwashing on Shokuhou.
Shokuhou was so startled by Chinatsu's proactive gesture that she leaned back slightly, inwardly complaining about how Chinatsu's personality was so different from what she had imagined.
[On the surface, she is a mature older sister who takes good care of her younger sister, but in reality, she hides deep schemes and is deliberately planning something.]
This was the intuition that Shokuhou, as a Mental-type Ability User, had accumulated over the years. Usually, she was very confident in this intuition, but now she was somewhat confused.
Just as Shokuhou was mentally drafting words on how to refute her, Sekikura Rei, who was sitting next to Chinatsu, keenly opened her mouth, adding fuel to the fire of the charge.
"I'm not saying you have to establish a faction right now; timing is a very important factor. But since you are a Mental-type Ability User and can also read minds, surely you can better understand everything about those admirers and maintain this relationship better."
Sekikura Rei calmly stated her point of view. She was not forcing Shokuhou; she simply had her own intuition, and this intuition told her that Shokuhou had the aptitude to become a good leader.
Right now, undercurrents were surging in Tokiwadai. Watching Shokuhou waste her talent just like that, she felt it was a pity—not only for Shokuhou herself but also for Tokiwadai.
"Admirers? Where would I..."
Shokuhou wanted to say where she would get any admirers, but Hokaze Runkko, who had been sitting in the seat next to her with her head down eating a small dessert, suddenly raised her head. Their gazes collided, and the words Shokuhou had intended to say were awkwardly stuck in her throat.
"Are you two really not working together..." Shokuhou, feeling a bit defeated, picked up a dessert from the table and ate it, using her appetite to vent this stifled frustration.
"Of course not~" Chinatsu and Sashikura said in unison with squinting eyes. That perfectly in-sync appearance not only failed to reduce Shokuhou's suspicions but instead made them even greater.
At this point, Chinatsu and Sashikura didn't intend to continue, as continuing would no longer be advice, but coercion.
Chinatsu thought that just saying a few words to plant a seed in Shokuhou's heart about forming her own faction would be enough. As for why she wanted Shokuhou to form a faction, it was because she hoped to use Shokuhou's perspective to block Satan Sen.
Satan Sen wanted to destroy Tokiwadai, and ascending to the Queen's throne of Tokiwadai seemed to hold something she was pursuing. If not for Chinatsu's existence, she would likely have waited until she ascended to the Queen's position before taking action against Tokiwadai.
What? Why not form a faction herself? Regarding this, Chinatsu expressed that she was very lazy and had absolutely no desire to put effort into managing relationships with faction members; having one little Mikoto was enough for her to worry about.
"Then you think it over carefully; I have some things to do." Chinatsu said, suddenly standing up from her seat. Seeing this, Sashikura also smiled and nodded, as if indicating that she also had things to attend to.
They came inexplicably. They left in a hurry.
Sitting there, Shokuhou frowned and pursed her lips, turning her head to look at the silent Hokaze Runkko beside her.
"Runkko, what do you think?"
"Of course I support you~"
"..." Shokuhou fell into a long silence. Although the conversation was very simple, it had indeed planted a seed for forming a faction in Shokuhou's heart.
A few minutes after leaving Shokuhou's side, Sekikura Rei was walking along the road of Tokiwadai. The faction members following beside her couldn't help but ask, "Lady Sekikura, are you planning to withdraw from the competition for the Queen's throne?"
Sha Faction. Sura Faction. Mizukagami Faction. The three major factions of Tokiwadai were competing against each other. Assuming the Shikura Faction withdrew from the competition for the Queen's throne, it would inevitably lead to the combat power of the Shikura Faction flowing into the other two factions, and the balance of Tokiwadai would undoubtedly collapse.
And the fact that Sekikura Rei had just wanted Shokuhou to form a faction sounded to their ears as if she wanted to have all her own faction members transferred over after Shokuhou formed her faction.
The three major factions would still be competing, it was just that the Shikura Faction would have a new name and a stronger leader...
[Desolate] [Dissatisfied] [Uncomfortable]. Sekikura Rei was very clear about their feelings. Regarding whether to continue competing for the Queen's position, she pushed it aside for the moment, because Sashikura had discovered a suspicious point regarding the current chaotic situation in Tokiwadai.
"I've discovered that it seems someone is deliberately inciting conflict between our three major factions. Don't you think that, compared to the Queen's throne, we should prioritize handling this problem? After all, no one wants to be led by the nose by anyone, right?"
Meanwhile, the Mizukagami Faction, also one of the three major factions, had gathered a large number of core members in a classroom to hold a meeting.
"Today, Sekikura Rei sent us a request for a ceasefire." Standing in front of the blackboard, Mizukagami rested her hands on the teacher's desk and said earnestly to the people below.
The emotions of the people below were instantly ignited. One by one, they stood up from their seats, indicating that this proposal was unacceptable.
"How can this be!" "This must be a trap!" "Look at what those guys did to our companions! Now they say they want a ceasefire—were the injuries we suffered before just in vain?"
Everyone expressed their opinions indignantly. In response, Mizukagami explained that the reason Sashikura proposed a ceasefire was because she believed there was a third party deliberately causing the struggle between their factions.
Once these words were spoken, the previously intense opposition instantly quieted down by more than half, but some people still maintained that they couldn't just believe Sashikura's word alone.
Mizukagami sighed helplessly. She had been mentally prepared for the current situation and had already prepared her own unique way of dealing with it.
She gazed earnestly at the people below and slowly raised one of her arms. Her ability was [Fat Manipulation], which allowed her to freely adjust the size of body fat. More than half of her faction members hoped that Mizukagami could help them adjust their figures or even make their breasts larger.
"Please trust my judgment. In return, I will allow everyone present to use my ability once."
As Mizukagami's voice fell, the classroom instantly became silent. Everyone looked at one another, and awkward expressions appeared on their faces.
"O...Okay, after all, Sashikura is the head of a faction; what she said should be trustworthy, right?" "Exactly, let's see how Sashikura handles it. If there really is a third party causing trouble, I'll have to properly teach them a lesson."
The classroom was filled with a "realistic" atmosphere. Mizukagami showed an expression of no surprise. She breathed a slight sigh of relief and turned her head to look outside from the classroom window.
"I hope this third party really exists..."