The tiny, snow-white cat spirit continued tasting the pure blue liquid. Watching from the side, Yukinoshita felt uneasy. She had tried to stop it, but the little thing had struggled fiercely, forcing her to let go.
Moreover, its previously dull fur had now become silky, shiny, and smooth. The weak state it was in had completely vanished, its recovery visible to the naked eye.
Shifting her gaze to Yazuki, Yukinoshita maintained her usual cold demeanor, her eyes signaling him to explain the situation.
"You're saying a cat hatched from that egg? What's the issue?"
Yazuki's expression remained unfazed.
"Aren't cats just naturally born from eggs?"
He said it as if it were the most obvious fact in the world, even looking at Yukinoshita like she was an idiot. She was supposed to be a top student, yet she didn't know that cats were oviparous?
Hearing this, Yukinoshita gave him a look as if she had just witnessed something absurd.
"Cats are oviparous? Your knowledge truly amazes me. You might just surpass an elementary schooler!"
She spoke with sarcastic admiration, her cherry-colored lips forming the words. Hearing the mockery, Yazuki was genuinely puzzled.
"Cats aren't oviparous? No, I remember them being egg-laying animals."
He wasn't even trying to mess with her. While speaking, he pulled out his phone and searched for information on cats.
"So, in this world, cats aren't oviparous."
Alright, he had mixed up the common sense of different worlds again. Having traveled to so many different isekai worlds, he had seen plenty of creatures similar to cats that were oviparous.
Suddenly, he felt a subtle, sighing gaze filled with pity—it was from Yukinoshita.
Yazuki's face darkened slightly.
Forget it. No point in arguing with a woman who had no exposure to the wider world.
Still, what kind of species was this cat? A magical beast? A monster? A divine beast? He couldn't tell just from its current appearance.
"So, what are you going to do with it?" Yukinoshita asked, seeing that Yazuki couldn't even explain its origins.
"Should I make soup with it? Or would grilling be better?"
He gazed at the tiny creature as if it were a high-quality ingredient.
"Meow~!"
Sensing danger, the little cat spirit trembled and immediately leaped toward Yukinoshita in a clumsy but desperate attempt to escape.
-------------
The next morning had come, and Yazuki reluctantly shut off his blaring alarm.
It was time to go to school. He really, really, really, really didn't want to go. But last night, he had received a warning from that almost-menopausal woman—if he skipped school today, she would personally come and drag him there.
Speaking of which… where was that cat?
Yazuki, not keen on keeping pets, had already traded it to a cat lover for a meal.
Dragging himself to school, he made sure to step through the school gate exactly one second before the bell rang.
This earned him a cold smirk from a certain well-endowed teacher waiting at the entrance.
And so—
"This is the situation!"
Without even stepping into the classroom, Yazuki found himself in the faculty room, listening to a middle-aged woman smoking a cigarette forcibly assign him a task.
"Please, Yazuki, I'm counting on you."
That was the president of the student council, Meguri Shiromeguri, clasping her hands together in a pleading gesture.
"Alright."
It would feel wrong to refuse.
After all, back during the club recruitment event shortly after the school year started, it was thanks to this student council president's help that he was able to establish his own club.
She even let him use the AV room for promotion, but due to his own mistakes, he messed up and caused her quite a bit of trouble.
This time, she was asking him to represent Sobu High's student council in negotiations with another high school. One of the key aspects involved the arts, which was why they needed his help.
Last year, Sobu High invited this private high school to participate in their cultural festival. The festival included several special performances from the other school, as well as collaborative performances.
However, that wasn't the real issue, the real issue was that the student council had been completely outmaneuvered by the other school's students.
Well, perhaps it wasn't entirely fair to put it that way. The students from the other school had pointed out numerous flaws in Sobu High's proposed plans, criticizing them sharply and offering much better alternatives. In the end, most of the original plans were scrapped in favor of the ones proposed by the other school.
The problem was that their arguments were so well-structured and convincing that there was no room for rebuttal.
It was beyond humiliating. A large portion of their own cultural festival had been shaped by students from another school.
According to the student council, the student leading the discussion from the other school was incredibly intimidating—sharp-tongued and impossible to argue against. The student council members ended up feeling like scolded children, completely overpowered by her presence. And of course, when Sobu High was later invited to participate in the other school's cultural festival, the same thing happened all over again.
So, for this year's upcoming cultural festival, those who had experienced it last time were too scared to go back.
"Still, I'm only responsible for the arts section. There should be others handling the main negotiations, right?"
Surely, they weren't sending him alone?
"Of course, the one who'll be handling negotiations with that terrifying girl is—"
Just as she was about to say the name, the door to the faculty room swung open, and a cold-faced beauty stepped inside. Upon seeing Yazuki, she paused for a moment.
The student council president took small steps toward her with a bright smile and introduced her.
"Perfect timing! This is Yukinoshita-san~"
Yazuki wasn't particularly surprised. The student who had overwhelmed the student council last year was undoubtedly an elite from that school. Naturally, Sobu High needed to send someone capable of matching her.
Even though Yukinoshita was only a first-year, her excellence put even third-years to shame.
Yukinoshita cast a cold gaze at him and slightly parted her lips.
"I object. I feel that this man poses a threat to my chastity, so I refuse to travel with him!"
"Please, can you stop being so narcissistic? If you had a physique like Hiratsuka-sensei's, then maybe I'd—"
Bang!
"Ugh—!!!"
A blow to the stomach almost made Yazuki vomit his breakfast. Looking up, he saw Hiratsuka-sensei glaring at him with a half-smiling, half-menacing expression.
How did such a violent teacher even get hired?
Yazuki seriously suspected some under-the-table dealings. Not in a physical sense, of course—who could even handle such a brutal dragon lady?
More likely, she bribed the school with money, considering he often saw her driving an expensive sports car.
"Don't call me Hiratsuka directly. Also, neither of you has the right to refuse!!!"