Setting aside what happened in the Chairman's office for now.
Time passed, and it was now after school.
During homeroom, since the midterm exams were tomorrow, Kakeru Ryūen specifically canceled today's study session. Instead, he gave a strict order for everyone to go back and obediently memorize the exam answers.
Hiyori, of course, had no intention of listening to him. After class, she went to the library as usual and started wandering through the bookshelf aisles with Symon.
Just as she picked up a copy of The Devotion of Suspect X, the terminal in the girl's pocket suddenly vibrated. She opened the email and glanced at the message:
『Kakeru Ryūen: The email you sent me before was intercepted by the school. Can't rule out that our calls are being tapped too. I've already spoken to Kazuma Sakagami and confirmed that there's no possibility of this information being sold to students. Still, we should use our terminals for communication less often from now on. Let's meet in person if there's anything.』
『Hiyori Shiina: Understood.』
After casually replying to the email, Hiyori Shiina opened the forums for a look. She found that the discussion thread about Ryūen hitting someone had already fallen from the top ranks. The topic's popularity seemed to have been frozen, and the most recent comments were just from some self-proclaimed rationalists who had been shut down before, now making sarcastic remarks.
The top post on the forums now was about a non-disclosure agreement. Many students were questioning when they had ever signed such an agreement, and the answer had already been dug up—the NDA was hidden within the 'I have read and agree to the terms' section during the initial login for the 'S-System'.
Someone in the thread complained that the school was being too tyrannical, gaining a lot of support and complaints, but also receiving some mocking comments like, 'If you don't want to be here, you can drop out.'
Because the topic was so controversial and the students were divided into two camps, this thread had now become the new main battlefield for public opinion.
'Isn't the school going to do anything about a post like this?' Hiyori Shiina asked, a bit puzzled.
'It's just a way for them to vent their emotions. There's no need to control it.'
Symon responded calmly in her mind: 'As long as no one steps up to form a united front and find a way to make the school back down, this debate will inevitably fizzle out, and everyone will go back to doing whatever they were doing.'
He had seen too many debates like this and had long since grown tired of them.
However, this meant his custom-made plan for Ryūen and Kiriyama to turn public opinion around had failed. But in any case, his own objective had been achieved, and there was still Kiriyama to take full responsibility. What happened next had nothing to do with him.
As he said this, Symon suddenly changed the subject, speaking thoughtfully: 'But to be honest, I overestimated this school's integrity. If the administration can't even guarantee student privacy... '
'Besides being careful with calls and emails, the terminal likely has a positioning function, and the photo album could probably be accessed. We should use this thing as little as possible from now on.'
'Also, this might sound alarmist, but I suggest you go back to the dorm now, give the dorm manager some private points, and see if you can get a key card for someone else's room.'
'If that's possible, then we'll need to change the lock and also check if there are any listening devices or surveillance cameras in the room.'
'No, wait...'
As he reached this point, Symon suddenly realized something and chuckled, 'That's probably not possible. If it caused a panic, the female students might withdraw from school en masse.'
Hiyori Shiina blinked. 'Oh my, was Mr. Ghost getting nervous just now?'
Symon cleared his throat, his tone a bit unnatural. 'Just think about it yourself. How many times have you changed clothes in the last two days?'
'Isn't that because you like it?~'
With a hint of complaint, Hiyori Shiina murmured these soft words, returned the book to its place, and slowly walked out of the library—although the possibility of such a thing happening was minuscule, what if it was real?
The scene changes to the dormitory staff room.
Hiyori Shiina stood before the dormitory administrator, watching as the woman performed a series of operations on the computer. Finally, she took a blank card, swiped it through a card writer, and handed a key card for Mio Ibuki's room to her.
'That will be 2,000 points, please.' The female administrator smiled and held out her terminal.
Hiyori Shiina was taken aback by this. She took the key card for Mio Ibuki's room, turning the brand-new card over in her hands, and asked tentatively, 'I'm also friends with Ichinose-san from Class B, and her key card is missing too. Could you make another one for me? How many points would it be?'
'That's a bit against the rules, you know,' the female dorm manager said.
Just as Hiyori was breathing a sigh of relief, she suddenly heard the woman change her tune: 'However, considering you're a girl, you'll only have to pay 10,000 points.'
Symon was instantly shocked. 'What do you mean, "only" 10,000 points because she's a girl!'
A question mark slowly formed in Hiyori Shiina's mind. Recalling Symon's earlier warning, she asked, 'If I need to change the lock, could I trouble you to contact the maintenance staff for me?'
'If you're worried about the key card being copied by others, there's no need for such trouble.'
The female dorm manager rummaged through a drawer and quickly pulled out an old key card with a '1201' label on it. She smiled and said, 'For 50,000 points, I can delete the backup data and give you this card as well.'
Hearing this, Symon couldn't help but scoff internally. He spoke up, 'Hiyori, let's switch bodies.'
'What's wrong?' Hiyori asked, confused, but relaxed her control over the body as he wished.
'How should I put it... Just watch.'
After replying this in her mind, Symon took control of the body. He didn't take the key card offered by the dorm manager, but instead asked with a gentle smile, 'Miss Dorm Manager, do you have any mechanical locks here?'
Not knowing why she would ask such a question, the female dorm manager thought for a moment, then nodded and answered truthfully, 'We do.'
'How many points for a security door lock with a Class-C cylinder and a screwdriver?' Symon asked, holding up his personal terminal.
The dorm manager was taken aback for a moment, but quickly understood her meaning. She replied with a smile, 'The lock is 5,000 points, and the screwdriver is 500. Are you planning on changing it yourself, miss? It has a very complex mechanism, you know~'
Hiyori Shiina was puzzled, 'Is it that cheap?'
'What else would it be?'
Replying this in her mind, Symon casually transferred 7,500 points to the dorm manager and said with a smile, 'It's alright, I plan to give it a try myself first.'
'Well, that's a real shame.' The dormitory administrator regretfully put the key card she had taken out back, retrieved a toolbox from beside her computer desk, and found an unopened security lock set and a screwdriver to hand over.
Leaving the staff room, Symon stood in front of the elevator, holding the heavy lock in one hand and the screwdriver in the other. He lamented internally, 'I really thought too highly of them. 50,000 points to delete the key card data and get a spare card... These people really have the nerve to ask for that.'
'But... does Mr. Ghost really know how to change a lock?'
'Hiyori, you need to believe one thing—most guys know some odd little life skills, like changing a lightbulb and whatnot. You shouldn't underestimate them.'
'I'm not~ It makes me feel secure... '
Hiyori Shiina said this in a small, soft voice.
This was the first time the girl had realized just how important it was for a girl to have a guy to rely on in life.
Even if Symon was just a ghost.
_____
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