"This person here is one of the equipment managers and your senior, Takaaki Anjō, second year." Kazuhiro Kimura introduced the Bad-Boy Blond Guy with a hand on his shoulder.
"Yo, everyone, I'm Takaaki Anjō. Just call me Anjō. If you need to borrow any equipment, just let me know. I'm a casual guy, easy to talk to." Takaaki Anjō raised one hand in a greeting, the other shoved into his pocket.
However, the general reaction was subdued. After all, this Blond Guy had those spike-like piercings near his neck. Although he spoke nicely, he was clearly a delinquent, and nobody wanted much to do with him.
Takaaki Anjō didn't mind. He walked to the side and sat down, seemingly accustomed to this kind of reception.
Where was that blonde girl he was with before? Did he dump her?
Alistair looked around but didn't see her. Just as he was wondering if she wasn't in this club or even this school, he spotted her near Kasumi Haruno. That blonde girl must be an upperclassman; the four-person group looked so respectful towards her that she was likely a senior. They were over there, discussing something.
"Ahem, by the way, the junior named Yūjirō Morita should be here at the party, right? I'm sorry about this, but when he borrowed the equipment before, the junior was given the private property of Takaaki Anjō. It still contains some items he needs. I hope the junior can bring it back tomorrow to swap. Also, there's some work data inside, so I hope the junior doesn't leak it... Is Morita-junior here?" Kazuhiro Kimura paused, put in a "commercial" for the Blond Guy, offered an explanation, and then, receiving no response, asked the question.
...Silence fell.
"Uh, Morita-junior didn't come?" Kazuhiro Kimura felt a little awkward. Did he not show up? But I counted the numbers. Or is he just not responding?
"Does Morita-junior think I would make things difficult for him?" Kazuhiro Kimura's tone held a hint of displeasure.
"Um, President, if you're talking about Yūjirō Morita, he barely shows up to class, so he probably didn't come to this party either... Also, since when did he join our club?" A female student stood up, answered Kazuhiro Kimura's question, and added her own query.
"Uh, you know Morita?" Kazuhiro Kimura asked. This girl was a second-year, and Yūjirō Morita was a freshman, right?
"He's in our class and a petty punk. That junior must have used his name." The senior girl shrugged at Kazuhiro Kimura. She hadn't been present last time, so she didn't know about Alistair's situation.
"...Fine, I'll find him next time." Kazuhiro Kimura looked around, trying to recall Alistair's appearance. After looking around several times and failing to find Alistair, he had to give up.
Alistair hadn't been hiding; his seat was just a bit dark. God knows why the blind President couldn't see him. As for why others didn't report him? Everyone here preferred to avoid trouble. No one wanted to offend someone unnecessarily, so Alistair just watched the "clown" show unfold.
Speaking of which, Alistair found it strange that his initial Charm value was so high. His looks were only cute and delicate, not enough to warrant that level of charm. If maximum value was one hundred, where did the extra charm come from?
Alistair looked down at the area where his patron deity resided. It must be because of this thing.
...
"Fancy a drink, classmate?"
Alistair's thoughts were interrupted. He looked up to see a very scholarly-looking Blond Guy, thin and tall, who seemed to be the gentle, handsome type. However, from Alistair's perspective, this mild-mannered, handsome Blond Guy was also a "Gachi-Muchi" level character.
Clink~
"Hello, my name is Ryūji Matsuoka." The scholarly Blond Guy raised his cup to Alistair, wearing a gentle smile.
"What do you want?"
Alistair clinked glasses but gave him no respect. Alistair wanted to test the absorption rules of the ring. It was a shame he couldn't absorb the black gas when its color was so dark. Before, he had only absorbed gas from people he had spoken to. So, Alistair wanted to test if the ring needed a more direct "connection" with the person, like speaking or touching them, to absorb the gas.
"Ah?"
Ryūji Matsuoka, the scholarly Blond Guy, was momentarily stunned. This was the first time he had met someone who was so disrespectful and unpredictable.
"Just kidding. My name is Alistair Vance." Alistair saw a portion of the black gas being absorbed into his body, confirming that this method worked.
"Alistair-kun is quite humorous..." Although he was internally grumbling, Ryūji Matsuoka maintained a smiling facade as he complimented Alistair.
"Your smile is disgusting. State your business, or I'll slap you." Alistair was repulsed by the obviously fake smile. Alistair remembered this bastard filming his girlfriend for streaming and Japanese-style adult films. Having such a fetish was disgusting. Watching it himself was one thing, but streaming it for everyone else to see was truly sickening.
"..."
Ryūji Matsuoka's smile froze. Alistair's bluntness truly threw him off balance.
"Well, I've developed feelings for Hanade Tenkawa. I heard you also like her, so I wanted to talk to you. I hope Alistair-kun can back off, seeing as you already have a girlfriend, don't you?" Ryūji Matsuoka took a sip of champagne, speaking to Alistair with a seemingly gentle, yet vaguely threatening tone.
"And? That's your reason?" Alistair spread his hands. This is all you, the mighty Blond Guy, can threaten me with?
"I imagine you wouldn't want your girlfriend to know you're still pursuing other girls, right?" Ryūji Matsuoka's expression became somewhat sinister.
?
"Is that it? That's your reason? That's a 90% effort level threat?" Alistair thought this Blond Guy had some leverage, but he was just going to tell his girlfriend? Doesn't he realize Alistair can fuck Hanade Tenkawa until she makes an ahegao face, and then openly ask Mina to clean up the aftermath? This Blond Guy investigated Alistair's situation, but didn't investigate enough, did he?
"You're not afraid of your girlfriend finding out?" Ryūji Matsuoka frowned. Alistair looked quite pure; he shouldn't be the same kind of person as him. He could sense the similarity in people like Katsu Yūshika and Takaaki Anjō, but Alistair... Could he have been wrong about him?
"Afraid. Terribly afraid. So go ahead and tell her~" Alistair leaned back lazily on the couch. At the same time, he used the Demonic Ring to absorb the black gas from Ryūji Matsuoka, feeling the comfortable physical reinforcement.
"..."
Ryūji Matsuoka listened to Alistair's clearly mocking words, said nothing, and left Alistair's side with a calm face.
"So comfortable. The more I play, the stronger I get. Perfect for a lazy guy." Alistair really liked this. How many days had it been since he tried the Saitama Training Method? And he already suffered from intermittent psychological impotence. If he actually trained, wouldn't he become a Bald Caped Buddha? Alistair didn't want to achieve Buddhahood here.
The efficiency seemed inconsistent, though. Alistair hadn't been idle and had forced conversations with people around him. As long as there was some kind of "connection," the Demonic Eye Ring could absorb the gas.
Alistair noticed that he only absorbed a portion of the "desire." A lot of black gas remained attached to them but couldn't be absorbed. He didn't know the reason.
"It's past nine. Shouldn't this be wrapping up?" Alistair checked the time. Time had passed quickly while listening to their mundane chatter and introductions. Anyway, it wasn't Alistair's gossip, so being an observer was fine, even if that Blond Guy had spoiled the mood.
"Everyone, that concludes tonight's gathering. Please be safe on your way home. Go in groups, or you can even ask your senior classmates to accompany and escort you~"
After clapping his hands to silence everyone, Kazuhiro Kimura announced the end of the gathering. Alistair didn't know the exact point of this meeting, but he had heard quite a bit of gossip.
"Hmm? Is that..."
Alistair looked toward Takaaki Anjō and saw him approach the blonde senior, who then took him to negotiate with the four-person group. After a brief discussion, the group of one man and six women left the private room together.
"Interesting."
Alistair curved his lip into a smile, stood up, and prepared to follow them.