"Huh? What? Classmate Amane, do you know what you're saying? Everyone can only survive by following society's rules. There's only been one Great idiot of Owari in thousands of years! And he was the only one."
Nagumo Miyabi began to realize that things were developing in an uncontrollable direction.
But he couldn't find the reason. To anyone else, Amane sounded like she was talking in her sleep. If it were someone else, Nagumo Miyabi would have long ago cursed him, "You naive brat, go back and get weaned before discussing such things with me."
Yet, Amane, just by sitting there, could bring him an immense sense of tension and pressure.
"I know exactly what I'm saying. If I recall correctly, my grandfather was also mocked as 'Little Nobunaga' back then. Well, it seems that later became a compliment, I don't know why."
Cold sweat began to seep from Nagumo Miyabi's forehead.
Amane had actually played such a hand right from the start. That old man, who advocated peace yet carried out mass killings internally, causing various 'suicide' scandals, and was called a living demon despite his benevolent appearance, was none other than the grandfather of this seemingly harmless girl before him.
"Little Nobunaga" was indeed a compliment a long time ago, used to describe great individuals who achieved things in unconventional ways.
But later, it became a sarcastic term for those idiots who deliberately acted strangely to attract attention, had unique ideas, were unsociable, couldn't read the atmosphere, and broke rules.
However, it was still a subtle irony, and how it was interpreted depended on the individual.
But that monster had redefined this term into a positive title again… Tsk.
How could he even talk now?
Nagumo Miyabi was utterly speechless. From the very beginning, he had realized that Amane was a double-edged sword. When aimed at others—whether those who opposed him, the first-year new students, or even Horikita Manabu and Chairman Sakayanagi—she was an extremely sharp and useful sword.
Never having been injured by Amane, he subconsciously overlooked that Amane was also one of the most unstable factors.
Seeing Nagumo Miyabi give up his resistance, Amane took a sip of water, then placed the cup heavily on the table.
The sudden sound made Nagumo Miyabi's shoulders involuntarily flinch.
Amane immediately pressed her advantage.
"Now can you answer my question? Was it you who sent that message to those first-year students in the name of the Student Council?"
Amane first needed to confirm whether this was Nagumo Miyabi's intention or if a teacher had instructed him to do so.
If a teacher had told him to do it, she would have a clearer understanding of the whole situation.
"I did it. My goal was also to protect Ichinose from verbal abuse so that she could take her exams in peace."
Nagumo Miyabi tried to explain.
He was met with Amane's cold laugh.
"Heh, you're quite quick to react. Don't speak such hypocritical words in front of me; it's disgusting. Wouldn't you know the consequences of making everyone aware that Ichinose is a thief by doing this? Wouldn't you know that it's better to guide than to block? Don't you know why you complicated such an easily solvable matter?"
Faced with Amane's barrage of questions, Nagumo Miyabi fell silent. He did it precisely because he knew.
But he dared not tell Amane his true intentions.
That's why he used the excuse of protecting Ichinose, even planning to say it was to help Amane teach Class B a lesson. He knew Amane could see through his little schemes.
But he hadn't expected Amane to take such a direct approach to humiliate him.
This matter was actually quite simple to handle; it only required finding the problem with Ichinose herself.
If this matter was a rumor, then an announcement could be made publicly stating it was a rumor, followed by making an example of someone. The rumor would quickly subside, and then it would only be necessary to find the source of the rumor and punish them.
Of course, there was also the quickest way: leaking information.
Ichinose definitely wouldn't be clueless about the leaker. As long as there was a suspect, the Student Council could easily control them. At worst, Amane could take the Disciplinary Committee to have a chat with them.
It was believed that after their conversation with Amane, they would be very willing to cooperate with the investigation. It would be easy to find out if there was a mastermind, and then simply punishing those who maliciously attacked would be enough for the matter to fade with time.
But Nagumo Miyabi made the most, most, most foolish decision.
Firstly, without investigating the situation, he tried to control the spread of the news with threatening and warning tones. This seemed like a decisive action.
But what did it look like in the eyes of others?
Indeed, it was an attempt to cover up. The more you prevent others from speaking, even by covering their mouths and breaking their legs, the more it proves you're afraid of what they might say.
And what one fears is often true.
So, when this mass email was sent out, everyone implicitly assumed the truthfulness of the message in their hearts.
Originally, some people didn't pay attention to this kind of gossip, but with Nagumo Miyabi using the school's official channels for a mass mailing, it became hard not to know, which dramatically increased the discussion around the topic.
While the Student Council investigated the truth of the matter, everyone would be discussing it, and the promised punishment could not be implemented because the investigation had no results yet. The Student Council had no way to stop people from discussing by citing the spread of rumors or violating regulations.
The most awkward part was yet to come.
What if the investigation revealed it wasn't a rumor? Could Nagumo Miyabi still feign ignorance? If it was just a small-scale investigation, whether to announce the results depended on whether the outcome was favorable.
But Nagumo Miyabi's actions meant that a formal announcement of the investigation results was necessary, because the Student Council had intervened in an official capacity.
If it started strong and ended weakly, not even daring to issue an investigation announcement, then Nagumo Miyabi's position as Vice President would be over.
But what if the matter was true? How would Ichinose continue to stay if an announcement was made? It's not hard to imagine Ichinose facing an unprecedented public opinion crisis.
So what exactly were the benefits of this matter for Nagumo Miyabi? Why was he so concerned about Ichinose's affairs?
Amane didn't even need to think to know that Nagumo Miyabi was trying to exert influence on the first-year students. Regardless of the outcome, the Student Council, led by Nagumo Miyabi, quickly issued an announcement, seemingly protecting Ichinose while immediately starting an investigation.
Did the first-year students' opinion of Ichinose matter to Nagumo Miyabi? Not at all.
If the investigation revealed it was a rumor, Nagumo Miyabi could conveniently deal with a group of people to display his authority, even expelling a typical student, thereby building a glorious image among the first-year students as a protector of the weak and a punisher of bullies.
What if the result was factual? He could simply announce the investigation results. What did Ichinose being crushed by public opinion have to do with Nagumo Miyabi?
When the Student Council was mentioned, everyone still thought of Horikita Manabu. If the investigation results didn't match the previous strict image, leading to embarrassment, everyone would scold Horikita Manabu. Even if there was a Nagumo Miyabi, who knew if he was just a scapegoat?
If he gambled correctly, he would gain both fame and fortune. If he gambled incorrectly, he could just bow and apologize, and it would still create a bad impression of the Student Council during Horikita Manabu's time, facilitating his plan to rise to power after the school year began.
Killing two birds with one stone.
As for Ichinose, at the center of the storm? To Nagumo Miyabi, she was merely a pawn.
No, more like a sacrifice than a pawn.
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