Chapter 10: The Gun is Mightier than the Pen - 1

Previously!

Yesterday, Neru and Yuuka came barging in!
Thankfully, I talked my way out of it and hid the fact that we were the terrorists, and even managed to secure a contract! 1.5 million yen up front, with another 1.5 million if the weapons are delivered properly!
But these bastards seem like they'll backstab me, so I need to register the patent!

With that in mind, I decided to visit the General Student Council today.
Arin has already figured out the way... I hope nothing goes wrong.

"Well, I'm off."

"Have a safe trip."

"Be careful, Boss!"

Arin and Sarin decided to stay at 'The Farm'.
Even though the deadline for the Millennium contract is generous, there's no harm in getting a head start.

Running the factory costs 150,000 yen, leaving our remaining assets at 1.43 million yen.
We're ridiculously well-off. Tonight, I'll take the kids out for that company dinner we missed yesterday.

'The Farm' is located in a public district somewhere between Millennium and Gehenna.
And most public districts have a direct road to the General Student Council.

In other words, getting there shouldn't be too difficult.

"Boss."

"Yeah?"

"We don't have a car."

"What about the one we took last time?"

"That one?"

Ah, right.
That was the car the kids used back when they were Sukeban, wasn't it?

If I show up at the General Student Council in that, they'll think I'm declaring war or something.
And here I am, just an innocent patent applicant.

I had no choice but to walk to the General Student Council.

* * *

"...It's big."

That was my first impression upon seeing the General Student Council building.

The only buildings I'd seen so far were the house I lived in with my sister, the middle school I attended, and 'The Farm'.
Of course, the Millennium Prize preparation site was huge too, but the situation was what it was, so I didn't have time to take a good look.

In contrast, the General Student Council's headquarters, viewed with a calm mind, was more than large enough to be called enormous.

"Anyway, I should go in."

When I entered through the front door, there were surprisingly few students.
Of course, as it was the building that governed all of Kivotos, the students, unlike the staff, were of all shapes and sizes.

They had wings and wore neat uniforms, unlike those at Millennium.
In other words, they had a 'young lady's' air to them.

"Hello."

"Yes, which academy are you from?"

"I'm a dropout."

"Excuse me?"

A dropout, I said.
Well, in Kivotos, most students without an academy are either Sukeban or part of the Helmet Gang. I guess I can't blame them for looking at me that way.

"...He says he has no academy."

"Why would a delinquent student like that be at the General Student Council..."

"How should I know? Maybe he's here to file for bankruptcy."

Look at that. The reactions are already going wild.
Even for me, continuously hearing these kinds of reactions is unsettling, so I had to prove my identity quickly.

"It's not much of a substitute, but I am also the president of the company, 'The Farm'."

"'The Farm'? Yes. One moment please... Are you from the 'Daily Health Farm'?"

"Shut the fuck up."

That bastard Director Min-chul still hasn't changed the name?
What an incredibly annoying guy. I'll have to give him a piece of my mind when I see him next.

"...What did you just say?"

"I'm applying for a name change. Please call us 'The Farm'."

"Yes. In that case, if you're the president of 'The Farm', you must be Mr. Kosei, correct? You don't have a last name?"

"That's right."

"No last name? He must be a real delinquent..."

"I know, right? Even that fox that caused a ruckus a few days ago had a last name."

Do they think I don't have ears? They've been gossiping this whole time.
By the way, what fox? It's true that at 'The Farm', we have no phones or TVs, so I'm too ignorant of the outside world.

I'll have to look into it on my way back.

"So, Mr. Kosei, what brings you here?"

Took her long enough to ask.

"I'm here to apply for a patent."

"I see. By any chance, did you bring any seeds with you?"

"Seeds? It's a gun patent."

"? But you said you were 'The Farm'."

"'The Farm' is the name. We operate a munitions factory."

"What a naming sense..."

Who the hell keeps taking jabs at me?
This is really starting to piss me off.

"In that case, could you show it to me?"

"Yes. Here."

This is the other reason I started up the factory this morning.
You need a sample to get a patent approved quickly.

"...Hmm, well. Could you please submit the blueprints?"

"Is that necessary?"

"The appearance is similar... Yes. It's required for the patent application."

"How long do you think it will take?"

"Patent applications take time... I think it will take about ten days."

I'm screwed. Ten days?
The deadline for submission to Millennium is one week, which means there are only three days left until the patent is filed.
Three days, at that Millennium... three days...

And if Millennium files for a patent too, the General Student Council will naturally side with them.

"...Who gives the final approval for a patent application?"

"Excuse me? That would be the General Student Council President..."

"Ah~ is that so?"

Ten days is too long.
We risked revealing our identities to raid Millennium. It would be a shame if it ended like this, right?

That bastard is taking another jab at me. Sigh.

Anyway, it's simple. If it takes too long? Shouldn't I just meet the person in charge?
The reason patents take a long time is because it's difficult to determine their originality. So if I show them its originality, it'll be a bonus, right?

The guy who was talking earlier...

"Haha... huh?"

Right. You.

BANG—!!

I put a bullet in the head of the bastard who's been a pain in my ass this whole time.
A moment of silence, and then—

"...Huh?"

People who grasped the situation began to realize, one by one.
Right. I just fired a gun in here. The guy who got hit is unconscious.

"Hey. Everyone shut the fuck up. If you don't want to die."

Phew. I thought I was going to die from using formal speech.

"Hey. Receptionist."

"Y-yes?"

"Where's the General Student Council President?"

"The President is, probably... on the top floor..."

"Right? Thanks."

As soon as I heard that, I ran for the elevator.

"Huh?"

Why isn't the door opening? Ah.
It's a system that requires a key card to open the door. I've never seen a system like this before.

"I'm in a fucking hurry here."

My sister taught me something a long time ago.
In the face of overwhelming power, complex security systems are useless.

That's what she said as she just ripped off my locked bedroom door.

BANG—! BLAM—BANG—!!

I immediately tore the door open with the gun I brought. It's weaker than I thought.
There are a shit-ton of buttons, but I guess I just have to press the one for the top floor.

As I watched the elevator ascend at a high speed, I was quietly lost in thought.
Leaning my back against the wall, I closed my eyes and touched my temples, continuously pondering the thoughts in my head.
The conclusion was one and only.

'I'm so fucking screwed.'

* * *

Before I knew it, the elevator had reached the top floor, and the crumpled door creaked open with a groan.
In front of me was a wide, expansive space, but paradoxically, only one person was working there.

A superman, who managed this entire vast space.

"General Student Council President."

"Welcome, Mr. Intruder."

"You know why I'm here?"

"Isn't it for a patent?"

"Right. Is it possible?"

"Fufu, would you like to talk for a moment?"

"Are you stalling? Trying to tie me down until the SRT or Valkyrie shows up?"

"It's nothing like that~ Please, have a seat here for now."

I guess I have to trust her. The General Student Council President doesn't seem like the type to lie.
At the very least, a person who's smiling cheerfully when the president of a munitions factory has broken in with a gun can't be normal, can they?

"Hoo..."

Since there was nothing else I could do, I sat down in the chair as she instructed.
My first impression of the General Student Council President up close was... a distinctly mysterious feeling.
Even though she's a student, there's a sense of otherworldliness. I guess the person who rules this vast Kivotos has to be at this level.

"You're not scared?"

"Me? Of course not~ Mr. Kosei, you came here to apply for a patent. What good would it do you to threaten me~ It would only delay the patent application."

"Then let me ask you straight. The patent application. Can it be done quickly?"

"Yes~"

"Then my proposal... what?"

"It can be done quickly. The patent application."

"This fucking fast?"

If it was this easy, I wouldn't have had to go through all this trouble.

"Are you doing this because I seem like a crazy person?"

"No. In the first place, I'm in favor of protecting new technology, and from the General Student Council's perspective, we're against any one academy becoming too powerful~"

"...You crazy bitch."

How does she know I'm dealing with Millennium?
At most, a car from Millennium just arrived at an unknown factory.

"And. I'm also interested in you. Ah! It's not a romantic interest, so please don't misunderstand~"

"I know. Then what kind of interest?"

From my perspective, this is really unsettling. What good could come from the person at the top of Kivotos taking an interest in me?
And I don't even know where that interest is directed.

 "Kosei. A person with no last name and no academy, who boldly walks into a Kaiser interview and establishes a munitions factory. Not only do you hire Sukeban as employees, but less than a week after its establishment, you disguise yourselves as Sukeban and even terrorize Millennium."

"What the fuck, were you stalking me?"

"When you're in this position, you find out about everything~"

No, you crazy bitch, you know everything. Why do you know things that even Millennium and Kaiser don't know?

"Are you going to spread rumors?"

"Of course not. And... I'm also interested in your blood relative. Mr. Takanashi Kosei?"

Takanashi. The last name of me and my sister.

Click-clack—

I immediately loaded my gun and aimed it at her.
That information should have only been known to my employees.

"What did you say?"

"You seem to care a lot for your older sister, don't you?"

Care... she's definitely a bitch. She's overprotective to the point of obsession, yet she beats me like a dog.
But. That doesn't mean it's okay for others to take a strange interest in her.

"Fufu. Don't be like that. I didn't investigate it myself. In fact, your sister was the one who told me."

"...What?"

The General Student Council President showed me a document as if to say, 'Take a look.'

[Missing Person Report

Reporter: Takanashi Hoshino

Subject: Takanashi Kosei]

"...Huh?"

So, this bitch of a sister of mine. She filed a missing person report because I ran away?
This is absolutely ridiculous.

"Are you going to snitch?"

"Of course not."

"That's a relief. Just tell her you couldn't find me."

As I was momentarily thinking about my sister, the General Student Council President asked an unexpected question.

"How much do you know about your academy?"

"Know what? I don't even know its name."

"Abydos. That's the name of the academy where you and your sister lived."

"Abydos..."

To hear a name I've never heard from my sister from the General Student Council President. What kind of unbelievable situation is this?

"Abydos High School... is now ruined."

"What the fuck?"

"To be precise, it's in the process of being ruined. By none other than the Kaiser Corporation."

Kaiser Corporation.
The company that supported 'The Farm', a kind of benefactor.

...I'm not that much of a fool to think that. Even that support was full of traps.

"PMC?"

"Oh my, you know?"

"Of course."

In fact, I've known for quite some time.
Remember? The reason the PMC director visited 'The Farm' before?

The classified document that was at 'The Farm'. That was the reason. Of course, I told the director I didn't open it...

As if I wouldn't have opened it.
To be honest, it wasn't a very important document. At most, it was a simple order to send the weapons to the Black Market after reclaiming 'The Farm' from the Sukeban.
Do you know what the title of that order was?

"'Operation: Recapture Hoshino'. That was the title of the document they had."

"That is, indeed, quite extreme."

"Yeah."

To summarize the story so far:

1. The General Student Council President is favorable towards 'The Farm'.
2. She knows about most of my secret activities.
3. And she even has information about my sister. More than I do.

"What do you want?"

"What do I want?"

"You're giving away so much information, there's no way you don't want something in return."

"You're quick on the uptake. I have three requests."

"Spit it out."

The General Student Council President smiled and held up three fingers.

"First, I'd like you to topple Kaiser."

"Is it okay for the General Student Council President to make such a request?"

"Is there anything we can't do between us~"

"We're more distant than the bastard I just shot in the head, you crazy bitch."

"Oh my~ At least I probably won't get shot!"

Is she really crazy? It's an insult, an insult. Stop smiling.

"Second. I'd like you to help me with a treaty I'm currently working on."

"A treaty? What treaty?"

"You don't seem to know much about these things. It's been all the rage lately."

"Our 'Farm' is doing pretty well too. Even though our sales are less than 3 million yen."

"There is one. To explain it in terms you'd understand... it's a treaty where two enemies agree not to fight and to help each other."

"What do you need my help with?"

"It's simple! Just supply weapons to the newly formed armed organization."

"As long as you pay enough, anything's possible. What's the name of the treaty?"

"The Eden Treaty."

The Eden Treaty... it's probably nothing special.
It's not like it's some half-baked, unbelievable treaty to make Trinity and Gehenna reconcile, right?
According to my employees, those two are more than just enemies.

"And the third and final request is..."

Why the pause? It's making me anxious.
Usually, when someone does that, it's the shittiest request.

"...Later. Say, in about two years? An adult will come."

"You want me to take them out?"

"No. Please help them."

"Help them?"

"Yes. I'm not asking for much. Just be of help to them, that's all."

An adult... an adult...
A request like this is nothing.

"But are you trying to get all these favors for just one gun patent?"

"Ah, not exactly. I was thinking of giving you some support funds as well."

"No, no. Not money. Let me make two more requests."

"...What do you need?"

"One, cover up what I did this time, and go easy on me in the future."

"You're asking for immunity?"

"Let's call it a 'right of reduced punishment' rather than immunity."

Not complete ignorance, but a degree of forgiveness.

"And the other one is..."

* * *

"Fufu, to request something like that."

You're an interesting person. As expected.

Usually, when people make requests to the General Student Council, they ask for money or power.
Because they know it's hard to find a way to betray the General Student Council, and it's also hard to use it.

But of all things.

"A patent free-pass ticket. Give me that. About thirty should be plenty."

A permanent patent approval pass.
You're the first person to request something like this.

I wonder, in a year's time. Will you really be free from Kaiser's clutches?
And if you grow like that, later...

...Will you be able to be of help to Sensei?