Chapter 14: In Books, There Are Houses of Gold

Class 2-B.

It was a clear afternoon, with a gentle breeze carrying away the lingering warmth in the air.

Fujino, dressed in his school uniform, sat by the window, gripping a math book tightly in his hands.

His eyes rapidly scanned the words on the page, and those words seemed to flow like streams of light, rushing straight into his mind.

At the same time, his Student Proficiency was increasing at a rate visible to the naked eye.

"This Natural Genius skill is terrifying…"

During a break, Fujino glanced at the proficiency progress of his student profession.

In just half a day, he had already gained 75 proficiency points.

That's right—the reason he was sitting here reading a book so intently was all for the sake of improving his Student Proficiency.

Natural Genius was a skill that boosted learning ability by 100%.

In just a single day, he had already learned more than half the contents of this math book.

While absorbing that knowledge, his proficiency was steadily increasing too.

Once his proficiency hit 200, he'd be able to rank up his student profession by one level.

As his student rank increased, the Student Discount perk could also be upgraded.

In other words—he wasn't just reading books, he was printing money!

The ancients were right—"In books, there are houses of gold!"

"Xiaolan, hasn't Fujino-senpai been sitting there all day, reading that same math book? Could something be wrong with him?"

Not far away, Sonoko looked over at Fujino sitting by the window reading and asked Xiaolan with some concern.

"It does seem like that…"

Xiaolan's gaze was fixed on Fujino. "He hasn't even eaten lunch."

"This isn't good…"

Sonoko murmured, anxiety flashing in her expression. "Could his mental state have been affected by something? After all, he hasn't been coming to school for quite a while now…"

"Sonoko!"

Xiaolan gave her friend a slightly reproachful look, then glanced again at Fujino.

She frowned, puzzled by his behavior.

Thinking back to how Fujino had collapsed from overexertion before, she nodded slightly. "You might be right. If he keeps going like this with his frail body, he'll probably pass out again, just like last time!"

Sonoko frowned too. "Then what should we do?"

"Let's go find Hiratsuka-sensei!"

"Right—if it's Hiratsuka-sensei, she'll have a way."

Hearing that, Sonoko nodded in agreement.

After all, in her mind, Hiratsuka Shizuka was Teitan High School's number-one expert when it came to handling students' psychological issues. If talking didn't work—

She'd simply punch them into shape.

People called her the Iron-Fisted Saint—the ultimate soul mentor.

A moment later—

Fujino finally put his book down, stretching his body with a loud yawn.

Honestly, this was the first time he'd ever experienced the joy of studying.

Getting clear, tangible rewards made studying knowledge feel completely different.

He rolled his stiff shoulders a bit and was just about to stand up when he suddenly noticed Hiratsuka Shizuka standing beside him, staring at him intently.

"Hiratsuka-sensei… what are you doing here?"

Fujino looked at her awkwardly and gave a sheepish smile.

"So—you've been sitting here reading all day?"

Hiratsuka glanced at the math book on his desk. "What kind of nonsense is this?"

"I just wanted to do some review, that's all."

Fujino gave her a puzzled look, his voice slightly heavy: "Is there a problem with that, Hiratsuka-sensei?"

He didn't get it—what was with this violent beauty?

Not reading wasn't okay, but now reading too much wasn't okay either?

Honestly—he'd never been able to figure out what girls were thinking.

"You… come with me to the staff room!"

As she spoke, Hiratsuka Shizuka dragged Fujino out of the classroom.

At first, Fujino thought he might've said something wrong and that this violent woman was going to give him a beating.

But when she opened the door to the rooftop, Fujino let out a breath of relief.

"So, Hiratsuka-sensei, what did you bring me up to the rooftop for?"

Fujino gave her a dead-fish-eyed look, gazing out at the rooftop scenery as he asked.

"What's going on with you lately?"

Hiratsuka Shizuka turned around and asked him, "I've been hearing from other students that you're struggling quite a bit. Is that why you've been skipping school?"

"Well, about that…"

Fujino scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "It's mainly because of the property tax—1.5 million yen a year. After covering daily expenses, I don't have much left, and my detective commissions aren't exactly stable, so… I've had to put school stuff aside for now."

"I see…"

Hiratsuka Shizuka's eyes dimmed slightly, clearly catching a glimpse of that faint loneliness and sorrow hidden in Fujino's heart.

When his parents passed away, this guy must have been devastated, right?

To think that kind of pressure would fall on a high schooler… that's just…

All in all, he must be living a tough life right now.

Thinking that, Hiratsuka sighed softly, gently patting Fujino's shoulder as she tried to comfort him, "It must be really hard for you, right…?"

Hearing that, Fujino was a bit confused.

Scratching the back of his head again, he replied plainly, "Not really. I've kind of gotten used to it."

At this point, Hiratsuka looked like she wanted to say something but hesitated. "Then… do you want me to sponsor—"

"Hey! Hold it right there!"

Hearing that, Fujino frowned. Something didn't feel right.

Good grief—was she about to sponsor him or something?

But… why did this sponsorship feel a bit off?

No way. As much as Fujino loved money, he wasn't the type to live off others.

Besides, this violent beauty was just a regular high school teacher—how much money could she possibly have?

Just like that, another ordinary day of school life came to an end.

Thanks to a whole day of effort, Fujino's Student Occupation Proficiency reached 100 points.

That was insane. Normally, he only earned 50 points a day by slacking off at school.

Now, in one day, he had earned almost double that!

But before he could celebrate, there was still that 600,000 yen commission he hadn't collected yet.

That woman, Ikezawa Yuko, definitely needed to be taught a lesson.

Otherwise, Fujino himself would feel uncomfortable about it.

Since when does someone hire a detective to investigate someone and then go storming into the target's home themselves?

That's pure distrust toward him!

…

Late at night, at Fujino's home—

"So… after taking my commission, you then accepted a job from Yoko Okino?!"

Ikezawa Yuko sat on the sofa, shouting at Fujino with dissatisfaction, "Seriously, what kind of detective are you?! Accepting a commission from the person you were supposed to be investigating?!"

"You're the one who broke the contract first, aren't you?!"

Fujino furrowed his brows. He wasn't going to play nice with Ikezawa Yuko and shouted right back, "Do you have any idea that if it weren't for me, you would've already been caught in a scandal by now?!"

"What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I mean."

As he spoke, Fujino pulled out an earring from his pocket and asked, "This earring is yours, right? I saw you wearing it when you came to hire me before."

Staring at the earring in Fujino's hand, Ikezawa Yuko froze for a moment.

How could the earring I lost yesterday… be with him…?

Could it be…?

(End of this chapter)