CH 34

School Underdog

Translated by Dawn

“It’s not right to flock together just for money. Ikuo-kun is in trouble because of it..”

The appearance of the school’s idol and the top of the school caste made the beasts a little frightened.

“U-Uchimine-san…”

“I don’t care. It’s 600 million yen, 600 million yen. Even if you distribute 10 million yen to all of us, there will still be more than 300 million yen left over.”

“Yeah, yeah. If I had 600 million chocolates, I would tell all my friends they could have as many as they wanted.”

“You can’t have it all to yourself.”

–What kind of analogy is that? …… Is your head okay?

“I don’t think that’s something for the recipient to say, is it? Besides, Ikuo earned the money with his own power, so what’s so unfair about it?”

“”“Ughh”””

The girl ABC was silenced.

“Noblesse oblige. The rich are obligated to provide for the common people!”

“That’s what progressive taxation embodies, isn’t it? Everyone who earns in the hundreds of millions has more than half of their income taken away in taxes. Even though it’s money they earned through their own resourcefulness.”

“Huh?”

“There’s the annual property tax that you pay just for owning land and buildings, the inheritance tax on large estates, the gift tax on expensive gifts, and so on.”

“We are paying taxes, too.”

One of the boys puffed out his chest in a proud manner.

“At most, everyone pays 1,000 yen a month or so in consumption tax, right? That’s not enough to run a country. It’s said that since you are rich, you should treat everyone, but everyone is currently being fed by high-income earners. Have you heard of the free-rider problem?”

“Free rider, what’s that?”

“I’m talking about people who receive more public services than they pay in taxes. Japan is a great place to live. You can drink clean water just by turning on the tap, firemen and policemen are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and if you have a problem, you can call the Self-Defense Forces anytime you need help. The Self-Defense Forces will protect us if we are attacked by a foreign nation or caught in a disaster. Do you think that such a complete service can be provided for 1,000 yen a month?”

“Guhh.”

Male A was silenced.

“I never called the police or fire department!”

“That’s just because you didn’t use them. It is important to have an environment where you can use it anytime you want. It is the same as joining a gym and not paying the monthly fee because you didn’t go this month.”

“Aggh.”

Girl D was silenced.

“You’re a very insensitive woman. Isn’t it normal to treat your friends?”

“Ikuo-kun, are these people your friends?”

“No. No one even knows my contact information.”

“You’re kidding me. We’re in the same class!”

“Classes are groups assigned by the school, right? Do you think friends are something given to you by the school? I don’t think it’s good to only put on a friend’s face when it’s more convenient like you do.”

“Nugh.”

Boy B was silenced.

“Haah. I don’t know, doesn’t she look like she really just wants to be a hawk herself?” (+)

“You could say that. You’ve been strangely supporting Okui since a while ago, and you just want to use us as a springboard to get close to Okui, don’t you? I guess Uchimine is surprisingly cowardly.”

“No, I don’t. Because I have a special supernatural power allowance of 2 billion yen.”

All the boys and girls were silenced.

They all peeled their eyes and held their breath.

“But I can’t afford to treat everyone either. I donated 1.8 billion yen to the government’s research institute for intractable diseases, excluding the 200 million yen that it would cost me to live to the average life expectancy. Just now.”

Miine turned the MR screen over to visible mode for everyone to see.

There it showed.

[Thank you for your donation. All government agencies 1.800.000.000 yen]

, an electronic thank-you letter with a message was displayed.

So again, everyone was shocked, looking like they were about to stop not just their breath, but their hearts as well.

I, too, took my hat off to her.

I almost went beyond respect to worship the good-naturedness of the people who donated 1.8 billion yen on the spot, no matter how much money they had in their pockets.

“Besides, Ikuo-kun is in love with Kiriha and they’re on the verge of getting married on their 18th birthday. There’s no point in aiming for him.”

As if to warn the others, Miine intensified her tone of voice.

The girls lost their will to fight as they looked at Kiriha’s flaxen hair, honey-colored eyes, cherry-red lips, and melon-sized breasts as she stood beside me with Miine on her side.

Each of my classmates scattered, each with a different, yet clutching look on their faces.

“Thank you, Miine.”

“Me, too, thanks for saving Honey.”

“It’s no big deal. It was just a fair argument. I’ll see you at lunch.”

“Okay.”

“Yeah.”

With humility, Miine coolly turned away and walked away.

–I was surprised, though. I never thought Miine would say something like that.

That one earlier would have earned everyone’s hate, in no small part.

Instead of just settling the situation, she did something that would have gotten them over the edge, and she stuck her neck out for herself.

–No, I haven’t known her for a month yet, and we were originally in neighboring classes, so it’s not like we’ve known each other that long before.

Maybe she was always like that.

So convinced, I stepped to my seat with Kiriha.

Naturally, Bando, sitting just behind me, came into my field of vision.

Bando sniffed grimly and went to the trouble of setting the virtual screen of his device to the MR screen for everyone to see, hiding his face.

This guy’s presence seemed so small that I didn’t feel anything.