A Millionaire’s Knee

At the academy’s morning assembly, they held: “Let’s all watch the trash get expelled! Tragic! The fate of one who defied the principal and vice principal!”

At the start, it was wrapped in ridicule— but in an instant, it vanished.

Because that fake vice principal started shrieking in his usual bizarre voice.

“Kie! Kie! Kieeeeh! Stop, stop it! Stoooop, pleeeaseーーーーーーーーーー! For this scheme, I sold my newly built house and even went into debt! And if that box gets opened, then even more…! Kieeeeeeeeeーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー!!”

It was a scream from the soul, but there was no way it could reach Leopin far away.

On the other side of the crystal panel, Leopin briskly walked toward the treasure chest as if accepting a meal already set before him.

After carefully checking for traps, he opened it with a “Here goes!”

…Pop…!

Excessive light and over-the-top music flooded the cave.

The chest was designed so that opening it triggered a magical production.

“Vice Principal Yesman’s treasure hunt game ends here, yes indeed! To all of Class 1-11, you are great, yes indeed! Hero-sama, wonderful, yes indeed! All of this treasure is yours, yes indeed! Better yet, my heart is yours as well…! As proof of my loyalty, I shall also rank you up, yes indeed! Other classes are trash, so I’ll toss ’em out, yes indeed! So please keep pampering this Yesman from now on, yes indeeeed!”

Along with the shamelessly fawning voice, five item slips shot out in a flash.

From the stage, a sigh escaped— one that sounded openly disappointed.

“Haa… what the heck… This is useless no matter how much you have…”

Even while disappointed, Leopin shoved the five slips into his coat pocket.

Never wasting anything— that was his way.

On stage, Yesman flew into a rage.

“W-what!? Calling five whole slips ‘this’…!? And to reach the goal instantly with zero hints in the treasure hunt game I devised with all my heart and soul…!? Kieeeeh! What an oblivious piece of trash! Unforgivable! Unforgivable, yes indeeeed!!”

The students’ murmuring would not stop.

“F-five slips at once!?”

“Then how much are that trash’s total assets now!?”

As if spitting out the answer, the Magic Board placed beside the stage clanked as it updated the number in first place.

Leopin had finally crossed the huge milestone of 100,000,000 Ender…!

“K-kieeeeeeeeeーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー!!!!”

Overwhelmed by shock and frustration, Yesman flailed his arms and stomped his feet.

The stunned gazes of the students below the stage were fixed on Leopin, who had set a new record.

But that soon turned into contempt for a certain person.

“But that treasure hunt game was obviously rigged, wasn’t it?”

“Right? They must’ve set it up assuming Class 1-11 would find the treasure!”

“And he was even trying to rank them up!”

“More than that, he called us trash…!”

An event that was supposed to laugh at Leopin’s downfall was slowly changing direction.

After leaving the hidden cave, I searched for a water source again with dowsing.

By then, I was also using the power of my Five Senses, trying not to miss even the faintest sound of water.

And then, something I had longed for brushed my ear.

…Splash!

“…That was the sound of a fish jumping on the water!”

I took off running again like a startled hare.

I sprinted so hard I felt like I would even overtake the tip of the branch pointing the way.

Then, a damp earthen hollow appeared before me.

Stretching long like it cut across the land, it could only be…!

“Finally, finally, finally… there’s a river!”

Just as I was about to leap in, my feet stopped at the cliff’s edge.

It was certainly a riverbed— but there was no water at all.

Only dying fish and a small puddle of mud lay at the bottom.

It was clearly a place that had been a river until very recently.

The “Too bad” sign in a different design than before made me understand.

“The principal and vice principal dammed the river’s source…!”

The masterminds of this incident seemed to have finally stopped even trying to hide their identities.

Life-size signs of Principal Nekodran and Vice Principal Yesman— so vivid you could almost hear them cackling “Bahahahaha!” and “Muhahahaha!”— stood there.

Together they held up a banner-style “Too bad.”

Below the letters, it said this:

“As a special favor, we grant you one last chance! Shout to the sky: ‘Principal, I’m sorry! Vice Principal, I’m sorry! Especially, I’m sorry to the Principal!’”

“Wail: ‘I will return every last coin of prize money and withdraw voluntarily, so please spare my life, Vice Principal-sama!’ yes indeed! Then we might— might— spare you, yes indeed!”

On stage, Nekodran and Yesman, having regained their swagger, bragged again.

“Bahahahaha! That trash is in total despair now! He has finally learned my power! It was worth pouring money into stealing water from around him!”

“Muhahahaha! Now then, it’s finally the climax, yes indeed! Everyone, burn it into your eyes, yes indeed! The sight of that trash wailing and regretting ever defying me!”

The student audience was dissatisfied with Yesman, but they disliked Leopin even more, so they got excited again.

“I see! So that’s what this was! You corner him until he declares withdrawal himself!”

“That’s perfect! First of all, it was weird that trash like him got cocky all this time!”

“Yeah! Being popular with Monaka-sama and Kotone-sama, and having 100 million Ender— no way!”

“If that trash gives up, this academy will finally be normal!”

“With the pond and river blocked, there’s nothing he can do now! Serves him right!”

“Now everyone together, please chant with me, yes indeed! Giiive up! Give up!”

And the “Give up!” chant erupted.

On the other side of the crystal panel, there was the back of a boy hanging his head while gripping the edge of the sign, his shoulders trembling.

Seeing him look as if his spirit had been completely spent, everyone imagined it.

That he would crumple down, throwing away his former glory and all pride, and wail in despair…

At last, the boy moved.

He bent his knees and collapsed weakly…

But just before his knees touched the ground, he suddenly sprang up—

…Crack!

A flying knee strike…!?

He delivered a magnificent blow straight into the principal-and-vice-principal sign, so sharp it looked like something out of an inspector’s execution.

And he didn’t stop at splitting it in half— he kicked it and stomped it into splinters.

Then, as if finishing it off, he took out the Hiroeda Fire-Starting Stand from his coat pocket and set it alight—

…WHOOSH!

Setting the fake principal and fake vice principal on fire…!

“E-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEーーーーーーーーーーーーーー!?”