"So, Ginko, what brings you here on a Friday morning?"
Hearing this, Ginko closed her folding fan, revealing her flawless face.
"I thought you'd believe today was Saturday."
"I trust my own eyes more."
After hesitating for a moment, Ginko looked at Hakuto. A long silence followed before she finally spoke.
"Can you... take the day off today...?"
"I can, but..."
Hakuto thought about it and figured that Nao would probably approve his leave request.
However, since he had already taken half a day off recently, asking again now felt a bit awkward.
If this were Toyosaki, he wouldn't even have to worry about it. Hiratsuka would be more than happy if he took more time off and stayed out of trouble.
Hakuto didn't even bother asking Ginko why she wanted him to take a day off. After all, she was an old client—working overtime wasn't a problem.
What was this situation? Ginko paid him for overtime, while Nao still paid his salary as usual.
A free ride! A complete free ride!
I, Shiratori Hakuto, hate two kinds of people the most! One kind is freeloaders! The other kind is those who won't let me freeload!
"Alright, I'll call to take the day off."
"Hm? Hakuto, aren't you curious why I'm asking you to take a day off?"
Hakuto casually waved his hand, shook his phone at Ginko, then put a finger to his lips in a "shh" gesture.
"Shh~"
Seeing this, Ginko didn't say anything more and simply stepped closer to Hakuto.
"Hello, President..."
Before Hakuto could even mention his leave request, Nao's voice came through the phone.
"We've got intel from the Supporter. Are you at school right now? If so, come to the student council office."
Hakuto froze mid-call. The words he was about to say got stuck in his throat, unsure of how to respond.
On the other end, Nao, noticing his long silence, instinctively checked her phone screen to make sure the call hadn't dropped. Then, she continued,
"Hm? Why so quiet? Bad signal?"
"N-No..."
Hakuto had no idea how to bring up his leave request now.
"It's just... I have something to do today..."
"Hm? You want to take the day off?"
"Yes."
"..."
"..."
Wait... how did I manage to make this expression over a phone call?! Reflexes? And why am I blushing like a teapot?!
"Fine."
"Hm? No mission for me?"
Hakuto was surprised by how easily Nao agreed. The last time he requested half a day off, she had assigned him a morally challenging task in return.
Now, she just agreed without a fuss? It felt... unsettling.
"This time, the ability user isn't difficult to deal with. Takajo, Nishimori, and I can handle it."
Nishimori Yusa—a teenage idol with abilities for summoning spirits and pyrokinesis. Hakuto and Nao had found her just a few days ago.
However, her spirit summoning ability was passive and highly restrictive. She could only summon her sister, Kurobane Misa, and the summoning was entirely at Misa's discretion.
As for pyrokinesis, technically, it wasn't even Yusa's ability—it was Misa's.
Because of how unique her abilities were, Nao had recruited Yusa into the student council.
"Did Otosaka Yuu take the day off too?"
"He's not in the student council."
"Are you joking?"
Seriously? A power-stealing ability user not joining the student council to work? What's he planning to do, live a normal school life?
And if he doesn't join, who's going to save the world in the future? Me?!
Hakuto had assumed that during the Yusa incident, Yuu had just stayed back with Takajou to cover the rear.
But now it seems...
Hakuto glanced at Ginko beside him, then lowered his voice.
"You're just letting an ability-stealer run loose? Was this your decision?"
"It's not just me..."
Hakuto sighed. So that meant Otosaka Yuu's brother had also agreed to keep him out of the student council.
What the hell?
Sure, Hakuto believed he was strong, but when it came to saving the world, that was definitely Otosaka Yuu's job as the protagonist.
Hakuto had no interest in dealing with such a hassle...
Wait, he was making a wrong assumption—saving the world and joining the student council weren't necessarily connected.
Then it's fine. As long as saving the world isn't his responsibility, everything is good.
Just as Hakuto was letting go of his concerns, Nao continued speaking.
"I don't know why you care so much about Otosaka Yuu not joining the student council..."
"But from what I've heard, your abilities and his might conflict."
"Also, there seems to be some tension between you two, which is why he didn't join."
Hakuto raised an eyebrow.
Conflict? Tension? What? Am I the villain now?
If they really had issues, Otosaka Yuu might cause problems for Hakuto later—like using his power to take Hakuto's ability when he wasn't paying attention.
Hakuto could guard against it once, but he couldn't do that forever.
If something went wrong, he'd just turn into an exceptionally skilled normal person.
"Conflict? What kind of conflict? If he steals my ability, will he just turn into an idiot or something...?"
"Maybe."
The moment she said that, Nao hung up, leaving Hakuto alone in confusion.
Wait! I'm in the middle of grilling—no, thinking!
Conflict? Where's the conflict? Is there an issue between super calculation and ability plundering?
The only point of conflict would be if Otosaka Yuu tried to steal Hakuto's ability.
But even if he did, Hakuto would be the only one suffering from it.
Sure, Hakuto was important, but what mattered more was the ability itself—not the person using it.
Even if Hakuto lost his ability, it wouldn't vanish; it would just transfer to Otosaka Yuu.
Thinking it through like this, there was no reason for Otosaka Yuu to refuse joining the student council.
Or rather, no reason for him to avoid it because of Hakuto.
"...Unless stealing my ability really does turn him into an idiot... Oh."
At that moment, everything clicked in Hakuto's mind.
Because he was a transmigrator, his mental strength was several times higher than that of an ordinary person.
This was evident from his learning ability—he could rely purely on computational power to challenge a 7-dan professional Go player.
If the super calculation ability had severe side effects, and Otosaka Yuu didn't have the capacity to handle them...
Then that would be the point of conflict.
In other words, super calculation was only effective in Hakuto's hands—anyone else who used it would fry their brain.
And saving the world had no direct connection to the student council...
With that realization, Hakuto stopped worrying.
As long as his own interests weren't affected, the rest could all go to hell.
___
Read 20 Advanced Chapters on p@ tr eon (.) com/HalflingFics
Also, please point out my mistakes in the comment, thank you!
Don't forget to leave a review too~
Check out the other translations too
___