CH 192

With the lingering summer heat still in the air, I set up a base near the entrance to the wing where the first-year students were located, along with a few others.

A simple desk and the bare minimum of chairs, as well as a tent to protect us from the sun, have been taken out of storage.

The tent was also given to Yuuto’s team, and it looks like it will be able to block some of the heat from the sun.

On the second day of the election, Yuuto was making a speech at the same place as yesterday.

Many students were there again today, but it was not as crowded as yesterday.

However, the majority of the students still stopped at least once to listen to what he had to say, indicating that his influence in the school is not something to scoff at.

The actual activity will start from today, and President, Shizuku, Kirasaka, Shiraishi, as well as Hino-kun and Miura also came today.

“Sorry you two but if you get tired, just take a proper rest, okay?”

The first thing I did was to hand over a bottle of tea I had bought from the vending machine and thanked Miura and Hino-kun for their help.

“Don’t worry, I’m used to it.”

“I’m fine too! If I can be of any help to you, please use me as much as you want!”

Aside from Miura, I cannot help but see some ulterior motive behind Hino-kun’s words.

Perhaps, his brain must be working in the shadows trying to get close to Kaede…

I will never give my little sister to you! Onii-chan will definitely protect her.

As I was making a face like a snarling wolf at Hino-kun, president walked up to me to tell that everything was ready.

“The first-year faculty as well as the students’ votes are likely to be easy to acquire, partly because they don’t usually aren’t in touch with each other, but also because many are concerned about the power balance in the student council, just like how Shinra explained.”

“…Then, it seems that it’s not a bad idea to focus on the first years.”

Picking up the surveys filled in by the rest of the school year from the desk, which will serve as the base for my operations, I let out a sigh of relief.

If everyone, not only the students but also the teachers, were to favor Yuuto, it would be a total defeat.

It was a good direction in terms of motivation to see that another strand of possibility had been linked.

However, the cheerful mood was soon blown away when I looked at the collected surveys.

“The second year was completely dominated by Ogiwara-kun, wasn’t it?”

“I wonder if Shinra-kun had predicted that probability to be a whopping 92%?”

“Am I a fortune teller or what? …nope, I am not.”

I replied to Shizuku and Kirasaka’s words with a wry smile.

In the survey, about 92% of the second-year votes, or 138 votes, went to Yuuto.

Even including the fact that Shizuku, Kirasaka, Koizumi and Miura voted for me, I still only received 10 or so votes.

Most of the people who voted for me were probably from my class.

I expect them to be the few people who had a bit of a reaction to the Sports Festival discussion.

On the contrary, it is precisely because I am in such a dire situation that I am becoming more aware of the situation.

I realize how much of a difference there is between me and him. If I don’t work much harder than I am expecting, I won’t even be able to compete, let alone turn the tables.

Returning to my this side, I turned my gaze to Shiraishi, who was looking at the students at first year entrance a short distance away.

Just as she was also looking at us, our gazes met and she came up to me with a short run.

“It’s about peak time, and I think it’s optimal, since a lot of the students have been stopping because of the seniors gathering.”

“Roger. …Then Shiraishi, please go over to President and Koizumi.”

Shizuku and Kirasaka are inside the tent, and the president and other current student council members are standing outside.

I wonder how many people are at this place where first-year students gather.

I muttered around them, without letting my expressions show that the crowd was making me feel sick.

“How many people do you think there are…?’

“Well…”

Kirasaka stepped out of the tent and looked around for a few seconds from a higher place.

She returned immediately and came up with a number that was more precise than I had anticipated.

“I’d say there were about 45 to 46 people.”

“How can you tell just by looking at them so easily…?”

Is there a built-in scanner in your eyes?

Maybe it can even measure the opponent’s combat power.

But, such questions don’t matter now.

I immediately walked up to where only one first-year student was and turned on the microphone.

Hino-kun is was the one who had been entrusted with a certain task a short distance away under my directions, and when I nodded to signal him, he nodded back similarly.

“Test, test- ah, am I audible?”

After a brief operational check, the slightly muffled sound was amplified and echoed throughout the area.

The attention immediately shifted from Shizuku and the others to me, and after confirming that their attention was fully focused on me, I began to speak.

[I’m Shinra Minato, and I’m running for the position of assistant to the student council president. …I don’t think most of you know me, so it’s nice to meet you all, and if you remember me, perhaps you will recognize me as the senior who was standing next to Shiraishi-san yesterday.]

I gave a brief self-introduction to the students.

From this point on, I have no manuscript prepared, and I will speak impromptu.

I have to pay attention to the students’ facial expressions and actions to make sure they don’t lose interest.

“Before I go any further, …let me tell you that currently the winning percentage of my opponent, Ogiwara is over 90%.”

Even though there is no hard evidence, the students in front of me must have realized this in their hearts.

That the popularity is on a whole another level even to call it a competition.

Therefore, I simply stated the facts without concealing them.

Naturally, there were little astonished reactions, but the fact that I told them the truth did not change much.

All I received was sympathetic, disappointed laughs.

I thought the juniors still had a year’s worth of innocence left in them, but they’re really grown up in this area, aren’t they.

Sincerely, I’m relieved.

[You are free to choose who you vote for, I cannot force you to do anything and I am not going to do it.]

One step, and then another walking toward the nearest student.

I smiled so wickedly that even I felt it was unnatural, and asked the junior, who had frozen with his eyes wide open, what was going on.

“If you were asked who you would vote for, Ogiwara or me, who would you vote for?”

I asked not over the loudspeaker, but with my actual voice.

The students around us could hear me, but those a little further away would not have been able to hear.

“Eh …ah, Ogiwara-senpai?”

I asked the junior who answered modestly and apologetically, continuing further.

“… Can you put the reason into words?”

“…”

This time he could not answer the question.

He looked around, pondered, and still could not put it into words.

“Let’s change the question …which of these two would you choose?”

Saying this, I took out two pieces of paper from inside my pocket.

They were small sheets of paper folded in quarters and slightly different in color.

The boy pointed to the paper I held in my right hand.

“Then, do you have a reason for choosing this paper on the right?”

“That’s because …I felt the one on the left was a little dirtier.”

This time he clearly told me the reason.

I thanked him shortly, apologized for asking such an abrupt question, and returned to the spot from which I had come.

Then I resumed talking over the loudspeaker again.

The student who had not heard the conversation between me and the junior looked at me curiously.

[I asked him, on behalf of all of you, which piece of paper would he choose. …Just to be sure, did you guys next to him also choose this piece of paper?]

I picked it up with my fingers and raised the appropriate one.

The two girls nearby nodded as I showed it to them.

After confirming this, I opened the paper folded in four.

The one that was chosen had the number 0 written on it, while the paper that was said to be soiled, which wasn’t chosen, had the number 1 written in large letters.

[Was this paper chosen because of how clean or dirty it was? Yes, that was the only reason …If you ask me if this paper has to do something with the election, it doesn’t.]

I put the paper away in my uniform and turned my gaze forward again.

The kind of attention directed at me seems to have changed since a few minutes ago.

From a mere scoff to slight interest.

[I know that the first criterion for choosing both people and things is the outer appearance, but it is wrong in the elections, it is the content that should be considered more important than anything else.]

It’s wrong to just look at the appearance and make the decision and it shouldn’t be your first choice.

Without even trying to find out what’s inside, based on just superficial information, we make decisions based on a mix of our mood and the circumstances.

It is an everyday occurrence in student elections that no matter how excellent the inside was, they lost because they were inferior in terms of external factors.

That is why I said before that student elections are popularity contests.

However, I should not say in words here that I am internally superior to Yuuto.

It would be a lie and could result in animosity.

“What I’m trying to tell you today is that you should not only take the outer information into account but also the one on the inside, and think before you choose …because, to be honest, if you ask me, I think the best equality is for everyone to listen to the speech with blindfolds on and point and vote.”

Then you can’t be influenced by appearance.

I don’t want you to think that you should judge me by my voice, though.

At this point, I finally took a breath and looked at Hino-kun.

The other side nodded, and after confirming that a certain equipment was turned off, I put the microphone on the desk.

“Well, …that’s it for today, and if you have any questions or requests for the student council, please speak to these guys in the back.”

I finished my speech in a short time, about five minutes in duration.

The students, who had imagined a longer speech, looked at each other in confusion.

I pointed in the direction where Shizuku and Kirasaka were sitting.

Shizuku waved her hand at the boys, and Kirasaka just glanced at them with cold eyes as usual.

The fact that Akane Hiiragi, the president herself, was also present at the event quickly shifted the students’ attention to that side.

“Was that all you really wanted to say?”

“…It’s likely to have more of a negative impact if I speak longer than I should from the get go.”

I don’t want to give the impression that I’m a bothersome senpai with a bad sense of humor.

As I was taking a break, drinking the water I had received from Shiraishi, who rushed over to me, Koizumi and Hino-kun and the others gathered around me.

“I was a little surprised. Is Shinra-kun good at literary arts?”

“…”

Koizumi asked me, surprised, perhaps because of the content of our conversation.

However, I shook my head at the question.

“I’m not good at it. …I just wanted to give the impression that I was a smart senpai to them.”

I am aware that it wasn’t so accurate because although I told them not to make decisions based on just much external information, I pretended to be smart with my words.

I have to do this or I don’t have any chance.

“Also, for that matter…”

President muttered and let out a sigh.

Then she suddenly put her hand in the pocket of my uniform and pulled out the paper I had just used.

“Don’t use dangerous methods, you …what were you going to do if they chose this dirty piece of paper instead?”

“…No, I’m just glad they chose that one.”

I answered earnestly, without any other intentions.

Even if they had chosen the other one, I would have used similar words to push it off, but I must thank my juniors for choosing the clean paper for the conversation to make sense.

As I replied back drinking, presidents chuckled and let out a breath, half in dismay and half in amusement.

In the midst of this, when I turned to Shizuku and the others, who mainly by the boys were inquired why they weren’t on the Ogiwara team.

“Why not Ogiwara-kun? …Yes, because there is no reason to choose Ogiwara-kun.”

“Rather, I imagine for what reason you would choose him.”

“…”

Really, those girls are so honest about their feelings, aren’t they?

If Yuuto heard this, he would be completely in tears.

The girls did not seem to be surprised to see the stunned looks on the faces of the students around them, and answered the questions nonchalantly.

Let’s leave that to them.

I turned my gaze from them to the opposite direction.

There, Hino was checking the video I asked to shoot with a camera that looked like a black lump.

“…Can President edit videos and upload them to the site?”

“Yes, I can if I use the computer in my room, I should be able to.”

Koizumi and Miura must have guessed what I was talking about, because they opened their mouths and said nothing.

As part of the election rules, it is forbidden to advertise using money, and of course it is also forbidden to use outside sources.

Then, if we use our own resources to promote ourselves for free, we shouldn’t be breaking any rules.

After opening the app of a major video site on my smartphone, I showed it to them, I continued.

“Shiraishi also said that individuality is important …If so, let’s go digital and use the advertising method that suits the times.”

We aren’t using any money, no contractors were hired, then we can advertise with it.

Now that there is a function called private release, you can set it so that only people who know a specific URL can see it.

If I publish it there, I might be able to get many people to see it in the short term.

While it is important to take the conventional route, it is also important to be unpredictable.

Shiraishi looked at me with a shocked expression and then gave me a cold stare.

Perhaps she is trying to say why didn’t I share the idea with her as well?

Let’s face it, I came up with the idea yesterday.

I can’t predict what to expect from this idea, but this is how I ended my second day’s activities.