Chapter 7: The Maid is Moved by Her Master

The first semester midterm exams for first-year high schoolers──they arrived in a flash, ended in a flash, and the results were posted just as quickly.

Students crowded around the ranking sheet in the hallway, and I found myself among them, staring at the posted names.

“Oh?”

“What’s with the ‘oh,’ Sayaka?”

I couldn’t help but glare at Sayaka standing beside me.

“Well, it’s just a bit unexpected.”

“Is that so.”

Sayaka’s gaze wasn’t fixed on her own name, but on the name of the master she served. Her expression remained as cool and composed as always, making her emotions impossible to read.

“Just 20th place… Not nearly good enough.”

“That’s right.”

“You could at least throw in some words of consolation, couldn’t you?”

Going from 100th to 20th was a massive rank-up—way better than expected. Hell, it was even worth some praise.

However──

“No need for consolation. I talked big but ended up with results below my goal, didn’t I?”

“That’s right.”

“Should I teach you that the Japanese language has more phrases than just ‘that’s right’?”

“I’m quite knowledgeable in Japanese. Since I’m sharp-minded and all.”

“…Yeah, as expected from the one in first place.”

Hisaka Sayaka’s name was naturally written right under “1st place.”

And by the way, second place belonged to──

“Hoooh, wasn’t there some guy making a fuss the other day about getting into the top 10?”

“…Congratulations on second place, Fujikawa.”

“Ugh, creepy. What, praising me all of a sudden?”

The one who appeared behind me was Fujikawa—pointlessly handsome, at least on the surface.

“Not even in the teens—that’s your typical half-assed effort right there. Haha, one point difference from 19th, huh?”

“If it’s not top 10, then 19th or 20th is all the same.”

“Ooh? Pretty humble of ya, ain’tcha, Kiyomiya? Well, for you, it’s a good effort.”

“……”

This Fujikawa Koutarou had been annoyingly harassing me since elementary school. The only reason it never escalated to full-on bullying was probably just caution in case it became public knowledge.

──Or so I thought, but apparently Fujikawa had been overestimating me quite a bit.

He seemed to believe that Kiyomiya Keiji was just pretending to be a slacker, acting like scum as some kind of façade.

It was half right—but the fact that I genuinely was scum? That was true too.

“At this rate, next time you’ll make top 10… Man, I’m seriously looking forward to it.”

“Fujikawa, you…”

By the time I tried to retort, Fujikawa had already walked down the hallway with a grin plastered on his face.

Somehow, making it to 20th had raised Fujikawa’s opinion of me. That guy’s a pervert after all… Being expected by him is scary in its own way.

“This might make Fujikawa stick to you even more, don’t you think?”

“Don’t say it outright. It makes me want to quit this whole escaping-scumhood thing.”

I’d finally gotten motivated, but I couldn’t have my resolve broken by some pervert bastard.

“For now, let’s forget about Fujikawa.”

“No, you can’t forget. Even if he’s like that, Fujikawa apparently has second place as his reserved seat. You need to surpass Fujikawa, and then surpass me too—or it’ll be a problem.”

“So I have to surpass you after all, Sayaka…”

In reality, even 20th place was sufficient success as a step toward escaping scumhood.

But Sayaka didn’t seem satisfied with just that.

Whether Sayaka acknowledged it or not—wasn’t that the real criterion for escaping scumhood?

“For now, let’s take a pic. Keiji at 20th might be the first and last time.”

“…Don’t startle me like that.”

This time, Maki suddenly appeared beside me, holding up her smartphone and snapping photos of the ranking sheet.

“How was your ranking, Maki?”

“Asking a girl about her test ranking is so insensitive, y’know.”

“Gender has nothing to do with it!”

“That should be enough photos. I’ll spread this along with the video of your top 10 declaration from before.”

“Wait, you were recording back then?”

Maki had indeed been nearby, but she hadn’t seemed to be holding her phone. Did she have a hidden camera in her uniform or something?

“Ah, actually I bought an action cam too. See, Sogano is a prestigious family after all, so I can afford an expensive camera.”

“I’m not asking about Sogano’s financial power.”

Many students at Sōshūkan Academy were wealthy, but you rarely saw anyone flaunting luxury items. Probably because rich parents taught proper money management from childhood and didn’t let them buy unnecessary luxuries.

Maki, though—she seemed like the type to buy whatever she wanted without much thought.

“Look at this. Easier to carry than a smartphone, longer battery life, better quality too. If I chase Keiji and Sa-chan around with this, I could get some sellable footage.”

“Don’t try to make money off your friends.”

“Aw, c’mon, don’t sweat the small stuff.”

Maki pointed the action camera she’d pulled from her pocket right at me.

“Now then, Kiyomiya Keiji-kun. In the previous proficiency test, you were just barely at 100th place, but this time you’ve achieved a massive rank-up to 20th. What are your current feelings?”

“This time, regrettably, I declared I’d make top 10 but ended up with the disappointing result of 20th place. However, in July’s final exams, I will definitely make top 10.”

“Oooh, he declared it! Cool… maybe!”

“Maybe” what.

I wasn’t exactly thrilled about going along with Maki’s antics, but making a declaration here wasn’t necessarily bad.

An information broker didn’t just gather information—they had means to spread it too.

No matter what my true identity turned out to be──escaping scumhood couldn’t hurt.

“But just getting excellent grades on tests lacks flair. I’ll prove myself worthy of carrying the name of Taiga’s prestigious Kiyomiya family.”

“Oooh! Totally vague, but you’re declaring something grand there, Keiji.”

“……”

I abruptly turned toward the window.

Did I say too much…? It’s vague, but was that a bigger boast than top 10?

“……”

“Hm?”

What’s this… I feel like I’m hearing some strange sound…?

“Huh, Sa-chan? What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing…”

Sayaka removed the black-rimmed glasses she always wore at school and wiped at her eyes──

“Sniff… sniff…”

“Eh? Sayaka?”

Wait, she’s wiping away tears!?

“H-hey, Sayaka, what’s wrong?”

“…It’s because… Keiji-kun, who was such scum, such a hopeless kid, is now working hard at studying and even declared he’ll rise in noble society… Even though you were such scum, so hopeless…”

“Did you need to repeat it twice?”

Pretending to praise me while actually dissing me?

“Ah, Hisaka-san’s crying again.”

“She was crying before too—or rather, Kiyomiya made her cry.”

“After all, he’s scum, that Kiyomiya-kun… Even if his grades improved, scum is scum.”

“……”

The surrounding students began whispering among themselves.

My grades went up, but my stock is crashing hard.

Before, Sayaka had cried in front of me too—in the classroom at that. This was the second time.

They definitely thought I’d done something wrong.

In terms of my evaluation from those around me, escaping scumhood had definitely become more distant…