The next day after Ishigami encountered six of the seven mysteries.
After the meeting with the clubs, Shirogane returned to the Student Council room and found Kaguya inspecting the red ruby, as the setting sun illuminated her.
Kaguya didn’t seem to notice he had entered the room, so Shirogane became intrigued by the object holding Shinomiya ‘s attention. He looked over Kaguya’s shoulder and peeked at the gem.
The evenly cut ruby emit a strange light, and felt a little strange.
Maybe this was the power of the gem. However, Shirogane still didn’t understand why Kaguya was so fascinated by this ruby.
「What caught your interest?」
Kaguya didn’t react, so Shirogane couldn’t help asking.
Kaguya’s shoulder shook a little, then she slowly turn and looked Shirogane in the eye.
Kaguya in the setting sun had a mysterious air about her, just like the ruby. She had a faint presence, just like an overexposed photo.
「This seems to be… the Wish Fulfilling Ring.」
「That can’t be, it’s just a ring.」
「Fufu, that’s true. I don’t believe in that legend either.」
The sixth of the seven mysteries——【Wish Fulfilling Ring】.
No one knew how it started, a mystery only known for its name and effect.
However, stories that grant wishes would never have a happy ending.
There was no free lunch in this world. Believing in the sweet temptation of the devil will always end in tragedy. Those who wish for beauty will be covered in warts, asking for wealth will leave them penniless, as the wishes comes at a price. That was how it usually end.
The worst would be losing their lives.
However, this was just a ring. Just a ring sent by the man stalking Kaguya. A simple ring.
Shirogane inspected the ring again. It was large, and the ruby on it was probably 5 carats. The price should be 100,000 yen for the low end, and a million for high end.
Was that person really that rich… Shirogane broke out in sweat as he thought about the difference in class between himself and that person.
「That looks like an expensive gem.」
「It isn’t real.」
Kaguya said quietly.
「This is just a fake made by smelting aluminum and chromium together.」
「A man made gem.」
「That’s right.」
「So he gifted you a fake, looks like Mr X is a miser, haha.」
Shirogane smiled in relief.
「Even so, compared to natural gems, man made gems are flawless with better workmanship.」
The origins of man made gems started in the 1900s, by the French Scientist Auguste Victor Louis Verneuil. With the flame fusion technique invented by Verneuil as the foundation, other methods such as hydrothermal synthesis and High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT), the development of gem synthesis grew quickly.
「This gem is the result of humanity’s obsession with beauty. How incredible.」
「In any case, Shinomiya, you should return this ruby. You seems a little…」
Shinomiya was staring at the ruby, and Shirogane felt a strange sense of danger from her eyes. Shirogane felt uncomfortable about Shinomiya being so entranced by a ruby gifted to her by some weed-like boy. Even if he put his personal reason aside, he couldn’t leave this situation be.
「… You are right, I should return it. I know where he is, so I will give it back by the end of the day.」
「I will go with you.」
The other party was the one who sent dangerous mail to Shinomiya, so Shirogane didn’t feel it was safe for Shinomiya to meet him alone.
「Right now, I’m suppose to be in a relationship with Ishigami-kun. If the President comes with me, it will complicate the matter, and I won’t be able to return the ruby.」
「That’s true…」
「If something happens, I will contact you immediately, President. It’s just within campus, so you don’t have to worry.」
Kaguya returning the ruby meant she was turning down the confession.
Tagging along would be something her boyfriend would do. From the perspective from the other party, it would feel like he was being mocked, and wouldn’t feel good.
Kaguya placed the ruby ring inside its box, then said with a smile.
「I’m off then. I will return promptly.」
—— However, Kaguya didn’t return to the Student Council room that day.
Shirogane waited for an hour, and the time for his part time job drew closer.
He searched one round through the school, but found no signs of Kaguya. Shirogane regretted not asking Kaguya where she was going.
Maybe she meant she will go home straight when she said ‘I will return promptly’. She didn’t mean she would return to the Student Council room.
In the end, as Shirogane was troubling over sending Kaguya a mail, he rushed to his part time job.
♂♂♂
The next day, in the passageway leading to the Student Council room, Shirogane and Ishigami ran into each other.
「Yo Ishigami, how are things? Anything strange happened after that?」
「Nothing yet… But I didn’t sleep well at all. The thought of me sleepwalking and jumping off the roof made me uneasy.」
「Is that so…」
「Also… After encountering the seven mysteries, I always have this strange dream.」
Shirogane asked:
「Strange dream?」
「… I don’t think I should share this though.」
Ishigami lowered his voice.
「I dreamed about Shinomiya-sempai dying.」
—— And said it anyway.
「Don’t tell her that, it would be awful if you make her worry. Well then, I still have Cheer Squad practice, so I’m going off first.」
「Yes, work hard.」
Shirogane and Ishigami finished their chat, but Ishigami didn’t change too much at all.
In Shirogane’s mind, after Ishigami encountered six of the seven mysteries, he would get possessed by something, then jump down from the roof… But it seems that worry was unfounded.
Or rather, Kaguya was the one who acted strangely.
Ever since she received that ring, Kaguya would open that ring box repeatedly, and stare at that crimson red ruby.
She said she would return the ring, but Shirogane never saw Kaguya after that.
Shirogane felt a strange sense of unease spread in his chest.
「Erm, President? What’s wrong?」
When Shirogane entered the Student Council room, Fujiwara welcomed him with a curious face.
「Was the ring returned?」
「About that...」
Shirogane put his school bag on the table, where the ring box used to be.
After putting down his bag, Shirogane fell silent.
Shirogane didn’t look like he was talking no matter how long she waited, so Fujiwara asked:
「Erm… President, did Kaguya-san accept the ring?」
「Where is Shinomiya right now?」
「Hmm? Kaguya-san huh, I just saw her at the corridor. I’m not sure about now though.」
「I see.」
Out of concern for Kaguya, Shirogane sent a mail to her since she didn’t return to the Student Council room. But he didn’t receive any reply.
He also went to Kaguya’s classroom to take a look, but she wasn’t feeling well and stayed in the nurse’s office since morning.
Shirogane was relieved that she came to school properly, but when he visited the nurse’s office, he didn’t find Kaguya.
He probably just missed her, she might be out for lunch.
In the end, Shirogane didn’t saw Kaguya for the entire day.
「President, what happened to the ring?」
The impatient Fujiwara asked a little strongly.
Shirogane still kept quiet for a while, then said with a sigh:
「Shinomiya went to return it.」
When she heard that, Fujiwara’s face relaxed.
「Really now, don’t make me nervous. If she didn’t return the ring right away, I will worry that Kaguya-san was moved by that gesture!」
「Maybe that is true.」
In response to Shirogane’s words, Fujiwara went 「Ehh?」
「I wonder if everyone else had the same inkling about why Shinomiya was acting so strange. The way she kept looking at the ruby and talking vaguely was like…」
「Like a maiden in love?」
「Ughh… Yes, that will be the worst case scenario.」
Shirogane didn’t turn to Fujiwara, and looked to the field where Ishigami was at.
「I don’t want to believe in paranormal phenomenons.」
Ishigami’s dream of Shinomiya’s death, the seventh of the seven mysteries, and Mr X.
There must be a clue that links all these ominous events together. Shirogane was sure of it.
「Let’s wait for Shinomiya to come before discussing the specifics. She still isn’t here yet.」
—— Ping pong pang pong.
A stupid sounding chime rang out loud.
Followed by a voice:
『To the esteemed students of Shuchin Academy.』
With that opening line, the campus broadcast started.
♀♀♀
『To the esteemed students of Shuchin Academy. Please lend me a bit of your time. Those who aren’t interested are free to ignore this.』
The broadcast coincide with the club activities of the students.
The students not in any clubs were also mobilized because of the sports festival, so there were more students on campus than usual.
『A ring is hidden somewhere in this school ground. Please try finding it.』
A slight pause.
『The one who finds this ring shall be granted one wish. Unfortunately, I can’t grant you whatever you want. Only if your wish is within my abilities. That’s right, I can grant you any wish within my abilities. I swear on the name of the Shinomiya house.』
『So please find the ring.』
And with that, the broadcast ended.
♂♂♂
「What was that about? Was that really Shinomiya ‘s voice?」
Shirogane muttered as he looked up at the Public Announcement Speakers.
「I don’t know, the sound quality isn’t good, and there’s lots of static. But that is definitely Kaguya-san’s voice. President, instead of that, the ring she mentioned…」
「Oh… that’s right.」
The ring was definitely referring to the one that caused a stir in the Student Council yesterday.
「In the end, did she return it successfully to the one who mailed the letters?」
「Shinomiya said she will return it, but I haven’t gotten in contact with her since then…」
He was too careless. Shirogane felt that he should have ignored Shinomiya’s opinion and followed her anyway.
Back then, Shinomiya was obviously not acting normal… Shirogane regretted his carelessness at that last moment.
「As expected… she’s referring to the 【Wish Fulfilling Ring】.」
「… Anyway, let’s go to the broadcast room!」
With that Shirogane dashed out of the Student Council room.
♂♂♂
The campus broadcast delivered the news to everyone on the school grounds, performing the function of its namesake.
Students who were chatting in the classroom started discussing the content of the broadcast.
「Ehh, what was that broadcast all about?」
「Wasn’t that the Vice President? She will grant my wish if I give her the ring? Is that true!?」
The studious environment of Shuchin was litted ablaze with this unusual topic.
At the beginning, everyone felt dubious about this strange broadcast.
However, it quickly spread through the school’s unofficial sites and channels such as SNS.
『If I give the ring to the Vice President, will she marry me?』
『That is definitely impossible.』
『Speaking of which, didn’t President Shirogane called out Vice President alone before the election? What happened after that?』
『It seems he didn’t give her the ring.』
『One of the seven mysteries is the 【Wish Fulfilling Ring】, correct? Is it related?』
『I want to marry the Vice President.』
『Marrying a Shinomiya is impossible. But it might be possible if it is just dating one.』
『So the condition is to give her the ring, let’s hurry on then!』
『Legend says that a jewel from the neck of a dragon is embedded on that ring. The condition of dating Kaguya-sama is to bring that to her.』
Such irresponsible rumours kept spreading.
No woman in the world would marry you just because you presented a ring to her.
Everyone knew that.
However, the fact was, someone of Kaguya Shinomiya’s standing announced that 「The one who finds this ring shall be granted one wish」.
On top of that, someone added extra things:
『Ehh? So if I find that ring, I can date Kaguya-sama!?』
The focus ended onto something weird.
——Vroom’s Expectancy Theory
Motivation \= Valence x Expectancy. The psychological scholar created this formula to calculate what motivates people to take certain actions.
If you find the ring and give it to Kaguya, you get to date her.
The expectancy is low, but not zero. On the other hand, the valence of dating Kaguya Shinomiya was very high.
And right now, the sports festival was going to be held soon, so the students of Shuchin were filled with competitive spirit. Many of them were training in groups for the upcoming sports festival, and the ambition in their young body was reaching their breaking point.
This wasn’t just a search for a missing item.
But a race to find the ring before anybody else.
Spurred by this thought, and heightened by the curiosity and lewd fantasies unique to students, everyone was hyped up and ready to go at any cue.
The actions of the subjects involved would also caused a decisive change to the situation.
『Hey, look, the Student Council seemed to be panicking too, so it’s true!?』
『Even President Shirogane is going.』
『I’m going too! Kaguya-sama will be fine with a girl too!』
These comments turned into the sound of a starting pistol, and the students started running.
♀♀♀
As she often visit the Student Council room, Kashiwagi was used to being asked questions about them.
「I heard that I can date Kaguya-sama if I find the ring. Is that true!?」
「That’s just nonsense, it’s not true.」
Faced with the negative answer given by the smiling Kashiwagi, the friend who asked her looked unhappy.
Kashiwagi then explained to her friend, as if she was speaking to a child:
「There must be some reason behind this. Like the Student Council is planning some activity… Isn’t there some social experiments like this? Broadcasting fake news through the school’s PA system, and observing how many students are tricked by the Student Council?」
「I see—— that makes sense. Of course… Haha.」
The friend smiled cheerfully, then asked:
「By the way, do you think Koyasu sempai from the Cheer team is dating the captain?」, and they moved on to another topic.
That was the end of that—— Kashiwagi thought.
But after that, other students came to the classroom to ask Kashiwagi the same thing.
W-What’s going on here——?
To Kashiwagi, getting to date Kaguya just because you found a ring was obviously a retarded rumor.
But no matter how much she refuted this, there were still many students who believed otherwise.
The entire Shuchin seemed to be dragged into a tsunami of rumours, pushing them to unexpected places. This worried Kashiwagi.
♀♀♀
The rumours even spread to the Red Cheer Team practicing in a corner of the school field.
「Hey, I received an incredible message from LINE! It says that if you find the ring hidden somewhere on campus, you can get to date Kaguya-sama. Are you serious!?」
「Captain, can we call it a day!?」
The male members were incredibly excited.
Tsubame Koyasu slapped the back of a male member with a smile:
「Hey boys, leaving the fact that the Vice President don’t like any of you aside, she is from the White team. Instead of deluding about dating the princess of the White Team, isn’t there something more important for you to do?」
「Dope AF——」
Tsubame clapped her hands, and the rowdy boys went back to practice docilely. The boy who got slapped on the back by Tsubame got teased by the people around him, but he laughed it off frivolously.
The members of the Cheer Team were high schoolers in puberty after all. When they heard the rumour about Kaguya Shinomiya, it was in their nature to be curious and go with the flow.
Even so, they still went back to practice on the urging of Tsubame.
Seeing her teammates formed up again to resume practice, Tsubame felt proud to be part of this team.
「Erm… Captain, I’m sorry but something urgent came up at the Student Council, and I have to go there.」
However, one of the boys left the circle and said that.
Yu Ishigami—— in a sense, he was a member of the red Cheer team more famous than the vice captain Tsubame.
「Hmm? Oh I see, it can’t be helped then. You may go.」
After hearing the Captain say that, Ishigami nodded in thanks and ran off.
「—— Hey Captain.」
「I know.」
The Captain smiled when Tsubame said that.
He cleared his throat, then announced to all members of the Cheer Team:
「Everyone, let’s stop the practice after all! The Red Cheer Team will participate in the search for the ring too. However, I forbid anyone who finds the ring to date the Vice President! Because it will make me envious!」
The atmosphere erupted because of the Captain’s joke.
「So anyone who finds the ring has to hand it to the Student Council member Ishigami, got it?」
「Dope AF——」
Tsubame and the cheer team raised their arms, and looked in the direction Ishigami ran off in.
Did the voices of his teammates reach him?
For that boy who let his bangs grow out and kept his head low, would there be a day when he open his eyes and look properly?
Tsubame sincerely hoped that one day, Ishigami would realize that he had a group of companions for him.
And if something similar happen next time, he wouldn’t leave the training alone, but would ask for everyone’s help instead—— with this secret wish in her heart, Tsubame joined the search for the ring.
♂♂♂
When Shirogane and company reached the broadcast station, there were already several students who rushed here after hearing the news.
Shirogane scanned the place quickly, but didn’t find Kaguya Shinomiya here.
After asking the two members of the Mass Media club, they got this answer:
「Because the Mass Media club is right beside the broadcast station, we came over immediately. But the room was empty… We didn’t see anyone in the corridor either, so Kaguya-sama must have left on a gust of wind…!」
「Kaguya-sama is a celestial being, so this is a cakewalk for her.」
The Mass Media club had incredibly bias views, and it wasn’t clear how much they could be trusted. But one thing was in certain, they had lost track of Kaguya.
School was out, but Shuchin was still very lively.
There were some who weren’t interested and went home, and some who were interested but too shy to participate. After excluding them, there was still a large number of students that joined in the search.
Shirogane bit his lips. If that broadcast was sent by Kaguya, then what was her goal?
If this went on, she wouldn’t be able to reject if some boy confessed to her.
Anyway, I have to find the ring as soon as possible——
… No, wait.
Shirogane felt his back turn tense.
What if all this is a battle of the brains set up by Shinomiya?
On the surface, it was a plan to make the entire body to search for a ring, but she was actually enjoying herself as she watched Shirogane panic and run around. That should be it.
But there wasn’t any need to drag the entire school into her entics.
In any case, there was too few clues to make any decision.
There was another factor that made it hard for Shirogane to focus.
「President, is it true that if we hand the ring to Kaguya-sama, she will listen to any of our request!?」
As Shirogane moved around, students he had never met before came up to him and asked.
「That’s not true, of course! —— Ah, sorry, I didn’t mean to shout. That is just a ring that the Student Council is safekeeping. Even if you find it, there is no chance to date Shinomiya!」
In order to let the other students looking his way hear him, Shirogane intentionally raised his voice when he spoke.
「Huh, so that’s it. As I expected… but is it true?」
A male student looked his way with eyes filled with expectations, and Shirogane left quickly after glaring at him.
「Ehh. How did things turn out like this?」
Because of that broadcast, the atmosphere around Shirogane stayed that way. Even if he refuted the question directed at him, the incident showed no signs of slowing down.
There were boys crawling along the corridor, and girls digging the sands on the field with shovels. The Chemistry club took out their metal detector, and the Occult club brandished their drowsing rods. The Saha club even used their Mugarata to search for the ring.
The entire Shuchin took part in the treasure hunt.
「President!」
Shirogane looked up, and saw Ishigami running towards him.
「Ishigami, is the Cheer Team fine with this?」
「I came with the Captain’s permission.」
After saying that, Ishigami saw Iino who came from the other side. Iino noticed his gaze, and averted her face with a grunt. She was probably trying to say: this is an emergency, so I will overlook you skipping Cheer Team practice and running in the corridor.
「Things sure escalated quickly. What do we do now?」
Fujiwara turned pale after realizing the situation around her.
「Anyway, let’s confirm the situation. There are two things we have to do.」
Shirogane gathered all the members aside from Kaguya to share information and sort out the situation.
「First will be 『finding the ring before the other students does』. This is to avoid the wish Shinomiya promised to grant from being abused. From what I heard from the other students, there are many people harboring improper thoughts.」
Iino nodded in agreement, her brows furrowed in anger.
「Another thing will be 『finding out where exactly is Shinomiya right now』. I want her to retract her statement about the ring, but she is still missing. Her phone seems to be on, but she isn’t picking up.」
Fujiwara would call Kaguya every few minutes, but she didn’t pick up.
In the end, the victory condition for this treasure hunt were these two.
Either find the ring and send it to Kaguya.
Assuming the subject herself was hiding, finding Kaguya naturally became part of the game.
If this really is a game, then there must be some significance to the place Shinomiya is hiding too.
Even with these ideas in mind, Shirogane still didn’t have any clues at all.
「The worse ending will be the people who believe in the rumours finding the ring and sending it to Shinomiya.」
Those who participate in this activity on a whim and present the ring to Kaguya would definitely be ignored by her—— Shirogane was certain of that.
However, he still felt a little uneasy.
Because Iino gave the following testimony:
「I don’t think Vice President Shinomiya will never make such a broadcast, but when I was patrolling the school before the broadcast, I did see Vice President Shinomiya near the broadcast station.」
「How did Shinomiya felt like back then?」
「I greeted her, but she didn’t even look my way. I thought she didn’t hear me and walked over, and when she turned around, she looked as if she just woke up from a dream, and was expressionless—— Hence, I felt that maybe Vice President Shinomiya did hear me, but she had even forgotten her own name. I had never seen Vice President Shinomiya like this, she was like a completely different person. Right, as if she was——」
As if she was possessed.
—— That was how Iino put it.
The feeling someone injecting ice water into the veins on his back made Shirogane shiver.
「President Shirogane, we need to find that ring. I don’t know what’s happening, but we can’t communicate with Vice President Shinomiya now. So we need to improve the situation by finding that ring.」
Iino’s words made Shirogane tense.
「But if we ran around to search for her, that would be lending credibility to the rumours, and spread it even more.」
「The rumours have already spread through the entire school! Shouldn’t we find the ring before anyone else and save Vice President Shinomiya!?」
Iino had a point, and Shirogane couldn’t find any reason to refute her.
「Shouldn’t we find Kaguya-san first?」
Fujiwara suggested.
「That’s true, let’s split up. How about Iino and I will find the ring, Fujiwara and Ishigami will look for Shinomiya?」
「… Understood.」
Shirogane felt relieved when he saw Iino nodding.
The more Shirogane searched for the ring, the more likely Kaguya who was watching from some corner of the school would laugh at him like this:
Ara, the President is running around the corridor in search of the ring. Does he want me to grant his wish that much? How cute.
So Shirogane had to exercise caution.
He wasn’t searching for the ring in order to confess to Kaguya ahead of anyone else, but as a member of the Student Council trying to verify the facts with Kaguya.
That would avoid any weird misunderstanding from developing.
Shirogane was a man who didn’t forget to protect himself even during moments like this.
♂♂♂
Shirogane and Iino started searching the school buildings.
Even doors that were normally locked, and inaccessible to other students, they could use the authority of the Student Council to search it.
But it would be a hassle to borrow the keys for each room and search, so Iino suggested borrowing the master key that could access all the rooms.
And the Principal was the only person who held such a key.
So Shirogane and the others headed to the Principal’s office.
「Ara ara, you seem to be doing something that’s a lot of fun.」
When they entered the Principal’s office, and the master of the room welcomed Shirogane’s group happily.
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