Zongman I fight weirdness in everyday world

It wasn't that he didn't want to take a taxi, but the traffic in Kyoto during rush hour was just too terrible. A trip that would take just over half an hour by train could easily turn into a two- or three-hour ordeal stuck in traffic in a taxi. There was no point in wasting the time.

However, after boarding the train, Yaehoshiz saw a very familiar slender figure, like a lonely boat, swaying in the slightly crowded carriage, looking somewhat helpless.

"Good morning, Nishimiya-san."

Feeling someone tap her shoulder, Nishimiya Shoko's body trembled slightly. When she turned her head and saw that it was Yaehoshiz, she breathed a sigh of relief, gently patting her chest, and greeted him softly in a slightly awkward tone.

"G-Good... Good morning, Yaehoshiz-kun."

Although Nishimiya Shoko was also a member of the Overload Society, she usually didn't live in the Overload Society apartment building unless there were special circumstances. This was normal since Nishimiya Shoko wasn't a psychic and couldn't provide effective advice based on her intellect like Makise Kurisu, or initially, Yukinoshita Yukino or Futaba Rio.

Moreover, she had her grandmother, younger sister, and mother at home. Putting herself in their shoes, even if Nishimiya Yaeko trusted the members of the Overload Society, she definitely wouldn't feel comfortable letting her daughter, who had a hearing impairment, live in a place without her.

Fortunately, now that Nishimiya Yaeko had taken a position at the Yukinoshita Company, her family's financial situation had improved a lot. They had moved to a larger house, but it was a bit far from Sobu High School. Nishimiya Shoko couldn't walk to school like before, so she had to take the train.

After greeting her, Yaehoshiz, with an expression that seemed to carry a smile, actually noticed a detail.

He first said hello, then tapped Nishimiya Shoko's shoulder.

But she... was still startled, and only visibly relaxed after turning her head and seeing him.

The more serious problem was...

Both of Nishimiya Shoko's hearing aids were properly in place and hadn't been removed.

This indicated that her hearing impairment had become more severe, so severe that she couldn't even distinguish familiar voices in the slightly noisy carriage.

Looking at Nishimiya Shoko's sweet smile and innocent face, Yaehoshiz simply nodded with a smile. Then, he stood beside her. Although the movement wasn't obvious, Nishimiya Shoko could feel that Yaehoshiz was protecting her, separating her from the crowd.

"Thank you... Yaehoshiz-kun."

Although Nishimiya Shoko was 164 centimeters tall, which was quite tall among Sakura Province high school girls, she still looked like a fragile fledgling in the arms of Yaehoshiz, who was over 1.8 meters tall, coupled with that pitiful temperament that unconsciously made people feel sorry for her.

"You're welcome, it's the least I could do."

Nishimiya Shoko looked up and glanced at Yaehoshiz, who had a smile on his face, and her cheeks suddenly turned slightly red.

Yaehoshiz-kun...

He's such a person who is both not gentle, but also very gentle.

Chapter 456: Maki Shijo's Confidence, Joint Exams Imminent

Nothing special happened on the train ride. It was just that when they entered the school gate, the other students were a little surprised to see Nishimiya Shoko and Yaehoshiz, a combination that had never been seen entering the school together alone before, but it was just a little.

After all, although Nishimiya Shoko had a hearing impairment, no one could deny that she was indeed an unmistakable beautiful girl and one of the members of the Overload Society.

To be honest, the Sobu High School students' view of the Supernatural Quantum Mechanics Research Society was still the same as before.

The Great Demon King of Sobu High School and his harem of beautiful girls with varied types but perfect appearances.

What's so surprising about Nishimiya Shoko joining them?

Even Hiratsuka Shizuka, as a teacher, was rumored to have an ambiguous relationship with Yaehoshiz. The psychological threshold of the Sobu High School students had long been raised by the big things Yaehoshiz pulled off every time.

Most people only had two words to say about Nishimiya Shoko entering the school with Yaehoshiz.

That's it?

This kind of normal thing isn't even worth gossiping about, right?

...

When they arrived at Class 2-A, Hiratsuka Shizuka announced bad news that some people would call a disaster.

"The midterm exams will start next Monday."

Hearing the words "midterm exams", Yuigahama Yui's pupils trembled, and she muttered to herself.

"It's over... it's all over..."

"Seriously..."

Seeing Yuigahama Yui's lifeless look, Yukinoshita Yukino frowned slightly and sighed helplessly.

"Why do you always say it's over every time there's an exam? All the lessons I tutored you before were for nothing, weren't they?"

"It's not that..."

Yuigahama Yui said tearfully, "I've been too busy lately, I haven't had time to review my lessons at all. Plus, something like that happened a few days ago, my mind is completely off studying."

Yukinoshita Yukino frowned even more when she heard this, and was about to give Yuigahama Yui a lecture, telling her not to make excuses, when she heard Yotsuya Miko cough lightly and say in a very calm, almost matter-of-fact tone.

"Yeah, me too."

After Yotsuya Miko said this, Ogiso Setsuna also nodded repeatedly.

"That's right... me too."

Hearing Ogiso Setsuna's words, Touma Kazusa's expression became somewhat puzzled.

"Setsuna, you too? I don't think it's affected me at all."

Ogiso Setsuna shook her head with a wry smile.

"Of course you don't think it's affected you, after all, Kazusa, you... never mind, I won't say it."

Touma Kazusa's face rarely turned slightly red, and she pouted and muttered softly.

"I can't help it... so many things have happened during this time, I have very little time to practice the piano, let alone study..."

Hearing the members' words, Yukinoshita Yukino realized that she thought the Overload Society's actions wouldn't affect her studies, but that was just her own idea and didn't apply to everyone.

First of all, she hadn't been a psychic for long. Although she had been helping to come up with ideas, she hadn't personally participated in the actions against what was then called SERN, which was actually Professor Leskinen's conspiracy.

Moreover, everyone's innate conditions were different.

Just like the members of the Overload Society, even Futaba Rio, Sakurajima Mai, Yuigahama Yui, and others who had received acquired training, couldn't remain calm and composed when they saw a suddenly appearing evil spirit without any preparation.

Only Yotsuya Miko, with her extraordinary mental fortitude, could accomplish such a thing.

Similarly, objective differences in intellect also exist.

For Rio Futaba and Yukino Yukinoshita, even performing exorcism activities wouldn't hinder their grades at all. However, for Yui Yuigahama, whose mind is more average and who participates in every operation, it's understandable that her studies would be somewhat affected.

After all, not everyone is a genius.

"Oh, just one more thing," Shizuka Hiratsuka added, unable to help but giggle at Yui Yuigahama's adorable and charming appearance.

"Our midterm exams this time, like the ones in our first year, will be jointly held with Shuchiin Academy. Oh, I suddenly remembered…"

Hiratsuka Shizuka looked towards Yozora, sitting on his throne in the corner of the classroom, and asked with a smile.

"Toyonosaki Academy heard about this and wants to have their second-year students join the joint exam as well. Is that alright?"

"Second-year students, huh… I guess so."

Yozora thought for a moment. Among the second-year students at Toyonosaki Academy, it seemed like he only knew Eriri Spencer Sawamura. Utaha Kasumigaoka was a third-year student and probably wouldn't participate in the joint exam.

"If Toyonosaki Academy wants to humiliate themselves, no one can stop them."

Yozora's words were sharp but hit the nail on the head.

Sobu High's average scores were only slightly better than Toyonosaki Academy's, but Sobu High had Yozora, who had achieved first place in the previous joint exam.

As for Toyonosaki Academy…

Did they have any impressive figures in their second year?

Even if they did, the best they could hope for was someone on par with Yukino Yukinoshita, who could achieve around 20th place in the joint exam.

Toyonosaki Academy simply didn't have a place in the real competition for first place.

"Will you be able to get first place this time again?"

Faced with Hiratsuka Shizuka's question, Yozora, who was always full of confidence, shook his head this time.

"Not necessarily this time."

"Eh?"

Upon hearing this, not only Hiratsuka Shizuka behind the podium, but also the members of the Overload Club present couldn't help but reveal expressions of surprise and disbelief.

Could these words really be coming from Yozora, who was always so arrogant and considered himself the chosen one?

"What are you doing?"

Faced with the girls' doubtful and surprised gazes, Yozora simply waved his hand and smiled.

"Come on, this is just a second-year high school exam. Even if a school like Shuchiin Academy is setting the questions, the difficulty will be at most within the high school range. I'm stronger than anyone else, but if someone else gets a perfect score like me, how do you differentiate who's better? Last time, Kaguya Shinomiya lost to me in the liberal arts, which is to say, in questions with the subjective impressions of the graders. If it were all science questions, it would be easy for her to achieve a perfect score as well."

Rio Futaba pushed up her glasses upon hearing this, a hint of unwillingness showing in her eyes.

"Are you saying that Kaguya Shinomiya might tie for first place with you this time?"

Aside from Yui Yuigahama, who liked everyone and was always on the front lines of expanding Yozora's harem, most of the Overload Club members had complex feelings towards Kaguya Shinomiya.

Yukino Yukinoshita and Kaguya Shinomiya were kindred spirits to some extent, and they also shared similar experiences of being excluded by others because of their exceptional talents, so she trusted Kaguya.

But the other Overload Club members' feelings towards Kaguya Shinomiya…

That was hard to say.

On the one hand, they weren't familiar with her. On the other hand, Kaguya Shinomiya's abilities were indeed daunting. She couldn't be used at all when dealing with evil spirits, but she was a specialist when it came to humans.

It was only during the last operation when Kaguya Shinomiya personally killed Kouguang Shinomiya, who was plotting with Atsuta Shrine to gain power through spiritual abilities, that she earned a certain degree of trust.

But then again, Kaguya Shinomiya's initial appearance, which left the most profound impression on most of the Overload Club members, was still as a student representative from Shuchiin Academy, in other words, as an opponent.

It would probably take some time for her to fully integrate into the Overload Club.

"That's unlikely."

Yozora shook his head with a smile.

"If it were before, Kaguya Shinomiya might have competed with me for first place, but now… she doesn't have the energy or the desire anymore."

Kaguya Shinomiya originally competed with Yozora for the top spot only because she felt that as the eldest daughter of the Shinomiya family, she should achieve first place in everything she did, or rather, she needed to know that she had the strength to achieve first place. It was acceptable to deliberately give it up for the sake of interpersonal relationships.

It was the most unacceptable thing for her to lack the ability to be worthy of the Shinomiya family's eldest daughter.

But now…

Kaguya Shinomiya, who had already resolved her inner conflicts, no longer dwelled on the identity of the Shinomiya family's eldest daughter. Moreover, she had already become the next leader of the Shinomiya family, as decided by Kouan Shinomiya.

For her now, the pressing matter was to intensify her training in spiritual abilities.

As for grades?

Anyway, if she didn't want to compete for first place, with Kaguya Shinomiya's intelligence, as long as she studied casually, being in the top five of the grade wouldn't be a problem.

"If it's not Kaguya Shinomiya…"

Rio Futaba frowned slightly, her tone sounding somewhat unwilling to believe it.

"It couldn't be Miyuki Shirogane, could it?"

If Miyuki Shirogane heard this, he would probably feel greatly insulted.

Unfortunately, that was the truth.

He only slept six hours a day, and the rest of the time, whether he was eating, going to the bathroom, or working part-time, he was constantly studying.

Even so, he only ranked third in the previous joint exam. Not to mention Yozora, he hadn't even beaten Kaguya Shinomiya.

Reality was so cruel.

The limit of an ordinary person's efforts was only the extent of a genius's casual efforts.

Miyuki Shirogane's limit had reached its end.

"Miyuki Shirogane? Perhaps, but my main opponent…"

Yozora slowly opened his mouth and said.

"Is Maki Shijou."

…

Meanwhile, inside the student council office.

"Ah… Achoo!"

Maki Shijou sneezed, rubbed her nose, and muttered softly.