William 14

Title: Starting a New Wave

When Kousen pushed open the door, he sensed a somewhat gloomy atmosphere in the Student Council room. Hanzou stood rigidly by the window, hands behind his back, staring outside, lost in thought.

“Senpai, what’s going on?” Kousen sat next to Mayumi and asked softly.

“Vice President Hattori is upset because Tatsuya joined the Disciplinary Committee!”

It wasn’t Mayumi who answered, but Mari Watanabe, seated across from him.

“Hanzou-kun is just a bit stubborn.” Mayumi said with a soft chuckle.

Hanzou turned around, his tone low. “Kousen, why did you agree to let Shiba Tatsuya join the Disciplinary Committee?”

Kousen immediately understood—Hanzou was a staunch supporter of First Course student supremacy.

He instinctively glanced at Mayumi beside him. He had noticed that everyone in the Student Council seemed to resent the Second Course student system and assumed they all felt the same.

But he hadn’t expected the serious-looking Hanzou to be the obstacle.

“I just think Tatsuya-kun has the ability, Hattori-senpai.”

Kousen answered bluntly. Though he had liked Hanzou a bit before, that didn’t mean he’d simply accept Hanzou’s questioning.

“Ability? He’s just a Second Course student. If he had ability, he wouldn’t be in Second Course.”

Hanzou spoke emotionally, completely unlike the friendly demeanor he showed when he first met Kousen.

“I don’t think my judgment is wrong.” Kousen retorted.

“Besides, didn’t I say I’d have a combat simulation with Tatsuya-kun later?”

“Or does Hattori-senpai think I’ll lose?”

Kousen’s tone was cold.

Though he believed Tatsuya was capable, no matter how strong Tatsuya was, Kousen didn’t think he’d lose.

As the next heir of the Kudou family, he couldn’t tolerate anyone doubting his abilities.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I’m just saying he’s not worthy of competing with First Course students, so why bother? There are plenty of talented people in First Course to recruit for the Student Council.”

“There’s no need to specifically choose a Second Course student.”

Hanzou explained. Though his family was fairly powerful, it was no match for the Kudou family of the Ten Master Clans.

He didn’t want his words to be misinterpreted by Kousen, causing unnecessary trouble for his family.

Kousen sighed. “May I ask, is Hattori-senpai a supporter of First Course student supremacy or strength supremacy?”

“By the way, I’m a supporter of strength supremacy.”

“Then you should’ve directly opposed Shiba joining the Disciplinary Committee.”

“Hattori-senpai, please answer my question first.” Kousen interrupted.

The words “of course First Course students” that Hanzou was about to say got stuck in his throat. He always boasted that Second Course students’ abilities were inferior to First Course students.

Now, he couldn’t contradict himself. Besides, he felt that continuing to talk like this would widen the gap between him and the president he admired.

“Of course, ability matters more.” Hanzou said reluctantly.

“Then I’ll personally test Tatsuya-kun’s abilities. Does Hattori-senpai still have any objections?”

“Or does Hattori-senpai doubt my abilities? If so, I can have a combat simulation with you first to prove myself.”

“Or do you think I’d deliberately throw the match because I know Tatsuya-kun?”

Kousen’s barrage of words hit Hanzou like a volley of cannon fire.

Hanzou opened his mouth, unsure what to say. Should he claim Kousen’s abilities were lacking?

Don’t be ridiculous—he could see the fiery determination in Kousen’s eyes. If he dared say that, Kousen would drag him to the combat room immediately.

“I’ll watch closely.” Hanzou said, tossing out the remark before turning away again.

Kousen shrugged nonchalantly, then pulled out a sleek black pistol with silver trim from his uniform pocket. The character (夜) was engraved on it.

“Oh, that’s your specialized CAD? I thought the earring in your ear was your specialized CAD!” Mayumi said, scooting her chair closer as Kousen took out the pistol.

“Impressive that Senpai noticed. I’ve only used it twice in front of you.”

Kousen set down the weapon he was inspecting and touched the earring in his ear.

“That’s actually a CAD?”

At some point, Azusa had darted to his side, staring at the earring with pitiful, animal-like eyes, as if wounded.

Even Kousen, highly sensitive to auras, hadn’t noticed her approach.

“Can I borrow it for a bit?”

Kousen couldn’t resist those eyes, so he removed the earring and handed it to Azusa.

Azusa looked as if she’d found a treasure, examining it closely.

“Is it okay to lend it to A-chan? Aren’t you fighting Tatsuya-kun later?”

Mayumi’s concern was reasonable. A CAD’s internal structure is highly precise, and even a slight error could disrupt the magic stored within.

Azusa, hearing Mayumi’s words, realized her request was a bit excessive and reluctantly prepared to return the earring to Kousen.

“It’s fine, Nakajou-senpai. Keep looking at it. I won’t be using this CAD in this fight.”

“Besides, this CAD only stores a few spells, mostly for daily use.”

Kousen waved his hand, signaling Azusa to continue examining it.

“Kudou, I don’t recall any CAD this small being sold on the market.”

Suzune asked with a curious expression, and everyone present perked up their ears—even Hanzou, who was facing the window, was no exception.

Azusa was, of course, the most curious. Among everyone present, she was the most obsessed with CADs. Discovering a rare type like this naturally thrilled her.

After all, the current market was chasing CAD miniaturization and convenience. Even the smallest CADs produced today were the size of a phone.

Some older models were as large as an arm, highly impractical to use.

A CAD this small, if made public, would surely spark a new wave in the CAD world.

The inventor’s name would also be etched in people’s hearts, like Silver Taurus, who emerged out of nowhere back then.