Tanuki Rise of the Yokai Clan

The school president's office of the Le Wolfe Black Institute was located in the deepest part of its central school building. It had no windows nor decorations of any kind. It was, however, far from poorly furnished. There were no more pieces than necessary, but each one was massive, both imposing and elegant.

Dirk Eberwein, the Le Wolfe Black Institute student council president, was seated in a chair that swallowed his frame.

"What is it?"

The short, stout young man with dull red hair didn't even look at his secretary, which had fallen on her face in this room, and continued with his job.

"Ah, um, this is rather sudden, but Miss Urzaiz says she would like a word with you..." Kashimaru Korona, Dirk's secretary, a girl with olive-colored hair, reported nervously.

"Urzaiz?" Dirk narrowed his brows and felt weird since, usually, Irene would blast the door of his office, causing a mess, but strangely enough, she was waiting for his response, showing politeness. "Let her in." He was busy, but he was kind of curious about why she wanted to meet him.

"Ye-Yes!" Korona nodded and guided Irene to enter the office.

"Lock the door." Irene only glanced at Korona, causing her to yelp in fear before she looked at Dirk.

"Just follow her words." Dirk looked at the massive bag in Irene's hand curiously.

"Ye-Yes!"

As Korona locked the door, Irene dropped all of the contents inside the bag.

Money.

It was a large amount of money.

"So-So much!" Korona shouted in surprise.

"...."

Dirk stared at the money for a moment, then looked at Irene. "...what is it?"

"I am paying my debt. I am not your dog anymore now." Irene grinned wolfishly.

"Where did you get the money?" Dirk asked subconsciously.

"It didn't matter, right? Money is money! Don't worry. Everything is legal."

It was legal since all of them were given by Tamazuki.

Why was it in cash?

It was because it was more domineering this way.

"....."

Dirk stared at the money again and started to think about many things, such as why Irene could have so much money and how to retain Irene since she was still useful. He wanted to say something, but she beat him first.

"I am paying my debt, but I am not going to stop working for you."

"Oh?" Dirk looked at Irene with interest.

"However, I am no longer your servant. As of now, our relationship is equal. If you have a job for me, I can work for you, but you must pay me, and you must let the Cats continue to protect Priscilla. Also, I have a right to refuse."

She recited those words smoothly as if she had remembered them thousands of times.

"You want the Cats to protect your sister?"

"Cats" was a codename for students belonging to Grimalkin, an organization that undertook covert activities at the direct orders of the student council.

Korona, who heard their conversation, became curious since she had never had a Cat. She didn't even know how the organization functioned. All she knew was that they were divided into Silver Eyes, who operated within the school, and Gold Eyes, who focused on intelligence gathering and operations outside the school.

"Yes. It's easy for you, right?" Irene asked.

"Well, that's true."

Dirk nodded and thought her proposal wasn't bad, but he knew that by having an equal relationship, she could reject his request if she didn't want to. Still, it didn't matter, considering he had a lot of enemies; having a good relationship with her was better than having a bad relationship. More importantly, who had told her all of this?

He knew that Irene wasn't that smart, so this change surprised him.

"What's your answer? Hurry up and answer me! I don't have time!" Irene didn't have time since she wanted to join "him" as soon as possible.

"Sure." Dirk nodded. "But who has told you to say all of this?"

"Huh? Do you think that I am stupid?" She looked at him with anger as she wielded her prized weapon, Gravisheath, the Orga Lux, owned by Le Wolfe Black Institute.

"Then, let's leave it like that." Dirk knew that it was impossible to get everything from her mouth. "I will order the Cats to continue to protect your sisters." This way, she could also monitor her and her sister. More importantly, it was a low price to have a good relationship with the third rank of the Le Wolfe Black Institute.

"Good." She nodded, then asked, "Don't you need to count the money?"

"It's okay. It's only a little money for me."

Irene's debt might be a lot for her, but for Dirk, that debt was just a small amount for him.

Still hearing his arrogant words, she snorted, then left without looking back. "Then, I will leave first."

Watching her back, Dirk continued to think, wondering who had made Irene do all of that.

"Hmm... did Miss Urzaiz fall in love?" Korona murmured.

Yet, unexpectedly, her unreliable, clumsy, and crybaby secretary of his said something outrageous.

"Huh? Fall in love? Is there anyone who is going to fall with such a barbaric woman?" Dirk looked at Korona funnily and even wanted to laugh. It was the biggest joke he had ever heard this year!

"But... but... Miss Urzaiz is beautiful, right? More importantly, she seems in a hurry, and her face flushes red and cheerful as if she anticipates something. I can tell that she is going to meet her boyfriend now."

Like Sherlock Holmes, she explained her deduction with great confidence.

Dirk wanted to say something, but he closed her mouth since he realized that this possibility wasn't zero. Instead, such a possibility existed. After all, the world was vast, and some people had a unique fetish; probably Irene's boyfriend was such a person.

Yet, he snorted, thinking this guy was stupid since he used so much money for Irene.

"What a stupid feeling."

For Dirk, who hated the world and hated himself, the feeling of love was a stupid thing, and it was something worthless. However, he had to say Irene's boyfriend was kind of smart. Still, it also made him quite curious.

"I wonder who her boyfriend is. Is it from our students?" Korona wondered in a loud voice.

"No way. Do you think that there is anyone that can make her interested here?" Dirk shook his head.

"Well, that's true. Everyone here is ugly, stupid, and rough." Korona nodded in agreement.

"..."

Dirk only stared at her for a moment and continued to work.

As for Irene's boyfriend, he knew the Cats would tell him later.

---

On the registration for the Jie Long tournament, Tamazuki did his registration.

Irene and Priscilla also followed him, but at this moment, they stared at his appearance in a daze.

"Is this a real thing?"

"How did you do this?"

Unlike before, his appearance was so much different.

Unlike his beautiful long silver hair and golden eyes, his hair had become short black hair with black eyes. Even so, he was still the same, and only his hairstyle and the color of his eyes were different, yet this charm was much different.

Before, his appearance was as bright as the full moon on a dark night, guiding them when they were lost at night.

Yet, now, his appearance was like a night, which gently and warmly wrapped them.

"It's a secret technique of the Inugamigyoubu family. Unless you two join this family, I won't tell you." He was quite solemn at the time, as if he was telling the greatest secret in the world.

"....." 2x

What did he mean by those words?

Yet, why did their faces feel hot?

"I am going to register first. See you later." He waved his hand and left.

"Oh-Oh." Irene had just woken up from her imagination, thinking that she might join his family.

"Do your best, Inugami-san." Priscilla cheered him up with a sweet smile.

By now, they couldn't do anything to help him since this was a tournament, and the only thing they could do was to pray and support him, so he would win this tournament.