My Measurement: The Villain Desires a Satisfying Payback

After the Professor took his leave, Sophie seemed to want to enjoy the Festival, so we ended up roaming around the fairground and taking a gander at the stalls and other attractions available.

Everything was available mainly to the public, but there were countless students also enjoying the festivities who weren't involved with a club running a stall, or those like me and Sophie who were simply not taking part in it.

It was the final week of "school" before the start of the new year, though our school was running this event instead, and a time for relaxation.

Sophie didn't ask me what I discussed with that man. She asked if I was okay, which I obviously was, but didn't go any further than that. Perhaps, because she knew I would be reluctant to tell her the truth.

Forbidden Knowledge.

As a matter of course, such a thing is a dangerous topic to discuss, and it certainly isn't the type of thing one should be sharing haphazardly.

It would be reckless for me to tell anyone about it, whether it is the twins, Sophie Asanami, or anyone else.

In the first place, there is no need for them to know. Nothing good would come of it, and there is no absolute guarantee to say they won't spread the information further.

Talking about Forbidden Knowledge automatically puts the listener at risk.

It doesn't matter who you are, but the moment you find out about Forbidden Knowledge, you immediately become involved in something you can never escape.

Such a thought exists perpetually inside my mind.

The nature of Forbidden Knowledge is sinistrous, and even just being aware of the subject is inherently baleful.

If a mechanic over-strains his tools and puts them under too much pressure or stress, then they can, and will, break.

If I put the ones most useful to me in excessive, unnecessary danger, dunking their minds and bodies into a vat of liquid tension, they too, will break.

If those I require break, then I become useless.

I cannot have such a thing happen, or else it becomes my end.

Knowing about the Forbidden Knowledge is only bound to lead to something disastrous.

Thus, it is better for everyone involved if they do not know.

"Woah, the heck's that? Somethin' smells good..."

Suspending my thoughts which had just about reached their end anyway, Sophie sniffed the air and looked around like a dog. Turning around, we saw a long queue for a stall selling sweet and savoury crêpes.

Sucking up the drool that escaped from her mouth, Sophie looked at me with a sudden burst of enthusiasm, her eyes sparkling with desire.

"Hey. Buy me one."

She didn't wait for my response and dragged me by the hand as we made our way over.

"Ah, Itou-san, Asanami-san~! Welcome~!"

From one side of the bustling stall, Shizuko Aikawa called out to us. So, it was the Cooking Club's attraction, huh. We weren't a part of it, so naturally, we weren't aware.

As we were a part of the Cooking Club, Shizuko led us to the back where all of the participating members were frantically doing their jobs. She, too, seemed busy as she moved batches of freshly-cooked and chocolate-y crêpes to the front of the stall.

The rich scent of the crêpes was one that was strong enough to fill almost the entire fairground, and it was enticing enough to allure countless customers for the day's full duration.

Of course, because of all that, the origin of the tasty snacks was a deathtrap for the peckish. Within this cramped tent, the aroma was far more concentrated and thusly stomach-teasing than with the disorderly, bitter winds roaming the outside.

"A-ah... Cr-- food, the food-- the food is going..."

This naturally meant that Sophie, whose gaze was glued to the dozens of crêpes being cooked, brought to the front, and sold, was rendered hysterical and incoherent.

Eventually, she grabbed onto my clothes and lightly shook me as if to plead.

"Oscar, the food... The food is going, Oscar, it's going..."

"...What are you doing?"

Her mouth, gaped open and heavily salivating, repeatedly rambled to me with words that didn't make much sense as she tugged my clothes, her eyes teary.

With this appearance, she seemed no different from a child asking her mother or father for a toy.

Inwardly, I sighed, and towards those clubmates whose intrigued gazes kept glancing at the two of us, I opened my mouth.

"Can I buy one? No, two."

Judging by Sophie's ravenous expression, she might want more than one crêpe, so I decided to get two just in case. Even if she doesn't want a second one, we can just give it to someone else or throw it away.

Shizuko Aikawa smiled at me with a troubled expression.

"Of course you can! But... The queue is quite long, so you might have to wait a while..."

To her, I responded blankly.

"I'll pay double to get it now."

"I-Itou-san, that's..."

"Triple?"

"..."

The club members were glancing at each other as if in disbelief of what I was saying. I didn't think it was that unreasonable, and the base price of these crêpes was rather dear anyway, so me paying for multiple times that amount was already a lot of money.

Of course, it wouldn't leave so much as a dent in my account, but they didn't need to know that.

"Oscar..."

Sophie's whining crept into my ears from just below my face. Looking into the eyes of all the Cooking Club club members, I stated a deal they couldn't possibly refuse.

"I will pay four times the price if you give me two crêpes right now."

"..."

And soon.

"Mhmmm~! Kyahahh, Ciphy~ What a lifesaver~!"

Relishing as she ate two chocolate-filled crêpes at once, Sophie called me by the twins' nickname rather affectionately as she munched and munched, hands on her cheeks with an ear-to-ear grin.

Eventually, they had no choice but to give in. From the beginning, their resistance wasn't as high as it would've been because they knew us as fellow Cooking Club members, so it could be said that connections played a role there, although it wasn't quite nepotism.

They seemed to want to run a fair and honest stall, but in front of my persistence, or perhaps simply Sophie's cravings, they had no choice but to fall.

Well.

It was an absurd amount of money to turn down when all they were doing was making and selling crêpes.

This is why the power of money always prevails.

"Oh, is it Senpai?"

Randomly, Kanon Yuuki appeared in front of us, a first-year member of our Cooking Club. Beside her were a few other first-years of the club.

I recalled her not being present in the stall earlier despite her having put her name down as a helper, so I briefly wondered where she had gone, but from the crates of ingredients such as flour, eggs, and milk, as well as baskets of various fillings like chocolate or fruits in their hands, they appeared to be in charge of the restocking.

"Did you get some crêpes from our stall? They're delicious, right?"

She spoke to us with a prideful smirk, but I highly doubt that she was involved in the actual process of cooking the crêpes itself, as a junior.

"Mhmm, so delish~"

Sophie nodded her head beside me with a satisfied look, but I couldn't comment on that part as I hadn't eaten one.

"They're expensive. Was it your idea to run a scam?"

"Senpai, you paid?! Aw, you should've come when I was there! I woulda given you as many as you wanted!"

"That's not a very good business model."

"Well, you're a very special customer! Anyway, I gotta go! See ya, Senpai!"

With hurried steps, she ran off with a box in her hands in the direction we came from. Looking at her small back for a brief moment, I was slightly curious about what she thought about the current situation.

Considering her background and goals, I can't imagine she would enjoy wasting time with useless things like that, but in the end, I didn't really care.

After that, the two of us returned to the log bench atop the hill we were sitting at earlier and rested there while she finished eating her food.

"Sure you don't want some?"

Holding the last bit of crêpe towards my mouth, Sophie asked me. I shook my head.

"If I wanted one, I would've bought one."

"Well, ya bought two, and I ate both. Plus, I only wanted you to buy me one, but you ended up spending like eight times the price. I feel bad."

"I bought you two because I didn't want to have to go all the way back there if you finished the first one and greedily decided you wanted a second. And why do you feel bad about the cost? You know how rich I am, and it's not like you don't get some of that money too."

That's right.

Because Sophie and the twins coming to me every time they want to buy or order something is a hassle, I just give them an allowance and let them use the money however they please.

Most of the time they ask if something is okay to buy anyway, so I ended up telling them to just inform the servants of the house about it. If it's something that could be a concern, they would then pass the message on to me, but if it likely isn't, then I told them to not bother talking to me about it.

So, as long as she hasn't somehow already spent it all, Sophie should have a lot of money floating around inside her purse and bank account.

"Well, yeah, but... Ugh, anyway, just eat it, 'kay?"

Pushing it towards me, she basically ignored what I said and continued.

"Why?"

"I'm full."

"So?"

"So eat."

"If you don't want it, throw it away."

"That's a waste."

"Then give it to someone else."

"I am, I'm giving it to you."

"I don't want it."

"You bought it, you eat it."

Huh.

"...So stupid."

"What'd you say?"

"No, never mind."

Once I realised logical reasoning would no longer work against this woman, I felt like there was no choice left but to just eat the final bite of crêpe if I wanted to get her to stop.

Sophie shoved the pancake into my mouth. When I ate it, my eyebrows furrowed as the rich contents exploded, causing my tastebuds to reach a state of sensory overload and fullness.

"So? It's yummy, right?"

Swallowing the mouthful, I replied candidly to the excited Sophie who asked me as much.

"...Too sweet."

I shook my head, not liking the experience I just had at all.

"What?! The hell d'ya mean 'too sweet'?! It's delicious!"

Perhaps it was a simple difference in preference, but neither of us seemed willing to concede on the matter, so we ended up agreeing to disagree.