Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

"Let us congratulate Chief Hachiman Hikigaya for repeatedly solving cases. These files are the medals of honor for Chief Hikigaya!"

After reading his own list of accomplishments, Hachiman Hikigaya awarded himself the title of "Outstanding City Guard Member of the Year."

This wasn't him messing around. It was simply that his superior physical stamina allowed him to take on more work.

The massive disparity in workload made it necessary to award the honor to himself.

It sounded like dark humor, but in reality, it was the difference between the upper and lower classes in Academy City.

Those with a little power and connections received top-tier Stigma Battle Suits right off the bat, while ordinary people could only pick up trial versions at the Kengan Association. Whether it was good or bad ultimately depended on your personal compatibility.

Nowadays, the distribution in Academy City was stratified. The best was a direct connection to a research institute, followed by civil servants like the City Guard, then the students of Academy City, and finally, the local residents of Nagazora City who participated in the Kengan Association.

However, the people in the top tiers could all go to the Kengan Association to rack up points, while the locals participated to maintain the active production of points.

The stronger a person's Stigma Battle Suit, the stronger their physical stamina and consciousness, and the work they could accumulate was astonishingly high.

It was only natural that Hachiman Hikigaya received the "Outstanding City Guard Member" award.

After surviving that period of nightmares, Academy City hadn't been too greatly affected, except that Dr. Tesla's temper was said to be getting worse and worse. Perhaps it was menopause.

It was said that the people at the research institute could no longer stand Tesla's tyranny, and many had developed psychological problems and gone on strike. One could only imagine how bad her temper had become recently.

In recent years, Brother Hachi's favorite pastime was reading history books, not to put on airs, but simply to learn from the advanced experiences of his predecessors.

The ancestors were so powerful, how could they deceive a descendant like him?

As it turned out, the history books he read were not in vain, especially those about the talented civil officials at the center of the recent transformations.

Although he was the Chief of the City Guard, Hachiman Hikigaya had always considered himself part of the civil service system. He had never seen himself as the head of a military force. In comparison, even the student council president, Manabu Horikita, was closer to a military power than he was.

And so, Hachiman Hikigaya was once again concerned about the security of his position.

"How strange. I feel like the outside forces are making some special moves. Has there been no impact on the inside of Academy City? We can't possibly produce all our own food, clothing, housing, and transportation. We still have to import from the outside. Without a large flow of currency, we won't be able to pay the benefits to the Far East government."

Hachiman Hikigaya was very worried about the outside world's perception of Academy City, especially the fear that the many Herrschers hidden within would make outsiders feel uneasy.

But when a Herrscher appeared, it didn't wait for anyone. You couldn't just report every Herrscher to the United Nations and then send in combat forces to deal with it, could you?

'These abstract bureaucrats, all they know is how to make trouble. Now that they know someone can control Herrschers, they want to offer their two cents on something they don't understand.'

Hachiman Hikigaya understood the mentality of these people. Whether what they said would come to fruition was another matter; what they wanted was the face and power to be able to give pointers. But they would never allow the common people to have a say in their face and power, not even on the surface.

'But these people can't beat us anyway. Even for something like a nuclear bomb, doesn't Schicksal have a backup?'

Speaking of which, it was absurd. If not for the Emperor's history books being so truthful, ordinary people wouldn't even know that Schicksal, an anti-Honkai organization, had nuclear weapons.

Even now, Schicksal had personnel dedicated to maintaining its nuclear missile silos.

"Ayanokoji, how's the situation in Academy City now? Is that bitch Yukinoshita still causing trouble for us?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka wanted to advise Hachiman to go home and see his family more often. That way, he could free up some time for himself to rest. After all, not everyone was a tireless robot like Hachiman Hikigaya.

Wearing a Stigma Battle Suit to work... should that be considered exercise? Or an unnecessary drain of energy?

"Yukinoshita is dealing with some trouble at the Kengan Association. She seems to have a good relationship with a certain Valkyrie, who is said to be the only daughter of the Raiden family. It is said that whoever marries her can inherit everything from the Raiden family."

"No, I was asking what Yukinoshita is doing. Why are you telling me about the only daughter of the Raiden family? Is that Yukinoshita woman into yuri or something?"

Hachiman felt he had provided some unnecessary information, but he couldn't help but take it to heart.

Raiden Ryoma, along with Cocolia, were the few members of the Board of Directors whose schedules were publicly known in Academy City.

Could it be that the ship of Academy City was starting to leak from the top before it even set sail?

"Her, oh, right, what is she doing? With all due respect, she is currently dealing with some troublesome Kengan Association members everywhere. Although her abilities are far inferior to Manabu Horikita's, she is, in a way, an idealist just like him."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had long since seen through Manabu Horikita's actions. That student council president was a rare idealist.

"Hmm... that's great... as long as she doesn't bother me. I originally thought I would slack off because of her, but I didn't expect a strange dream from the heavens to successfully overwhelm Yukinoshita. What is this? This is fate!"

"Hahahahaha!"

Hachiman Hikigaya quickly became arrogant. He felt he was simply the chosen one. Even when he was just trying to stall, the heavens would come down to help him.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka couldn't stand such a cringe-worthy leader. He was really worried that Hachiman would become corrupt one day. He didn't seem like the type to refuse a bribe.

It was just that the cost of bribing Hachiman was too high now.

No one could offer a higher bribe than the Board of Directors.

'Could there really be such a thing as fate? Even though it's all a bunch of messes, can they all be overshadowed by an even bigger trouble?'

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka wasn't just boasting. He suspected he was even thinking of taking Hachiman down himself. Otherwise, why would he be thinking about his savior and leader stepping down every day?

'How nice. I wonder how long this kind of life will last.'

"Chief Hikigaya, I've already written the agenda for this afternoon's meeting for you."

Hachiman said with high spirits, "Good! Let me see what you've written."

Ayanokoji handed the manuscript to Hachiman.

Brother Hachi broke into a cold sweat when he saw the topic.

It read...

[Discussion on Academy City New Urban Civilization Construction Version 3.0]