Houtarou Oreki Classroom of the Elite

In Class 1-B.

Unlike Class A, who knew the school rules from day one, and Class D, who learned the rules after buying information from Houtarou, Class B's understanding of this school was even worse than Class C's.

It took two weeks before Honami obtained the school rules from Miyabi. By then, the first month's behavior assessment test had already begun at enrollment, making it easy to lose Points without proper awareness.

Even after informing her classmates, Class B remained one step behind the other classes.

Was this a terrible situation? Not at all.

Because...

"Our class received 570 Class Points. Though it's a bit stressful seeing Class A's score so much higher than ours, I believe we can narrow the gap in the next test if we stay united. I want us all to advance to Class A together!"

Class 1-B maintained their money-lending and store agreement with Houtarou. After receiving their monthly points, fifteen classmates planned to transfer 30,000 Points each to him after class, totaling 450,000 Points.

Far from being discouraged, their mood was quite positive.

Despite lagging behind Class A in Class Points, they had maintained their position as Class B.

Together, they shared a common goal: advancing to Class A.

They remained at ease, knowing they had only missed one test. With three years ahead of them and many more tests to come, there was plenty of time to climb the ranks.

The class stayed confident and united — this was Class B's greatest strength.

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Meanwhile in Class D...

Their situation was miserable.

Everyone stared blankly at the 「Class D: 0 Points」 written by their homeroom teacher, Sae Chabashira.

When they checked their student ID cards on their phones, there was no record of Points transferred from the school today.

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During lunch break.

Houtarou, Suzune, and Kikyō met at the school fountain after finishing their separate lunches to exchange information.

"Your class is really strong." Houtarou remarked.

The evaluation scores for the four first-year classes were as follows:

「Class A: 1230 Points」

「Class B: 570 Points」

「Class C: 390 Points」

「Class D: 0 Points」

While his class and Class D both knew the rules from day one, they ended up with vastly different results — 1230 Points versus zero.

He marveled at how Class D had managed to achieve absolutely nothing, even with knowledge of the rules. It was almost impressive.

Getting zero on an open-book test took a special kind of talent.

If he had been placed in Class D from the start, Houtarou would have likely given up immediately — there were too many incompetent classmates to help.

Today was also when Kikyō wanted to invite Suzune to go out together. So when meeting her, Houtarou invited the lone girl as well.

As always, Suzune had her head buried in vocabulary studies — the very picture of a dedicated student.

This dedication, however, drew criticism.

"Horikita-san is always studying, which makes her seem unapproachable." Kikyō whispered, "Some boys think she's beautiful but are too intimidated to talk to her."

"I see no benefit in talking to them." Suzune replied, her fox-like eyes fixing coldly on Kikyō, "Besides, you've become a nuisance lately. Not only do you ambush me at my door every day, but this is the tenth time you've asked Oreki-kun to bring me out. What exactly are you trying to do?"

She confronted the angel-like girl directly.

Suzune understood her situation clearly. Houtarou was someone her brother had entrusted her to, someone who received monthly care fees, and someone her brother approved of. She respected him.

After observing him for a month, she had learned much. His actions and thoughts transcended typical student thinking — areas where she needed to improve.

Though his assignments sometimes made her feel like a tool, the compensation was substantial. She had already earned 1.3 million Points — more than anyone else in class.

While no one had yet achieved the ambitious goal of gathering 20 million Points, she saw potential.

Houtarou's proposal to gather 20 million Points to prove her worth seemed achievable, so she decided to pursue it alone.

Was Suzune disinterested in Class D? No — she was simply stubborn.

Refusing to accept the label of worthless trash, she wanted to prove she was a talented player mistakenly thrown into Class D's refuse pile.

When their teacher Sae announced written exams would begin on the 24th, panic erupted in class — eighty percent were poor academic performers.

The threat of failing and facing expulsion terrified them.

Suzune stood up and pointed out they had until the 24th, suggesting tutoring sessions and study groups.

But they dismissed her, claiming she was too cold and that her scolding would discourage them from studying. They preferred study groups led by Yōsuke or Kikyō.

Thus ended Suzune's rare initiative. It was frustrating. She simply couldn't comprehend how anyone could fail an exam — the very idea baffled her.

She remained friendless, ignorant of love, maintaining her reputation as an ice-cold, straight-laced student.

"Oh come on, I just want to be friends with you, Horikita!" Kikyō exclaimed with a hurt expression after being rebuffed.

"You actually hate me, don't you?" Suzune countered.

"..."

Kikyō's telling silence suggested the truth of the accusation.

What a twisted little angel — hating the lone beautiful girl yet desperately seeking her attention. Did making Suzune uncomfortable bring her joy? Did self-torment give her pleasure?

"..." Houtarou.

He chose to stay out of their peculiar dynamic.

Kikyō's obsession with Suzune had warped her perspective, causing her to unconsciously neglect other interests.

Consequently, Houtarou assigned her labor-intensive tasks that required effort but carried minimal risk.

This arrangement worked perfectly. With his primary goal of gathering 20 million Points, he was content to utilize this efficient, low-cost resource.

When Suzune ignored her, Kikyō smoothly shifted her attention to him.

"But today, Oreki-kun was the one who invited me out..." She employed her practiced damsel-in-distress routine, "Have you found another way to earn Points?"

She tilted her head upward slightly, gazing at him from below, her eyes reflecting only his image. It was the kind of look designed to make hearts flutter.

However. This level of attack. This level of move… He had already built up immunity to it, dear Kikyō.

Houtarou mused silently.

Yet when she grabbed his hand, her soft feminine touch enveloped his.

Moreover, after a month, perhaps due to adolescent development, her figure had become more pronounced. At such close proximity, it was difficult to maintain appropriate eye contact.

Her sweet fragrance completed the effect — so this was the essence of a sweet girl?

The girls in Class D were indeed formidable.

"Indeed, I've discovered a new way to earn Points, so I called you both out." Houtarou said, "And I want to start some preparatory work. I think this time the compensation will be around 4 million points."

Click—

At these words, the black-haired, black-stockinged girl immediately set aside her vocabulary notebook. Her beautiful fox-like eyes snapped to attention.

Kikyō's face lit up with an eager smile as she leaned in with anticipation.

"..."

You're all too materialistic.

Suppressing his judgment, he explained the plan.

"My homeroom teacher, Mashima, announced that this written exam is a routine test." He said, "Since it's routine, there are patterns we can follow. We need to gather information from the upperclassmen."

Kikyō immediately grasped the point.

If it was routine, that meant upperclassmen had experienced it before and knew how it worked.

"Yes." Houtarou nodded, "I need you to extract some information."

"Well then..." Kikyō adopted a pitiful expression, "Since it's something you need me to do, perhaps we could adjust the compensation?"

"Only 5%." He replied firmly, "Horikita-san gets 10% because her task risks expulsion if discovered. Higher risk, higher reward. Plus, you can share the information with your class."

Oh. So this plan carries high risk.

Who would risk expulsion for just a 5% increase?

Kikyō hesitated briefly.

"Then I'll stick to gathering information." She said.

Her high likability and social skills made building relationships effortless, so this work suited her perfectly.

Moreover, since this was a routine written exam, any useful information could help her class.

In Class D, she had befriended most students. Only a few remained distant, like Suzune and Rokusuke, who had argued with her about giving up his seat before enrollment.

Those two could manage on their own, being good students with nothing to fear from the exam. However, most of their classmates were poor students at risk of failing.

If she could help everyone avoid expulsion, wouldn't that make it easier to gain their attention and gratitude?

This aspect particularly appealed to her.

Additionally, Houtarou's plan could earn 4 million Points, meaning her 5% commission would be 200,000.

Today Sae had announced Class D's Evaluation Score was 0, so no one received their monthly allowance.

She still had 120,000 Points left from her previous earnings of 153,000, which she had partially lent to classmates, earning their goodwill. But continuous lending wasn't sustainable since no one could repay her.

She hoped to earn more by working with Houtarou.

This task seemed perfectly manageable.

"There's one more thing."

Seeing that she still had time during lunch break and was planning to approach a seemingly broke third-year Class D senior in the cafeteria, Houtarou called out to her.

"Horikita-san, could you show me your student ID?"

"Why?" Despite her question, Suzune handed him her phone.

Opening it.

『Suzune Horikita』

『Student ID: 1008610050』

『Class: First Year, Class A』

『Personal Account: ¤ 1,393,400 Pts』

He examined the account details. There were only daily expenses listed — no transfers to anyone.

So he returned the phone to her.

"Actually, something happened." He said, showing his student ID, "Today I received four transfers. The first is from the store arrangement — Class B students renewed their agreement, each paying 30,000 for the second month, totaling 450,000. Then our class received 123,000 points from the school. The third transfer was 1 million Points from (Kōhei) Katsuragi — I sold him the Secretary position that the Student Council President had previously offered me."

So Class B had made a different choice than Class C, opting to continue with his store plan.

These transactions no longer concerned Suzune and Kikyō, as they'd already received their commission from the initial Points.

But could Student Council positions even be sold? Had he already contacted the Student Council President?

Kikyō felt a twinge of surprise. She'd spent 10,000 Points to learn the school rules from him at the start of school, yet she still struggled to understand them completely.

"And then there's this point — one million Points from an unknown source." Houtarou said, opening the message.

He'd received this transfer in class that morning. The two girls leaned in to read the note:

『Note: You are mine. Please remain chaste for me during these three years of school.』

"..."

The message was oddly intimate, with its talk of chastity revealing a possessive nature.

Was Houtarou trying to investigate who wanted to keep him as a sugar baby?

Given the message's tone, it likely came from a female student. And considering the Class Evaluation Scores, first-years didn't have that kind of money.

It had to be an upperclassman. Was that why he wanted Kikyō to gather information?

"And after finding out this senior's identity, what do you plan to do?" Kikyō asked with a coy expression, curious about his stance.

"I'll probably reject them." Houtarou said, "Love should be mutual — no one should need to keep anyone else."

Despite his fair skin and delicate features making him seem perfect for such an arrangement, he surprisingly had principles and didn't want to rely on his looks.

Kikyō mentally revised her impression of him and quickly departed.

Only Houtarou and Suzune remained.

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