Houtarou Oreki's Classroom of the Elite

However, Kamuro's actions were a bit interesting.

She had originally been sitting on the outer side, but after Oreki came over, she took the initiative to move to the inner side.

She gave up her seat.

And then... she started wolfing down her food without a care for her image.

It seemed she had no intention of joining the conversation or speaking at all. She wanted to be background noise with a low sense of presence.

Oreki glanced at the meal Kamuro had fetched for Sakanagi.

It was a bowl of tender stir-fried meat over rice, paired with green broccoli, a small steamed egg, and half a fresh orange.

It looked nutritionally balanced.

Sakanagi's own meal was quite ordinary. But ordinary food meant that although Sakayanagi Arisu's body was frail, it was merely a physical defect.

She didn't need any special dietary restrictions or focus.

"It seems you've taken in a puppy from another class." Sakayanagi Arisu's voice was the same as ever.

Rhythmic, sweet, and pleasant to the ear.

Saying this indicated that Kamuro, who was skilled at gathering information, had reported his conversation with Sakura to Sakanagi.

And since Sakanagi wasn't in Katsuragi's group chat this morning, yet she knew the contents of the chat immediately, it must have been Kamuro who snitched.

"Then Kamuro is probably going to be expelled. She knows too much," Oreki said.

Then, he stared at Sakanagi's face.

"By the way, what is Kamuro's weakness?" He seemed somewhat interested.

"I only handed her over to you yesterday, but it seems she has a very strong sense of identification with you," Oreki said.

This wasn't baseless speculation.

Kamuro had acted as his assistant yesterday, but today, she treated Sakanagi more like... a puppy to its master.

Kamuro being a poor student was one weakness.

However.

He didn't believe that simply arranging for Sakanagi to tutor her would make her immediately pledge her loyalty.

Therefore.

During the afternoon when he was sleeping yesterday, Kamuro's weakness must have been seized by Sakayanagi Arisu.

And then, with her weakness held over her, Kamuro had no choice but to act like a dog.

Hearing Oreki's words, Kamuro looked up, appearing somewhat nervous.

"Hehe..."

"Do you really think I would tell you?" Sakanagi replied with a sweet smile.

She looked truly cute.

However.

Then you are truly not cute at all.

Oreki thought to himself.

This was why he wasn't very well-adapted to this school.

There were always top-tier beautiful girls he wasn't good at dealing with; just by showing a cute expression or smiling, they made one's heart race. It was truly unreasonable.

However.

Kamuro was useless to Oreki, and he wasn't good at getting along with girls. Continuing to use Kamuro would mean having to teach her schoolwork, which was a long process and not energy-efficient.

That was why he gave her to you.

Do you know that, Sakanagi?

And Kamuro's nervous appearance just now indicated that her weakness was something that couldn't be spoken of openly.

In other words, this was a bomb.

As long as it was exposed, it would bring harm to Class A.

But these words.

Oreki did not say them out loud.

At the same time, he already had a new Tool Person—Horikita Suzune.

He still had the grand task of gathering 20 million points.

Kamuro couldn't provide any assistance in that regard; only Horikita could.

But there was no need to reveal such things to Sakanagi.

"If you're doing this because of the Student Council position this morning, I don't suggest you get involved," Oreki said.

"Katsuragi is quite a decent person."

"He is someone who seeks stability. If he can hold the class together, then letting him join the Student Council would be a good thing."

"I think we can give him this opportunity."

"At the same time."

"The students in the class currently have no points, so if Katsuragi wants to secure a position in the Student Council, he will have to cut the points of those who support him next month, or even the month after that."

"And since this school is based on merit, having few points for two consecutive months will lead to trouble."

"So if something happens that requires points to resolve, Katsuragi and his group will find themselves in a passive position."

"Therefore, this Student Council position isn't exactly a hot commodity," Oreki said.

"I see." Sakayanagi Arisu seemed to have already considered this point. "That is exactly what I was thinking as well."

"After all, if it were something good, Oreki-kun would probably have given it to me."

"..."

Oh.

So why are you so certain about that?

Because you're cute?

Indeed, you are quite cute.

You even have the traits of a frail loli, which makes people want to protect you.

However.

He is currently very short on points.

So, why not sell the position to whoever is willing to pay?

Thinking this, Oreki felt his phone vibrate.

[80,000 points have been deposited into your account.]

[Current balance: 1,771,400 points]

???

Masumi Kamuro, who had just been eating voraciously, suddenly looked at Oreki.

Or rather.

She knew about him going to Class D to sell school rules earlier, and she had even received 50,000 points from him.

So she was quite well-off.

But.

Oreki-kun's current balance is not right.

How did it suddenly increase by 1.5 million points?

She has absolutely no idea.

What on earth happened during the afternoon and evening when she and Oreki had no contact?

Chapter 020: Buying someone for 20 million points, I suggest buying the Student Council President!

The puppy-like Masumi Kamuro wore an expression of utter disbelief.

Meanwhile, Sakayanagi Arisu continued to maintain her cute demeanor.

Oreki said, "Although maintaining Class A within my own class is important, I thought of something: 20 million points can exempt one from expulsion, and can also be used to transfer to a desired class."

"So, does that mean if one gathers 20 million points, they could also buy someone over?"

"And this is a feat that no one has accomplished yet."

"So even if it seems like an unreasonable request, the school might make some compromises."

"Therefore, taking precautions is quite important," Oreki-kun said.

This seemed to explain the reason why he was gathering points now.

For self-preservation.

"..." Sakanagi.

Sakayanagi Arisu seemed to ponder this for a moment.

Then she nodded gently.

Oreki-kun's worries were not a persecution complex.

One should not offend others, but one might also be plotted against.

So, self-preservation is indeed very important.

At the same time.

Although the Katsuragi Faction had emerged within the class, Sakayanagi Arisu did not believe that an honest person like Katsuragi could shoulder the entire burden.

Therefore, the person capable of leading Class A must at least be someone like her, or perhaps someone like Oreki.

Oreki's insight was something that Katsuragi could never hope to catch up to, no matter how hard he tried.

And so.

If the lower-ranked classes gritted their teeth, they might truly be able to buy over a representative from a higher-ranked class.

After all.

In a school where ability is supreme, could it be that points are actually supreme?

And 20 million points was not an unsolvable problem.

For instance, the salaries for the faculty were also distributed in the form of private points, so while the students might be short on points for a time, the teachers might have accumulated a massive sum.

Therefore.

Sakayanagi Arisu believed that it was possible for teachers to participate in such irregularities as well.

"If I were to be bought into Class D, then it would probably be... not just boring, but truly horrifying," she finally remarked as her assessment.

However, as for being bought into Class D—that was a universally acknowledged nightmare.

Due to her physical frailty, she had little experience attending school in the past, and even after arriving at this institution, she felt it was just more of the same.

Campus life was nothing more than that.

So, she wanted to pursue some excitement.

But if she were to be bought into Class D, that would not be excitement; it would be terror.

For example, the four classes, ABCD, were fluid, and the class evaluation points initially given to the new students by the school were also identical.

In that case, even Class D had the opportunity to climb to the top.