Classroom of the Elite: Houtarou Oreki

Nagumo was very tolerant of girls—as long as they were pretty.

But he was much stricter when it came to boys.

Still, his invitation to Oreki was sincere.

Because Oreki was the first person at this school to pioneer earning points by opening a shop. It was an innovation.

And he was also one of the few examples of someone successfully leading Class B upward.

That was why Manabu Horikita had brought him into the Student Council.

These were all Nagumo's strengths.

However, the idea and implementation of opening a shop had only been completed three months ago.

In other words, he had already been at the school for nine months.

Meanwhile, Oreki had come up with the same idea, then collected points in an even more direct way. That earned Nagumo's recognition.

Yes.

Nagumo's shop was a joint venture.

It pooled points from his class, along with points from other classes. He had even borrowed some from teachers.

So it had not been easy for him either.

The shop's monthly net income of two million points also had to go toward repaying debts.

But there were benefits too.

After the debt was completely repaid, he alone would take fifty percent of the shop's income.

So after half a year, he could pick up one million points every month for free. Wasn't that amazing?

But whether it was buying shares or borrowing money, Oreki's method would ultimately let someone obtain a shop after one year.

So in Nagumo's eyes, that was quite impressive as well.

"Vice President?"

Only then did Horikita notice how he had addressed her.

"Yes, Suzune." Nagumo nodded.

"..."

But Horikita immediately fell silent.

Oreki knew that Horikita had probably only just realized that this senior, Nagumo, was a member of her brother's Student Council—and had even become its Vice President. He was formidable.

But she had already learned this when Oreki had gone to gather information before.

So she could barely remain calm.

At the same time.

It was easy to understand why she did not speak.

Because Nagumo had called her Suzune.

But Suzune was her given name. Only people close to her could call her that.

Such as family.

Even Oreki called her Horikita.

So she greatly disliked Nagumo's overly familiar behavior.

Nagumo was actually innocent in this, because Oreki had not introduced Horikita's surname. He could only call her by her given name.

He had no idea he was being coldly treated already.

"Does opening a shop really cost that much?"

Kikyou Kushida, the little angel, spoke up.

Since a beautiful little angel had started a conversation with him, Nagumo Miyabi immediately responded.

Kikyou: ? Damn it, Oreki, aren't you going to protect me? Part Two

"It does cost that much," Nagumo Miyabi said. "After all, I paid a hefty price to buy the exclusive rights."

"Like any business, it has to make a profit."

"If I sold you the shop-opening rights at their original price, I would have no way to explain it to my class."

"But it's great that you came up with this idea."

"So, Kushida, for your sake, I'll charge you one million fewer points. I'll explain the missing one million points to my classmates myself."

For her... sake?

Nagumo's words did sound rather pleasant.

So she continued, "Can't you make it any cheaper?"

"No." Nagumo Miyabi shook his head. "After all, the class spent that much money too."

"So think it over carefully."

"But I've already seen your abilities. I'll invite all three of you to join the Student Council." Nagumo Miyabi handed over an invitation card. "I believe in strength above all else."

"And I highly recognize your abilities," he said.

"..."

"..." Oreki.

"Senior Nagumo," Oreki said. "How many second-year students are there now?"

"?" Nagumo had probably not expected Oreki to suddenly ask that.

But he still answered. "One hundred and thirty-four."

One hundred and thirty-four.

There were four classes in each year, and 4 × 40 equaled 160 students.

The school held special exams. Since there was a rule allowing students to avoid expulsion with twenty million points, there must also be students expelled for failing exams.

However.

Nagumo Miyabi's second-year cohort had lost twenty-six students after only one year.

No matter how he looked at it, that was abnormal.

Far too many students had been expelled.

"Have many students in your class been expelled, Senior?" Oreki continued.

"..." Nagumo. "Ten from my class, I suppose, for one reason or another."

Oreki understood now.

Why President Horikita had rejected Vice President Nagumo.

Nagumo Miyabi and Manabu Horikita both liked to talk about strength above all else.

But clearly.

Nagumo's version of strength above all else was different from Manabu Horikita's.

To Nagumo, it meant that he himself was outstanding enough, and no one else could resist him.

The large number of expulsions was his method of ruling the second years.

Those who refused to obey were expelled.

Since it was his own class, there were surely many more who resisted. Thus, ten students from his class had been expelled outright.

That made Nagumo a very troublesome person.

With that thought in mind.

Oreki had already achieved his objective, so there was no need to stay here and discuss opening a shop with Nagumo.

Just as he was thinking that.

Beep!

He heard the system notification sound in his mind.

"Congratulations, Host. You have triggered a Side Quest."

[Task Requirements: Disrupt Nagumo Miyabi's two-pronged pursuit of Kikyou Kushida and Horikita Suzune.]

[Time Limit: 10 days]

[Task Reward: Precognitive Dream (You may specify a time and have 3 precognitive dreams per week)]

[Task Penalty: None]

"..." Oreki.

??

So this capable, sunny-looking senior was actually that kind of person?

He actually wanted to pursue two girls at once.

Still.

The reward for this task was a Precognitive Dream.

Would he dream about things that happened in the future?

It would be a lie to say he was not interested.

Oreki had thought he could only obediently work on the huge twenty-million-point task, but there were other tasks too.

And now.

"I accept the task!"

Oreki looked at Nagumo Miyabi.

"What?"

"Have you agreed?" Nagumo Miyabi was still focused on his earlier invitation.

"If it's an invitation, then I refuse," Oreki said. "Student Council President Manabu Horikita said he would not recruit any more first-year students during his term."

"So your words as Vice President do not count."

"..." Nagumo.

"Oh."

Nagumo Miyabi's interest seemed to drop all at once.

Because that meant Oreki was actually on Manabu Horikita's side.

But it also meant the President was guarding against him and would not use normal means to name him as the next Student Council President, so Nagumo would have to seize that position himself.

Thus.

This was bad news for Nagumo.

But the bad news was not over.

"Also, Senior Nagumo, could you not be so ridiculous?"

"You already have someone you like, right? Then don't set your sights on younger girls."

"That's really shameless," Oreki said.

Then he grabbed Horikita's sleeve and led her away.

??

Kushida did not quite understand what he meant, but Oreki had already left with Horikita Suzune. So she politely gave an apologetic smile and followed after them.

After all.

This time, she was acting in cooperation with Oreki.