Classroom of the Elite: Houtarou Oreki

"I have a lot to do, so I don't have much time left for friends."

At that moment, Horikita Suzune put away her vocabulary book, as the elevator chimed upon reaching the first floor.

The doors opened, and she prepared to leave directly.

But—

As she stepped out, she looked back at Oreki.

"You haven't given me my compensation yet," she said.

"Understood." Oreki waved his phone at her. "But we'll probably have to wait a while. I think the school will respond, so we don't know the final point total yet."

"Fine."

Horikita Suzune nodded and walked out.

But—

There was still one innocent spectator who had not been involved.

Kushida's eyes sparkled.

"Um, Oreki, what were you and Horikita talking about?"

"Or could it be..."

She once again launched her pitiful-looking attack.

She seemed completely unaffected by Horikita's cold tone and words when she left just now.

"Did you two work together on something again?" Kushida asked.

And speaking of working together, they had to mention Oreki's store-opening plan from a week ago.

The three of them had worked on it together.

Yet it seemed that she had contributed the most, while receiving the least money.

However—

She did not understand the school rules very well. Information was also strength, so she did not have much of an objection.

Besides, she had received points.

Over the past few days, she had strongly suspected that their class points had already been deducted to nothing.

Even the other subject teachers looked at them with sympathy.

As someone skilled at socializing and handling interpersonal relationships, Kushida could easily read those looks.

Therefore—

As a Class D student, relying on her class was meaningless. She needed to gather as many points as possible.

So—

"Aren't we friends?" she said.

The implication of those words was that, in the previous store-opening plan, another reward she had received was becoming friends with Houtarou Oreki.

And yet—

They had become friends, but now he had another plan without including her?

Sure enough—

Was Horikita Suzune more important to him?

It seemed like something out of a love triangle.

But Oreki watched Kushida closely.

He did not think Kushida cared much about him. Rather, until she dealt with Horikita, Kushida would not feel anything for him. Even her current closeness might not come from the heart.

Kushida was obsessed with Horikita Suzune.

She was constantly treated coldly, yet even now, she still morbidly insisted on approaching Horikita Suzune.

Therefore—

Kushida wanting to interact with him was likely because she wanted to use him to build a bridge to Horikita Suzune.

Hadn't she seen it?

Horikita Suzune had spoken to him just now, and they even seemed to have acted together.

Those were all things Kushida wanted.

"I did work with Horikita," Oreki said.

He received a message.

It was from Nagumo Miyabi.

[Houtarou Oreki, our wager is still valid, right? We'll settle it during Lunch Break today!]

In other words, it seemed the school had already made its choice.

Since Nagumo was a Student Council member, he had probably received the news in advance.

Yes, Nagumo Miyabi had received the news.

However, the school had actually made its decision at 10 p.m. last night.

Kushida: Eek, I'm Not That Kind of Girl!

At 10 p.m. last night.

In the Chairman's Office.

The Chairman and a group of faculty members were gathered inside.

"This is incredible," a staff member said. "So far, Class 1-A student Houtarou Oreki's Student ID Card private account has gained more than ten million points in just two hours."

"No, the rate is still increasing."

"Eleven million—no, twelve million."

"It's still rising..."

"It seems the students are really determined to work part-time," the staff member could not help saying.

As staff members, they already knew that after Houtarou Oreki bought out the work authorization rights, he immediately began leasing them out.

Anyone who wanted work authorization had to pay 100,000 points.

It would be valid for three years.

If they could not use it all up, they could transfer it to someone else.

Thus, points were being added to Oreki's account in increments of 100,000 per person.

One person meant 100,000 points, while ten students meant one million points.

Oreki had started with 4.22 million points in his account. After deducting the three million used to buy out the authorization rights, he had 1.22 million points remaining. Now, his account had risen to over 12.1 million points.

In other words, more than one hundred students had already obtained authorization through him.

This was more profitable than Nagumo Miyabi's store, and even more popular.

Yet these students did not stop to think: although this was a fully closed school, the only place available for part-time work was the Shopping District.

The Shopping District had roughly one thousand basic employees.

So even if they needed people to help out with part-time work, they would not need that many.

And yet they all still wanted to rush into part-time jobs?

But clearly—

No one wanted to let this opportunity slip away.

So they would secure it first and worry about the rest later.

"That's perfectly normal. That's how our children have been raised."

"My little girl also works outside to earn herself extra spending money," another staff member said. "After all, the allowance we give her often isn't enough."

In other words—

Students working part-time was perfectly normal in this country.

Rather, preventing them from working was something people found hard to accept.

"However—"

Another staff member looked deeply worried.

"Chairman Sakayanagi, is this really all right?"

"With so many students involved, they will no longer need to depend entirely on the school."

"So they may not cooperate in participating in the various special exams intended to cultivate them," the staff member said.

After he said that, everyone turned their eyes toward the man who had been sitting with both hands on the table from the beginning.

The man had short silver-white hair and wore glasses.

He was middle-aged.

He looked quite approachable.

This was the Chairman of the school, as well as the holder of its highest authority.

And the staff member's concern was an important one.

The school kept the students in a fully closed environment and cultivated them by awarding scores through special exams, which could then be exchanged for points.

But now, if students could obtain points freely, would they still need to listen to the school?

They would not.

Nagumo's previous proposal to open a store had already somewhat crossed the line.

Through that plan, Nagumo earned a large number of points each month. Not only had he entered the Student Council, he had even gained control over the second-year students.

Then the second-year students had turned around and treated the school's monthly special exams like an ATM.

This was something the school had not anticipated.

So they had been considering how to handle it.

But the Chairman's view was that the school's duty was to provide students with a stage.

Unless absolutely necessary, they would not interfere.

And someone like Nagumo Miyabi emerging was also within the realm of possibility.

So they needed to observe a little longer.

Therefore—

Nagumo Miyabi's store would continue operating.

As for Nagumo Miyabi turning the second-year students into slackers, they would give him a little more time to realize it himself.

Or they could let the Student Council President handle it.

Thus, it had exceeded the school's control, but had not completely gone beyond the rules.

But—

This work authorization had now completely exceeded their control.

If students had other sources of income, the school would lose its control over them.

So this was enough to shake the school's long-standing operating model.

This was the greatest crisis since the school's founding.

In an instant, none of the staff members were in the mood for relaxed conversation anymore. They all looked solemnly toward Chairman Sakayanagi.

"Indeed."

Noticing that everyone was looking at him, Chairman Sakayanagi, wearing black-rimmed glasses, spoke.