Classroom of the Elite: Houtarou Oreki

"I previously approved Houtarou Oreki's work permit, and now it really is giving us a headache," he said.

"..."

So if it was going to be such a headache, he should not have approved it in the first place.

However, everyone also knew that Chairman Sakayanagi wanted to cultivate talent.

Therefore, he would grant students as much freedom as possible to develop on their own.

And since a student had been able to spot a loophole and exploit it, why not give him a chance?

Being too rigid would only turn the students into mass-produced products.

And that was the problem the school had faced for years.

They gathered students from all over the country and brought them here for training, yet the final results were less than satisfactory.

"And what do you think about this?" Chairman Sakayanagi continued.

While everyone was talking, a dignified boy with short black hair and glasses stepped out from the shadows.

This was the most outstanding Student Council President since the school's founding—Manabu Horikita.

"I hold Houtarou Oreki in high regard," Manabu Horikita said. "At the beginning of the school year, I tried to invite him to join the Student Council."

"He possesses sharp insight."

"I thought he could keep Nagumo Miyabi in check."

"But looking at things now, it seems my original assessment was still too low. Nagumo is not as perceptive or meticulous as he is," Manabu Horikita said.

"That is true." Chairman Sakayanagi nodded. "He is a child who understands propriety quite well."

"This is another agreement he signed at the time."

The Chairman opened his drawer and took out a contract bearing Houtarou Oreki's name and signature.

Everyone looked over.

[Having obtained work permit privileges, should this cause trouble for the school, I, Houtarou Oreki, am willing to surrender those privileges without compensation.]

"Without compensation?"

"Yes." Chairman Sakayanagi nodded. "Clearly, he knew what he was doing."

"When I agreed to let him purchase the privilege, he also gave us a way out."

"Since he is so sensible, we must respond accordingly."

"Then what do you mean?" The others all looked at him, including Manabu Horikita.

Thus, at 22:00 yesterday, the school had already formulated a solution.

And now, back to the present.

"Yesterday, I made two posts on the forum."

"The first was about Vice President Nagumo demanding five million for store-opening privileges."

"And the second was about selling work permit privileges," Houtarou Oreki said.

"Oh, that—"

As a little social angel, Kikyou Kushida naturally knew about the forum, as well as how lively it had been yesterday.

The work permit privileges and all that.

But—

A single work permit privilege cost one hundred thousand points. Freshmen basically could not afford one.

Kushida, however, still had the five percent remuneration Oreki had transferred to her from their previous store-opening plan—a full 153,000 points.

It seemed enough to buy one work permit privilege.

But—

What she was thinking was that the store-opening venture she had joined with Oreki before had been a scam, and she had been the only one doing any work.

Although she could blame Nagumo for it, she had still suffered some losses.

For example, problems had arisen among the Class C students.

The girls had arranged to go shopping with her, but then they said that a Kakeru Ryuuen had appeared in Class C. He ruled the class with violence and would not allow them to interact with people from other classes.

So the girls did not dare anger Ryuuen and could only keep quiet.

And as for the boys—

Kushida had sent them messages, but Ryuuen intercepted them on the spot. Then, in front of the entire class, he cursed the boy who had received Kushida's message, calling him cheap and accusing him of lusting after her body.

As a result, none of the boys dared contact Kushida either.

Thus—

Class C had practically cut off all contact with the other classes.

Therefore—

The social circle Little Kushida had hoped to build with everyone had been gouged open in one place.

It stung a little.

Therefore—

When she discovered that Oreki had come up with some new work permit privilege, she was not very interested.

She had even seriously looked at her phone last night, thinking about how she should refuse if Oreki asked to cooperate with her again.

After all, she had already been tricked once. She did not want to fall for it again.

And fortunately, Oreki had neither contacted her nor asked her to do any work last night.

"So the work permit privilege is real?" Little Kushida maintained her adorable little angel expression.

"It's real, but the school won't allow it, so they'll probably take it back soon," Oreki said.

Oh.

So that was how it was.

Kushida's cute expression seemed ready to withdraw.

So—

If the school was going to reclaim it, would that not leave him bearing the blame?

In that case, it was better not to get involved.

It seemed she had made the right choice.

However, just as she thought that, Kushida heard Oreki continue.

"However, the school will allow Senior Nagumo's store-opening scheme. That shows the board's bottom line is very low."

"And when I purchased the work permit privilege, I signed a goodwill agreement with the Chairman."

"So the work permit privilege will definitely be taken back."

"But."

"The school will probably compensate both me and the students as well, eventually reaching an outcome everyone can accept," Oreki said. "Therefore, it is still hard to say exactly how many points we will receive this time."

Oh.

So that was how it was.

So she really had missed an opportunity?

Kushida's mood turned less than pleasant.

From Horikita and Oreki's conversation just now, Horikita Suzune was participating in this collaboration.

So Horikita Suzune could make money by following him again?

Meanwhile, not only had Kushida not been chosen, she had even missed an opportunity to receive compensation from the school for free.

Little Kushida's mood suddenly... became rather unpleasant.

As she thought that, she noticed Oreki's phone vibrate.

It seemed he had received a message.

I see.

Kushida understood social etiquette and atmosphere very well, so she took a small step back to show that she was not trying to peek.

But—

She had already seen it.

There was a message on the screen.

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

From an unfamiliar number.

But the person behind that number...

"It's Vice President Nagumo," Oreki said. "Wasn't he rather annoying before? So I bet him that if I made five million in three days, he would give me three hundred thousand points for free."

"And now, he probably thinks it's time to settle it."

"So."

Oreki looked at Kushida, whose mood had gone through a roller coaster in just a few short minutes.

"Do you want to come get even with him?"

Did she want to come get even with him?

Kushida naturally knew Nagumo Miyabi. In the previous store-opening plan, it had been Vice President Nagumo who jumped out and demanded money.

And he had also been exposed as a playboy.

Yet she had foolishly told him her full name.

So Kushida was actually in quite a bad mood.

But now—

Should she go get even with Nagumo alongside Oreki?

Indeed.

She did not want Nagumo pestering her. If she went along, it would definitely deepen his impression of her.

But—

Oreki... she had not seen him for a single night.

And he had made a bet with Vice President Nagumo. He had to earn five million in three days, and now it could be settled, which meant...

Which meant he had made another five million.

Adding that to the previous store-opening plan involving fifty-one people, that would be ten million points.

Little Kushida weighed the pros and cons.

On the first day of enrollment, Class D had also paid Oreki to learn the school's rules.

So she knew very well just how difficult it was to gather twenty million points.

Yet only half a month had passed, and Oreki had achieved a feat that students from so many previous years had failed to accomplish.

Of the twenty million points, he had already obtained nearly ten million.

So—

"C-Can I?" Kushida put on an adorable expression.

"Of course." Oreki nodded.

Nagumo had suddenly contacted him, and Oreki guessed that the school had made its decision.