Classroom of the Elite: Houtarou Oreki Chapter 5

Classmate Sakayanagi seemed to be recruiting a team.

But it looked more like she was selecting a tool person to grind elite monsters from the third-year students.

There was a return on investment, but it would likely take a long time to materialize.

His mission was to obtain 200,000 points today, so this was useless.

Furthermore.

"I don't think there's any point in participating in the third-year students' exam, as the class evaluation points for the second-year classes are too stable, which makes me feel uneasy."

Oreki pointed out.

The class evaluation points for the four second-year classes had also been announced.

Class A: 1900 points.

Class B: 1100 points.

Class C: 1000 points.

Class D: 900 points.

These scores were strange. Aside from Class 2-A being far in the lead, the subsequent scores looked as if they had been artificially manufactured.

How could a whole year pass and everyone's scores be round numbers?

And wasn't Class D supposed to be a trash heap? How could they be ranked so high?

In other words, the second-year students had likely all banded together.

The special exam had turned into a collaboration between the four classes, treating the school like a cash cow to farm points.

And if the second-year students were capable of such a thing, would they let the fat target of Class 3-B slide?

So, if Sakayanagi wanted to farm the third-year students, she would have to take down the second-years first.

"That wouldn't be any fun," Classmate Sakayanagi said.

Perhaps having considered this point, Classmate Sakayanagi seemed to have abandoned the plan to farm Class 3-B.

She gripped her cane and slowly walked away.

Oreki prepared to leave as well, but he suddenly stopped.

"Is there something you need by following me?"

He looked toward the corner behind the stairwell.

"Classmate Kamuro."

Chapter 5: Classmate Kamuro, as a poor student, you don't fit in with Class A!

Classmate Kamuro.

Full name: Masumi Kamuro.

She was a girl with purple hair and an expressionless face, yet she looked uninterested in everything. She even seemed to have a hint of disdain for everything.

She wore her purple hair long, characterized by two hair clips that exposed her forehead.

She was tall, and her legs were long and powerful.

She likely possessed strong athletic talent.

Before the teacher arrived, the class had held a self-introduction session.

All the students participated, and Classmate Kamuro belonged to the more solitary type.

She didn't speak much, but she seemed prone to getting lost in her own thoughts.

However.

After Teacher Majima announced free time and that there would be no afternoon classes, Oreki noticed that Classmate Kamuro had also left the classroom.

Then, he quickly realized that she seemed to be following him and Arisu Sakayanagi.

He had assumed she was following Sakayanagi, but Classmate Sakayanagi had left, and Kamuro had not.

In other words.

Was Classmate Kamuro following him?

Oreki considered himself an ordinary person, though his appearance was decent enough that several girls in his class had already asked for his phone number.

But he didn't think Classmate Kamuro was that kind of enthusiastic girl.

"..." Masumi Kamuro walked over. "Classmate Oreki, you're planning to take the school rules you recorded and sell them to other classes, right?"

"So, do you want to join in? Or are you looking to report me?" Oreki remained calm.

Although he could sell the rules himself, he wasn't very good at interacting with others.

So, hadn't a helper just arrived?

"Reporting? That has no meaning. Rather, I want a share of the profits," Classmate Kamuro said. "I hadn't even reacted before the teacher finished explaining the rules, but I noticed you made a recording, so I want you to give me a copy."

She seemed to have the style of a true Class A student.

Once one understood the rules of this school, one would realize there were two paths to success.

One was to maintain the position of Class A and graduate as a member of Class A.

But this was not secure, because there would be many exams over the three years, and could Class A really maintain its advantage the whole time?

If they fell, their morale would be crushed, and it would be hard to climb back up—wouldn't that be even more difficult?

Therefore.

It was a very arduous process.

Then, Teacher Majima had revealed the second path.

That was, points above all else.

If an individual accumulated 20 million points, they could avoid expulsion and also transfer to the class of their choice.

In other words, as long as one could produce 20 million points at the time of graduation and transfer to the third-year Class A of that time.

One could confirm graduation from third-year Class A.

And then receive the promise fulfilled by the school.

So, while most students chose to maintain their status as Class A, was Classmate Kamuro, who was already a student in Class A, choosing to accumulate points?

And Teacher Majima had also said that no student in the school had yet accumulated 20 million points.

So the difficulty of this path was immense.

Thus, the probability of Masumi Kamuro accumulating 20 million was low, and she wouldn't choose this.

Then, the reason she followed him and Sakayanagi was—

Thinking of this, Houtarou Oreki looked at Classmate Kamuro.

"What? Do you disagree?" Kamuro kept a straight face.

Oreki maintained a calm expression.

"Classmate Kamuro, do you have a weakness that makes you unable to meet the standards of Class A?" Oreki asked.

"Heh—" But Classmate Kamuro's straight face seemed to shift. "That's a funny thing to say. I entered this school officially, just like you. I didn't use any back-door connections at all."

"It seems that's exactly the case," Oreki said. "Classmate Kamuro, you just exposed yourself by mentioning back-door connections, which means even you feel you don't measure up to Class A in some aspects."

"Hmph—"

But Classmate Kamuro maintained her look of contempt.

In truth, she already felt... she should have known better than to approach him.

She regretted it.

She had been recommended to this school, felt something was off, and sure enough, she discovered that something was wrong—her classmates were basically all very strong.

Even... they were all the type she hated most: academic elites.

Even someone like Hashimoto, who looked like a playboy, could easily score 85 or 88 on exams.

But someone like her... was the type who barely scraped by with a passing grade.

That is, around 40 to 45 points.

In other words.

There were exams every month, and if there were a bunch of written tests every month, she would be finished.

Because the passing grade for an exam was the class average.

And if everyone around her was an academic elite, wouldn't the average score rise accordingly?

So.

If a written test were held, she might be doomed.

"Classmate Sakayanagi's academic ability should be very strong," Oreki continued. "So she could probably get a perfect score on every subject during written tests."

"And if I put in the effort, I could also get perfect scores on every subject."

"Someone as diligent as Classmate Katsuragi will likely urge everyone to improve their grades as well."

"It's easy to imagine that if a written test were held, the passing grade for our class would be very high," Oreki said.

As he said this, he stared at the long-legged Classmate Kamuro.

"..." Kamuro.

"..." Masumi Kamuro.

Classmate Kamuro seemed unmoved.

Then, five minutes later, the two of them headed toward the first-year area together.

"I was very uneasy when I first arrived at this school, so I memorized some information about the students while in the Gymnasium."

"I can probably distinguish their faces," Masumi Kamuro said.

And now, the two of them had walked out of the third-year school building.

Masumi Kamuro followed by Oreki's side with a straight face, reporting her situation.

It was as if she were a natural-born lackey.

Beginning to show loyalty to her master.

She had admitted her poor academic ability, which was why she wanted to follow Sakayanagi or Oreki.

She followed Oreki because she felt he was smarter and had strong insight, and he seemed not very good at dealing with girls.

So if she asked him for help, it might be easy to succeed.

The basis for this was that when Sakayanagi had turned her head and smiled at him in class, he hadn't been able to handle it.

I see.

Realizing this, Classmate Oreki reflected on himself.

But he truly had no experience dealing with girls (his older sister didn't count; in a younger brother's eyes, an older sister isn't a girl).

And there was a reason Kamuro followed Sakayanagi as well.

Sakayanagi's health was very poor, but the fact that she could be assigned to Class A meant she was very strong in other areas; in other words, her academic ability was definitely maxed out.

So following a superman with maxed-out academic ability to get tutoring must be very helpful.

Classmate Kamuro's plan was well-calculated, and then... it ended before it even began.

Now, she was accompanying Oreki to sell information as an assistant.

She didn't need to be paid.

However.

"Which class do you want to sell to?" Kamuro seemed to still have a shred of integrity as a Class A student.

The class had pooled 2 million points to obtain these rules, and she herself had contributed 50,000 points.