It was beginning to resemble a three-way negotiation.
Housen continued, "And Ryuuen... you're trying to squeeze us first-years dry, aren't you?"
"What a shameless bastard," Housen remarked.
"Right back at you. You used violence to bring your class together just days after enrolling. What right do you have to laugh at me?" Ryuuen said. "You had the students in your class with academic ability of B- or above selling their slots everywhere, didn't you?"
"It costs 500,000 to pair up with you," Ryuuen said.
"So you do understand."
Housen raised his left hand and clenched it in the air. "This school is pretty interesting, and so is this so-called special exam."
"Going by the rules, you second-years are at a serious disadvantage."
"Because you know, don't you?"
"We freshmen have a way to deliberately lower our scores," Housen said.
"What do you mean?" Horikita Suzune, who had remained silent until then, spoke up.
"You don't get it?"
Housen once again wore the arrogant expression he had started with. "This is an exclusive weapon belonging to us first-year freshmen."
"According to the exam rules, if a pair's combined score is below 500 points, first-years won't receive Private Points rewards for three months. But second-years have to be expelled."
"And deliberately controlling your score and intentionally doing badly on the exam is prohibited."
"But if you fail to find a partner, the system will randomly assign one. The price for that is a 5% deduction from your total score, which makes the exam harder."
"And that's what worries you second-year seniors the most, isn't it?"
I see.
Housen had grasped that point from the start and intended to use it to threaten the second-years.
He had quickly used violence to consolidate Class 1-D.
And there were a total of eleven students in