Just Want to Be a Slacker

Horikita Manabu nodded to indicate he could leave.

After leaving the office building, Kamio Tatsuya first returned to the classroom to grab his bag, then headed to the library for today's review session.

He was sure Ryuen already knew the final outcome of this farce by now; he just didn't know when the next strike would come.

The next day, when Kamio Tatsuya went to the library, he unexpectedly ran into Ryuen in the elevator.

The elevator doors opened, and both of them froze for a moment upon seeing each other.

Then Ryuen let out a cold laugh first. "Want to come up?"

Kamio Tatsuya didn't really want to go up, but since the other had invited him, not going would mean he was afraid, wouldn't it?

So Kamio Tatsuya stepped straight in and stood shoulder to shoulder with Ryuen.

After getting off the elevator, the two continued walking side by side toward the school.

"Pretty capable, aren't you? Easily cost me three of my men."

Cost him three men?

He didn't recall doing anything like that.

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Kamio Tatsuya shot him a glance.

"They got suspended for a week, but next Friday is the Midterm Exam. Missing it means they're as good as expelled, doesn't it?"

Generally speaking, unless someone faced a major incident or was too sick to attend school, any absence from exams due to personal reasons like a cold or suspension counted as a fail.

And Ishizaki, suspended for a week, would just miss next Friday's midterm.

Normally, Ishizaki's expulsion would be a done deal.

But this school was different. On the very first day, each class's homeroom teacher had conveyed an extremely important piece of information—points could buy anything.

And Ryuen's current attitude proved he'd probably thought of that too.

"If they really get expelled over some stupid reason like this, then your reign as king is as good as over," Kamio Tatsuya shot back with a mocking tone. "And the fact that things have come to this is all your fault, Ryuen. That's the price of underestimating me."

Originally, Kamio Tatsuya had never imagined Ike and Yamauchi would end up getting beaten.

Because in his initial plan, Ryuen should have personally led people to wait at the Special Teaching Building.

When he found out it wasn't Kamio Tatsuya but Ike and Yamauchi who showed up, he'd probably guess Kamio Tatsuya had seen through his aim.

So his next move should have been to take the love letter from Ike and Yamauchi, destroy the evidence, and pretend nothing happened.

Then he could take his time and look for another chance to strike at Kamio Tatsuya.

But because he looked down on Kamio Tatsuya, he just sent his underlings instead—and Ishizaki, who had a grudge against Yamauchi, at that.

As a result, things galloped off in a direction no one could have predicted.

In the end, it led to this situation.

When they reached the school, Kamio Tatsuya stopped.

"Ryuen, humans aren't machines. Before you treat them as chess pieces, you should consider the changes they might undergo.

But unlike pawn promotion, humans as pieces don't just evolve toward the better.

If you'd been the one on the scene yesterday, I don't think it would have come to this."

Chapter 59 — Kamio Tatsuya: Trust Me

Arriving at the library, Kamio Tatsuya immediately spotted Shiina Hiyori tucked away in a corner, organizing study materials.

"Good morning, Shiina."

Kamio Tatsuya walked over to her and greeted her as if nothing had happened.

"Good morning, Kamio-kun." Shiina looked up and saw Kamio Tatsuya, immediately standing up from her seat, her expression somewhat flustered. "I'm... I'm sorry, it's all because of me."

Seeing Shiina like this, Kamio Tatsuya was even more convinced she wasn't faking it. If she really had acting skills this good, she might as well keep it up for life.

"It's nothing. I'm fine anyway." Kamio Tatsuya set his bag down and sat on the chair. "What are you doing?"

"Ishizaki and the others got suspended, so I'm organizing the lessons the teacher covered these past few days for them."

Lessons, huh? I see.

Ryuen was putting on a good act. So he already had a way to keep Ishizaki and the others from being expelled, didn't he? Otherwise, why bother having Shiina organize this stuff?

"Is Ryuen planning to get them a chance for a make-up exam?"

Shiina Hiyori was impressed that Kamio Tatsuya had immediately figured out Ryuen's plan, but thinking about it, her expression dimmed.

"Yeah, but according to Teacher Sakagami, each subject's make-up exam costs five hundred thousand Private Points..."

Holy crap, that expensive!

Hearing that number, Kamio Tatsuya was taken aback. He'd expected the make-up exam to cost a lot, but not this much.

Five hundred thousand per subject, five subjects per person, and the total cost for all three of them would be seven million five hundred thousand.

That was a huge sum. Class C, where Ryuen was, might not necessarily...

No, there's definitely no way to come up with it.

If he wanted to solve it this way, there was only one option: borrowing.

First, Class D was out of the question—they had zero points. So was Ryuen planning to hit up Class A and Class B for points today?

Kamio Tatsuya sneered at Ryuen's approach.

This guy was nowhere near as bold as he'd imagined.

If Kamio Tatsuya were in this situation, he'd never honestly fork over cash for a retake chance.

"How many points has your class scraped together?"

"Only about four million right now. Ryuen said he'll figure out the rest." Shiina sounded worried.

What the hell could he figure out? When it came down to it, he'd have to rely on yours truly, Grandpa Kamio!

Perfect timing, too—he could test the school's limits.

Not only that, but he might even make a killing off this opportunity!

And if Ryuen agreed to his terms, he wouldn't be able to pull any tricks until the midterm exam.

Still, the fact that Class C could scrape together over four million was a bit of a surprise—he'd underestimated them.

"Shiina, can you contact Ryuen and have him come here? I've got something to discuss with him."

Shiina Hiyori hesitated briefly, then dialed Ryuen's number again.

About ten minutes later, Ryuen's figure appeared in the library.

"Hey, what do you want? I'm busy."

"You're busy with this, aren't you?"

Kamio Tatsuya pulled out his phone and flashed the balance on the screen.

Over three million one hundred thousand points directly blinded Ryuen's dog eyes.

But the moment he saw the number, he understood immediately and shot a glance at Shiina.

"What's your angle? Planning to loan-shark me?"

"I'm not as low-class as you." Kamio Tatsuya put his phone away. "I heard you've got four million Private Points collected from Class C?"

Ryuen glanced at Shiina again after hearing that—why did she have to spill everything?

Whatever, she just wanted to scrape together the points anyway.

"Fine, that's all of Class C's Private Points."

"I'll solve your problem. Give me those 4.5 million Private Points."

Kamio Tatsuya had no intention of loan-sharking; his target was the four million-plus Private Points in Ryuen's hands.

Hearing Kamio Tatsuya's outrageous demand, a cold smirk immediately spread across Ryuen's face.

"Hah, why should I trust you?"

"We can sign a contract. I guarantee Ishizaki and the other two will show up at the exam hall next Friday. If I fail, I'll cover their retake fees myself.

Of course, if they deliberately skip the exam, that's not on me."

Kamio Tatsuya had a plan. If it went smoothly, he'd successfully pocket Ryuen's four million Private Points. But if it didn't, he'd be gambling away his living expenses for the next three years.

He'd have to find another way to rebuild his points then.

But that was what made it exciting!

Ryuen didn't reject this sweet deal Kamio Tatsuya was offering. After all, Class C had nothing valuable anyway.

Since someone was coming to him offering points, he'd just take them.

"I'll call Sakagami right now. We can print the contract at the library. What do you think?"

Kamio Tatsuya nodded in agreement.

Before long, the three of them hammered out a simple contract.

It was a transaction contract, straightforward, pretty much matching what Kamio Tatsuya had just said.

Transaction terms: Ryuen would pay Kamio Tatsuya 4.5 million Private Points, and Kamio Tatsuya guaranteed Ishizaki and the others would show up at the exam hall on the day of the midterm.

Additional condition one: If Ishizaki and the others failed to take the exam, Kamio Tatsuya was obligated to pay 7.5 million Private Points to secure their retake opportunity (this clause would be void if Ishizaki and the others refused to take the midterm due to subjective reasons, or missed it due to physical issues or other unforeseen factors).

Additional condition two: During this period, the 7.5 million Private Points in Kamio Tatsuya's possession would be frozen and unusable.

Additional condition three: Kamio Tatsuya bore no responsibility for Ishizaki and the others' results.

According to school rules, contracts between students only required any homeroom teacher from the same grade to be present as a witness, so Ryuen choosing Sakagami was fine.

No, maybe Sakagami being the witness was the best option.

Soon after, Class C's homeroom teacher, Sakagami Kazuma, arrived at the library.

"What's up, Ryuen?"

Seeing Sakagami Kazuma's attitude, Kamio Tatsuya sighed inwardly. This was the kind of attitude you needed to lead a class to Class A.

What kind of little-sister move was Chabashira Sae pulling?

"I want to sign a contract with this guy, and I'd like you to be the witness."

Sakagami Kazuma glanced at Kamio Tatsuya, then nodded. Since Ryuen had decided, he had no objections.

"The contract?"

"Here."

Ryuen took out the freshly printed contract and handed it to Sakagami for review.

Teacher Sakagami took it, looked it over carefully, then shot Kamio Tatsuya a somewhat surprised glance. What was going on here?

Why was someone willingly handing over money?

"Are you sure you want to sign this contract?"

Kamio Tatsuya and Ryuen both nodded, indicating no objections.

"In that case, sign it."

There were three copies of the contract, each bearing the names of Kamio Tatsuya, Ryuen Kakeru, and Sakagami Kazuma.

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

Sakagami Kazuma took the original, while Ryuen and Kamio Tatsuya each kept a copy.

"Alright, time for you to fulfill the contract."

"Don't worry, I'm a man of my word."

After adding each other as friends, Ryuen directly transferred four hundred and fifty thousand Private Points to Kamio Tatsuya.

"I'll be waiting to see Friday."

"Relax, I guarantee I won't let you down."