Kamio Tatsuya: You Have to Believe Me

Horikita Manabu nodded to indicate that he could leave.

After leaving the administration building, Kamio Tatsuya first went back to the classroom to get his backpack, then headed to the library to study for the day.

Ryuen had probably already learned the outcome of this farce by now. The only question was when he would make his next move.

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

The elevator doors opened. When they saw each other, both of them froze for a moment.

Then Ryuen sneered first. "Want to come up?"

Kamio Tatsuya didn't really want to go, but since Ryuen had invited him, refusing would make it look like he was afraid of him, wouldn't it?

So Kamio Tatsuya stepped inside and stood shoulder to shoulder with Ryuen.

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

"You're pretty capable. You cost me three of my best men without even breaking a sweat."

Cost him three of his best men?

I don't remember doing any such thing.

"What are you babbling about?"

Kamio Tatsuya glanced at him.

"Those three were suspended for a week, but the Midterm Exam is next Friday. If they can't take it in time, doesn't that basically mean they'll be expelled?"

Generally speaking, unless there was a major emergency or an illness severe enough to prevent a student from attending school, missing an exam for personal reasons such as a cold or suspension was counted as a failing grade.

Ishizaki had been suspended for a week, which meant he'd miss next Friday's Midterm Exam.

Under normal circumstances, Ishizaki's expulsion would be all but certain.

But this school was different. On the first day of school, each class's homeroom teacher had relayed some extremely important information to the students: Points could buy anything.

And Ryuen's attitude now proved that he'd probably thought of this, too.

"If they really get expelled for some stupid reason like that, then you can kiss your reign as king goodbye." Kamio Tatsuya mocked him. "And this whole mess is your fault, Ryuen. This is what you get for underestimating me."

At first, Kamio Tatsuya hadn't expected Ike and Yamauchi to get beaten up.

In his original plan, Ryuen would have gone to wait for him at the Special Teaching Building with his men.

When Ryuen realized that the people who'd shown up weren't Kamio Tatsuya but Ike and Yamauchi, he would probably figure out that Kamio Tatsuya had seen through his plan.

So his next move should have been to take the love letter from Ike and Yamauchi, destroy the evidence, and pretend none of it had ever happened.

After that, he could take his time and look for another chance to go after Kamio Tatsuya.

But because he'd looked down on Kamio Tatsuya, he'd only sent his underlings—and he'd sent Ishizaki, who had a grudge against Yamauchi.

As a result, events had careened off in a direction nobody could have predicted.

And that was how things had ended up like this.

When they reached the school, Kamio Tatsuya stopped.

"Ryuen, people aren't machines. Before you make someone a pawn, you should consider how that pawn might change.

"Unlike a pawn promoting to a queen, people used as pawns don't always evolve in a positive direction.

"If you'd been there yesterday, I don't think things would have gone this far."

Chapter 59: Kamio Tatsuya: You Have to Believe Me

When Kamio Tatsuya arrived at the library, he immediately spotted Shiina Hiyori in a corner, organizing her 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, then immediately stood up, looking flustered. "I-I'm sorry. It's all because of me."

Seeing Shiina like this, Kamio Tatsuya was even more convinced she wasn't acting. Then again, if she really was such a good actress, she might as well keep it up for the rest of her life.

"It's fine. I'm all right, anyway." Kamio Tatsuya set his backpack down and sat on a chair. "What are you doing?"

"Ishizaki and the others were suspended, so I'm putting together the lessons their teachers covered over the past few days."

The lessons? I see.

That guy Ryuen really knew how to put on an act. Didn't this mean he already had a way to keep Ishizaki and the others from being expelled? Otherwise, why would he have Shiina put together all this material?

"Is Ryuen planning to get Ishizaki and the others a chance to take makeup exams?"

Shiina Hiyori thought Kamio Tatsuya was amazing for figuring out Ryuen's plan so quickly. But at the thought, her expression turned gloomy.

"Yeah, but according to Teacher Sakagami, each makeup exam costs five hundred thousand Private Points..."

Holy crap, that's expensive!

The figure startled Kamio Tatsuya. He'd expected the makeup exams to cost a lot of Points, but he hadn't expected them to cost this much.

Each subject cost five hundred thousand. With five subjects per student, the total cost for all three of them to take the makeup exams would be seven and a half million.

That was a huge sum, and Class C, where Ryuen was, might not be able to...

No, they definitely couldn't afford it.

He had only one way to pull this off: borrow the Points.

There was no point even thinking about Class D. They didn't have any Points, so was Ryuen planning to borrow from Class A and Class B today?

Kamio Tatsuya scoffed at the idea.

This guy wasn't nearly as bold as he'd imagined.

If Kamio Tatsuya were in this situation, he'd never obediently pay money just to get a chance to take makeup exams.

"How many Points has your class managed to scrape together?"

"We only have a little over four million right now. Ryuen said he'd find a way to get the rest." Shiina looked worried.

What kind of way could he come up with? At a critical moment, it's up to me, Grandpa Kamio!

This is also a good chance to test the school's limits.

What's more, I might be able to make a fortune out of this!

And if Ryuen accepts my offer, he won't be able to pull any tricks before the Midterm Exam.

Still, it was a little surprising that Class C had managed to scrape together over four million. He'd underestimated them.

"Shiina, can you get in touch with Ryuen and ask him to come over? I have something I want to discuss with him."

Shiina Hiyori hesitated for a moment, then called Ryuen again.

More than ten minutes later, Ryuen appeared in the library.

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

"You're busy with this, right?"

Kamio Tatsuya opened his phone and showed him the balance.

The balance of a little over 3.1 million nearly made Ryuen's eyes pop out.

But as soon as he saw the amount, he understood. He also glanced at Shiina.

"What do you mean by this? Are you trying to lend me money at some outrageous interest rate?"

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

Ryuen glanced at Shiina again. Why does she tell him everything?

But never mind. She was only trying to raise enough Points, too.

"Yeah. That's all the Private Points Class C has."

"I'll help you resolve this problem. You give me those 4.5 Million Private Points."

Kamio Tatsuya didn't actually want to lend money at an outrageous interest rate. What he was after was the more than four million Private Points Ryuen had.

Hearing Kamio Tatsuya's outrageous demand, Ryuen immediately wore a sneer.

"Ha. Why should I believe you?"

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

"Of course, if they deliberately choose not to take the exam themselves, that's got nothing to do with me."

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

Then he might have to find another way to build his Points back up.

But that's what makes it exciting!

Ryuen didn't reject Kamio Tatsuya's offer. After all, Class C didn't have anything of value.

Since someone had come knocking to give him Points, he might as well take them.

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

Kamio Tatsuya nodded to show that he had no objections.

Before long, the three of them had put together a simple contract.

It was a transaction contract, and the terms were simple, more or less as Kamio Tatsuya had just described.

Transaction: Ryuen was to pay Kamio Tatsuya 4.5 Million Private Points, and Kamio Tatsuya would guarantee that Ishizaki and the others appeared at the exam hall on the day of the Midterm Exam.

Additional condition one: If Ishizaki and the others failed to take the exam, Kamio Tatsuya would be obligated to pay 7.5 million Private Points to secure makeup exam opportunities for them. (This clause would be void if Ishizaki and the others refused to take the Midterm Exam of their own accord, or were unable to take it due to health reasons or other unforeseen circumstances.)

Additional condition two: During this period, the 7.5 million Private Points held by Kamio Tatsuya would be frozen and unusable.

Additional condition three: Kamio Tatsuya would not be responsible for Ishizaki and the others' grades.

According to school regulations, students only needed to have any homeroom teacher from their year present when signing a contract. So there was nothing strange about Ryuen choosing Sakagami as the witness.

No, perhaps Sakagami was actually the best choice for a witness.

Not long afterward, Class C's homeroom teacher, Sakagami Kazuma, arrived at the library.

"What's going on, Ryuen?"

Seeing Sakagami Kazuma's attitude, Kamio Tatsuya sighed to himself. This is what someone who wants to lead his class to Class A should act like.

What kind of rotten behavior was that from Chabashira Sae?

"I've decided to sign a contract with this guy. I'd like you to act as a witness."

Sakagami Kazuma looked at Kamio Tatsuya, then nodded. Since Ryuen had made the decision, he had no objections.

"Where's the contract?"

"Here."

Ryuen handed Sakagami the contract they'd just printed so he could review it.

Teacher Sakagami took it and read it carefully. Then he looked at Kamio Tatsuya in surprise. What's going on here?

Why is someone volunteering to give him money?

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

Kamio Tatsuya and Ryuen both nodded to show they had no objections.

"Then sign it."

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

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

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

"All right. Time for you to fulfill your end of the contract."

"Don't worry. I keep my word."

After adding each other as friends, Ryuen transferred 4.5 Million Private Points to Kamio Tatsuya.

"I'll be waiting to see what happens on Friday."

"Don't worry. I guarantee you won't be disappointed."