Class time always passed quickly, but vacation time seemed to fly by even faster.
For the first-years at Gao, still living in a dreamlike world, May 1—the day of reckoning—was drawing ever closer.
In the blink of an eye, the day of their first swimming lesson, a week after the start of school, had arrived.
Tennoji Kaede boarded one of the dormitory's only two elevators and headed to class.
As it happened, it wasn't until a coincidence two days earlier that he discovered his dorm room was directly above Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's.
Ayanokoji was in room 401, while Kaede was in 501. It had to be the Haigoku System working its magic behind the scenes.
The student dormitories at Gao weren't just co-ed; electricity, water, and internet were all free.
Aside from the single rooms being a little small, Tennoji Kaede felt that the accommodations were already quite luxurious.
By the time Tennoji Kaede arrived in Class C, a week had passed, and Ryuen Kakeru had fully established his absolute tyrannical rule.
At Shijiao, each class had forty students, initially split evenly between twenty boys and twenty girls.
Aside from Ibuki Mio and Hiyori, the other eighteen girls in Class C didn't even dare feel dissatisfied. They had all been cowed by Ryuen's tyranny.
Among the twenty boys, aside from the unusual Kaede, there were a few who weren't truly convinced, but outwardly, they had all submitted just like the girls.
Some of them, such as Ishizaki Daichi, whom Ryuen had beaten up on the very first day, as well as Komiya Haigo and Kondo Reion, had already become loyal members of Ryuen's faction.
Interestingly, with Tennoji Kaede by his side, Yamada Albert had witnessed firsthand how Ryuen Kakeru gradually wore him down and brought him to heel.
Honestly, it was kind of pitiful to watch.
The incident had made one thing clear to Kaede: Ryuen Kakeru's resolve to attack with all his might was no empty boast.
In any case, Tennoji Kaede wasn't particularly popular among his classmates at the moment.
In the eyes of many in Class C, he had been the first to "pledge allegiance" to Ryuen Kakeru, making him an unquestionable loyal follower of the tyrant.
Another reason was that Kaede couldn't be bothered to socialize with the others, apart from two of his female classmates: Shiina Hiyori and Ibuki Mio.
After a week of sitting next to each other and spending time together, Tennoji Kaede's personal charm had helped the three of them get along well. They had even exchanged contact information.
Deep down, neither girl believed that Tennoji Kaede had truly submitted to Ryuen Kakeru.
And they were right.
Ibuki suspected that Tennoji was most likely pretending to pledge allegiance.
Hiyori, meanwhile, thought that Kaede was actually quite capable, and that he only acted alongside Ryuen because he found leading the class too much trouble.
It had to be said: the two girls who were currently Kaede's closest female friends had both seen through part of his true nature.
Put their thoughts together, and they'd guessed nearly ninety percent of the truth about Kaede.
Back at Gao, there was a certain pattern to how students were assigned to classes.
For instance, the students with the strongest overall abilities were placed in Class A, while those with minor flaws were more likely to end up in Class B. A and B were on the same tier, though A was a little stronger.
Classes C and D were on another tier. Students with weaker academics, strong physical abilities, or especially uneven skill sets were more likely to be placed in Class C.
But this led to an awkward situation: Class C was stuck in the middle.
Class D, on the other hand, was more like a dumping ground. It was easy for monsters to slip in there, and once they had time to develop, they could become incredibly formidable. With nothing to lose, they were not to be underestimated.
"Interesting. Is this the intelligence you've gathered over the past week?"
"More or less. You just have to take a few looks outside the other classes. It's not hard to sense this obvious trend of preferential class placement from the atmosphere in each class."
Beside the pool during swimming class, Ryuen Kakeru listened to Tennoji Kaede's comments about "preferential class placement" and fell into thought.
Behind the fact that students were divided into classes according to their strengths and weaknesses, what purpose was the school hiding?
Ryuen Kakeru knew very well that Tennoji had to know more than he was letting on.
With such extraordinary abilities, he only wanted to stay in the background and watch?
What a mysterious, infuriating guy. One of these days, I'll—
Wait!
Ryuen's eyes lit up. He really didn't want to admit it, but Tennoji Kaede was indeed on the weaker side compared to him. And Ryuen Kakeru excelled at taking down those above him!
That was the purpose behind dividing the classes by strength.
Ryuen suddenly laughed. "...Only Class A can enjoy all sorts of advantages when entering society. I see. Tennoji, you've already figured things out to that extent?"
Tennoji Kaede knew Ryuen had finally caught on. He smiled without replying.
It was easy to talk to someone clever like Ryuen. Often, saying too much only spoiled things. It was better to let him figure it out for himself.
Suddenly, the Haigoku System panel appeared!
[Detected a failing work with a score of 10 in the Black House: 'Horikita Manabu'] [The Causal Mark for 'Horikita Manabu' has been applied] ['Cause': Horikita Manabu learned about you from a classmate and became interested. He came to the pool to observe Class C in person] ['Effect': Charisma +5, Leadership Style +10]
Has the Student Council President already taken notice of me?
Meanwhile, Student Council President Horikita Manabu was carefully observing the first-year Class C swimming lesson from behind the window of a secluded classroom high above.
"Tennoji Kaede..."
This was what Horikita Manabu had heard from a classmate:
A certain new student had remarkable abilities and had already seen through the school's hidden rules. What was more, he had started putting them into practice on the very first day of school.
"How much do you really understand about this S System?"
There was a knock at the door.
"Come in."
"Hello, Student Council President. I'm Ichinose Honami from First Year Class B..."
It was a little hard to say, but the girls in Class C... seemed to be the least attractive in the entire first year, too.
As an art connoisseur, Tennoji Kaede stood beside the pool, sighing.
"Could you stop looking at me so lecherously?"
Ibuki Mio surfaced from beneath the water in front of him, wearing a standard-issue school swimsuit. She spoke in an irritated tone.
Tennoji Kaede casually looked Ibuki up and down in her swimsuit...
Tch. No thanks.
"Tennoji, you're asking for it!"
Using the pool ladder for leverage, Ibuki climbed halfway up, then suddenly lashed out at his face with a kick!
Hey, hey, we're still in class!
Luckily, everyone in Class C was focused elsewhere, and Ibuki kept her movements fairly restrained.
Tennoji Kaede leaned back where he sat, barely dodging her kick.
It was a little awkward: quite a few droplets of water fell from her leg onto Kaede's face. Fortunately, he kept a grave expression and his lips tightly closed.
"Enough, Ibuki. Stop messing around. The swimming instructor is calling us over to gather."
Ibuki Mio gave a disdainful snort, much to Kaede's frustration.
They had sparred privately more than once that week, and Tennoji Kaede was starting to get a little annoyed.
He won every time, but Kaede really had no desire to spend every day peeking under a girl's skirt!
Ibuki's behavior was starting to seem a little too saintly.
Swimming instructor: "Class C, assemble!"
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