After the Tian Shu Sha Exam ended, June came to a close, and July 1 arrived.
"We're back in this place again... At first, I thought Ishizaki and the others would ambush me here, Ryuen."
They were at the same spot in the Special Classroom Building where Kaede had beaten Ryuen Kakeru to a pulp on the first day of school.
This morning, Ryuen had specifically asked him to meet and talk in person.
Returning to the scene of the crime stirred up memories for Kaede, so he teased Ryuen.
Ryuen, leaning against the classroom window, gave a couple of cold laughs at his words. A hint of reminiscence flickered in his eyes.
To be honest, after spending three full months as classmates, Ryuen didn't particularly dislike Tennoji Kaede.
...Still, if he got the chance, he'd pay that monster back for the elbow he'd given him on the first day.
"You should have received the Private Points we agreed on before the exam. Transfer my share to me now."
Kaede pulled out his Student Terminal with a weary look. "I hope you have something else important to discuss. If you called me out just to transfer points, I really won't come next time."
As payment for helping Class D during the Tian Shu Exam, Kaede had received 3.6 million Private Points from Horikita Manabu.
According to his prior agreement with Ryuen, as long as he and Kaneda didn't deliberately sabotage the exam and Class D got the benefits it was entitled to, Kaede had agreed to give half those points to the Tyrant Faction—in other words, 1.8 million.
Class C could currently be divided into three factions:
The Tyrant Faction, made up of the boys on Ryuen's side;
The Kaede Faction, centered around the three members of the Tennoji Group;
And the lowest-ranking faction, made up of everyone else.
This was an unspoken understanding unique to Ryuen and Kaede!
On the surface, everyone in Class C had their Private Points controlled by Ryuen, the tyrant.
In reality, only the three members of the Tennoji Group—Kaede and Mio—were exempt.
Ryuen's original proposal had even been to reduce the amount of Private Points he collected from other Class C students who were close to the Kaede Faction.
But Kaede had refused. As the saying went, people didn't fear having little; they feared unfairness.
Aside from Hiyori and Ibuki, he wasn't especially close to the other students in Class C, and he didn't trust them. Better to let the tyrant handle things fairly.
Most importantly, Ryuen wasn't collecting those Private Points for his own benefit, but for the good of the group. So whether he collected a little less or a little more didn't make much difference.
It couldn't be helped. Class C was simply far behind Class B.
Even without Ichinose saying a word, everyone in Class B completely trusted the reputation of Ichinose Bank;
By comparison, the much weaker Ryuen Kakeru Bank in Class C would need to use a few heavy-handed methods to compete in the market...
After transferring 1.8 million Private Points to Ryuen's account, Tennoji Kaede had about 3 million Private Points left.
On the first day of school in April, Kaede had already reached 1 million Private Points;
Later, he won 5,000 points in the boys' swimming competition, then earned another 5,000 by helping the teacher teach his classmates to swim;
At the end of April, he signed a "30,000 × 12 months" rule-trading agreement with Horikita... and the 3,000 points he later resold to Kushida counted too;
By the end of April, Kaede had earned 1.043 million.
On May 1, Class C gave out 59,000 points. Add Horikita's 30,000-point tribute, then subtract the 15,000 he spent buying the archaeology scroll;
By the end of May, Kaede had about 1.12 million.
On June 1, Class C gave out 63,000 points. Add Horikita's 30,000-point tribute, the 150,000 points for winning as a traitor in the Tian Shu Exam, and Horikita Manabu's final reward of 1.8 million;
By the end of June, as of today, Tennoji Kaede had received about 3.16 million Private Points in total.
That was his total income over his first three months of school. It really did line up surprisingly well with the pace he'd imagined at KTV: earning a million a month.
After deducting his monthly living expenses of around 30,000 to 50,000 points.
On top of being the head of a faction, Kaede was also "dating," so his regular expenses this month weren't exactly low.
And as for students spending 100,000 points every month? That was simply impossible—poets and their poetry!
In short, after rounding things off, Tennoji Kaede really did have about 3 million Private Points left.
As the third-wealthiest individual among the first-years, Kaede's 3 million was a little meager.
Sigh.
After confirming that the 1.8 million had arrived, Ryuen said, "After you graduate, you should consider going into business. This exam clearly favored Class D, but in the end, Class C didn't lose out too badly."
Kaede nodded in agreement. "We only got what we deserved. Without our help in the Tian Shu Sha Exam, I doubt Class D would have gotten even half of their current 125 points."
Ryuen fell silent.
Kaede asked, "What is it?"
Ryuen summed up his thoughts. "...Class D did win the Group D competition this time. With one leader and one spy cooperating wholeheartedly, they could earn at least thirty points no matter what."
"As for the other three groups, Class D had five traitors and one loyalist. They were easy to take advantage of... Seems the School Administration didn't favor them all that much after all."
Tennoji Kaede frowned. "Ryuen, that's not what's bothering you, is it? You have a problem with the Group D competition...?"
Ryuen raised his head and met Kaede's sharp gaze. He slowly said a name, but seemed hesitant.
"Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. That's why you're so interested in Class D... isn't it?"
!
At that moment, Kaede wasn't the only one present who felt genuinely shocked by Ryuen's words.
Had Ryuen already noticed Ayanokoji?
But his expression showed no sign of it.
"Ayanokoji? I know him. He's Horikita Suzune's lackey. Ryuen, why do you think there's something wrong with him?"
"Hmph! Tennoji, that idiot Horikita is a much worse actress than you."
So that was it. It seemed Horikita's body language had given her away during the Tian Shu Sha Exam in Room D...
Just then, Kaede suddenly sensed something, and his pupils widened slightly.
He said casually, "...So what are you going to do now? I suggest we not make a big deal out of it yet. It might have been an accident."
Ryuen frowned and slowly walked over, stopping behind Kaede. Neither of them turned around.
"Obviously... we catch the little mouse first!"
With that, Ryuen dashed toward the stairwell!
"Ah!!!" A woman's frightened scream rang out.
Tennoji Kaede suddenly sighed.
Not long after they started talking about Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, he had sensed someone eavesdropping near the stairwell.
After seeing the change in Kaede's eyes and hearing his hint, Ryuen had understood at once too.
He'd deliberately thrown out a smokescreen, all the while slowly closing the distance to the stairwell behind Kaede. There was no way the eavesdropper could escape.
As the thought crossed his mind...
In an instant, Kaede suddenly had a guess about the eavesdropper's identity.
At this time... Could it be her?
"I'm sorry... Let go of me!"
Ryuen Kakeru wore a cold expression as he gripped a Digital Camera in one hand and dragged a pink-haired, twin-tailed girl by the collar, scraping her along the floor as he brought her over.
Sure enough, it was Sakura Airi from First Year Class D.
Cornered by two terrifying boys from Class C, Sakura sat on the floor with her legs tucked under her. She covered her face with both hands, lowered her head, and whimpered in panic, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I'm really sorry!"
Ryuen clicked his tongue in annoyance, then reached for her, about to grab her head and force her to face him.
Just then, Tennoji reached out and stopped him...
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