Kato Megumi Enters the School

Her voice was small and weak, but I still heard her reply and nodded, accepting her greeting.

Sakura's expression shifted slightly. She glanced up instinctively, then quickly lowered her head again.

Faced with someone as timid as Sakura, I didn't rush to approach her. Instead, I continued buying a large number of miniature cameras and spare batteries right in front of her.

Sakura was curious and wanted to ask why I was buying so many cameras, but in the end, she lost her nerve and said nothing.

Besides, she had come here to secretly get her Digital Camera repaired. She didn't want anyone to know her secret—that she was an idol.

Yamauchi Haruki had left her with quite a shadow last time. Now she was more and more afraid to get close to boys.

I quickly finished buying the cameras and prepared to pretend I was leaving.

Sakura let out a sigh of relief and continued handing her Digital Camera to the Clerk for inspection.

The Clerk checked what was inside, and his eyes immediately lit up. Then he looked at Sakura with a greedy gaze.

Sakura noticed that undisguised look. She instinctively lowered her head, not wanting him to see her face clearly.

She knew exactly what was on the Digital Camera: nothing but selfies.

The clerk must be surprised to see these, right? He'll keep them secret, won't he?

Sakura couldn't help thinking this, unaware that the Clerk's gaze was predatory. He looked as greedy as if he'd just found the leading actress in one of his favorite adult videos.

But he still suppressed his excitement and replied as if everything were normal. "Come back tomorrow to pick it up. I'll have it repaired by then."

Sakura lowered her head and thanked him, then hurried away.

She really couldn't stand the Clerk's brazen, appraising gaze.

Akasaka Ryunosuke, hiding outside the shop, had seen everything. He gave the Clerk a pointed look. Seeing him leer with a sleazy grin, Akasaka couldn't help making a disgusted face.

"Has he never seen a woman before? He's practically wearing his thoughts on his face, and Sakura still didn't notice. Well, she was looking down the whole time, so of course she couldn't see..."

I didn't think about it any further and prepared to leave.

This was urgent, but nothing had happened to Sakura yet, so there was no need to rush. I'd install the cameras first.

Akasaka installed his miniature cameras in all the blind spots around the school. They were concealed models, impossible to spot even at night.

He also bought a large number of backup power supplies to replace them with.

It cost Akasaka hundreds of thousands of Personal Points, but he didn't care. The returns he'd get later would be ten times that amount.

Come to think of it, back when I was poor, I'd winced at spending 193 yen on a pack of Instant Noodles. How come spending hundreds of thousands didn't bother me now?

How strange...

Monday, the start of the school week, arrived soon.

Today, another new student was transferring in to fill the spot left by Ken Sudō.

Because Sudō had been expelled due to special circumstances, the school planned to recruit another student from outside to fill the vacancy.

It had been less than a month since the students enrolled, and the formal evaluations hadn't even begun, yet one student had already been eliminated. This seriously disrupted the balance among the classes, so the school had decided to bring in a special student to fill the gap.

Chabashira Sae walked into the classroom at her leisure, looking much better than before. Perhaps learning that her class had so many promising students had put her at ease.

She gently set her books on the desk and clapped her hands.

Class D was clearly much more obedient than before.

Once they learned that their monthly points were tied to their compliance with school rules, they'd settled down quite a bit. At least they weren't making trouble anymore, and they were paying attention in class. But it was too late...

After all, they'd received zero points. Catching up now would be incredibly difficult.

The gap between them wasn't something they could make up in a short time.

Chabashira had been ready to give up, but then Akasaka had given her hope, rekindling her confidence.

She wanted to give it another try. If it didn't work, she could always give up afterward.

Chabashira gave Ayanokoji and Horikita a long look, then said, "You two, come to my office during lunch break. I have something to discuss with you."

The two who'd been called were a little confused, but still nodded in agreement.

Ayanokoji seemed to sense something and instinctively glanced at Akasaka Ryunosuke.

Akasaka felt uncomfortable under his gaze and turned away, hiding his embarrassment. At the same time, he guiltily started whistling.

"Whew, whew, whew~"

Ayanokoji looked away, silently making a note to get back at him.

He knew very well that the only reason the teacher was paying attention to him was that his one and only friend had probably sold him out.

When Ayanokoji looked away, Akasaka secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The teacher soon began introducing the new Transfer Student.

"Come in. Let me introduce this Transfer Student to everyone."

Chabashira clapped lightly, signaling for the Transfer Student to enter from outside.

A girl walked in. She was exceptionally sweet and cute.

She had a bob haircut, and her figure was perfectly average—more or less a B+.

But perhaps it was just his imagination. From the moment she entered, most of the class didn't look her way.

Some were daydreaming, while others seemed puzzled, as if they hadn't seen the Transfer Student standing right in front of them. Of course, some had noticed her—about a third of the class.

Akasaka was one of them.

But when he saw that familiar figure, he couldn't help feeling stunned. He knew her: Kato Megumi, the legendary ideal wife and mother.

The cute girl with the bob calmly walked to the front of the class and introduced herself.

"My name is Kato Megumi. I look forward to getting along with everyone over the next three years."

Unfortunately, the students' replies were all rather lukewarm.

Yamauchi Haruki didn't even look at her.

Because Kato Megumi had such a low presence, she didn't catch Yamauchi Haruki's attention.

He couldn't remember what the girl in front of him looked like. In his mind, her face was like a mosaic.

Besides, in most people's eyes, Kato Megumi had almost no presence at all. She was the sort of person who could be overlooked at any moment.

But Akasaka was different.

At that moment, he was already trembling with excitement.

This was the legendary Crowned Assassin! He absolutely had to get to know her!

It wasn't that he coveted her as a person; he coveted her low presence.

With that kind of presence, he could get all sorts of things done smoothly.

He was already daydreaming about using Kato Megumi to help him earn a huge number of points.

But first, he had to get to know her. He had to act normal. Yes, that was right.