Chabashira Sae put out the cigarette in her hand and looked up at me.
"I heard you joined the Student Council. Congratulations! I never imagined one of my students could be so outstanding. You really surprised me."
I glanced at the chair beside me and asked,
"May I sit down and talk, Chabashira?"
"Go ahead."
With her permission, I sat down and looked at Chabashira in front of me. "You wanted to see me, so please get straight to the point. I don't want to waste time."
Chabashira Sae wasn't offended by my attitude. Instead, she seemed impressed. "You're quite something. In the three years I've led Class D, you're the only one who, on the second day..."
"To be precise, you're the only one in the entire school to join the Student Council on the second day. You're exceptional. I looked over your résumé and even wondered if you'd been hiding your abilities before."
Akasaka couldn't help rolling his eyes. Hiding my ass. I hadn't even been transported here yet. Of course I was stupid. But outwardly, I replied as usual.
"You flatter me, Chabashira. I'm just an ordinary student. You didn't call me here to discuss trivial things, did you? Let's get to the point, Chabashira Sae..."
"Oh? You've stopped calling me teacher. How interesting."
Chabashira Sae was about to light a cigarette to calm her excitement.
How many years had it been? She'd always hoped to get promoted to Class A, but all she'd gotten was one day after another dealing with trash. Now that she'd finally found someone useful, there was no way she wouldn't be excited.
Chabashira Sae took a deep drag, blew out a ring of smoke, and spoke slowly. "I assume you've learned this school's secret since joining the Student Council?"
"I want you to help Class D get promoted to Class A."
"I'm leaving!" Akasaka stood up and made to go. No way. She expected him to work for free without offering anything? Dream on.
Chabashira Sae, who was still putting on an act of being a seasoned veteran, was completely dumbfounded by this. She only came to her senses when I was almost out the door, and hurriedly called after me.
"Wait!"
"You can name your conditions. I'll help you as much as I can."
Akasaka stopped and smiled triumphantly. Hook, line, and sinker.
Akasaka sat back down and looked at Chabashira Sae. "What do I get out of helping the class reach Class A?"
Chabashira Sae looked at the person asking for a reward and felt a little helpless. But this was ideal. Someone like him was easier to control.
The real worry was someone with no desires who wouldn't listen to anyone. If a problem could be solved by meeting someone's demands, then it wasn't a problem.
Chabashira Sae took out her terminal and showed Akasaka Ryunosuke her carefully saved points. The balance was a whopping 8.05 million.
Akasaka sucked in a sharp breath, his mind already scheming about how to get his hands on all those points.
Seeing how Akasaka couldn't hide his excitement no matter how hard he tried,
Chabashira Sae was very pleased.
Good. If points could solve something, then it wasn't a problem. The worst were people who couldn't be bought even with points. Chabashira Sae quickly laid out her terms.
"For every place the class rises, I'll give you two million points."
"Simply put, if you get the class from Class D to Class C, you'll receive two million Personal Points."
"You'll get two million for every step up."
"What do you think? Consider it. Once you graduate, you can convert this enormous number of Personal Points into the equivalent amount of cash and take it with you."
"But you have to graduate from Class A to take the money out of the school."
"So this isn't just about helping your class. It's for your own sake, too."
"If you want to take the money out of the school, you have to get promoted to Class A. You don't have a choice."
"Besides, I looked through your personal records and résumé. You... must be short on money, right? Considering the kind of parents you have..."
Chabashira Sae was pulling out every stop to entice me into helping.
Faced with Chabashira Sae acting like this, I wanted to raise the stakes a little, so I explained just how difficult it would be to move from Class D to Class A.
"Chabashira, you're asking me to do something this difficult for just two million Personal Points. That's a tough deal."
"Isn't that a little too few points?"
Chabashira Sae thought it over.
"You do have a point, Akasaka. But could you wipe away that drool and stop looking at me like I'm money?"
"You're not very convincing..."
Only then did I come to my senses. The lure of those two million points had already caused a physical reaction.
I'd been drooling, and my eyes had turned into money signs. I hurriedly wiped my mouth.
I couldn't help it. Neither in this life nor my previous one had I ever seen so much money... I'd lost my composure a little.
I adjusted my breathing and brought myself back to my best, lest I fall into Chabashira Sae's trap. Then, expressionless, I said to her,
"Chabashira, getting promoted to Class A is just too difficult. I can't do it."
"I can't guarantee you anything, but I can give it a try, so... can you give me the two million first?"
A short while later...
I left the teachers' office with a Duplicate Contract in my hand. Chabashira and I each had a copy.
The contract clearly stated that I'd receive two million points for every class the group rose. Chabashira Sae could give me 800,000 as startup funds, and the remaining 1.2 million would be paid once the class actually rose to Class C.
I opened my phone and checked my remaining points.
Akasaka Ryunosuke, remaining Personal Points: 1 million.
I couldn't suppress my smile, but I knew this amount wasn't enough to let me coast through the rest of my life. I still had to work hard.
Just as I was about to leave the floor with the teachers' offices, Hoshinomiya Chie, who had already left, suddenly popped up in front of me and dragged me into her office.
I arrived at Hoshinomiya's office and looked at the Class B homeroom teacher. She seemed to have expected me and didn't look particularly surprised.
Hoshinomiya Chie watched me with an assessing gaze, seeing my reaction.
"What an interesting kid. You're clearly different from the other students. You joined the Student Council on only your second day. That's never happened at This School before."
Hoshinomiya lazily stretched, revealing her perfect curves and fiery figure in all their glory.
She was already thirty, but her skin was so well cared for that people would probably believe she was in her twenties.
Her carefree manner made her even more charming, but I knew the woman in front of me was a handful. I wouldn't be fooled by her appearance.
This woman... was a bona fide little devil.
She was on par with Kushida Kikyo.
Hoshinomiya Chie didn't seem to mind me sizing her up. She'd even considered that if this kid could work for her, what would be wrong with giving him a little perk?
Akasaka quickly looked away and gazed calmly at the teacher in front of him. "What does the homeroom teacher of Class B want with me?"
"I'm from Class D. If I'm not mistaken, we're rivals."
"Oh?"
Hoshinomiya Chie tilted her head adorably. "It's only the third day, and it looks like you've already figured everything out, even that we're rivals."
"But then again, someone who can join the Student Council on the second day must be no ordinary person."
"You must have something that caught the Student Council President's eye."
"Did you know that lots of people are paying attention to you right now, Little Celebrity?"
Hoshinomiya Chie playfully poked my nose, showing no sense of boundaries at all.
I helplessly knocked her mischievous finger aside and asked again, "If you don't need anything else, I'm leaving." With that, I headed for the door.
Hoshinomiya Chie quickly called after me. "Don't go, Little Akasaka. Want to make a deal with your teacher?"
Akasaka stopped. "What deal?"
Hoshinomiya Chie gave him a malicious grin.
"Help me bring down Class D, and I'll give you a huge number of Personal Points."
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