Narimori Sakayanagi's Work

Simple individual desks and chairs, bright glass, a clean blackboard.

It was completely different from the white room; this was what a normal classroom should look like.

There were already some students in the classroom. Some were chatting in a friendly manner, while others sat alone at their desks.

Nameplates were placed on the desks, and Amasawa Yuto quickly found his seat.

It was at the very edge of the last row, right by the window, where he could see the campus path he had walked along and the main gate.

The students sitting in front of him and to his right had not arrived yet. The nameplate in front of him read: "Morishita Ran."

And the student to his right was: "Arisu Sakayanagi."

Two months ago.

Narimori Sakayanagi had an important task today, one he had to handle every year as the chairman of the advanced nurturing high school.

That was the matter of student class assignments.

Although evaluations and assignments were generally decided by the four homeroom teachers, there were always some special students each year whose placement required his personal approval.

Those were the children of prominent families.

After all, the advanced nurturing high school was a microcosm of society; there were always some people who started further ahead than others.

"Let me see this year's students," Narimori Sakayanagi said, opening the first file.

[Kanzaki Ryuji]

The young master of Kanzaki Heavy Industries. Hoshinomiya Chie had written his evaluation: Overall excellent, but his personality is somewhat weak. She hoped to place him in her Class B so she could encourage him to become more manly.

Narimori Sakayanagi saw no issues with this and stamped the document to signify his approval—"Narimori Sakayanagi Seal."

He then opened the next one, his eyes narrowing involuntarily and the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

[Arisu Sakayanagi]

His adorable, precious daughter.

Due to a congenital heart condition, Arisu had very poor athletic ability; she even had to use a cane to walk.

But Narimori Sakayanagi and his wife had showered her with love as she grew up, and Arisu's exceptional intellect compensated for some of her physical shortcomings.

The Class A homeroom teacher, Mashima Tomoya, had already written an evaluation for Arisu, recommending that she be placed in Class A.

Narimori Sakayanagi believed that he was absolutely not letting his personal feelings run wild or abusing his power; Arisu's ability absolutely met the standards for Class A.

The next one is—

[Koenji Rokusuke]

The young master of the Koenji conglomerate. Due to his arrogant narcissism and tendency to act entirely on his own whims, his homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae, deemed him to have a massive personality defect and assigned him to Class D.

Narimori Sakayanagi approved it and stamped the document.

The next file, once again, contained comments from Chabashira.

[Tsubaki Yuki]

The young lady of the Tsubaki family. She is excellent in both conduct and academics, but she never attended school for all three years of middle school, having been hospitalized for severe depression. Deemed to have a massive personality defect, she was assigned to Class D.

Narimori Sakayanagi tapped his fingertips against the desk, lost in thought.

According to the records, Tsubaki Yuki's depression had improved over the last year; otherwise, she wouldn't be coming to school.

However, he felt that sending Tsubaki Yuki to Class D wasn't a bad idea. After all, in Narimori Sakayanagi's view, Chabashira was the least ambitious of the four homeroom teachers, the one most content to just lie back and coast.

(Chabashira Sae: "Watch me play dumb and blindside them.")

With Tsubaki Yuki's condition just having improved, going there might allow her to grow through interaction and cooperation with others, and she wouldn't be subjected to the pressure of climbing the class ranks from her homeroom teacher.

And so, he stamped the document.

The final one. Who could it be?

He opened the file, and the moment he saw the name, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.

That was a name that shouldn't possibly be here. He should still be over there!

[Amasawa Yuto]

Had something gone wrong in the White Room? What happened to Professor Suzukake?

Narimori Sakayanagi felt a pang of anxiety. He picked up the phone on his desk and dialed a number.

The beeping sound while waiting felt like it was hammering against his heart.

"Hello, Mr. Sakayanagi. I was just thinking you would call me."

"Apologies for the intrusion, Mr. Amasawa Ien. I have many questions I would like to ask you."

"Hahaha, no problem at all. I am more than happy to answer."

"I see. So, Professor Suzukake has passed away, and Yuto has graduated from there." Narimori Sakayanagi understood the sequence of events, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of regret for Professor Suzukake.

Arisu's grandfather was the Minister of Education, and Narimori Sakayanagi was the chairman of the Advanced Nurturing High School. Calling them an educational dynasty was no exaggeration, so naturally, he knew that Professor Suzukake had been expelled from the academic world for violating ethical standards.

However, Narimori Sakayanagi believed that Professor Suzukake's ideas had merit, and he felt a sense of regret for him.

Otherwise, he would never have supported Ayanokoji Atsuomi in founding the White Room back then; that had been an act of betrayal against the Kijima faction.

He had one final question: "Eight years ago, I took Arisu to the new White Room once. I spoke briefly with Professor Suzukake and learned about some of the graduation projects he designed, so I am well aware of what Yuto's graduation signifies. Why would you still send him to the Advanced Nurturing High School?"

Narimori Sakayanagi's meaning was rather tactful: as the strongest monster of the White Room who had graduated from the fourth generation, there was nothing left for the Advanced Nurturing High School to teach Amasawa Yuto.

"Hahaha, Yuto is only a sixteen-year-old child, after all. It's time for him to attend high school." Amasawa Ien didn't know whether he was intentionally brushing it off or simply failing to grasp Narimori Sakayanagi's implication, but he completely dodged the subject.

It was likely the former. Narimori Sakayanagi understood a bit of the businessman's mindset, but he couldn't compare to the head of the Amasawa conglomerate, who had stood tall for years.

"Very well, I have no other questions. As for Yuto's class placement, I don't think there is any option other than Class A." Narimori Sakayanagi gave a wry smile.

He held absolute pride and trust in his daughter, Arisu. He believed that Arisu was a true genius and would never admit defeat to anyone.

But Amasawa Yuto...

If he had truly completed Professor Suzukake's graduation project, then Arisu was currently no match for him.

Arisu was only a high school student now; no matter how much of a genius she was, she couldn't solve partial differential equations, let alone some absurd mathematical conjectures.

"I don't care about Yuto's class placement. As parents, isn't the thing we most want to see our children spend three happy years?"

"You are right. It's just that whichever class Yuto is placed in will likely become the new Class A..."

"Hahaha, I'll leave it to you to handle as you see fit."

"Thank you for your trust."

After hanging up the phone, Narimori Sakayanagi still couldn't quite collect his thoughts.

He looked at the evaluation written by Chabashira Sae: Outstanding ability, but possesses issues in understanding human emotions. A severely flawed product. Recommendation: Class D.

He crossed out the teacher's evaluation and wrote an "A" in red ink. He would have Mr. Mashima rewrite the evaluation later.

Since Yuto would turn any class into Class A, he might as well skip the intermediate steps and send him directly to Class A.

As for the pressure to move up in class, it wasn't just the class with the slacker teacher that lacked pressure; Class A had no pressure to move up either.

Narimori Sakayanagi now suspected that Amasawa Ien's remark about "spending three happy years" was a warning to him.

But as for whether he had a bit of selfish motive...

Narimori Sakayanagi looked at the photo of his daughter on his desk. In the photo, Arisu was about eight or nine years old, with a pure white space in the background, smiling brightly.

Selfish motives, who knows.

Narimori Sakayanagi smiled and closed the final file.