"If you want to know the answer, you'll have to pay an equivalent price."
That was already about as direct a warning as she could give. If Horikita Suzune couldn't pick up on it, there was nothing more she could do.
To Chabashira Sae's disappointment, Horikita Suzune was silent for only a moment before taking out her Personal Terminal.
She really intended to pay.
Chabashira Sae: "..."
As expected, there was a reason she'd been placed in Class D.
The moment she named her price, any student with a brain should have figured out the answer.
...Whatever.
Without saying another word, Chabashira Sae accepted the ten thousand points Horikita Suzune transferred to her, then calmly nodded.
"Yes."
"So, the school divides students into different classes based on different evaluations...?" After hesitating for a moment, Horikita Suzune still didn't ask outright, "Does the school consider Class D trash?" Instead, she chose to confirm it this way.
"Ten thousand points." Chabashira Sae gave the exact same answer, perfectly calmly.
So Horikita Suzune transferred the points again.
"Yes."
"What's the first month's Special Exam...?" For the third time, Horikita Suzune was ready to transfer the points as soon as she asked her question.
"..." With a quiet sigh, Chabashira Sae said softly, "Two hundred thousand points."
Horikita Suzune was just about to raise her hand and enter ten thousand points when she suddenly stopped.
As if she couldn't believe the number she'd heard, she looked up at her homeroom teacher.
"Two hundred thousand points." Chabashira Sae's expressionless reply made it clear that Horikita Suzune hadn't misheard.
Gripping her Personal Terminal, Horikita Suzune bit her lower lip.
"I can't afford that," she said.
If you can't afford it, ask someone else in the class! If you can't afford it, break the question into pieces and ask! What good does it do to stand here if you can't afford it?
Chabashira Sae no longer wanted to say anything, even in her thoughts, but Horikita Suzune's behavior still made her curse inwardly.
She seemed so academically capable, but was she really this stubborn?
"I know you can't afford it," Chabashira Sae said. "But I'm not changing the price today."
"You can come back and ask me in a few days."
That way, the price would go down.
The price would be different each day.
The first day had been the peak. Now it was the third day.
"...I understand." Horikita Suzune lowered her head and put away her Personal Terminal. "I'll find a way."
You'll find a way? What kind of way?
Chabashira Sae was on the verge of opening her mouth and yelling at her.
Calm down. Calm down.
She'd taught so many classes of Class D students that she should have gotten used to this by now.
But wasn't it because she was used to it that she never did anything?
"...Transfer me another ten thousand points." Though she told herself this, when she saw Horikita Suzune apparently about to turn and leave, Chabashira Sae couldn't help speaking up.
She really shouldn't have asked a student for points.
She regretted it almost the instant the words left her mouth.
But as if afraid Chabashira Sae might change her mind, Horikita Suzune transferred the points without hesitation.
"...The exam is conducted on a class basis." Looking at the points that had come through, Chabashira Sae softly gave the last piece of advice she could offer.
She waved her hand and didn't linger. "All right, you should get back to class. You'll be late."
Ha. If only she could recognize that as another warning.
But that was impossible.
A defective product was still a defective product.
Chabashira Sae brushed past Horikita Suzune, who remained rooted to the spot, and soon disappeared down the hallway.
Horikita Suzune was left behind, lost in thought, with Chabashira Sae's words still echoing in her ears.
"On a class basis..." she murmured, then raised both hands and slapped her cheeks.
Never mind all that. For now, she had to get back to class.
The first lesson was about to begin.
Chapter 37: Horikita Suzune Makes Up Her Mind
During class, Horikita Suzune, unusually, didn't pay attention to the lesson. Instead, she spent a long time thinking over the answers she'd gotten from Chabashira Sae.
And, of course, the contents of the diary she'd spent all of last night thinking about.
According to the diary, B-Class's Asakusa Toru had sold the information to C-Class's Ryuen.
The asking price had been two million Private Points.
But when she'd asked Chabashira Sae about the first three points separately, the total came to only two hundred and twenty thousand.
Even if she added the final requirement about changing classes, it still couldn't possibly reach two million.
So either the diary was lying, or it had left something out.
The information she'd already spent twenty thousand points to confirm couldn't be wrong. So had something been hidden?
And... the hint the teacher had given her after taking ten thousand points.
"The exam is conducted on a class basis."
Did that mean... she was supposed to work with the others in her class?
Thinking of this, Horikita Suzune couldn't help sneaking another glance at Yamauchi Haruki and the others in the back row.
"..." No. Just imagining taking the exam with them made her feel sick.
How could a human work hand in hand with Pseudo-humans?
But if the exam was conducted on a class basis, then their participation was clearly unavoidable.
...What should she do?
What would her brother do?
She couldn't help wondering.
But as soon as she did, the words from the diary the day before yesterday surfaced in her mind again.
"You have no mind of your own. You only know how to follow in my footsteps."
She could almost hear Horikita Manabu's cold voice ringing in her ears.
It was as if her brother really stood before her, scolding her with a cold expression.
No, I... I'm not. I'm not that useless person anymore.
I'll prove it.
I'll prove myself, no matter what!
Horikita Suzune gritted her teeth as she cried out in her heart.
That was right. She would prove herself.
Even if it meant bringing people like Yamauchi Haruki along to Class A.
To do that, she had to find out exactly what the first month's Special Exam was.
Class A had been at the top from the very beginning, while Classes B and C were already one step ahead of them, having learned about the Special Exam.
They were already far behind!
The bell rang, and the classroom quickly grew noisy.
Taking a deep breath, Horikita Suzune closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, there was no longer any hesitation in her gaze.
She stood up and walked step by step to the lectern.
From up there, she had a wide view of the classroom, and could clearly see everyone's movements.
The trio of Pseudo-humans were loudly chatting about meaningless things. The girls beside Kushida were idly talking about things they'd forget by tomorrow. A crowd of girls surrounded Hirata, and small groups were huddled together.
Then... Ayanokoji Kiyotaka looked up at her.
He still didn't seem to have found any friends.
"..." Nobody cared about the strange sight of her standing at the lectern. Even those who noticed only glanced up before looking away.
This was Class D, the Class D known as trash.
Why had she been placed in a class like this...?
No. This wasn't the time to think about that.
There was something she had to do, something only she could do.
Taking a deep breath, Horikita Suzune spoke up. "Everyone, I have something to announce."
"The first month's Special Exam has already begun. We're already far behind!!!"
Her voice rang through all of Class 1-D, heavy but unwavering. Almost at once, the noise abruptly died away.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Everyone couldn't help looking at her. At that moment, the entire class was focused on Horikita Suzune.
"...What's she talking about?"
"That girl... is her name Horikita?"
"Oh, you mean the one Kikyo keeps inviting out, but who turns her down every time?"
"What's gotten into her all of a sudden?"
"Is this some kind of impression? Is she trying to draw everyone's attention like that person at yesterday's Club Orientation?"
"A Special Exam...? Did a teacher mention that?"
After a brief silence, an even louder wave of discussion rose up.
Nobody had any respect for Horikita Suzune, and no one took her words seriously. They just thought this loner was doing something strange again.
"Um, Horikita?" Kushida Kikyo looked confused.
Hey, what are you talking about?
The moment she heard "Special Exam," Kushida Kikyo had realized it sounded like what she'd read in the diary the day before.
She didn't think Horikita Suzune had figured anything out, nor did she believe that someone as antisocial as her could have gotten any information from anyone.
Judging by her own experience, even she—who had already gotten along with most of the class in such a short time and had even exchanged contact information with some students from other classes—hadn't managed to hear anything about the Special Exam from anyone.
And now Horikita Suzune was telling them she'd figured it out?
How could that be?
So Kushida Kikyo's first thought was, Could she see that diary too?
After all, from the very beginning, the person who wrote the diary had claimed that more than one person could see it. The diary had also been written as though addressing the new students in her year.
But did Horikita Suzune really have no sense of caution at all?
Before you continue