Classroom of the Elite: After the Intelligence Refresh, They All Want to Win Me Over! Chapter 26

"I knew this would happen..." Shimizu Akira said with a helpless sigh, resting one hand against his forehead.

To be honest, he'd expected this outcome. He wasn't surprised in the slightest.

Who in the class would be willing to cough up 25,000 Private Points for no reason?

Especially when it had been Chabashira Sae's decision to begin with.

Of course, whether the other 39 students managed to pay their Class Points contributions had nothing to do with him.

After all, Chabashira Sae had already handed him a full million points herself.

But then again—

Chabashira Sae's move really had been clever. She'd made those two students vice class representatives and had them collect the Class Points in her place.

What a masterful stroke.

As a teacher, it really wasn't convenient for her to get directly involved in collecting the Class Points.

"Everyone, please calm down and hear me out!" Hirata Yosuke raised his voice, trying to settle the commotion in the classroom.

He cleared his throat, his tone sincere and firm.

"Let's consider a hypothetical: what would happen if we didn't have this intelligence?" He looked around at his classmates. "If students kept skipping class and breaking school rules, by the beginning of next month we might have only two or three hundred Class Points left—or even less."

The classroom gradually quieted as the students began to seriously consider the possibility.

"But things are different now!" Hirata's voice was persuasive. "We've only been here a little over a week, and we already know the key rules. As long as we avoid making mistakes, we could easily still have seven or eight hundred points by the end of the month!"

He paused, letting the figure sink in. "More importantly, at the start of the school year, whichever class builds up a point advantage first will have the upper hand in the competition to come. Spending a million points to secure that advantage is absolutely worth it!"

Kushida Kikyou added at just the right moment, "Besides, when you split the cost among everyone, it really isn't much. Isn't 25,000 points a worthwhile investment in exchange for gaining tens of thousands of Private Points every month for the next three years?"

A murmur of discussion rose in the classroom, and many students' expressions began to soften.

"I'm against it!" Karuizawa Kei spoke up again. She toyed with her fingernails as she smiled. "It's easy for you honor students to say that! But for those of us who don't have many points to begin with, 25,000 is an astronomical sum! I have plenty of uses for my points!"

A trace of displeasure flashed in Kushida Kikyou's eyes, but she quickly put on a gentle smile again. "Karuizawa, I completely understand how you feel. How about this? I'll give everyone some time to prepare. You can hand in the points after school tomorrow."

Hirata picked up the thread at just the right time. "Anyone who's really struggling can talk to me privately. I can lend them some points, but there are only a limited number of spots—at most two or three people."

Horikita Suzune folded her arms, her icy gaze sweeping over the commotion in the classroom.

A million points for intelligence like this... It was practically a bargain. Why were these people still complaining?

The ceaseless complaints around her pounded at her nerves like blunt instruments.

They're wasting my time...

The mere existence of these people is dragging down the level of this school.

Suddenly, her fingers froze in midair.

Wait... 25,000 points?

I remember... I think there's less than 10,000 points left in my account.

Be Wary of Miyabi Nagumo

The moment Shimizu Akira stepped into his dorm room, his phone vibrated.

A message from Chabashira Sae appeared on the screen:

[Chabashira Sae: If you come across any intelligence that could benefit the class in the future, you can contact me directly or tell those two vice class representatives. As for your compensation... you can name your price.]

[Chabashira Sae: Have those two collect the Class Points, then give you an appropriate reward through an allocation of funds.]

[Chabashira Sae: It's a fair deal, isn't it? Surely you're willing to contribute to Class D now?]

The corners of Shimizu Akira's mouth lifted slightly. Their homeroom teacher was much shrewder than he'd imagined—at least, she understood the balance of costs and benefits better than most of the students in Class D.

He quickly typed a reply:

[Shimizu Akira: As expected of Chabashira-sensei. It's a clever proposal. By the way... have you ever managed to lead your class into Class A?]

After the message was marked as read, she replied soon afterward:

[Chabashira Sae: ...No.]

[Chabashira Sae: Shimizu, you still haven't given me a direct answer.]

Shimizu Akira stared at the screen and pondered for a moment.

[Shimizu Akira: Deal. As long as the compensation is reasonable, I'd be happy to make this exchange.]

He had no reason to refuse.

Shimizu Akira had always been reluctant to help Class D for one simple reason—nobody wanted to be the sucker who put in all the effort and got nothing in return.

Now Chabashira Sae's proposal of an exchange of equal value had solved that problem perfectly.

If his efforts earned an appropriate reward, he was naturally willing to cooperate.

[Chabashira Sae: By the way, Shimizu, who do you think is better suited to be class representative, Hirata Yosuke or Kushida Kikyou? Which choice would benefit Class D more?]

At this unexpected question, Shimizu Akira's fingers hovered over the screen, and his brow furrowed unconsciously.

Why was their homeroom teacher asking for his opinion? And about who should be class representative, no less?

[Chabashira Sae: If you give me an answer, I'll tell you another important piece of intelligence about the second years.]

Shimizu Akira was taken aback. Chabashira Sae might usually seem lazy, but she always kept her word.

If she was offering intelligence in exchange, it wouldn't be an empty promise.

His fingers paused over the screen for a moment, then slowly typed out a line: [My answer is—they're both not very suited to be class representative.]

After a little thought, he continued: [Why be so fixated on the title of class representative? Class A is led by Katsuragi and Sakayanagi together, and it runs just fine. Why not leave the position vacant and let the two of them compete based on their actual contributions? Whoever does more for the class can be class representative next month.]

This sort of management approach was common in the workplace—leaving a position open for promotion could actually encourage employees to compete.

In his view, keeping Hirata and Kushida in healthy competition was the best way to maintain the class's vitality.

[That would keep power from becoming too concentrated while also continuing to motivate them both,] he concluded. [Compared with a permanent appointment, a dynamic system of competition might suit Class D better right now. And in my view, Horikita Suzune might become one of the leaders in the future.]

The phone screen remained silent for a long time. Shimizu Akira had almost assumed the conversation was over when Chabashira Sae's reply finally arrived.

[Chabashira Sae: Horikita Suzune? Her? I haven't seen any sign of change in her so far.]

[Chabashira Sae: ...Sometimes I really wonder whether you're even a high school student...]

[Chabashira Sae: You're actually using workplace management theory to analyze class issues...]

Another moment passed before a new message appeared:

[Chabashira Sae: ...But it really is a good plan.]

[Chabashira Sae: Class D will use this system from now on.]

Shimizu Akira had the vague feeling that he was manipulating all of Class D from behind the scenes.

After all, even their homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae, was asking for his opinion.

But since she'd promised to exchange intelligence of equal value, it wasn't a bad deal.

Shimizu Akira: So, where's the intelligence of equal value?

Chabashira Sae: ...There's someone in Class 2-A named Miyabi Nagumo.

Shimizu Akira frowned. He hadn't expected her to suddenly bring up someone else.

Shimizu Akira: So, what does that have to do with me?

Chabashira Sae: Think carefully... how did you get that intelligence?

Shimizu Akira replied casually: I bought it from a second-year student in Class 2-D.

Chabashira Sae: The entire second year is under Miyabi Nagumo's control now, including Class 2-D. He gave them strict orders—no second-year student is allowed to break any school rules, and selling intelligence is one of those rules.

Shimizu Akira: Why?

Chabashira Sae: It's simple. Breaking school rules means losing Class Points, and a drop in Class Points... means they'll have fewer Private Points to "tribute" to Nagumo each month. That's his logic.

Chabashira Sae: So I'm genuinely curious: how did you manage to buy that intelligence under Miyabi Nagumo's control?

Shimizu Akira's mouth fell slightly open as he suddenly understood.

No wonder that senior had emphasized that she was "short on points" during the deal.

Looking back, it had been a hint that she was taking a risk by defying Miyabi Nagumo's ban.

I probably got an incredible bargain back then.

No wonder the intelligence system had specifically flagged him.

Chabashira Sae: Don't overthink it. The current student council president is still in office, and Miyabi Nagumo is only the vice president. For now, he's focused on dealing with all the classes except Class 3-A. I'm just warning you that there's a very high chance he's completely ignoring you.

Shimizu Akira read the message twice.

So Miyabi Nagumo is the vice president of the Student Council?

The discovery gave him something to think about.

Since they were both on the Student Council, Horikita Manabu should know Miyabi Nagumo well.

But then again, he was just an ordinary new student. He probably wasn't even important enough to catch Nagumo's attention.

In the Student Council's power structure, the vice president was second only to the president.

"Right now, I probably don't even count as a minor character in his eyes."

As Chabashira had said, Miyabi Nagumo was busy expanding his influence among the third years.

Why would someone that important waste time paying attention to a new student who'd just enrolled?

"Come to think of it, it should be about time." Shimizu Akira glanced down at his phone. It was 7:10 p.m.

He opened the day's intelligence feed and reread the third item.

[Intelligence 3: Tonight at 7:55 p.m., Horikita Suzune will be physically punished by Horikita Manabu behind the first-year dormitory.]

"Perfect... I'll get to meet the student council president." Shimizu Akira pondered. "To be safe, I'll also ask him about Miyabi Nagumo."

Horikita Suzune: So My Points All Went to Shimizu Akira!

Horikita Suzune lay quietly on her bed, refreshing her point balance once more.

"9,900 points..."

She stared at the number on the screen and repeated it under her breath, her brow furrowing slightly.

She had to come up with 25,000 points by the end of school tomorrow—and the figure weighed on her like a heavy stone.

With her current balance, she was nowhere near the amount she needed.

What's more, even if she somehow managed to scrape together enough, she'd still have to set aside some points for daily expenses.

In fact, though Horikita Suzune came from a wealthy family, she'd grown up with frugal habits.

Since the start of the school year, she'd deliberately avoided buying expensive things and always looked for more cost-effective alternatives.

There were no brand-name stationery items in her locker, and she kept her uniform neat without buying unnecessary extra clothes.

Even when eating in the cafeteria, she carefully calculated every expense, making sure to use her points only for necessities.

Even so, the shortage of points was still making her a little anxious.

"Where did my points... all go?"

Horikita Suzune gently bit her lower lip, quickly swiped across her device, and pulled up her detailed transaction history.

Fortunately, every expense had been clearly recorded, so she decided to check them all carefully from the beginning.

The first day of school—

Since she'd deliberately packed light, she'd had to buy a lot of necessities: shampoo, laundry detergent, a washbasin, toothpaste... along with the cost of three meals a day. Those expenses were unavoidable, totaling 3,000 points.

Balance: 97,000 points

The second day—

A bottle of mineral water, three simple hair clips, and her usual three meals.

Spent: 1,500 points

Balance: 95,500 points