Classroom of the Elite, After the Information Refreshed, They Always Want to Conquer Me! 39

Horikita Manabu: Call me immediately.

The brief message carried his usual crisp, decisive tone.

Shimizu Akira's eyes narrowed. Without hesitation, he stood up and left the classroom, walking briskly toward the restroom, a relatively private space.

Once the call connected, Horikita Manabu's signature calm voice came through the receiver: "The school has approved your application, largely in line with my predictions."

"Four classes, eight surveillance devices, a rental period of three weeks starting from this Monday, expiring completely at the end of this month." Horikita Manabu paused. "However, the school has attached four conditions."

"First, because there is no surveillance data from last week, the class points already lost by your four classes cannot be changed."

"Second, you may only rent the surveillance rights to the class where the equipment is located; you cannot rent them to other classes. You must sell them within three days. If they remain in your possession after that, the school reserves the right to revoke these permissions. Conversely, the school's buyback price is 400,000 points per unit."

"Third, you must pay a rental fee of 1.2 million points."

"Fourth," Horikita Manabu's voice carried a hint of amusement, "the Chairman is very interested in you and wishes to speak with you personally. You should be able to accept these conditions, right?"

On this end of the line, the corners of Shimizu Akira's mouth curled upward.

"I can."

This cost was far lower than he had anticipated.

It seemed the Student Council President's judgment had been slightly off.

He had expected the school to approve a one-month rental period, but they had only granted three weeks.

However, after calm reflection, Shimizu Akira realized the school's considerations were not without merit—if surveillance covered a full month, the point gap between the four classes would likely shrink significantly, which would render the competition meaningless.

If the school truly allowed students to completely eliminate violations through surveillance, they might eventually have to pay out a massive reward of 100,000 points to each of the 160 freshmen.

For the school's budget, that was clearly an unbearable burden.

Based solely on the point deductions from the first week, it was enough to determine which classes were A-tier and which had fallen to D-tier.

"If that's the case, Class D is probably still at the bottom!" Shimizu Akira realized this immediately.

Thinking about it, the number of times Class D students were late or skipped class in the first week alone reached the dozens.

However, considering it was only the first week, the class points should still retain more than half their value, not enough to be wiped out entirely.

As for the second condition, the school's intention was obvious:

They hoped students would earn points in moderation rather than treating other classmates as subjects for surveillance, and they certainly shouldn't interfere with others' normal study and life.

The implication was: please behave yourself, make good use of these three days to sell the rights, and don't think about monitoring other classmates, or the school will revoke the surveillance permissions.

However, since the school's buyback price was 400,000 points per unit, overall, he was still guaranteed a profit.

In fact, Shimizu Akira never intended to hold onto the surveillance rights for long from the very beginning.

Earning a sum of money was enough; there was no need to do anything extra.

As for the 1.2 million point rental fee, it wasn't actually that much.

"The Chairman is right next to me, and he wants to speak with you now. Is it convenient for you?" The Student Council President's voice came through the receiver again.

Shimizu Akira was stunned. "Of course."

Although he didn't know why the Chairman wanted to talk to him, he was the head of the school, after all; he had no right to refuse.

"Student Shimizu, hello. I am the Chairman of this school, Sakayanagi Narimori."

The voice from the other end was gentle and refined, carrying the characteristic warmth of an elder.

Shimizu Akira raised an eyebrow—it was unexpected for a dignified Chairman to introduce himself so humbly to a student.

Regardless of whether this friendliness was genuine or feigned, at this moment, he felt a slight sense of goodwill toward this Chairman he had never met.

"Hello, Chairman Sakayanagi. I am Shimizu Akira from Class D of the first year." He responded with appropriate etiquette, his voice neither servile nor overbearing.

"Student Shimizu, you've been in school for over a week now, right? Are you adapting to life at this school?" Sakayanagi Narimori's tone was like that of an elder concerned for a junior.

Shimizu Akira's mouth tilted up, understanding the nature of this leader-like small talk. "Thank you for your concern. The school environment is excellent, and I have fully adapted."

"Is that so? By the way, how is your health lately? Is anything bothering you?"

"My health has always been excellent. To be honest, I haven't even had a cold since I was a child."

"Oh?" The Chairman let out a meaningful sigh. "It is indeed rare for a young person to have such a good physique. Speaking of which..." his tone suddenly shifted, "you must have a habit of morning jogging, right? A few days ago, I happened to see you running on the track from my office window. If I'm not mistaken, you run at least ten kilometers every time."

"Yes, that is one of the habits I've cultivated since childhood."

Shimizu Akira was stunned—the Chairman's office window did indeed overlook the entire track. But the problem was how the other party recognized him.

Being seen by chance was one thing, but being recognized and remembered by the Chairman at a glance meant he had long been on the other party's list of people to watch.

He didn't think there was anything special about himself that warranted such attention from the Chairman.

"Maintaining exercise is a good habit!" On the other end of the line, Sakayanagi Narimori's voice suddenly became tinged with genuine emotion. "As a parent, one's greatest wish is for their child to grow up healthy and safe..."

Shimizu Akira keenly captured the trace of unconcealed loneliness in the other party's tone. This was definitely not just polite talk—this Chairman seemed to have an unusual obsession with "health."

(Could it be... is he in poor health himself? Could it be that...)

He decided to probe: "Forgive my presumption, Chairman Sakayanagi. I know a student named Sakayanagi Arisu. I wonder if you are..."

A slight intake of breath came from the other end of the line, followed by a bitter, light chuckle: "She is my daughter... she has been a sickly child since she was young."

Shimizu Akira's eyes widened in an instant.

My father, the Chairman?

Wait, Sakayanagi Arisu also has a father who is the Chairman!

"Shimizu-kun, there is no need to worry," Sakayanagi Narimori's voice returned to its calm, steady tone. "I have always advocated for fair competition and will not interfere in class affairs due to personal relationships."

"Shimizu-kun, I had assumed you were a student who didn't excel academically; it seems I was greatly mistaken. I hope you can continue to maintain this state." After those brief instructions, Sakayanagi Narimori ended the call with crisp efficiency.

Shimizu held his phone, feeling a sense of dissonance.

The other party hadn't asked about the surveillance footage at all.

Instead, he had inquired about various trivial daily matters in painstaking detail. This overly concerned way of questioning inexplicably reminded him of a blind date arranged by an elder.

"I must be overthinking it..." Shimizu shook his head and tucked his phone back into his pocket.

After all, isn't that just how elderly people ramble on?

069 Ryuen, how many millions of points do you plan to spend to rent the surveillance footage for your class?

"Ibuki-san?"

A soft call pulled Ibuki Mio back from her chaotic memories.

Before she knew it, a silver-haired girl was standing beside her desk, her voice filled with concern: "Is your body... alright?"

Her classmate Shiina Hiyori's tone was as gentle as ever, yet it made Ibuki Mio instinctively tense her back.

"Ah! I'm fine!" She straightened up abruptly and intentionally leaned her chair back, causing it to let out a sharp "creak." "Don't forget, I've practiced martial arts."

She threw a punch with a hint of bravado, but unexpectedly, it tugged at a wound that hadn't fully healed, causing the corner of her mouth to twitch imperceptibly.

"You... still haven't handed over your points, have you?" Shiina's voice was as light as a sigh. "Even Ishizaki and Yamada, who were the most resistant to him at the beginning, have now..."

Ibuki Mio whipped her head around to scan the classroom, only then noticing that those former troublemakers were out following Ryuen Kakeru to run errands, just like any other day.

How ridiculous; those two had inexplicably become Ryuen Kakeru's henchmen.

"What a joke..." Her knuckles turned white as she clenched her fists beneath the desk. "How could I ever submit to a piece of trash like that..."

It was only the third day of school when Ryuen Kakeru ordered the entire class to hand over 80,000 points each as class fees for the month.

At first, there were many who refused, but he had beaten them into submission one by one.

As the days passed, by the second week, even Yamada couldn't hold out any longer, leaving only her to keep resisting.

"It's absolutely absurd! The Student Council actually asked me for evidence? They won't even conduct a basic investigation!" Ibuki Mio kicked her desk hard, the dull thud causing the students in the front row to turn around in terror.

"You actually went directly to the Student Council to report Ryuen..." Shiina Hiyori's voice was kept extremely low. "If he finds out..."

The back door of the classroom was suddenly kicked open roughly.

Ryuen Kakeru strode in like a predator patrolling its territory, with Ishizaki standing by his side like a guard.

"Heh... really putting on the airs of a king, aren't you?" Ibuki Mio intentionally raised her voice.

Ryuen Kakeru's footsteps came to an abrupt halt in front of their desk. "A king... that's not a bad title." His eyes then sharpened, locking directly onto Ibuki Mio. "As for you, you seem more like a rebellious subject."

"You--!"

Ibuki Mio clenched her fists tightly, fire igniting in her eyes, but she was gently pulled by her sleeve by Shiina Hiyori.

Hiyori shook her head slightly, her gaze calm and restrained, signaling her not to be impulsive.

"...Hmph, get lost!" Ryuen Kakeru sneered, his gaze sweeping over the two of them with contempt. "I'm in a good mood today, so I can't be bothered with you." With that, he lazily pulled out his phone, his fingertips tapping rapidly on the screen.

Ibuki Mio froze and looked down at her phone screen—a new message had popped up in the class group chat:

Ryuen Kakeru: Everyone, get to the classroom within ten minutes! Don't make me come and "invite" you myself.

Ibuki Mio understood something in an instant.

That man... had likely found some key piece of information again.

She gritted her teeth, forced to admit the truth—even though Ryuen Kakeru's methods were despicable to the extreme: violent coercion, verbal deception, secret recordings... they were all underhanded tricks.

But sadly, these low-life tactics were indeed effective.

(Otherwise... apart from me, the rest of the class wouldn't have obediently handed over those eighty thousand personal points...)

Less than half a month into the school year, almost everyone both hated and feared Ryuen Kakeru, but they had to acknowledge his capability.

Ibuki Mio's gaze remained fixed on the classroom door.

Sure enough, after seven or eight minutes, the previously sparse seats were completely filled.

"From today on, everyone—" Ryuen Kakeru crossed his arms, his sharp gaze sweeping over every student in the room. "Attend class on time! No tardiness! No playing on your phones! No fighting! And absolutely no sleeping in class!" His voice hammered into the classroom like an iron mallet. "Any behavior that violates school rules, cut it out!"

The classroom fell into an eerie silence instantly.

All the students widened their eyes, staring in disbelief at the figure on the podium—this problem student who usually led the way in breaking discipline and championed violence was now reciting the most standard "model student" code of conduct.

"...So that's how it is." Shiina Hiyori opened her eyes slightly, whispering thoughtfully.

"Huh?!" Ibuki Mio blurted out, her face filled with utter disbelief.

(Ryuen, that guy... has he lost his mind? He's actually acting like a model student?)

"Hmph, I knew that apart from Shiina, you bunch of idiots wouldn't be able to figure it out." Ryuen Kakeru let out a disdainful scoff, then snapped his fingers.

"Ishizaki! Play that!"

"Understood!" Ishizaki Daichi immediately caught on and quickly pulled out a digital voice recorder.

The recorder continued to play, and amidst the static of the electrical interference, a clear conversation emerged:

"...At this rate, Class A will be firmly in first place by next month."

"That's right. Especially those guys in Class C and Class D; they lost quite a few class points just from violating school rules last week."

"How many points do you estimate we'll get next month?"

"According to Classmate Sakayanagi's calculations, at least 950 points."

"In that case, we should be receiving over 90,000 private points next month, right?"

"Bang!" Ryuen Kakeru suddenly slammed his fist onto the podium, sending chalk dust raining down.

He looked down at everyone in Class C, his lips curling into a dangerous arc: "Now, do you understand?"

Ryuen Kakeru stood there with one hand in his pocket, his very posture radiating impatience, as if mocking the dullness of the entire class.

Only then did a commotion break out in the classroom.

"What are class points?"

"It seems like they're closely tied to our private points!"

"Could it be? Violating school rules causes class points to be deducted?! Why didn't the school explain this at the beginning!"

Ryuen Kakeru's fingertips tapped a dangerous rhythm against the podium, and as he looked down at the whispering students, a trace of mockery flashed in his eyes.

(What a bunch of hopeless idiots...)

(They've heard the recording, and they still don't understand what it means?)

(Why does it feel like everyone except for me and Shiina Hiyori is a complete moron? Our class is just too weak!)