Classroom of the Elite: After the Intelligence Refresh, They All Want to Win Me Over! Chapter 41

Horikita Manabu pushed up his glasses. His gaze behind the lenses remained as calm as still water. "There's no need to worry. The School Administration will replace the equipment immediately, and the class responsible for the damage will receive an appropriate Class Points penalty."

"I see." Shimizu Akira nodded.

"As for the classes that agree to rent the system," Horikita Manabu continued, "they need only send a representative to the Student Council to sign a formal agreement. We'll transfer the management permissions for the surveillance system at the same time."

At that moment, Horikita Manabu took a brand-new laptop from beneath his desk. "This device already has the dedicated surveillance-system software installed. You can take it with you now."

"You even prepared the hardware so thoroughly?" Shimizu Akira accepted the computer with both hands, his voice full of sincere gratitude. "President, I really owe you one this time."

Afterward, Shimizu Akira hurried back to his dorm with the laptop bag in hand.

The instant he locked the door, he eagerly flipped open the laptop.

Following the instructions the president had provided, he successfully logged into the surveillance system's backend.

The interface appeared, and Shimizu Akira was somewhat surprised. The access level was higher than he'd expected.

(Real-time surveillance, playback history, video downloads...)

Still, the first thing Shimizu Akira did was open last week's surveillance archive.

(Just as I thought... It's all blank. The School Administration must have moved the footage.)

Just as he was thinking that, his phone suddenly vibrated.

Ryuen Kakeru from Class C had sent him a message, claiming he'd discovered the hidden rules.

(As expected, he's no fool...)

Shimizu Akira raised an eyebrow. The news didn't surprise him.

As a class leader, it was only natural to figure out some of the rules within the first month of school.

He'd never expected to earn many points by selling information in the first place. Renting out access to the surveillance system was his real goal.

He casually sent back a few replies while pulling up Class C's live feed.

On screen, Ryuen Kakeru stood at the lectern. His face, usually fixed in a cold sneer, wore an unusually agitated expression.

"What era are we living in..." Shimizu Akira shook his head. "Who still sells information the old-fashioned way?"

He watched for a while longer, then thought of what today's intelligence had revealed. He replied with "3 million," never expecting that the big guy in the other class would grab a chair and smash the surveillance camera.

"You really do get people like that! I'm suddenly starting to feel sorry for Ryuen Kakeru. You've got it rough, too."

He watched as half of the Class C feeds he could access went black.

He didn't particularly care, though. The Student Council president had already said the school would replace the equipment.

"Isn't Class C afraid of losing Class Points for this? Don't tell me they'll end up behind even Class D by the end of the month. That'd be humiliating." He muttered to himself, then let it go. "Anyway, I should check the other classes."

As he spoke, he minimized the Class C feed and opened the Class A one.

In crisp 4K, every detail in the classroom was clear. With the 16x zoom, he could even see the students' eyelashes quiver.

(Everyone's here?)

Surprisingly, even though school had let out long ago, every seat in the Class A classroom was occupied.

Only two empty seats stood out.

The feed switched to the lectern. Sakayanagi Arisu sat elegantly in a chair, with a broad-browed, big-eyed bald boy standing beside her. The two of them seemed to be saying something to the class.

The moment Shimizu Akira opened the audio feed, Sakayanagi Arisu's gentle yet commanding voice flowed from the speakers:

A tense atmosphere filled the classroom as Sakayanagi Arisu's sharp gaze swept over her classmates.

"Lately... no one's leaked any of that confidential information, have they?"

"Classmate Sakayanagi, no one has."

"That's right. We wouldn't casually leak information to the other classes."

One after another, students in the room began answering.

"Good..." She nodded slightly, the corners of her mouth lifting into a meaningful smile. "After all, we can't let our competitors gain any advantage."

Shimizu Akira clicked his tongue to himself as he watched the scene.

Sakayanagi continued lecturing her classmates in her characteristic tone—somewhat languid, yet sharply confrontational. It was the same old talk about how they must never leak information.

The Class A leader, always graceful and composed in public, was surprisingly aggressive toward her own classmates in private.

The sight brought Shimizu Akira back to the first time they'd met in the convenience store. Back then, she'd shown the same innate sense of superiority and undisguised desire to dominate.

But during their next two meetings, that superiority had gradually faded.

At least when she spoke to him, she seemed almost like a normal person.

"So that bald guy is Katsuragi Kohei, then?"

Shimizu Akira remembered what Masumi Kamuro had told him: Class A was currently led by two leaders, Sakayanagi Arisu and Katsuragi Kohei.

Combined with the information he'd obtained a few days ago about the other boy's alopecia, the identity of the bald student standing beside Sakayanagi Arisu was obvious.

"They've managed Class A this well? That's unexpected," Shimizu Akira thought. "I was worried that having two leaders would lead to a power struggle, but it seems they've reached some sort of delicate balance."

He couldn't help thinking of the situation in Class D. Kushida Kikyou was clearly competing with Hirata Yosuke, while Hirata always seemed to give way without realizing it. Having two leaders in one group really could lead to a struggle for power.

The next second, though, Shimizu Akira realized his judgment had been off.

Katsuragi Kohei suddenly stepped forward and joined the conversation without drawing attention to himself, naturally taking control of the discussion from Sakayanagi Arisu.

Shimizu Akira found himself moving the cursor over Sakayanagi Arisu's face and zooming in 32 times. Her brows were furrowed so tightly they looked like they could crush a fly.

"Hmm. Is Class A about to start fighting among themselves...?" Watching the scene, Shimizu Akira reached an obvious conclusion.

P.S. An explanation about the surveillance system. This is a note from the author, so this section is free.

First: Renting access to the surveillance system can prevent your class from losing points in the future.

All the classes now know the rules of conduct. Using phones or talking in class will result in points being deducted. If they rent access to the surveillance system and delete the relevant data at the end of the month, they can avoid any deductions entirely.

Second: Deleting older surveillance footage can restore Class Points.

The footage of rule violations from the first two weeks can be deleted completely. (The other classes don't know this; the School Administration took the first week's footage, and that was disclosed only to Shimizu Akira.) In theory, this means the four classes can get back more than 900 Class Points.

Third: The classes are worried that Shimizu Akira might sell access to the surveillance system to someone else. This is actually what Classes A and B care about most.

Although the School Administration explicitly told Shimizu Akira that he couldn't sell access to the system to other classes, that didn't mean the other classes knew about this restriction.

That creates an information gap. Even if Classes A and B haven't lost many points for rule violations, footage from the past two weeks still exists. Every word their leaders said and every move their students made during those two weeks was recorded in full. If that information were revealed to their rivals in other classes, it would be like giving them "X-ray vision." They could study their every move in advance.

That's what Classes A and B care about most.

Fourth: Psychological pressure.

072 Sakayanagi Arisu: Yes, I look down on Katsuragi Kohei.

Shimizu Akira understood Sakayanagi Arisu's character well. This genius girl, who believed herself to be above everyone else, couldn't stand having anyone place themselves above her. Perhaps that nearly pathological arrogance was a common trait among geniuses.

And Katsuragi Kohei...

Judging by how forcefully he'd stepped into the conversation, he clearly wasn't content to remain beneath Sakayanagi Arisu, either.

His tense jawline and deliberately straight back both showed that he was just as forceful a character.

When two strong-willed leaders were together, one of them was bound to get hurt.

Shimizu Akira could practically see the bloody storm about to sweep through Class A.

Still, Shimizu Akira did want to cheer Katsuragi Kohei on a little.

As for why...

"He is bald, after all!" Shimizu Akira looked at the slightly shining head on the surveillance feed and couldn't help making the joke.

The other student had alopecia; he hadn't gone bald later in life.

Otherwise, Shimizu Akira really would have wondered if he was the real-life version of Saitama.

"Looks like charging Class A a fee shouldn't be a problem."

After confirming the key information, Shimizu Akira promptly closed the Class A feed.

As for the remaining classes, B and D, he pulled up their feeds.

School had let out long ago for both classes. Only a few students remained in their classrooms, nothing like the formal class meetings underway in Classes C and A.

"...Are there other talented people in Class B, too?"

While watching Class B, he made an unexpected discovery: the class's most popular student wasn't just Ichinose Honami. Several students were chatting around someone named Kanzaki, while another group had gathered around a handsome boy. Unfortunately, no one called the boy by name, so Shimizu Akira had no way to find out who he was.

"Wait... This basically counts as spying on people, doesn't it...?"

Being able to openly peek into every first-year classroom, enjoy crisp 4K footage, drag the playback bar wherever he liked, and capture the smallest changes in anyone's expression with a click of the mouse—how should he put it? It was pretty strange.

It brought to mind a line from his previous life: I'll keep my eyes on you. Always.

But the novelty soon wore off as staring at the screen for so long made his eyes ache.

His own assessment was that he still hadn't watched enough surveillance footage!

"For now, I should focus on selling access to the surveillance system." He rubbed his aching temples. "Classes B and D both need to be notified."

Since he'd already contacted Class C, Shimizu Akira smoothly switched accounts and sent nearly identical messages about the surveillance system to Ichinose Honami, Kushida Kikyou, and Hirata Yosuke. The only difference was the names; even the rates were exactly the same.

Even in Class D, he'd never planned to provide free service to his class. Want access to the surveillance system? Then be ready to pay a fortune in points.

"Ah, I almost forgot..." A playful smile curved his lips. "That daughter of the chairman from Class A and the bald classmate need to be notified, too."

He expertly switched back to his main account, copied Sakayanagi Arisu's profile, which he'd already added as a friend, and started sending her the same message.

"Class A needs to maintain this level of discipline," Katsuragi Kohei's steady voice echoed through the classroom. "I suspect we may have another Special Exam coming up, so I hope everyone will put their strengths to good use when the time comes."

He glanced around the room and continued, "At the same time, the class will implement a rewards system. The rewards will come out of the class fund, and we'll reward outstanding performance. For instance, with this final exam..."

Sakayanagi Arisu rested her chin in one hand, watching Katsuragi Kohei's back with bored indifference.

(What an utterly... dull man.)

To be fair, Katsuragi was an excellent student. His outstanding grades and steady, reliable personality had helped him establish his position in Class A.

For instance, the policies he was currently introducing would indeed further motivate the class.

But the problem was... he was too rigid.

So rigid that he was tedious.

Every decision he made seemed copied straight from a textbook. His minimum standard was high, but his maximum potential was pitifully low.

If you measured him in grades, he'd always hover between 70 and 80, never reaching the 90-point threshold.

In other words... he'd never surprised her.

He was nothing but a so-called "genius" in name.

The limit of what an ordinary person could achieve.

Sakayanagi Arisu didn't hate ordinary people. On the contrary, she occasionally admired the way they struggled with all their might.

But...

He was merely someone who'd reached the limits of an ordinary person, yet he presumed to compete with her for the position of Class A's leader. That was simply too irritating.

"Classmate Sakayanagi... what's your opinion?"

Her name was suddenly called. She turned with practiced elegance to meet Katsuragi Kohei's gaze.

On the surface, it was a request for her opinion. It sounded more like a notification.

(How... unpleasant.)

Still, this time she really couldn't find a reason to object.

These measures would indeed make Class A more stable.

"That's an excellent proposal. Just what I'd expect from you, Katsuragi." Sakayanagi Arisu wore a flawless smile, but there wasn't a trace of warmth in her eyes.

"...Is that so?" Katsuragi Kohei furrowed his brow slightly. He admitted that he did have some desire for power, but more than that, he hoped his classmate would put Class A's interests first, just as he did.

After all, they were already Class A, standing at the top.