Classroom of the Elite, I Can Add Points Infinitely Chapter 12

"How truly narcissistic." Aragaki Shun didn't even know how to describe the other's personality.

But never mind, that sort of thing was inconsequential.

After taking the menu and ordering a few dishes at random, Aragaki Shun took advantage of the time before the food arrived to get straight to the point regarding his reason for inviting Koenji.

"Let's get straight to business, Koenji Rokusuke. I intend to submit a request to the Board of Directors of Kodo Ikusei, asking them to restrict Chairman Sakayanagi's authority over the evaluations of the first-year students. Could I trouble you to sign a joint petition?"

"Oh? And the reason?" Koenji Rokusuke looked somewhat curious. "Why do something so thankless? Offending their Chairman at Kodo Ikusei Senior High School is not a fun game to play."

The Koenji Conglomerate was a powerful capital group with immense influence across all of Sakurajima, capable of monopolizing entire financial sectors.

To an ordinary person, this was a behemoth that could send them to heaven or hell with the mere flick of a finger.

But on one hand, Koenji Rokusuke currently only held the status of a conglomerate heir, not having truly seized control of the Koenji Conglomerate yet, so the resources he could actually mobilize were ultimately limited.

On the other hand, don't let the fact that Kodo Ikusei Senior High School is just a school fool you; in a strict sense, the connections gathered here over the years are so extensive that calling it the Advanced Nurturing School Clique is no exaggeration.

With forty students graduating from Class A every year, free to choose any top university or enterprise under government support, the graduates of Kodo Ikusei had long since permeated every walk of life after a dozen years.

Add to that the fact that among the past graduates of Kodo Ikusei, there was no shortage of individuals with deep backgrounds like Aragaki Shun, Kanzaki Ryuji, and Koenji Rokusuke—for instance, the young lady of the Kiryuuin Family in the second year.

This massive network of connections, when assembled, was absolutely no weaker than the conglomerate power of Koenji Rokusuke's family.

If one were to also factor in the political background behind Kodo Ikusei—the fact that the school was supported as a political achievement—a young man who had yet to inherit his conglomerate might not necessarily be someone the Chairman of Kodo Ikusei would pay special attention to.

To say nothing else, just looking at how the school had nonchalantly tossed Koenji Rokusuke into the trash heap of Class D, one could tell that the people responsible for assigning classes had absolutely never considered Koenji Rokusuke's feelings.

"It is indeed thankless. If I had a choice, I wouldn't want to offend the Chairman of Kodo Ikusei for no reason either."

Aragaki Shun nodded; he actually just wanted to attend school peacefully. "But there's no help for it. The Chairman made the first move for the sake of his daughter, so we can't just let him dictate everything, can we?"

Amidst Koenji Rokusuke's somewhat confused expression, Aragaki Shun briefly explained the hidden rules regarding class points, private points, and the competition for Class A, as well as the information regarding Sakayanagi Arisu of the first-year Class A.

Given Koenji Rokusuke's status, such things couldn't be hidden from him for long, and judging by his previous aloof demeanor, he didn't seem like the type to care about his classmates in first-year Class D, so there was no harm in revealing the intelligence directly.

As expected, Koenji Rokusuke remained thoughtful throughout, showing no surprise at the truth of the school that Aragaki Shun had provided.

"The Chairman's methods are truly not beautiful. To be so ignorant of my beauty and toss me into a filthy trash heap—this does indeed require a response."

Koenji Rokusuke was somewhat displeased!

He didn't care whether he was assigned to Class A or Class D; the future promised by the school held no attraction for a conglomerate heir, and the interviewer's evaluation meant absolutely nothing to him.

But to place him in a mire filled with idiots was a desecration of his beauty, and if given the chance, he wouldn't mind returning the favor for the Chairman's arrangements.

"I went to check the student roster for first-year Class C earlier, guessing I might find a surprise or two, but I didn't find any familiar names or surnames."

Aragaki Shun said with a hint of regret.

If there had been people with similar status to them in Class C, Aragaki Shun could have understood the school's arrangement; it would simply be a matter of letting them, the children of the elite, each occupy a corner so that no one could suppress the others with their status.

But that wasn't the case!

Then he could only suspect that Chairman Sakayanagi was secretly engaging in favoritism for his own daughter.

It wasn't as if the three of them had greater flaws than Sakayanagi Arisu, right?

22. The Reason Koenji Was Assigned to Class D

For the sake of his sickly daughter's physical and mental health, the Chairman had specifically arranged for Sakayanagi Arisu to be in the most excellent class, Class A.

And fearing that other young people with extraordinary backgrounds wouldn't give his daughter face, he had exiled the likes of Aragaki Shun, Kanzaki Ryuji, and Koenji Rokusuke to other classes.

This was Aragaki Shun's secret speculation regarding Chairman Sakayanagi's psychology.

Although it sounded like a conspiracy theory, he had never really trusted the character of such people in power.

What's more, he had also heard that there was a senior in the second year who was similar to Koenji Rokusuke in both personality and status—a girl named Kiryuuin Fuuka, who had been assigned to Class A when she enrolled last year.

With the two in similar situations yet assigned to Class A and Class D respectively, he couldn't help but suspect that the difference lay in the fact that the first-year Class A now had the Chairman's daughter.

"Koenji, did you offend the Chairman? He sent you straight to Class D, while Kanzaki and I at least managed to stay in Class B."

Aragaki Shun looked playfully at the blonde man who prided himself on being peerlessly beautiful, genuinely curious about the reason he had been assigned to Class D.

To be the heir to a conglomerate, one must possess basic capabilities.

Otherwise, even if he were the only son of the conglomerate's head, it would be unlikely for him to be recognized as the heir.

When it comes down to it, a conglomerate is a monopoly capital group formed by a large family at its core, combined with relatives and close kin.

Since it is a large family, there are certainly more people than just the head's lineage; if the head's only son were truly a waste, they would simply replace him with someone more suitable from the family.

Even if the entire family were lacking in descendants, as long as there was a daughter, selecting a suitable, capable man from the company's most promising senior managers to be an adopted son-in-law was also acceptable.

After all, many companies in Sakurajima subscribe to the philosophy that "it is better to pass the inheritance to an outsider than to an incapable biological son."

Some conglomerate heads have even publicly stated that they prefer daughters over sons.

Because with a daughter, they can actively choose the son they want.

"That is truly an unbeautiful question."

Koenji Rokusuke was clearly depressed by Aragaki Shun's teasing, but even so, he did not ignore the boy's question, instead forcing himself to recall the past.

Although he was always self-willed toward the outside world, he was still willing to be slightly polite when dealing with people of his own level.

"I don't feel that I ever offended that Chairman. If nothing went wrong, the one who assigned me to Class D must have been that interviewer from back then."

Koenji simply didn't care about the opinions of others, but he could still easily observe the attitudes people held toward him.

The displeasure shown by that interviewer back then had been exceptionally obvious.

What kind of interviewer has the audacity to act like that?

Shun Aragaki's curiosity was not only left unsatisfied, but it also tended to intensify.

He had previously asked Chie Hoshinomiya, and since the founding of Kodo Ikusei Senior High School, there had never been a record of Class D rising to become Class A.

As for the other path—collecting 20 million Private Points through individual ability to transfer classes—it had remained purely theoretical to this day.

In other words, based on past experience, in the eyes of that interviewer, Rokusuke Koenji was destined to languish in Class D and would never graduate from Class A.

By offending the heir to a conglomerate like that, wasn't he afraid that Rokusuke Koenji would come back to retaliate against him in three years?

"..."

This time, Koenji didn't bother responding to Shun Aragaki, simply continuing to look at himself in the mirror.

Well, it seemed the person was either a tentacle of the government sent into Kodo Ikusei, or a close relative of Chairman Sakayanagi.

Since Rokusuke Koenji didn't want to talk, Shun Aragaki couldn't force him, so he changed the subject.

"After the Board of Directors makes their decision, Kanzaki will go and communicate with Chairman Sakayanagi. Do you need me to help you ask for reasonable compensation?"

Shun Aragaki gestured toward Ryuji Kanzaki, who was standing to the side, implying that the group Kanzaki belonged to had deep ties with the Sakayanagi Family and could have him handle the compensation discussions with the Chairman first.

Rokusuke Koenji tossed his shoulder-length golden hair. He had initially wanted to refuse, but after a moment's thought, he nodded and accepted the suggestion.

Although it wasn't strictly necessary, owing a small favor to the adopted son of the Aragaki Family and heir to Kanzaki Heavy Industries was a reasonable way to establish connections.

After all, while the influence of the Koenji Conglomerate in Sakurajima was significant, it was far from unrivaled.

There were quite a few groups in this country that could be called conglomerates, with over a dozen well-known ones.

Add to that the numerous political parties, local powerhouses, academic cliques, remnants of feudal influence, and proxies for other powerful nations... when all these were lined up, the Koenji Conglomerate could hardly maintain a top position in high society.

Of the two people in front of him, Ryuji Kanzaki was fine; in the field of financial capital, the Koenji Conglomerate surpassed Kanzaki Heavy Industries by quite a bit.

But the political influence represented by the Aragaki Family, which Shun Aragaki belonged to, was not something the Koenji Conglomerate could compare to.

Or rather, in this regard, they couldn't even compare to the Sakayanagi Family, who controlled Kodo Ikusei.

Regardless, if a conglomerate wanted to expand its influence and convert its vast wealth into corresponding status, it had to align itself with political power.

Otherwise, having money alone just made one a fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered by government agencies that held the monopoly on violence.

Getting on good terms with the heir of the Aragaki Family now certainly wouldn't hurt.

"Then help me report it to the Chairman. Perhaps the upperclassmen, the Ladies and Gentlemen, will be willing to pay some points to admire my beauty."

After learning the truth about this school, Rokusuke Koenji was no longer interested in so-called class competition.

This was not only because he had personally experienced how trashy Class D was over the past two days, which extinguished any thought he had of playing along with the class.

It was also because before coming to the school, he had already exposed his information on the official website of his family's enterprise.

In this way, as long as he made a few promises to the seniors about to graduate, he could easily trade for a large amount of Private Points from them.

If he wanted to, he could save up 20 million Private Points in just a few days and clear this school directly; there was absolutely no challenge to it.

"Going solo by trading cash for Private Points? Now I'm curious about just how magical your Class D is."

Shun Aragaki understood Koenji's thinking, but he didn't understand how bad Class D could possibly be to make him lose interest entirely.

As for whether the Chairman would agree to Koenji's approach, there was no need to worry.

Under normal circumstances, there was never a shortage of children from powerful families among the students entering Kodo Ikusei, and this obvious loophole should have been plugged long ago; otherwise, no student would have successfully transferred classes using 20 million Private Points to this day.

However, now that the Chairman might be playing favorites and had assigned the only son of a conglomerate to Class D—which had never successfully competed before—the school's top brass would likely tacitly allow Koenji to use this loophole under these special circumstances.

They wouldn't really let the heir to the Koenji Conglomerate get stuck in the mud pit of Class D, would they?

23. A Harvest of Millions of Points

Rokusuke Koenji naturally didn't care about the benefits of graduating from Class A.

After all, most students who graduated from Class A, even with the help of Kodo Ikusei Senior High School, would likely just end up as high-level wage earners under these conglomerates and famous enterprises.

While the benefits of Class A were meaningless to him, failing to graduate from Class A was not "beautiful" to Koenji at all.

This would not only stain his personal aesthetic, but it might also affect how his elders at home evaluated him.

After all, for the heir to a conglomerate to lose in a competition at a high school to a bunch of ordinary students... that really didn't sound good.

If further unexpected situations occurred and he was expelled and forced to return home in disgrace, the scene would be even more explosive.

Since ancient times, power has never been something you automatically possess just because you sit in that position.

Even the emperors of old, who claimed to be the Son of Heaven and possessed inherent legitimacy and divinity, were often sidelined or even deposed by powerful ministers.

To issue orders, the prerequisite is that someone listens to your commands, and that your second-in-command or third-in-command doesn't intentionally cause trouble.

Therefore, when parting ways with Koenji, although Shun Aragaki hadn't reached any further deals with him, he at least understood that the other party still had some thoughts regarding Class A.

It was impossible to make Rokusuke Koenji spend too much energy participating in class competition, but if he could accumulate a large number of Private Points along the way, he wouldn't mind being slightly active.

The final bottom line was that he could not be dragged down into expulsion by that group of defective products in Class D; otherwise, it would absolutely become a dark stain on his life that he would never forget.

However, this point was exactly the same for Aragaki Shun himself.

Graduating from Class A meant no bonus points, failing to graduate from Class A meant a deduction, and if one were to be expelled, it would cause a massive uproar within his circle of acquaintances; countless people would surely be whispering behind his back, even if they didn't say anything to his face.

"Is there anything else we need to do now?"

Watching the figure of Koenji Rokusuke leave from the entrance of the cafeteria, Kanzaki Ryuji asked Aragaki Shun, feeling somewhat uncertain.

Just moments ago, Aragaki Shun and Koenji Rokusuke had already contacted their respective connections within the Advanced Nurturing High School Council, leaving only him as the one who hadn't done anything.

"If there's work to do, go do it. If there's nothing, then naturally, it's time to head back to the dorms and rest," Aragaki Shun said nonchalantly. "The Council needs to deliberate with Chairman Sakayanagi, which will inevitably take some time. Only after they reach a decision will it be the right moment for you to communicate with the Chairman."

With that, the young man patted Kanzaki on the shoulder. Seeing that there was still some time left after dinner, he headed to the library to supplement his knowledge; his use of his cheat ability required him to understand the principles of more things in order to conserve Source Power.

And so, the second day of school came to an end.

Starting from the third day of school, the school's management remained as relaxed as ever, and the teachers never ran over their allotted class time. To the students of Class C and Class D, who were unaware of the truth, it would be no exaggeration to call this place a dream paradise.

It seemed that for this first month, the school would not arrange any other special operations besides the Behavioral Standards Exam.

Therefore, Aragaki Shun did not stir up any more trouble for the time being. After handing over the class discipline management to Kanzaki Ryuji and Ichinose Honami, the young man's campus life gradually became routine.

Every day began with an early morning run, followed by a day of well-behaved attendance in class. After school ended at three in the afternoon, he would randomly pull a few available classmates to bolster his numbers and head to various clubs in the club building to challenge them and make his mark.

The Baseball Club, Soccer Club, Tennis Club, Judo Club, Archery Club... as long as it was a club suitable for competitive betting, the young man, who had already made a name for himself among the upperclassmen, didn't mind running over to weigh the value of his opponents.

As the number of clubs Aragaki Shun challenged increased—and with him winning a landslide victory every single time—the later clubs gradually came to realize that a freshman in Class B had emerged who was incredibly arrogant but possessed truly extraordinary skills. Betting against him meant there was a high probability of losing in one's own area of expertise.

However, even though they had learned this from familiar classmates, there were always students who refused to believe it. They felt that they had to teach this arrogant junior a lesson; otherwise, if they didn't dare to accept the challenge when their club was being raided, the dignity of the seniors would surely cease to exist.

The subsequent results were self-evident. Although the seniors' strength wasn't particularly overwhelming, they had accumulated quite a substantial amount of Private Points, ranging from at least one year to as many as two years' worth.

In particular, a certain blond student who confidently stepped up to stand up for his underlings directly threw down three million Private Points on the track field, intending to win back all the points that had been taken from the second-year seniors in one fell swoop.