Though Shiina disliked this phenomenon, it didn't come as a surprise.
Thanks to her striking looks, she'd been the center of attention more times than she could count since childhood.
On the contrary, while reading in a corner with Aragaki Shun these past few days, she'd unexpectedly found herself free of those frequent glances. Perhaps it was because his presence on campus far outshone that of a little transparent like her, who attracted attention only for her appearance.
That was one reason the girl continued to sit quietly across from him, even though Aragaki Shun was usually too preoccupied to discuss mystery novels with her.
Shiina would have loved to make a friend she could talk to about anything. But if that wasn't possible, then quietly sitting in a corner, appreciating the beauty of literature without being disturbed by the outside world's clamor, was a pleasure in its own right.
But after Aragaki Shun left, those faint, almost imperceptible stares seemed to return, making it hard for the girl to focus on her own world.
Shiina Hiyori took a deep breath and pushed the unpleasant feelings aside.
She propped her book up on the table, pretending nothing was wrong, while trying to catch sight of whoever was secretly watching her out of the corner of her eye.
Yet several minutes passed, and Shiina Hiyori still couldn't find the source of what was making her so uncomfortable. It was as if the whole thing had been her imagination.
It was easy enough to spot the boys who occasionally glanced at her with admiration, but their reactions were within the normal range. The girl knew her own looks well and had long since developed a calm state of mind. The attention of passersby wasn't enough to disrupt her reading.
Shiina sighed softly and turned the page, trying to focus on the words again.
Just then, that inexplicable discomfort returned, and she suddenly caught sight of an unfamiliar figure out of the corner of her eye.
She turned her head instinctively, her gaze falling on the side of a bookshelf not far away.
A girl stood there with a stack of books in her arms. Her long, dark blue hair was tied in twin tails, and her eyes held a complicated look that was hard to decipher.
She was looking up at the books on the shelf, seemingly trying to disguise her gaze. But Shiina Hiyori had still caught her sneaking a peek.
Shiina Hiyori was taken aback. She'd never imagined that the person secretly watching her would be a girl she didn't even know.
The girl seemed to notice Shiina Hiyori looking at her. She stiffly turned her gaze, and their eyes met by chance.
The girl's expression shifted slightly, a flicker of panic passing through her eyes.
Under Shiina Hiyori's puzzled, scrutinizing gaze, the girl's face instantly flushed red. She frantically hid it behind the books in her arms, then hurriedly grabbed her schoolbag and rushed out of the library.
Shiina Hiyori watched the unfamiliar girl disappear from sight, full of questions. She had no idea what the girl had come there for.
After a moment's thought, Shiina Hiyori went to the spot where the girl had stood and carefully looked over the books on the shelf.
She picked one at random and opened it. It was about plants.
She checked several more books on the shelf, and, just as she'd expected, they were all about the same subject.
The girl's expression turned strange. To confirm her suspicion, she spent a little time gathering the books Aragaki Shun had read that day from the shelf—and managed to find them all.
The good news was that she wasn't being stalked by some pervert.
The bad news was that she seemed to have been marked by one of her book friend's admirers!
What in the world was going on...
Aragaki Shun, of course, had no idea about the commotion that unfolded after he left the library.
After a sumptuous dinner in the cafeteria, he received a call from Director Kanda asking him to come to the principal's office. The matter he'd requested had been taken care of.
Aragaki Shun understood. The Transfer Ticket had been part of Kanzaki Ryuji's compensation, and now his own compensation had finally come through.
Did that mean he could meet people he knew from outside the school now?
55. Kagurazaka Ayame, From Outside the School
"Hey, if it isn't Aurora, the author who vanished after finishing your second book!"
"Have you finally decided to take pity on your editor and send me a message to prove you're still alive?"
Aragaki Shun arrived at the principal's office, politely saw off the Advanced Nurturing High School principal, who'd tried to cozy up to him, then sat on the sofa and waited for two or three minutes. The crisp click-clack of high heels on the floor reached his ears.
A woman dressed like a career executive walked in. Her short hair swayed with each step, and her sharp, dark eyes swept around the office like a beast surveying its territory before settling on the irresponsible author on the sofa.
Her light footsteps grew heavy. In just a few strides, the woman was standing in front of the boy. Her lips twisted into a mocking smile that didn't reach her eyes.
The light-novel author under her wing was one of her top stars. When he'd suddenly gone out of contact after finishing his latest work, she'd nearly had a heart attack.
If she hadn't gotten word soon, she would've started wondering if something had happened to him—or if a rival publisher had poached him.
Fortunately, she'd only been scaring herself. He'd enrolled at a boarding school, which explained why it had taken him more than half a month to get a message out.
At that thought, Kagurazaka Ayame suddenly realized: the school year had only started a little over a week ago, hadn't it?
The editor's gaze turned reproachful.
"Aurora, you had more than a week of free time before you enrolled at Kodo Ikusei Senior High School."
"May I ask what was so urgent that you couldn't reply to my messages for all that time?"
Aragaki Shun smiled without answering. He couldn't exactly tell her that he'd tossed the phone he used to contact the publisher aside because he didn't want to be bothered by his editor and the publishing house for a while.
Kagurazaka Ayame—the editor he'd met when submitting light novels outside the school—usually took his work seriously. There was no need to tease her with that blunt truth.
"...Never mind. It's not like our publishing house can do anything about it anyway."
Looking at Aragaki Shun's unbothered expression, the editor sighed and rubbed her forehead. Then she pulled a stack of documents from her briefcase and swiftly slipped back into work mode.
"Let's get down to business first. I can't stay at this school long. I heard this office is under surveillance, too, and I don't know if saying too much might get you in trouble with the school. So, Aurora, just send me the manuscript for your new book, and let's sign the contract as soon as possible."
"Sorry for the trouble, Editor Ayame."
Aragaki Shun sent her the digital manuscript he'd already saved on his phone, then took the contract. The terms were still the top-tier ones they'd agreed on for his second book, so he signed his name without hesitation.
"This school is a little unusual, and getting permission to leave is a hassle. So I sent you most of the new book. If the publisher schedules things sensibly, you shouldn't need to ask me for more manuscripts for a year or two."
"But if the publishing house has any events you need me to attend, you can discuss them with me. If I have the time, I can apply to the school to go out on behalf of the club."
Aragaki Shun had no intention of obediently staying cooped up at this school.
He wasn't worried about his parents or Ayase. Given his family's circumstances, it would be easy enough to meet them if he arranged a visit to a Board Director or even the Board Chairman at Advanced Nurturing.
What worried him was that the influence he'd built up outside school might fade away if he didn't show his face for three years.
When Aragaki Shun first enrolled at Kodo Ikusei Senior High School, only two skills, [Combat] and [Writing], had been separated from Miscellaneous and fixed on his Personal Panel.
[Combat] was naturally there to improve his ability to protect himself, while [Writing] was the path he'd chosen to increase his influence in modern society in a reasonable way and gain more Source Power.
After all, he'd been just a thirteen-year-old kid who'd only recently started his first year of junior high. There weren't many paths open to him.
He could have climbed the tech tree and come up with high-tech gadgets or drugs that could cure terminal illnesses. That would have been an easy way to attract worldwide attention.
But Aragaki Shun didn't want to draw the attention of powerful people in every country before he could ensure his own safety.
A kid who hadn't even finished junior high producing things that the world's top scholars couldn't invent? The idea was just too absurd.
Aragaki Shun had no way of knowing how things would develop. What if he tried to profit and ended up losing everything, even his freedom—or his life?
As for becoming a singer, actor, or other kind of celebrity who had to constantly be in the spotlight, that didn't suit his personality at all.
Aragaki Shun had no desire to make life difficult for himself.
After thinking it over, he'd eventually chosen to write light novels.
After all, in this world, there were plenty of junior high school students who'd become nationally famous by writing light novels.
Take another author under Kagurazaka Ayame, for example: Senju Muramasa. She was a girl in a kimono who'd only just entered her second year of junior high.
Not only was she young, she was also the author of Fantasy Demon Blade Legend, a hugely popular series that had been adapted into anime twice and sold more than fourteen million copies.
If he'd achieved that kind of success in his previous life, a whole crowd of light-novel authors would've shouted, "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" and dismissed it as a fever dream.
But in this world, publishers were hardly surprised when elementary and junior high school students wanted to become light-novel authors or illustrators.
In that situation, Aragaki Shun didn't mind getting involved and spending some of his free time earning more Source Power.
He'd been able to fix talents and skills like [Danger Sense], [Immunity to Poison], and [Combat] on his Personal Panel before enrolling at Kodo Ikusei Senior High School, raise them to a fairly high level, and earn three units of Source Power every month from his social influence, all thanks to the work he'd put into light novels during his three years of junior high.
Even now that he'd entered Advanced Nurturing, he had no intention of giving up this long-term source of Source Power. Naturally, he had to find a way to contact his editor outside school and publish his new book while following the school's rules.
So he'd used his compensation for that, and also wanted to see if he could use this channel to earn some Private Points.
56. A Monthly Exchange Limit of 560,000 Private Points
As a rule, students at Kodo Ikusei Senior High School weren't allowed to contact the outside world.
But unless a rule was absolute, there were often special cases where exceptions could be made.
So, over the past few days, Aragaki Shun had investigated various parts of the school. He'd found that the school was fairly lenient about this.
For one thing, students could browse all kinds of news from outside the school online and visit all sorts of external websites.
Although Kodo Ikusei had set up its own intranet, it hadn't completely cut students off from information about the outside world.
That made sense. After all, this was a rapidly developing modern society. If students spent three years with their heads down, paying no attention to anything, they'd have a hard time even reintegrating into society after graduation, let alone becoming successful.
So the school only restricted and monitored what students said online. They were allowed to search for information and keep up with the news.
Aragaki Shun had even tried uploading pictures to his personal page. He'd found that they would go through as long as they didn't come with any sensitive text or show specialized school facilities. At most, the approval process took a while.
But direct text conversations were out of the question, and uploading videos was strictly forbidden.
Besides online channels, the school's shops also had to restock their goods. Every so often, delivery workers came into Kodo Ikusei to supply the various stores in the shopping center.
If students couldn't find what they wanted in the shopping center, the school also allowed them to shop online using Private Points.
Those two methods only allowed students to communicate indirectly with the outside world. They still had to stay at Kodo Ikusei Senior High School and couldn't set foot outside the gates.
Leaving the campus openly wasn't something an ordinary student could do.
According to the information Aragaki Shun had gathered, only the best students in various clubs could leave school with a teacher to take part in external competitions.
After all, no matter how unusual Kodo Ikusei Senior High School was, it was still a school. It had to compete with other schools to prove itself.
So the school not only supported club members who took part in external competitions, but also generously rewarded them with Private Points if they won a good placement and brought honor to the school.
With a channel like that available, Aragaki Shun naturally planned to make use of it.
So he'd used the compensation granted by the Board of Directors to apply for a new club.
That wasn't particularly difficult. The requirements for starting a club boiled down to membership and achievements.
As for membership, Aragaki Shun had the support of the whole of Class B. As for achievements, the school knew about the success of the two light novels he'd published outside.
And as for whether it was appropriate to start a club dedicated to light novels... Plenty of universities in Sakurajima already had clubs focused on studying light novels. They just tended to call themselves mystery-novel research clubs.
So everything was reasonable and in accordance with the rules. There was no major problem with his application, and going outside to attend publisher events under the club's name wouldn't be a problem either.
The only thing the school might have been unsure about was whether the royalties Aragaki Shun earned by writing while enrolled could be converted into Private Points.
Aragaki Shun tried to imagine what the school was thinking, then looked at Kagurazaka Ayame, who was carefully reviewing the digital manuscript he'd sent her. "Did the school tell you how my royalties are supposed to be handled when you came to Kodo Ikusei Senior High School?"
"Oh, that," Kagurazaka Ayame replied without looking up. "The principal reached an agreement with our publishing house. As you requested, the publisher can transfer 560,000 yen a month into the school's account. They'll convert it to Kodo Ikusei Senior High School's special currency at a one-to-one rate, and you can use it for your expenses at the school."
"560,000 yen a month..."
Aragaki Shun clicked his tongue. He was a little disappointed, but the result was within his expectations, and he could accept it.
In Sakurajima, top light-novel authors were still held in high regard. Their work might be criticized in traditional literary circles, but that didn't change the fact that they had wide influence and earned a lot of money.
And Aragaki Shun was a top author in the same league as Senju Muramasa. Naturally, the school supported a small request like starting a club so he could continue writing.
After all, the school's purpose was to nurture talent. Why would it refuse to support a student who'd already proved his ability, much less make things difficult for him?
A top light-novel author could already be considered a well-known public figure. If he later switched to writing mainstream fiction, his social standing could rise even further.
Even setting aside the Aragaki Family's influence, the school was willing to give Aragaki Shun a few privileges for achieving so much at such a young age.
After all, Kodo Ikusei Senior High School had been specially established by the upper echelons as a political achievement. To meet society's expectations, it had to produce more outstanding graduates. A small privilege for a student like Aragaki Shun, who could already bring the school some prestige, was no big deal.
Approving the club was easy. But after it was established, should the school let Aragaki Shun exchange his royalties for Private Points? And if so, should it impose a limit?
Those two questions had stumped the higher-ups in charge of the matter.
In this world, top light-novel authors could earn far more than they had in his previous life.
Take an author like Senju Muramasa, whose books had sold more than fourteen million copies. With royalties of seventy yen per book, her total royalties came to nearly a billion yen.
That was pure income from her writing over two or three years. It didn't include any additional revenue from anime adaptations or merchandise. As an author of the same caliber who'd debuted two years earlier, Aragaki Shun earned no less per year.
That meant if the school opened the royalty-to-Private-Points exchange channel to him without restriction, Aragaki Shun could earn a billion Private Points from royalties alone over three years.
With that much money, he could buy Class B's entire roster a transfer arrangement worth twenty million each and still have enough left over for ten more.
At that point, there'd be no point in having class competition at all!
But it wouldn't be right to reject Aragaki Shun's request outright, either. He could earn that money over three years by following the school's rules, and it was entirely in keeping with the school's principle of valuing ability above all else.
After a round of debate, the school's higher-ups settled on a monthly exchange limit of 560,000.
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