As he spoke, Aragaki Shun opened the Personal Panel on his phone. A figure far exceeding the class fund appeared on the screen: 5,201,314.
Kanzaki Ryuji: "..."
"How much have you bled the other three classes dry to save up this many Private Points by the start of the second month of school? I thought you'd used most of the points you'd extorted from the second- and third-years to buy Transfer Tickets?"
Aragaki Shun thought for a moment. "Class B pays me 800,000 a month, and Classes C and D each pay 400,000. Then there's the 100,000 monthly salary from our own Class A and the 560,000 in monthly royalties I get from the club. That adds up to 2.26 million a month."
After buying the Transfer Tickets, he had about one million Private Points left from what he'd taken from the second- and third-years last month. Then there were various expenses, like hiring Yamauchi Haruki and sending Kanji Ikeda to Class B and Ryuen Class, along with his monthly living expenses and class fund contributions. That left him with just over 5.2 million on his Personal Panel.
Kanzaki Ryuji: "..."
The Class A fund manager rubbed his forehead, looking troubled. "So you're saying you get 2.26 million Private Points a month from the four classes and the school, which is more than the entire class contributes to the fund each month?"
What was this supposed to be?
Was the emperor's private treasury richer than the national treasury? Didn't that make him, the class fund manager, look completely useless?
"It seems that way. So you'd better shape up, Kanzaki."
Aragaki Shun looked at Kanzaki Ryuji as if to say, "My boy, how did you end up so useless?" For the first time, the heir to a prominent family and major company felt his blood pressure rise over money.
Still, Aragaki Shun thought the Class A fund was far too small. If they ever needed a lot of Private Points for a Special Exam, surely the class leader shouldn't have to cover the shortfall himself?
He didn't really care about these Private Points, and if that day came, he would pay up if he thought it was necessary.
But business was business, and personal was personal. If it came to that, he'd make the whole class sign IOUs.
After all, everyone in Classes B, C, and D already owed him money under debt contracts. Adding the forty students of Class A wouldn't make much difference.
The thought of becoming the creditor of every first-year student seemed pretty amusing!
Reporting the Past Exam Papers? The School's Fix
"The school won't hold a Special Exam this month. Instead, we'll have the Midterm Exam that takes place every semester. Do you have any plans for it?"
Kanzaki finally decided to ignore Aragaki Shun's teasing look and pretend it didn't bother him. He changed the subject to the Midterm Exam, which was three weeks away.
"The Midterm Exam where you can earn up to 100 Class Evaluation Points, but failing means expulsion? I don't think we need to do anything special. Everyone can carry on as usual. The students near the bottom of the rankings can just go to remedial classes."
Most Class A students scored at least a B. On a test graded out of 100, the class average was at least 70.
The few students with worrying grades tended to hover between 50 and 60.
With the passing mark set at only half the class average, Class A didn't need any special strategy. As long as everyone performed normally, not a single student would fail.
The only things worth considering were how to earn the maximum 100 Class Points and whether they could profit from the exam.
"Why? Do you have any thoughts on the matter?"
Aragaki Shun looked at Kanzaki Ryuji, puzzled.
Based on the results of the short test at the end of April, Class A had already identified the ten students who were falling behind academically. After school that afternoon, they'd also held physical fitness tests and identified the ten students with the lowest stamina.
All they needed to do now was send those students to remedial classes to strengthen their fundamentals. The rest of the class could seek university guidance or career support based on their individual goals.
His philosophy had always been this: rather than getting clever during a Special Exam, they should raise their actual abilities before the competition until they could crush any opponent.
With his ability to add Source Power, he had every confidence in that approach.
For the Class A students, though, it meant they'd have to work up a sweat for the time being.
"No. I was just wondering if we should use the Past Exam Papers we got from the upperclassmen."
Kanzaki Ryuji was confident in Class A, too. Even without any other strategies, the class could pass the Midterm Exam on ability alone, and not a single student would fail.
But since the school had said the Midterm Exam could earn them up to 100 Class Points, wouldn't improving everyone's scores also increase the number of points they could earn?
Class A didn't need the Past Exam Papers to make sure everyone passed. But with them, he could guarantee that everyone would get a score close to perfect.
That would surely let them earn the most Class Points in the Midterm Exam.
"The Past Exam Papers..." Aragaki Shun thought for a moment, looking uncertain. "I was wondering whether to report them and make the school set a new exam."
"But that might hurt others without helping us, so maybe I should trade them to Classes C and D for some Private Points instead."
The first semester Midterm Exam for first-years hadn't been changed in years. Anyone who traded with the second- or third-years for the Past Exam Papers they'd kept could pass this exam with ease.
Aragaki Shun had been a little surprised when he first learned that this was common knowledge among the upperclassmen.
He hadn't expected the school to pull a stunt like this.
From his experience studying in middle and high school in his previous life, wasn't it perfectly normal for younger students to borrow old tests, textbooks, and workbooks from older students?
This time, all he'd had to do was ask some third-years about the exams they'd taken, and he'd easily learned about the Past Exam Papers.
The school had left this shortcut to passing the Midterm Exam lying around. It all felt rather ridiculous.
But after thinking it over, he'd figured that the school had deliberately left the Past Exam Papers as a boon for Classes C and D.
After all, only those two classes needed them to ensure everyone passed.
"Trade the Past Exam Papers to Classes C and D for Private Points?"
Kanzaki Ryuji hadn't expected that to be Aragaki Shun's first thought. But he quickly spotted a flaw. "Everyone in the upper years knows about the Past Exam Papers. If the people in Classes C and D have even one or two friends in the upper years, they can get the papers themselves just by asking around, right?"
Hoshinomiya-sensei had already said that the Midterm Exam and Final Exam were held every semester at Kodo Ikusei Senior High School.
In that case, anyone in Classes C and D with a bit of sense would think to ask the upperclassmen for tips on how to pass.
Kanzaki Ryuji didn't underestimate Classes C and D in that regard.
Leaving Class C aside, Kushida Kikyo and Hirata Yosuke in Class D were almost as good at socializing as Ichinose Honami. They'd have no trouble getting information from the upper years.
"If they really don't want to pay Private Points, I'll report the papers. I want to see what those people in Classes C and D will come up with to pass the Midterm Exam without their cheating method."
Aragaki Shun answered without a hint of concern.
This exam involved only 100 Class Points, and only Classes C and D needed the Past Exam Papers. No matter how hard he squeezed those two poor classes, he couldn't get much out of them.
So if they couldn't make a deal, he'd have no problem forcing the school to invalidate the papers. They could settle things in a straightforward academic contest.
Whatever else the Past Exam Papers were, they amounted to a leak. Students could trade them privately, but they absolutely couldn't be brought into the open for everyone to know about.
Once everyone knew the Midterm Exam had been leaked, the school wouldn't be able to turn a blind eye after Class A filed a complaint. It would have no choice but to replace the test.
Even if the school wanted to preserve the competitive environment and avoid expelling too many students from Classes C and D in the first semester, it could simply replace the test with an easier one to reduce the number of failures in those classes.
"I wonder if Sakayanagi and Katsuragi in Class B will get involved."
Class B was the variable that made him hesitate.
Otherwise, he could simply go to Classes C and D and extort Private Points from them.
The only problem was if Class B reported the papers to the school right after he signed contracts with the two lower classes. Then the contracts would be worthless.
As for playing word games with the contract terms, guaranteeing only that he wouldn't report the papers himself and then leaking the news to Class B... that probably wouldn't work.
There were still a few clever people in Classes C and D. On top of that, they were so poor that there was no way they'd be stupid enough not to negotiate the terms of the contract.
"Forget it. Whether they get involved or not, it makes no difference. I'm not expecting to earn many Private Points this time anyway. Kanzaki, find a chance to negotiate the terms with those two classes."
Kanzaki Ryuji looked at Aragaki Shun in surprise. "You're letting me handle this money-making deal?"
"I can't be bothered to waste time negotiating with people in Classes C and D over a few thousand Private Points per person per month."
"And unlike the Transfer Tickets, which I bought entirely with my own money, this deal depends on everyone in Class A agreeing not to report the papers. It's a decision for the whole class, so the profits should go into the class fund."
"So you're making me do it just because you're too lazy?" Kanzaki Ryuji asked with a rueful smile. "And you think the Private Points are so insignificant that you're sending me to pick up the scraps you don't want."
"Those who can do more should do more!"
Aragaki Shun patted Kanzaki on the shoulder. "According to the rewards clause in the class rules, the higher the price you negotiate, the more you'll get as a reward. Good luck!"
"But if this plan succeeds, you'll get a substantial reward even if you do nothing, since you proposed and approved it. Yours will be no less than mine as the go-between and negotiator."
Kanzaki Ryuji slapped Aragaki Shun's hand away. The fat rewards his friend had dangled in front of him did nothing to encourage him. All he knew was that his shameless boss had made him do the grunt work again.
"Wasn't Ichinose supposed to handle this kind of communication with other classes?"
"She's in charge of building good relationships with the other classes, so we can cooperate in the future. Do you think it'd be appropriate to give her a negotiation about extorting Private Points from another class?"
"I agree she wouldn't be suitable, but are you saying I am? That I'm just right for a job that makes people hate me?"
Kanzaki Ryuji shot the person beside him a sidelong look. Aragaki Shun just smiled and said nothing.
"Yeah, I knew it." Kanzaki's last hopes died, and he stopped dwelling on the painful subject. "You mentioned Transfer Tickets earlier. After Sakayanagi Arisu proposed a rule to send transfer students back to their original classes, are the Transfer Tickets you have left still useful?"
"Of course they are."
Seeing Kanzaki's worried expression, Aragaki Shun narrowed his eyes and recalled the school's notice that Hoshinomiya-sensei had passed along earlier.
"After the school approved Sakayanagi Arisu's rule, it added a small fix to the Transfer Tickets, since the rule could greatly reduce their effectiveness."
"Anyone who uses a Transfer Ticket from now on can make a one-month transfer permanent by adding 20 million Personal Points."
In other words, making a permanent transfer now required just one Transfer Ticket and another 18 million Private Points.
That was only if the student wasn't sent back. If they were returned to their original class before paying the remaining Private Points, the Transfer Ticket would be invalidated, and making the transfer permanent would cost 20 million again.
It was fair to say this fix was practically useless.
But with Aragaki Shun holding so many Transfer Tickets, the school had to think he was breaking the rules.
If the other classes couldn't think of a countermeasure, so be it. But now that Sakayanagi Arisu had proposed a feasible way to respond, the school was naturally willing to take advantage of the opportunity and add another rule allowing students to be sent back.
The one-million rule was, in effect, a half-price rule for sending someone back.
It applied not only to Transfer Tickets, but also to Auditing Tickets, Employment Tickets, and even permanent transfers.
But no one had ever managed to rise from the bottom to Class A on their own since Kodo Ikusei Senior High School was founded. Even if someone with that kind of ability appeared in the future, no Class A would gather 10 million Private Points just to send back a student who could strengthen their class, would they?
If something like that really happened, Aragaki Shun would have to wonder what the other person had done to become so universally hated.
"So the school wants you to use your Transfer Tickets to make permanent transfers?"
Kanzaki Ryuji furrowed his brow, feeling that the school's fix was far too obviously biased. "You still have seven Transfer Tickets, plus the 5.2 million Private Points you've saved. Put those together, and you'd only need to make up the remaining 800,000 to make one student's transfer permanent."
"That's probably what the school has in mind," Aragaki Shun said with a nod. "After all, they can't let us lock in a winner right at the start of the school year when the result is supposed to be decided after three years of competition."
Even after the school approved Sakayanagi Arisu's rule for sending students back, the Transfer Tickets remained useful. They could be used to invite outstanding students from other classes to temporarily join Class A and provide powerful support in certain Special Exams.
But forget about using Transfer Tickets to drag down other classes now.
That strategy, which had once been quite effective, had suddenly lost most of its potential.
After all, the target of a Transfer Ticket that cost two million only needed to spend one million to undo the transfer. That was a losing deal however you looked at it.
Of course, if the gap between the two sides' resources was too large, the wealthier side could still use its enormous stockpile of Private Points to crush the poorer side, provided it had enough points to overwhelm them.
But if that happened, it would only prove that there was a huge difference in strength between the two sides. There'd be no need for the school to tilt the scales.
After all, in modern society, an individual's or company's assets were themselves an important part of their strength. If a class couldn't win even when the school's rules gave it an advantage and it only had to spend half as much as its opponent, why should the school recognize its strength despite its lack of funds?
And there was only one place in Class A. If it really came down to a battle of Private Points, the lower classes could band together and fight three against one.
All in all, with the school's fix allowing students to be sent back, it had already restricted the abuse of Transfer Tickets as much as possible within the rules of competition at Kodo Ikusei Senior High School.
If the three lower classes still couldn't scrape together even half of Class A's Private Points after all this, the school felt there was no need to interfere further. They could look for other ways to counter the strategy themselves.
After all, whether they formalized their class rules like Class A or used violence to restrict transfer students like Class C, neither option required a million points, so the cost was low.
If the other classes could come up with other countermeasures that complied with school rules, the school was also willing to follow those rules and offer reasonable support.
"Why does it feel like the school is actually supporting the lower classes, like Classes C and D?"
Kanzaki looked puzzled. "The fix for sending people back is one example, and the Past Exam Papers are another."
"The school wants to support the weak and suppress the strong. It wants to see more intense competition, so of course it would do things this way."
Aragaki Shun didn't mind. If the school had agreed to let him buy Transfer Tickets, it would naturally also allow other people to buy the right to send someone back.
As long as something was available for everyone to buy, it couldn't be considered targeted at a specific class.
"Whoever's in Class A will be put through the wringer. If the school keeps that attitude, we're not the ones who need to worry."
The ones who needed to worry were lower classes like C and D, whose foundations were shaky.
Because that meant that even if they were lucky enough to rise to Class A under the leadership of an exceptional student, they could easily be knocked back down in the next Special Exam.
Stronger Again; Sakura Airi Trembled with Fear
Midnight.
The Class A celebration was over, and Aragaki Shun had returned to his dorm room.
Now that no one would disturb him, he could finally open his Personal Panel and check his newly earned Source Power to see if he could begin the next stage of enhancement.
[Achievement completed: Signed Private Point transfer contracts with three first-year classes at the same time. Source Power +3.]
Before you continue