Classroom of the Elite: The Strength of Kageya Shinjitsu 44

The bell signaling the first day of May rang out. Accompanied by the chime, the homeroom teacher of Class D, Sae Chabashira, walked in with her high heels clicking against the floor, holding a small poster in her hand.

Her expression was even more severe than usual, as if a large group of people owed her money and refused to pay it back.

Under normal circumstances, seeing a teacher with such a look on their face would be a clear sign to the students that they had caused trouble.

However, the environment cultivated in Class D over the past month was extremely poor, and many of the students were quite insolent.

"Teacher, don't tell me your period didn't come?"

Kanji Ike shouted loudly, thinking he was being humorous.

Beside Kanji Ike, the students who usually followed him, such as Haruki Yamauchi, burst into laughter.

Faced with this harassment, Sae Chabashira remained completely calm, looking at the students in the classroom as if she hadn't seen or heard anything.

"We will now begin the morning assembly. Before that, if you have any questions, feel free to speak up."

"If there are any issues, say them now."

She spoke with the absolute certainty that they had questions to ask.

It appeared as though Sae Chabashira had set aside specific time for this.

In fact, as soon as Sae Chabashira finished speaking, several students immediately raised their hands.

"Um, Sae Chabashira-sensei, I checked this morning, but I found that the points hadn't been deposited."

"Weren't we told the school would pay us on the first of every month? I couldn't buy juice this morning, and I'm really anxious."

In the end, it was the plain-looking Hondo who spoke up.

"Hondo, I have explained this before: points are deposited on the first of every month, and there is no doubt that they were deposited this month as well."

Looking at Hondo, Sae Chabashira spoke in a tone that brooked no argument.

"Even if you say that, none of the students in the class received a single point."

"Let alone one hundred thousand."

The students in the class looked at each other; those who had already spent all their points were clearly becoming very anxious.

"You really are a group of foolish students."

Sae Chabashira looked at the crowd, devoid of her usual easygoing demeanor.

She slammed her hand on the desk, her gaze turning somewhat chilling.

"S-Sae-chan-sensei?"

The students had never seen Sae Chabashira like this before.

"I do not wish to repeat what I have said before."

"The points have been deposited; this is beyond doubt. The fantasy that only this class has been forgotten is impossible."

"Do you understand?"

Her stern words echoed through the classroom as Sae Chabashira spoke with a blank expression.

"But there really aren't any points..."

Some students still wanted to struggle.

But they were quickly interrupted by another voice.

The wealthy heir in the class, the flamboyant Koenji, spoke up with his feet propped on his desk, saying arrogantly.

"Hahaha, so that's how it is, Teacher. I have solved this puzzle."

"Isn't this a very simple matter? It means that in the eyes of the school, we don't deserve to receive a single point."

When these words were spoken, they sent a shiver down everyone's spines.

If it were just a one-month mistake, it might not be a big deal.

But if the school itself felt they were problematic, then their next few years were going to be miserable.

"Ah? Why? Wasn't it said that there would be one hundred thousand points every month?"

"Sae Chabashira-sensei."

Hearing Sae Chabashira's confirmation, those in the class who had already spent their points began to wail.

Especially in the corner where Kanji Ike and Haruki Yamauchi were sitting.

The way their expressions shifted so dramatically made Kageya Shinjitsu want to applaud them.

Yes, yes, just like that.

Relying on this skill, he felt they could live quite well in this school.

Watching them like this gave Kageya Shinjitsu a level of satisfaction no less than when Kushida Kikyo had exposed her true self.

Thinking about how they would eventually become hostile toward him, he even started to look forward to it.

I wonder what posture I should use to make them leave.

"I don't recall the teacher ever saying such a thing, right?"

The classroom descended into chaos following Koenji's words, yet he remained entirely indifferent, speaking with reckless abandon.

He did not hold the measly amount of private points in the class in any regard.

"Although Koenji's attitude is highly problematic, the situation is exactly as he described."

"Honestly, I've already given so many hints, yet only a handful of people were able to figure it out on their own. It's truly pathetic."

Following up on Koenji's words, Chabashira took over the conversation.

As she spoke, her gaze drifted toward Kageya Shinjitsu, her eyes filled with resentment.

It was clear that she already knew something.

Feeling Chabashira's gaze, Kageya Shinjitsu actually felt a sense of foreboding.

He suspected that this female teacher had designs on him.

Women really are devils.

Kushida-chan, save me.

He couldn't help but look at Kushida-chan beside him.

This girl was still putting on an act, looking pitiful and fragile as she stared at the podium.

Anyone who didn't know better would think she was truly oblivious to everything.

My mother was right after all; the prettier the girl, the better she is at lying.

The atmosphere in the classroom grew increasingly heavy.

They simply could not accept that the points they were supposed to receive had plummeted from 100,000 to zero.

This was like falling from heaven straight into hell.

"Teacher, may I ask a question? There are things I don't understand..."

"Please tell us the reason why we weren't distributed any points, otherwise we cannot accept this."

Hirata, the class representative, raised his hand.

He wanted to fight for something, even if it were just a few tens of thousands of points.

"Tardiness, absences, totaling one hundred and eighteen times; private conversations or the use of mobile phones during class occurred four hundred and fifty-six times. You committed all these infractions within a single month."

"In this school, the class's performance is reflected in its points. The result is that you have forfeited the one hundred thousand points you were supposed to receive. That is all there is to it."

"I should have explained it clearly on the day of the entrance ceremony: this school evaluates students based on merit, and this time, you received a rating of zero. That is the reality."

Chabashira finished speaking without a shred of emotion.

The students in the class were devastated by these statistics, and some were even frantically recording the assessment criteria.

But in the current situation, it was completely useless.

"Chabashira-sensei, I don't recall you ever explaining such a thing," Hirata protested.

"What is this? Are you all incapable of understanding unless someone explains it to you?" Chabashira said, sounding surprised.

"That goes without saying. We never heard that the deposited points could be reduced. If we had been given an explanation, everyone would have avoided being late or whispering in class."

Hirata tried his best to argue.

He hoped to have the zero-point score overturned.

But he was immediately and coldly rebuffed by Chabashira.

"Hirata, it's truly incredible. I never expected you to say something like that. It is true that I didn't explain it, but throughout your nine years of compulsory education, you must have grown tired of hearing that being late or chatting in class is wrong."

"That kind of twisted logic doesn't hold up. If you had simply done what was expected of you as a matter of course, you wouldn't have ended up with zero points. This is entirely your own responsibility."

"Besides, it's not as if no one in this class figured out the school's assessment criteria. Someone realized it quite early on, they just chose not to say anything."

When she reached the end, Chabashira smiled for the first time, though the smile was somewhat cold.

Here it comes, here it comes.

This unlucky woman, wouldn't it be better if she just acted like a normal teacher?

Acting so recklessly out of personal bias is going to bring her misfortune.

Kageya Shinjitsu scratched his neck.

He turned his head to look out the window, acting as if he hadn't heard a word of the conversation.

"Who, who is it?"

"Someone knew about the assessment?"

The students in the class seemed to have received some kind of signal.

"If you knew, why didn't you say anything?"

"If I had known about this earlier, there's no way I would have..."

"Exactly, isn't this sabotaging us? Who is it?"

"I never imagined there would be someone like that, keeping it all to themselves."

"Perhaps he's still watching us make fools of ourselves from the shadows; how detestable."

Some shameless individuals were already shifting the blame.

Many people couldn't help but instinctively cast the responsibility onto the person who had known the news.

It was human nature; even when they were in the wrong, they had to throw the blame onto someone else.

The world was the one at fault.

Hearing these words, the expression on Hirata's face turned extremely grim.

Looking at Chabashira on the podium, he didn't understand why she would say such things.

If not handled well, their class would fall apart, and internal strife and exclusion would inevitably emerge.

Was this the goal of Chabashira, or perhaps this school?

Was this how they tested the students?

"It seems you are all very curious."

Chabashira smiled, her gaze shifting toward the corner.

"Teacher, please, say no more."

"This has nothing to do with who knew what."

"The information was merely..."

Hirata hurriedly tried to intervene.

"You cannot represent all your classmates, Hirata."

"Isn't that right, the clever Kageya Shinjitsu, who acquired tens of millions of points so early on?"

As Chabashira spoke, the students in the class all turned to look in that direction in unison.

Even Hirata did the same.