Classroom of the Elite, I Also Want to Be a Good Person

"I won't help you. Besides, the other students wouldn't support such an outrageous request." Crossing her arms, Horikita Suzune felt somewhat helpless, her tone lacking conviction.

She understood well enough that she had fallen into a verbal trap, which was why she was in this current predicament.

It was entirely her own fault for letting her guard down and falling for sugar-coated lies.

"That's not up to you, Suzune." Aoyama lifted Horikita's chin, forcing her to look him in the eye. "You wouldn't want me telling the Student Council President that his sister doesn't keep her word, would you?"

"And I won't hide it from you—I have dirt on both Kushida and Karuizawa."

"Purchasing supplies with class points is something any student can do individually; you can't stop it."

As the flames of conflict reached her, the corners of Kushida's mouth finally dropped.

Just like Karuizawa, she wore a fleeting look of annoyance before shifting into the appearance of someone forced against her will.

"I'm sorry, Horikita-san, I... I was forced into this too."

"You should just listen to Aoyama, Horikita." Karuizawa held the mentality that as long as it wasn't her, she didn't care who suffered.

Someone had to take the fall for selling off all the class points.

Whoever took the blame would become the target of Class D's resentment, and being held accountable was only natural.

"You guys..."

Her violet eyes widened as she stared at Karuizawa and Kushida, Horikita Suzune filled with shock.

The words and actions of these two left no doubt that what Aoyama said was true.

They both had shameful secrets in Aoyama's hands, and both were central figures in Class D.

In other words, Aoyama had the power to throw Class D into chaos at any moment.

"You have no choice left, Suzune." For the first time, Aoyama placed his hand on Horikita's head.

The refreshing, silky sensation reached his palm, accompanied by the involuntary trembling of her body in frustration.

"Sorry to keep you all waiting, the auction is officially starting."

"There are two lots of class points in total. The first one up for auction is the one for one hundred and fifty, and the other is for one hundred."

After forcing Horikita Suzune to swallow the bitter fruit of her carelessness, Aoyama called over the leaders of the other three classes.

The auction, with five participants, began.

To make the bidding more competitive, he intentionally placed the one hundred and fifty point lot up for auction first.

"Four million personal points." Katsuragi spoke without a change in expression.

His air of absolute determination caused Ichinose, who had been interested in competing, to shrink back.

New personal points had been deposited into student accounts on August 1st, and after collecting class fees for over four months, Ichinose had roughly eight million personal points on hand.

Katsuragi's opening bid was half of her total savings.

"Heh, do you really have that many personal points, Katsuragi?"

"I heard Class A only collects twenty-five percent for class fees. If you started collecting in May, you'd only have about four million by now."

Ryuen immediately questioned Katsuragi's high bid.

With the class point totals currently so close, he also wanted these one hundred and fifty class points.

Through violence, his control over his class was no less than Ichinose's, so he also collected fifty percent in class fees; his savings were not much less than hers.

But he didn't want to give away too much money, yet he still wanted the class points.

Chapter 71: Dancing with Wolves

"That's not something you need to worry about, Ryuen. If there's a problem, Aoyama won't let me off the hook."

Answering Ryuen's challenge calmly, Katsuragi had no intention of explaining further.

Facing the sky-high price of four million, Ryuen and Ichinose fell into a difficult dilemma.

If these one hundred and fifty points could be definitively converted into class points, they might have accepted a higher price.

The problem was that there were many ways to lose points during the special exam.

For example, if a student used violence and was caught by the school, then having more remaining class points would be useless; they would simply be reset to zero and the student would be expelled from the exam.

"If there are no higher bids, the usage rights for Class D's one hundred and fifty class points go to Katsuragi." Without goading them for a higher bid, Aoyama looked at Ichinose and Ryuen with indifference.

After counting to three in his head and hearing no response from either of them, Aoyama confirmed that Katsuragi had secured the first lot with a single bid.

Then, the auction for the second lot of one hundred class points finally started to feel like a real auction.

Following a series of bids, the price soared from the initial two million to two point two million, and it was now steadily climbing.

"Two point three million." A look of resolve flashed across her face, and Ichinose added one hundred thousand personal points directly.

"Heh heh heh, you added one hundred thousand just like that?" Ryuen stroked his forehead and laughed. "Then I bid two million three hundred thousand and one. Ichinose, if you dare to raise it, I'll keep raising."

Seeing that she hadn't scared Ryuen off, Ichinose thought it over carefully and gave up on bidding.

Just like his concern regarding the one hundred and fifty points earlier, he still didn't dare to gamble with any more private points.

"I'm sure you're all interested in knowing who holds the Class D Key Card."

After the auction ended, Aoyama did not immediately take Katsuragi and Ryuen to sign the contract with the teacher.

Letting the entire Class D withdraw from the exam wouldn't achieve the goal of training Horikita Suzune.

This ran contrary to the expectations of Horikita Manabu.

Furthermore, he had to ensure that Class D wouldn't finish in last place, so he made additional arrangements.

"Of course I'm interested, but looking at the current situation, you don't intend to auction it off, do you?" Ryuen flipped through the supplies in the guidebook, not even looking up as he spoke.

If Aoyama had intended to auction it, he would have stated so from the very beginning.

"I will send one Class D student into each of the three classes—A, B, and C. You just need to be responsible for their room and board."

"Needless to say, they will be spying to see which of you holds your class's Key Card."

Smiling, Aoyama offered a proposal that could be described as dancing with wolves.

Guessing correctly earns fifty exam points and also eliminates the Base occupation points of the opposing class.

It might seem unfair to Class D that their chances of being guessed correctly increase significantly if only three people remain, but firstly, Class D's exam points have already hit zero, and there are no negative point rules to hold them back.

In other words, it is highly likely that Class D will fill in the names of the Key Card holders from other classes to gamble.

"Class C agrees."

"Class A can accept."

Ryuen, who feared nothing if not a challenge, was the first to accept the proposal, and after Katsuragi judged that he could implement sufficient defensive measures, he also agreed.

If they didn't even dare to attempt a one-in-three probability, they would lack the mettle of class leaders.

"What about you, Ichinose?" Aoyama shifted his gaze to Ichinose's twin tails.

They looked so soft and pleasant to the touch that he really wanted to reach out and stroke them.

"Could I discuss it with my classmates first?"

Facing Aoyama's gaze, Ichinose scratched her cheek, looking a bit embarrassed.

Personally, she was inclined to agree, but she felt it was better to consult her classmates before making a decision.

"If it's you, Ichinose, then it's no problem."

"I'm going to sign the contracts with Katsuragi and Ryuen first; I'll wait for your news."

Without hiding his favoritism toward Ichinose, Aoyama waved and watched her return to her class.

He then took the silent Horikita Suzune to sign the contracts with the two men and exchange for supplies.

"Once you receive the money, remember to transfer half to my account."

After the trade was settled, Aoyama affectionately patted Horikita's head in front of Chabashira, whose face was as dark as charcoal.

Naturally, it was Horikita Suzune who signed the contracts with Katsuragi and the others, and she was the payee as well.

He appeared in the contract only as an intermediary, black-heartedly collecting a fifty percent commission.

It wasn't realistic to take all six million private points; Horikita Suzune had to give the Class D students some sort of explanation, or at the very least, convince them not to cause trouble.

If the crowd became agitated, the supplies exchanged for Class A and C's exam points might very well be ordered by the school to be returned to Class D.

"Do not ever forget your position, Horikita Suzune." Chabashira said coldly, calling her by her full name.

As the witness to the contract, she felt like killing Horikita right now.

The special exam had only just begun, and the ship that was Class D had already more than half-sunk.

If Horikita hadn't looked so dejected—clearly showing this wasn't her own intent—Chabashira might have started berating her on the spot.

This was just too mentally taxing.

"I understand."

Answering Chabashira, a reinvigorated Horikita swatted Aoyama's hand away, her expression finally returning to its usual icy state.

"I'm going to Class C."

Given the arrogant personality Ryuen had displayed so far, Horikita Suzune had undoubtedly chosen the class with the highest difficulty for her challenge.

"That's fine; that was my plan for you anyway." Aoyama nodded.

Kushida Kikyo for Class A, Onodera Kayano for Class B, and Horikita Suzune for Class C—these were the candidates he had envisioned placing in each class.

He didn't have high expectations for what the three of them could achieve, but for the purpose of lulling the other three classes into a false sense of security and increasing the difficulty of their defenses, he had selected the elite talents of Class D.

Kushida Kikyo and Horikita Suzune went without saying, and Onodera Kayano was also one of the few elite girls in Class D.

She was a star swimmer on the Swimming Club, and while her grades were only average, she had a decent head on her shoulders and a certain level of judgment.

"Send Kushida to Class A, and if Class B agrees, send Onodera Kayano."

"When you instruct Hirata Yosuke to withdraw from the exam, tell him to blend into the crowd so he isn't discovered by the other three classes."

"Don't have everyone withdraw at the same time; pick about ten people to stay until the afternoon before they withdraw."

On the beach, the students of Class A and Class C had already begun moving toward the interior of the island.

Aoyama was also busy issuing instructions to Horikita.

"Who registered as the leader to hold the Key Card?"

Just as Aoyama turned around, intending to go ask Class B, Horikita spoke up from behind him.

She felt that who held the Key Card for Class D and how they would handle prying eyes from other classes was of the utmost importance.

But Aoyama did not think so.

"Just do as I told you; you can decide the rest yourself."

Without looking back, Aoyama waved his hand, leaving the decision-making power to Horikita.

The guidebook stated that the holder of the Key Card could not be changed without a valid reason.

In other words.

As long as the reason for changing the person was sufficient, the school would agree to change the Key Card holder.

In this special exam, there was no move more underhanded or safer than changing the Key Card holder on the final day.

And Horikita Suzune, unaware of this, would put on a genuine performance as a Class D leader desperately trying to hide who held the Key Card.

Chapter 71.5: Secret Base Acquired!

The beach, where all the students had vanished.

A lock with a key, a bundle of candles, a portable fan, several spare batteries, bed sheets, pillows, compressed biscuits, and snacks.

Carrying a large backpack stuffed with supplies, Aoyama walked alone from the pier supply point toward the center of the island.

The remaining fifty exam points from Class D's auction had already been completely squandered by him.

Ichinose, having consulted with her companions, also accepted Onodera Kayano into their team, and the command of the remaining three people in Class D on the surface had temporarily fallen into the hands of Horikita Suzune.

Finally, it's a little cooler.