Behind the familiar student dormitory, Aoyama ordered the somewhat timid Karuizawa, "If your classmates ask where you got the information, tell them you were asked to keep it confidential."
Chapter Eleven: Sometimes Being Poor Is More Advantageous Than Being Rich
"Ishizaki, could you go in and ask Ryuen to come out? We're almost out of time."
Beside the bathroom on the same floor as the first-year classrooms, Shiina spoke to Ishizaki Daichi, who was keeping watch for the students inside.
From time to time, muffled groans, as if someone were being attacked, came from the men's bathroom.
"Can't you wait a little longer? Sounds like the fight'll be over soon."
"If that's the case, I'll have to get a teacher."
"Fine, I'll go."
"Thanks, Ishizaki." Shiina's lips curled into a slight smile.
Her observations had been right: Ishizaki Daichi, with his delinquent behavior and mannerisms, was completely hopeless around girls.
But Ryuen was different.
Thinking of one of the people fighting in the men's bathroom, Shiina sighed softly to herself.
She wished the students in her class could get along better. At the very least, they shouldn't be fighting every day.
"I was having a great time beating him up, Shiina. If you don't have a good reason, you know what'll happen."
Before long, a boy with long hair that reached past his ears emerged from the men's bathroom.
His dark-red hair was a little disheveled, and his narrowed eyes gave his cold face a dangerous look. He had the kind of appearance that made you want to kick him even if he were just a dog passing by.
"The time you arranged to meet Aoyama is almost here. From what I can tell, he doesn't seem like the type to wait around."
"Besides, he seems like a smart person."
"Heh. Sometimes smart people do stupid things, too. But I'll be punctual this time."
Ryuen gave a sinister chuckle, then seemed to feel a twinge from his injuries and stiffened for a moment. He quickly pretended nothing was wrong and headed unhurriedly toward the teachers' office.
Meanwhile, several students had already taken their seats in the counseling room beside the teachers' office.
A standard coffee table, a meter and a half long, stood in the middle of the room. Three of the sofas arranged around it were occupied.
Naturally, Aoyama, the one who had initiated the meeting, sat on the two-seater sofa at the head of the table, with Kamuro, his tight-lipped accomplice, beside him.
The sofas on either side were single-seaters, so two boys had chosen to stand behind the girls from their respective classes. The remaining two-seater sofa had been left for the C-Class students who had yet to arrive.
There was also one unusual presence in the counseling room: C-Class homeroom teacher Sakagami Kazuma.
What made his presence unusual had nothing to do with his appearance. He was a teacher, yet he stood beside Aoyama like a lackey, arms crossed and expression stern.
As the clock on the wall approached five, Aoyama spoke calmly. "Sakagami-sensei, call Ryuen and tell him there's no need to come if it's past five."
In this information deal, B-Class and C-Class were supporting players. Hirata Yosuke and Kushida Kikyo of D-Class were the real targets.
There were two kinds of Personal Points for Aoyama: the black-market points that were crucial for drawing prizes, and the ones that were merely a bonus and couldn't be used for draws.
I'll have to make things difficult for you two for now.
After giving instructions to Sakagami Kazuma, who had temporarily become his subordinate, Aoyama glanced at the two D-Class students, who wore gentle smiles.
Hirata Yosuke was handsome and refined, with a helpful personality. His good-natured image had earned him the trust of the D-Class students, and he was the most influential person in the class.
Kushida Kikyo had much the same public persona as Hirata, presenting herself as an angel and winning popularity among both boys and girls.
In terms of academics, physical ability, and communication skills, there was no way they should have been assigned to D-Class.
So far, he was the only student who knew from his foreknowledge that the two of them deserved to be in D-Class. He even found it strange that they'd been admitted at all.
"You can even get Sakagami to do what you say. Looks like you won't disappoint me, Aoyama."
Ryuen arrived almost exactly at five, not a second early or late. He walked up to the sofa as if no one else were there and sat down, crossing his legs and taking up two seats.
Shiina followed him in and stood behind him with a calm expression.
"On the first day of school, I believe all your homeroom teachers told you that there's nothing in this school that can't be bought with points."
"Take Sakagami-sensei, for example. A hundred thousand Personal Points will buy you an hour of his time."
Ignoring Ryuen's rude behavior, Aoyama got straight to the point.
"This is information that could bring your classes millions of Personal Points. Sakagami-sensei, please check it and give your assessment in person."
"There's no need to worry that Sakagami-sensei and I are working together to scam you. Fraud gets you expelled from this school. Hirata and Ichinose, you can ask your homeroom teachers right now."
As he spoke, Aoyama handed the prepared information to Sakagami Kazuma.
Sakagami opened the folder and read through the contents. The surprise on his face grew more pronounced as he went along.
"Hoshinomiya-sensei said teachers aren't allowed to lie to students."
"Our homeroom teacher, Chabashira-sensei, said the same thing."
They both felt that Aoyama probably wasn't lying, but the deal involved a huge amount of money, so Ichinose and Hirata prudently asked their respective homeroom teachers to confirm.
As for Ryuen, whose homeroom teacher was right in front of him, he watched Sakagami with interest, his expression growing more contemplative.
"If what's written here is true, this information is most valuable to D-Class, next to C-Class, and least valuable to B-Class."
"Even so, it's worth millions of Personal Points to B-Class."
After reading through the information, Sakagami Kazuma thought it over and gave his assessment to the students watching him.
"Sakagami-sensei, could you tell us whether you can verify that the information is genuine?" Aoyama wasn't surprised by Sakagami's qualified answer, and immediately pressed him further.
This was extremely valuable information for first-year students. There was no way Sakagami could verify it for just a hundred thousand Personal Points.
But language had its charms. Sometimes, uncertainty was as good as certainty.
"I can." Sakagami hesitated, then nodded.
"Are the things written there prohibited from being disclosed to students by teachers?"
"...Yes."
—Clap, clap.
Aoyama clapped his hands to draw the attention of Hirata, Ichinose, and the others. "With the teachers as witnesses, I can sign a contract with you and guarantee that the information is genuine."
"What price are you asking for it, Aoyama?" Ichinose asked seriously. "I think you know that we can't come up with millions of Personal Points."
"Besides, you can only sell this information to us."
Ryuen rested his arm on the back of the sofa, backing Ichinose's attempt to drive the price down.
Both of them were right. Ryuen's point in particular made it clear that this was much more of a buyer's market than a seller's.
Sometimes being poor was more advantageous than being rich.
Chapter Twelve: I'm So Scared
"One million Personal Points. You can pay in installments, with a minimum of a hundred thousand per month."
Aoyama had naturally anticipated that they would try to bargain him down.
But there was no helping it. May 1 hadn't arrived yet, and the influential students in B, C, and D-Class hadn't officially become their classes' leaders.
The only Personal Points they could clearly use were the hundred thousand distributed on April 1.
"Five hundred thousand."
Ryuen went straight for the kill, halving the price. Ichinose and Hirata smiled awkwardly beside him.
Behind Ryuen, Shiina lowered her head as if there were something on the floor.
"I've spent a hundred thousand just to buy an hour of your homeroom teacher's time." Aoyama felt that if he had a Sword of Heaven's Will, he'd use it to strike Ryuen.
Five hundred thousand Personal Points? Did he think Aoyama was handing out alms?
His adorable Yamamura had been tailing upperclassmen for almost a week to make sure the information was plausible.
And Aoyama himself had approached upperclassmen after school while they were resting from their workouts on the sports field.
"Could I discuss it with Kanzaki first?"
"Sorry, I need to discuss it with Kushida first."
In unison, Ichinose and Hirata said they needed to consult their partners.
Aoyama had no objection, of course. That was precisely why he'd asked two people from each class to come.
If Ichinose and Hirata had to pay a hundred thousand Personal Points each month on their own, they'd have to live on air next month.
With one more person sharing the cost, they'd each be able to keep some points for themselves.
"Five hundred thousand, or C-Class isn't buying."
While Hirata and the others whispered together, Ryuen showed no embarrassment at all. He stuck to his offer of five hundred thousand.
His gaze kept drifting to Hirata and Ichinose.
"One million, take it or leave it. You can walk out right now if you don't agree." Aoyama immediately understood what Ryuen was thinking.
Hirata and Ichinose both seemed interested in buying it.
If they got the information from him, they certainly wouldn't pay more than the original price of one million.
"I think we should accept Aoyama's price, Ryuen."
Just as Ryuen uncrossed his legs and was about to leave, Shiina, who had been quietly standing by, suddenly spoke up.
While Aoyama and Ryuen had been negotiating, she hadn't been watching their expressions. Instead, she'd been paying attention to their homeroom teacher.
When Ryuen was about to give up, Sakagami Kazuma's expression had stopped being blank. A flash of anxiety had crossed his face.
Perhaps Sakagami-sensei didn't think Ryuen could get the information from Ichinose or Hirata.
That thought had just occurred to Shiina. Seeing her homeroom teacher, Sakagami, relax only made her more certain they couldn't leave now.
"Why?" Ryuen's expression turned even colder as he faced Shiina, who was trying to stop him.
"If I'm wrong, I'll take responsibility for the one million Personal Points. It'll just take me longer to pay it back."
Facing Ryuen, who was much taller than her, Shiina didn't back down.
Ryuen couldn't reject her suggestion when she was taking all the risk upon herself.
The hands of the clock on the wall moved slowly. A few minutes later, Hirata, Ichinose, and the others reached a decision and agreed to Aoyama's price.
And so, all three classes bought the information certified by Sakagami-sensei for the same price.
"While I explain this information, please silence your phones and put them on the table. I don't want anyone recording me."
"As for the original documents, I've already made three copies for you to take with you."
Once everyone present except Kamuro had signed the contract, Aoyama stated his request.
The request was a little odd, but it wasn't much of a burden, and the few students eager to get the information quickly agreed.
Six phones appeared on the coffee table. Aoyama took out his own phone and tapped the screen a few times.
After confirming that the message had been sent to Karuizawa, he placed his phone on the table and began explaining the school's hidden rules one by one.
[A, B, C, and D-Class must compete. Only students who graduate from A-Class can receive the promises made by the school during enrollment.]
[Personal Points are distributed at a rate of one hundred times the Class Points. Each class starts with 1,000 Class Points. Which class is A-Class depends entirely on which has the most Class Points.]
[When a student violates the school rules, their class's Class Points are deducted, and the school's surveillance system carefully records students' actions.]
[Students who fail formal exams, such as midterms and finals, will be punished with expulsion.]
[The school holds exams known as Special Exams. Depending on whether a class wins or loses a Special Exam, its Class Points increase or decrease.]
[When students are assigned to classes at the start of the school year, those with excellent overall evaluations are placed in A-Class or B-Class, while those who aren't as exceptional are placed in C-Class or D-Class.]
[Two Million Personal Points can buy the right to transfer classes.]
"Heh heh heh. You look like a fine, upstanding person, but you're betraying your own class." Aoyama fell silent, and Ryuen quickly burst out laughing. "But I like it."
Meanwhile, Ichinose and the others looked at Aoyama somewhat differently.
Everyone present was quick-witted and intelligent. Based on Aoyama's explanation, they quickly understood one thing: by selling them the rules, Aoyama had clearly betrayed his own class.
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