Money. You Can Only Take Mine, Understand?

Whether Ichinose came out ahead or lost was hard to say. Five thousand points wasn't a lot, but it wasn't nothing, either. Still, the information itself was definitely worth five thousand points.

After all, telling Ichinose didn't mean she'd be the only one who knew. The whole class would find out. Helping an entire class learn to save money was worth far more than five thousand points. Even Chukai-kun thought that price was a bargain.

And now she hadn't even spent five thousand points. She'd traded a single meal for the information instead. If you looked at it purely in terms of value, Ichinose had hit the jackpot.

"Then how much for more information?"

Chukai-kun held up two fingers. Ichinose's eyelid twitched. "Twenty thousand?"

"Two hundred thousand."

"That much?"

"Of course. I don't even have to think about it to know you wouldn't keep this information to yourself. The whole class would learn about it. Divided among forty people, that's only five thousand points each. Honestly, once you know this, the money you save will be worth far more than that."

That was true. Chukai-kun vaguely remembered that Class B's points hadn't exceeded 800 after the first month. If he shared this information with them, then they'd definitely be able to reach 800.

"Two hundred thousand, two hundred thousand..."

Watching the girl across from him struggle to decide, Chukai-kun gave a chuckle. "Or there's another option. Ten thousand, but one of the people involved from Class B has to discuss some other terms with me."

"I'm one of the people involved from Class B. Go ahead."

Since Ichinose was the person involved, there was no need for her to say anything else. She patted her chest and declared that she was. The movement made Chukai-kun's eyes nearly pop out of his head.

Ahem. A man couldn't get too carried away. One glance was respectful; two would make him a pervert.

Reminding himself of that, Chukai-kun quickly looked away. "If that's the case, then it's simple. Let's make a verbal agreement, and I'll tell you the secret."

"What kind of verbal agreement?"

"Your Class B and our Class C will join forces. How about it?"

He called it joining forces, but Chukai-kun didn't expect Class B to do much. They were famous for being well-behaved. In fanfiction, Class B's students were all practically angels. So the alliance was more about planning for the long term.

At least, Chukai-kun had an idea: befriend those far away and attack those nearby.

There wasn't much difference between Classes B and C, but Chukai-kun didn't consider Class B a threat to his class. Class A and Class D were far more serious concerns. At least during the first month, Class D wasn't a threat. That left the most dangerous class—Class A.

Honestly, based on the original story, if Class D had been shameless enough to drag everyone down with them and lower their points, they might have been able to become Class A by relying on their heavy hitters to earn points afterward. It was possible, at least. Chukai-kun couldn't say for sure how things would turn out.

After all, not a single fanfiction author seemed to think the original story was any good. They all said the mind games had turned idiotic, and the later plot had gotten so messy that they didn't even know what to say about it.

"Join forces? That's all you're asking for?"

"What, did you want to add something else?"

"N-no."

Afraid Chukai-kun might ask her to feed him or something, Ichinose hurriedly denied it.

What had happened already was embarrassing enough. Anything more would be a problem.

"Ahem. All right, let's leave it at that for now. In a couple of days, I'll take you to meet our class's..."

"Hey, Chukai. You seem to be having a great time chatting with a girl from another class, huh?"

Chukai-kun was still talking when he suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder that he definitely couldn't handle.

He knew who it was as soon as he heard the voice, and hurriedly yelped, "Ow, ow, my queen! Don't do that! I'm acting for our class, not for myself!"

"Not for yourself?"

Ryuen Shoko didn't seem convinced. She squeezed even harder.

"Ow, ow! No, really! This girl's the class representative of Class B!"

"Oh? Is that so?"

At Chukai-kun's words, she loosened her grip. If he was lying, things wouldn't be so simple for him afterward.

Seeing her lackey fawn over another woman was one thing. Deceiving her was another. She'd punish him far more severely for the latter.

"Um... I'm Ichinose Honami, the class representative of Class B. May I ask who you are?"

"Hmph. I'm Ryuen Shoko."

Setting her plate aside, Ryuen Shoko sat down with them. Her domineering attitude startled Ichinose, who even edged a little farther away.

Mm. That was the proper reaction to seeing a delinquent.

"This is our Class C's queen, Ryuen Shoko."

Chukai-kun added a quick explanation, then continued speaking to Ryuen Shoko. "My queen, I've already chosen to join forces with Class B."

"Huh? Class B? Why would we join forces with them?"

Ryuen Shoko clearly didn't take Class B seriously. Or any of the other classes, for that matter.

If she'd acted like this in her original form, she would've seemed like an idiot. But with a beautiful girl's face, she came across as kind of cute instead.

Ah, what a damn shallow world this was.

"Ahem, you can't put it like that, my queen. Class B isn't someone we need to worry about right now. Compared to them, our real opponents are either the formidable Class A or the barefoot-and-unafraid Class D. Making friends will make it easier to deal with them."

Chukai-kun quickly explained, and Ryuen Shoko's expression softened a little.

But Ichinose Honami beside them gave a startled cry. "Huh? Chukai-kun, bullying students from other classes isn't nice."

"My dear, you don't know the situation yet. Oh, right, I haven't explained it. All right, just listen to me, and once I'm done, you'll understand why I'm doing this."

Chapter 9: Money. You Can Only Take Mine, Understand?

"So someone's been secretly keeping track of our scores, and then they'll use those scores to rank us into Classes A, B, C, and D?"

As she listened to Chukai-kun, Ichinose Honami covered her mouth in astonishment. Ryuen Shoko beside her also fell into thought.

Perhaps... having Chukai-kun as her lapdog wasn't such a bad idea after all.

He'd even managed to learn quite a bit from the homeroom teacher. He really was a useful enforcer.

Most importantly, he seemed fairly loyal.

Was Chukai-kun loyal? In Ryuen Shoko's eyes, he was, at least somewhat.

If he weren't loyal, would he have been so quick to take her side? He'd even indirectly helped her gather the whole class around her.

Making everyone fight her might look like they were refusing to submit, but if she could withstand it, she'd become the true queen. No one would dare defy her.

"So the main enemy has always been Class A. Sure, Class B will have more points than us, but, my queen, do you think she's a threat?"

"No."

Chukai-kun didn't even need to say it. Ryuen Shoko also thought Ichinose Honami wasn't much of a threat.

Just look at her, all weak and helpless, like a delicate flower asking to be "ravished." How could anyone see her as a scheming woman?

If someone like her was the class representative, then her entire class was probably a bunch of fools. The classes were assigned according to academic ability, after all. Class B was full of bookworms who only knew how to study. Wouldn't they be easy to handle?

"What's more..."

Chukai-kun leaned close to Ryuen Shoko's ear. The intimate pose made Ichinose Honami cover her face with both hands. The gap between her fingers was wide enough to reveal her curious, eager eyes.

"My queen, compared to those easy-to-handle goody-two-shoes, attacking Class A and guarding against Class D are far more important. In ancient China, they liked to make the smaller surrounding nations their allies, right? There's no point in conquering a country that's easy to bully. Better to have them contribute instead."

"Heh. Interesting. Fine, I'll tentatively agree with you."

Ryuen Shoko was indeed fairly reasonable when it came to her own class. Chukai-kun really was going around working for the class, so she naturally had nothing more to say.

"All right, then let's discuss the next topic... By the way, my queen, we haven't even added each other as friends yet. Want to...?"

Chukai-kun took out his phone and showed it to Ryuen Shoko. She didn't refuse, and quickly gave him her student ID number.

Phones only worked within the academy, so your phone number was your student ID. As long as you knew someone's ID, you could add them as a friend.

"Then, Ichinose, let's add each other too."

Chukai-kun smiled as he spoke to Ichinose. He was still thinking about those ten thousand points.

Now that Ryuen Shoko was there, he couldn't bring up the ten thousand points yet. He'd have to talk to Ichinose about it privately later.

"Oh, right. I haven't given you the ten thousand points yet."

But the little angel Ichinose hadn't picked up on Chukai-kun's hint. Instead, she brought it up herself.

"Hm? What ten thousand points?"

The ten thousand points had clearly caught Ryuen Shoko's attention. She asked, sounding puzzled, and Chukai-kun knew he was in trouble.

"Chukai-kun sold it to me for ten thousand points."

Ichinose blinked sweetly, looking utterly innocent. But in Chukai-kun's eyes, she looked like a little devil.

Did she really not know, or was she pretending? Were all pink-haired girls black on the inside?

He should've collected the money before giving her the information. Fine, he'd do that next time.

"Then give it to me. I'm the queen of Class C, so that money belongs to me."

As she spoke, Ryuen Shoko slid her phone over to Ichinose, clearly expecting her to transfer the points.

"Uh... this money..."

Only then did Ichinose Honami realize she might've done something wrong. She glanced at Chukai-kun, whose expression had already darkened, then at Ryuen Shoko, whose smile was beginning to resemble the one Chukai-kun had just worn.

It was the look of someone watching their prey.

"Money should naturally be paid as tribute to your queen, right, Chukai-kun?"

Although it was phrased as a question, her voice grew colder. Chukai-kun wiped away his sweat and hurriedly nodded. "That's right, that's right."

"Then... all right."

Seeing that Chukai-kun had been forced to submit to Ryuen Shoko's authority, Ichinose had no choice but to transfer the money to her. While she was at it, she added Ryuen Shoko as a friend.

Taking her phone back, Ryuen Shoko gave a whistle. It seemed she'd gotten an extra reward today. Not bad, not bad at all.

"Well, Honami, my strategist and I still have some things to discuss. Would you mind...?"

"I understand, I understand. I've finished eating, so I'll leave now."

Facing Ryuen Shoko's narrowed eyes, Ichinose Honami understood what was coming next. She hurriedly picked up her empty plate and walked away in small steps.

Girls didn't eat much to begin with, so she'd finished after only a little while. Now only Ryuen Shoko and Chukai-kun remained at the table.

"Chukai-kun, so you've been making extra money behind my back~"

As she spoke, Ryuen Shoko moved her chair closer to Chukai-kun. She reached behind him and patted his shoulder. "You've done pretty well."

"Well... I was just worried we wouldn't have enough money."

Whatever he'd been thinking before, there was only one word in Chukai-kun's mind now: danger.

Nothing else. He was scared—terrified.

Being close to a ruler was like being close to a tiger. The ancients hadn't lied.

Forget about outsmarting her. He was right there beside Ryuen Shoko, and she could handle him as easily as a little chicken. He was panicking.

He was just an ordinary middle schooler, weak and helpless.

"Hand over your phone."

"Huh?"

"Don't waste time. Hand it over, or do you want to see what it feels like to be picked up like a cat?"

At that, Chukai-kun hurriedly handed over his phone as tribute. He didn't dare resist Ryuen Shoko right now. He didn't want her to grab him by the scruff of his neck. That was too dangerous.

He was just a powerless middle schooler, after all.

"Here, take it."

Ryuen Shoko fiddled with the phone for a while, then handed it back to Chukai-kun.

She hadn't closed the screen, so Chukai-kun could see his points at a glance.

They were ten thousand higher than before.

"My queen, what's this?"

"I'm not taking the money you earned. But remember: you can only take money from me. Understand?"

Ryuen Shoko's face was very close to Chukai-kun's. Very close. But there was nothing remotely romantic about it. Chukai-kun only felt a chill run down his spine.

"I understand, I understand. I really understand."

"Good. Make sure you remember that."