Rules

He followed her all the way to the office. At the moment, Chabashira was the only one there.

It seemed the other teachers were not as irresponsible as Chabashira.

Suzuki Tsubame looked around the faculty office. It was not very large, divided into four work areas, with what seemed to be a pantry at the very back.

"Is there something you wanted, Suzuki Tsubame? You followed me all the way here."

Chabashira Sae deftly reached into a drawer, pulled out a cigarette, and began smoking without a care.

I never expected Chabashira Sae to know my name. She must have already read the enrollment reports for the whole class. After all, she was obsessed with getting promoted to Class A.

But was it really okay to smoke in front of her own students?

"Chabashira-sensei, the points probably aren't fixed at one hundred thousand every month, are they?"

"Hehe. What gave you that idea?"

"A freshman who has only just enrolled receives one hundred thousand points after doing absolutely nothing for a month. It sounds impossible no matter how you think about it."

"Unless the school and the government intend to raise a group of worthless freeloaders."

Suzuki Tsubame's phrasing was sharp, because that was simply the truth. The school could not possibly raise a bunch of parasites who only knew how to eat, drink, and have fun for no reason.

"You're very clever, Suzuki Tsubame. What else have you noticed?"

Chabashira Sae looked quite pleased. Students in previous Class Ds had noticed one thing or another, but never this quickly.

"The classes are divided according to ability, right? Whether at the opening ceremony or when I passed by the other classes just now, the students in Class A had proper attitudes and impeccable order. Class B was cheerful and coordinated. As for Classes C and D, they looked rather bad. The classes should be ranked from strongest to weakest, from Class A down to Class D, shouldn't they?"

As Suzuki Tsubame finished speaking, Chabashira Sae finally became serious. Even the hand holding her cigarette lowered.

"And there's some kind of special exam underway right now, isn't there? When I stated the rules, you looked excited, sensei... but you didn't give the class many hints. It should be an assessment of student conduct, perhaps. Maybe the teachers have their own assessment as well, one closely tied to the class evaluation?"

Suzuki Tsubame laid out every piece of information he knew, one by one.

Admittedly, the Chabashira from the original work might have been quite awful, but drastic illness called for drastic medicine. As long as he let her see hope, she might become a decent ally.

Clap, clap, clap...

"Not bad. Your powers of observation and judgment are very strong."

Chabashira Sae applauded lightly. Suzuki Tsubame reasonably suspected that if she kept clapping, Chabashira's buttons would come undone.

"So, how do you think we should get through this special exam?" She could no longer contain her excitement. She wanted to improve far too badly.

"For now, I don't recommend telling the class about the rules."

Under Chabashira Sae's puzzled gaze, Suzuki Tsubame continued, "You can see it too, sensei. There are certain idiots in the class."

"Even if I truly intended to lead the class, I would prioritize getting rid of them first."

Suzuki Tsubame was not worried that his proposal would be rejected. Chabashira Sae had only one dream: graduating from Class A. For that dream, she did not care about the lives of the other students in the class.

Chabashira Sae nodded in agreement. "I'll support you within the limits of what I can do. I hope you won't disappoint me."

After exchanging contact information, Suzuki Tsubame left.

Once outside, he turned off the recording on his phone.

That was right. He would not blindly trust Chabashira. She was no good person, and with this recording, she would have to think twice before trying to discard him after crossing the river.

After leaving the office, Suzuki Tsubame had no intention of returning to the classroom.

He arrived at the Dormitory building.

Advanced Nurturing's dormitories used a mixed-gender arrangement. Boys lived on the first through fourth floors, while girls lived on the fifth through eighth.

After presenting his identification, the dorm manager completed Suzuki Tsubame's check-in procedures and reminded him of the dormitory rules.

The school prohibited all improper relationships between men and women, and boys were forbidden from remaining in the girls' dormitory after 22:00.

Taking the key card given to him by the dorm manager, Suzuki Tsubame opened the door to Room 403.

It had to be said that Advanced Nurturing's dormitories were genuinely excellent.

Rather than a dormitory, it was more like a fully equipped apartment.

The roughly thirty-square-meter space had a 1.8-meter-wide double bed against the wall just inside the entrance. Even the pillows and blankets had been prepared.

Across from the bed was a bathroom and shower room with separate wet and dry areas. The room was well laid out, with a kitchen, dining table, desk, wardrobe, refrigerator, washing machine, and everything else one could need.

After resting for a while, Suzuki Tsubame planned to head to the Supermarket to buy some daily necessities.

As for lunch, he would just grab something simple.

There was a large Supermarket between the School Building and the Dormitory. The owner clearly understood young people's spending habits.

Inside the Supermarket, he ran into Horikita Suzune, just as expected. She was holding a free bottle of body wash and seemed to be thinking it over. Ayanokoji stood beside her.

"We meet again, Suzune-san. The two of us must be fated," Suzuki Tsubame teased.

"I don't recall giving you permission to call me Suzune."

Horikita set down the body wash in her hand and replied coldly.

It looked like she had recovered. Suzuki Tsubame had been afraid his earlier words had made her stupid.

Suzuki Tsubame did not dwell on how he addressed her and tried changing the subject.

"Suzune-san seems quite frugal."

Sometimes, when the other party forbade you from doing something, all you needed to do was change the subject.

Horikita shifted her gaze to the other free products. "I simply do not have a habit of extravagance."

Besides the body wash from earlier, the free section also had shampoo, toothpaste, and toothbrushes.

Every collection required registration, and there were limits on how many times each item could be claimed.

"As expected of defective goods from Class D. I can't even be bothered arguing with you. It would be too embarrassing!"

"What did you just say?!"

Seeing that Sudo Ken was about to start throwing punches, Ayanokoji hurried over to break up the fight.

While Ayanokoji was heading over, Horikita Suzune asked Suzuki Tsubame, "What did you talk about with Chabashira-sensei alone after the class meeting ended?"

Horikita Suzune had personally experienced his insight. He must have noticed something too.

"Um... I went to the bathroom," Suzuki Tsubame casually came up with an excuse. He did not know whether Ayanokoji had prompted her to ask or whether she had thought of it herself.

"Hmph. What do you think when you see these free products?"

Horikita Suzune asked again, unwilling to give up.

"Uh, maybe the school had a sudden attack of generosity?"

Seeing Horikita Suzune preparing to turn and leave,

Suzuki Tsubame immediately added,

"Or perhaps... everyone's points aren't enough to cover their expenses."

Suzuki Tsubame was not worried about what Horikita might do after learning the rules. In the original work, she had already had her suspicions, yet she still chose not to say anything.

In truth, she was also something of an egoist. In the early stages, she had firmly believed that class placement depended on absolute individual ability. As long as there was a special exam, she could smoothly be assigned to Class A.

"Oh? One hundred thousand points a month still isn't enough?" Horikita's interest had indeed been hooked again.

Suzuki Tsubame could now be certain that Horikita Suzune had noticed some clues, though not many.

"Normally, one hundred thousand points a month would definitely be enough."

Suzuki Tsubame nodded and continued, "But Chabashira-sensei never definitively said that we would receive one hundred thousand points every month. Perhaps the distribution of points is determined by some kind of special exam?"

"An exam? So that's how it is. What else have you discovered?" Horikita Suzune nodded in agreement.

Faced with her question again, Suzuki Tsubame did not intend to answer for free.

"Suzune-san is a little greedy. Your beauty already paid for the first hidden rule. What do you plan to use to purchase this information?"

He was an ordinary man. Getting close to the beautiful girls at the school was his goal.

Horikita was not deterred by Suzuki Tsubame's teasing. In fact, she truly adhered to the principle of equal exchange.

"What do you want? Points?"