Wager

Suzuki Tsubame gently shook his head. "The next piece of information is priced at two million Private Points by Chabashira-sensei."

"For Suzune, I could consider it for one million points."

"However, considering you don't have that many points right now, you could trade something else instead." After saying that, Suzuki Tsubame put on a lecherous expression and looked over her graceful figure.

Horikita Suzune had a slender build, but even her loose school uniform could not conceal her curves. Was this what a manga beauty looked like? It completely disregarded normal human anatomy.

Her pretty face was flawless, and her long legs were healthy yet pleasantly soft-looking. If those jade feet of hers, wrapped in black stockings, stepped on him a couple of times...

"You pervert, are you thinking something rude?"

Horikita Suzune looked disgusted. She had figured it out—this guy clearly had ulterior motives. But she wanted even more to know what this school was plotting!

"What are you thinking? I saw a pot and vegetables in your shopping basket, and I haven't had lunch yet. I just wanted to try food you made yourself."

Suzuki Tsubame put on an upright expression, nearly making Horikita Suzune think she had wrongly accused him.

After thinking it over, Horikita Suzune agreed. A single meal in exchange for valuable information was worth it. She was not worried that Suzuki Tsubame might have bad intentions, since she had trained before.

After picking out his daily toiletries, Suzuki Tsubame brought Horikita Suzune back to Dormitory 403.

In Horikita's words, their relationship was not close enough for her to enter his room.

As for Ayanokoji, no one knew where he had run off to.

Though... even if he were still around, they would not have invited him anyway.

Horikita's cooking was excellent. In less than an hour, she had finished three dishes and a soup.

Just as expected of a character with maxed-out homemaking skills.

Salt-baked Pacific saury, fried tempura, a plate of greens, and miso soup made with soft tofu and kelp—this was Suzuki Tsubame's lunch today.

Suzuki Tsubame picked up a piece of tempura first. Without dipping it in sauce, he put it directly into his mouth.

Vegetables and fresh shrimp were wrapped in batter, then slowly fried over low heat. The crisp coating encased tender, juicy shrimp, and it tasted quite good.

Even though it was fried, it was not greasy at all.

Suzuki Tsubame exaggeratedly said:

"Suzune is amazing! You'll definitely become a great wi—ugh!"

Before Suzuki Tsubame could finish, Horikita punished him with her compass.

"Be quiet while eating."

Horikita ate very elegantly, the kind of sight that was exceptionally enjoyable to watch.

But Suzuki Tsubame still wanted to ask where that compass had come from. He was not Ayanokoji; he had no interest in SM.

"I'm done eating!" After only a couple of bites, Horikita put down her bowl and chopsticks.

It seemed she was extremely interested in the school's hidden rules. It had even affected her appetite.

"Hmm... tell me what information you want to know first, so you don't lose your appetite." Suzuki Tsubame set down his own bowl and chopsticks.

Being stared at by such a beautiful girl nearly overwhelmed him.

"It's fine. You can eat first."

Now she was being considerate? How am I supposed to eat when you're staring at me? Suzuki Tsubame grumbled inwardly.

"Ahem. What exactly do you want to know?" Suzuki Tsubame asked with a serious expression.

Horikita Suzune thought for a while before slowly speaking. "I want to know what this school bases its class assignments on."

"As you can see, Class A is orderly, Class B is harmonious, and Class C may seem ordinary, but it is nowhere near as bizarre as our Class D. This school assigns classes according to individual ability."

"Class A is the best, while Class D is the worst. Generally speaking, there is nothing wrong with such an arrangement."

Suzuki Tsubame slowly revealed the truth, though he did not truly agree with it in his heart.

The school's definition of genius was not simply someone with great ability.

Just the fact that it had placed its chairman's daughter, who had a severe heart condition, into Class A was hard to judge.

Sakayanagi had definitely gotten in through the back door. There was no doubt about it.

You could tell from the Kamuro incident. Sakayanagi needed a personal maid to take care of even her three daily meals, so how could she have so conveniently caught Kamuro stealing at the Supermarket?

She had definitely checked the surveillance footage. But viewing it would cost at least a million Private Points, so Suzuki Tsubame did not believe she had not gotten special treatment.

Also, putting aside the fact that Horikita's entrance exam scores were among the top three in the entire school, it was already absurd that Ayanokoji and Matsushita Chiaki, those two masters of score control, had been assigned to Class D. The school's research had been terrible.

Of course, Lord Kuroya truly deserved his place. Suzuki Tsubame instead felt that this guy had somehow lucked his way in.

Horikita Suzune seemed unable to accept it. After remaining silent for quite a while, she spoke again. "Then... what does the school use to assess our individual abilities?"

"Well, haven't you noticed?" Suzuki Tsubame waved his hand and patiently explained. "Individual ability naturally includes academic ability, physical fitness, and judgment. Beyond that, there is team contribution, more commonly known as social skills."

"In other words, even if someone excels in three areas, as long as one is too low, they will basically have no chance of entering Class A."

Almost the instant he finished speaking, Horikita added, "Then what about Sakayanagi in Class A?"

"Heh, you found out pretty quickly. Do you remember the name of the Chairman who gave the speech this morning?"

"Sakayanagi... I see!" Horikita Suzune suddenly understood. With that relationship between them, it was no longer strange.

After pondering for a moment, Horikita Suzune asked Suzuki Tsubame how she could advance to Class A.

"Well, in my opinion, advancing to Class A isn't difficult. But what does Suzune plan to offer in exchange?"

"The information just now was already worth far more than this meal."

By establishing that idea first, once she heard Suzuki Tsubame say getting into Class A was not difficult, she would subconsciously believe that advancing classes was easy as well.

Although he knew she would not possibly share it with the rest of the class, it was still necessary to collect payment.

"Hmph. Since I know the points come from the end-of-month exam, I assume class assignments are about the same. I only need to study hard and wait for the exam to arrive."

Horikita looked completely confident.

That was more or less true. Horikita was the type who excelled both academically and physically.

In the original story, her older brother Horikita Manabu had said that her talent far surpassed his. Aside from the older-brother bias, Horikita Suzune truly possessed real ability.

Among the girls in her year, only Sakayanagi and Ichinose could surpass her in grades.

As for combat ability, aside from Kiryuin Fuka from the upper years and Amasawa Ichika, who would not enroll until next year, only Ibuki Mio and Kamuro Masumi from the same year could barely match her.

But unfortunately, this was Advanced Nurturing.

"Suzune seems very confident. Want to make a bet with me?"

"What do you want to bet on?"

"Let's bet on whether Suzune can get what she wants. If I lose, I'll drop out."

"You're going that far?"

"The rougher the waters, the pricier the fish!"

Although Horikita did not know what he was relying on, she thought of her own abilities. Whether it was academics or combat, she could definitely enter Class A, so she decided to accept.

"Fine, I accept! But I don't need you to drop out. If you lose, you only need to obey my orders from now on. If I tell you to go east, you cannot go west."

In Horikita Suzune's eyes, this was a guaranteed victory. But Suzuki Tsubame dropping out would be useless to her.

With his insight, he could certainly advance to Class A alongside her. His intelligence-gathering ability was strong and could make up for her weaknesses.

"Since I'll become Suzune's slave if I lose, then... if Suzune loses, you'll become my maid."

The two of them happily settled on it.

"Enjoy your free life while it lasts."

She looked very happy and picked up her bowl and chopsticks again. Her worries had kept her from eating more than a couple of bites earlier, and she was still hungry.

Suzuki Tsubame was the same. Before transmigrating, he had started doing practice papers from the last afternoon class and kept going until evening self-study. He had planned to eat a cup of instant noodles afterward, but then he had transmigrated bodily and had not eaten until half a day later.

If he had not wanted to maintain some gentlemanly manners in front of a beautiful girl, he would have already evolved into Taotie.

And so, after the two of them devoured the meal, Horikita added him as a friend, then left carrying her daily necessities and a large iron pot.

In Suzuki Tsubame's opinion, there was no need for her to take the pot with her. She would have to bring it back in a month anyway.

Suzuki Tsubame's new life was finally about to begin. No more staying up late and getting up early, no more cramming all his time into problem sets and test papers, no more sleeping on a hard wooden bed!

His life now was simply too awesome!

Suzuki Tsubame's school life had officially begun!