The Wager

Suzuki Tsubame gently shook his head. "The next piece of intel costs two million personal points from Chabashira-sensei."

"If it's you, Suzune, give me a million points, and I might consider it."

"However, since you don't have that many points right now, you could trade something else instead." With that, Suzuki Tsubame put on a lecherous look, sizing up her graceful figure.

Horikita Suzune's build was slender, but even in her loose school uniform, it couldn't hide her fullness—was this what a manga beauty looked like? Completely ignoring normal human anatomy.

Her flawless face and a pair of healthy, yet shapely legs—if she stepped on him twice in those black stockings...

"What rude thing are you thinking about, you bastard?"

Horikita Suzune's face twisted in disgust. She could tell this guy had ill intentions, but she was even more curious about what this school was plotting behind the scenes!

"Where's your mind going! I saw you have a pot and vegetables in your shopping basket, and I haven't had lunch yet. I just want to try your home cooking."

Suzuki Tsubame put on a righteous expression, almost making Horikita Suzune think she'd misjudged him.

After a moment's thought—just one meal for a valuable piece of intel—Horikita Suzune agreed. She wasn't worried about Suzuki Tsubame pulling anything shady; after all, she'd trained.

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

In Horikita's words, their current relationship wasn't close enough for her to enter his room.

As for Ayanokoji, he'd disappeared somewhere.

Though... even if he were still there, she wouldn't invite him anyway.

Horikita's cooking was impressive; in under an hour, she'd finished three dishes and a soup.

Truly a character maxed out in domestic skills.

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

"Itadakimasu." ×2.

Suzuki Tsubame picked up a piece of tempura first, dipping it in no sauce before popping it into his mouth.

The batter wrapped around vegetables and fresh shrimp, slow-fried in oil over low heat—the crispy coating held tender, juicy shrimp meat, and the flavor was excellent.

Despite being fried, it wasn't greasy at all.

Suzuki Tsubame exaggerated:

"Suzune's amazing! You'll definitely become a great wi—ow!"

Before he could finish, Horikita's compass struck.

"Quiet during meals."

Horikita's table manners were impeccable, the kind that made watching her eat a pleasure in itself.

But Suzuki Tsubame still wanted to ask—where did that compass come from? He wasn't Ayanokoji; he had no SM interest.

"I'm done!" After barely two bites, Horikita set down her chopsticks.

Clearly, she was far too interested in the school's hidden rules, to the point it affected her appetite.

"Yeah... let's talk about the intel you want first, so you don't lose your appetite." Suzuki Tsubame put down his chopsticks.

Being stared at by such a beauty almost made him lose his composure.

"It's fine, you can eat first."

Now she was being considerate, but staring at me like that makes it impossible to eat, Suzuki Tsubame grumbled inwardly.

"Ahem, what do you want to know?" Suzuki Tsubame said seriously.

Horikita Suzune thought for a moment, then slowly spoke: "I want to know the basis for class placement in this school."

"As you can see, Class A is orderly, Class B is harmonious, Class C might be unremarkable, but they're nowhere near as chaotic as our Class D. The school assigns classes based on individual ability."

"Class A is the best, Class D the worst. By common sense, that distribution isn't wrong."

Suzuki Tsubame slowly revealed the truth, but in his heart, he didn't fully agree with it.

The school's idea of genius wasn't just about raw strength.

Just the fact that they'd stuffed his daughter with severe heart disease into Class A was hard to judge.

Sakayanagi definitely pulled strings—that was beyond doubt.

From the Kamuro incident, it was clear: Sakayanagi needed a dedicated maid for three meals a day. How could she coincidentally catch Kamuro shoplifting at the supermarket?

One hundred percent she watched the surveillance footage, but viewing that would cost at least a million personal points. If she hadn't pulled strings, Suzuki Tsubame wouldn't believe it.

Also, not to mention Horikita's entrance exam ranking in the top three school-wide, just Ayanokoji and Matsushita Chiaki—those two score-controlling big shots—being assigned to Class D was absurd. The school's research was terrible.

Of course, Kuroya the big shot was well-deserved; Suzuki Tsubame thought that guy was lucky to have slipped in.

Horikita Suzune looked a bit shaken, silent for a long while before speaking again: "So... what basis does the school use to evaluate our individual ability?"

"Huh, haven't you figured it out yet?" Suzuki Tsubame waved his hand, patiently explaining: "Individual ability naturally includes academic ability, physical fitness, and judgment. Besides that, there's team contribution, also known as social skills."

"In other words, even if you're top-tier in three areas, if one is too low, you're basically out of the running for Class A."

Almost as soon as he finished, Horikita added: "Then what about Sakayanagi in Class A?"

"Heh, you're quick to ask. Remember what the Chairman was called in this morning's speech?"

"Sakayanagi... I see!" Horikita Suzune's eyes lit up with understanding. With that connection between them, it was no wonder.

After a moment of thought, Horikita Suzune turned to Suzuki Tsubame and asked how to advance into Class A.

"Well, advancing into Class A doesn't seem that difficult to me. But, Suzune, what are you planning to trade for it?"

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

Having set the premise, when she heard Suzuki Tsubame say advancing into Class A wasn't difficult, it made the other party subconsciously think the promotion was exceptionally easy.

Though she knew he couldn't share it with the rest of the class, collecting compensation was still necessary.

"Heh, since I know the points come from the end-of-month exam, I imagine the class placement works similarly. I just need to study hard and wait for the end-of-month exam to come."

Horikita looked confident.

The truth was close enough—Horikita was the type who excelled in both academics and combat.

Her brother, Horikita Manabu, had once said in the original story that her talent far surpassed his own. Aside from the older brother's bias, Horikita Suzune genuinely had real ability.

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

In terms of combat, aside from the upperclassman Kiryuin Fuka and Amasawa Ichika, who wouldn't enroll until next year, only Ibuki Mio and Kamuro Masumi in her own grade could barely match her.

But unfortunately, this was Advanced Nurturing.

"Suzune seems pretty 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."

"That big of a stake?"

"The bigger the waves, the pricier the fish!"

Though Horikita didn't know what he was relying on, considering her own strength—whether in academic or physical competition—she was absolutely certain she could enter Class A. She decided to accept.

"Fine, I'll take that bet! But I don't need you to drop out. If you lose, you just have to follow my orders from now on. If I say go east, you don't go west."

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

With his insight, he could definitely advance into Class A alongside her. His information-gathering ability was strong and could perfectly compensate for her weaknesses.

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

Both of them happily settled it.

"Enjoy your free life while you can."

She looked cheerful, picking up her chopsticks and bowl to eat again. The heavy thoughts earlier had kept her from eating much, and she was still hungry.

Suzuki Tsubame was the same. Before crossing over, he'd been doing practice tests from the last class of the afternoon all the way through evening self-study. He'd planned to eat a cup of instant noodles after self-study ended, but instead, he'd been transported over in his original body, and it took half a day before he finally got to eat.

If it weren't for maintaining a bit of gentlemanly decorum in front of a beautiful girl, he would have already devolved into a Taotie.

And so, the two of them swept through the meal like a storm. After adding each other as friends, Horikita left with her daily necessities and a large iron pot.

In Suzuki Tsubame's view, there was no need to take the iron pot—she'd be bringing it back in a month anyway.

Suzuki Tsubame's new life was finally about to begin. No more sleeping late and waking early, no more cramming all his time into practice tests and worksheets, no more sleeping on a hard board!

This life was just too cool!

Suzuki Tsubame's campus life officially began!