The next day.
Class 1-C.
At the podium,
Class teacher Sakagami glanced at Ryuen's empty seat and asked out of curiosity,
"Ryuen isn't at school today. Does anyone know why?"
"He's sick."
Prince Ganlongdao replied casually.
The others had their suspicions. Maybe he was injured and wanted to rest for a day, or maybe he'd gotten into another conflict with Prince Ganlongdao?
Whatever.
It didn't matter.
For Ryuen and the others,
being late or skipping class was perfectly normal.
Besides, the school hardly seemed to care, so taking a day off was nothing unusual.
"Is that so?"
"Taking the occasional sick day is fine, but if he's absent for a whole week, the school won't stand by if there's a risk to his life."
"Alright, class."
Class teacher Sakagami opened the lesson plan.
It had been clear yesterday that he was a teacher who fiercely protected his own students.
Even when the school had rules,
Class teacher Sakagami could still drop hints to share as much information as possible.
Whatever Prince Ganlongdao and Ryuen planned to do,
the occasional absence was no big deal,
but if it lasted more than a week, the school would have to intervene.
Otherwise,
if someone ended up dead, the school would have a hard time dealing with it.
When class began,
the students of Class C, including Ishizaki, slowly took out their textbooks.
Though they knew their discipline might affect next month's points, getting them to study seriously was still asking a lot.
Good habits weren't formed in a day.
Even if they wanted to study seriously, their bodies would have trouble adapting to such a change.
Prince Ganlongdao took out a textbook too, but he had no intention of listening to Sakagami's math lesson. Instead, he pulled out a history book and started reading.
Only now was he feeling the benefits of putting points into his stats.
He still couldn't remember everything at a glance, but after reading something a couple of times, Prince Ganlongdao could remember it perfectly.
Once he learned a few more study techniques, remembering everything at a glance wouldn't be difficult.
At noon.
The students of Class C were looking excited, ready to enjoy their lunch.
"Hold on, everyone."
Prince Ganlongdao stood up with a smile. "There's something I need to tell you. Ishizaki, Albert, close both doors."
"Huh? Oh."
At that,
Ishizaki and Albert, briefly taken aback, did as he asked, locking the front and back doors.
"Huh?"
A blue-haired girl who was about to leave through the back door was dumbfounded. She glared at them with a fierce look.
"What right do you have to do that? Move, or don't blame me for what happens."
"Come on, now. No need to get so worked up..."
Ishizaki hurriedly tried to placate her with an ingratiating smile, but all he got in response was a side kick aimed at his head.
Fortunately,
Ishizaki had once been the toughest guy in his class, so he quickly raised his arms to block it. But at almost the same time, he took two kicks to the chest and staggered back.
Rubbing his aching chest, Ishizaki stared at the girl in shock.
"You know how to fight?"
"Hmph."
The blue-haired girl looked at him disdainfully, snorted, and reached for the doorknob to leave anyway.
But in the next second,
a white streak shot toward her.
The girl reacted incredibly quickly,
turning sideways and knocking the eraser flying with a high kick.
She turned and glared at the culprit on the podium, Prince Ganlongdao.
"What? You want to fight me too?"
"I remember..."
Prince Ganlongdao sized up the girl in front of him.
Blue hair, a great figure, and very pretty.
Judging from her high kick and three consecutive kicks, she had definitely trained in taekwondo or some other martial art. Her body was exceptionally flexible.
But
her slightly upturned purple eyes made her look especially fierce.
They spoiled her girlish charm.
And yet,
on closer inspection,
she had a special tomboyish appeal.
"You're Ibuki Mio, right?"
"So what?"
Ibuki Mio glanced at Daichi Ishizaki and the others. "I'm not interested in your business. Tell your people to move, or don't blame me for what I do."
"..."
Like a rose covered in thorns.
She's so fierce~
Prince Ganlongdao remembered.
There were only two people in Class C who, at least in name, hadn't agreed to make him their class leader.
One was Ryuen Kakeru,
and the other was Ibuki Mio, standing before him.
Clearly, Ibuki Mio was the type who had no interest in class affairs at all.
Unfortunately,
to complete the system's mission,
Prince Ganlongdao couldn't let her remain such a lone wolf.
Still,
that wasn't what mattered right now.
The system's mission was only secondary. It was hard to say what the reward would be, but his family's test was real.
What mattered most was conquering Suzuran.
Oh,
no.
Conquering Advanced Nurturing.
"Don't be so hostile."
Prince Ganlongdao smiled. "What I have to say concerns every one of you. We can't leave anyone out. It won't hurt you to hear me out. What do you say?"
"..."
At that,
Ibuki Mio frowned.
She gave Prince Ganlongdao a cold look, then returned to her seat.
"You'd better make it quick. If you dare to lie to me, don't blame me for what happens."
At her words,
Shiho Manabe, who had already made several friends in the girls' group, gave her a cold look.
Her expression said:
This girl's really full of herself. Who does she think she is?
But Shiho Manabe didn't say anything. Quite a few of the girls were clearly annoyed with Ibuki Mio, feeling that she was putting on airs.
"Since we're about to eat, I'll get straight to the point."
Prince Ganlongdao jumped up and sat on the podium, smiling down at everyone.
"Hand over your points and let me manage them."
"..."
The classroom fell silent.
After a long while,
one of the girls came to her senses. She stood up, dumbfounded.
"Huh? In your dreams! What are you thinking? Why should we hand our points over to you?"
"Honestly, I thought he was going to say something important."
"Let's go. Don't waste our time."
In an instant,
the girl's words drew agreement from quite a few others.
Prince Ganlongdao wanted to be the boss.
Fine, he could be.
He was strong anyway.
When Prince Ganlongdao told them to answer loudly,
they could just do that.
It didn't cost them a single point.
But
if Prince Ganlongdao tried to take what was theirs, even sheep would bare their fangs!
Their resistance was naturally fierce.
Besides,
Prince Ganlongdao had gotten into fights with quite a few people yesterday, and it was all on the surveillance footage.
The school hadn't done anything because no one had reported him.
If it came to it,
they could simply report Prince Ganlongdao for bullying his classmates.
They could get him expelled!
As for whether that would affect the class, that was still uncertain.
What's more,
even if it did affect the class,
they had to protect their own interests first.
Their own interests came first, the class's interests came second, and everyone else's interests didn't matter!
Everyone looked at Prince Ganlongdao as if he were their enemy. Even Ishizaki, Albert, and Shiho Manabe looked uncertain.
They had no idea what Prince Ganlongdao was thinking.
Cutting off someone's livelihood was like killing their parents.
Could you just mess with people's interests whenever you felt like it?
Even an emperor wouldn't dare. What made him think he could, just because he was a prince?
Before you continue