After school.
Keyaki Mall karaoke.
Prince Ganlongdao had invited the entire class to sing, under the pretext of celebrating Ryuen's return.
The points came out of the class budget.
At that moment.
Prince Ganlongdao sat in the very center,
lounging on the sofa as he watched Shiho Manabe and the others onstage.
Of course, he hadn't wanted to sing for no reason.
He was observing everyone's reactions, sorting them into categories and finding potential talent.
A karaoke session
could actually reveal a lot.
Attendance was voluntary.
Some, represented by Kaneda and Ibuki Mio, were mavericks who simply didn't show up.
However.
These people were often more capable as individuals.
Ryuen was one of them, too.
Only someone with real ability had the courage to be a maverick.
They were better suited to jobs that required a little cunning.
Next.
There were the honest types, represented by Hidetoshi Suzuki,
who quietly sat in a corner of the karaoke room, eating snacks and playing on their phones.
They clearly didn't want to come.
But they'd been held back by social obligations, relationships, or fear of Prince Ganlongdao's authority and so on.
In any case, they'd been held back by one reason or another.
In the end, they'd reluctantly attended this supposedly voluntary gathering.
These honest types
were better suited to logistics or technical work.
The more burdensome jobs could all be pushed onto them.
Finally.
There were people like Shiho Manabe and the others,
who were outgoing and already enjoyed showing off.
These people
were better suited to gathering information and liaising with other classes.
Their ability was a secondary concern.
If necessary, they could target honest types in other classes and force them to chat for a bit. The other person would get so uncomfortable that they'd eventually start talking, albeit reluctantly.
Find the right honest person, and you were bound to learn something!
But.
Speaking of which.
Now Ryuen had returned to school and admitted defeat.
Today, he'd even established so many class rules, and most people seemed quite pleased.
And yet.
The system didn't even beep.
It was honestly making Prince Ganlongdao feel a little exasperated. These bastards had clearly agreed with him in words, but not in their hearts.
They only wanted the benefits without doing any work.
Whatever.
At least Ryuen had publicly acknowledged him as the class leader.
That left only one person!
Ibuki Mio!
Ibuki Mio alone
still hadn't acknowledged his position as class leader.
Although Ibuki Mio agreed with measures that genuinely benefited the class,
such as coordinating the class points and setting up class positions this time, she hadn't objected at all. In fact, she'd been among the first to agree.
However.
Not agreeing that he was the class leader meant she hadn't agreed.
She supported his policies
mainly because Prince Ganlongdao's methods really did benefit the class, even if the results so far weren't exactly pretty. Ibuki Mio had her own judgment, of course.
The two of them weren't like a class leader and a classmate.
They were more like partners.
Whether to do something was entirely up to Ibuki Mio.
How could that do?
Now that there was only one person left,
Prince Ganlongdao was still waiting for the system's lottery draw.
He was already strong, but who would ever complain about being too strong?
Besides.
He might even draw some supernatural power from an anime or novel.
At the thought,
Prince Ganlongdao felt a little excited.
The next day.
After school.
The dormitory lobby.
Seeing Ibuki Mio return to the dorm with shopping bags in hand, Prince Ganlongdao, who was sitting on the sofa, hurriedly got up and stopped her.
"Honestly, I've been waiting ages for you!"
"Hm?"
Ibuki Mio glared at him. "What is it?"
"There's something I'd like to discuss with you. Could I borrow a bit of your time?"
Prince Ganlongdao felt like she was glaring at him.
Maybe she wasn't.
Ibuki Mio's eyes just naturally gave people the impression that she was glaring,
so it felt that way.
Even boys like Ishizaki didn't dare approach her casually.
"Move."
Ibuki Mio shot him a look, her beautiful eyes widening slightly.
"I'm not interested in you. Whatever it is, just say it."
"..."
Now Prince Ganlongdao was sure she'd glared at him.
It was honestly giving him a headache.
If she felt something would benefit the class, she'd do it without hesitation, and cooperate more than most.
If she felt it was useless to the class, Ibuki Mio wouldn't even bother with it.
As for Prince Ganlongdao becoming class leader,
she neither agreed, refused, nor gave an opinion.
Like a player.
Ibuki Mio seemed even harder to handle than Ryuen Kakeru.
"You sure you want to talk here?"
Prince Ganlongdao glanced around and raised an eyebrow.
"Since it's something important, I think we should find somewhere private."
"Then the rooftop. Let's talk after I've eaten. Eight tonight."
"Hey..."
Prince Ganlongdao had just started to speak
when Ibuki Mio walked past him and into the elevator.
What a shame.
He'd been planning to invite Ibuki Mio to his room, but he hadn't expected her to be so assertive and decide the time and place herself.
Still.
Come to think of it.
A girl
dared to go to the rooftop alone in the middle of the night.
She really had confidence in her own strength.
Wasn't she afraid he might try something?
At the thought,
Prince Ganlongdao rubbed his chin and smiled inconspicuously.
He had to admit,
apart from her slightly fierce eyes,
Ibuki Mio was actually quite beautiful, with delicate features that far surpassed Shiho Manabe's.
And.
She clearly had training. Her body was incredibly flexible.
She'd be a lot of fun in bed.
She was so assertive, too.
He liked her!
Eight at night, on the rooftop.
After dinner,
and after finally managing to get Shiho Manabe out of the way,
Prince Ganlongdao leaned against the railing, gazing into the distance.
He heard the door open behind him and glanced at his student ID. It was exactly one minute to eight. She really was a woman of her word.
After looking around, Ibuki Mio walked up behind Prince Ganlongdao.
She crossed her arms and urged him,
"All right, go ahead. What is it?"
"Right on time."
Prince Ganlongdao turned around.
He'd been about to say something, but when he saw Ibuki Mio's impatient gaze,
Prince Ganlongdao decided to get straight to the point.
"From what I've observed, you always seem to go to school and come home by yourself. You're always alone at university, too, and you didn't attend yesterday's gathering. Is there a particular reason?"
"No."
Ibuki Mio said impatiently, "Did you call me here just to ask that? If there's nothing else, I'm going back."
"No..."
After a moment's hesitation,
Prince Ganlongdao decided it was better to be frank with her.
"You're the only one in the class who hasn't accepted me as the leader. And you come and go whenever you feel like it every day. It makes me look bad~"
Ibuki Mio's pretty face darkened, and she turned to leave.
After all.
Prince Ganlongdao made his decision once again.
Both could greatly improve the class's unity and enthusiasm.
They benefited the class.
So,
she didn't have much respect for Prince Ganlongdao.
Hearing that Prince Ganlongdao had something to say to her, Ibuki Mio had made time to come and see what was going on.
As long as it benefited the class,
Ibuki Mio didn't mind helping out.
But she hadn't expected it to be something like this.
She had no interest in playing at being a gangster.
What a character...
Before you continue