Let Prince Brother See Who the True Loyalist of Class C Is

After mid-May, on the weekend.

The open-air café at Keyaki Mall.

Prince Ganlongdao, Kaneda, and Albert sat at a table. Ishizaki set the water he had bought in front of each of them before sitting down.

"Ah~"

Ishizaki wore a relieved smile.

"It's finally over. If we have to hold another study group, I'm going to die~"

"You couldn't even handle half a month of study sessions? You've got a lot more to look forward to, Ishizaki." Kaneda frowned as he picked up his soda.

"Uh, but you'll still be around then, right?"

Ishizaki's expression stiffened, but he quickly plastered on a smile.

With Kaneda leading the way,

they'd made it through the midterm exam with ease.

It hadn't been particularly difficult to begin with.

As long as they studied seriously and the top students held back a little, raising the class average was a piece of cake. The real test was the class's ability to work together and follow through.

Class C had passed without a problem.

To be honest,

Ishizaki felt Prince Brother deserved a lot of the credit.

The others might not have noticed,

but Ishizaki had only accepted Kaneda's invitation to join the study group because he didn't want to refuse Prince Brother.

He'd never thought much of people like Kaneda and Shiho Manabe.

One was always putting on airs like some elite, acting as if he were better than everyone else. The other spent all day mocking people and making fun of them. Neither was particularly likable.

But after spending a few days with them,

Ishizaki had quickly discovered their good points, too. Shiho Manabe was fiercely loyal to her friends, of course.

Kaneda was actually pretty decent, too.

As long as you buttered him up, the guy would work like a tireless old ox.

"Hmph."

At that, Kaneda puffed out his chest and said proudly, "Don't come crying to me later if I haven't taught you."

As it happened,

Kaneda got along pretty well with him, too.

Having someone constantly shower him with flattery really did feel good. Kaneda could see why Prince Ganlongdao always liked to keep Ishizaki around.

"Back to the point."

"We went through all that trouble just to hold on to Class C. I doubt it'll be that easy next time."

"Prince Brother, I think we should step up our studying."

Kaneda looked at Prince Ganlongdao, his expression turning somewhat serious.

Every month now,

there were Private Points, management authority, and status in the class. Ishizaki was there to sing his praises, and there was hope that the class would thrive and rise to Class A.

Aside from his strained relationship with Ryuen, Kaneda had nothing to complain about.

"I've already said it."

"You're in charge of academics. Whether they're willing to join in is up to you to figure out."

Prince Ganlongdao casually sipped his drink.

Just as Kaneda had said,

they'd only barely held on to their place in Class C this time.

After the midterm exam, the Class Points had changed.

Class A: 1004

Class B: 663

Class C: 92

Class D: 87

They were only five points ahead.

Next month, they might well fall to Class D.

Fortunately,

when it came to academic performance,

Class C was still just a little better than Class D.

What's more, thanks to Prince Ganlongdao's adjustments, Class C now had a complete system with clearly defined responsibilities. The students were far more motivated than those in the other three classes.

"Understood. There's one other thing, though."

Kaneda furrowed his brow, looking puzzled.

"After this exam, six class representatives were chosen based on their grades. But I don't know what's up with Hiyori Shiina, who came in first in Japanese. No matter what I say, she doesn't want to do it."

"I even offered her extra pay, but she still refused."

Hiyori Shiina.

Prince Ganlongdao remembered her.

She was a very pretty, quiet girl with long white hair that reached her waist. He'd run into her at the library a few times. She'd been one of the people who hadn't come to the karaoke gathering last time.

She was very pretty, yet somehow didn't attract much attention.

Still,

looks weren't Prince Ganlongdao's top priority when choosing people.

For students who kept to themselves like her,

Prince Ganlongdao wasn't noble enough to go out of his way not to bother them. He just couldn't be bothered with them.

Some people didn't like trouble and couldn't be swayed by money.

That was normal.

"Never mind."

Prince Ganlongdao waved a hand. "We'll just put it off for now."

"Understood. I'll let them know in a bit."

Kaneda nodded, then changed the subject, sounding disdainful.

"I've no idea what Ryuen's been doing these past few days. His grades are bad, he doesn't attend the study sessions, and now he's the one who invited us out, but he's late himself."

As he spoke,

Kaneda let out a snort.

"If you ask me, the guy should just drop out."

That's right.

Ryuen had invited them to this gathering in the first place.

Kaneda was constantly badmouthing Ryuen, trying to poison Prince Ganlongdao against him and get him kicked out.

He wanted Prince Ganlongdao to see

who the real strong one was, who was actually the most useful person to the class, and who was the most loyal member of Class 1-C!

There was no helping it.

Kaneda had always thought he was exceptionally talented.

He was the best in the world,

the kind of person who could lead the class to Class A and take charge of Advanced Nurturing High School.

Being Prince Ganlongdao's underling

already felt like a demotion to Kaneda.

And now he was expected to rank below Ryuen?

Not only did he look down on Ryuen's delinquent appearance, but his pride couldn't accept it, either.

He'd been getting beaten up pretty badly lately.

He'd even tried to take Ryuen's position as Sports Representative, but every time he made a move, he got slapped down.

Of course,

Kaneda wasn't completely useless.

He'd been in Class C a month longer than Ryuen and had plenty of friends there. Honest people like Hideo Suzuki generally got along well with him.

The thing was,

Kaneda wasn't mean to people below his station.

He deliberately cultivated some of them to build up his own leverage.

As long as they could put up with his elitist, sour expression, Kaneda was actually one of the more helpful people around.

It was just that he always had an ulterior motive when he helped people.

And yet,

while helping them,

Kaneda genuinely looked down on them, and he wasn't very good at hiding it.

In front of Ryuen,

those people were nothing but a disorganized rabble. A couple of punches and a few threats were all it took to make them run off.

It drove Kaneda crazy.

Every day in class, he gave Ryuen the cold shoulder.

If Prince Ganlongdao hadn't kept pulling them apart, Ryuen might have fought with him for months on end—or they might even have argued all the way to graduation.

So,

if Kaneda could just kick that bad habit, or get better at hiding it,

Prince Ganlongdao felt he could accomplish something great.

"He's here."

Just then,

Ryuen walked toward them from nearby, his face cold. He came up to the four of them, slapped a stack of A4 papers onto the table, and fixed Prince Ganlongdao with an icy stare.

"Ryuen, take a seat."

Ishizaki immediately sensed something was off,

and hurriedly moved aside.

Albert also stood up and took his place behind Prince Ganlongdao.

Clearly, the two of them had already been won over by Ryuen and accepted his place as second-in-command.

Only Kaneda remained seated, perfectly composed, looking at Ryuen with disdain.

He could accept Prince Ganlongdao as the leader

because he was capable, brought benefits to the class, and Sakagami Kazuma had taken his side.

That was the only reason Kaneda tolerated it.

But Ryuen wanted to be second-in-command, too?

Did he think he was worthy?