Who's-the-boss?

Thud.

One punch.

Before Ryuen could react,

Prince Ganlongdao had already knocked him to the ground with a punch.

Albert hesitated, but still didn't intervene. He lacked the nerve to act, and seemed to realize that he couldn't do much about Ryuen anyway. It was probably better to let Ryuen suffer a little.

After all, neither of these two seemed like a good boy.

So fast...

Ryuen clutched his right cheek, secretly alarmed.

The punch had come so fast he hadn't even reacted, but it wasn't especially powerful.

Prince Ganlongdao knew that brute force wouldn't work on Ryuen. He would have to break him psychologically instead.

"Heh."

Though he had long since run out of strength, Ryuen still refused to give in. He sneered.

"You're pretty good in a fight, too. But so what? I'll keep an eye on you every moment of the day—when you eat, when you go to the bathroom. In the end, I'll be the one who wins."

"Oh, is that so?"

Prince Ganlongdao picked up a chair and placed it over Ryuen's chest.

The back of the chair faced Ryuen's head, and its four legs pinned him firmly in place. Prince Ganlongdao sat on it backward, with his feet planted on Ryuen's arms.

Looking down at Ryuen, he smiled.

"Venomous snakes that only know how to ambush people are terrifying."

"..."

Feeling everyone's eyes on him, Ryuen couldn't move with Prince Ganlongdao's feet pinning his arms, but his expression didn't change.

Instead, he looked at Prince Ganlongdao with a hint of mockery.

"You think having this bunch of useless people watching will make me surrender out of embarrassment?"

"Looks like..."

Watching Ryuen's utterly unembarrassed expression, Prince Ganlongdao rubbed his chin.

"It really doesn't seem to be working."

"Let me tell you something."

Ryuen said coldly, "A few times in the past, after I lost a fight, people dragged me into the bathroom. Those guys didn't just shove my head into the toilet—they relieved themselves on me, too. But in the end, I trampled every one of them."

"Your little tricks are child's play to me."

At that,

Kaneda and the others looked disgusted.

Several girls covered their mouths and snickered. They couldn't understand why anyone would talk about something so humiliating.

What other people saw as utterly shameful,

Ryuen regarded as a badge of honor.

He had lost everything—his dignity, his pride, and his self-respect.

Even in such a harsh environment, Ryuen had endured. He had every reason to be proud of himself.

However,

Prince Ganlongdao realized that he had underestimated him.

Ryuen had enough intelligence, sound judgment, decisiveness, and a resilient spirit.

He wasn't exceptional yet,

but he already had all the qualities a leader needed.

Unfortunately,

he had run into Prince Ganlongdao.

There were plenty of ways to make someone submit,

but not many of them could be used at this school—and Ryuen had to submit willingly.

"Sorry..."

"You look pretty proud of yourself, but I can't seem to understand that feeling. After all, I've never experienced defeat. Winning is the norm for me."

Prince Ganlongdao rubbed his chin.

With a chop of his hand, he knocked Ryuen Kakeru unconscious.

The guy really was tough. It would take some time to bring Ryuen to heel. Forcing him to submit through violence might work, but it could also leave trouble down the line.

With that,

Prince Ganlongdao walked up to the lectern and braced both hands on the desk.

He smiled broadly as he looked at the class.

"Then it's settled. I'll be the class leader!"

"Who's in favor? Who's against?"

"..."

Inside the classroom,

the students exchanged glances, but no one responded.

So far,

everything was based on the conjectures of Ryuen and Kaneda. There was no concrete evidence to prove they were right.

Truthfully,

no one cared who was in charge.

Under normal circumstances,

this had nothing to do with most of them.

They had seen it all before.

Usually, it was just a few delinquents with poor grades fighting over who would be the boss and then showing off everywhere. Ordinary students were rarely dragged into it.

Of course,

there were always scumbags who bullied their own classmates.

But clearly,

Prince Ganlongdao wasn't one of them.

He was a little arrogant,

but at least he hadn't started the school year by trying to rule the class through violence, like Ryuen.

As long as their ordinary lives weren't disturbed, it made no difference to them who was in charge. It was basically just a title.

"As long as you don't bully your classmates,"

Albert said in his deep voice, "I don't mind if you keep Ryuen in line and stop him from abusing his power."

"Looks like you still don't understand this school."

Watching the class look at him in confusion, Prince Ganlongdao smiled.

"We fought like that, and Sakagami watched from the sidelines without trying to stop us. That would be unthinkable at an ordinary school, wouldn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you understand what that means?"

Prince Ganlongdao ran a finger along the desk as he stepped down from the lectern, analyzing the situation for Sakagami.

"First, as long as students don't report something themselves, the school will ignore it. At least our homeroom teacher will. This might affect him—or our class."

"Second, Sakagami's expression has been calm the whole time. He must have seen this sort of thing plenty of times before. That means the competition at this school is far fiercer than we imagined."

"If you keep that same soft, mild-mannered attitude and can't even tolerate a little violence, you'll probably be eliminated very soon."

"Right, Sakagami?"

"You're all so informal. If possible, I really wish you'd add the word 'teacher.'"

Kazuma Sakagami pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

He said that, but the corner of his mouth lifted in a faint smile.

He'd really struck gold.

Not only were Albert and Ryuen talented, but there was also someone like Prince Ganlongdao.

On the first day of school,

with only that little bit of information and Sakagami's expression,

he had figured out just how fierce the competition at this school was and how important it was to unite the class.

That was right.

Only graduates of Class A had the freedom to choose their careers.

Competition between classes was unavoidable.

Prince Ganlongdao and the others still didn't know all that, but they had already understood the importance of their class and the intensity of the competition on their very first day. They were already ahead of everyone else.

Kazuma Sakagami was ecstatic.

With Prince Ganlongdao and the others in the class, this year's bonus was in the bag!

"And besides..."

Seeing Kazuma Sakagami dodge the subject,

Prince Ganlongdao didn't press him. He strolled over to Albert and smiled.

"I'm not asking for your opinion. I'm..."

"Giving you an order!"

As he spoke,

Prince Ganlongdao punched Albert in the chest. Albert hadn't blocked the blow and stumbled back several steps.

At that,

Prince Ganlongdao raised an eyebrow.

The difference in their builds was hard to overcome. If his strength was thirteen, Albert's had to be at least fifteen. But a fight wasn't decided by physical build alone.

As Prince Ganlongdao closed in, Albert didn't dare let his guard down again.

The man in front of him was far stronger than Ryuen.

As a fist came flying toward him, Albert met it with his own.

However,

the next moment,

Prince Ganlongdao's right hand turned into a knife-hand, striking Albert's throat from a strange angle. Then his left hand followed with another knife-hand strike to the side of his neck.

There was no need to go easy on someone this big.

Prince Ganlongdao was skilled in killing and interrogation, and knew exactly how much force to use.

"Kh..."

After taking the two blows, Albert doubled over. Instinctively, he clutched his neck and gagged, but couldn't make a sound.

Seeing this,

Prince Ganlongdao showed no mercy.

He grabbed Albert's head with both hands, pressed his thumbs against Albert's sunglasses, and wrenched them apart. The broken glasses fell to the floor.

Holding Albert's head, Prince Ganlongdao leaned in close. His gaze was as sharp as a blade.

"Who's-the-boss?"