In Classroom of the Elite, My Future Daughter Provides Assists

If you look at it in terms of profit, it is definitely a losing business.

Although the staff at the shopping district receive wages they can spend, the students themselves do not all have money.

The fact remains that the upperclassmen in Classes C and D are living in poverty; otherwise, those two seniors targeted by Classmate Ryuen wouldn't have had to go collect free daily necessities as if they were charity.

Looking at it this way, the students' purchasing power is poor.

They don't have many points.

So, can the shops even turn a profit?

Most of the school's shops are meant to serve the students, and it's impossible to force the staff to spend their money there. Is there really a logic where the school earns money only for the school to spend it, with not a single cent allowed to be taken home?

Therefore, it is only possible that the school is bearing the costs of these shops.

And the variety of these shops is maintained regardless of the cost.

After all.

It is irrational to open bathhouses, movie theaters, and even art galleries in a place with only about two thousand people.

The daily operation of a movie theater is an expense, and every screening is impossible to fill to capacity.

"..."

Looking at it this way, it seems that even taking on a part-time job is out of the question.

That's right.

As a standard high school student, Classmate Shirogane had actually prepared himself to work part-time.

But looking at it now, neither the actual situation nor the school would likely allow it.

In reality, if the shops are operating at a loss, hiring people to work is basically impossible. Furthermore, from the information already known, the school hopes that students will compete against each other on a class basis, and competition naturally comes with a prize.

The first is that Class A can receive a reward cashed out by the school upon graduation.

The second is that the students' living expenses are deposited into their private accounts by the school based on each class's evaluation score multiplied by 100.

At the same time, Classmate Shirogane also learned why every freshman received 100,000 points for living expenses upon enrollment: because the freshman class evaluation score was 1,000 points, and 1,000 multiplied by 100 equals 100,000 points.

It seems everything makes sense now.

And under these circumstances, the school likely does not support students obtaining points through other means.

Thinking this, Classmate Shirogane headed to the nearest electronics store.

There was only one clerk in this electronics store, wearing a red uniform. He was a short man with a faint beard, a dark complexion, and very small eyes—the type of person you wouldn't really want to look at.

If one had to say, you would feel... that he was dishonest.

However, that was just a first impression.

As Classmate Shirogane stood at the entrance, the clerk had already walked over proactively, displaying the enthusiasm of a salesman.

"What do you need? A camera, or a laptop?"

"You're a freshman, right? Many freshmen choose new laptops. If you want to choose from a cost-performance perspective, our store recommends..."

Business in the electronics store wasn't great, but the variety of goods displayed on the counters was abundant.

And the prices weren't expensive.

There were low-priced computers for over 30,000 points, and cameras ranging from 20,000 to 40,000 points.

Now that Classmate Shirogane had 100,000 points in his hand, this expense was enough to support him in purchasing some electronic equipment.

It was just that whether a freshman needed to buy a computer was still up for debate.

After all, Classmate Shirogane only came here considering buying a USB drive to copy the video of Classmate Ryuen hitting someone for safekeeping.

However, it was impossible to transfer the video from his phone directly to a USB drive.

So, a computer was still needed as an intermediary.

Then, could he borrow a computer from the store or from someone else? That didn't seem very safe either; there was still a possibility of information leakage.

Therefore, the best plan might still be to purchase a laptop as a backup.

Looking at it this way, the expenditure suddenly became quite large.

Classmate Shirogane felt a pang of heartache for his points. However, he was also very decisive.

Things that needed to be bought still had to be bought.

However, just as Classmate Shirogane opened his mouth, he noticed a sound at the entrance. He discovered that two girls had walked in.

One tall and one short.

One had purple hair, was quite tall, and wore bangs, though she used two clips to hold them back. Her face was pretty, but her temperament was very cold, and she kept a straight face, looking as if she were in a mediocre mood.

The other girl was shorter. She had black-blue short hair and also wore hair clips, but her appearance was much worse than the one in front.

However, this short-haired girl was very direct.

"Hello, I want to look at hair dryers," that girl said loudly.

"Hair dryers..." The clerk looked at Classmate Shirogane with an awkward expression.

"You go ahead and get busy, I'll just look around on my own," Classmate Shirogane said.

The clerk nodded, but instead of going straight to the short-haired girl, he walked toward the nearby cash register, lightly adjusted a sample camera placed there, and only then headed toward the short-haired girl.

Meanwhile, Classmate Shirogane continued to browse the laptops in the store.

The cheapest one was 28,888 points. The most expensive model in the store was 99,999 points.

As for USB drives, sold individually, the prices ranged from 2,000 to 7,000.

The prices were reasonably fair.

However, Classmate Shirogane noticed that the store actually sold voice recorders as well. But the price was absurdly expensive.

100,000.

"..."

Does an ordinary voice recorder really cost 100,000 points? More expensive than a laptop?

How could that be?

"Thump, thump--"

Just then, Classmate Shirogane noticed that the tall girl with purple hair, one of the two who had just entered, picked up a USB drive from the counter and walked directly in one direction.

That direction was the cash register. An ordinary cash register, but there was a sample camera sitting on it.

He saw the girl stand in front of the register, leaning her body forward slightly, her left hand resting on the table. It looked like she made a very quick movement.

And while she did so, she suddenly turned her head and glared at Classmate Shirogane.

"..." Classmate Shirogane.

"Not buying it." The girl with long purple hair muttered, turned around, placed the USB drive back on the shelf, and walked straight out.

It seemed rather inexplicable.

"It's too expensive here, I'll go check the supermarket instead." The short-haired girl who wanted to buy a hairdryer didn't buy anything either, so she left as well.

"That customer--"

Having lost two sales in a row, the clerk had no choice but to come over to Classmate Shirogane.

"I'll take one laptop and one USB drive."

Classmate Shirogane was a straightforward guy; rather than spending so much time picking and choosing, he preferred to save more time for studying.

So, he finished his shopping in five minutes.

"We look forward to your next visit."

Looking at the 61,233 private points remaining in his account, Classmate Shirogane felt conflicted.

Just as the clerk's voice faded, he walked out of the store and nearly collided with someone in front of him.

"Are you alright?" Classmate Shirogane said.

"N-no, I'm fine, I, I didn't bump into you. C-Classmate Shirogane?" The person speaking was a girl dressed in a dowdy fashion, slightly hunched over, wearing her hair in large, fluffy twin tails, and sporting glasses.

She seemed to have a timid, apologetic demeanor out of habit, but she looked somewhat startled when she looked up.

"Have we met?" Classmate Shirogane said.

"N-no, we haven't."

The dowdy-looking girl shook her head rapidly. Then, looking as if she had been spooked, she trotted into the store.

Was he really that scary?

[You feel that the girl in front of you is somewhat familiar; you can't quite place her, but she has seen you more than once.]

At that moment, the familiar voice of the narrator echoed in his mind.

Classmate Shirogane recalled that at the school gate, the narrator had mentioned a girl seeing him and getting scared?

Was it this girl in front of him?

Classmate Shirogane felt that his time with Classmate Shiina today had been quite pleasant, but between the girl with the purple hair clip earlier and this girl with glasses now, he felt that girls were truly hard to understand.

Beep!

Just then, Classmate Shirogane noticed his phone in his pocket vibrate.

[Classmate Shirogane, I've returned to the supermarket. I was accosted by someone just now and it took a bit of time, but our shopping cart hasn't been moved. I pushed your cart to the service desk; you can go there to pick it up and check out when you return. There were too many things to buy, so I had to focus on my own items first.] by Shiina Hiyori.

Oh!

Classmate Shiina really is a kind person.

Classmate Shirogane felt healed.

Hm?

Just as Classmate Shirogane was about to leave, he suddenly felt like he had stepped on something. He looked down and found a small, hard, black object lying on the ground.

He crouched down, picked it up, and discovered it was an SD card.

Judging by the size, it appeared to be an SD card for a camera.

Chapter 15: Classmate Shirogane: Am I actually going to be the first person to have points deducted?

An SD card for a camera had been left lying on the ground by someone.

Classmate Shirogane picked up the SD card and looked left and right, but there were no other students around. After a moment of consideration, Classmate Shirogane put the SD card into his pocket and headed toward the shopping street.

The street was very lively. Having received their 100,000 points in living expenses, the freshmen were very enthusiastic about shopping, and the most popular spots were, as expected, the milk tea shops and cafes.

After all, there is no one who doesn't like desserts.

Classmate Shirogane, meanwhile, headed to a cafe to buy a cup of coffee.

As someone who often stayed up late studying, coffee had already become an indispensable necessity for Classmate Shirogane.

Classmate Shirogane chose a zero-sugar coconut latte, which cost 350 points. It was a bit expensive; the supermarket sold instant coffee sticks that averaged only 150 points per stick, which was much cheaper.

So, brewing it himself was still the most cost-effective option.

While calculating this, Classmate Shirogane prepared to head in the direction of the supermarket, but as he walked, he encountered the girl with the purple hair clip he had seen once before at the electronics store.

The girl seemed to be looking at the ground with her head down as she walked forward, eventually arriving at the electronics store. However, to his surprise, she stopped right at the entrance and then turned back the way she came.

This gave Classmate Shirogane an idea. Could the SD card he found have been dropped by this girl?

"Did something happen to you?" Classmate Shirogane walked over and said.

?

The girl raised her head upon hearing his voice, seemingly having no impression of Classmate Shirogane.

"I didn't lose anything," she said.

"And I don't know you," the purple-haired girl said, before turning around and walking straight into the nearest bookstore.

How cold.