Shirogane, on the other hand, acted as if he already knew the inside story.
So Sakayanagi thought they'd found out what this school was really like through some kind of rule-breaking?
Well, she'd guessed right.
Classmate Ryuen had gotten the inside scoop through rule-breaking—namely, outright violence.
But Classmate Shirogane didn't need to worry. He wasn't the one using violence; Classmate Ryuen was. At most, he'd just happened to pass by and "overhear" things.
"The school won't let us talk about it, and Senior Nagumo won't let us either." With no hint of guilt, Classmate Shirogane answered a different question. "So does that mean Senior Nagumo has a lot of influence among the second-years?"
"Senior Nagumo's Second-Year Class A isn't the same Class A they started in. They rose up from Class B."
"In other words, they're an example of a successful class takeover."
"It's only natural that someone who achieved that would have some clout within their year."
"And to hold on to the fruits of his victory, I imagine Senior Nagumo might use his authority as the Student Council Vice President to make certain moves and increase his influence," Classmate Sakayanagi said.
"..." Shirogane.
So you already understand all of it, don't you? You don't just know about the class battles; you also know the current state of the second-years.
If that was the case, Shirogane suspected that Class A already knew about the Behavioral Standards Exam taking place in the first month of school.
If so, Class A might not lose too many points during that first month.
That meant the opponents Class C had to face would be stronger than ever before.
How terrifying.
Sakayanagi and her classmates had most likely obtained their information by throwing money at the problem.
The classmate she'd mentioned had raised the offer to 500,000 points, and the second-year still hadn't agreed.
Pay attention to her keyword: raised the offer.
Did that mean that if they raised it enough, even someone who couldn't agree would agree after all?
Besides, the Student Council President knew that Sakayanagi Arisu had offered to buy information directly from a teacher during class. The teacher had also said that at this school, you could buy anything you wanted as long as you had enough points.
So if Class A offered enough points and got the truth about the school, the staff would turn a blind eye.
And when he thought about it that way, one question came to mind.
"Classmate Sakayanagi, is it true that the Student Council President mentioned you'd directly asked the teacher during yesterday's homeroom if you could buy information with points?" Shirogane asked.
"Oh, that? Of course it's true," Classmate Sakayanagi said. "This school really is fascinating. If you have enough points, you can buy anything."
"Although the teacher refused to answer, I then asked some second-year students, and eventually managed to get the information from a third-year. I'm so glad I found out."
In other words, she'd prepared for both possibilities. If she could buy the information directly from a teacher, that would be best. If the teacher was willing to make a deal, then it would be legitimate.
And if she couldn't get it from a teacher, she could turn to upperclassmen instead.
Since she'd done it under the cameras, she'd at least given everyone a heads-up.
And as things turned out, a third-year had sold her the information, which meant she'd reported it and acquired it legitimately.
As a result, Classmate Sakayanagi had quickly established her place in the class and gained some useful underlings, too.
Every step had led to the next, and she'd managed to achieve several things at once.
Shirogane was certain that when Senior Nagumo had still been in Class B, the Class A he'd faced hadn't been anywhere near this formidable.
The former Second-Year Class B certainly wouldn't have been able to surpass a Class A of this caliber.
"Classmate Shirogane, is something wrong?"
"You suddenly went quiet." Sakayanagi had noticed his expression.
"...It's nothing." Shirogane shook his head.
Having encountered Class A's big boss, Classmate Shirogane decided he'd better go home and study in earnest.
"Classmate Shirogane, you look exhausted again today."
When he arrived in the classroom the next day, Classmate Shiina, who sat in front of him, greeted him.
Shirogane looked over and saw the girl's lovely, delicate features and her smooth, straight hair.
Mm.
Classmate Shiina was still a pleasure to look at.
It was as if even his complicated feelings could be soothed.
"I studied a little harder yesterday," Shirogane said, taking out his math textbook, which he'd already read up to page 77, and placing it on his desk.
[You seem to be afraid of her now.] A voice sounded in Shirogane's mind.
It had been there for three days, and he'd gotten used to its presence.
The remark was out of the blue, but Shirogane knew exactly what it meant.
"She's scary, isn't she?" Classmate Shirogane wrote in his blank notebook.
He'd discovered that the Narrator System's voice appeared in his mind, but it couldn't hear him if he replied with his thoughts. If he spoke aloud or wrote something down, though, it could hear or see him.
That was another way they could communicate.
The Narrator System in his mind began to respond.
[If we're talking about how scary she is, she's like a Tyrannosaurus rex. She's tiny, but extremely aggressive.]
[And she holds grudges. She usually doesn't get back at you right away—she lets the grudge build up.]
[And if she gets angry, she's truly terrifying. She'll make a slacker study, and make you do things you're bad at. The worse you are at something, the more she'll make you do it.]
[She's a demon!]
No, weren't you more afraid of her than he was?
Shirogane was about to scribble something else in his notebook when he noticed a commotion at the door.
"Someone from the Student Council is here."
"Looks like they're looking for someone."
"What? This is a chance! Maybe they've finally come to arrest Ryuen— Uh, I didn't say anything."
A student in the front row seemed about to seize the opportunity to report Ryuen, but then realized Ryuen was staring at him. He immediately backed down.
It was only the third day of school, but Classmate Ryuen hadn't stopped using violence to bring the students under his control.
When Classmate Ryuen arrived that morning, he had a piece of gauze stuck to his face. He'd probably gotten into a fight yesterday.
That must have been rough.
Ryuen had silenced the boy, but his expression was rather grim, too.
There were far too many cameras at this school. They'd mostly avoided them while fighting, but if they kept doing it, who knew whether someone would report them?
Had someone reported him?
"Is Shirogane Miyuki from First-Year Class C here?" A Student Council member stood in the doorway, but the name they asked for belonged to someone else.
The students around them looked over curiously.
Some seemed curious about who Classmate Shirogane was, while those who knew him turned curious eyes his way.
"Is that Senior Tachibana?"
Classmate Shirogane recognized the Student Council member standing at the classroom door at once.
She had purple hair and a cute appearance.
She was the secretary who followed the Student Council President around. He'd learned her name from Sakayanagi: Tachibana Akane.
"Looks like I found the right person." Tachibana walked over. "We've confirmed your report that an Electronics Store clerk in the Shopping District was secretly taking pictures. The clerk has been fired."
"I'm here to give you a response regarding the matter."
Oh.
The students around them understood now.
So Classmate Shirogane had done that.
Was that Electronics Store clerk the one at the first shop? Some students had thought he looked creepy and felt uneasy around him, too.
They'd been talking about other things before, but soon the conversation shifted entirely to the Shopping District clerk.
At the same time, a handsome, sunny-looking upperclassman with short blond hair appeared at the doorway of First-Year Class A.
At the same time, a handsome, sunny-looking upperclassman with short blond hair appeared at the doorway of First-Year Class A.
Miyabi Nagumo and Tachibana Akane had received an assignment from President Horikita: confirm whether the new student's report about the Electronics Store clerk in the Shopping District secretly taking pictures was true.
After investigating, they confirmed it was true, and the clerk in the Shopping District was fired.
The new student who'd reported him would receive a reward, and the Student Council President had decided to submit the request. The school's reward would be issued as well.
Nagumo was ambitious.
He had led his class to successfully rise from a lower class to Class A, and the Student Council President had appointed him Student Council Vice President in recognition of his ability. Once he joined the Student Council, Nagumo gained a deep understanding of its authority and immediately began making plans.
The Student Council had far more power than he'd expected. It even had the ability to influence the Special Exams held each month.
That had caught his interest.
In other words, he didn't just want to rise to Class A and hold on to his position. He had a new ambition.
And his first step toward that ambition was becoming Student Council President.
After President Horikita stepped down, he intended to become the next Student Council President.
But there were conditions he had to meet first.
1. A recommendation from the previous Student Council President.
2. Holding the position of Vice President. After the previous Student Council President resigned, he would automatically become a candidate.
Even meeting either of those conditions would only qualify him to run.
The final decision would be made by a vote of the entire student body, and the candidate with the most votes would win.
So there was one more thing he needed to do: gather support.
Votes from the second-years, the third-years, and the first-years. Although President Horikita wouldn't step down for another year, he could start preparing now.
That was why he'd gone out of his way to meet the first-years and win their support.
Naturally, he couldn't approach the first-years too blatantly, so he was using the distribution of rewards as an excuse.
There were actually two students who needed to be rewarded. One was Shirogane Miyuki from First-Year Class C, and the other was the girl with a purple hair clip Shirogane had mentioned. According to the records, she was a new student in First-Year Class A, named Kamuro Masumi.
Mm.
And so things had turned out this way: he'd chosen to notify Kamuro from Class A, while Senior Tachibana had gone to Class C to give Shirogane Miyuki his reward.
In Nagumo's view, even though Shirogane from Class C had made the report,
the student who'd first noticed the clerk secretly taking pictures was probably the purple-haired girl from First-Year Class A.
The first-year boy from Class C had just gotten lucky, picked something up, and brought it to the Student Council.
So the person he really needed to reach out to was the Class A student.
After all,
unlike the new students, he already knew what this school was really like. He also knew that Class A was the strongest and that Class C was just a lower class.
So what was the point of approaching trash?
So.
Before you continue