What did "confiscated" mean? It meant the points had been earned through a violation, so they were confiscated.
And in this case, the violation that had resulted in the confiscation was obvious: someone had breached the confidentiality agreement and revealed the school's inner workings to the new students ahead of time.
Considering that three out of four of his colleagues were old foxes, Teacher Mashima said,
"The points deducted from Third-Year Class C were because a student in my class bought information about the school from him."
"When my students had just enrolled, they considered buying that kind of information from me. I didn't allow it at the time."
"Then they went to a senior student and did it anyway."
So that was the terrifying reason First-Year Class A had maintained its 925 points?
But—
Teacher Mashima's explanation soon drew someone's attention: Hoshinomiya Chie.
After this year's freshmen Behavioral Standards Exam, her First-Year Class B had fallen in the rankings, so her salary for the month would be reduced to the level of Class C.
It was a sad thing.
And she also had to bear the stigma of being the worst Class B in history, falling in the very first month.
You could say it was humiliating.
But she had no intention of simply pretending it had never happened.
So now, she was ready to make Sakagami squirm.
"So, Sakagami-sensei's class was able to get such a high score this time because one of his students broke the rules, too, right?"
"Otherwise, there's no way your class could have figured out the school's rules and responded so perfectly."
As Hoshinomiya spoke, she looked at Teacher Sakagami.
"No, nothing like that," Kazuma Sakagami said. "My students figured it all out themselves."
"And since Class A's students knew about the school's true nature so early, we can't be certain whether the information was leaked by a student in Class A, either."
As their homeroom teacher, he knew, of course, that Ryuen and the others had obtained information about the school from upperclassmen by breaking the rules.
So it wasn't exactly something to be proud of.
But the school hadn't imposed any punishment. Didn't that mean it tacitly approved of what had happened?
In that case—
As long as no one reported it and they weren't caught, even a rule-breaking move wouldn't be punished.
And since Class A's students had learned the truth about the school early, they could simply insist that the information had been leaked by a Class A student.
"But, Chabashira, how did you lose so many points?" Teacher Sakagami's explanation wasn't perfect; there were holes in it if anyone cared to look. But Hoshinomiya shifted her attention to Chabashira Sae instead, blinking lightly as she asked.
"Or did you break all those rules just to help your class climb the rankings?"
Chapter 51: This Isn't Your Place, Sakayanagi! Second Update for the Rankings!
Hoshinomiya was smiling, but the two male teachers beside her felt as if she had suddenly bristled.
Hoshinomiya, Chabashira, and the two men had all been students at the same time, though they'd been in different classes. Hoshinomiya had also been Chabashira's closest friend.
She was smiling now, but her attitude was unmistakably hostile.
It was as if she was deeply opposed to Chabashira climbing the rankings.
"If my class could really climb the rankings, we wouldn't be sitting at zero points now," Chabashira said indifferently.
As she spoke, she started walking straight ahead.
Hoshinomiya didn't immediately follow.
Instead, she murmured where she stood.
"Come on, Chabashira. Are you still hung up on what happened in the past? Do you want to make up for your past by helping your current Class D climb the rankings?"
"But do you realize how pointless that is? Because of you, everyone has already lost the chance to graduate from Class A."
"So I can't let you be the only one who gets redemption."
"No matter how high you climb, I'll drag you back down. I swear!"
Despite saying such frightening things, Hoshinomiya quickly caught up to Teacher Chabashira, putting on a cute expression.
"Come on, Chabashira, don't walk so fast—"
"How about we go for drinks tonight? You're the loser today, and I'll treat you. You haven't had all your points deducted, after all."
"..."
Hoshinomiya was scary like this.
Watching from a distance, Teacher Sakagami turned his face away without thinking.
He was beginning to understand why Hoshinomiya, despite having such good social skills and being quite pretty, still hadn't settled down with anyone. It was probably because she was scary.
"What a pain," Teacher Mashima said with a sigh, watching the two female teachers walk away.
It was clear that Chabashira wanted to climb the rankings, and Hoshinomiya was keeping an eye on her.
Perhaps Hoshinomiya's 100,000-point deduction was meant to find out whether Chabashira had broken any rules.
"Anyway, congratulations, Sakagami," Teacher Mashima said, turning to Kazuma Sakagami. "Your class has climbed the rankings."
"We were in the same class back then. I admit you were stronger, Mashima, but as a class, we're not necessarily incapable of surpassing yours," Teacher Sakagami said, pushing up his glasses.
"So why were 500,000 points deducted from you?" Teacher Mashima suddenly asked.
"..." Sakagami paused. "I don't mind telling you. Ryuen asked me about the class evaluation points. I wasn't supposed to tell him, but I did. That must be where the 500,000-point deduction came from."
So that was where Sakagami had broken the rules.
He'd shown too much favoritism toward his students, without much of a bottom line.
"Some of your actions can only have a bad influence on your students," the upright Teacher Mashima said.
But Kazuma Sakagami pushed up his glasses.
"Adults sometimes use dirty tricks, too. So rather than have my students go out into society and get taken advantage of by dirty tricks, I'd rather teach them to use those tricks themselves."
"And this school is all about ability. Isn't it the perfect place to do that?" Teacher Sakagami said, his eyes shining with a fierce fighting spirit.
He and Mashima had been in the same class, but Mashima had been the class representative while he had been a bottom-ranker in Class A. Some of his theories had even been rejected by his classmates, but he believed his ideas would be more useful in society.
So what was wrong with letting his students experience the dark side of society ahead of time?
It was better than getting screwed over later.
Homeroom ended soon after.
The students were given time to do as they pleased.
For the students of what had been Class C... no, Class B, this was an important occasion: changing the class sign.
"A little to the left! A little more! That's right, line it up!"
"We're actually Class B now."
"It feels like we've made a comeback."
Ryuen's class was bustling with excitement. Most of the students had been swept up in the news that they'd moved up a class. After all, who didn't want to climb higher?
So once they'd confirmed that their Student IDs had indeed been updated, some of them started fiddling with the class sign.
But before long—
"Speaking of which, who's that girl?"
"She's so cute. Is she a new student like us?"
"Wonder which class she's in."
"That girl's coming this way."
Their attention shifted, focusing on the girl.
They noticed a very cute girl with a cane walking over from down the hall.
Before long, she reached the classroom door.
"Could you pass along a message for me?" she asked.
"Y-yes, of course," the student she'd asked said, looking flattered.
"But this isn't your place, is it, Sakayanagi?"
At that moment, a boy with red, center-parted hair blocked the cute girl's path.
"Indeed, it isn't the right place for me," the girl replied politely. "So could you call him out for me?"
"Classmate Ryuen." The girl immediately said Ryuen's name.
"Tch."
Ryuen snorted, then called into the classroom.
"Shirogane Miyuki! Sakayanagi from Class A is looking for you!"
Chapter 52: Shirogane, Do You Know About the 20 Million Points? Third Update for the Rankings!
Classmate Shirogane and Classmate Sakayanagi headed to a corner by the stairwell.
It was break time, but no members of the Student Council came here, so it was a decent place to talk.
As they walked, Shirogane couldn't help glancing back at Ryuen, who wore an impassive expression.
Just now, Sakayanagi and Ryuen had had a brief exchange.
Ryuen had deliberately said Sakayanagi's name, showing her that he knew about Class A's situation. Yet Sakayanagi had easily said his name, too.
That meant Sakayanagi's side had already gotten hold of information about them.
In other words—
Ryuen thought he had reason to feel proud now that his class had risen to Class B, but it turned out that what they'd done was standard procedure for Class A.
It was a bit of a blow.
"So, what brings you here this time, Sakayanagi?" Shirogane wrote in his notebook.
Soon, a response formed in his mind.
[At this point in time, Sakayanagi Arisu would have already met with Katsuragi Kohei and the Student Council President. Now she's come to see you by herself.]
Oh, I see.
She'd met with the Student Council President?
Shirogane thought it over.
Why hadn't Ryuen's class been informed?
In other words, even though Ryuen's class had performed well in this Behavioral Standards Exam, Class A was still the only one that could attract attention.
Class A was the winner of the class competition.
That also fit with President Horikita's belief in the survival of the fittest.
But—
Since Sakayanagi had gone to the Student Council with Katsuragi, that meant the factional struggle in Class A hadn't ended. It had even reached a stalemate, or they wouldn't have needed to meet with Horikita Manabu together.
That was good news for Ryuen's class.
After all, the gap between the two classes was now less than 200 points. With a Special Exam every month, they still had a chance to catch up soon.
But that was only the optimistic view. They'd relied on Ryuen's iron-fisted rule to force the students to follow the rules and hold on to their points. But look at the students in Class A. Because they belonged to different factions, no one could control them all as a single unit. Yet Class A had lost only 76 points in a month. Even without being forced, its students could stay disciplined. The other classes' students simply couldn't manage that.
So—
Even if they managed to bring their class up to Class A, keeping it there would be difficult.
Shirogane was worried about that.
Only graduates of Class A would receive the reward promised by the school, so they needed to make sure their class was in Class A during the final month of their third year.
That time span was too long—three whole years. So was it easier to climb up early and hold on to the Class A position, or to stay low-key and make a final push in the second semester of their third year?
And if they could reach Class A early, it would definitely encourage the class and have a positive effect.
Before you continue