A Person in Classroom of the Elite, with His Future Daughter's Assist, Chapter 42

As he spoke, Secretary Tachibana Akane stood behind him like an attendant.

?

He hadn't paid much attention before, but now Classmate Shirogane recognized it. Secretary Tachibana's mannerisms gave him a familiar feeling, much like the way Classmate Katsuragi and Totsuka interacted. Well, it was also a little like Classmate Sakayanagi and Classmate Kamuro.

Though Sakayanagi took things the furthest, treating Kamuro like a puppy.

Of course, given President Horikita's character, Horikita Manabu probably didn't mean it that way. Still, this secretary clearly looked to him for guidance.

As Classmate Shirogane thought this,

President Horikita placed both hands on the table.

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Chapter 59: The Fastest Promotion in History—General Affairs, Secretary, No, My Goal Is Student Council President

"I already know about Shirogane's situation."

Horikita Manabu looked at Shirogane as he spoke. "I can allow you to join the Student Council."

"I'm giving you the General Affairs position."

The General Affairs position wasn't particularly important within the Student Council.

Generally speaking, the Student Council was made up of the president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, General Affairs, and Disciplinary Committee Members.

The lowest-ranking position was Disciplinary Committee Member. There were several of them, but in the office, only the head of the Disciplinary Committee had a desk. The other members didn't have desks of their own.

General Affairs was also a relatively low-ranking position, but it covered a wide range of responsibilities. Whenever someone was needed somewhere or assistance was required, they would go help.

Hearing Horikita Manabu's words, Katsuragi and Yahiko, who stood behind Shirogane, showed no reaction.

That was because they considered General Affairs a low-ranking position, so they didn't find it strange that Shirogane had been allowed to join. After all, his class had risen from Class C to Class B. That counted as progress.

Classmate Ichinose, on the other hand, looked at Classmate Shirogane with some envy.

Clearly, Classmate Shirogane was different from them. He'd been given a guaranteed position right off the bat.

"And you three." Horikita Manabu looked at Ichinose, Katsuragi-kun, and Totsuka.

"So, do you all want to join the Student Council?"

When the three nodded, Horikita Manabu replied coolly, "Then I'm sorry, but the Student Council isn't short on people right now. Or rather, your abilities aren't yet sufficient to fulfill the role, and you haven't become indispensable."

"..."

He'd rejected all three of them outright.

The move left Yahiko completely dumbfounded.

Just a few seconds ago, Shirogane Miyuki, whose class ranked even lower than their Class A, had been allowed to join the Student Council. But now the students from their Class A weren't being accepted at all?

Horikita Manabu made his assessment without mercy.

"Katsuragi, Class A has two leaders. That proves you aren't capable enough." He looked at Katsuragi, who held a tense expression.

Katsuragi looked stern, but seemed to have no choice but to accept it.

"As for you, Ichinose, your entrance exam score was second. But that only makes you outstanding among ordinary people. You're not indispensable, and I haven't seen what you're capable of yet. So you're not qualified to join the Student Council."

"What's more, your class fell from Class B to Class C in its first month."

"I think you have more important things to consider than joining the Student Council," Horikita Manabu said coolly.

"I understand." Ichinose accepted his assessment.

Before coming here, she'd already learned from Classmate Shirogane what the president's standards for recruitment were.

Now, she was even more certain that Classmate Shirogane had been right.

President Horikita really did judge people solely on the basis of their abilities.

And it was true that her class had fallen from Class B to Class C. So the president's assessment was fair.

"If you accept that you can't join the Student Council, you may leave."

"I have other work to do as well," Horikita Manabu said.

Everyone noticed the stack of papers on the president's desk.

It seemed that being Student Council President was hard work.

But no one who came here was afraid of hard work. Now that they knew the rules of the school, they understood all the more how important it was to join the Student Council.

Katsuragi had planned to join the Student Council a long time ago, but last month he hadn't been in a hurry. He'd wanted to accomplish something first.

Something to add to his résumé, so to speak.

The achievement he planned to use was Class A. After the first month, Class A had become the class with the highest number of class evaluation points in the school's history. That was his résumé.

But what had made Class A successful had also brought about its failure. Though he was a student in Class A, he couldn't stop the class from splitting apart.

So Katsuragi ultimately accepted the assessment.

Besides, the president hadn't completely closed off his path. He'd said that Class A's division proved Katsuragi wasn't capable enough. Did that mean that if Sakayanagi acknowledged him, and the class eventually became a unified whole, his abilities would then be recognized?

That was something he could work toward.

At the mention of Sakayanagi, Katsuragi couldn't help glancing toward Shirogane Miyuki.

That morning, he'd approached Sakayanagi to see if his strategy was sound: Class A just needed to hold steady and maintain a commanding lead. But Sakayanagi had mocked him.

And the results bore that out.

Class A: 924 points.

But Class B—the former Class C—had scored 735 points.

Katsuragi had achieved his initial goal of putting more than four hundred points between them and Class B, Ichinose's class. But another class had climbed up to challenge them.

The new Class B, Shirogane's class, had caught up.

So Class A's lead wasn't very substantial, and his Katsuragi Faction—the conservative faction—had no real chance to make its mark.

"Then we'll take our leave." Katsuragi didn't linger. The president had told them to leave, so he naturally intended to go.

Although he couldn't join the Student Council right now, he still wanted to leave a good impression.

"Mm." Horikita Manabu nodded, and Katsuragi led Yahiko away.

When they reached the door, Yahiko seemed about to say something, but Katsuragi shook his head, telling him to be quiet.

So Yahiko could only follow Katsuragi obediently.

"Although the division in Class A kept Katsuragi from joining the Student Council, he's already found people who support him and are willing to follow him."

"Overall, I'd say that's not bad." Rarely, Horikita Manabu spoke favorably of Katsuragi.

But—

The two people still in the Student Council understood why he'd said that.

Horikita Manabu had said it for them.

That was right.

Horikita Manabu had just told them to leave, but neither Classmate Shirogane nor Classmate Ichinose had gone.

"What are you two doing?" Secretary Tachibana Akane asked, holding a folder and looking puzzled.

"Classmate Shirogane, the president has approved your joining the Student Council, but you won't officially start work until tomorrow."

"So you can head back for now."

"And then there's you, Classmate Ichinose—" Tachibana looked at Ichinose Honami with a puzzled expression.

It could be said that Classmate Ichinose's friendliness worked on Tachibana Akane.

Last month, this junior had interacted with the third-years and even visited Class 3-A. She'd probably hoped to gather some information from them.

At the time, Tachibana had thought she was a sharp girl.

It was just a pity that her class was in a bad spot. It had become the first class in history to drop a rank during its first month.

"Um, although the president just turned me down..."

"But the president uses ability as the standard for joining the Student Council, right? I think I can qualify," Ichinose Honami said.

"Heh." Horikita Manabu had already picked up his pen, but at that, he set it down. "What can you offer?"

"Well, it's something I've observed about the third-year class President Horikita belongs to," Ichinose said.

"Only Class 3-A, President Horikita's class, still has all forty students."

"The other classes have all had students drop out, to varying degrees."

"From what I've learned from the seniors, Class 3-A has managed to avoid anyone dropping out, but it's also faced the threat of expulsion several times. Each time, though, Class 3-A chose to spend a large number of points to save the student."

"Before now, this information was impossible to uncover."

"The seniors all seemed to keep quiet about it. But today, our teachers told us first-years about the school's rules. I thought that meant some things we couldn't discuss before might now be fair game."

"So, during the thirty minutes since I arrived, I got this information from the upperclassmen."

"Although my class has fallen in rank, I believe the unity and cohesion of our class won't lose to that of President Horikita's Class 3-A."

"And if we want our class to still have all its students when we reach our third year, I think joining the Student Council now is especially important," Ichinose said.

She usually seemed full of energy, but at that moment she looked exceptionally resolute.

Even standing beside her, you could feel her determination to protect her classmates.

"..." x2

The atmosphere fell silent almost instantly.

Tachibana Akane also looked at Ichinose Honami in surprise.

Horikita Manabu didn't answer right away. He took off his glasses, wiped them with a cloth, then put them back on.

"That's pretty interesting," Horikita Manabu said. "But it's also true that your class fell in rank. Still, I've heard about the unity in your class."

"When I go to the cafeteria, I see a lot of students from your class getting their meals at counter twelve."

"Even without knowing the specific exam rules during your first month, your class had already chosen on its own to save points," Horikita Manabu said.

Classmate Shirogane knew about counter twelve. It was the special counter that served free, awful food.

So—

Wait, you're the Student Council President. Your class gets more than two hundred thousand points in living expenses each month. And you go there often?

So the price of keeping all forty students in Class 3-A was spending twenty million points on one student—or maybe several.

After discovering that the Student Council office had poor soundproofing, Classmate Shirogane realized that Class 3-A, President Horikita's class, was poor.

"Mm, you're making me look bad, President." The previously resolute Classmate Ichinose rubbed the back of her head, suddenly a little embarrassed.

"You don't need to be embarrassed about it." Horikita Manabu shook his head.

"My class is indeed walking a long and arduous road," Horikita Manabu said. "It's a road no class before us has taken."

"If you want to walk that road, you'll face even greater risks and difficulties."

"During my term, I can offer you a position as a Disciplinary Committee Member."

"You won't have a desk in the office, and you'll only be called in when there's something to do."

"Your usual duty will be to patrol the campus."

"Since this is a boarding school, you won't need to stand at the school gate. You'll only need to patrol the campus three times a week."

"After joining the Student Council, you'll receive a monthly living allowance of twenty thousand points. You can give Tachibana your information in a moment. The allowance is paid on the first of every month. Since you're joining today, you can receive this month's allowance as soon as the paperwork is done."

Horikita Manabu said.

"Thank you, President." Ichinose nodded. She wasn't dissatisfied.

Or rather, President Horikita had even rejected Katsuragi from Class A. She was carrying the huge burden of her class dropping in rank, so being allowed to join under the circumstances was already incredibly lucky.

At last, she could breathe a sigh of relief.

So even if Class A tried to use some underhanded tactics again, she'd now have a little leverage to deter them.

That was right. Ichinose had thought of how her class had been wronged last month. They wanted to hit back with the same underhanded tactics, but that wasn't a good fit for her class. So they'd chosen this approach instead.