In the World of Classroom of the Elite, My Future Daughter Gives Me a Helping Hand

Besides, it wouldn't be that easy for Shirogane to become Vice President. He would have to defeat the current First-Year Class A first.

So.

If Shirogane Miyuki's First-Year Class B couldn't climb the rankings, wouldn't that mean President Horikita's plans couldn't be carried out smoothly? And might she end up supporting Kiriyama after all?

So.

He hadn't completely lost yet.

"Let's go!"

Miyabi Nagumo said.

Then he led the Second-Year Class A students out in a great procession, no longer showing any sign of defeat.

Still, as he left the Gymnasium, Nagumo couldn't help feeling a little regretful.

Yesterday, he'd run into Sakayanagi Arisu again, the silver-haired junior who looked like a high-end doll. She was so cute that he'd felt a strong urge to protect her, and he'd wanted to get to know her.

But now, Shirogane Miyuki had drawn Sakayanagi into his camp.

At the very least, although Nagumo couldn't be sure what the relationship between Sakayanagi and Shirogane Miyuki was, when Shirogane had personally invited Sakayanagi Arisu to become Vice President, it had become clear that he couldn't win her over.

That was disappointing.

There were still ways to make it harder for Shirogane's First-Year Class B to move up.

For example, the gap in points between First-Year Class A and First-Year Class B was less than two hundred.

Nagumo figured that although yesterday he'd only used the excuse of teaching Sakayanagi Arisu to show off his seniority, he could still get Classmate Kamuro to agree to falsely claim those fifty points.

All he had to do was persuade Classmate Kamuro.

Then, although the school's deadline for claiming the points had passed, this was a school where ability reigned supreme, and points did too. The school basically treated points as benefits or rewards for students. So earning enough points also meant you were stronger.

That meant...

He could use the full amount of points to work around the issue of the deadline for claiming the reward.

That would give First-Year Class A fifty more points, making it harder for Class B to overtake them.

With Sakayanagi's connection to Shirogane, she almost certainly wouldn't agree to help, even if Nagumo arranged everything. But Classmate Katsuragi, whom he'd met yesterday, would probably accept.

Nagumo thought it through quickly.

After the second-years left, it was soon the first-years' turn.

"Let's go," Classmate Katsuragi said. "Everyone, stay calm. That was probably just Shirogane Miyuki trying to drive a wedge between us. We're Class A students. We shouldn't fall for it so easily."

Although Classmate Katsuragi was also surprised that Shirogane Miyuki had directly announced that he would become Student Council President and invited Sakayanagi to join, even promising her the position of Vice President of the Student Council...

As a class representative, even if he was only one of two, Katsuragi wouldn't be so easily shaken.

So he wasn't suspicious that Sakayanagi would defect.

That meant it could only have been a divisive tactic by Shirogane.

Or perhaps...

Just as Nagumo had only now realized that he'd overlooked the former Class C junior who turned out to be a boss, Classmate Katsuragi was even more dumbfounded.

They'd all entered the school together. He was a Class A student, and yet Shirogane Miyuki, who'd come from Class C, hadn't just led his class to achieve the school's first-ever promotion after only a month. He'd also joined the Student Council before Katsuragi—and not as some general assistant, either. He'd started out as secretary.

Even more absurdly, the President had agreed to make Shirogane Miyuki Vice President of the Student Council if Class B managed to climb up.

If Shirogane pulled it off, then it was easy to imagine how demoralized Class A would become after falling behind.

That wasn't the steady, conservative strategy of staying far ahead that Katsuragi wanted. It meant having to constantly chase after the other side.

It would be exhausting.

Although they were still new students, the first-years soon filed out.

After the students from Class A had left, the homeroom teachers from the other classes brought up that, since there was still time, they would announce the rules for this month's Special Exam once everyone returned to their classrooms.

But...

Half the homeroom period was already over.

They'd said just yesterday that they would announce it in a couple of days. Yet now it was happening so soon—and so urgently.

Classmate Shirogane also followed his class back to the classroom.

He returned to his seat.

But as soon as he sat down, he drew the attention of quite a few classmates nearby.

"Congratulations, Classmate Shirogane. You've become the Student Council secretary. Are you going to become Vice President next?" The first to congratulate him was a girl with short green hair and a hair clip.

She looked pretty enough, but she was unquestionably a flashy girl.

Her name was Manabe Shiho, one of the few students from the former Class C with a name.

She usually hung out with three other girls. One was Rika, who was rather shy and timid. The other two were much more outgoing: Yamashita Saki, who had light brown hair, and Yabu Nanami.

Shirogane didn't think much of them.

Although he spent a lot of time studying at this school, he still paid attention to his classmates. Classmate Manabe was the restless type.

Yesterday, when Shirogane went to the buffet hosted by Teacher Sakagami, he noticed Classmate Manabe getting into an argument with students from another class over seating.

It seemed she'd driven away some students from another class who had been about to sit down.

But that was just picking on the weak and avoiding the strong.

"If I want to become Vice President, I'll have to wait until our class climbs the rankings," Shirogane said. "As a member of the Student Council, I'll follow the rules set by President Horikita."

"So before I'm your classmate, I'm also a member of the Student Council. I have to act in accordance with its rules and regulations," Classmate Shirogane said formally.

Didn't that mean she couldn't ask Classmate Shirogane to make an exception or show favoritism if she got into trouble?

So Classmate Manabe immediately went back to chat with her friends.

That was a very telling reaction.

But Classmate Shirogane didn't expect much from them anyway. If you didn't expect too much from the start, you wouldn't be too disappointed.

Otherwise...

Classmate Shirogane wouldn't have chosen to use Ryuen's violence to bring the class together as a stopgap measure in the first place.

[That girl just now was named Manabe Shiho.] The Narration System spoke up.

"..." Shirogane.

But this left Classmate Shirogane at a loss for words. Classmate Manabe might have been a little calculating, but she was still his classmate. They'd spent a whole month together in this classroom.

And yet the Narration System had completely ignored her?

Or...

Classmate Shirogane wrote something in his notebook.

"Is there anything special about her?"

Classmate Shirogane and Classmate Shiina had asked Classmate Kushida to fill in information on Sakayanagi Class and Ichinose Class. He'd also exchanged information with Classmate Horikita and gotten details about Class D.

But the information on Class C's students was the only part still incomplete.

For one thing, last month had been the Behavioral Standards Exam, so everyone had focused on the exam. Ryuen's demands had been strict; he'd even forbidden his own classmates from interacting with students from other classes. And with Shirogane's social skills, he wouldn't have been able to get as complete a set of information as Classmate Kushida had.

So he could wait. Once the Behavioral Standards Exam was over and Ryuen lifted the ban on everyone interacting with students from other classes, Classmate Kushida would be able to approach the students in Ryuen Class. Then he could ask her to fill in their information.

It seemed both effortless and efficient.

That was also what made the situation rather complicated.

Although they were classmates, Shirogane didn't think he could get more information out of them than Classmate Kushida could.

Like Classmate Ichinose, Classmate Kushida could quickly get along with everyone.

But perhaps unlike Classmate Ichinose, Kushida seemed able to dig up even more information about people.

Ichinose could get the information on the surface, while Classmate Kushida seemed able to uncover even things people kept to themselves, though she didn't write those things directly in her notes.

If social skills could be ranked, Classmate Shirogane thought both Classmate Kushida and Classmate Ichinose deserved an A.

But...

Classmate Kushida might even deserve a plus.

Classmate Shirogane thought to himself.

For now, though, he should focus on Classmate Manabe Shiho.

[That girl's name was Manabe Shiho. If she was Manabe Shiho, then I did have some information about her.]

Oh?

What was it?

Classmate Shirogane grew interested and prepared to listen.

[She seemed to have had a run-in with Karuizawa Kei from Class D. Didn't I mention before that if you wanted to keep a pet, you could consider a girl from Class D?]

[Quite a few people in Class D had secrets, and Karuizawa Kei had one too. Before learning it, she'd be very difficult to tame. But once you knew her secret, the difficulty of taming her would be infinitely close to zero.

Following Manabe Shiho might give you a chance of uncovering Karuizawa Kei's secret.]

No, no, no.

Seriously, who taught you this awful habit of treating people like pets?

[What really makes Manabe Shiho noteworthy is that she'll be the first person in your class to be expelled.]

"..." Shirogane.

That was rough, Classmate Manabe.

Still, the Narration System had brought up something worth paying attention to.

What should they do if someone in the class was expelled?

If there was a Special Exam every month, then the number of times people faced the threat of expulsion would keep increasing. That was probably why almost every class in the second and third years had students who'd been expelled.

According to the information he'd gotten from Classmate Sakayanagi, accumulating twenty million points could exempt someone from an expulsion penalty once.

Obviously...

The class couldn't come up with that many points right now. Even Classmate Sakayanagi's class wasn't ready.

Her Class A had split into two factions, so her efforts to collect points from her classmates might be delayed too.

Besides, even if they really did have twenty million points, that didn't mean they had to spend them to avoid an expulsion penalty.

If they could ensure that their class would graduate as Class A, then spending a fortune to save a classmate from expulsion would be worthwhile.

But if they couldn't ensure that their class would graduate as Class A, then spending that money to prevent an expulsion might not be worth it.

Besides...

Shirogane didn't think Ryuen, who ruled through violence, would be willing to spend twenty million points to save Classmate Manabe. Nor did he think the other students in the class would be willing to pay fifty thousand points each to save her.

Shirogane asked himself honestly: if it were only fifty thousand points, he thought he could manage it. But would all the other students agree? Almost certainly not.

After considering everything, the conclusion was regrettable.

Shirogane realized that if Classmate Manabe faced the threat of expulsion, she... might really be expelled.

It also depended on the circumstances. If someone was expelled for the sake of the class, then they could pool the class's strength to help.

Ryuen might not want to spend a huge amount of points to save someone, but Shirogane thought the class and the student facing expulsion would both accept it if he offered some points as compensation.

But it also depended on the situation.

For example, if someone essential to the class were about to be expelled, then spending twenty million points to save them might be the right choice.

With that...

Classmate Shirogane began to consider how much twenty million points were worth.

"By the way..." Just then, a girl's voice suddenly came from in front of Classmate Shirogane.

Classmate Shiina had turned around in her seat to face him.