Contract, Joining the Student Council

"Take that look off your face, you bastard." Sudo couldn't hold back, stepping directly in front of Kushida before glaring at the silent students in the class.

"What are you all thinking?"

Thinking? Many lowered their heads, perhaps ashamed of their own secret relief?

"Ryuen, please don't make jokes like this. It isn't funny." Hirata said coldly to Ryuen.

"Heh, so have you decided? Are you buying or not?" Ryuen mocked the reaction of the Class D students and flicked the test papers in his hand once more.

"How do we know if these test papers are real or fake?" Horikita Suzune stepped forward, voicing her skepticism.

"This contract guarantees that if the papers are fake, I will be expelled immediately." Ryuen's face darkened slightly at the mention of this; that twisted guy, why did he have to use his name for the guarantee?

Although he was certain the papers were genuine, he was still quite annoyed.

"..." Horikita Suzune didn't speak again, simply taking the contract from Ryuen to read it carefully.

"Don't waste my time. Are you buying or not?" Ryuen urged impatiently. Did these idiots think they had a choice?

"We agree, but the points..." Hirata was just about to consent when he was suddenly interrupted by Horikita.

"No, this contract cannot be signed."

The terms of the contract were not complex.

Party A guarantees that the provided test papers are the B-version for the first-year first-semester midterm exam. If the authenticity of the papers is in question, Ryuen will be automatically expelled.

All Class Points earned by Party B until the second-semester exam will belong to Ryuen.

"If we sign this contract, our class will have zero point income for this entire semester."

"What? How can you do this!"

Class D erupted in chaos. This meant they would be stuck eating wild vegetable sets and using free supplies until the next semester!

"So what? It's not like it's any different from your current situation, is it?" Ryuen sneered. "After all, you are the 'excellent' zero-point class."

"Just because we are at zero points now doesn't mean we will stay at zero points forever." Horikita Suzune stared at Ryuen with cold, sharp eyes.

"Perhaps. Maybe you'll get lucky and stumble into a few Class Points." Ryuen said dismissively, then stepped onto the desk in front of him.

"Do you think you have a choice? Either one hundred thousand points and everyone in Class D signs the contract, or you can gamble on whether or not you'll be the one expelled after the midterm exam. How about it?"

"I will not allow anyone in this class to be expelled." Hirata said with ironclad resolve. "I will find a way to scrape the points together, but I need some time. We will sign the contract."

"Very well. Let's begin signing. Sakagami-sensei, please act as our witness."

"Certainly." Kazuma Sakagami nodded with a smile. His own class had no issues with the exams, and he was thrilled that Class D was on the verge of collapse after just one midterm. If not for the need to maintain a teacher's dignity, he would have jumped for joy.

The signing took some time. Even though some students with good grades were unwilling, they were pressured by their classmates—especially those who lacked confidence in their own performance—with looks that seemed to ask, Are you trying to abandon me here? In the end, they had no choice but to sign.

Seeing the look of utter frustration on Horikita Suzune's face as she signed the contract gave Ryuen immense pleasure.

Three people were not in the classroom, but all the other students had signed.

"Although a few students haven't signed, it doesn't matter much. School regulations state that a contract made on behalf of a class becomes effective as long as over ninety percent of the students sign."

With the contract finalized, Ryuen readily handed the test papers to Hirata, then led his group away from Class D, heading straight for the library.

After all, they still had a study session to attend.

"Hm? Is that guy Sawahara not here?" Upon arriving at the library, Ryuen was surprised to find Sawahara missing.

"It seems Sawahara-kun has run into something," Shiina told Ryuen.

At this very moment, Sawahara was at the Student Council, as the situation had unfolded slightly differently than he had anticipated.

"President, why am I a member of the Student Council now?" Sawahara looked at Manabu Horikita, who was sitting at his desk.

"Is there something wrong with that, Secretary Sawahara?" The corners of Manabu Horikita's mouth curled up slightly; he was in a very good mood.

"You know what I mean, President," Sawahara said. "I should have been dismissed from the Student Council by now."

To deal with the potential mass expulsion of students in Class D, the original plan was for him to 'steal' the midterm exam papers from the Student Council and hand them over to the first-year Class D students.

However, President Horikita believed this would damage the Student Council's prestige—after all, if anyone could just walk in and steal things, it would be no better than the Land of Light. Thus, he demanded that Sawahara join the Student Council, steal the papers in the name of helping students, and then be dismissed.

Now, they were stuck on the final step.

"Secretary Tachibana, have you received any reports regarding the theft of the midterm exam papers?"

"None at all," Tachibana said, following the President's lead. She was quite pleased to see this underclassman, who had previously deceived her, get cornered.

"I voluntarily confess that I stole the midterm exam papers," Sawahara responded quickly. It was just a report, right? He would report himself.

"In light of Secretary Sawahara's courage in admitting his mistake, his intentions are commendable. He is temporarily relieved of his duties as secretary. Don't forget to attend the Student Council meeting here next Monday after school." Manabu Horikita delivered his verdict swiftly.

The implication was clear: Manabu Horikita intended to use this opportunity to make him a permanent member of the Student Council.

Seeing that the situation could not be changed, Sawahara could only agree before leaving the Student Council room.

"President, why are you so insistent on having him join the Student Council?" After Sawahara left, Tachibana asked the President. She didn't quite understand why he valued this underclassman so much that he would go to such lengths to bring him in.

"He is excellent—perhaps even more so than Miyabi Nagumo," Manabu Horikita said, giving his assessment of Sawahara. "And he is dangerous."

Because even Miyabi Nagumo wouldn't have done something like this: kidnapping over a dozen students to force the school to make concessions...

Watching Sawahara now reminded him of Miyabi Nagumo from last year. He didn't know when that excellent underclassman had started to become so radical.

He didn't want to see such a thing happen again. Both for the sake of the school's stability and to prevent this underclassman from walking down the wrong path, he needed to keep Sawahara where he could see him.