A Great Use for the Odd Jobs Agency

There was only one week left until the midterm exams.

Early in the morning, Kei took out the past exam papers and answer keys she had promised to share with everyone the night before.

"That's amazing, Kei! I never imagined you'd be able to come up with something like this!"

The girls had already surrounded her; if they weren't in the classroom, they probably would have tossed Kei high into the air right then and there.

"Actually, Katsuya and I bought these together..."

Because Shinjo had publicly acknowledged that he and Kei were dating, and Kei herself had been blushing shyly whenever asked about it, the entire Class D was envious of the first couple to emerge within their ranks.

Who wouldn't want to have a wonderful romance during their high school years?

"Thank you both! Kei, Shinjo."

Yosuke Hirata, who was always devoted to the class, was beaming with joy. Although he had heard from Suzune that Chabashira had given them the wrong exam scope, obtaining the answers directly was a classic case of a blessing in disguise.

"Even so, I still think Chabashira-sensei owes us an explanation! Otherwise, if she does this for every exam, we can't expect to get the answers every single time, can we?"

As a top student who wasn't particularly worried about his own grades, Yukimura was more concerned about why the teacher would do such a thing.

If it was just the wrong scope this time, what if she intentionally taught them incorrect information next time?!

With Suzune Horikita and Kikyo Kushida taking the lead, nearly half the class headed to the teachers' office to demand an explanation from Chabashira.

"Sensei, could you please tell us why Class C said we were studying the wrong exam scope?"

Suzune got straight to the point and threw the question at Chabashira.

Chabashira, who was busy with paperwork, acted as if she had foreseen this scene all along, merely lifting her eyelids:

"Ah... I seem to recall now. The school changed the exam scope at the last minute, and I forgot to inform you."

"Chabashira-sensei, do you take us for fools?!"

"Heh, even if the exam scope was wrong due to my oversight, those are all things you were supposed to learn anyway. Are you saying that you only study exactly what is on the exam? If that were the case, I doubt there would be any need for many of these courses to exist at all."

Suzune was so angry her face turned bright red, but there was nothing she could do to Chabashira.

They had come to hold her accountable, but Chabashira was, after all, a teacher, and they were students.

The school rules didn't state that a teacher couldn't provide the wrong exam scope, so no matter how resentful they felt, they had no choice but to swallow their frustration.

"Let's go..."

Seeing this, a mocking sneer curled the corners of Chabashira's mouth. She then looked toward a figure who had lingered behind.

"Aren't you leaving?"

"Because I have some questions. As a teacher, answering a student's doubts is only natural, right?"

"That depends on whether I can answer what you're asking."

"Right here?"

Upon hearing this, Chabashira slowly stood up and smoothed out her skirt, which had wrinkled from sitting:

"Let's go. I was just about to go have a smoke."

"Speak. What do you want to ask?"

Shinjo took out the document envelope he was holding and waved it:

"The reason you gave us the wrong scope this time—it wasn't just to see if we could get our hands on this, was it?"

"If you can get it, that's your ability. If you can't, it doesn't matter. After all, the class points are currently at zero; taking this opportunity to clear out the dead weight wouldn't be a bad thing."

Although it might mean losing athletic talents like Sudo, in truth, Chabashira genuinely felt that people like Yamauchi and Ike were useless.

Rather than struggling under the weight of dead weight, it was better to cut off the limb to save the body.

"In other words, you actually still want to climb the ranks, don't you?"

Chabashira didn't answer, instead taking a deep drag from her cigarette.

"Well, I can actually understand that. Given the way this school operates, the monthly income for the four homeroom teachers must be different, right?"

"That is not something a student should be asking about."

Shinjo shrugged. It was better to clarify certain things with Chabashira in advance; he always felt this teacher was the type who would sacrifice anything to achieve her goals, the kind who would build her success on the bones of others.

"Fine. But I think your educational model is a bit off-track. You know the situation in Class D right now very well. Wanting to climb up, and even defeat the lofty Class A... that's not going to be easy, is it?"

Of course it wasn't easy!

Chabashira couldn't even remember how high a price she had paid for that goal!

"Shinjo, since the opportunity has presented itself, I'll be blunt. This year's Class D is the worst I've ever taught. Your overall strength is the lowest, while this year's Class A is full of monsters."

Chabashira said in a hoarse voice.

"But you are also the most unpredictable batch. I see hope..."

Hope?

Calling it hope is one thing, but considering the personalities of Koenji and Ayanokoji, it would be more accurate to call it despair.

"Heh... I hear your Odd Jobs Agency has already started business?"

"Hey, you aren't planning on targeting me, are you? Let me be clear: I'm different from Ayanokoji. I at least put in some effort for the various matters in the class."

"But you don't give it your all! Am I right?"

Sae Chabashira noticed the verbal trap Shinjo had set.

"There are plenty of people who don't give it their all, aren't there? Aren't you the same? You intentionally gave out the wrong exam scope... you intentionally dug so many pits for us at the start of the school year. Even if you don't admit it, everyone knows it deep down."

"I won't deny that. However, that was also a way to test you all!"

To be able to say such shameless words so openly, this teacher's professional ethics were truly pitifully low.

But in this school, it was no surprise to see anyone, and Shinjo increasingly felt that the longer someone had been at this school, the greater their psychological issues!

Calling it a school—what difference was there between this and a prison, really?

"So, I want to ask you: if it were you, in that identity of the Odd Jobs Agency, how much effort could you put in?"

"Regarding that... I personally have four major principles, but generally speaking, how much effort I put in depends entirely on how much strength the client has."

Simply put, the more money paid, the more effort naturally put in.

"I understand..."

Chabashira extinguished her cigarette, turned around, and left the private room.

Over these many years, she had actually accumulated quite a lot of personal points, but the school had strict prohibitions; teachers' points could not be used directly on students, such as helping them purchase items that exceeded the rules.

And the existence of the Odd Jobs Agency was clearly a massive loophole.

She could pay money to Shinjo in the form of a commission, and Shinjo could then go and purchase those prohibited items.

This process was commonly known as money laundering!

"Odd Jobs Agency... as long as it can be used for my purposes, it's no different than having you... As for that Hermit, I have a way to deal with him as well."

"Class A... Class A..."