Chapter 16

So... no, if we were talking about my situation, there was a little something. This guy had absolutely no sense of money and had spent every last one of the hundred thousand points the school had initially given him in just over a week. Fortunately, my plan to spread his name around had worked, and quite a few third-year senpai had started "sponsoring" him. That also let me get my foot in the door with the school's wealthy elite. Today, I'd arranged to meet with Igari Momoko-senpai from Class 3-B. "Are you really the Koenji family's butler?" she asked as soon as she saw me, unable to hide her eagerness. She was clearly someone who wanted to trade in her points. "Not a butler, but a study companion, Igari-senpai." I calmly set down my bag and casually flipped through the menu on the table. "Whatever you are, I've never heard of you." She'd probably come here on a whim, not knowing what to expect, but the lure of money had been too strong. Especially for a student in the upper grades at this school: after three years of living comfortably, it was only natural to find it hard to go back to having less. And since Igari-senpai was clever, she'd made sure to prepare a backup plan for after graduation—especially since she was in Class B, not Class A. "Of course. I'm just a minor player. I'm nothing compared to young master Koenji." "Then why did you contact me? You know, we third-years don't have much time left. Our time is precious!" Igari was exasperated. She was the one who'd been called out, yet this unfamiliar first-year wasn't in the least bit hurried. In fact, he'd arrived later than she had. "I know, I know. You're a wealthy third-year, senpai, but wouldn't it be a waste to graduate with a huge pile of points?" "So you really do want points? What can you offer in exchange?" Igari seemed a little more at ease. So far, her judgment had been right. "Of course. We've got plenty of the one thing the Koenji Conglomerate never runs short of: money. We're so rich, money's all we have." "Damn capitalism!" Igari slapped the table, trying to seize the initiative. "One-to-one. I want a contract signed by Koenji himself!" "Senpai, we may have money, but we're not suckers." I had plenty of people to trade with, so her tactics wouldn't work on me. This was very much a buyer's market. "You! Don't push your luck. We don't even know if you'll honor the agreement! I'm taking a risk here, too! This sort of thing has happened at school before." "I know. You still have to compete with Class 3-A, right? But I'd advise you to have a backup plan." "You know quite a bit... Then why not go to the people in Class A? They should have more points, shouldn't they?" Igari was clearly curious about her rivals' finances. "That's right, but they seem to have some sort of class fund, so they're not easy to deal with... Well, I guess this is fate, senpai." "That Horikita's pretty impressive... To be honest, what's the best rate you can offer?" Igari nodded. She knew how influential Horikita Manabu was, so it was plausible Class A had a fund like that. "One to 0.6. Sign this contract, and you can redeem your points after Koenji graduates. If, for some reason, Koenji won't honor it, come to me and I'll pay you on the spot. My family lives in Tokyo, so you can rest easy." "That's way too low! Even counterfeit money goes for four-fifths!" She was pretty skilled at haggling. The upperclassmen had clearly been through plenty of deals. "You know your stuff, Momoko-senpai... But you're still getting in early. A year from now, right before you graduate, it'll probably be one to 0.06. Points are still worth quite a bit right now!" I was in charge of setting the exchange rate, so I shamelessly raised the price on the spot. "It's Igari-senpai! You rude little bloodsucker!" Igari seemed to come from a working-class family and clearly didn't like my money-grubbing attitude. "Don't get upset, don't get upset... How about this: introduce me to your classmates who want to exchange their points. I'll add one percentage point for every person you bring in. We can all make money together! Of course, I'm only planning to exchange thirty or forty million points at most." "Are you trying to raise the two hundred million points needed to switch classes?" "You can switch classes with two hundred million points? Thanks for the tip, Momoko-senpai..." "( 0 x 0 ) If you don't know anything, why do you need so many points!?" Realizing she'd let something slip, Igari covered her mouth adorably. It was obvious she couldn't handle someone as rich as me. "Of course it's better to be prepared! If you can switch classes, surely you can cancel an expulsion too, right? How many points does that take?" "I'm not telling you! Hmph!" "Don't be like that, Momoko-senpai..." "I'll exchange two and a half million points first, kid. I'm warning you! Don't try anything funny!" Igari abruptly changed the subject. "Don't worry. I was going to forge young master Koenji's signature, but he said people should be honest, so he signed it for me in advance." "(╬ ? ? ?)..." That only made Igari more conflicted and uneasy as she scrutinized the contract. "Don't worry, senpai. Worst case, you can just call it tuition... People out in the world are even more ruthless, after all! The Koenji Conglomerate has a pretty good reputation. You're welcome to apply for a job with us after graduation! ⊙?⊙" "Why isn't this a contract signed with points from the school?" Igari was still nitpicking, but I'd clearly managed to sway her. "There's a contract like that? Thanks, Momoko... Ah! Just kidding! We'll settle up after graduation. Does it make a difference whether we use a school contract? It'd just waste points. If we broke the agreement, do you think the school could actually expel a graduate?" I dodged Igari-senpai's furious attack and kept pushing the deal forward. "What's your name?" Igari finally made up her mind, signed her name, then looked up and asked. "I am Kitazawa Minya, the sole heir to the Kitazawa family!" I met her gaze without fear. "If you dare cheat me, you're dead!" she warned again. Just look at how good I am at forging signatures. I'd cheated plenty of people before—but, well, I really wasn't planning to cheat her this time. "I wouldn't dare. Thanks, senpai! Here's my contact information." As I spoke, I handed her my number with both hands. It was always useful to know an upperclassman, and Igari-senpai still had plenty of potential waiting to be tapped. "Don't contact me unless you have to! I'll get in touch when I find someone else willing to exchange." Igari-senpai paid her own bill. That was a surprisingly principled thing to do in front of a capitalist like me. "No problem. Take care, senpai!" Looking at the two and a half million points that had just come in, I took a deep breath and started humming a little tune in my cheeky Japanese-accented English: "What is this? Wonderful smell! Don't tell me. Let me guess! Smell like money, taste like honey. Yes! I sm—"