Chapter 38

Kobashi confirmed once more. "No, I promise you." I looked into her eyes with affection; for once, I didn't need to lie, and my excellent acting skills had nowhere to be put to use. "Alright... I believe you. Then how about this? Since Ichinose is taking the lead, why don't you help mediate the conflict between both sides? As the second-in-command, everyone in Class C respects you, right?" Kobashi brought up a suggestion she had clearly prepared in advance. The little girl was waiting for me here... Fine, I might as well see what kind of tricks you all are pulling. "No problem." I replied under her expectant gaze. "But we must handle this officially. If Sudo really did hit someone from our Class C, apologies and compensation are non-negotiable." "Mm, then I'll have Ichinose-san contact you when the time comes!" "Alright, let's stop talking about these trivial matters. It's rare for us to be out like this, so let's talk about something fun. Sakagami-sensei said there might be a chance to go to the beach for a vacation this summer. Has your class heard anything?" "They mentioned it, but we thought Hoshinomiya-sensei was just bragging! I didn't expect you guys to have heard it too; it seems it's true." "I didn't expect this school to be so good to its students either. Although I assume it will be under closed management similar to a training camp, it will definitely be much more relaxed than being at school." "Let's hang out together when the time comes! I'll call Shiranami and the others..." Setting aside class issues, Kobashi seemed quite interested in me personally. "That sounds good. Oda and the others should be fine with it too; let's all get together."

Volume 1: First Glimpse of Talent : 23 In conversation, judgment is more important than eloquence. In conversation, judgment is more important than eloquence. --Gracián

"So that's how it is. But Ryuen, are you really confident in letting them confront Class D on their own?" That night, I went to Ryuen's dorm to discuss our strategy. It turned out that the so-called plan to attack Class D was merely a part of Ryuen testing the point distribution rules. One of Ryuen's goals—to temporarily stop the school from distributing points—had already been achieved. Perhaps he would frequently use this tactic to his advantage in the future? After all, if no new points were distributed, Class C, which had collected the most personal points, would be in the most favorable position. Ryuen could easily create a massive chaos affecting the entire grade, or even the whole school, and after stopping the point distribution, use the gap in personal points to overturn everything. "I don't care if you want to go play around. Those guys in Class D are nothing special anyway; even if they team up with Ichinose, there's nothing to fear." Ryuen leaned back against his bed with his hands behind his head, watching a program on the TV by his bedside in a leisurely manner. "Don't be so arrogant, Ryuen. I think Horikita is still quite formidable. I thought the same as you last time I made a move, and I was easily seen through by her..." I said, feeling a bit depressed. "Hahahaha! Indeed, losing to a woman is not a good sign... If you can't do it, let me! A woman is a woman in the end; I'll settle her soon enough." Ryuen looked confident. "Don't underestimate women. Besides the two of us, the classes in the first year are all run by women, aren't they?" I suddenly realized this problem—a great victory for feminism! "Hahahaha! Then why don't we two just reset the order of the first year? When the time comes, even the most formidable women will have to listen to us obediently." "That's true." I was too lazy to dampen Ryuen's confidence. Anyway, I'm not the type to underestimate women; after all, the head of my household is my mother! Having lived in the shadow of women for half my life, I'm used to it. "Speaking of women, that reminds me—Ibuki in our class doesn't seem very obedient! I originally wanted to pull her in to help with this plan, but who knew she'd be so impatient just because it wasn't an exam." Ryuen thought for a moment and said. "That's true. She looks down on you for rising to power through force, and she also looks down on me for being your accomplice." In fact, as someone who sits in front of her, it's hard for me to communicate with Ibuki, let alone anyone else. The only one who might have a chance is Shiina; she seems to have sparked a strange protective instinct in Ibuki. Even though I had no intention of doing anything to her, Ibuki was unusually guarded against me making a move on Shiina. "She's a violent girl herself, it's truly ridiculous... Is it necessary to deal with her? I don't want someone in Class C to suddenly stab us in the back." Ryuen's thoughts were exactly the same as mine; truly, great minds think alike. "It's fine. Ibuki's influence comes from her courage and prestige among the girls, but she's actually a lone wolf with no real threat. Besides, the current situation isn't necessarily a bad thing. We've already offended quite a few classes, so we can intentionally show them a flaw... especially since Ibuki, despite her dissatisfaction, is still loyal to the class." "Hahahaha! You know her better, so hearing you say that puts me at ease. Then let's use that; I'll pretend to have a tense relationship with Ibuki." "Pretend? I can't tell that Ryuen-san is quite indulgent toward the people in his own class. Even though other classes call you a tyrant and me a treacherous official..." "Indulgence just shows my composure. If guys like that don't listen, the King has countless ways to sanction them." Ryuen looked at his fingers and said. "But if you were a tyrant, you should be squeezing points from the people to accumulate power to transfer classes, right? Yet Ryuen-san is thinking about collecting 800 million points or something..." I joked with Ryuen. "I've said it before, I don't care about the school's so-called rules. Whether I promote to Class A or not is not the way to evaluate me; beating up everyone who stands in my way is what I truly want." These words sound a lot like a certain young master! Does one have to be this fearless to be my leader? Hahahaha! "That's true, that is the charisma of a king... I think the only one in school who can fight you is Sakayanagi Arisu. She is also a dangerous person who doesn't follow the rules." "Don't worry, I will defeat her and then hand her over to you to deal with as you please. You can take your revenge however you want then." "Haha! I look forward to it... Then that's settled. I will properly mediate our tense relationship with Class D... After all, Ishizaki Daishi-kun is my desk mate, hahahaha! I am a man who watches our corporate legal department work every day, a half-lawyer who could totally pass the bar exam. It'll be hard for them to settle with me unless they bleed heavily." "Go have fun as you please! But it wouldn't be interesting if Horikita and Class D were ruined by you just like that... I'm actually looking forward to her giving me a surprise. The more she struggles, the more excited I get." Ryuen licked his lips, probably thinking about something strange. "Now that you mention it, I'm looking forward to it too, hehehe..." With Ryuen's approval, the next day I was invited by Ichinose to play around... no, to turn hostility into friendship. "Why is this bastard here!" Karuizawa was the first to express her dissatisfaction with my arrival. "Getting angry will make you age quickly, Karuizawa-san." I sat down somewhere with a grin. "I asked Kitazawa-kun to come over." Ichinose said with a smile, "If only we could all resolve this problem peacefully in private. Kitazawa-kun is Ishizaki-san's desk mate..."