Meeting

It was amazing. Even a school had a café. I had to say, building a school on an island was really over the top.

Beihai sat in his chair. He didn't know how to appreciate coffee, or even how to drink it. It just tasted bitter to him; he'd have to add a lethal amount of sugar. But once he did, he might as well drink soda.

This wasn't a suitable place to study, either. Of all the options, it was only good for meeting someone—like his employer.

Beihai absently stirred his cappuccino, turning the coffee into a tiny whirlpool. The design on top was completely ruined.

Sitting across from Beihai was a pretty girl with pink hair. She looked youthful and cute, full of the energy of her age, and wore an exceptionally warm smile.

Most importantly, Beihai knew why she was so good at winning people over.

As the saying went, if your chest wasn't flat, how could you bring peace to the world? If your breasts weren't huge, how could you bring people together?

Of course, those were just his thoughts. Beihai didn't say any of them aloud. In truth, he wasn't a particularly quiet person by nature.

Someone who'd often slung an arm around his friends in his previous life and talked about all kinds of spooky stuff was rarely taciturn. He'd even crack some pretty dark jokes.

Beihai had only become a little more reserved because he needed to keep up a certain facade, had the immense pressure of his studies on his shoulders, had to learn a new language in a strange country and unfamiliar environment, and had suffocating parents.

Now that the system was starting to come through for him, and he wouldn't have to see that damned bastard of a father for three years, he could finally relax a little.

He could let a little more of his original personality show. If he bottled it up for too long, it would cause problems. At least for now, Beihai wasn't going to act all carefree. Instead, he'd read the room, just like plenty of ordinary Japanese people.

"I didn't expect you to spend 100,000 points just to invite me to meet. Surely you didn't ask me here just to say hello? Go ahead. What do you need me to do?"

Beihai couldn't help admiring how capable she was. Everyone who first arrived at this school had the same resource: 100,000 points.

But she'd managed to work things around and spend 150,000 points. However she'd gotten those points—through trickery, borrowing, or whatever else—there were only two possibilities: she was very capable or very popular. Either way, that spoke to her abilities.

More importantly, she was bound to him. He'd never experienced a genius's mind before.

Honami Ichinose wasn't nearly as rough with the coffee in front of her. The design was perfectly intact; she hadn't even touched it. Her attention was entirely on Beihai.

Meeting him had been nothing like she'd imagined. He wasn't some mysterious figure or someone with a special aura. He wasn't a legendary mastermind lurking behind the scenes.

He looked a little like a bookworm, and so utterly ordinary that he'd disappear into a crowd. He was very average, yet strangely easygoing.

In short, he wasn't so ordinary that people ignored him, nor so handsome that he drew their attention. He landed right in the middle. He seemed like the sort of person who could be friends with anyone without anyone finding it surprising.

"I don't need you to do anything. I just wanted to thank you in person."

Honami Ichinose made no attempt to hide it. She was open and friendly, with no sense of boundaries or distance. There was no trace of embarrassment or shyness on her face.

Beihai could tell at a glance that she was basically the class's darling. To put it another way, even if you were a goblin in her class, she'd look after you. She wouldn't discriminate against you with a strange look or hurtful words.

Then that goblin would lose all self-awareness, because the darling was kind to everyone, not just him.

"You don't need to thank me. It was just a regular deal. You gave me points, and I gave you information."

"No, no. That's far too unfair to you. Even I can tell how important this information is. If I asked our homeroom teacher or someone else, it'd cost far more than that."

"Alright, hold it right there. Do I need to explain? That's not the point for me.

"I'd charge the same price no matter who came to me. You could say you were lucky. It was as if everything had been decided in advance—as though fate had chosen us.

"And I believe we'll have plenty more deals in the future. Of course, you're not the only one I'll do business with. If you want to buy the information outright, it'll cost 1,000,000 points."

Beihai put a firm wall between them: their relationship was strictly business. He didn't want to get too involved with people. A deal was a deal—money in one hand, goods in the other. That was all.

As for the price, did it matter? Not at all. What Beihai coveted was her mind, her Mind Sharing.

By that logic, he should actually thank her for sparing him a lot of complications.

If some other student couldn't meet his requirements—especially someone from D Class—he wouldn't have spent 50,000 points, much less met Beihai. They wouldn't have been able to come up with 100,000 points, either.

Beihai would have ruthlessly kicked them all out without even bothering to entertain them. But who could've expected such a great start?

Honami Ichinose lowered her head in thought. From Beihai's perspective, she was simply considering the matter. She didn't take long. By the time he'd turned his spoon ten times, she raised her head, seeming to have reached a decision.

"Give me a few days. I'll gather 1,000,000 points and buy the information outright."

Her words surprised Beihai a little. One million points was no small sum.

Beihai didn't refuse. He simply nodded, then offered a few suggestions.

She'd already spent 100,000 points, and they'd be working together over the long term, so he ought to offer her a discount at the start.

"From now on, let's contact each other through our Terminals. We should meet as little as possible. It'll be a hassle for you, and for me, too. Just send the points to my Terminal.

"One more thing: as a friendly tip, don't make such a stupid request in our next deal. And I can handle anything you ask of me. Remember, anything. You can even test my limits.

"Once our deal is done, what you do is your choice. Whether you make it public and the school cracks down on you immediately, or you just void this assessment; whether you trade with the other classes or deal directly with the school—I don't care, and I can't be bothered to. Well, that's that, my employer."

Whether he could really solve absolutely anything was debatable, but when you were out in the world, you could give yourself whatever identity you wanted. So what? He'd make the claim first.

And getting into Class A wasn't impossible, either. At the very end of the month, he could save up a batch of points and buy Class Points.

After all, the school's rules made it perfectly clear: you could buy anything imaginable.