The Power Supremacy Classroom Backed by Black Technology Chapter 7

Although Shuichi Kanda had no expectations for the future of this school, or Class 1-D for that matter, he decided to repay Hirata-kun for proactively helping him pick up his textbooks by sharing the information he had observed during the day.

"Sorry for the intrusion."

Miyake's room was essentially identical to Shuichi Kanda's—nothing particularly remarkable about it. Hirata was currently sitting cross-legged on the wooden floor of the room.

Since they were all young people, no one bothered to sit formally in seiza; that would have been far too tiring.

"Kanda-kun, I'm really glad you came to see me on your own. Honestly, when you introduced yourself, I thought you might be a difficult person to get along with."

Once Shuichi Kanda had taken his seat, Hirata spoke in a warm, appreciative tone.

Shuichi Kanda just smiled without explaining.

"Actually, I called you over today because there are some things I want to tell you."

"Yeah, just like we talked about on LINE."

Shuichi Kanda nodded. "Do you remember the question I asked Chabashira-sensei back in the classroom?"

"Yeah, you asked if it was true that 100,000 Private Points would be distributed on the first of every month."

It seemed Hirata had a good memory.

"That's right. It was just a simple question, but Chabashira-sensei didn't answer it. She only said points would be distributed on the first of next month, but she never said it would definitely be 100,000 Private Points."

Hirata and Miyake both nodded, as if recalling what had happened.

"It was a straightforward question, but Chabashira-sensei didn't give us a direct answer."

"But because she didn't answer us, the answer itself became clear."

Hirata smiled.

"Exactly. Since she didn't answer directly, the conclusion is obvious—the points distributed on the first of next month most likely won't be 100,000."

This Hirata guy was sharp; this made things much easier to explain.

"After that, there's what Miyake and I saw today. We found a counter in the cafeteria offering free set meals. The food there was pretty average, but plenty of people still lined up to get it."

"Also, the convenience store is offering free daily necessities. On top of that, the captain of the Archery Club, Sato-senpai from Class A, warned us not to squander our points recklessly."

"Hirata, if you had 100,000 points every month as spending money, would you ever go line up for that terrible Wild Vegetable Set Meal?"

Hirata shook his head, then caught on. "You two... you didn't actually go eat it, did you?"

"Yeah, out of curiosity, we gave it a try."

Shuichi Kanda made no mention of wanting a free meal.

"Something just occurred to me. Today, Chabashira-sensei said that points represent evaluation. But logically, evaluations shouldn't stay the same forever. Could it be that the points distributed each month are tied to our evaluations?"

Hirata Yosuke, relying solely on the scattered information Shuichi Kanda had provided, directly deduced the truth about this school—exactly the conclusion Shuichi Kanda had wanted to guide him toward.

"That's right. This is all the information I've managed to piece together so far." Shuichi Kanda admitted openly. "My guess is that the school has some kind of system for evaluating students, and based on that evaluation, they distribute monthly Private Points. But I still don't know what that evaluation standard is."

"That's amazing, Kanda-kun. You've observed all this in less than a day." Hirata Yosuke genuinely admired Kanda's observational and analytical skills.

"But even though this all sounds reasonable, we don't have any solid evidence to confirm it. Even if we went to ask Chabashira-sensei, she probably wouldn't give us a detailed answer."

"Maybe this time she'll ask for 4 million Private Points instead?" Akito Miyake joked, shaking his head.

"Hahaha..."

After the laughter died down, Hirata's expression turned serious.

"Let's go confirm it with Chabashira-sensei. If Private Points really are distributed based on evaluation, then things are serious.

From what I know, some people have already spent almost all of their 100,000 Private Points."

Hearing Hirata's words, Shuichi Kanda glanced at him, a little speechless.

Hirata, you really are a good guy. But with a personality like yours, what are you going to do when you run into something you can't handle?

Well, Shuichi Kanda didn't dislike people like that, anyway. After all, right now he was the one who needed help.

"Why bother with those guys? You already tried to warn them in the class group chat today, Hirata, and that Ike guy was still throwing sarcastic remarks. It pisses me off!"

Miyake's expression carried some dissatisfaction. In truth, this was how most of Class D felt. Ike Kanji's mockery of Hirata that afternoon had already cost him any chance of sympathy.

"It's fine, it's fine. They're still our classmates. Let's all get along. As long as everyone can enjoy their school life, I don't mind."

This guy was practically the male version of Kushida. Was it really a good idea to get too close to him?

For now, Hirata cast a vote in favor, Miyake cast a vote against, and both of them turned their eyes to Shuichi Kanda, who seemed to be spacing out.

"Kanda, what do you think we should do? Should we go to Chabashira-sensei and try to get some information?"

Meeting Hirata's expectant gaze, Shuichi Kanda nodded. "Let's start by asking Chabashira-sensei about the situation. We'll see what happens from there."

After all, they had nothing better to do, and there was no guarantee they'd get any useful information out of Chabashira-sensei anyway.

Consider it doing Hirata a favor.

As for Miyake, he just wanted those two rude guys to suffer a little. He had no objection to gathering information, but he also didn't expect much to come of it.

Without solid proof, no matter what Hirata said, those guys wouldn't believe him.

Even if Hirata privately obtained important information and passed it on to them, they still might not believe it—unless Chabashira-sensei told them herself.

They were experts at self-deception—after all, something like making it to the National Tournament in middle school could be fabricated easily enough.

When Shuichi Kanda had brought up that question while chatting with Miyake on the way, Miyake's stunned expression was something Kanda still couldn't forget.

After deciding on their next course of action, Hirata immediately pulled out his phone and sent a message to Chabashira Sae.

The gist of it was that they had some things they wanted to consult with Teacher Chabashira about.

Chapter 13: Meeting at the Artificial Lake

No sooner had Hirata sent the message than a reply came back in an instant.

Hearing the 'ding' of the incoming response, Shuichi Kanda couldn't help but remark, "Looks like Teacher Chabashira has plenty of free time."

"Kanda-kun, I think it's better not to view Teacher Chabashira that way. She is our teacher after all," Hirata said as he prepared to open his phone, trying to reason with Shuichi Kanda. He didn't know why Kanda had such a poor impression of Chabashira Sae, but she was still their homeroom teacher for the next three years.

"Teacher Chabashira has invited us to meet at the artificial lake behind the dormitory after dinner."

"The school has something as dangerous as an artificial lake? And right behind the dormitory?"

The moment he heard "artificial lake," Shuichi Kanda's mind jumped to whether there might be... ghosts wandering around there at night.

"Dangerous?" Miyake looked at Kanda after hearing that. "Kanda, you can't swim?"

"Of course I can't do something like that," Shuichi Kanda said matter-of-factly.

"Well, if you get the chance, I can teach you. Summer is fun when you're playing in the water."

"I thought your only sport was Kyudo."

"What kind of stupid thing are you saying?"

Seeing the two of them already so familiar with each other, a relieved smile spread across Hirata's face.

But weren't we just talking about meeting Teacher Chabashira later? How did we end up on the topic of sports?

When the time was about right, the three of them went to the cafeteria for dinner. Of course, it wasn't the free Wild Vegetable Set Meal this time—Hirata treated them, saying it was thanks for the information they'd shared earlier. Shuichi Kanda couldn't very well refuse, so he accepted directly and even ordered the pricier Tempura Set Meal.

Mm, fried shrimp was delicious!

Once dinner time passed in April, the sky gradually darkened. Although the school had streetlights pretty much everywhere, visibility still didn't exceed twenty meters.

By the time Kanda and the other two reached their destination, the sky had basically gone completely dark.

The April weather wasn't exactly warm. He didn't know what Miyake and Hirata were thinking, but Kanda was already starting to feel a slight chill.

"Teacher Chabashira isn't here yet? I already want to go back," Kanda muttered weakly, seeing no one near the park bench at the meeting spot.

"Then you can go back."

A woman's voice, drifting and indistinct as it came with the wind, made Shuichi Kanda jolt all over, nearly blurting out a curse.

Holy crap! Were there really ghosts?

Before Kanda could figure out what was going on, a figure stepped out from the shadows beside the bench—it was Chabashira Sae, whom he'd met during the day, the homeroom teacher of Class 1-D.

Letting out a quiet sigh of relief, Shuichi Kanda realized his back was drenched in cold sweat. It seemed that even here, his fear of ghosts was a weakness he couldn't overcome.

After stepping out of the shadows, Chabashira Sae walked straight toward the lake, then stopped by the railing at the edge. Leaning back against it, she lit a slim cigarette.

"So, Hirata, what do you want to see me about?"

A whiff of smoke drifted over, and Kanda frowned, then started coughing.

Seeing Kanda's reaction, Chabashira paused for a moment, then quietly put out the cigarette she'd only taken one puff from.

"We wanted to confirm some things with you, Teacher Chabashira."

"I see. Go ahead."

Chabashira's expression had remained perfectly calm throughout, but when Hirata laid out all the information they'd gathered today in detail, her face began to shift.

From initial calm, to surprise, and finally to composure—it wasn't as dramatic as Sichuan opera's face-changing, but it wasn't far off either.

Had they seen through this school's true nature in just one day?

A hint of delight stirred in Chabashira Sae's heart.

Hirata's deduction was correct. The Private Points students received each month were based on their evaluations, and this school indeed had a set of evaluation standards. The S System was far more than what was mentioned on the surface.

To put it simply, that evaluation standard was something called Class Points.

When all new students first enrolled, each class—taking the class as a unit—was given 1,000 Class Points.

Thus, every new student initially received 100,000 Private Points as starting capital.

After that came this school's usual practice: without informing any new students—and with second- and third-years also required to keep it confidential—they conducted a month-long behavioral assessment of the students.

Whether it was tardiness, skipping class, sleeping in class, playing on phones, or similar behavior, a certain amount of Class Points would be deducted. As for fighting, extortion, and the like, the consequences were far more severe.

As a result, every batch of students underwent a major reshuffling after the first month.

Every year's Class D would lose a huge chunk of Class Points due to behavioral issues. By then, the students would finally realize one thing—this school wasn't as wonderful as the rumors made it out to be.

And now, Hirata and the others had managed to figure out the earlier rules on just the first day.

Although they still didn't know about the Entrance Behavior Assessment or the class differences, this undoubtedly proved their excellence.

"Hirata, this isn't something you observed on your own, is it?"

Chabashira prided herself on having a decent eye for people, and that was backed by the school's admission evaluations for students.

So she clearly knew that while Hirata was excellent, his strengths didn't lie in this area. And Miyake wasn't cut out for it either. That left only one truth!

All of this was the work of Shuichi Kanda, the one who had no admission evaluation and was sent in as a temporary transfer student.

A week ago, when she was notified that someone named Shuichi Kanda had replaced a Class D student, Chabashira Sae had made a point to take note.

She never expected he'd give her such a big surprise the moment he arrived at school.

"That's right, these are the results of Kanda and Miyake's investigation during the day."

"No, I just tagged along while Kanda was walking around."

In the blink of an eye, the two of them had sold out Shuichi Kanda—or rather, Hirata just wanted Chabashira to recognize Kanda's excellence.

As for Miyake, he simply didn't want to stir up trouble. Showing off in front of others wasn't his style, and besides, he hadn't lied.

In fact, Chabashira Sae had been watching Shuichi Kanda the whole time before they even answered.

"So, Chabashira-sensei, are our deductions correct?"

Looking at Shuichi Kanda's calm face, Chabashira Sae wanted to tell him outright that it was true. But if she only did that much, it wouldn't be worth her investment.

Being able to see through things to this extent in a single day was impressive, but one person's brilliance alone couldn't lead Class D to victory.

"Unfortunately, that's a question that can't be answered for free."

Her tone was exactly the same as when she'd spoken during the day.