Classroom of the Mediocre Supremacist

Even after learning of the existence of the [Behavioral Norms Exam], not everyone could integrate it into their daily conduct.

Class C didn't bother with the Behavioral Norms Exam at all, while Class D students only treated class time as exam time, acting naturally the rest of the day—or rather, because they held back during lessons, they were now letting loose even more.

Hoshino En could feel Horikita Suzune's gaze boring into them as if trying to pierce through.

Tch, what a troublesome bunch. This was exactly why he didn't want to manage this class.

The jeering from the audience grew louder. Influenced by the students from Classes C and D, a few from Classes A and B also began to voice doubts. But just as the noise reached its peak, the venue suddenly fell into silence.

The restless first-years seemed to finally notice something off about their seniors, gradually quieting down.

Once the audience was completely silent, Horikita Manabu spoke slowly: "I am Horikita Manabu, the Student Council President. With the graduation of the upperclassmen, the Student Council will be recruiting talented individuals from this year's first-years. No special conditions are required to apply, but if you wish to join the Student Council, please refrain from joining other clubs. Those who attempt to participate in both the Student Council and other clubs will, in principle, not be accepted."

"Finally, the Student Council does not welcome those who approach this with naive ideas. Such people would not only fail to be elected but would also leave a stain on the school. Our Student Council has been entrusted by the school with the authority and mission to change the rules, and thus carries great expectations. We only welcome those who understand this."

His steady voice echoed through the quiet gymnasium. When he finished, the second- and third-years burst into resounding applause.

The first-years, though confused, followed along with their own applause.

As expected of the Student Council President—to have such [popularity] even in a school like this.

No, it was probably [fear]. The upperclassmen were afraid of Horikita-senpai's strength.

Hoshino En joined in the enthusiastic applause, but unlike the others, he caught another meaning in Horikita Manabu's words—he was asking for help.

[Naive ideas] likely referred to the simple notion of serving students as mere Student Council members. In ordinary schools, that's how it worked, but not here.

The opening ceremony had already hinted at it: the Student Council had full authority over the school's opening ceremony, wielding more power than even some teachers.

Then there was [the authority and mission to change the rules]—meaning someone within the current Student Council wanted to overturn the existing system and establish a new [Classroom of the Pure], and Horikita-senpai was already struggling to hold them back.

Probably because the Student Council was about to undergo a change in leadership, and that someone was a strong contender for the President's position.

Tch, it's just a simulated society—why does it have to be so dramatic?

Watching Horikita Manabu walk off the stage, Hoshino En shook his head helplessly.

He wanted absolutely nothing to do with such a troublesome affair.

First Semester of First Year

Chapter 22: The Silver Fairy Haunting the Library

After the club orientation ended, Horikita Suzune got lost in the crowd and disappeared; Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was cornered by Ike Kanji, Yamauchi Haruki, and Sudo Ken, unable to escape; only Hoshino En, thanks to his perpetually gloomy aura, wasn't bothered by any strange people or things, enjoying unrestrained freedom.

He greeted Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and then left.

According to today's schedule, he still needed to go to the library.

Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. Hoshino En's current abilities were all thanks to the principles he had always adhered to.

And this famous quote, a perfect counter to [procrastination], was the lowest of his bottom lines.

Beep—

Swiping his student ID, Hoshino En entered the library.

It was the start of the semester, so there weren't many students in the library. For Hoshino En, this was a very nice thing—he didn't like crowded places. Crowds meant chaos, meant noise, meant trouble.

And he hated trouble.

Walking along the row of mystery novels, Hoshino En randomly pulled a book from the shelf. To his surprise, it happened to be the first mystery novel he had ever read—A Study in Scarlet.

Staring at this [bond from the past], Hoshino En's thoughts drifted back to his childhood when he first encountered it—a memory that wasn't particularly pleasant.

When he was young, he loved reading purely for the sake of reading, just to pass the time or to enjoy his leisure: savoring the stories, understanding the protagonists' emotions. Though he often found their bonds inexplicable, those books had brought him good memories.

But no matter how beautiful the world described in books was, the real world was just as ugly.

After witnessing the malice of human hearts and tasting the filth of society, he understood that those books with elegant phrasing, beautiful sentences, interesting plots, and moving endings were no longer what he needed.

What he needed were skills to survive, abilities to thrive in this society, knowledge to protect himself and his family.

From then on, the only books he read were various [textbooks]: human nature analysis, the art of lying, psychological analysis, the philosophy of eloquence, logical reasoning, detailed human anatomy, nutrition... and all sorts of books that could broaden his horizons and improve his abilities.

Among these were things he was genuinely interested in, like social etiquette and physical exercise, but more often, they were things he didn't like but considered [important] and believed he would [use someday]—such as various commonly used international languages, artistic aesthetics, and literary refinement.

It was a good thing he was still a child back then; the city library was free for him, allowing him to absorb all the knowledge he wanted.

In that sense, he actually quite liked libraries.

Among all the knowledge he had learned, logically intense mystery novels happened to fall within his strike zone.

Carefully analyzing the plot, deducing the ending based on clues, predicting how the protagonist would react when facing the culprit... Every time his judgment matched the outcome, it thrilled him. Every time a character acted exactly as he had anticipated, it gave him enough [happiness] to soothe his mind and body.

He understood that he was probably broken—getting excited over controlling others' psychology... but so what? In this day and age, this was the only way he could live [safely], [happily], and [stably].

Looking at the book in his hands, Hoshino En stared blankly at the English cover, completely different from the one he had seen as a child, lost in thought.

"Do you like Sherlock Holmes?"

Suddenly, a light, soft voice pulled him back from his reverie.

Hoshino En lifted his gaze, and what came into view was a beautiful girl with silver hair reaching her waist, wearing a well-fitted Kōdo Ikusei school skirt, and gray knee-high stockings on her legs.

She held a few books she had presumably just taken from the shelf, her eyes naturally looking up at him from below, her watery, large eyes filled with visible delight.

She looked exactly like a silver fairy that had stepped right out of a book.

After the flash of surprise, Hoshino En recognized her: she was the silver-haired girl from Class 1-C, a girl who seemed out of place with the atmosphere of her class.

She was probably here looking for books, right? Standing here, he was likely in her way.

Based on his analysis of her expression, she seemed like a girl who really loved reading, and she probably wanted a book friend to read with—her eyes were filled with pure affection for books, along with the joy of discovering someone who "liked Sherlock Holmes."

As for the rest, he couldn't tell yet.

But even though he couldn't see more for now, his rationality kept sending him alarms: she was dangerous, he shouldn't get involved with her.

Stay away! Stay away!! Stay away!!!

So, what he should do next was actively move aside, put on an awkward smile, and say, "Actually, I don't really like it that much. I just happened to pick it up and was taking a look."

That way, he could avoid her area of interest, dampen her excitement, and naturally keep his distance.

Yes, that's what he should do, what he was supposed to do, and yet—

"Yeah, I really like it."

Hoshino En didn't do that.

He leaned back against the bookshelf, reached up to brush aside the bangs that were about to fall over his eyes, and smiled at her.

Ah... he was supposed to create distance here, he was supposed to avoid this, so why did this happen?

His body had acted on its own, contrary to his thoughts, just like when he first met Sakayanagi Arisu—but back then, he had managed to stop himself before his body could react.

Then there was the second time he faced Ichinose Honami today. Because of the influence of their first meeting in the elevator that morning, his body had spontaneously reacted with a "show of weakness" when he faced her again.

He could understand that, after all, Ichinose's figure was truly overwhelming, and he couldn't resist his own physiological response. But why? This was his first time meeting this girl, and her figure wasn't that exaggerated, so why couldn't he control himself this time?

No one could answer Hoshino En's question. Right now, he could only feel that the sound of his own heartbeat was too loud, annoyingly loud.

"Really? That's great!"

Hearing Hoshino En's reply, the girl in front of him visibly lit up with excitement.

"Actually, I really like Sherlock Holmes too. To be more precise, I really like mystery novels, I really like books. But my classmates are mostly indifferent to books, and people our age who like reading are rare, so I've always been worried that I'd end up alone like before... It's so great to meet a kindred spirit now!!"

She excitedly poured out her thoughts, her words subtly implying that she saw Hoshino En as a book friend.

Hoshino En didn't interrupt her. He had realized now that this girl seemed to be one of the types he least wanted to deal with: a pure, untainted airhead.

This was practically the natural enemy of someone like him, who derived his "happiness" and "safety" from manipulating others' psychology, because he simply couldn't see through her!!

After venting her excitement, she seemed to realize her own impropriety and quickly added a belated self-introduction.

"I'm sorry for saying this so late. I'm Shiina Hiyori from Class 1-C."

As she spoke, she gave a solemn bow.

"I'm Hoshino En from Class 1-D."

Hoshino En responded with a nod.

"But why do you think I could be your kindred spirit? I might have just randomly picked a book from the shelf and was just browsing."

"Because I passed by you several times earlier, but you didn't notice me at all—you were just staring at this book. That's why I thought you must be a book lover too."

In response to Hoshino En's question, Shiina Hiyori answered very seriously, but at the end, she couldn't help asking.

"Um... can't we read together?"

The excitement she had before was now matched by her sadness and disappointment.

Seeing that her moist eyes were almost overflowing with tears, Hoshino En immediately replied, "Why not? Of course we can!"

"And I was just putting something into practice. You see, isn't it common in mystery novels? Based on known clues, you propose a hypothesis, then analyze the whole picture of the incident and compare it with the facts. Cases are often gradually solved through all kinds of wild and imaginative conjectures..."

He never thought he would talk so much about anything besides "deduction," and he was getting more and more into it.

It was just like the feeling he had when he first read a mystery novel.

Hoshino En's answer clearly pleased the girl. She immediately broke into a smile, a charming grin blooming on her face.

This seemed to be exactly what she had always longed for: the experience of sharing thoughts about books with a fellow book lover.

This feeling was amazing!!

Shiina Hiyori felt she would remember this day forever.

Of course—

Her gaze fell on the boy speaking so animatedly in front of her, landing on his brows and eyes. Although the bangs he had deliberately brushed aside earlier had now fallen back down, it didn't stop her from admiring the sparkling stars in his eyes.

And this adorable kindred spirit.

First Semester of First Year:

Chapter 023: An Unexpected Encounter

In the time that followed, Hoshino En kept chatting with Shiina Hiyori in the library.

Even though the library was a place for reading and studying, they never once opened the books they had borrowed, instead talking nonstop.

But since it was the beginning of the semester and the library was mostly empty, even if they talked quite passionately, they wouldn't disturb anyone.

Moreover, in Shiina Hiyori's words, they weren't just chatting—they were "exchanging thoughts on reading." From all kinds of mystery novels at the start to more famous foreign classics later, Shiina Hiyori's range of knowledge was extensive. Her energy seemed just as boundless, tireless and inexhaustible.

Although Hoshino En had read quite a few foreign classics, for those that were more literary than logical, he never paid attention to the plot. He read those original-language classics purely to understand the phrasing and sentence structure of the foreign language.

This half-baked state was barely enough to fool amateurs, but when faced with an expert, he immediately showed his true colors.

"Hmm... they're all such wonderful books, so why is Hoshino-kun's focus so strange?"

"Those children would cry, you know!"

Watching Shiina Hiyori pout slightly and look at him with a reproachful gaze, Hoshino En felt an inexplicable, intense sense of guilt rising in his heart.

Hoshino En: "..."

Why should I! Why do I have to bear responsibility for those books I didn't appreciate seriously? I haven't done anything to wrong them!

Rather, compared to others who stuff them under layers of bookshelves, defiling them with all kinds of vapid light novels and manga—to understand the thinking of today's youth, Hoshino En had read quite a few, but ultimately found them useless—I at least take them out to bask in the sun and have earnestly studied their contents.

To them, I'm a great, great good person!!

This body, which spontaneously produces such inexplicable feelings, is definitely broken.

So, he made an excuse.

"After all, they're untranslated original novels. Just understanding them was exhausting; comprehending them was too hard for me back then."

But his body still couldn't bring itself to do anything rude to this silver fairy who seemed to have stepped right out of a book.

"As for the translated versions... Shiina, you should understand, right? Language translation inherently has discrepancies. Translated books are often influenced by the translator's subjective judgment, which really affects the reader's experience."

"...That's true, I suppose."

"..."

Time passed, and the sky grew dark. In the end, Hoshino En even had dinner together with Shiina Hiyori, and during the meal, Shiina Hiyori never stopped her chattering little mouth, enthusiastically recommending books she thought were good to Hoshino En.

And Hoshino En... Hoshino En could do nothing. He felt that ever since he saw that A Study in Scarlet in the library, his [Death Star] had been flickering nonstop.

First—seeing the object reminded him of the person, and he accidentally got emotional; then he ran into a character with the attributes he least wanted to deal with; he wanted to escape, but his body wouldn't obey, actively accepting her; after that, even if he wanted to run, he couldn't.

Wahhh, it's too hard...