June 5th, Monday.
Shiraishi Makoto walked into the Student Council office.
But the voice that rang out from inside was not Horikita Manabu's.
"Vice President Nagumo, what did you need me for?" Shiraishi Makoto was filled with doubt, though he maintained a calm expression on the surface.
It was impossible for Nagumo Miyabi not to know that he was firmly part of the "Horikita Faction." Nagumo had never contacted him before, so why was he seeking him out now?
"Here's the situation. I have a task I'd like to assign to you, Shiraishi." Nagumo Miyabi stood and handed Shiraishi Makoto a document.
Shiraishi Makoto took it and saw that it contained a detailed record of one Class 1-D student's rule violations.
And upon seeing that document, only one thought crossed Shiraishi Makoto's mind.
This idiot had gone completely nuts.
"I have always believed that the school's rules are far from perfect. Don't you agree?" Nagumo Miyabi began speaking without waiting for a response. "Because the school's rules protect them, weaklings can hide within this school without having to worry about expulsion."
"This is a waste of educational resources! It is unfair to strong people like us!"
"As far as I'm concerned, those without ability do not deserve to remain at this school. That is why I advocate 'selecting the strong and eliminating the weak'—removing everyone unfit to survive at this school."
Shiraishi Makoto did not respond. Instead, he closed the document and asked, "So, Vice President Nagumo, you want me to inform Kouenji that he must stop violating the rules?"
"That's right. Since you are a first-year student, I'll leave this matter to you." Nagumo Miyabi smiled and nodded. "I think highly of you. Go on."
After leaving the office, Shiraishi Makoto still could not make sense of it, so he contacted Horikita Manabu by phone.
"..." After hearing what had happened in the office, Horikita Manabu fell silent for a while before saying, "This is actually related to your attack on Class 1-D."
"What does my attack on Class D have to do with it?" Shiraishi Makoto did not understand at first. After all, class competition was nothing unusual.
"Wait, could it be the Archived Exam Questions?" Shiraishi Makoto suddenly realized.
That was right. Class 1-D was not the only class using Archived Exam Questions. Since upperclassmen were able to sell them, there were naturally quite a few upperclassmen using them as well.
And because Shiraishi Makoto had reported the school's Archived Exam Questions, not only did the first-year exams need to be changed, but the upper-year exams had been changed as well.
"Both the Third Year and Second Year had failing students this month, though they managed to save themselves with Private Points." Horikita Manabu reminded him of what had happened among the upperclassmen that month.
Reporting the Archived Exam Questions was, in itself, cutting off the lifeline of students who were poor at studying. That aligned perfectly with Nagumo Miyabi's philosophy of "strength above all else." He had probably mistaken Shiraishi Makoto for someone who shared his ideals.
Frankly, if he had not watched the entire process and known Shiraishi Makoto's intentions, Horikita Manabu would have thought that Shiraishi Makoto had defected to Nagumo Miyabi as well.
Reporting the Archived Exam Questions was simply too out of character for Shiraishi Makoto.
However, since Shiraishi Makoto had personally been brought into the Student Council by Horikita Manabu, Nagumo Miyabi considered him insufficiently "clean." That was why he wanted to assign Shiraishi Makoto a task and test him further.
Nagumo's goal was still to control the entire school. It was merely because he was constrained by the protection of the rules that he could not yet launch an open attack against the first-years.
"Do you have some doubts about this assignment?" Horikita Manabu asked, seemingly noticing Shiraishi Makoto's reluctance.
"Not exactly doubts. I just think it's kind of suicidal." After all, Shiraishi Makoto had no memories of living in the outside world, so he did not know much about Japanese society in this world. Everything he knew about Japanese society and conglomerates came from films and television dramas.
But in a country where the yakuza and cults could flourish, Shiraishi Makoto did not think that the portrayals of conglomerates in those films and dramas were overly exaggerated. On the contrary, he felt that anything allowed on television had already been toned down.
If Nagumo Miyabi and he went after Kouenji like this, would they not get dragged off and dumped into Tokyo Bay once they left school?
"I see." Horikita Manabu gave Shiraishi Makoto a surprised glance. He had apparently not expected Shiraishi Makoto to think that far ahead.
"However, Shiraishi, you may be underestimating Kouenji."
Horikita Manabu gave his assessment. As the next heir to the Koenji Conglomerate, Kouenji Rokusuke was not some useless playboy. On the contrary, his abilities fully matched his status as the heir to a conglomerate.
His academic ability was exceptional, and his athletic ability was exceptional. It was precisely because he possessed such formidable strength that he was so narcissistic. Likewise, he only considered those incapable of understanding his beauty to be "unfortunate." Just as true great men understood that ordinary people could not comprehend them, he would never take such trivial matters to heart.
And the evidence Nagumo Miyabi had gathered showed that an upperclasswoman had learned that Kouenji was the heir to a conglomerate and discovered that Class D had no Class Points. She then voluntarily provided points to support Kouenji Rokusuke, presumably hoping to work for a company under the Koenji Conglomerate after graduation. At the same time, Kouenji also intended to use money from outside the school to purchase Private Points.
The first matter could be set aside for now, but the second was explicitly forbidden by the school.
"So long as you convey the school's rules normally, there is no way you will anger Kouenji," Horikita Manabu explained.
"In that case, I have another idea." Shiraishi Makoto changed the subject. "President Horikita, do you know what Pachinko is?"
Pachinko was Japan's common name for pinball machines. The name came from the "pachin" sound made by the balls striking the inside of the machine.
By launching balls and hitting the corresponding scoring zones inside the machine, Pachinko calculated the player's score and awarded game points. In essence, it was a machine designed for gambling.
However, gambling was illegal in Japan. Under the rules, the prizes those points could be exchanged for were small gifts worth no more than 1,000 yen, such as snacks or cartoon stickers.
Yet Pachinko parlors usually had a special type of prize. These items often required an enormous number of game points to exchange for, but unlike snacks, they had no real value themselves, making them seem rather baffling.
But near the Pachinko parlor—sometimes even in the same building—there would conveniently be a shop willing to buy those little prizes back at a high price. And if one investigated, the conclusion would be that the two shops had no legal connection whatsoever.
By splitting up an illegal act, it became two separate legal acts.
"So you intend to help Kouenji?" Horikita Manabu understood Shiraishi Makoto's meaning. The method was indeed feasible, but he did not know what Shiraishi Makoto intended to achieve.
"I wouldn't call it helping. I'm simply showing a little goodwill." Shiraishi Makoto smiled. "First, I still want to make friends with people whenever possible. Second, even if Kouenji himself does not care, the people beneath him might."
There would always be people who tried to guess their superior's preferences, and he still wanted to enjoy his life in this new world properly.
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