Signing the Contract

Ryuen Kakeru's heart suddenly sank.

Although he had been prepared for this, when those words came from Shiraishi Makoto's mouth, Ryuen Kakeru still felt the pressure.

Indeed, a great reputation was never undeserved. Once he learned that Shiraishi Makoto had figured out the school rules on his second day, he had ordered his classmates not to show themselves too often around Shiraishi Makoto. Yet he had never expected Shiraishi Makoto to spot a flaw the moment he made his move.

But Ryuen Kakeru would never admit it voluntarily.

"Sorry, but I have no idea what you're talking about." Ryuen Kakeru wore a careless smile.

"If that's the case, Ryuen, you should take a look for yourself." Shiraishi Makoto opened something on his phone and handed it over to Ryuen Kakeru.

He was not worried that Ryuen Kakeru would snatch or destroy the phone. For one thing, they were under surveillance right now; for another, Ryuen Kakeru could not possibly fail to realize that footage like this would have backups.

Ryuen Kakeru took the phone and watched the two surveillance clips. His expression gradually darkened, and the last trace of luck in his heart was utterly crushed.

Neither clip showed anyone laying hands on the others directly, but the differences in the injuries on Ishizaki and the other two before and after were obvious. That alone was enough to let Class D turn the tables.

Although Shiraishi Makoto had not included the most crucial footage—the scene of Ryuen Kakeru and the others leaving the KTV Private Room—Ryuen Kakeru was not foolish enough to assume Shiraishi Makoto had failed to notice that issue.

After returning the phone to Shiraishi Makoto, Ryuen Kakeru looked gloomy as he forced out a smile. "Since Shiraishi has already uncovered this much and still asked me to meet, I suppose there's room for negotiation."

"That's right. These are my terms." Shiraishi Makoto handed the document in his hand to Ryuen Kakeru.

Ryuen Kakeru read through the clauses word by word. The expression on his face became increasingly interesting, until he suddenly burst into laughter.

"I'd heard about you before, but only after meeting you did I realize just how interesting you are, Shiraishi."

"I agree."

Shiraishi Makoto knew that Ryuen Kakeru held absolute authority in Class C and did not need to consult his classmates, so he did not press the matter. He pointed toward the faculty office nearby. "I've already arranged to meet our homeroom teacher, Hoshinomiya. Let's go sign the contract."

With Hoshinomiya Chie as witness, Shiraishi Makoto and Ryuen Kakeru signed the contract.

The contract roughly stated that Class A was not to actively intervene in the current conflict between Classes C and D, in exchange for Class C providing 300 Class Points as compensation in future exams.

Furthermore, the 300 Class Points had to be demonstrably provided by Class C. For example, they could deliberately throw a match between Classes A and C and allow Class A to claim the final victory, or provide intelligence that could directly earn Class Points.

Ryuen Kakeru also frantically added further provisions, such as Shiraishi Makoto being forbidden from disclosing the surveillance footage to anyone else, and being held responsible if any footage in his possession were leaked. The other Class A students were also prohibited from actively helping Class D, and so on.

After half an hour of back-and-forth bargaining, the two finally settled on the final terms of the contract.

"I only saved the video on my phone. I'll delete it now." Shiraishi Makoto pressed the delete button in front of Ryuen Kakeru. If he wanted it back, he could simply spend money to buy another copy.

"Seriously, having a monster like you in this school is such a headache." Ryuen Kakeru sighed as he signed the contract.

His little maneuver had been exposed in just one day. It seemed that from now on, he could only face Shiraishi Makoto within the rules.

"Besides, Ryuen has no intention of following the Class Points route to advancement anyway. Giving up some Class Points won't matter much." Shiraishi Makoto signed his own name as well and handed the document to Hoshinomiya Chie, who had been waiting nearby.

Ryuen Kakeru was not surprised that Shiraishi Makoto knew about his 800 Million Points Strategy, because he had already seen as much from the contract.

Shiraishi Makoto had not demanded any Private Points in the clauses at all, which surprised him greatly. After all, Private Points could practically do anything at this school, and they were easier to trade than Class Points.

But Shiraishi Makoto's reasoning was simple. Class C currently had only a little over 500 Class Points, meaning the entire class received only two million Private Points each month. Shiraishi Makoto could collect at most 500,000 Private Points from Class C per month; if he took any more, Class C would never agree.

They would receive seventeen million by graduation, but the time frame was still far too long.

Moreover, in the coming exams, Shiraishi Makoto would not give Class C many opportunities to earn Class Points. Class 1-C's Class Points would remain around 500 for some time, so taking a percentage of their Private Points would not be worthwhile either.

It was better to go straight for Class Points, which would be put to perfect use in the upcoming Uninhabited Island Exam.

Besides further securing the class's standing, 300 Class Points would increase the monthly Private Points distributed to everyone. For Class A, which currently could not widen the gap with Class B, it was the best choice.

Once the agreement was settled, Ryuen Kakeru left the faculty office. Being abruptly caught by Shiraishi Makoto this time made him realize that his schemes still contained many loopholes in the eyes of a true expert. Next, he needed to erase the traces quickly and patch every flaw to prevent anyone from gaining leverage over him again.

"My, Shiraishi, you've quietly done something major again." Hoshinomiya Chie walked up beside Shiraishi Makoto with a smile, pinching his cheek teasingly.

She was growing fonder and fonder of this little fellow.

Since she herself had once been a student at Advanced Nurturing High School and had come within a single step of advancing to Class A, she had always hoped to lead a class that could make it to Class A.

She had seen everything Shiraishi Makoto had done since school began. At an age when he should have been enjoying his youth the most, he had instead been constantly running around for the sake of his class.

At his age, shouldn't he have been enjoying a sweet romance?

"I merely did what needed to be done." Shiraishi Makoto did not dare move carelessly, afraid that tugging would make his cheek hurt.

"Go explain things properly to the class. Make sure they don't breach the contract."

"Actually, it's enough to tell Ichinose." Shiraishi Makoto smiled faintly.

Class 1-A was somewhat like Class 3-A. The students were evenly capable, but none particularly stood out. Their strength was unity, while their weakness was their relatively low overall ability. So even if the other students had the desire, they lacked the ability to take part in the conflict between Classes C and D.

However, Class 3-A in the original story had Horikita Manabu protecting it, while the Class B led by Ichinose in the original story had fallen all the way to Class D. That was partly because Ichinose Honami was too naïve, and partly because her classmates were weaker overall.

"Oh, right, I've actually always wanted to ask. Why aren't you and Ichinose dating? You two are clearly quite well matched..." At the mention of Ichinose, Hoshinomiya Chie's eyes gleamed with gossip.

"Hoshinomiya, I have other matters to attend to, so I'll be leaving first." Seeing Hoshinomiya begin her attack, Shiraishi Makoto hurriedly fled the office.

It was not simply because Hoshinomiya favored Shiraishi Makoto. Hoshinomiya genuinely loved gossiping about romance, and every student who had spent time alone with her had been privately questioned about their love life.