Contract Signing

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.

As expected, a great reputation was not undeserved. After learning 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 not expected Shiraishi Makoto to spot the flaw the moment he made his move.

But Ryuen Kakeru could not possibly admit it on his own.

"Sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about." Ryuen Kakeru wore an unconcerned smile.

"Then Ryuen, you should take a look for yourself." Shiraishi Makoto opened something on his phone and handed it over.

He was not worried that Ryuen Kakeru would snatch or destroy the phone. First, they were currently under surveillance. Second, 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 darkened bit by bit, and the last trace of luck in his heart was completely crushed.

Although neither clip showed anyone directly making a move, the differences in Ishizaki and the other two's injuries before and after were obvious. That alone was enough to let Class D turn the tables.

Although Shiraishi Makoto had not included the most important footage—the clip of Ryuen Kakeru and the others leaving the KTV Private Room—Ryuen Kakeru was not stupid enough to think Shiraishi Makoto had overlooked it.

After returning the phone to Shiraishi Makoto, Ryuen Kakeru's expression was gloomy as he forced out a smile. "Since Shiraishi has learned this much and still asked me out, I suppose there's room to negotiate."

"Yes. These are my terms." Shiraishi Makoto handed the document in his hand to Ryuen Kakeru.

Ryuen Kakeru read through every clause word by word. The expression on his face gradually became more and more colorful before he suddenly burst into loud laughter.

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

"I agree."

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

Under Hoshinomiya Chie's witness, Shiraishi Makoto and Ryuen Kakeru signed the contract.

The contract's contents were roughly as follows: Class A would not take the initiative to interfere in the current conflict between Classes C and D, in exchange for Class C providing 300 Class Points as compensation in future exams.

Those 300 Class Points had to clearly be shown as having been provided by Class C. For example, Class C could deliberately throw a match between Classes A and C to let Class A claim the final victory, or provide intelligence that could directly earn Class Points.

Ryuen Kakeru also frantically added fine print afterward, such as forbidding Shiraishi Makoto from disclosing the surveillance videos to anyone else. If the video contents Shiraishi Makoto possessed leaked, he would also be held responsible. The other students of Class A were likewise forbidden from proactively helping Class D, and so on.

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

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

"Seriously, having a monster like you at this school is such a headache." Ryuen Kakeru signed the contract and could not help sighing.

His little scheme had been exposed in a single day. It seemed that from now on, he could only fight Shiraishi Makoto within the rules.

"Besides, Ryuen never intended to pursue the Class Points route to advancement anyway. Giving up some Class Points doesn't matter much." Shiraishi Makoto signed his own name as well and handed the contract 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 were practically all-powerful at this school and easier to trade than Class Points.

But Shiraishi Makoto's reasoning was simple. Class C currently had just over 500 Class Points, and the whole class received only two million Private Points per month. At most, Shiraishi Makoto could collect 500,000 Private Points from Class C each month. If he took any more, Class C would never agree.

By graduation, that would amount to 17 million, but the timeframe was still too long.

Furthermore, in the next several 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 seeking Private Points by percentage was not worthwhile either.

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

Besides making the class's standing more secure, 300 Class Points would also increase the Private Points distributed every month. For Class A, which could not pull ahead of Class B, it was the best choice.

Once the agreement was finalized, Ryuen Kakeru left the faculty office. Having Shiraishi Makoto suddenly seize his weakness this time also made him realize that his arrangements still contained many loopholes in the eyes of a true expert. He needed to quickly erase the traces, patch every flaw, and prevent anyone from gaining leverage over him again.

"Oh my, Shiraishi, you quietly pulled off something big again." Hoshinomiya Chie walked over to Shiraishi Makoto with a smile, pinched his cheek, and spoke in a teasing tone.

She was growing fonder and fonder of this little guy.

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 reach Class A.

She had watched Shiraishi Makoto's actions ever 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, she should have been enjoying a sweet romance, right?

"I only did what needed to be done." Shiraishi Makoto did not dare move carelessly, afraid that pulling away would hurt his cheek.

"Go explain it properly to your classmates. Make sure they don't breach the contract."

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

Class 1-A was actually somewhat like Class 3-A. Its students' abilities were fairly balanced, but no one stood out. Their strength was their unity, while their weakness was their lack of individual power. So even if the other students had the desire, they lacked the ability to get involved in the conflict between Classes C and D.

However, Class 3-A in the original story had Horikita Manabu to protect 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 a good match..." At the mention of Ichinose, Hoshinomiya Chie's eyes gleamed with gossip.

"Hoshinomiya, I have other matters to attend to, so I'll be going now." Seeing Hoshinomiya start 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.