300 Million

Hearing Satsu's proposal, Ichinose froze for a moment, but she soon regained her composure, her tone laced with a hint of mocking realization.

"One hundred million!?"

"You spout lies as easily as you breathe. Why on earth should I believe you can come up with one hundred million?"

Satsu was not surprised by Ichinose's skepticism; on the contrary, he felt this was a standard part of the process.

If a student suddenly approached you claiming they wanted to trade one hundred million yen for one million points that could only be used within the school, your reaction would naturally be that they were either messing with you or out of their mind.

"Is one hundred million something you can just pull out of thin air?" Ichinose asked.

"This school has detailed files on every one of us, including our family backgrounds. You only need to spend a small amount of points to buy my detailed profile from your homeroom teacher."

Satsu replied unhurriedly, "Once you do, you'll naturally know that I'm not lying. In reality, outside of school, I can be considered quite well-off."

"How about this? I'll offer another hundred million! Two hundred million yen in exchange for you lending me one million points."

"Even in Tokyo, where land is worth its weight in gold, that price is enough to buy a house. I can't see any reason for you to refuse."

Satsu spoke with confidence, even going so far as to help Ichinose analyze the pros and cons of agreeing to lend him the points.

"First, if you agree, you'll receive two hundred million upon graduation. You could give your family a better life; even if you graduate from Class A, there's no guarantee when you'd be able to earn that much."

"Second, I will promise to never approach anyone from Class B again."

"Even if you really could come up with two hundred million, why should I believe you'll actually pay it? After graduation? I'm afraid I wouldn't even be able to find you once we graduate!"

Satsu didn't mind being interrupted by Ichinose and quickly offered a solution.

"We can sign some kind of contract. You don't have to worry about me welching on the deal."

"I'm kind, not stupid!"

Ichinose clearly wasn't buying Satsu's plan, retorting, "At our age, that kind of contract has absolutely no legal standing. Even if we signed it, it would just be a piece of waste paper."

"That's easy to fix. We can sign a contract through the school's administration, agreeing that we must sign the two-hundred-million-yen agreement no later than the day before graduation."

Faced with this proposal, Ichinose fell into deep thought.

As long as they followed Satsu's plan, the school could ensure the two-hundred-million-yen agreement was signed.

By the time they graduated in their third year, both of them would be old enough to sign a legally binding contract for that amount.

A moment later, Ichinose spoke again: "Then what if... you don't pay me back after a month?"

Her tone had lost its previous decisiveness and was now tinged with hesitation, as if she were asking Satsu if he had a solution.

"If you don't pay me back, and I can't sustain myself with the points I have left after a month, I'll have no choice but to drop out."

"By then, I won't be old enough to sign the two-hundred-million-yen contract, and the school won't enforce agreements for students who are no longer enrolled."

"You'd still be able to pull off your empty-handed scheme!"

Seeing that Ichinose was still wavering, Satsu simply made a guarantee: "If you drop out because I failed to return the points in a month, then I'll drop out with you!"

"Three hundred million!"

"What!"

Ichinose, who had been deep in thought, jerked her head up at the mention of that figure, briefly doubting her own ears.

"I'll pay three hundred million yen!"

Satsu said it through gritted teeth; this price was nearly the absolute limit of what he could accept.

His plan regarding Nagumo couldn't guarantee a one-hundred-percent success rate, as things hadn't officially begun yet.

He couldn't guarantee he would graduate as a member of Class A, so to ensure he could still live a life of luxury even if he dropped out, Satsu needed to keep some money.

"I'll be going now. I'll wait for your reply."

"You can take this opportunity to verify whether I can truly come up with three hundred million yen."

With that, Satsu took out a notepad he carried with him, wrote down his contact information, handed it to Ichinose, and turned to leave: "Contact me once you've made up your mind!"

"With this money, you won't have to resort to stealing whenever your sister wants something."

"And your mother won't have to fall ill from overwork."

As soon as Satsu said this, Ichinose's brain finally shut down completely.

How much more does he know about me!? Watching Satsu's retreating back, Ichinose's emotions remained in turmoil for a long time.

She didn't stay where she was for long; once Satsu was completely out of sight, she turned and headed straight for the teachers' office.

She couldn't wait to verify whether Satsu's words were true. If they were false, there would be no need for her to consider his offer at all.

Although, through their conversation just now, Ichinose already had an answer in her heart—Satsu really could come up with three hundred million.

If he couldn't, why would he say so much? Was he just bored?

Yet, Ichinose still wanted to confirm it herself. It was a stubborn, die-hard attitude. A student being able to produce three hundred million—what kind of concept was that?

"Hoshinomiya-sensei!"

"Waaah!"

"I'm not playing games!"

Hoshinomiya, who had been secretly playing a computer game, shrieked once more, only letting out a sigh of relief and pulling her body away from the screen after realizing it was Ichinose.

Startled by Ichinose twice in a row, Hoshinomiya couldn't help but feel a headache coming on: "What is it, Ichinose-san! Why have you been so reckless these past two days?"

"Hoshinomiya-sensei, I would like to purchase a student's file from you." Ignoring Hoshinomiya's mood, Ichinose spoke directly.

"I suppose I can, but it won't be cheap! You know that this information is considered a student's personal privacy."

"After all, the school conducts very comprehensive and detailed investigations into students upon their enrollment."

"That's fine!" Ichinose replied without the slightest hesitation.

"Five hundred thousand points. Whose file do you want to see?"

As soon as Hoshinomiya said this, even Ichinose felt a moment of hesitation; five hundred thousand was not a small sum, so she settled for the next best thing and said:

"I only need to know the level of his family's wealth. Can it be a bit cheaper?"

Hoshinomiya tilted her head in confusion. In her mind, Ichinose was not the type of person to care about such things, so she said: "That works too. One hundred thousand points will do."

Seeing that the price was acceptable, Ichinose nodded in agreement and spoke the name.

"Kato Satsu!"

"I want to see the file for Kato Satsu of Class D!"

While pulling up the file for Ichinose, Hoshinomiya pondered the intent behind her actions.

Why had she suddenly become so concerned with Kato? This was already the second time she had heard the name Kato Satsu from Ichinose's lips.