The Tokyo-wide joint exam among prestigious schools—rather than an exam, it was more like a war waged by the major elite schools over student recruitment, reputation, and influence. Don't assume prestigious schools could rest easy and freely recruit students—once capital reaped dividends from education, it would begin expanding. Private Toyogasaki had only been founded a little over a decade ago, yet hadn't it already earned the title of a prestigious school?
Private Shuchiin Academy had been established long ago as an educational institution for aristocrats and samurai families. It was a distinguished academy with a long history.
Even now, after the abolition of the aristocratic system, countless talented individuals born into wealthy and distinguished families—people who would surely bear the fate of this country in the future—studied there.
Yet even a powerhouse like Private Shuchiin Academy could not stand against capital. Detailed surveys showed that Shuchiin's reputation had been declining year by year. Many outsiders had begun describing it as an educational institution built for spoiled rich kids, while some radicals even claimed that its high academic ranking was partly due to backdoor dealings and cheating...
Because of its steadily declining reputation, Private Shuchiin Academy was gradually ceasing to be the first choice for children of wealthy, prestigious families. What drew the fiercest criticism was that the Doma Family, a newly risen financial conglomerate no less powerful than the Shinomiya Family, did not have a single child attending the school. Ahem, they were done for, totally done for...
Affected so severely, even Private Shuchiin Academy had no choice but to face next year's recruitment problem. After all, capital had already profited from education and entered a stage of frenzied expansion. Prestigious schools sprang up from the ground like bamboo shoots after the rain...
Under such circumstances, high-quality students had countless