Rules

At the school gates, Ayanokoji and Horikita were debating the issue of giving up seats. Ryuuen did not interfere with their interaction; excessive meddling could easily backfire.

Ryuuen took a lap around the Teaching Building, observing the state of each class.

Class A was orderly, truly deserving of its reputation as the elite class. Class B was harmonious as well, chatting and laughing around Ichinose Honami. The students in Class D were divided into many small groups, with a few loners who seemed completely out of place with the rest of the class. Ayanokoji was one of them.

As if he had noticed Ryuuen's gaze, Ayanokoji, who was sitting alone off to one side, turned and met Ryuuen's eyes through the classroom doorway. No emotion could be read in Ayanokoji's gaze. Was he really as emotionless as he had been described in the original work? Ryuuen flashed him what he believed to be a charming smile. Ayanokoji frowned slightly and looked away.

"I thought you really had no emotions. But that look of disgust just now didn't escape my eyes. I'm a little disappointed, Ayanokoji. I hope you'll bring me more fun later." Ryuuen muttered to himself at the entrance to Class D.

Hirata Yousuke, Class D's future class representative, noticed Ryuuen and came over to ask whether he needed help. Ryuuen ignored him and returned to Class C on his own.

Class C's atmosphere was neither outstanding nor terrible. Cards with names written on them were placed on the desks, and Ryuuen quickly found his seat. Beside it sat a girl with long cerulean hair, reading a book. The noisy surroundings clearly affected her reading efficiency; Ryuuen noticed that she had not turned a page in quite some time. Yet not the slightest trace of negative emotion showed on her face. Her tranquil, elegant, bookish air was a rare sight even in the entire grade.

"Interesting." Ryuuen had already recognized the girl before him as Shiina Hiyori, one of Class C's few strategists. The book she was reading was one Ryuuen had read as well: The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind, a work of social psychology by the French social psychologist Gustave Le Bon.

Ryuuen was in no hurry to strike up a conversation with the girl. The more important matter before him was unifying the class. Shiina Hiyori posed no threat to him. The Black student sitting one row ahead of Ryuuen was the first target he intended to conquer. His build was too conspicuous to ignore in the class, and he would become indispensable fighting strength for Class C.

Ryuuen had once considered winning people over with virtue. But the experiences he had gained over several years of struggling in business had taught him that the weak should be controlled, while the strong made others submit. If he wanted to rule the class as quickly as possible, violence was the most convenient method. Its drawbacks were obvious, of course, but as long as this tyrant could bring victory to the class, he would be revered.

Ryuuen propped his legs on the desk, closed his eyes, and pondered something.

The classroom's noise continued without end and even showed signs of intensifying. A bunch of idiots, still excited over their new environment. The louder his classmates became, the more disappointed Ryuuen felt, and the more convinced he became of his decision to rule the class through violence.

Class C suddenly fell silent.

"New students, I am your homeroom teacher, Sakagami Kazuma. I will also be teaching you mathematics. For the next three years, I will grow alongside you all. Please take care of me. The opening ceremony will be held in the Gymnasium in an hour. I will now distribute your Student ID Cards and materials regarding the school's rules. Please read them carefully."

The middle-aged man's voice interrupted Ryuuen's thoughts. When he opened his eyes, he saw Sakagami Kazuma standing at the podium. Wearing black-framed glasses, he looked no different from an ordinary teacher. In other words, he had no distinguishing features—certainly not as pleasing to the eye as Hoshinomiya Chie of Class B or Chabashira of Class D.

Advanced Nurturing High School's special rules were distributed together with the acceptance letters when students were admitted. Compared with other high schools in the country, this school's distinctive feature was its mandatory boarding policy for all students. During their studies, students were also forbidden from contacting the outside world except under special circumstances. As compensation for imposing such outrageous rules, the school waived tuition fees.

On the other hand, to accommodate the students' closed-off life on campus, the school had built numerous entertainment and living facilities. Clothing stores, movie theaters, snack shops, karaoke bars, bookstores, Cafeterias, and more were all available. The school was said to cover more than 600,000 square meters.

Of course, none of that was the most important part.

"With the Student ID Cards just distributed, you can use all facilities on campus. The Campus Card functions much like a credit card, except a credit card uses money while a Campus Card uses points. Ahem. One thing to note is that the points on your Student ID Card can purchase anything available on campus."

Sakagami Kazuma deliberately coughed twice, hoping to remind his adorable idiot students. He was not allowed to make the hint too obvious, but unfortunately, few of the idiots in Class C caught the meaning behind their teacher's words.

Ryuuen played with the Student ID Card in his hand. Rather than a Student ID Card, it was more like a phone with a payment app installed—except this phone could not contact anyone outside the school and could only connect with users within it. The principle was simple; it was essentially a local network.

"The method of use is simple. Just present it at a payment terminal. On the first of every month, the school will automatically transfer funds to the students. Each student will now receive 100,000 points. The exchange rate between points and Yen is one to one. That is roughly the situation." Perhaps disappointed with the class, Sakagami did not cough again or offer the students any further hints.

Before he had even finished speaking, the students below had already erupted into chaos.

"This is incredible! One hundred thousand every month? Doesn't that mean we can buy whatever we want?"

"This is amazing! Not only does the school not charge tuition, it even gives us spending money."

"Let's go shopping together sometime! We can check out cosmetics. There's a lipstick I've wanted to buy for ages..."

Watching the students below discuss the matter excitedly, Sakagami Kazuma said nothing. He merely stood quietly at the podium and waited for the students to proceed to the next step themselves.

Sure enough, a girl who liked showing herself off stood out amid the noisy discussion. "Everyone!"

The girl suddenly rose from her seat, and after seeing what she did, the people around her quieted down.

"We'll be living together for the next three years, so why don't we introduce ourselves while we still have time? We can go in seating order. That way, everyone can get familiar with one another sooner and make like-minded friends." The girl did her best to present herself, trying to stir up the class's enthusiasm.

Both Ryuuen and Sakagami were deeply disappointed. They had thought she might offer some insightful opinion, but it seemed she merely wanted to perform in front of the teacher, win his favor, obtain a class officer position, and thereby raise her standing in the class to support her high school life.

Introductions were indeed useful, and they were an inevitable part of entering high school. But after hearing the teacher's explanation, there were obviously more important matters at hand. Could they not use their brains and think things through? There were clearly many problems hidden in the teacher's words. Did they not want to ask about them?

The future looks bleak. That was what Sakagami Kazuma thought.

"Enough. This farce ends here!" Ryuuen could no longer endure it and directly interrupted the girl. "What a boring, stupid bunch of people. As expected, idiots like you only need to obediently listen!"