When Ryuuen woke up the next day, Ishizaki was still asleep, while Albert Yamada had already vanished without a trace. He was most likely working out in Class A or the gym. Albert Yamada was even more disciplined than Ryuuen, and not all the muscle on his body was a gift from his genes.
Picking up his phone, he saw the time displayed clearly: "7:52."
There were only eight minutes left until the time he had agreed to meet Ichinose Honami.
Unfortunately, Ryuuen did not hurry because of that. He got dressed and washed up at his usual pace, then even had a little breakfast. During his days on the ship, Ryuuen had become much lazier, cutting back on his daily workouts as well.
By the time he strolled leisurely over to the Cafeteria, Ichinose was already waiting there. Ryuuen had also noticed the message she had sent him: "Ryuuen-sensei, I'm already at the Cafeteria. Were you delayed by something? If so, please let me know."
Ryuuen replied, "No."
After seeing the message, Ichinose continued waiting for Ryuuen in the Cafeteria. Of course, Ryuuen had not deliberately dragged things out. He had simply arrived at his normal pace, which had not taken long at all. He only made Ichinose wait twenty-three minutes.
Without complaining about his lateness, Ichinose stood from her seat when she saw him. "Ryuuen-sensei, please sit."
"I'll have a Black Forest." Ryuuen ordered without any courtesy.
"What did you want to see me about, Ichinose?" Ryuuen sat across from her. At eight thirty, quite a few students still had not gotten out of bed. It was the final morning on the ship, and many of them wanted to enjoy it a little longer.
"It's nothing special. I just wanted to thank you for helping our class during the Benefactor Exam, and I also wanted to ask why you helped our class so much." Ichinose held her coffee cup in both hands. Clearly, she had not taken a single sip; the latte art was still perfectly intact.
"There's no special reason." Before coming here, Ryuuen had already guessed that Ichinose did not have anything important to discuss with him, so he had never taken the meeting seriously.
A careless attitude could make people dislike you, but Ryuuen did not need to cater to anyone, much less Ichinose.
"Your thanks aren't just going to be words, are they?" Ryuuen's coffee was brought over, but his attention was not on it. He had not expected to squeeze anything out of Ichinose through this meeting, but teasing her a little was fine.
But honest Ichinose took his words as a request for compensation. Ryuuen's help to her class had undoubtedly been enormous, so after a brief moment of thought, she took out her phone. "I don't have many points myself. I can only give you two hundred thousand points as repayment. The class's points are in my care, but I can't decide how to use them on my own, so I can only use my own Personal Points. I hope you'll accept them."
After saying that, Ichinose transferred two hundred thousand points to Ryuuen through her phone.
Of course, Ryuuen did not accept them. If Ichinose had used the class's shared points, not only would he have accepted them, he would have complained that she was giving him too little. But since this do-gooder was using her own Personal Points, Ryuuen did not really want to take them.
Judging by Ichinose's personality, the two hundred thousand points she had offered were most likely all the Personal Points she had. Even if she had anything left, it could not have been much.
Ryuuen had already gained enough benefits from Ichinose. Besides, he had seen Class D living on free meal sets. Ichinose's family had not been well-off before, so she probably would not object to eating free meal sets, but Ryuuen did not want a single remark from him to make her live such a miserable life.
It was not that Ryuuen was kind. He simply felt it was unnecessary. He did not lack two hundred thousand points, so he might as well use this to improve Ichinose's impression of him.
"Do you think I'm that shallow?" Ryuuen sampled the Black Forest in his hand. It was impossible to tell whether he was truly angry, but his tone certainly made it sound as if he was in a bad mood.
"No, no. I just thought Ryuuen-sensei liked points." Ichinose hurriedly waved her hands. She genuinely thought Ryuuen liked points, so she had tried to give him what he wanted.
In truth, Ryuuen did like points. Who did not like money? Besides, Ryuuen had never considered himself a student. He saw himself as a businessman.
"That's just what you think. If I said I liked beautiful women, would you have to become my girlfriend?" Ryuuen felt that Ichinose was still too much of a do-gooder and needed a little warning. That sort of personality would sooner or later cause her to suffer at the hands of the teachers.
"No, I can't." Ichinose blushed slightly and shook her hands in refusal.
Ryuuen's eyelid twitched. She had offered two hundred thousand points without hesitation, yet she rejected this so decisively. Just how much did she dislike him?
Of course, Ryuuen did not hold it against Ichinose. He finished the coffee in his hand. "You can owe me for now. Keep this favor in your heart. Once you've grown to the point where you can stand on your own, then think about repaying me."
After finishing his drink, Ryuuen left, leaving Ichinose to ponder his words. Ichinose felt that, as Class B's leader, she could be considered someone who stood on her own. Yet in Ryuuen's eyes, she had not reached that stage. Ichinose reflected on whether she relied too much on her classmates, which was why Ryuuen had gotten the impression that she still could not stand on her own.
Of course, Ichinose had already achieved her goal. She had only wanted to thank Ryuuen in person. Since Ryuuen had said she could repay him once she could stand on her own, Ichinose would wait until that day.
His conversation with Ichinose had not lasted long. He had planned to take another nap during the noon break, but then Ryuuen noticed a message from Manabe. What a busy day.
Ayanokoji was making his move today as well. His failure in the Benefactor Exam had not stopped him from wanting to bring Karuizawa Kei under his control.
At that moment, Manabe had brought Rika, Nanami, and the others to the ship's cabin, where they were using violence against Karuizawa.
Slaps, hair-pulling, knee strikes.
Karuizawa's right cheek had been swollen from the beating, yet she had no will or means to fight back. She could only endure in silence and beg for mercy.
Ryuuen was still on his way, so he had not witnessed any of this. But Ayanokoji had seen it. Not only had he seen it, he had recorded it on his phone.
After Manabe left, Ayanokoji emerged from the darkness.
"You watched from the side while I was being bullied?" Karuizawa, slumped on the floor, questioned Ayanokoji.
Ayanokoji punched her in the stomach.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry π_π"
Karuizawa realized that Ayanokoji was not her ally. He was one of the bullies too.
Ayanokoji showed Karuizawa the video in his hand and threatened, "Spread your legs!"
Before you continue