Classroom of the Elite: I Can Assign Master's Tasks

"Accomplices share the closest bond in the world."

"I like you."

The things Nangong Cheng had once said played on a loop in her head like 3D surround sound.

Even his face kept appearing, always wearing that high-and-mighty expression.

"Heh..."

"Who do you think you're fooling...?"

Kikyo Kushida sneered.

Did that born bastard Nangong Cheng really take her for a naive fool or a lovestruck idiot like Sakura Airi or Karuizawa Kei?

Don't think I have to make my whole life revolve around you just because we're some so-called Fated Partners.

At a thought, the panel appeared.

[Host: Kikyo Kushida]

[Age: High School Girl]

[Measurements: B: 82 (D) W: 55 H: 83]

[Fated Partners: Nangong Cheng]

[Points held: 5100]

[Items held: None]

[Abilities held: Beginner Acting (innate)]

But should she have felt happy or sad about it?

She had never expected her ability to put on an act to earn the system's recognition as a skill worth 1,000 Points.

But why did her talent have to be something like this?

Because a fake was still a fake.

No amount of pretending could make it real.

Claims that an act became real if you kept it up your entire life without being exposed... were nothing but hollow consolation.

Kikyo Kushida glanced at the [Black History Exchange Card] she had coveted so much, then picked up her phone and typed a reply in the small group chat.

"Let's enjoy the gossip responsibly, everyone. No personal attacks~"

"Also, I don't have any feelings like that for Nangong at all. It's really troubling when you all say things like that~"

After replying in the small group chat, Kikyo Kushida tapped Nangong Cheng's avatar.

She took a deep breath and began hammering away at the screen—

"Nangong Cheng, you xx-ing xx..."

To chat with multiple people at once, Kikyo Kushida had trained her fingers to move remarkably fast.

She might not quite have managed five insults per second, but the effect wasn't far off.

After cursing him out for several minutes, she suddenly remembered something else. She backed out, tapped an Anonymous Gray Avatar, and sent over a summary of the day's events as intelligence.

Then Kikyo Kushida took the Digital Camera Nangong Cheng had given her out of the bedside drawer, remembering that humiliating night.

And that feeling of floating high above the clouds.

A wicked heat surged through her.

"That born bastard Nangong Cheng actually tried to corrupt my thoughts with something this filthy."

"I'll have to purify you thoroughly!"

The paid chapters launch today, so I'm updating early. Future updates will still be around 7:30–8:00 p.m.

Volume one: 56, Mom is just a role

The next day.

Nangong Cheng had expected another routine breakfast, but today brought an unexpected visitor.

"You're... Amikura, right?"

"What brings you—"

"Nangong!"

The furious-looking girl cut Nangong Cheng off midsentence.

Then she declared, "I know everything now! I won't let you bully my Honami!"

What's that supposed to mean?

What do you know?

He hadn't done anything wrong, had he?

"Sorry, Nangong. I've already explained everything clearly to Mako, but she's still a little worked up. Please don't be angry..."

Ichinose Honami stood between them.

First, she gave Nangong Cheng a brief explanation. "Actually, when I went back last night, Mako happened to see me coming out of your room, and she thought I..."

Then she turned to Amikura Mako and put on an angry expression. "Mako, what did you promise me before we came here?"

"Didn't you promise to talk this out calmly?"

"I..."

You wouldn't have let me come if I hadn't promised...

Mako Amakura pouted. She still looked indignant, but she no longer dared to speak.

The archangel's authority.jpg

Nangong Cheng found the scene rather amusing.

"It's fine, Ichinose. Let Amikura speak her mind. I'd like to hear what else she has to say."

"Well..."

For a moment, Ichinose Honami couldn't tell what Nangong Cheng meant. Was he not angry, or was he furious?

Before she could think it through, however, Amikura Mako's eyes lit up. She immediately straightened her back and rallied. "Nangong, I admit I got a little too emotional just now. I apologize."

With that, she gave him a solemn bow.

But she quickly adopted a serious expression again. "Still, why did you make a deal with Honami using... using such a weird condition?!"

"She's only sixteen! How can she be your mom?!"

Nangong Cheng rubbed his chin, his gaze moving back and forth between Ichinose Honami and Amikura Mako.

First, he offered an explanation. "Amikura, setting aside the fact that Ichinose and I both willingly agreed to this deal, you and everyone else in Class B benefited from it too—"

"But how can you say a sixteen-year-old girl can't be a mom? I'll have you know some girls become moms to lots of people while they're still in elementary school."

"Th-that's nonsense!"

Mako Amakura wore an expression that said, "I'm educated, so don't try to fool me." She grabbed Ichinose Honami's arm and shook it, trying to enlist her support.

"Honami, say something."

"Didn't you say yesterday that it was embarrassing too?"

Ichinose Honami smiled awkwardly.

Embarrassing it might have been.

But wasn't it actually fine?

It wasn't as if it hurt her.

"Nangong..."

"Hold on, Ichinose."

Nangong Cheng raised a hand to interrupt Ichinose Honami, then continued addressing Mako Amakura. "Amikura, since you say Ichinose can't be my mom, let me ask you something—what sort of woman do you think a mother should be?"

"Or rather, what sort of woman would you want your mother to be?"

Mako Amakura paused, then thought it over seriously before answering, "Gentle, understanding, caring, capable, strong..."

Nangong Cheng immediately smiled. "Now think about what sort of girl our Ichinose is."

"..."

Mako Amakura was speechless.

Come on, you can't just match the traits up like that!

"That's different..."

"How is it different?"

Nangong Cheng gave Amikura Mako no time to think and kept spouting his nonsense. "You need to understand that 'mom' is just a role. It doesn't actually have anything to do with age."

"Some people never qualify as decent mothers even by the time they die of old age, while others are born with the qualities needed to become great mothers."

Mako Amakura was out of ideas.

She was convinced there was something seriously wrong with Nangong Cheng.

No wonder he had discovered the school's secret on the very first day. A genius really did think differently from ordinary people.

All she could do was cling weakly to her position. "Anyway... it's not appropriate for you to call Honami Mom!"

Nangong Cheng spread his hands helplessly. "Amikura, so you're saying you don't want me to call Ichinose Mom anymore, right?"

"Since Ichinose and I only made a verbal agreement, if you don't want her to keep paying her end of the bargain now, I really can't go through the school's procedures to seek redress."

"But don't forget that Class D and Class B are rivals. I still have plenty of legitimate ways to retaliate. So if you think Class B can withstand my retaliation, Amikura, go ahead and take Ichinose away."

Mako Amakura opened her mouth, visibly deflating.

Ichinose Honami sighed.

"Nangong, this is a private matter between you and me. Our agreement won't be over until you no longer want to call me Mom or no longer need me to cook for you."

"Also, Mako really is a good girl. She just got carried away with worry after hearing about my situation. I apologize on her behalf..."

With that, she moved to prostrate herself.

But there was no way Amikura Mako would let Ichinose Honami make such a sacrifice for her. She immediately stopped her, then turned to the expressionless Nangong Cheng and bowed at a perfect ninety-degree angle.

"I'm sorry!"

"I misunderstood you, Nangong! If you want to retaliate, take it out on me alone. Please don't drag Class B or everyone else into this."

"Mako..."

Ichinose Honami tugged at Amikura Mako's arm, trying to pull her upright.

At the same time, she cast a pleading look at Nangong Cheng, hoping he would let today's incident slide.

"...Enough. Stand up straight."

Was Nangong Cheng angry?

By all rights, he should have been. After all, Amikura Mako had started shouting at him the moment she arrived, making an unreasonable fuss. Anyone with a worse temper would certainly have gotten angry.

But in reality, it was no different from a cat puffing up its fur.

Not only was she completely unintimidating, but the moment Ichinose Honami put on a stern face, she didn't even dare speak. It was just...

Besides, he could tell that Amikura Mako discovering Ichinose Honami's "Mom Act" was definitely no accident. Taking his conversation with Sae Chabashira in the office today into account, he could deduce that it was very likely one of Chie Hoshinomiya's little tricks.

Heh, getting impatient already?

In the end, however, Nangong Cheng still pretended to be angry, because that was how he could get the most out of this incident.

"For the sake of the close bond between you and my Ichinose Mom, I'll let it slide this once."

At those words, Amikura Mako and Ichinose Honami immediately breathed sighs of relief.

But they had celebrated too soon.