Class C's boss

"Um, before we negotiate, could you call me Big Brain a few times?"

Himeno gave Kazami a very strange look. All right, Kazami knew what she was thinking. He was doing it to copy a skill, not because he was actually an idiot.

"I didn't hit you in the head just now, did I?"

As Himeno said that, she began wondering whether she had accidentally hit Kazami in the head earlier. How else could she explain why he would make a request like that?

Kazami: ...

"Forget it. Let's get down to business. Just so we're clear, negotiations are one thing, but we need two contracts. First, I'll tell you the core method for avoiding expulsion over exams. Even if you don't agree afterward, you absolutely cannot report it or leak it, or you'll be expelled. Second, this resource is for your use alone. Sharing it with anyone without permission will also count as a breach of contract resulting in expulsion."

After signing the first contract, Himeno put down her pen. "You sure have a lot of rules. Well? How many points do you want?"

"Fifty thousand points," Kazami quoted. That was also the second-year upperclassman's initial asking price. He really was too merciful, not raising it by even a single point.

Himeno immediately complained at the price. "Why don't you just rob me! Even an outrageous opening offer shouldn't be this ridiculous!"

Kazami spread his hands and reasoned with her in all seriousness. "Business is business. These aren't ordinary study materials. This is an exclusive shortcut that eliminates the risk of expulsion one hundred percent."

"However reliable it is, that's too expensive!" Himeno frowned. She deposited some of her points with Ichinose every month, and with her daily expenses on top of that, she simply couldn't come up with fifty thousand right now. "And only I can use it? It's not worth it at all!"

Kazami offered a discount plan. "Simple. If you want to save money, get people together for a group purchase. If you can bring a few more classmates who need a guaranteed pass, I'll give you a discount. The price is negotiable."

Kazami had intended for Himeno to bring a few more people over so he could make a small-scale sale at a low price. What he had never anticipated was that the people Himeno brought weren't struggling students at all, but Kanzaki and Ichinose.

When Ichinose arrived at Paresa and saw Kazami, she paused slightly. "Oh, it's you."

Beside her, Kanzaki looked at Ichinose with some confusion. "Ichinose, do you know him?"

Remembering how Kazami had boldly confessed to her in public, Ichinose felt a little awkward and could only laugh it off vaguely. "Ahaha, we've sort of met."

Seeing that Ichinose didn't want to discuss it, Kanzaki didn't ask any more questions. They quickly returned to the matter at hand.

As with the contract Himeno had signed, they first guaranteed that they wouldn't disclose anything. Then Kazami took out the comparison papers he had prepared from previous years' quizzes held before the midterm exam to prove his method, before quoting a price of two hundred thousand.

Kanzaki confirmed that Kazami's method did indeed work, but still immediately tried to bargain him down. "Too expensive. It's not worth that much."

Kazami brought out his core selling point, trying to hold the price firm. "You can't just look at the individual benefits. With this set of papers, your class's overall grades will improve significantly, and your Class Points will rise along with them."

But Kanzaki remained unmoved. "Even without your help, absolutely no one in our Class B will be expelled in this exam. Your method is just an added bonus, not a necessity."

After a round of bargaining, the two finally settled on the terms: one hundred thousand points in total, available for everyone in Class B to use, with no single-user restriction.

Kazami discovered that he actually couldn't out-bargain Kanzaki. Seriously, he looked like a rich young master, yet he was this good at haggling. You really couldn't judge people by their appearance.

With a schoolteacher as witness, both sides signed the formal contract in duplicate. Kanzaki offered his hand. "Here's to a successful partnership."

"Here's to a successful partnership."

He had only meant to make an individual sale. How had it turned into a package deal...?

Oh well. It looked like he couldn't fleece anyone who got their hands on past papers early now. Things never went the way he imagined. Still, package deals had their advantages. Settling an entire class in one go saved him plenty of trouble, without having to waste time dealing with people individually.

In that case, he might as well sell packages from now on, too. It would save time.

With Class B's business settled, Kazami began planning his next target.

According to the information Kushida had compiled, Class A was currently split between two competing factions led by Sakayanagi Arisu and Katsuragi Kohei. The two kept each other in check, both wanting a firm grip on control of the class.

To secure a deal with Class A... after a little thought, Kazami chose Katsuragi Kohei. Katsuragi could use this to suppress Sakayanagi's faction and solidify his own position. This time, Kazami asked for fifty thousand more. Of course, Class A being wealthy to begin with probably had something to do with that, too.

As for Class C, Ryuen wasn't an easy person to talk to. He did whatever he pleased and played by no rules. Negotiating face-to-face would most likely go straight off the rails, and he might even pick a fight with Kazami and then take the resources for free.

To be safe, Kazami abandoned an in-person meeting and chose to contact him anonymously online, testing the waters from behind a screen.

A long time after he sent the message, a reply finally popped up, its tone full of suspicion. "Who are you?"

What followed was a long stretch of mutual probing. Ryuen was extremely suspicious, repeatedly questioning Kazami about his identity, where the resources came from, and the purpose of the deal...

By the time he finally endured the probing stage and reached the actual price negotiations, Kazami didn't even want to talk anymore.

First Kanzaki, now Ryuen. Kazami found that each was better at bargaining than the last. Class C's boss was actually haggling endlessly with him over points.

According to how novels went, shouldn't Ryuen have waved his hand and thrown money around generously, offering two million when Kazami asked for one million?

Reality, however, was cruel. This supposedly wild and defiant boss of Class C actually kept haggling with him over a mere few thousand points, refusing to budge. He was even more patient than Kanzaki.

Kazami was speechless. The students at Advanced Nurturing really were each more formidable than the last.

This isn't how the plot is supposed to go! You're Ryuen Kakeru! The king of Class C, the ruthless guy who runs rampant through the first year! Can't you act a little more like an overlord?!

Alas, the negotiations he had expected to go smoothly had instead become progressively harder to handle. His dream of naming an exorbitant price, getting rich overnight, and achieving financial freedom in points had collapsed. The smoothest deal had actually been with Class A. Although Katsuragi had bargained too, the whole transaction had only taken ten minutes or so.

At last, all the cross-class transactions were completely wrapped up. The final number of points received from Class C popped up on his phone screen: 134,358 points.

Kazami stared at the oddly specific number and fell silent, looking utterly dead inside. He had originally been certain that Class C, urgently needing a safety net for their grades, had the greatest need for this. The price would definitely exceed Class A's, earning him a hefty profit. But he couldn't stand how relentlessly that bastard Ryuen haggled, dragging things back and forth the whole time and forcing the price down to rock bottom. Physically and mentally exhausted, Kazami could only surrender in the end. Unwilling to waste any more energy, he hastily finalized the deal.

He was absolutely never doing business with Ryuen again. That bastard was far too good at wearing people down. He had never met anyone so patient.