Meanwhile, on the rooftop of the special teaching building.
Three students were there. One was Kakeru, one was Daichi, and the other was Mio.
"I don't really like this kind of thing." Mio said.
This time, Kakeru wanted to manipulate Kei and then obtain Houtarou's weaknesses. In other words, after getting his weaknesses, he would probably do something underhanded again.
Kakeru had failed multiple times already, and Mio didn't think these plans would be effective anymore.
"Rather than this, I'd prefer to read more books now." She said.
Kakeru: "..."
He was somewhat envious of Mio.
When he had previously used violence to control the class, she was among the first to stand up against him. Later, she wasn't subdued by force, but persuaded by him.
Her grades were poor, but she had a university she wanted to attend. She definitely couldn't pass through regular exams and could only advance to Class A. Mio recognized that she didn't have the ability to lead the class toward Class A, so she followed his leadership.
Yes. Although Kakeru used violence, he didn't rely on it completely. He was also skilled at psychological manipulation.
Otherwise, would it be possible to get an excellent athlete like Minori to get injured for just 500,000 Points? Impossible.
And now Mio had essentially moved beyond his control.
Previously it was due to her poor grades, but now with Rokusuke's tutoring, her grades had improved. At least she had hope of advancing through studying.
So there wasn't as much need to follow the plan of the entire class advancing to Class A. Now she was quite uncooperative.
"Karuizawa is a girl after all. If it's just me and Ishizaki, she'll be too frightened, but with a female present, she'll be more at ease." Kakeru said, "Also, if anything excessive happens, I could be expelled."
This point at least showed that he knew the school's boundaries.
However, in reality, Kakeru used to be a delinquent, living a life constantly involved in fights. He also had some enemies.
So he didn't think having women or girlfriends was a good thing. They would instead become his weakness or burden. Therefore, he had no interest in girls.
"Also, I'll allow you to keep your Points from now on." Kakeru said, "The monthly fees that need to be collected — you won't have to pay them. You want to study for university, so you'll need money, right?"
Mio: "..."
So she fell silent and stopped bothering him.
"Ishizaki, go get the water ready!" Kakeru instructed.
Daichi was also someone who strongly opposed him at first, but now he was a loyal henchman, though it was certain that he was an idiot.
If Mio wasn't very bright, then Daichi was the same. He still thought that Houtarou might not be a bad person.
Kakeru looked at his phone and opened the GPS interface.
This was a built-in feature of the school's phones — as long as you added each other as friends, you could confirm the other person's location through GPS.
The phone belonged to Kei's classmate spy, Kayoko. Kakeru had paid 300,000 Points and signed an agreement to pay 2,000 per month for living expenses. As a result, she became his spy.
According to her, this would offend Kei, and she was afraid of retaliation.
Kei was popular in class, with her gyaru group following her, and she was also very wealthy. When everyone was short on Points at enrollment, she lent Points to everyone.
However, this also indicated that Houtarou took very good care of her. Otherwise, how would she have so many Points at the beginning to lend to others and buy their loyalty?
'It must have been given by that greedy man.' Kakeru thought to himself.
If that's the case, was Houtarou secretly dating Kei? This might be a breakthrough.
Arisu from Class A was close to Houtarou, so if this point was exposed, there might be an interesting drama to watch.
And if Kei was lovesick, that would be good. He had prepared violence, and if she wanted to protect Houtarou from violence, then submitting would also be a good outcome.
But now, more importantly, he needed to first confirm the relationship between the two.
Were they a couple? Was it one-sided love? Did they know each other from before? Was one a tool for the other? Or was blackmail involved?
Earlier today, he had arranged for Kyōgo Komiya and others to follow Houtarou, just as they had done with Rokusuke.
According to their report, Houtarou had returned to the dormitory and was still there. Kakeru had verified this on his own phone, having added Houtarou as a friend to track his location.
And from Kayoko's phone, he could see that Kei was extremely close now.
Kakeru looked at Daichi, signaling him to get ready.
"Understood!" Daichi immediately took action, clearly under Kakeru's manipulation.
This time, Kakeru was determined to discover Houtarou's weaknesses.
If he could uncover these vulnerabilities, it might create an opportunity to advance to Class A. He might even be able to leverage these weaknesses to bring Houtarou to their side.
Although Kakeru had always complained that Houtarou was extorting their money, the fact that he could earn so much proved his strength.
They had only one goal: to advance to Class A. Having Houtarou join their class would be beneficial. Even if he continued to collect Points from them, as long as he could lead everyone to Class A, the class might agree to a plan where they kept only their living expenses while giving all other earned Points to him.
Daichi believed everyone in the class would compromise to make such an arrangement work — something that Class A students definitely couldn't achieve.
As he was considering this—
Click—
The door to the rooftop was about to be pushed open.
"Ishizaki!" Kakeru immediately instructed.
"Got it!" Daichi eagerly splashed the water from the bucket.
According to Kakeru, to obtain information, you either trade or coerce. If trading is possible, there's no need for coercion.
Houtarou was dangerous, so they couldn't risk him seeing through their plan. They had to prepare properly for Kei.
First, they needed to create a situation where she was tricked and isolated without help.
But…
Splash—
The tall man who opened the door caught the entire bucket of water. He was completely soaked.
This man was none other than Albert, who stood dazed, clearly not expecting to be drenched.
"Albert... weren't you supposed to be guarding the first floor?" Kakeru frowned.
"Boss... but—"
Albert tried to speak, but a voice came from behind him.
"Because I told him to come up." Houtarou said.
"!?"
Kakeru and the others quickly looked over as Albert hastily stepped aside, revealing a boy carrying a grip strengthener in his left hand.
This boy was familiar to Kakeru and the others.
"It's vacation time now." Houtarou said, "Yet Class D is still so lively… Ryūen, my opinion of you has changed. And now, you're still trying to target people close to me. So, I'm here to inform you that your vacation is over. For the next while, please rest in bed."
Houtarou's tone was quite calm, and his words were very polite.
But, translated, doesn't that mean...
Kakeru, I'm going to beat you until you can't take care of yourself and can only lie in bed?
Damn!
⍟⍟⍟
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