The foundation of the Katsuragi faction was the belief that Class A had a massive lead over the other classes.
But that was just their assumption.
By the end of this month, that belief might be completely shattered.
However—
Shirogane studied Sakayanagi.
Even as she talked about the Katsuragi faction, she didn't seem troubled at all.
That meant she didn't see them as a real threat.
Or maybe… letting the Katsuragi faction form freely was just her way of filtering out the idiots in her class.
"..."
Shirogane figured it was best not to overanalyze what the boss was thinking.
"By the way, Sakayanagi, you seem to have more points than most students," Shirogane said.
He had wanted to bring this up back when they were at the student council.
At that time, Sakayanagi had wanted to print the name lists of all three grades, which required 300,000 points. She didn't approve the request, but she still took out 100,000 points to print the first-year list.
In other words, she couldn't afford 300,000, but she could easily spend 100,000.
"My starting points were the same as everyone else's," Sakayanagi replied. "Asking such a question is rather rude, don't you think?"
Rude, huh?
Shirogane felt like he had just stepped on a landmine with that topic when talking to Sakayanagi.
It showed that she actually cared a lot about fairness.
So, could it mean that she was in a situation where she could receive special treatment or extra points?
Since her health wasn't good, the school assigned her a personal doctor. And because the school was a closed environment, giving her extra points to hire people for help would make sense.
But something about that idea felt off to Shirogane.
If the school had given her those extra points as special treatment, based on what he knew about Sakayanagi, she wouldn't reject it or find the question rude.
So…
There must be another reason. Something else allowed Sakayanagi Arisu to get special treatment and more points. But she was against it.
She wanted fairness. Or rather, fairness was something very important to her.
"..." Shirogane.
Then, a thought came to him—he had learned from the narrator system that Class D had a genius boss named Kouenji Rokusuke. He was the heir of a financial conglomerate but still ended up in this school.
And yet, Kouenji was placed in Class D, which was considered the worst class. Clearly, his status as a rich heir didn't get him any special treatment.
So, if this school didn't hand out privileges based on background…
Could it be that Sakayanagi refused special treatment because she had a relative working at the school? Not just any relative, but someone with real authority? If she got any special treatment, that person could be accused of favoritism.
And for someone to even have the power to show favoritism, their position in the school had to be pretty high.
"Shirogane, what are you thinking about?" Sakayanagi asked, noticing that he had zoned out.
"I was wondering if you have a family member working at this school… and if they hold a pretty high position," Shirogane blurted out without thinking.
"..." Sakayanagi.
"..." Arisu.
The air was silent for exactly 2.2 seconds.
Sakayanagi's lips parted slightly, as if she was a little surprised.
But she quickly composed herself.
"You really are an interesting person, Shirogane," she said, trying to sound casual. "Let me answer your earlier question first."
"The points I receive are voluntarily given to me by my classmates," Sakayanagi Arisu explained. "There are 22 students who support me. Each one contributes what they can based on their own abilities."
"Of course, a lot of points get spent on making the most out of what the school has to offer, but they also make up for it by joining clubs. Club members receive a small point allowance each month."
So, not only did Class A students contribute part of their initial 100,000 points to Sakayanagi, but…
They also joined clubs just to receive the monthly allowance, which they could then continue handing over.
"..."
Her classmates were really dedicated.
But if joining clubs gave students extra points, did that mean joining the student council would also come with a bonus?
After figuring out how the school really worked and arranging for Ryuen to unify his class, Shirogane had been ignoring everything else and focusing only on studying.
He discovered that the school's library had a lot of textbooks—even older editions from previous years.
It was an unusual situation.
Most libraries wouldn't keep collecting so many different versions of the same textbooks. Usually, they would only have very old editions that were added long ago.
But this library had every single version from the past ten years.
Even though the school had plenty of money, Shirogane didn't think it would waste it on something pointless. So, did that mean these different versions of textbooks actually served a purpose?
In other words, maybe future special exams would require them.
Since the special exam happened once a month, it was better to prepare now rather than being caught off guard later.
That's why he was studying the textbook he had while also looking at other versions. When it came to knowledge, older textbooks tended to have more detailed content, while newer ones often had sections removed or changed.
So, studying the old versions wouldn't hurt.
Shirogane's schedule was simple: study. He reviewed what he was currently learning, studied upcoming material, and even looked into past versions of the textbooks.
But now, he was starting to see that even though part-time jobs weren't an option at this school, joining a club—or rather, the student council—was becoming necessary.
So, he hoped the one-month observation period would end soon.
Shirogane wanted special privileges.
[Sakayanagi Arisu seems a bit more tense. Are you not going to look into this further?]
[At first, she only saw you as just another hardworking student. She's a genius, so she doesn't care much about ordinary people who just put in effort.]
[But just now, you hit one of her sore spots. You seem to have caught her interest.]
[She might have some students follow you for the next few days.]
"..." Shirogane fell silent.
The narration system was surprisingly good at analyzing things—and even knew some future events.
It also seemed particularly skilled at reading Sakayanagi's emotions.
But the system had a bit of a mean streak, often suggesting things like making her cry or taking away her cane just to mess with her.
It was as if it had some kind of grudge against her.
But Sakayanagi… was your way of dealing with people who irritated you really just stalking them and finding their weaknesses?
Or did you have something else in mind?
Coincidentally, Sakayanagi was still here. Shirogane wanted to clear up any misunderstandings—after all, there was no reason for them to be enemies right now.
But.
Shirogane looked at Sakayanagi.
She was undeniably cute. Her skin was pale, almost sickly white, giving off a delicate, fragile impression.
Everyone knew that already. It didn't need to be said.
?
Sakayanagi looked at Shirogane with a puzzled expression.
She could tell he was staring at her, but at the same time, it felt like he wasn't really looking at her.
And right now, Shirogane was deep in thought.
He had hit Sakayanagi's sore spot, and now she would have someone tail him.
So, if he could catch that person, wouldn't he be able to get some useful information? Maybe even find out which students had taken photos of him?
After all, following someone around wasn't exactly something you could openly admit to.
And so.
Staying completely alert, Shirogane intercepted his stalker that very night.
But the person following him… wasn't from Class A.
It was a girl from Class D.
PS: Fifth update!
---------------------------------------
You can read 10 chapters ahead on patre on
patr eon.com/JYouyi