Chapter 066: Who Is He? He Is Nagumo Miyabi, the Man Who Controls the Second Year!
In the library, Sakayanagi Arisu sneezed.
The person currently moving stacks of books for her was her classmate, Hashimoto Masayoshi. Ordinarily, Kamuro should have been the one by her side. However, today's task involved borrowing a massive volume of books and performing heavy labor, which wasn't quite suitable for Kamuro.
Despite Kamuro's perpetually grumpy expression, she diligently completed every task Sakayanagi assigned her. Consequently, Sakayanagi was quite fond of her "little puppy."
The reason Sakayanagi was in the library at all stemmed from her lunch with Class B's Hikigaya. His only evaluation of her was "you're good at studying."
While that was technically a talent, it was undeniably irritating to hear. Thus, Sakayanagi had decided to self-study the entire first-year curriculum ahead of time.
Hashimoto was not a full-fledged member of the Sakayanagi faction; he had previously supported Katsuragi. His defection began just this morning.
Class A consisted of 40 students. Because Sakayanagi had secured the candidacy for the next Student Council President from President Horikita, she had brought immense benefit to the class. As a result, her faction swelled. Previously, the split was 25 for Katsuragi and 15 for Sakayanagi; now, it had rapidly inverted to 22 for Sakayanagi and 18 for Katsuragi.
Despite the "traitors" switching sides, they all still belonged to Class A. Katsuragi was well aware of his own shortcomings. He preferred playing it safe and maintaining an advantage, whereas Sakayanagi excelled at counter-attacking from a disadvantage. Had Sakayanagi not gone to the Student Council on the 12th, Katsuragi wouldn't have even known that Class B had already secured a candidacy slot. Remaining ignorant until Class B produced a Student Council President would have been the ultimate disaster.
Katsuragi realized that focusing solely on a Secretary position was short-sighted. It was a major oversight, and only someone with Sakayanagi's audacity could have pulled off such a maneuver. Thus, he had no complaints about his supporters defecting to her side. However, he still wished for more class unity. He felt Sakayanagi's methods were too aggressive—successful in the short term, but unsustainable and high-risk in the long run. For now, he refused to fully relinquish his authority.
"Speaking of which, Princess, have you thought about completely crushing the Katsuragi faction?" Hashimoto asked, carrying a stack of books.
"My methods are somewhat extreme; they aren't perfectly suited for all of Class A," Sakayanagi replied.
Surprisingly, the seemingly arrogant Sakayanagi Arisu was capable of self-reflection. Between the "poor rating" from President Horikita and Hikigaya's dismissive comment about her
"studying skills," even the haughty Sakayanagi had become slightly more subdued.
.
.
.
On the other side of campus...
Sakayanagi had no idea that Nagumo Miyabi—the representative of Class 2-A, Vice President of the Student Council, and the man who controlled 75% of the second year—had mistaken Class 1-B's Hikigaya Hachiman for her subordinate.
Nagumo now believed Sakayanagi wasn't just targeting the third-years, but was coming for the second-years too.
Nagumo was deeply dissatisfied.
'Why attack the second year?'
Attacking the third year to secure a candidacy made sense; she wanted to enter the race. But even with that authority, she held no advantage against his second-year block. Was she really so arrogant as to provoke him now?
'I'm not an 'honest man' like President Horikita' Nagumo thought.
While he found Sakayanagi's looks—based on the rumors—to be cute and was curious to meet her, he was annoyed. This freshman had only been in school for a month and a half and was already challenging him. His pride was stung.
Then a thought occurred to him: if he could ruthlessly suppress her provocation, would she submit to him? Once he became the next Student Council President, giving her a Vice President slot wouldn't be out of the question. A confident smile spread across Nagumo's face.
"..."
To Hachiman and Horikita, the man in front of them was a human kaleidoscope. His expression shifted from a smile to surprise, then to annoyance, anger, and finally back to a state of supreme confidence.
Nagumo Miyabi was likely the most expressive "face-changer" they had met since enrollment.
However, hearing Hikigaya's assessment of Nagumo, Horikita Suzune looked grim.
While other years were locked in fierce class competitions—usually with A and B leading C and D—Nagumo had managed to manipulate almost an entire school year as a single class representative.
Only slightly, of course.
That was terrifying. Was he really that powerful?
"It seems Sakayanagi-kouhai knows quite a bit about me. Though, having her send you to face me is a bit disrespectful," Nagumo said, stepping out from the booth behind them to stand beside their table.
"But no matter. Since it's a challenge from her, I accept.
As a senpai of this school, I successfully led my original Class B to Class A at the end of our first year, even surpassing the original Class A," Nagumo stated. "I believe that is something worth being proud of."
Nagumo's words were a warning to the "Class 1-A kouhai" before him. He was telling him that Class A's position isn't absolute—he had broken those chains himself. Offending someone like him was a bad move.
"Oh." ×2
Nagumo's boast failed to elicit the expected shock. The dead-fish-eyed boy remained indifferent, and the black-haired girl was expressionless. Didn't they feel surprise, awe, or even tension?
Instead, Hikigaya turned to Horikita and said, "See? In this school, a Class B really can pull off a 'rebellion' and charge into Class A."
"..." Nagumo Miyabi felt the atmosphere was off.
'Aren't you a Class A student? Shouldn't you be worried about being overtaken by Class B? This is a living example of a successful coup!'
He quickly rationalized it: Class 1-A and 1-B were currently less than 50 points apart. Overpassing each other was probably seen as normal to them.
This freshman likely didn't realize how massive the point gap had been for Nagumo's year and how many special exams it took to bridge it.
"By the way... the thing you just said about Nagumo-senpai 'exploiting' almost an entire year... could that really be possible?" Horikita asked Hikigaya, acting as if she were seeking knowledge from a mentor.
Nagumo maintained a polite smile, but he was starting to feel ignored by this beautiful girl.
"Calling it exploitation is a bit much. It's simply a fact that the Class 2-A I lead is the strongest," Nagumo interjected in a tone of a seasoned veteran.
"I am a man who values meritocracy, and my year reflects that. It is perfectly normal for those with absolute strength to control the class, and for other classes to concede. Unfortunately, class competition usually stays within the same year. Once I defeated the other second-year classes, things became a bit boring."
He was effectively saying he was so dominant that he suffered from the loneliness of the peak.
"Nagumo-senpai is indeed a rare and powerful individual," the dead-fish-eyed kouhai added. "But calling it exploitation isn't an exaggeration.
Because he mandates that every student in the entire year must surrender 30% to 50% of the living expenses they receive from the school to him personally. He even issued a strict decree: No individual student is permitted to hold more than 500,000 private points.
If anyone crosses that red line, they must hand over the excess immediately. No errors allowed.
Naturally, such harsh demands met with resistance. To solidify his iron-fisted rule, every student who dared to question or oppose his will has been, without exception, forcibly expelled through his influence.
Nagumo Miyabi of Class 2-A, Vice President of the Student Council. He is a literal, tyrannical dictator. Am I wrong, Nagumo-senpai ?"
Nagumo stared at the boy.
How did this brat know so much? These were plans he had started but hadn't fully completed yet.
For example, he hadn't yet carried out the mass expulsions of his dissenters because a voluntary expulsion costs a class 300 evaluation points. The pressure of -300 was too much even for his "granary" classes.
He was waiting for a special exam that allowed for expulsion penalties to prune the opposition.
'Have those dissenters leaked our internal affairs in a final struggle? I really should get rid of all of them.'
"I don't know where you got your news or why you think I'd do such things," Nagumo said. "I don't just use my classmates' points at will. Even if they give them to me, I'm just keeping them safe. I don't take a penny for myself."
"It's for the '20-million-point plan,' isn't it?" the boy continued.
"It's hard to gather 20 million alone, but easy if you have a class, or two, or three—ideally an entire grade. If over a hundred students work together, you can gather two, three, or even six sets of 20 million before graduation. That way, students not in Class A can still graduate from Class A.
Even students in Class C or D get a chance to graduate from Class A. The numbers might be small, but the opportunity exists, doesn't it?"
"A very interesting hypothesis," Nagumo said, his face stiffening.
'Dammit, there really is a traitor in the second year! How did such private intel get out? Do they not want shared prosperity anymore?'
"But for coming up with such a theory, you're not bad, kid. If I become the next Student Council President, I can offer Sakayanagi a Vice President position—the only Vice President. And for you, I can give you a Secretary seat.
Furthermore, I will completely block Class 1-B from ever entering the Student Council.
I suggest you contact Sakayanagi right now."
For a Class 1-A student, this was the ultimate preferential treatment. It was Nagumo's compromise—assuming Hikigaya was in Class A.
But he wasn't. He was the representative of Class B.
'Nagumo-senpai , who do you think you're bribing with these conditions? And it's not even guaranteed you'll be the next President.'
To win the election, one needed the most votes.
And to get the most votes, one needed... enough points. If someone bought the third-year votes and combined them with Class 1-B and the impoverished Class 1-D, Nagumo wouldn't stand a chance.
Nagumo didn't realize this yet.
"..." Horikita Suzune was stunned.
Initially, she was shocked by Nagumo's operation—a level of class competition she had never imagined. But that shock quickly turned into confusion. Nagumo's words were contradictory: he claimed he would bar Class 1-B from the Council, yet he was inviting Hikigaya to join.
'It seems... Nagumo-senpai has the wrong person.'
He thought Hikigaya was one of Sakayanagi's people.
"I'm sorry," Hikigaya said, meeting Horikita's gaze before rejecting Nagumo directly. "Our 'Little Princess' Sakayanagi doesn't care for handouts. When she wants something, she prefers to take it by force.
So, the negotiations have failed."
'Is that so.' Nagumo crossed his arms.
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