Houtarou began to feel more energetic.
Last night, Kikyō had kept him up late, leaving him drained today. However, after the morning passed, his energy returned.
During the previous VIP Exam, Houtarou had been lenient, taking only half of everyone's Points. Each student still held 250,000 personal Points, amounting to 30-40 million total — quite a fortune.
He had informed the class representatives that they could exchange their Points for cash upon graduation. This knowledge would make both them and the first-year students take Points more seriously.
In other words, they would work hard to save money.
And what's the purpose of saving money?
Of course, it's so that once enough is accumulated, it can be taken away.
This school values strength and Points above all else. The only legitimate way to earn Points is through students and faculty.
While faculty can exchange Points for cash through the school to send home, students can generally only redeem them upon graduating in their third year.
Therefore, collecting Points from students is the most logical approach.
As such, Kakeru's actions caught Houtarou's attention.
Actually, he quite liked that violent, simple-minded fellow — he always voluntarily took on the task of collecting Points. Surely this time, Kakeru must be planning something too.
And now…
"Does it mean we won't lose Points today even if we don't follow the rules?" As Class D's leader, the tyrant Kakeru raised his hand.
"Hmm…"
Currently on the podium was Fujimaki from Class 3-A.
According to Houtarou's information, although Class 3-A was Manabu's class, the students there weren't particularly outstanding. After all, only he and Akane from Class 3-A had made it to the Student Council.
Though Fujimaki was chosen to speak, he was merely delivering routine announcements that needed to be made.
Now faced with this unexpected situation, he found himself at a loss for how to handle it.
Instinctively, he turned to look at the Student Council President standing nearby.
But Manabu's face remained expressionless, leaving Fujimaki no choice but to continue, "Yes, this meeting is simply for grades to interact with their teams. While not following protocol wouldn't technically result in point deductions, but—"
"Then there's no problem!" Kakeru cut in, "Let's leave — this meeting is pointless if we won't earn any Points!"
At his words, Class D students turned around in unison, demonstrating his remarkable influence over them.
"No, that's not—"
Watching Kakeru lead the first-year Class D students toward the exit, Fujimaki grew increasingly anxious.
"If you refuse to participate properly, you'll face serious consequences for both your future and the red-white competition. You should know that if your actions cause the team to fail, your class will be the first to receive a 100-Class Point deduction..."
"Don't you still have yourselves? Would you let us lose?" Kakeru replied as he continued leading his students toward the exit.
"Umm…" Fujimaki, clearly never having dealt with someone like Kakeru before, was at a complete loss.
"Wait." Kōhei, the new secretary, stepped down from the platform.
Kakeru's first-year Class D was paired with Class A on the White team.
If Class D chose to self-destruct, it would directly impact Class A — a serious problem for those trying to maintain their class ranking.
While this would affect the second and third-year red teams too, Class A would bear the immediate impact. This explained Kōhei's intervention.
"I'm leaving with good intentions." Kakeru smiled, "Even if I suggested cooperation, you wouldn't trust me. We'd just end up wasting time trying to figure out each other's motives."
His logic wasn't wrong — how could competing classes suddenly form effective teams? It would likely devolve into strategic maneuvering, wasting both time and energy.
After all, during the VIP exam, Kakeru had attempted another alliance with Class B only to be rejected. Once trust is broken, it's gone for good.
Understanding this well, he prepared to lead his Class D students out.
"Wait!" Kōhei called out, unwilling to let this slide, "Are you really confident you can win this exam without cooperating?"
This intervention served two purposes: first, to establish before everyone that any failures would be Kakeru's fault for refusing to cooperate, proving Class A had tried their best.
Second, Kōhei recognized Kakeru's cleverness — from achieving a perfect score on the written exam despite leading a class of struggling students, to his strategic alliance with Honami's group in the VIP Exam, and his psychological warfare that nearly broke Class B's Ryūji.
All this proved that Kakeru wasn't simply defeatist, but rather intensely driven to win.
Was he doing this because he had discovered a reason or made an arrangement that required abandoning the powerful Class A to achieve victory?
This was what Kōhei wanted to find out.
But Kakeru didn't stop walking. A playful "Heh, who knows?" tugged at the corner of his mouth.
Unable to probe further…
Class D's group filed out one by one through the gymnasium doors.
So, what should be done at a time like this?
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"What a pitiful fellow."
Arisu, who stood beside Houtarou, suddenly spoke.
"Hmm?" He looked at her.
While ordinary students might mock Kakeru's non-cooperation, Houtarou knew that beside him stood the person he had always wanted to pass the burden of leading Class A to.
So…
"What does Sakayanagi-san think?"
"You mean Ryūen? I think they're quite pitiful." Arisu said, "Acting so impulsively now — I suspect after this sports festival, they'll be stripped bare by Oreki-kun."
Houtarou: "..."
He wasn't quite that extreme, though he did intend to completely fleece Kakeru's class.
"I somewhat understand why Oreki-kun isn't interested in leading our class in this sports festival anymore. You've found a new toy." She sighed softly, "How nice that you can find such interesting diversions at school. Meanwhile, I'm quite bored."
These words carried a hint of resentment.
Given that the sports festival consisted entirely of athletic events, she had no choice but to forfeit. For her, it was indeed quite dull.
Houtarou: "..."
He considered briefly.
"Speaking of which, I have an orange cat at home." He said, "If it just costs Points, we could bring it to school."
School rules stated Points could be used to buy anything.
Was bringing a cat too extreme? It should be possible — if not, it was merely a matter of having enough Points.
And Houtarou now had the most Points. He had already arranged for Kikyō and Suzune to give Class C students exemption from being in the bottom ten, which would bring in over 3 million Points.
Then if Kakeru acted as expected, there would be nearly 10 million more Points coming in.
So bringing a cat to school wouldn't be difficult at all.
"A cat?" Arisu seemed somewhat interested.
"Yes, though it's quite fat now — ten kilos." Houtarou said.
"Then I want to pet it."
Houtarou: "..."
Alright...
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