Good.
Houtarou accepted this quest.
However...
〖 Task Punishment: Kikyō will be crushed by Ichika Amasawa! 〗
He opened the punishment details.
〖 When Kikyō becomes a second-year, she'll encounter a little devil underclassman who will completely outmatch her and obtain her dark history. 〗
"... Kushida." Houtarou looked at Kikyō, "Do you know Ichika Amasawa?"
"Ichika Amasawa? I've never met anyone with that name."
Oh...
"Then you'd better be careful." Houtarou said, "She knows your dark history. She will enroll as a freshman."
?? What the hell?
She had come today just to complain about Suzune, but instead received information that made her question her very existence. Will there really be such a troublesome new student enrolling?
This revelation made Kikyō's face lose its smile for several days.
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As time passed, everyone focused on their studies.
However, two developments were worth noting.
The first was:
"Oreki, have you heard?" The silver-haired girl sitting next to him started a conversation, "Class D has invited outside help."
Kakeru's class had indeed sought external assistance. This time, Rokusuke didn't hold a study session in Houtarou's class. According to him, those who wanted to learn had already taken the opportunity. He had generously given them a chance — if they didn't take it, it wasn't his fault.
Instead, he went directly to Class D, where he was conducting a 14-day course. They were now on the 9th day.
Several students in Class D had begun to "get it", and even those who hadn't could still manage the upcoming exam. After all, it only covered one month's worth of material, making it relatively easy to handle.
The stakes were high, though. If anyone in Class D failed this exam, they would owe Rokusuke 1 million Points as compensation.
If everyone passed and earned Class Points, Rokusuke would receive Points equivalent to the value of 50 Class Points from their class until graduation.
{T/N: 50 CP x 100 Private Points x 40 Students = 200,000 Points/M. And if we count just two years, it's equivalent to 4,800,000 Points or Yen in the end. Even though he's already filthy rich, it's still a deal worth $32,285.76 for 14 days of teaching, at the current conversion rate.}
Class D invited Rokusuke primarily to improve the academic performance of their underachievers. This would also prepare them for the next difficult exam, preventing another disastrous situation.
"Your little dogs are quite convenient." Arisu said.
She made this comment because Houtarou's information was far more detailed than what she knew, especially regarding the cost of the deal between Class D and Rokusuke. She assumed he must have informants in Class D as well.
In reality, this was because Kakeru had withdrawn, delegated his authority, and stopped managing things, which meant he hadn't been dealing with Shiho and the others.
As for Hiyori, she didn't consider this information particularly secret, so she spoke freely about it.
That's why Shisho and the others reported their class's activities to Houtarou.
After all, Hiyori probably just wants to make money now, right?
The second development was:
| Airi Sakura |
| I feel so, so reassured. |
Airi was no longer worried about exams that required intensive studying.
Houtarou considered her a very hardworking person. Her achievements were the direct result of her own efforts.
And there was another piece of good news:
|Kei Karuizawa |
| I think I've got it! |
Kei finally sent Houtarou a message one evening.
Though she was among the first to attend Rokusuke's study sessions, she hadn't "gotten it" until now. She had been accumulating knowledge according to his guidance, waiting for the moment when she would finally be "illuminated".
Once she got it, studying would become much smoother.
Houtarou had seen this state before with his sister.
His sister was very efficient, but she hadn't always been that way. Initially, she had average grades and wasn't outstanding in class. However, during one summer vacation while doing homework, she suddenly "got it".
After that, she directly became the top student in her class.
She then encouraged him to read many books, and eventually, after accumulating enough knowledge, he also reached this state.
This gave Houtarou some insight into Rokusuke's teaching method. His approach aimed to help students enter this state of understanding so they could then progress independently.
| Houtarou Oreki |
| Congratulations. |
| Studying will become easier now. |
He typed in response.
| Kei Karuizawa |
| Can we meet tonight? |
Her message came quickly.
Houtarou didn't respond immediately.
Then Kei sent another message.
| Kei Karuizawa |
| Even though I've got it, I want to study. I hope you can teach me. |
Houtarou: "..." .
Alright. He felt he could accommodate her request.
After having a study session with just the two of them, his conclusion was:
Gyarus apparently don't like studying very much.
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After this, on the afternoon of the 16th after school.
Houtarou was invited by Kikyō, or more precisely, by Yōsuke from Class C. They met at a café.
Yōsuke was a boy with light green hair and delicate features, known as "Everyone's Hirata".
He was also one of the people willing to maintain a classmate relationship and pay for information when Houtarou visited their class to sell intel on the first day of school.
He was a relatively self-disciplined and rational person.
According to Kikyō's observation, Yōsuke probably harbored something inside him, and his current good-guy behavior was all to compensate for whatever that was — like a pathological remedy.
This became evident during the Sports Festival. After enrollment, Yōsuke joined the soccer club, but to ease conflicts among classmates, he quit to maintain class harmony.
In other words, he put class matters first.
So his current action was...
"If it's about borrowing Points…" Houtarou paused, "It's probably not possible."
"I see…" Yōsuke's expression visibly showed disappointment.
"..."
Houtarou had just said this casually, but Yōsuke had actually come with the intention of borrowing money.
Perhaps he thought the students in his class had no Points left and hoped to get some relief funds.
Of course, it's also possible that he discovered that although his classmates had no Points left, they still had money for food. This wasn't borrowed money, so they might have been subsidized by students from other classes.
And relief from other classes isn't really relief, but... espionage, right? So he finally discovered that the students in the class had changed?
Houtarou doubted the presence of spies would bother Yōsuke, since his priority was maintaining relationships among classmates. He would likely overlook students becoming spies just to secure meals.
Simply put, unlike his classmates, Yōsuke probably considered class promotion entirely secondary.
Kikyō's class had clearly produced several talented individuals. This explained why Sae initially wanted Suzune to lead the class — it contained quite a few problematic students.
Through Kei's information network, Houtarou had learned that beyond Kikyō's list of troublemakers, there was also Chiaki Matsushita, who typically blended in well with the others.
Kei suggested that the girl might be concealing her true abilities, both academic and athletic.
This observation came from someone familiar with keeping up appearances. Kei understood that maintaining a certain image required consistent behavior, allowing her to notice subtle details about Chiaki.
From this angle, Suzune's class was truly remarkable.
Yet if they couldn't remove the numerous students holding them back, the class had no chance of advancing.
And Houtarou knew Yōsuke hadn't come merely to borrow money.
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