Houtarou Oreki Classroom of the Elite

With Class D unable to advance, Sae had no reason to keep Suzune working for her anymore.

So the lone girl returned to his control.

This would also show Sae that this year's Class D was beyond hope, regardless of her efforts. She had already wasted three years leading a previous Class D. The next three years would be equally futile.

This would crush her ambitions while completing the system task.

Moreover, since Class D couldn't rise to Class B, she wouldn't be able to seek help from the student concealing their true abilities.

After all, this problem student remained hidden while watching Class D lose 1,000 Class Points in a single month.

So stay hidden, then...

This would work in Class A's favor.

Houtarou thought to himself.

This plan would accomplish not just two goals — but four at once.

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As lunch break ended, Houtarou reassured Suzune before they returned to their respective classrooms.

When he arrived at Class A, he found most students already present.

Something felt different about the classroom atmosphere.

Then he noticed — the girl who previously sat to his right had moved elsewhere.

His new neighbor was a delicate-looking girl with straight silver hair. A slender black cane rested beside her desk. She had a petite frame that gave her an endearing appearance.

This was Arisu Sakayanagi, known as "Princess".

During lunch break, she and several classmates had rearranged their seats. Behind Arisu now sat Masumi, recognizable by her purple hair and twin clips.

But the changes weren't limited to just these two.

Masayoshi now occupied the seat in front of Arisu's row, with Hayato at the very front. All of them were members of her faction.

Meanwhile, Kōhei had relocated near the front door, along with his loyal supporter Yahiko. The rest of his small group — which Houtarou had briefly been part of—had also moved to that area.

The division between the Kōhei faction and Arisu faction was now physically apparent.

While Houtarou's own seat remained unchanged, different students now surrounded him — ones who had previously shown him goodwill.

Did this mean the students in his row were now part of his faction?

"..."

Even with Class D harboring a hidden talent, Class A was already dividing into factions barely into their second month?

Yet this development made sense. After seeing today's Class Point rankings, no one worried about other classes.

Class A held a commanding lead — even Class B lagged 660 Points behind. Their teacher Tomonari had mentioned that this month's written exam, starting on the 24th, would only offer a maximum reward of 100 Points.

Class A's position at the top seemed secure.

With the first month's behavior evaluation exam complete, students felt free to act more naturally, no longer needing to maintain appearances.

It was only natural that faction members would prefer to distance themselves from rival groups.

When Tomonari arrived for the afternoon's first class, his troubled expression revealed that he'd noticed the change. Though Class A maintained its excellence—even surpassing previous years—clear divisions had emerged.

Only time would tell if this development would help or harm Class A.

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After the first class ended, Houtarou stretched both arms upward, having spent the period sitting rigidly in his hard chair.

His new seat neighbor was no ordinary classmate — it was the silver-haired Princess Sakayanagi.

"It seems Oreki-kun has gotten involved with some troublesome people." Arisu remarked as she set down her note-taking pen.

"Why do you say that?"

"Even though I'm sitting right next to you, you remained completely focused during class and never once looked my way." She continued, "Could it be that you've become entangled with troublesome people and lost interest in everything else?"

"Heh—" He almost laughed.

Because you're cute? Was he supposed to stare at her during class? Besides, wasn't she the one watching him?

Arisu was indeed the most beautiful girl he'd encountered so far. Like the girls in Class D, Class A's female students possessed their own distinct charm.

Her presence beside him during class was distracting, which was precisely why he'd deliberately avoided looking at his seat neighbor.

The distraction would reduce his study efficiency. Houtarou considered changing seats — having such an attractive girl beside him made it difficult to concentrate.

But since he still hoped to use Arisu as a tool to lead Class A, there was no need to damage their relationship. He dismissed the thought.

"Sakayanagi-san wants to ask about my million-point transfer, right?" He said, "I went to the student council during lunch break but couldn't trace who made the transfer."

"Does that concern you?" Arisu gripped her pen again.

"Somewhat." Houtarou said, resting his cheek on his left hand, "I can't determine their intentions or identity, but I know one thing — if they have some troublesome task they want me to handle..."

He paused briefly, then continued.

"I would refuse outright and return the points."

"So you feel no gratitude for their million-point transfer?" Arisu seemed intrigued by his attitude.

"I wouldn't say that. Their initiative in transferring the points, without making any demands, helped me when I needed it. I might even add extra when returning them. But I won't be short on points much longer." His eyes remained crystal clear.

The plan for Suzune to work without pay under Sae's arrangement to help Class D rise to Class B had failed.

The clever but frugal teacher wouldn't pay, so naturally, the plan collapsed. They were back to square one.

Since neither Sae nor Miyabi had sufficient funds, Houtarou's only path to 4 million Points was extracting them from the second-year students during this exam. Once complete, he would reach his 20 million target.

Main Task completed, supernatural ability reward obtained. Then he could exchange the Points with Manabu for cash.

By then, he'd be far from broke. The Points would become real money — he'd get both the supernatural ability and the cash!

His mood lightened at the thought.

"..." Arisu.

The conversation hit a wall. Even she couldn't grasp his situation.

She knew he was gathering 20 million Points for self-preservation, yet here he was, claiming he'd have it soon?

Amassing such an impossible sum in their first month of school — what an intriguing person.

Yet it was unfortunate.

"What a shame." Arisu said, "If only you were in another class."

"Hm?"

"Your abilities fascinate me. If you were in another class, I'd want to crush you."

"..."

She wanted to defeat him just because he showed promise? Well, wasn't she quite the yandere.

Reflecting on the girls he'd met, Houtarou noted that Airi had stalker tendencies, Masumi was submissive M, Suzune was direct, and Kikyō had her obsessions. By that measure, only Kei seemed pure...

Ah. Actually, he couldn't say "pure".

After all, Arisu had declared marriage the grave of love. Kei might end up being the most restrictive of them all.

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After school ended for the day, Houtarou packed up his textbooks and left the classroom with his usual efficiency.

A message from Kikyō was waiting for him — she wanted to meet and share what she'd learned.

True to her reputation as the little angel, she had used her exceptional social skills to gather more intelligence than most Class A students could manage. And she'd done it all in less than a lunch break.

So once again, the three of them gathered.

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"Horikita Suzune's behavior seemed off all afternoon — she became more rigid, as if something had happened. So, what occurred while I was gathering information, Oreki-kun~?"

Kikyō: ❥(^_-)——

Remarkably, over just one afternoon, Kikyō had become even more endearing. Even her words seemed to carry cute emoticons.

Was it really appropriate to use Suzune's given name so casually in front of her? She could at least pretend to call her "Horikita-san."

This behavior revealed that during lunch break, when Suzune had confronted Kikyō about feigning friendliness despite disliking her, it had angered the petite girl. Now she was being deliberately unrestrained.

Kikyō must have felt confident about the valuable information she'd gathered, making her somewhat reckless.

Considering this, she wasn't particularly shrewd. Despite her cuteness, she seemed easily manipulated.

Houtarou revised his assessment of Kikyō accordingly.

"She encountered some minor difficulties, but nothing that concerns you, Kushida-san." He said, "And it's not something you can help with."

"Oh." Her expression dimmed briefly before she proceeded with her report.

As he'd mentioned, the written exam in the second month after enrollment was standard procedure, using the previous year's exam papers.

According to the upperclassmen, these second-month exam papers were even older — reportedly unchanged for ten years.

This posed an obvious issue: textbooks had been updated multiple times over the decade, creating a misalignment between current materials and old exam questions.

However, in this school where everything revolved around ability and Points, anything could be purchased.

Naturally, this included last year's exam papers. Perhaps the school's continued use of the same papers was intentional?

When the third-year Class D senior revealed this information, her true intention was to sell the exam papers to Kikyō. The price: 50,000 Points — 10,000 per subject.

The cost was moderate — neither exorbitant nor insignificant.

With numerous potential buyers and many upperclassmen possessing copies from their first year, the price was flexible.

"Buying and selling exam papers is actually a hidden tradition here." Kikyō added, "Our seniors did the same. Even when we take our exams, upper years have simultaneous tests using old questions too."

"Did you purchase these five exam papers?" Houtarou asked.

"No, you only asked me to gather information." she replied sweetly.

This showed a degree of cunning on Kikyō's part.

Had she bought the exam papers, they would have been hers to control.

But lacking knowledge of his intentions, she'd feared acting independently might lead to misunderstandings.

What if he stopped including her in his plans? After all, Houtarou had proposed 4 million Points, and her 5% cut would be 200,000 — an incredibly tempting sum.

Yet despite getting reliable information from the senior student, who could guarantee there wouldn't be changes this year?

When she approached the third-year Class D senior whose Class Points had dropped to zero, she initially faced mockery. They were well aware of the notorious situation with first-year Class D and Class A.

Both classes had made school history — Class A for their exceptional performance, and Class D for dropping to zero Points in their very first month.

Therefore, buying and distributing exam papers to classmates carried significant risk.

This explained why the little angel chose to only report information rather than take initiative. Her careful consideration of matters affecting her own interests revealed a calculating nature beneath her sweet exterior.

How genuine indeed, angel Kikyō.

Her investigation had also uncovered details about Houtarou's million-Point transfer. While some senior students maintained substantial Point balances, even Class A seniors weren't particularly wealthy. Between the school's many Point-spending opportunities and disciplinary deductions, most students couldn't accumulate much.

According to the third-year Class D senior, individual students rarely held more than 3 million Points.

She offered to continue investigating which seniors possessed over a million Points and report back with their details.

"That's not very important anymore." Houtarou said.

"..." Kikyō.

Oh. Alright.

Though disappointed at being unable to show off more information, she maintained her sweet expression.

"I'll transfer 100,000 Points to you," Houtarou instructed. "Use it to buy the exam papers, and with the remainder, see what you need to spend to build connections with the third-year seniors."

"What do you mean?" Kikyō blinked cutely.

"This school holds special exams monthly, so we might need more information from the upperclassmen." He explained, "Especially during the 'regular' exams. The school's provision of point cards suggests they permit certain alternative methods. When you have time, buy a blank point card from the electronics store in the shopping district. Transfer any excess Points that might seem suspicious for a Class D student to protect yourself."

Oh. This hadn't occurred to her.

She had indeed lent substantial Points to her classmates today, though in scattered amounts. If they discovered she still had significant Points remaining, it could cause problems.

They might say, "What, Kushida, you found a way to make money, and after we all lent you Points before, you're keeping it to yourself?"

Such accusations would create troublesome situations. She definitely needed to protect herself.

So Kikyō took immediate action, reaching out to that struggling third-year Class D senior from lunch to establish connections and purchase the exam papers.

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"So, what should we do?" Suzune looked over after the irritating girl left.

Her demeanor during afternoon classes had been noticeably different, as Kikyō pointed out. Even now during their three-person meeting, she wasn't her usual self — her vocabulary book lay untouched.

Though she listened attentively, her hands were clasped together and she bit her lip, as if anxiously waiting for something.

Even the least observant person could notice her unease.

This was particularly striking given Suzune's typically composed nature.

But this meant that you, lone girl, have a vulnerability in your heart. Once your sibling relationship with the student council president comes to light, you'll crumble instantly.

Houtarou thought to himself.

"We'll wait for Kushida's actions," he said. "Let her buy the exam papers from the senpai and distribute them to Class D. She can earn some money by informing other classes about the school's tacit acceptance of exam paper trading. That will serve as her compensation. Then we'll take action around the 14th."

"It's the 1st now — why wait so long?" Suzune asked, puzzled.

Though his plan made sense to her, she questioned the extended timeline between actions.

"Do you think Class D students will continue studying once they have the exam papers?" Houtarou asked calmly.

"They won't." Suzune replied without hesitation, "Once they get the papers, they'll just desperately memorize the answers. Though that doesn't sit right with me."

As a diligent student with good grades, she believed in earning her results. The idea of simply memorizing exam papers beforehand felt wrong.

This wouldn't truly test their acquired knowledge.

"Then, when Class D students stop studying and the exam paper trading gets exposed, forcing the school to create new questions — do you think Chabashira-sensei will remain composed?" Houtarou added.

Eh?

???

Eh?

!

Suzune, who had been downcast, suddenly looked up at him, her eyes wide with shock.

Houtarou continued calmly.

"What do you think Chabashira-sensei will do then? Or rather, what can she do? Will she still have you running errands? Failing means expulsion, and half of Class D will be expelled." He said ,"Her mental state will shatter."

"Are you some kind of devil?" Suzune pressed her left hand to her chest, evaluating him earnestly.

Is that so?

Actually, he wasn't really a devil. This was simply an efficient way to strike at Sae.

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