The knife sliced effortlessly through the steak on the plate. Ryuen Kakeru didn't even look up, his attention fixed entirely on the motion of his hands.
Behind him stood the burly Albert, wearing his signature black sunglasses. He was completely motionless, like an expensive bodyguard carved from stone.
"Ryuen-san, we've been sending people to tail and harass Class A every day. Ken Sudo from Class D is also getting riled up by our provocations, but…"
Standing in front of him, Daichi Ishizaki kept his head lowered as he timidly reported Class C's current activities to Ryuen.
Unlike Masayoshi Hashimoto from Class A, who acted as a lackey by choice, Ishizaki was a subordinate who had been beaten into obedience.
"But?" Ryuen speared a piece of steak and placed it in his mouth, signaling Ishizaki to continue.
Class C only needed to follow orders, but he didn't mind hearing what Ishizaki had to say.
"Ryuen-san, I just don't get why we're only tracking Class A. According to the rankings, Class B is still above us."
Before entering this school, Ishizaki had been a delinquent who simply drifted with the tide.
He didn't resent Ryuen for beating him up; in fact, he acknowledged him as the boss.
Right now, he honestly felt like he was giving heartfelt advice. Maximum loyalty.
Ryuen glanced at his brainless subordinate and explained patiently.
"Class A is full of pacifists. If you get caught tailing them, they'll just scold you a little. If I sent you to track Class B instead, you'd get beaten to death on the spot."
Before coming up with the stalking strategy, Ryuen had carefully observed all the first-year classes.
Only after collecting intel on the other three classes did he boldly execute his two-pronged plan.
On one side, he rotated classmates into Kaneda's study group. On the other, he rotated teams to continually harass Class A.
In his eyes, Class A was far too gentle. They wouldn't lash out violently, making them the easiest target.
By using most of Class C to stalk and pressure them, he would eventually wear Class A down until they were too exhausted to study. Once they reached their limit, he would squeeze them for a massive amount of their points.
Class B, meanwhile, was split into two factions—radical and defensive. Although those factions constantly fought internally, if he interfered carelessly…
Those same factions would immediately unite against the external enemy.
They might even put a bounty on his head, targeting him as the leader of Class C. Whichever faction took him down would take full control of Class B.
So there was absolutely no reason to provoke Class B. Better to let them tear each other apart.
As for Class D, their situation was even worse than his own. They had no points to take. Targeting them would give nothing in return.
However… Ryuen had no objections to making the mess that was Class D even messier.
The catalyst for that was Class D's famous hothead, Ken Sudo.
Just as Ishizaki was about to ask more questions, Ryuen cut him off. "Don't ask what you don't need to know."
"Oh…" Hearing that, Ishizaki kept quiet.
Turning back to the ceramic plate on the table, Ryuen lifted his knife and fork again, gesturing lightly with them.
"So… how big of a slice should I carve out of Class A?"
Even if Class A had spent all their points during the first month, the 96,000 points distributed to each student this month would add up to something terrifying.
---
"Ayanokoji-kun, you know very well there's no such thing as a free lunch."
Suzune Horikita, who had paid for Kiyotaka Ayanokoji's luxurious eel set meal, finally revealed her true intentions.
Ayanokoji, who had been cornered and manipulated by Horikita, spoke in his usual emotionless tone."I haven't started eating yet. If you want, I can return it."
Picking up a leaf from her vegetable set, a sharp glint flashed in Horikita's fox-like eyes.
"Sorry, we don't do refunds here."
After speaking with Chabashira-sensei in the staff room and seeing her deskmate's report card…
Though she didn't want to admit it, Horikita had recognized Ayanokoji's "ability."
And now, she couldn't wait to drag this loner into her plans.
One person couldn't lift Class D from last place all the way to Class A. She needed tools.
Ayanokoji would be the first.
Ayanokoji quietly ate another spoonful of rice, making his stance clear.
Very good.
Seeing Ayanokoji cooperate so smoothly, Horikita felt even more satisfied with her new tool.
"Ayanokoji-kun, I need you to persuade Haruki Yamauchi, Kanji Ike, and Ken Sudo to join the study group immediately."
"The midterms are getting closer. I won't allow those three to drag the class down." Horikita pushed insistently.
The three weakest students in Class D truly annoyed her.
Ken Sudo at least had athletic talent, but the other two…
Horikita saw absolutely nothing redeeming about them.
Of the Seven Deadly Sins—Pride, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, Greed, Gluttony, Lust—the three of them combined had all of them except maybe Gluttony.
Their Lust disgusted her the most. They had perverted minds but zero courage, only capable of trash-talking behind people's backs.
Especially Haruki Yamauchi. After getting slapped around by Class A's Katsuragi Ren several times, Horikita thought he would behave for at least a while.
As expected, she had overestimated him. After stopping his gossip about Sakura Airi, who had left earlier, the trio simply regrouped and began trash-talking other girls instead.
Thinking about this, Horikita glanced at Ayanokoji in disbelief.
Why does this guy hang out with them?
"Horikita-san, I feel like you're thinking something rude." Ayanokoji commented calmly, still eating.
"Please don't change the subject, Ayanokoji-kun." Horikita refused to take the bait and stressed the purpose of having lunch together again.
This eel rice wasn't cheap. For someone as frugal as Horikita, her wallet had suffered a deep wound.
They say you need to spend money to make money. Now that she had spent it, if she didn't get results, she might really stab Ayanokoji to death with her compass.
"I understand." Finishing his meal, Ayanokoji picked up his empty tray and parted ways with Horikita.
Who should I ask to convince those three idiots?
As he thought about it, the image of a girl with short, tea-colored hair surfaced in his mind.