After receiving a phone call last night from the student now sitting before him, the one who called himself “Axel End,” Tomonari Mashima had felt an uneasy premonition.
And now, in this very moment, that premonition had come true.
The thin sheet of paper in his hand felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.
A single glance was enough for Tomonari Mashima to understand exactly what Axel End was trying to do.
And, in equal measure, he was utterly stunned.
“To accomplish this much in just a single day—perhaps even less than a day?
And on top of that, planning to sell this intelligence to other classes in exchange for personal points…
Did he realize the situation Class D was in and decide to take a different road?”
If he’d chosen this road, that would be one thing.
But if his opponent intended to carry the entire class upward with him, then this year’s Class D might truly be something else entirely.
There was no time now to indulge his amazement.
Under the gaze of more than forty pairs of eyes, he gave his answer, objectively and fairly.
“Everything contained in this document is true.
I can represent the school as the witness and guarantor of this transaction.”
As a teacher, he had to do things by the book.
Upon hearing Tomonari Mashima’s reply, Arisu Sakayanagi’s expression turned thoughtful, and then she quickly pressed with a question—
“Mashima-sensei, are you saying that the contents of this document are very important to us?”
“That is something you’ll have to judge for yourselves.”
He neither confirmed nor denied it.
But Tomonari Mashima spoke this way partly because he trusted that, given Class A’s overall caliber, they should be able to arrive at the correct judgment—and partly because there was a note of a test in it.
There was no helping it.
This year’s Class D was probably genuinely different.
While they weren’t yet capable of directly threatening Class A, the waters this year truly ran deeper than before, and it would test just how strong Class A’s students really were.
“All I can say is that my valuation of this document is two million personal points…
End-kun, I trust you have no objection to that price?”
“None.
But as Mashima-sensei said, everyone’s time is tight—especially on our end, since we still intend to go sell the document to Class B.
So please, everyone in Class A, decide quickly whether or not you’ll make the deal.”
Axel End shrugged to show he had no objection, then simply spread both hands open and began applying pressure.
Suzune Horikita stood off to the side, saying nothing.
Though her face wore its usual cold expression, the shock in her heart was anything but small.
Because she had already grasped what Axel End was thinking.
“Oh my~ This End-kun has really handed us quite the difficult problem.
After receiving the answer, Arisu Sakayanagi’s face broke into a deeply intriguing smile.
Her words drew the attention of the entire room, because the reality was just as she’d said: two million points, split evenly, meant each and every person would have to put up fifty thousand points to gather the full amount.
But the moment some among them were unwilling, then either the deal fell through, or the remaining people would have to pay an extra sum to cover the shortfall.
“But with Mashima-sensei as guarantor, I personally am willing to put up these points.”
Arisu Sakayanagi tilted her head slightly, resting her other hand atop her cane as well, and then, without the slightest change in her tone, voiced a stirring conjecture.
“However, End-kun deliberately brought up Class B.
May I take it to mean that if we don’t buy this document you’re offering, but Class B is willing to buy it, then our Class A’s position might be seized by Class B?”
Axel End smiled and lightly stroked his palm, using the gesture in place of applause.
As for an answer?
There was no need.
With a mind like Arisu Sakayanagi’s—one that hadn’t yet turned into a love brain—she could piece together roughly seven or eight parts of the truth from the hints he’d deliberately dropped.
“If Class A’s position can be seized, that means the school has ranked the four classes, and that ranking must carry meaning—add to that Mashima-sensei’s attitude…”
Arisu Sakayanagi’s gaze remained fixed on Axel End’s face the whole time, and midway through she deliberately paused.
“I think Class A is perhaps the most special class of all, and that over the next three years, all four classes will compete against one another with Class A as their goal.”
“So then, why would we compete for Class A’s position?
There is only one answer—benefit.
That is, the graduation privileges the school has publicly promised.
And yet those privileges can only be enjoyed by graduating from Class A—only this explanation makes everything reasonable.”
“End-kun, am I right?”
Right?
That’s right, that’s right.
Axel End was still lightly stroking his palm, a polite yet faintly awkward smile hanging on his face.
“Sakayanagi-san’s analysis and reasoning are quite interesting, but all I can say is that the answers are all in the document.
If you want to know, you need only pay the points.”
“The price remains a firm two million points.
If any of you can’t bear to part with it, then we’ll change course for Class B.
I believe they’ll be more than willing to trade two million for a bright future.”
Kōhei Katsuragi, who had been observing all this from the sidelines, could no longer sit still.
Because time was limited, he could only run through Arisu Sakayanagi’s analysis in his head at the fastest possible speed—but in essence, he too agreed with this conjecture.
“I concur with Sakayanagi’s view.
We can’t gamble on that one-in-a-million possibility, and if we bet wrong, the cost might be far more than just two million!”
Once a first person and then a second had stepped forward to lead the analysis of the pros and cons and render their judgment, one by one the other students finally expressed their willingness to put up the money.
After confirming that all the points had been collected, Tomonari Mashima, with a complicated look on his face, transferred them to Axel End.
Class A had been played.
Because Arisu Sakayanagi had already guessed the correct answer—but in the end it was only a guess, and ultimately they still had to spend money to buy peace of mind.
Fortunately, this document was genuinely worth two million points, and even if Axel End later sold the document to Class B as well, the threat to Class A would be greatly diminished.
At the very least, they had secured their ranking for the first month, sparing this year’s Class A from becoming a laughingstock.
“A pleasure doing business~ I look forward to our next transaction~”
After getting the money, Axel End decisively called out to Suzune Horikita beside him to get ready for the next stop—but he hadn’t forgotten another matter of importance.
[Task Issued: Obtain Axel End’s Contact Information]
[Upon completion of the quest, you will receive Points, which can be exchanged for items in the Exchange Store]
[Failing the quest will incur a penalty: Fake a fall to the ground, then, with a pitiful expression and tone, say to Axel End: “Big brother, I fell down…”]
What was the meaning of this?
Arisu Sakayanagi looked at the pale-blue, semi-transparent panel that had appeared in her field of vision without any warning, and couldn’t help but narrow her eyes.
Her first reaction and instinct told her that this thing was the doing of that boy called End, but unfortunately there was no direct evidence to prove it.
“It seems the others can’t see this thing, so it’s aimed at me?”
She covertly observed the reactions of the others; they were all basically waiting for Tomonari Mashima to tell them what the contents of the document actually were.
Arisu Sakayanagi thought it over and didn’t refuse the quest either, because she had indeed developed a bit of interest in Axel End.
Asking for contact information was hardly anything strange.
“End-kun, please wait a moment.
Would it be convenient to exchange contact information?
Because I think this surely won’t be the last transaction between us—isn’t that so?”
“It would be my pleasure, my lovely little lady.”
Naturally, Axel End wouldn’t refuse a quest he himself had issued—even though he really did want to see the look on Arisu Sakayanagi’s face when he rejected her outright.
But he was rather pressed for time at the moment, so he could only look for a similar opportunity later.
The exchange was quickly completed.
The next stop was Class B.
My sincere thanks to all the readers who tipped and kept following along.
I’ve been thinking, and I’d like to take a tally of when everyone would prefer to see updates.
For daytime, comment 1.
For evening, comment 2.
You can also leave a specific time.