Houtarou Oreki Classroom of the Elite

Suzune furrowed her brow.

She shook her head slightly, seeming to check her physical condition.

Houtarou knew this was the instant effect of the Restoration Ability — the heavy burden of the cold had immediately lifted from her body.

She felt it instantly, like experiencing a miracle.

"Hold my hand one more time." She said quickly.

She appeared to think holding his hand was the only reason for her body's sudden change. She wanted to verify.

"Oh." Houtarou feigned ignorance as he extended his hand.

"Never mind." But just as Suzune was about to reach out, she withdrew her hand.

Oh. He felt a twinge of disappointment.

〖 Beep! 〗

At that moment, Houtarou heard the familiar system prompt sound again.

However, this wasn't the usual explanation of supernatural abilities. Instead, it triggered a new Task.

〖 Congratulations, host has triggered a Side Task! 〗

〖 Choose one of two Tasks! 〗

〖 ① Expose Kakeru Ryūen's scheme and reveal the fake Class C discord he's orchestrating. 〗

〖 ② During the Island Exam, gain control and turn Class D into a new ATM! 〗

〖 Task Reward: Enhancement of Restoration Ability (Extending disease healing duration) 〗

〖 Task Duration: 8 Days 〗

〖 Task Punishment: When using Clairvoyance, eyes will become cross-eyed (Charm decreased by 20) 〗

"..."

Hmm... a new task.

Earlier in the cabin, Masayoshi's report had revealed that Class C used points to plant a spy within their ranks. They'd also discovered some Class C students opposed Kakeru.

This could be an opportunity to strike.

Though now he had to wonder — weren't Class C students quite loyal to Kakeru?

Or rather, Houtarou had never truly doubted Class C's unity. Someone capable of decisively terminating their store agreement couldn't possibly fail at uniting their students.

He considered task 2.

Taking control of Class D and turning them into an ATM aligned perfectly with his recent plans.

Everyone knew the quickest way to collect Points was directly from students — either by extracting their existing Points or through the monthly Private Points distributed by the school based on Class Points.

Either task would work.

But Task 2 appealed more to Houtarou. After all, Suzune, Kikyō, and Kei were all in Class D.

Most of the girls he was involved with belonged to Class D.

True, Class D was struggling. But gaining control would allow him to manipulate many things.

Using Class D as an ATM would help him collect Points to deal with that wealthy senior student — killing two birds with one stone.

The choice was clear.

And now—

"Yo—"

An irritating voice cut through the air.

"If it isn't Houtarou Oreki?"

The voice belonged to Kakeru, who appeared with his two-meter-tall follower, Albert.

"And hello beautiful, you're Suzune Horikita, right—" Kakeru's interest fixed on the lone girl as Albert quickly handed him his phone.

Being a top-tier beauty, Suzune often drew such attention.

Just as Kakeru raised his phone to take her photo—

"If you're looking for Kōenji, you'll have to wait a moment." Houtarou said, "I'll contact him to come over now."

"..."

At the mention of that most disliked name, Kakeru instantly lost interest and put his phone away.

At school, Houtarou had thoroughly outwitted him. The guy had colluded with that bastard Rokusuke from Class D to orchestrate a fighting incident, directly causing a loss of 800,000 Points. Add to that the over 2 million Points lost when his class fell for the store plan.

In total, Class C had paid Houtarou nearly 3 million Points.

Was this guy a money-eating monster?

Following Hiyori's suggestion, they shouldn't confront Class A head-on for now — or more precisely, they shouldn't make an enemy of Houtarou. Class A's current score was too high. Better to focus on collecting Points and earning Class Points.

Kakeru had to admit that this bastard's way of thinking was complex and full of traps. Getting close would only make it easier to be misled. Avoiding him was indeed the best strategy.

He walked to the side with Albert.

As sunset approached, more students gathered on deck, many ordering drinks from the servers. Kakeru was about to order one himself when—

"Ryūen!"

A blue-haired girl stormed out of the cabin to confront him.

"I can't accept your tyranny anymore! You started with violence from the beginning, and now—" She paused, "First you forbid us from contacting other classes, and now you're forcing everyone to get contact information from two students from other classes. I refuse!"

The short-haired girl was quite naive to reveal such information so openly.

On deck, not just Houtarou and Suzune but students from various classes watched the scene unfold. Many were beginning to notice how Class C students, who normally kept to themselves, had suddenly started approaching others after boarding the ship.

They'd assumed Class C was finally trying to be sociable, though some Class C students seemed oddly reluctant.

So this was the truth — Class C was under violent rule, following Kakeru's orders.

But what was his goal in collecting everyone's contact information?

"Ibuki, haven't you learned your lesson yet?" Kakeru calmly sipped his coffee.

"Hmph—" The short-haired girl, Mio Ibuki, launched a kick at him.

"Albert." Kakeru calmly called to his two-meter-tall bodyguard.

"Yes, boss." Albert's towering height and massive build created an intimidating presence.

Though a Class C student, he seemed more like a professional bodyguard.

"Albert, you've already been tamed...ugh—" Before Mio could finish, her body was thrown against the railing.

Despite her martial arts training, technique proved useless against raw power.

Bang!

Mio's back slammed hard against the deck railing.

"Ryūen! Stop your violent behavior!"

A pink-haired girl rushed over.

The commotion had drawn everyone's attention, including Class B students. After seeing Mio thrown, a Class B student had immediately informed Honami, bringing the justice-minded girl to the scene.

"Do you want to keep causing trouble for your class?" Honami said firmly, "Don't forget you already have a record with the student council from last time."

"Hehe... Ichinose." Kakeru finally stood up, "I'm just playing with my classmate, right, Albert?"

"Yes, boss!" Albert quickly turned around.

"Ibuki, resist if you want to." Kakeru said, "But next time you won't be so lucky!"

Without even touching his coffee, he turned and left.

Meanwhile, Honami and other Class B students rushed to check on Mio. The sound of her impact against the railing had been heard by everyone — she was clearly hurt.

"Are you okay? Let's go to the infirmary together. I explored the whole ship yesterday, so I know where it is." Honami said, crouching down.

"I'm fine—" Despite the gentle angel's concern, Mio remained stubborn, pulling herself up using the railing.

Gripping the rail tightly, she inched forward step by step.

"The competition at the bottom of Class C is quite ugly."

Several Class A students had gathered to watch the scene.

"If this is how Ryūen controls his class... it's truly despicable." Kōhei said, who had been notified about the deck incident by his classmates.

To everyone present, it was clear — Kakeru ruled through violence, forcing Class C students to follow his commands.

"However... there seem to be students in Class C who oppose his leadership." Yahiko mused beside him, "Since the exam scores are so valuable this time, if we're worried about Class B or C advancing, we should reach out to these dissidents. Contact those who resist Ryūen's rule and fragment Class C from within—"

"..." Kōhei crossed his arms and shook his head, "Let's not be hasty."

He was known for his measured approach.

"I saw Oreki earlier, so why don't we ask his opinion first... Eh?" He glanced toward the bar.

But neither Suzune nor Houtarou remained at their original positions.

⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟

Indeed, both had left their original positions.

With Suzune's health now recovered, they could begin taking action.

As she followed him, she appeared concerned about Mio's violent encounter earlier.

Previously, when they had Kikyō lure Class C students over, they had confirmed internal tensions with Kakeru. Those seeds of discord continued to smolder.

However.

"Don't be foolish." Houtarou analyzed, "After we fleeced Ryūen last time, when he willingly spent Private Points to protect Class Points — would he really let so many people witness him using violence?"

"Then you mean—" Suzune had caught on.

"Ryūen is probably planning something big. And—" He paused, "I can make use of this. Now then, Horikita-san, go find Chabashira-sensei. I need to confirm something."

"Confirm what?"

"Go find Chabashira-sensei and learn the details of when she failed to advance Class B to Class A. I need to verify if the school is really preventing Class D students from climbing up."

"Eh?" Suzune's eyes widened, "Would the school really make such a decision? And... why do you want to know these things?"

Why?

Of course, to gain control of Class D in this exam and turn them into his personal ATM.

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