Houtarou Oreki Classroom of the Elite

Finding nothing of interest on the artificial island, Rokusuke swam back at 12:20 AM.

Houtarou went to meet him.

Though Rokusuke could have managed on his own — even climbing up from the anchor by himself — he deserved some attention after swimming nearly ten kilometers round trip to verify the situation.

By this time, Houtarou had already escorted Suzune back to the dormitory. While her physical condition had improved today, he would need to make contact with her again tomorrow.

His newly acquired Restoration Ability could only restore one day's worth of physical condition.

Even as he met with Rokusuke, his mind was occupied with these other concerns.

Upon returning to his room, he found dozens of messages from Kushida.

| Kikyō Kushida — Little Devil |

| Wasn't Horikita sick? |

| Why is her condition so good? It makes it seem like I was lying about her being sick. |

| She seems to hate me even more now. |

| Damn it. |

Hmm. It was almost 1 AM, and Kushida was still flooding his inbox with complaints.

Even when unwell, Suzune would push herself forward without admitting it. She already knew exams were approaching.

The school wouldn't keep circling the ship around the island unless they planned exams for tomorrow. And Suzune's stubbornness wouldn't allow her to be absent.

By 5 AM, the ship's course changed, finally advancing toward the island to reduce the distance.

⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟

At 8:30 AM, Class A students were dining at the upscale restaurant Ester.

"You don't seem to have much energy—"

Houtarou sat at a round table, facing a girl with purple hair.

Class A students clustered together in a peculiar way. Though sharing the restaurant, Arisu's faction and Kōhei's faction sat separately with an empty row of seats between them.

Despite Arisu declaring her faction should follow Kōhei's commands, they strongly resisted taking orders from him.

Noticing the remaining empty seats, several boys from Class D arrived.

Houtarou recognized one — Haruki Yamauchi, whom he'd met during enrollment while selling materials. He was known for spreading malicious rumors about Airi.

Thanks to Masayoshi's information, Houtarou identified the other Class D students.

The group consisted of four: Haruki; Kanji Ike, who had camping experience; Ken Sudō, an athletic but hot-tempered student who'd helped with the plan against Kakeru before being branded a coward; and Kiyotaka Ayanokōji, a good-looking student with an understated presence.

Upon entering, they immediately realized they'd walked into Class A territory.

"M-maybe we should leave—" Kanji, showing good instincts, felt uncomfortable under the Class A students' stares.

"We can just order something casual!" Haruki raised his hand, "Excuse me, we'd like to order here! Order!"

He looked around for service, ignoring proper etiquette — customers should be seated first and wait for their server.

Their behavior stood out in this refined establishment.

A green-haired boy near the front stood up.

"Well, well, if it isn't some Class D students?" This was Yahiko, Kōhei's loyal follower.

He claimed extensive experience as a class representative and was known for his achievements.

However—

"This isn't a place for trash like you." His contempt for Class D was obvious.

Having pooled Points to buy school rules on day one and earned a special 200 Class Points bonus, he took immense pride in his Class A status. Their excellent performance over the past two months had created a 660-Point lead over Class B, further fueling his pride.

He found Class D students' presence distasteful and their behavior disruptive.

"What gives you the right—" Haruki protested.

"This place isn't yours."

"It absolutely is!" Ken, the tall student, stepped forward, "The ship's services are all free — no one said this area belongs to Class A."

"So you're Sudō—" Yahiko sneered, "You're good at sports, but weren't you the only one who failed the exam last month? Getting the test paper and still failing, I'm quite surprised. For people like you, eating Western food... a McDonald's would be more suitable—"

"Yahiko!"

Kōhei quickly cut him off.

"Although we're no longer being evaluated on behavior standards, we are Class A students, carefully selected to be here. Please maintain the dignity and character of Class A students. However—" He turned to the Class D students, "How about you learn some manners? To dine here, sit down quietly and wait for the server to come to you."

"How can you be like this?" Haruki protested several times.

After realizing they were surrounded by Class A students, he left with Kanji and the others, deciding to go somewhere else.

"..."

It seemed Kōhei was having difficulty too, with his follower showing such lack of restraint.

Houtarou observed the scene thoughtfully.

He considered that if there was ever an expulsion exam, Yahiko would make an excellent candidate. This was likely something all Class A students would agree with.

Since the newcomers were all Class D boys, including Kiyotaka, he paid attention briefly.

After noting that Kiyotaka was merely following Ken and Haruki's lead, Houtarou shifted his focus to the tall girl with purple hair sitting across from him.

He noticed Masumi typing in a phone diary.

"It's for Arisu." She said irritably, "That person is such a pain. She can't come herself but demands that I record everything I eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

Though complaining, her fingers never stopped typing.

So Arisu was this meticulous? Or rather, she was training this naive girl.

But being controlled down to daily meals — shouldn't you show some resistance, Masumi?

Watching this scene, Houtarou recalled his Precognitive Dream where, ten years later, this puppy had become Arisu's driver.

"Say, do you dislike Sakayanagi?" He asked.

"Hm?" The tall girl with purple hair and three hairpins looked up sharply, "Are you recording?"

"..."

It was clear Masumi harbored some dissatisfaction with the little girl.

"I think sometimes it's better to accept your fate." Houtarou took a sip of his free cola, "You can't outplay her."

"What do you mean 'accept fate'?" Masumi bristled, "Once my academic ability catches up, I'll be just like other Class A students. Then I won't need her anymore."

"Is that so? But Sakayanagi holds your weakness in her hands." He said.

"Heh—" She scoffed, then quietly started drinking her milk tea.

Exposing her weakness to Arisu had been foolish enough — she wouldn't reveal anything to Houtarou's side either. That would only leave her at the mercy of two masters.

Besides, she'd been following him for several days, yet he hadn't involved her in any money-making schemes.

Before she could finish her thought, Kōhei approached.

"Oreki-kun." He said, "About this exam... Yesterday I noticed the ship moving in a uniform circular motion around the island. Now that we've gotten closer, I think the exam venue might be related to the island. Perhaps we could observe and gather some advance intelligence?"

He had texted Houtarou about this yesterday, but with the ship too far from the island then, nothing could be done.

Now, however, they were less than 2,000 — possibly only 1,500 — meters from the island and still approaching.

They might be able to gather intelligence from the deck.

"About that…" Houtarou said, "I don't think there's much point anymore. Last night, Rokusuke Kōenji from Class D already swam to the island. Any intelligence we gather now won't match what they already have."

What the hell? What was the point of recording anything then?

Kōhei had an existential crisis.

And had Rokusuke from Class D really just casually swum thousands of meters?

"But there's no need to worry." Houtarou continued, "Or rather, the fact that Kōenji is from Class D works in our favor."

"You mean—" Kōhei suddenly realized.

He had been worried about the exam scores this time — if they didn't handle it well, Class A's advantage would significantly shrink.

⍟⍟⍟

T/N: If you want more chapters like this, check out my Patreon! Take a look at my other translations too, you might like them!

For just $1 you can access all the extra content, and descriptive images, costs only $2!

That's it and happy reading! (-‿◦)

https://www.patreon.com/mrblackwing