Kikyō left with a look of disgust.
Meanwhile, Houtarou continued his call with Arisu.
[I was in a good mood today, which is rare, so I made myself some tea. I was thinking about how you and your classmates' exams went.]
Her voice was adorable as always, though her choice of words remained peculiar.
[All the tea leaves sank to the bottom. Once would be fine, but it happened three times. It really makes one wonder. So, Oreki, what are you doing right now?]
Normally, floating tea leaves are considered a sign of good luck, and having them sink three times in a row was certainly cause for concern.
What Arisu really wanted to know, though, was what he was doing.
Houtarou: "..."
If they were dating, she would excel at detecting infidelity.
But he knew he hadn't confessed to anyone. Besides, he couldn't confess anyway.
His Precognitive Dream had shown him that Suzune would be his wife in ten years, while Arisu would be an ex-girlfriend — possibly someone he would have an affair with after marriage. Meanwhile, Kei's feelings for him had reached their peak.
The choice before him was truly troublesome.
He had to admit he was easily swayed by this little girl's cuteness. And Suzune, whom he had always regarded neutrally, had begun to affect him differently after glimpsing her underwear.
He had always viewed youth as gray, but after experiencing these supernatural events, everything had turned rose-colored. He could no longer distinguish his true love.
After some contemplation.
"The island exam is over." Houtarou said professionally, "Our class earned 471 Class Points. As payment, we must give Class D 800,000 Private Points monthly until graduation."
[Oh.]
Arisu seemed displeased that he was deflecting with business talk. One could imagine her pouting at her computer.
Nevertheless, she nodded slightly.
[That matches what I know.]
She revealed the reason for her call.
[After your exam ended, the Student Council updated the first-year bulletin board.]
Arisu had likely seen the current scores.
「Class A: 1801 Points」
「Class B: 970 Points」
「Class C: 490 Points」
「Class D: 730 Points」
This meant Class A gained 471 points, Class B 300 points, Class C 0 points, and Class D 650 points. Class D appeared to be the biggest winner.
But Arisu seemed unconcerned about this.
[So when are you coming back?]
This seemed to matter more to her.
"Probably still some time." Houtarou said, "From what I heard from the upperclassmen, the second and third years earned significant points and scores in this month's exam. Right now we can only see the scores — the interesting point values haven't appeared yet. I think there will be another exam before we return."
[I thought the same. That's why I called, but since you've already figured it out, I can only wish you good luck in battle.]
As before, since she couldn't participate in this exam, Arisu delegated her faction members' operational authority to him.
Soon after, Houtarou found messages from Sakayanagi's faction members on his phone. They confirmed receiving orders from Princess Sakayanagi and pledged to follow his command until returning to school.
However, after checking all the messages, he noticed that one key member — ranked second in the Sakayanagi faction — hadn't replied yet.
That was Masumi.
Had Arisu overlooked this? Or perhaps—
⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟
After ending the call with Arisu, Houtarou walked around the corner, paused for a moment, then looked back.
Behind him stood a tall girl with long purple hair. Despite her height and long legs, she preferred short socks over stockings or tights.
This was Masumi.
"Having fun following me?" He said.
The reason for her delayed response was simple — she was nearby and could report in person.
As she stepped out, he continued.
"As before, until we return to school for the exam, Kamuro-san, your allegiance belongs to me first. I may need your assistance."
Masumi listened with a cold expression. This meant more work ahead for the next exam.
Wait a minute.
"There's another exam?" She fixed him with a sharp look.
They had just finished the island exam this morning, and already there was another one?
Was this school truly so relentless, not giving students a moment to breathe?
"Did you think the school would let us enjoy such a luxury cruise ship for free?" Houtarou said, "If it was just for one exam, they could have used a regular boat to reach the island. That would have saved costs."
Ah. That made sense.
True, they attended this school without paying tuition and even received living expenses, albeit distributed through class competition. The school was undeniably wealthy.
But even with its wealth, the school still answered to the government and required fiscal funding. Allowing all students — whether from Class A or D — to enjoy the cruise ship's services seemed excessive without proper justification.
In other words, another exam.
Realizing this, Masumi's expression darkened.
"Don't make that face." Houtarou said, "From your gathered information, you know that third-year President Horikita earned 400 Class Points and substantial Private Points in this month's exam. The Class Points exam is finished. Now it's time to earn Private Points.
The second and third years both benefited from this exam, so we shouldn't miss this opportunity. To be precise, I'm not particularly interested in Class Points. It's the substantial Private Points I want to collect."
"No interest in Class A's Class Points." Masumi pondered.
Class D had made remarkable progress, surging by 650 points.
Due to their contract, Class A would now owe Class D 800,000 Private Points monthly.
Yet Masumi knew the truth — while Class D appeared to gain the most, it was mainly because Houtarou hadn't fully exercised his influence.
Having been under his control since enrollment, Masumi understood his capabilities perfectly. After all, on the first day of school, he'd managed to sell the school rules to Class D without hesitation.
Looking back, his decision to simply guide Kōhei and the others into an alliance with Class D's Rokusuke was uncharacteristically cautious.
"Still frowning?" Houtarou noticed her expression hadn't relaxed, "Don't you want to maintain Class A's position? Our Class Evaluation Score is now 1,801 points — a level only second-year Nagumo has achieved. Class B trails by more than 800 points, and based on what I know about President Horikita, we won't see any tests with such large point values coming up. Even if we keep losing special exams from now on, we'll maintain our Class A position this year. Besides, we won't lose anyway."
Oh. So Class A's position was secure.
That was quite reassuring for a Class A student.
Masumi nodded slightly.
But... wait.
⍟⍟⍟
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 $1.50 you can access all the extra content, and descriptive images, costs only $2!
That's it and happy reading! (-‿◦)
https://www.patreon.com/collection/827204