Exactly one month had passed since enrolling at the Advanced Nurturing High School.
On the morning of May 1st, the classroom of Class 1-B was filled with an unprecedentedly uneasy atmosphere.
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"...Hey, how many points did you get this month?"
"I only got 65,000 points... Last month we got exactly 100,000, so why did it decrease?"
"Seriously? Sa here. Sothing's definitely wrong with this..."
The students stared at their terminals anxiously, murmuring to one another.
It was understandable. Believing the school's explanation that "points are distributed on the first day of every month," most students had mistaken the 100,000 points they received in April for a fixed monthly salary and spent it all on shopping and entertainnt.
(...Naturally. This past month wasn't exactly free of chatting during class, sleeping, or being late.)
Sitting in my usual seat by the window in the back corner—the absolute "Demon King Loner Zone"—I calmly pieced everything together in my head.
Just as I had suspected from Hoshinomiya-sensei's explanation on the first day, the point distribution at this school wasn't fixed inco. It was a system that evaluated student behavior and deducted points on a class-wide basis.
Slide.
The classroom door opened, and Chie Hoshinomiya entered. She wore the sa fluffy, carefree smile as always, but there was a strangely cold undertone to it today.
"Okay everyone, take your seats~ Let's begin the first horoom of May~"
The mont she stood at the podium, one student couldn't hold himself back any longer and stood up.
"S-Sensei! Our points decreased this month! Weren't we supposed to get 100,000 every month!?"
At his desperate cry, Hoshinomiya chuckled and began writing on the blackboard with chalk.
"I never once said you'd receive 100,000 every month, you know? You all received points appropriate to your evaluation this month. ...It's just that compared to last month, they 'decreased a little.'"
What she wrote on the board were the current class points.
Class A: 940 CP
Class B: 650 CP
Class C: 490 CP
Class D: 0 CP
"...Huh?"
"650...? And Class D is at zero...?"
The classroom fell silent.
Hoshinomiya clapped her hands once.
"This school evaluates student ability and behavior as 'Class Points,' or CP. One CP converts into 100 private points distributed to each student every month. ...Class B currently has 650 CP. Which ans each student received 65,000 points this month."
A deduction of roughly 35,000 points in just one month.
The realization that their classroom attitude and daily behavior directly affected their living expenses drained the color from everyone's faces.
"And another thing. This school's biggest selling point—the '100% guaranteed desired future path.' ...That only applies to the students of the class with the highest Class Points upon graduation: Class A. Students below Class A don't receive that privilege."
"N-No way...! You never told us that on the first day!"
"No, I didn't. But I did say this school asures students by rit, didn't I? This school is built entirely around ritocracy. ...And one more thing."
Then Hoshinomiya dropped an even crueler truth.
"At the end of this month's midterms, any student who gets even a single failing grade... will be imdiately expelled!"
"""...!!"""
A hopeless system. Restrictions on future opportunities. And failing grades equaling expulsion.
The students of Class B, who had only recently been enjoying their carefree new school lives, completely froze in silence as the harsh reality crashed down on them.
(Hmm. Expulsion for failing grades, huh. With my Aizen specs, getting anything but full marks would be harder. More importantly... isn't it about ti?)
Ignoring the despair around , I gazed out the window and began counting down internally.
Today was May 1st.
The day the "contract" I made with the school would finally be fulfilled.
"—Okay! That's enough scary talk!"
Suddenly switching to a cheerful tone, Hoshinomiya dispelled the suffocating atmosphere.
"Now that May's started, I want everyone to work hard with a fresh mindset~ But today, we actually have a new friend joining this class!"
"...Huh? A new friend...?"
"A transfer student?"
Amid the murmurs, Hoshinomiya turned toward the classroom door.
"You can co in now~!"
Slowly, the door opened.
The one who appeared was a petite, delicate girl with pale silver hair that shimred like moonlight.
Clutching her bag tightly with both hands, she stood nervously beside the podium.
—Shiina Hiyori.
"U-Um... Nice to et you. Starting today, I'll be joining Class B. My na is Shiina Hiyori. ...Please take care of ."
As Hiyori bowed deeply, sighs of admiration spread among the boys in class.
"Whoa...!"
"She's super cute..."
But at the sa ti, confused voices rose up.
"Um, Sensei... Isn't she from Class C?"
"That's right. Shiina-san is transferring from Class C. Starting today, she'll be part of Class B, so everyone get along with her, okay?"
That only deepened the confusion.
They had just been told that only Class A students received guaranteed futures. In a system like that, the idea of freely transferring classes seed absurd.
"Sensei! Is transferring classes even possible!?"
"It is. ...Because at this school, everything can be bought with points."
Hoshinomiya smiled brightly before dropping an outrageous bombshell.
"The right to transfer classes is set at 20 million points in the system. ...This ti, Aizen-kun paid the school all 20 million points upfront in order to transfer Shiina-san into Class B~!"
"""...Huh?"""
Ti in the classroom completely stopped.
Everyone's gaze slowly turned—from Hiyori at the podium to , lounging elegantly by the window in the back corner.
"20 million!?"
"In just one month!? How!?"
"No, forget that—does this an that Demon King Aizen bought this cute girl for 20 million!?"
The sheer amount of information overloaded everyone's brains.
The point system. The terror of expulsion. And the insane truth that "Sousuke Aizen" had sohow amassed 20 million points in one month and used it to bring a single girl to his side.
"Well then, I have a staff eting, so I'm off~! Shiina-san's seat is... ah, the empty one next to Aizen-kun. Go ahead and sit there~!"
Leaving the class in utter chaos, Hoshinomiya breezed out like a storm.
What remained behind was a completely confused Class B—and Hiyori, standing awkwardly at the front.
"...Um."
The one who broke the silence was Honami Ichinose.
Suppressing her own shock, she walked toward Hiyori.
"You're Shiina-san, right? ...Welco to Class B. I know this must all be overwhelming, but if there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask anything. ...I'm Honami Ichinose. Nice to et you."
"Ichinose-san... Yes, thank you very much. I appreciate your kindness."
Thanks to Ichinose's gentle words, the classroom atmosphere eased slightly.
But the mont Hiyori started walking toward the seat "next to Aizen," the students' expressions once again filled with pity and fear.
(She's really sitting next to that Demon King...?)
(If she was bought for 20 million points, doesn't that basically make her a slave...?)
(Poor girl... She must've been threatened into this...)
Everyone watched nervously as if expecting Hiyori to be swallowed by the Demon King's jaws.
Hiyori reached the seat beside , set down her bag, and smiled at like a blooming flower.
"...Sorry to keep you waiting, Sousuke-kun. Starting today, please take care of ."
(HIYORIIIIII!! WELCO!! You finally ca to sit beside !! At this point, my high school life is basically won already!! I'll greet her with the biggest smile ever—'Let's read books together every day!')
I slowly turned toward Hiyori and gave her a cold, arrogant smile worthy of an ultimate final boss.
"—Ah. Welco, Hiyori. ...From beside my throne, let us together witness the collapse of this insignificant miniature world from the best seats imaginable."
(WHYYYYY!? Why does it always co out like this!? My welcoming words turned into the speech of a Demon King planning world destruction!!)
The surrounding students gasped in horror.
"Eek...!"
"He really is sacrificing her...!"
"What does 'collapse of the miniature world' even an!? Is he planning to destroy the school!?"
—However.
The silver-haired angel sitting beside showed not even the slightest fear. Instead, she smiled happily and replied:
"Fufu. Yes, Sousuke-kun. ...From now on, we'll get to sit together in the best seats during class and breaks too."
"...Indeed. I shall ensure the scenery reflected within your pure eyes is worthy of them."
(Translation: Yep! Let's stay together from now on!)
And thus, while everyone else saw the terrifying conversation of "an all-powerful Demon King and the mysterious beauty serving him," the two of us continued peacefully chatting as ordinary book-loving friends.
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