Shirogane had heard that voice before—back when the gym was clearing out, and a student was blocking the way.
"Move! Don't make me beat you up!"
It was something like that.
A voice that sounded rough and aggressive.
The other person was also a first-year student from Class C.
There hadn't been any self-introductions in class, but each student's name was written on their desk. Shirogane quickly recalled the name—
"That's Ryuen. Ryuen Kakeru."
At some point, Shiina had walked over.
"I don't know him personally, but I've heard of him. He's a well-known delinquent. Back in middle school, someone from my class got hurt by him."
"It seems like he enjoys beating people into submission."
"And now that he's in our class, things just got more complicated," Shiina said.
In other words, she was worried that Ryuen might bring his violent ways from middle school into this school.
Having someone like that in class—someone who believes in solving everything with violence—was definitely a headache.
"Do you know anything about Ryuen Kakeru?" Shirogane suddenly asked.
"Huh?"
Shiina blinked and clasped her hands together, looking a little confused.
Hadn't she just told Shirogane everything she knew?
Of course, Shirogane wasn't asking her.
[Ryuen is someone who believes in violence. He's basically impossible to tame.]
[Arrogant and full of himself, he rules Class C with an iron fist. Most students don't dare to resist him.]
[Using brute force to keep his class in line and underhanded tactics against other classes, he has led Class C to unprecedented success.]
Just as Shirogane thought, the narrator seemed to have access to some kind of intel.
But this information didn't seem to be about the present or the past. After all, Ryuen had just entered the school and hadn't established any control over his class yet.
Which meant… the narrator knew about future events?
After realizing that the narrator was aware of things that hadn't happened yet, Shirogane started thinking.
Could it be that this voice came from the future? Otherwise, how could it possibly know what would happen later?
But something like that should be impossible… Yet here he was, somehow bound to this strange narration system.
It already defied science.
"…" His thoughts were a mess.
"Shirogane?" Shiina's voice came from beside him, sounding a little concerned.
Concerned?
Yeah, that made sense.
If someone suddenly started talking to something invisible, anyone would be worried.
At this rate, it wouldn't just be Sakayanagi who thought he was crazy—Shiina would probably think so too.
Shirogane definitely didn't want to get expelled.
"I was just thinking," he said. "If Ryuen really uses violence to lead the class, how far can he take them?"
"How far?" Shiina Hiyori seemed curious.
From what they knew so far, the school gave every student 100,000 points per month. But Hiyori, like Shirogane, suspected that the amount wouldn't stay the same.
It was bound to decrease—if not next month, then the month after.
The school could simply announce a universal deduction.
But—
Hiyori felt that was unlikely.
One reason was…
How could the school possibly give their class the same benefits that top elites get—like getting into any university without an entrance exam or even getting special treatment when job hunting?
That just didn't make sense.
In their class, there were hardworking students like her and Shirogane, but there were also people like Ryuen, who used violence, and other delinquent boys and girls.
Hiyori didn't think the school would want to send all of these students out into society with special privileges. Graduates from Advanced Nurturing High School were expected to receive offers from many places and become future leaders in various fields.
But honestly… most of them didn't seem capable of that.
So there had to be some kind of system—a set of rules or tests—that would filter students out in the end.
And if some students were bound to be eliminated, then why did the school accept them in the first place?
As she thought about this, she heard Shirogane continue,
"I don't know much about the students in our class, but Ryuen should be able to bring them together through force."
"He could even make it so that only his voice matters in the class. And having a united class is important."
"Both the teachers and the student council president have said this school values strength above all. And the president even confirmed that the school offers benefits like guaranteed university admission and easy job placements for graduates, which means it must be true."
"But it's impossible for them to give that kind of privilege to everyone."
"Maybe, when graduation comes, students will have to compete for those benefits based on their abilities."
"And Sakagami-sensei mentioned that we will keep the same homeroom teacher and stay in the same class from first year to third year."
"That's clearly unusual."
"So I'm guessing that the students who get those special privileges in the end might be chosen based on their class as a whole."
"I don't think the school would accept so many students without a reason."
"If this school values strength above all, then aside from a student's individual ability, I think the school also expects students to grow through lessons, learning experiences, and challenges over these three years," Shirogane said.
Hmm.
Hiyori nodded.
She also thought the idea of selecting students based on their class as a unit seemed more reasonable.
At the same time—
She realized that although she had initially thought Shirogane was just easy to get along with, she now felt they actually had a lot in common.
Both of them were sharp thinkers who understood things quickly, making conversations smooth and effortless.
And in fact, Shirogane seemed even more analytical than she had expected.
For example—
She had assumed that having classmates like Ryuen and the delinquent students meant there was no hope for their class. But Shirogane was more open-minded. Even though many of their classmates had poor behavior, he still believed the school had expectations for them.
That's why she agreed with Shirogane's idea that the selection process might be based on entire classes.
And if the school really judged students by their class, then things could get interesting.
The school could easily control how much allowance students received, either increasing or decreasing it. But if the system was based on class performance while also keeping students from rebelling, then…
It was likely that their allowance was determined by their own achievements.
The stronger ones would get more. The weaker ones would get less.
And that seemed very possible.
Just now, she and Shirogane were at the supermarket and ended up finding some free items.
Even though everyone was given a lot of living expenses, why would there still be free things available?
Clearly.
If someone's ability is too weak, maybe... just maybe, they don't get much money.
"So what should we do now?" Shiina asked.
"Follow Ryuen," Shirogane said. "Ryuen values strength, and he just confirmed that points can be used as money. Naturally, he realizes that this school is different. A normal school wouldn't treat students this generously."
"So that means he's smart."
"He's very likely trying to figure out what's really going on at this school."
"Most people would investigate on their own, but Ryuen is probably different."
"My guess? He's looking for trouble with the upperclassmen," Shirogane continued. "And he'll likely use threats or violence to get information from them."
"So our job is to stop him..." Shiina said. But she quickly shook her head. "No, we're going to follow him and… listen in on the information he forces out of them?"
So basically, they were going to take advantage of Ryuen?
"This is complicated," Shirogane said. "But getting information about this school early is important. And if Ryuen goes too far—bullying upperclassmen as soon as he enrolls—then reporting him might get him expelled."
Oh.
Hiyori nodded slightly.
So the plan was to use Ryuen for free info and then get him kicked out?