After Ryuen learned that Class A had used their points to uncover the truth about the school and the details of this month's evaluation, he finally started taking things seriously.
He began frequently picking fights with Albert—the two-meter-tall, dark-skinned student in their class.
Shirogane understood. Ryuen was probably planning to defeat Albert in front of everyone.
Albert was the strongest and most physically intimidating student in the class. If he resorted to violence, most people wouldn't be able to handle it.
But what if Albert obeyed Ryuen?
Then there would be no need to beat everyone into submission—just winning one fight would be enough to establish dominance.
The problem was, defeating Albert wasn't easy.
Albert was mixed-race. He could understand Japanese but still preferred speaking English in daily conversations.
On top of that, he had trained in boxing, so the result was obvious.
After their agreed fight, Ryuen was absent from school the next day.
He only showed up in the afternoon on the third day, once again provoking Albert. Albert accepted another fight, and once again, Ryuen lost.
Logically, after back-to-back defeats, Ryuen should have given up.
But that's not what happened.
"Ryuen is seriously insane."
Soon, rumors like that started spreading.
During lunch break, Ryuen followed Albert to the cafeteria and attacked him while he was eating.
Then, during P.E., Ryuen followed Albert to the restroom—and even ambushed him while he was using the toilet.
In other words, he was willing to do whatever it took to make Albert submit.
And, in the end, it worked.
When the P.E. teacher announced free activity time, Ryuen excitedly dragged Albert away.
Unable to deal with the constant harassment, Albert chose to comply.
"Do you guys have P.E. right now too?"
Shirogane had also been given free time, but unlike most students, he was different.
He knew his own limits—his physical fitness and running were barely passable, but his coordination was terrible. While most students borrowed sports equipment and played games like tennis, volleyball, or table tennis...
Shirogane, with his lack of coordination, was actually worse than the average student in those areas.
So while everyone else went off to play, he chose to do something alone.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small English dictionary, about the size of half a palm.
That's right.
For his free activity, he had chosen—studying English.
But just as he was about to quietly start memorizing, he noticed a girl sitting alone in the shade at the edge of the field.
She was strikingly beautiful, with delicate features, elegant eyebrows, and long, silver-white hair. Her skin was pale—perhaps from not getting much exercise.
Unlike Class C, her classmates had yet to start their free activities.
They were still following the teacher's orders, running laps around the track.
And yet, there she was, sitting alone in the shade.
There could only be one reason—she must have had a physical condition that prevented her from joining them, so she had no choice but to stay put.
"Hm?"
The girl, who had been sitting quietly by herself, lifted her head.
"Oh, it's you, Shirogane," she said lazily. "I'm just waiting here, hoping to catch some overly sympathetic fool."
That was... a strange way to put it.
But she was probably talking about someone who would feel sorry for her and be willing to help.
"You know, right?" Sakayanagi Arisu continued. "Because of my condition, I can't take part in physical activities. Even in everyday life, while I can manage most things on my own, I still need a helper."
A helper.
That wouldn't just mean basic, visible assistance.
It could even include things like helping her bathe, fetching water, running errands—private matters like that.
"Haven't you already gathered some students around you?" Shirogane asked. "If you pick a girl from the same floor—"
"I'd rather have no one than someone unsuitable," Sakayanagi replied. "I need someone I find fitting."
Uh…
So she didn't fully trust the students who were already following her?
Her standards were really high.
"Do you have someone in mind?" Shirogane asked.
Setting aside the fact that they weren't even in the same class, even if they were, there was no way he could handle those private tasks for her.
Shirogane wasn't suited for that kind of job.
I mean, how was he supposed to help her bathe?
"Normally, I'd hire someone and pay them with points," Sakayanagi said.
Oh.
So she was planning to just throw money at the problem.
"But I don't think she's the type to accept just for money," Sakayanagi said. "So I've decided to take a different approach."
"Maybe I can even get it for free," she added.
Huh?
So she did have someone in mind after all.
And her way of putting it was a little shady—if offering money didn't work, was she just going to get the person to help for free?
Shirogane had heard people call Sakayanagi a little devil before.
And now, he could see why.
Still…
Sakayanagi wanted a personal assistant for daily life.
As she looked at him curiously, Shirogane turned around, pulled out a small notebook he always carried, and quickly jotted something down.
Was he studying even during PE class?
This time, she guessed wrong. Shirogane had been studying earlier, but right now, he was just having a conversation with the narration system.
"Will Sakayanagi Arisu find a suitable assistant?" he wrote.
[If you don't step in, she will.]
Huh?
That sounded a little odd. If he didn't step in? So that meant he actually could take Sakayanagi's future "free" assistant for himself?
"Is it someone I know?" Shirogane kept writing.
[Yes, you've already met her.]
Saying he had "seen her" was a bit too broad. After all, it was already the fifth day since school started, and even Shirogane had seen over 30 girls by now.
Though, he hadn't actually talked to most of them.
Wait.
Shirogane suddenly thought of someone.
"Are you talking about the girl with long purple hair I saw at the electronics store? The one with two hair clips?"
[She's added another hair clip recently,] the narration system responded.
That pretty much confirmed it—the girl Sakayanagi was looking for and the one Shirogane had noticed were the same person. She was that aloof, solitary-looking girl.
Shirogane also noticed that the teacher in charge of Class A's PE lesson had allowed the students to move freely. As the group spread out, he spotted a tall girl with long purple hair walking toward the shade of a tree. She seemed deep in thought, but halfway there, she suddenly looked up and noticed him watching.
To Shirogane's surprise, she froze for a moment—then immediately turned around and walked in the opposite direction.
"..."
That was definitely strange behavior.
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