Houtarou Oreki Classroom of the Elite

Houtarou headed to the Student Council.

Each time he visited, he encountered different people. Today when he opened the door, he saw his classmate Kōhei.

He also finally encountered Manabu at the Student Council.

"Oreki-kun—" Kōhei called out as he passed through the Student Council hallway carrying documents.

As Secretary of the Student Council, he worked under Akane's guidance. He learned quickly and had significantly lightened her workload, proving himself a capable assistant.

Kōhei was well aware that he had purchased his Secretary position. Though 1,000,000 Points was steep for a freshman, becoming a Student Council member was undoubtedly valuable.

The position not only elevated one's class standing but also granted legitimate access to advance information, providing an edge in class competition.

The Student Council President position, however, was the most coveted.

Standing at the apex of all students, the President wielded significant power. After joining the Council, Kōhei discovered something crucial: the President had authority over special monthly exams across all three grades.

While the President couldn't access exam content, they could adjust the school's reward Evaluation Scores for each exam.

For example, in routine special exams, the President could set reward or penalty Points anywhere between 50 and 200 for each grade's on-site exam.

This meant they could exercise personal bias. If the President's class held a substantial lead over lower classes, they could use their authority strategically.

By setting low Point values for exams, they could ensure that even high-performing lower classes gained minimal Points. This way, they could preserve their class's advantage.

This arrangement perfectly suited Kōhei's conservative approach to maintaining Class A's position.

Conversely, if the President's class fell significantly behind, they could set maximum Point values, allowing their class to catch up over several exams.

The possibilities were endless.

The school maintained a hands-off approach, granting the Student Council President this authority to significantly influence the school's class competition.

It's tempting, isn't it? Why don't you become Student Council President yourself?

This was pure power politics.

Kōhei sighed internally at this realization. Though he lacked confidence, even the small possibility of competing for the presidency in the next year or two was thrilling.

He felt grateful to Houtarou for bringing him into the Council.

Yet he found it puzzling why the guy would pass up such an advantageous opportunity.

Similarly perplexing was Arisu, who had immediately handed her Student Council Treasurer position to Hayato after receiving Manabu's nomination.

Their reasoning remained a mystery to him.

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"Did something happen?" Kōhei hurried to greet Houtarou as he arrived at the Student Council office.

Houtarou was unique — he had joined his faction's chat group but maintained a close relationship with Arisu, remaining firmly neutral.

Kōhei hoped that someone with Houtarou's keen insight would help maintain Class A's advantage through their third year, ensuring everyone's bright future.

He was eager to win his support.

"I'm here to see President Horikita." Houtarou said, "I need him to take me to the Chairman about something."

"Oh." Kōhei nodded.

The Chairman?? That was an even higher authority...

What business could he have there?

Though Kōhei wasn't trying to ride coattails, he knew Houtarou's popularity and out-of-the-box thinking could benefit anyone in his orbit.

Just yesterday, Houtarou's forum post about discarded exam papers had raised serious concerns. Everyone realized the danger: if students were buying old exams, what if someone leaked the questions?

It would be disastrous!

That's why Kōhei had been keeping a close eye on his senpai Miyabi today.

What new scheme had Houtarou devised now?

But meeting the Chairman... Kōhei trembled just facing the Student Council President — he couldn't imagine approaching the Chairman.

He retreated to focus on his secretarial duties.

"You're here." Manabu looked up from his documents when he heard the voice.

He held a pen in his right hand, apparently making annotations.

"It's fine, finish your documents first." Houtarou said, "My matter isn't urgent."

But Manabu set aside his work.

"Since you're not in a hurry, how about helping me process some work?" He said, "I need to complete this amount today."

Manabu stacked the unprocessed documents into a pile. It measured 17 centimeters high.

The sight was intimidating — but the implications were even more so.

Present in the Student Council office were Akane, Kōhei, and Class 2-B's Vice President Ikuto.

Miyabi, after his demotion, had been reduced to an ordinary Student Council Treasurer, while Arisu's faction had placed Hayato in another Treasurer position, making him Miyabi's junior.

The blond guy was out teaching, leaving the Student Council office sparsely populated today.

Upon hearing this, all the council members looked up in surprise.

What alarming suggestion was Manabu making?

These documents required Student Council President clearance — yet he wanted to share them with a kōhai?

The implications were staggering: either Houtarou possessed exceptional capabilities, or Manabu was grooming him for the presidency.

Both possibilities were unsettling.

Ikuto pretended to focus on his work while processing this development.

As a former Class A student who had lost his position to Miyabi last semester — and who remained under Miyabi's influence — his situation was delicate.

Manabu had brought him into the Student Council partly to counterbalance Miyabi, but he hadn't proven effective in that role.

Now that Miyabi's council position had fallen below his own, some classmates were suggesting challenging him to reclaim Class A's standing.

This had rekindled Ikuto's ambitions. As Vice President to Manabu's President, he still had a shot at the presidency.

But was Manabu now favoring a first-year student instead? Would Houtarou even accept?

Ikuto recalled that this kōhai had already declined the Secretary position now held by Kōhei. Perhaps that indicated his likely response.

"That won't be necessary." Houtarou said firmly, "I'm not the Student Council President."

A clear rejection.

Ikuto remained silent.

He exhaled quietly, relieved that this junior showed no interest in the presidency.

"Hehe—" Manabu's slight smile suggested understanding.

He seemed to have figured out why Houtarou avoided Student Council involvement.

The position was simply too demanding for someone who disliked unnecessary effort.

According to Kōhei, Houtarou never did homework during class or brought textbooks home. Yet when he organized study sessions and administered tests, Houtarou achieved perfect scores.

Clearly, this was someone who valued maximum efficiency with minimal effort.

Houtarou's lack of interest in the Student Council presidency stemmed from the position's demanding workload.

Had there been someone to share the responsibilities, he might have considered it.

In the meantime, he had accumulated 20 million Points, likely obtained from Miyabi the previous day.

Manabu seemed to understand the purpose behind Houtarou's request to meet the Chairman.

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