Chapter 5 – Ibuki Mio

After dealing with Ryuen, Yukio naturally sat on Albert's desk, surveying the room. He saw Sakagami's approving gaze and the fearful eyes of his classmates.

This made Yukio shake his head: "Don't be so scared. In my view of life, there are only three kinds of people: allies, those who can be used, and enemies."

Hearing this, the students of Class C became even more frightened! Under Yukio's gaze, they forced out smiles, conveying a 'we're friendly, not your enemies' message.

Yukio nodded in satisfaction: "Haha, don't worry. After all, we're all in the same class, right? We're allies."

An eerie silence fell over the classroom again. Faced with Yukio's statement, the students exchanged glances, then nodded frantically in agreement.

"That's right," Yukio continued, turning to pat Ryuen's shoulder. "Since we're all allies, everyone should understand that everything I, or Ryuen, do is for everyone's good."

The students exchanged looks again, falling silent for the third time. 'For our good?' They didn't believe it, especially seeing Ryuen's waterlogged face slowly turning from swollen purple to pale.

"You don't think you can be a dictator, doing whatever you want, do you?" At this moment, another girl bravely stood up, facing Yukio directly.

Instantly, all attention shifted to her. Who was this brave girl, not afraid of being tortured by Yukio?

Yukio sized up the cold-faced girl. Not particularly tall or outstanding in build, but her blue hair and violet-blue eyes under it revealed a heroic demeanor.

Yukio saw deeper: she must be trained in martial arts, with evenly toned legs under her white pleated skirt, not an ounce of excess fat or frailty.

Her legs, perfectly straight and close together, wrapped in black knee-high socks, seemed to possess a certain explosive power, indicating leg strength training.

Since everyone had crowded to the edges of the classroom, Yukio couldn't identify her by the seating chart and asked, "Who are you?"

"Ibuki Mio," she replied, not like an ordinary girl. Ibuki boldly walked towards Yukio, like a warrior prepared for a desperate battle.

"That's enough," Yukio said, waving his hand dismissively. He was not in the mood to play with a little girl: "It seems, Ibuki, you haven't fully understood yet."

"Let me explain something to you all. Have you noticed that our first-year building's shoe rack area only has 160 lockers?"

This was a characteristic of Sakurajima schools, where students have separate indoor and outdoor shoes. Upon entering the building, they change into clean indoor shoes, and the number of shoe lockers equates to the number of students.

As for the first-year building, it's lavish enough to have its own building, with three different buildings for three grades.

After all, the school, jointly built by numerous departments and consortia in Sakurajima, occupies a vast area, far beyond an ordinary school.

"Huh?" Ibuki, almost within attack range, was baffled by this sudden shift to lockers.

Why does the number of lockers matter? What does it have to do with everyone? Even if Yukio wanted to avoid a fight, there should be a more reasonable excuse.

In contrast, Sakagami, who had been quietly standing aside, showed a hint of joy, realizing he had truly hit the jackpot with this new batch of students.

Albert and Ishizaki, like Ibuki, were confused. Ryuen, weakened, but still brazenly reclined on Ishizaki, mockingly said: "As expected, you don't understand this school at all."

"Could it be that only I and Yukio have figured it out?" Despite his weakness, Ryuen's words were filled with pride.

"What do you mean by that?" Unable to stand the cryptic conversation, Ibuki's brows furrowed, and her tone became more serious.

"Don't you get it?" Yukio sighed. This school is interesting, but the staff responsible for admissions seems a bit off: "Fixed at 160 lockers, which means..."

"Advanced Nurturing enrolls only 160 new students each year, which means a maximum of 480 students in the whole school every year."

"But here's the weird part. If every student receives 100,000 points each month, have you ever calculated how much that costs?"

"Hm?" At this point, Ibuki's mind was filled with zeros, but she couldn't quickly calculate the exact amount.

Ishizaki, Albert, and the rest of Class C momentarily forgot their fear, all eyes on Yukio: "What does that mean? 100,000 points a month, doesn't the school have to pay it?"

"No, they can't, right? Even if the school has this fixed expense, with so many consortia involved, it shouldn't be a problem, should it?"

Once it became related to their own interests, the students became much more alert, pushing aside their fear of Yukio and the other fighters, eagerly waiting for more detailed analysis.

"Forty-eight million," Yukio stated calmly. "And that's 48 million every month, nearly six billion a year."

The enormity of the figure left Ishizaki, Albert, and the other students in a daze, as they struggled to grasp the magnitude of the school's financial commitment.

"But it's important to note that we didn't have to pay any tuition fees when enrolling." This was one of the major attractions of Advanced Nurturing High School – tuition, accommodation, and meal expenses were all covered by the school, as per its external promotions.

"So, the school doesn't have any profit-making methods and can only operate normally with financial support from the consortia. Is this normal? Maybe this amount of money is insignificant to the consortia, but from a capitalistic standpoint, it's unlikely they would engage in such a loss-making venture."

"Or do you believe that each year, you can generate a wealth of six hundred million for the school as a return?"

At this point, the students of Class C seemed to grasp something. They were just first-year high school students, occasionally fantasizing about standing out but aware of their own limitations.

Maybe in the future, with long-term work, such a salary might be achievable, but now, as first-year students, it's impossible even to consider!

Some students turned pale, others were frightened, and sharp ones like Ibuki Mio immediately sought confirmation from their teacher: "Mr. Sakagami, is this true?"

"Hehe." Sakagami Kazuma, with a happy push of his glasses, smiled kindly: "More or less."

His simple response, confirming Yukio's analysis, plunged the students planning a shopping spree after the entrance ceremony into deep shock – it was an official confirmation!

Ryuen, comfortably leaning against Ishizaki, added: "So, don't naively think you can spend lavishly here."

"Isn't it better to have someone lead the class than to mess around on your own?"

"Then, what should we do?" Ibuki, initially looking for a quarrel, realized she was no match for Yukio or Ryuen.

Her momentum weakened, she asked hesitantly, voicing the concerns of other Class C students.

"It's simple," Yukio replied confidently, pointing to the camera blocked by the balloon: "Normally, classroom cameras are only used during exams, but Mr. Sakagami's use of a balloon to block it implies what?"

"It means the camera is always on. But what for? Surely no one's stealing desks and chairs, right? So, it must serve one purpose – to monitor students' behavior."

Gradually, the students of Class C grew more serious. With matters concerning themselves, no one could remain indifferent. Crowded at the edge of the classroom, they strained their ears, wishing they could return to their desks and take notes on Yukio's analysis.

Unnoticed by everyone, after the fear of violence and water torture, Yukio effortlessly established his absolute authority in Class C with just a simple logical analysis.

Noticing the change in everyone's attitude and growing respect, Yukio anticipated this outcome, continuing his analysis: "Why monitor student behavior?"

"The only reason I can think of is to decide rewards and punishments."

"I doubt it's for rewards. As I said earlier, 100,000 points per student per month is a huge expense. I lean more towards the idea that the monitoring is for punishment."

"In other words, the worse the performance, the fewer private points you might receive next month. Until we fully understand this school's specific rules, you'd better behave well."