After receiving the transa receipt from Hikaru, Ibuki immediately walked over to the gray-haired girl, seemingly seeking her opinion.

  "So this is how it is... the school's hidden rules…"

  Hiyori lowered her gaze, carefully iing the dot. She spoke softly, "It does have the official school seal. It shouldn't be fake."

  "The that mean they really know about the school's hidden rules? Why are they only telling us now?"

  Ibuki turo gre at the boy who still wore a posed smile. His smug I-have-everything-under-trol attitude annoyed her, makione particurly sharp.

  "Whely did you find out about the school's hidden rules?"

  "The date is right there, isn't it? There's no point dwelling on that now."

  Hikaru shook his head, calmly replying to Ibuki's questioning. "In any case, our proposal is simple: we're this information to you for one million private points. The value of these rules is signifit—you won't be making a loss."

  Theurned his gaze to the quiet and posed girl seated nearby.

  "And as for you, Hiyori-san… Since everyone in Css C seems to trust you, have you noticed anything unusual over the past few days since school started?"

  "Something unusual?"

  Hiyori lifted her head and looked at the two students from another css standing at the podium. Both were exceptionally attractive—Hikaru carried an air of unwavering fidence, as if nothing could shake him.

  "There are some minor things that have caught my attention."

  "Really?"

  As the current representative of Css C, Ibuki had personally witnessed Hiyori's outstanding academic abilities. She khat the girl was highly intelligent and trusted by many, including herself.

  "For example, this school has an unusually high number of security cameras. I noticed quite a few on my way to the library. It struck me as odd, but I assumed it was just a safety measure implemented by the school, so I didn't think too much about it."

  "Mm-hmm. And?" Hikaru nodded, signaling for her to tinue.

  "I also noticed that the school store offers a lot of free products—things like shampoo and body wash," Hiyori pced her hands on the desk and spoke at a steady pace. "I even sapercssman taking some. He seemed quite used to it."

  "There's something like that?"

  Ibuki furrowed her brows, thinking seriously. She then raised her voice to the rest of the css.

  "Has anyone else noticed anything unusual about the school? Now's the time to speak up—it's important."

  The moment she said this, a male student raised his hand.

  "Ibuki-san, I've noticed something."

  "Kaneda? What did you find?"

  "When I was shopping at the eleics store, I felt like I was being watched," Kaneda said, his expression slightly unfortable. "It was as if someone was following me…"

  "..."

  Hikaru had initially expected some useful information to further validate the existence of hidden rules and persuade Css C to accept the deal.

  But the moment Kaneda mentiohe feeling of being followed, Hikaru's lips twitched.

  He immediately uood what was happening. It robably one of his own cssmates from Css B, tasked with monit Css C, who had been spotted.

  Obviously, he couldn't admit to that. So, he decided to py dumb.

  "That's not really something we firm. Right now, the important thing is the school's hidden rules." Hikaru smoothly shifted the topic. "Hiyori-san, what do you think of this deal?"

  "I think it's reasonable."

  Hiyori turo Ibuki and calmly stated, "If we sider the patterns in how the school operates, the existence of hidden rules makes perfect sense."

  "When Sakagami-sensei expihe system at the start of the year, he mentiohat private points would be deposited into our ats on the first of each month. If it was always a ft 100,000 points, that wouldn't be a problem."

  "But I once saw a senior taking free supplies from the store. It was only the third day after school started. If everyone really receives 100,000 points every month, there's no way he would've run out so quickly."

  "So, I suspect the amount of private points deposited each month isn't fixed."

  Cp! Cp! Cp!

  Hikaru's eyes gleamed with admiration. He gestured for Iose to join him in appuse, aowledging Hiyori's sharp analysis.

  At the same time, he quietly activated the Stoalyzer and used it on the gray-haired girl.

  [Stoalyzer Activated.]

  [Shiina Hiyori Stock]

  Charater Information: A quiet, book-loving girl who enjoys spending time alone. Passionate about mystery novels. Has few friends and prefers minimal social iion. Highly perceptive and capable of notig things others overlook.

  Stock Pricrease Strategy: Establish a book-shariionship. Discuss detective o earn her personal trust.

  Stock Price Decrease Risk: Insult her favorite books, dispy a preference for flicts and petition, or attempt to manipute her thoughts.

  A literature girl, huh? Not bad.

  Since he enjoyed reading himself, getting closer to her wouldn't be too difficult.

  Hikaru mentally he information before tinuing.

  "Hiyori-san, your analysis is spot on. But the matter of private points ties directly into the hidden rules."

  Then, his gaze shifted back to Ibuki.

  "So, Ibuki-san… What do you think now?"

  "Hmph!"

  Seeing the smug smile on Hikaru's face, Ibuki felt an urge to punch him. She was certain he had set her up, and she had walked right into it.

  Still, after thinking it over seriously, she admitted the deal was reasonable.

  She uood the importance of knowing the rules. Being aware of them earlier rather than ter could only be beneficial.

  "What does everyone else think? I believe buying this information will be good for the css."

  The short-haired girl's gaze swept across the room. Although she had already made up her mind to accept the trade, she khat, as Css C's representative, she he approval of her cssmates. Otherwise, she'd end up like Ryuen—ruling aloh no real bag.

  "I agree to the trade. Splitting one million among us isn't too much."

  "Yeah, if Hiyori-san noticed something off about the school, it proves there really are hidden rules. I'll pay my share."

  "Same here. But what about Ryuen and the others? They're not here. Are we just c their share?"

  Someone poi the three empty seats, soundiant to pay extra.

  "Don't worry about it. We'll front the cost and make him pay us back ter."

  Ibuki waved off their s. With Yamada and herself here, she wasn't afraid of colleg from Ryuen ter.

  Seeing that Css C had agreed to the trade, Hikaru exged a quice with Iose. Both of them uood—their point recovery pn was nearly plete.

  "Alright then, please proceed with the transfers."

  Hiyori offered to cover a rger portion, expining that she rarely spent points since she spent most of her time in the library.

  "I pay more too. The three of them would o cover 75,000 points in total, so—"

  Before Ibuki could finish calg, Yamada suddenly spoke up.

  "My points. Divide in half."

  "Oh?"

  Hikaru turo look at the t Yamada. Despite his intimidating appeara was ued that he'd voluntarily offer his points to support the css.

  "Well, that settles it."

  Ibuki nodded. With Yamada, Hiyori, and herself each tributing 50,000 points, they could fully cover the missing amount without troubling the others.

  A few mier, Ibuki had collected the full one million private points. Unlike Css D, Css C's students hadn't recklessly spent their points over the past week, making the colle process smooth.

  "Who should I send the points to? You?" Ibuki shot Hikaru a gnce.

  "Of course not. Ibuki-san, please trahem to Iose—she's our css representative, after all."

  "Hmph."

  Although she had nothing but disdain for Hikaru, Ibuki found Iose likable and had no problem transferring the points to her.

  "Alright, the transfer is done. Now, tell us—what are the hidden rules?"

  ~~~

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