"Contract?"
The moment the word was spoken, the entire room fell silent. Every student, regardless of class affiliation, perked up in interest. Even Class A, which had consistently refused to cooperate, couldn't ignore the implications.
In the real world, contracts can often be exploited through legal loopholes, provided you have a strong enough legal team.
But at Advanced Nurturing High School, contracts held absolute power—once signed, they were as binding as a life-or-death agreement. There was no room for trickery or loopholes.
Take Kure Ragna, for example. Through a contract, he had already amassed millions of personal points from Ryuen Kakeru.
The rules were set in stone—no manipulation, no word games. If it was written in black and white, it had to be followed.
"That's right. A contract," Ichinose confirmed, holding up a printed document before passing it to Manabe from Class D, signaling them to circulate it.
The pink-haired girl sighed. "To be honest, I drafted this last night, but I wasn't sure I'd use it. I wanted to resolve this through trust and communication, but seeing how things are going, this is the only way to ensure no one betrays us."
The contract itself was brief—barely five lines long. Once Class D finished reading, it was handed to Class B.
Kure Ragna accepted the paper from Manabe, while his two underlings sitting beside him remained indifferent. They had already entrusted their group's fate to him the night before, handing over their phones without hesitation.
"Let's see here…" Kure Ragna muttered as he scanned the contract. Kei Karuizawa, seated beside him, leaned in for a closer look.
The conditions were straightforward and blunt. The contract required Class C of the Rabbit Group to publicly reveal the identity of their preferential treatment student. In return, every signatory was bound to answer the exam questions within the allotted school timeframe.
If a signatory betrayed the group by submitting their answers early, the school would publicly disclose the traitor's identity, and every remaining Rabbit Group member would be compensated with 10 million personal points each.
A key detail was the school's anonymous protection system, designed to shield betrayers from private retaliation.
Normally, only the overall results of each group would be revealed, without naming individuals. However, this contract bypassed that safeguard entirely, forcing complete transparency.
"Not bad," Kure Ragna smirked. "I didn't expect this from you."
Ichinose's plan was surprisingly calculated. The contract essentially forced the betrayer to reveal themselves.
There were two main types of preferential treatment students:
1. Those who kept their status a secret from everyone, intending to pocket the 50 points for themselves.
2. Those whose group members knew their identity, agreeing to split the 50 points evenly in exchange for cooperation.
No matter which category they fell into, Ichinose's contract threw a wrench into their plans. If they craved points, revealing themselves would be the smarter choice—after all, 10 million points far outweighed 50.
And for those planning to share, even splitting 10 million among several members was a far better deal than the original arrangement.
In short, Ichinose had crafted a near-perfect strategy that aligned with her ideals—ensuring fairness and reducing conflict.
But the biggest problem remained: the contract only worked if everyone signed it. And that meant Class A, the most resistant group, was now the biggest obstacle.
Kure Ragna glanced at them before flicking the contract in their direction. "Want to take a look? It's pretty harmless."
"Hmph." Machida remained silent for a moment before letting out a soft chuckle. A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips as he motioned with his hand. "Fine, I'll take a look."
"Glad to hear it," Kure Ragna quipped, handing it over.
At the same time, Toimura and Yukimura, seated beside him, leaned in and whispered.
"What do you think?"
"Can we sign this?"
Kure Ragna nodded without hesitation. "Yeah, I've read through it carefully. The terms are solid. You can sign."
"Great!" Yukimura exhaled deeply, visibly relieved. His excitement was almost tangible—as if he could already see the points floating before him.
Toimura was more composed but still appeared satisfied. After all, refusing free points would be ridiculous.
Moments later, Machida set the contract down, a knowing grin playing on his face. "Ichinose, you're quite the strategist. The contract states that the preferential treatment's identity will be revealed, but it doesn't guarantee the information will be accurate, does it?"
A ripple of uncertainty spread across Class D.
"Wait… is that true?"
"Wouldn't that make the whole thing pointless?"
Ichinose, however, remained unfazed, smiling as she replied, "I knew you'd bring that up, Machida-san. But how do you prove a text message?"
Machida narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"
"The messages sent by the school are read-only," she explained. "They can't be edited or hidden in any way. That means if someone presents their message as proof, it has to be authentic."
A hushed murmur spread through the room as Morishige Takuro scratched his chin thoughtfully. "That's actually a solid point. This contract… might not be such a bad idea."
"Morishige!" Machida's voice sharpened. "Don't forget Katsuragi-san's strategy. You may align with the Sakayanagi faction, but this exam falls under Katsuragi-san's jurisdiction. What happens if things go south?"
Morishige hesitated, suddenly at a loss for words.
Just like that, the biggest stumbling block had finally revealed itself.
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