"Senpaku, I am Sakamoto. What brings you here?"

Horikita Suzune's cold eyes were also fixed on Sakamoto.

Kikyo Kushida also subconsciously held her breath, her purplish-red eyes scanning back and forth between Sakamoto and Honami Ichinose.

All eyes were focused on Sakamoto's calm face.

Sakamoto's expression remained unchanged.

He met Ichinose Honami's frank and sharp gaze; his eyes behind his black-rimmed glasses were calm and composed, without the slightest hesitation or concealment.

"School rules prohibit working, but they also make one thing clear: points can be used to buy everything."

Sakamoto's answer was clear, direct, and frank.

There was no beating around the bush, no evasiveness.

He directly brought the unspoken rule of "points purchase" into the open.

This frank answer caused a flicker of shock to cross Ichinose Honami's face.

She clearly hadn't expected Sakamoto to admit it so readily and without any hesitation.

Immediately afterwards, a cold yet urgent voice rang out.

"Well then, Sakamoto-kun."

Horikita Suzune spoke.

"By doing this, aren't you essentially 'buying' job opportunities with points? It's like paying to work. What's the point of this behavior?"

Her words came almost immediately after Ichinose Honami's follow-up question.

Seeing that Ichinose asked the question so directly and received a frank answer from Sakamoto,

Horikita Suzune's suppressed, intense curiosity about the "rules" and Sakamoto himself broke through the cold barrier.

She broke her silence and chose to follow Ichinose Honami's approach—going straight to the point.

She was eager to know what purpose was hidden behind this person, who even her revered older brother, Horikita Manabu, had in mind, spending points to do something that seemed like a "loss."

Sakamoto turned his gaze to Horikita Suzune, calmly meeting her piercing eyes.

His expression remained unchanged.

"The significance lies in observation."

He paused slightly, his gaze seemingly piercing through the noise of the coffee shop, directed towards a more distant place.

"I simply wanted to observe this school."

Observe? Observe what? What's there to observe about this school?

This answer is even more vague and perplexing than the previous "points purchase" answer.

While everyone was still processing Sakamoto's ambiguous words—

"So, Sakamoto-kun."

A flat, emotionless voice rang out, like a depth charge dropped on a calm surface of water.

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji put down his coffee cup, his eyes, calm as an abyss, staring straight at Sakamoto.

His voice wasn't loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly:

"Have you already observed the truth about this school?"

This statement disrupted the situation once again.

Honami Ichinose, Suzune Horikita, and Kikyo Kushida all focused their attention on Ayanokouji's expressionless face.

What did he say? The truth? What truth?

Ayanokouji seemed to realize only then that he had uttered something "startling," and his voice returned to its usual calm, as if the previous remark had been made casually:

"Ah, nothing."

However, this casual "it's nothing" acted as a catalyst, instantly freezing the atmosphere around the small round table.

For the first time, Sakamoto's gaze truly fell on Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's face.

The gaze behind the black-rimmed glasses seemed to see right through this "lone wolf" from Class D.

Ayanokouji calmly met Sakamoto's gaze, his eyes still unfathomable.

Their gazes met and collided silently in the air, as if they were engaged in an invisible battle.

The surrounding air seemed to freeze, and the aroma of coffee seemed to have lost its warmth.

Kikyo Kushida was completely dumbfounded.

Looking at the strange atmosphere before her, and at the silent gaze between Sakamoto and Ayanokouji, she felt a sense of bewilderment and powerlessness, as if she were completely excluded.

This is not the kind of "making friends" she wanted at all!

The silence lasted for several seconds, but felt like an eternity.

Finally, it was Sakamoto who broke the suffocating silence.

He slowly withdrew his gaze from Ayanokouji's face, picked up the coffee cup again, and remained elegant and composed.

He tilted his head slightly and glanced at the wall clock in the coffee shop. Its chime was clear and calm, carrying a perfectly timed reminder:

"Dear students, it's getting late. There are still fifteen minutes before afternoon class."

He put down his coffee cup, stood up smoothly, and gave a slight bow to the four people at the table:

"If there are no other important matters, I shall take my leave now. We may continue our conversation another time."

After saying that, he didn't linger, turned around and strode away, his figure quickly disappearing at the entrance of the coffee shop.

The four people left around the small round table, each lost in their own thoughts, fell into an awkward and complicated silence.

Kikyo Kushida stared at the cold coffee in front of her, her purplish-red eyes filled with disappointment and frustration.

A meticulously planned "friendship" gathering has completely turned into an "interrogation" and "riddler exchange" centered around Sakamoto.

Not only did she fail to get closer to Horikita, she also felt like a complete outsider.

It’s uncomfortable, it’s so uncomfortable!

Honami Ichinose and Suzune Horikita both fell into deep thought.

Ichinose developed a deeper desire to explore the hidden rules of the school.

Horikita Suzune felt as if she were very close to the core secret of this school, yet separated by an impenetrable fog.

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji silently picked up the cup of black coffee that had long since gone cold and took a sip without any expression.

The bitter liquid slid down his throat, and his gaze calmly fell in the direction where Sakamoto had disappeared.

Sakamoto, this "legendary freshman" of Class A, seems to be even more interesting than he expected.

First Year Enrollment: Chapter 041: Sakamoto Being Spy

During lunch break,

Classroom for Grade 1, Class A.

The students were either discussing their lessons in hushed tones or diligently organizing their notes, creating a focused and efficient atmosphere.

Sakayanagi Arisu sat quietly in the back row, her short silver hair falling over her shoulders, gleaming softly in the sunlight.

The first week of school has passed.

She already knew the situation in Class A very well.

How to integrate this class?

For Sakayanagi Arisu, this was not a difficult task.

With her family background, intelligence, and innate sense of control,

She is confident that she can make Class A the sharpest sword in the High School of Education.

The elite qualities of the students in Class A... these are all usable pieces.

However, the "legendary freshman" who loomed over Class A like a shadow—Sakamoto,

But it became the biggest variable in her plan.

He disrupted all the pre-set rhythms.

He had no intention of leading, yet he unwittingly became the focus of everyone's attention.

He was a loner, yet with his unbelievable behavior and absolute strength, he left an indelible mark on everyone's hearts.

Her actions in the class paled in comparison to Sakamoto's.

He doesn't need to do anything deliberately; his mere existence is enough to make the entire Class A revolve around him.

This feeling,

This made Sakayanagi feel a strange, inexplicable irritation.

She needs a breakthrough.

We need to understand Sakamoto's weaknesses and find a way to break through his isolated position.

So, she used the chess piece from Class C—Long Yuanxiang.

That guy who was loitering around outside Class A at the beginning of the semester.

She had assumed that Ryuen was just a clever but easily manipulated brute, and that she could use a little information about "class points" as bait to get him to obediently test Sakamoto.

However, Longyuan's performance greatly exceeded her expectations.

This guy was not controlled by his own methods.

Instead, he used an iron fist to integrate the entire Class C within just one week.

That chaotic and undisciplined class, under his control, was surprisingly showing a dangerous cohesion.

What surprised her even more was that Longyuan seemed... not content with merely being a "spy".

He has his own ambitions and calculations, and there are even faint signs that he is deviating from the plan.

This piece... is a bit tricky.

However, a chess piece is still just a chess piece.

As long as he can still bring valuable intelligence.

My phone vibrated slightly in my pocket.

Sakayanagi Arisu gracefully took out her phone, and the screen lit up.

A short message from Long Yuanxiang caught my eye:

[We have intelligence.]

She put away her phone and slowly stood up.

Her short silver hair swayed gently with her movements.

She picked up the delicate cane leaning against the table, silently walked through the classroom, and headed for the door.

Her figure disappeared at the classroom door without attracting much attention.

The elites of Class A were already used to this silver-haired young lady's unconventional style.

Sakayanagi Arisu walked leisurely down the slightly empty corridor during the lunch break, leaning on her cane.

As she walked to the entrance of that familiar, slightly dimly lit corridor,

A tall figure was already waiting there.

Ryuen Sho.

With his hands in his pockets and his back against the cold wall, his gaze pierced through the dim light of the corridor and landed precisely on Sakayanagi Arisu.

A smug smile, as if he had everything under control, played on the corners of his mouth.

Without pausing, Sakayanagi Arisu walked straight to a spot a few steps in front of Ryuen, leaning on her cane.

"So, the leader of Class C, Ryuen-kun."

Sakayanagi Arisu's voice is soft and pleasant.