I'm in a real religion, why are all the people who confess to me girls?

If it were Tianyin, they would have already called on everyone to give up.

Anyway, she can freeload a meal from Sakayanagi.

Logically speaking, it would be quite difficult for Ichinose to unite Class D under such circumstances, so it's strange that she says she can get her hands on such a tool.

Based on a lack of information, the most likely scenario for Amane is that someone wants to use Ichinose's method to obtain this item, and is very confident that their class can get it. They then use Ichinose and Amane's relationship to give Ichinose some points to help them.

Thinking about it that way, it does make sense.

No one in the same grade should have such confidence.

Could it be an upperclassman? Shouldn't upperclassmen be very concerned about this prop? Or... um.

Tianyin came up with a disgusting idea: the other party would use an item to exchange for her points, and then sell the exchanged points back to her. By switching things around, Tianyin ended up spending real money to buy a worthless item.

No way, really? Would anyone really take advantage of her? Does she look like the kind of person who isn't smart?

"Sorry, I'm not interested in this item for now; ten million points is too high."

Tianyin immediately rejected this seemingly unreliable deal.

Ichinose's expression changed; clearly, Amane's refusal was unexpected.

"Huh? But... this item is worth 20 million points if it were exchanged for its equivalent value! I can sell such a valuable item for only 10 million points now, which will save you half of your points, Tianyin."

Ichinose's voice carried a hint of urgency, and Amane judged that the commission offered by the other party must be substantial, otherwise Ichinose wouldn't be working so hard.

"That's true, but I don't need to move up a class. To be honest, my fate is already decided, and my future is unlikely to change much. All I need to do is enjoy campus life. What does it matter to me who's in Class A? As for prestigious schools or companies, they'd be happy to just have my name on their resumes. There's no need for the school to write a recommendation letter."

Amane's words were quite hurtful. Coming from a working-class family like Ichinose's, and with a rather dire economic situation, Ichinose's biggest dream was to get a high-paying job after graduation. With her grades, getting into a university wouldn't have been difficult, but for the sake of her family's livelihood and her younger sister, she had to give up her dream of further education and face the most realistic problems instead.

Ichinose opened her lips, but couldn't say anything. She had only heard about Amane's background and knew that Amane's family was very wealthy, but she never expected it to be like this.

This makes the trading route completely impossible. There is a market only when there is demand, but right now, people who need it simply can't afford such expensive items, while people who don't need it scoff at such items.

Even worse, some insisted on leading the class forward, viewing the purchase of such props as a disgrace.

Ichinose's gaze also dimmed.

Things weren't quite as she had imagined.

Chapter 403: It must be Tianyin talking badly about me

Amane naturally noticed Ichinose's emotional change, but she didn't intend to say anything more. She wasn't a saint and had no obligation to help everyone.

On the contrary, Tianyin considers herself selfish, and all actions must be linked to interests in order to move Tianyin.

If this item had been available at the very beginning, Amane would have been eager to get it, because Amane's initial plan was to promote herself and Horikita directly to Class A, and let the damn Class D go to hell.

Later, when Amane discovered that Horikita was unwilling to abandon Class D at all, Amane had no choice but to give up her plans and instead enjoy school life to the fullest.

She currently possesses the most points in the entire school, perhaps even the most. Apart from a few students in Class A who are unwilling to trade due to their wealthy families, the vast majority of points in the second and third years have been acquired by Tianyin.

The rest were mostly lured in by Koenji with the promise of being placed into the Koenji Zaibatsu after graduation.

However, by the time Koenji entered the arena, Amane had already devoured all the big prizes. Even if Koenji used all the points he had collected, he still couldn't afford such an expensive item.

In other words... currently, only Tianyin in the entire school can afford this prop, but Tianyin happens to be someone who isn't particularly interested in it.

Anyone who comes to trade would feel a headache, right? After all, the choice is not in her hands. Scarcity increases value, but if it's too expensive, people will be deterred.

"If Ichinose insists on selling, the price I can accept is five million points."

Amane casually quoted a rather low price. If Ichinose agreed, Amane could reluctantly accept it. However, no matter how Amane looked at it, she felt that Ichinose would never accept a price that was suddenly cut in half.

Just as Amane had predicted, Ichinose shook her head without hesitation.

"This price is far too low. To be honest, Tianyin, my lowest price is eight million points."

"I think eight million points is a really bad price. You can ask around for prices, or... discuss it with the people behind you. I'm pretty sure there are only a handful of people who can afford five million points, and most of them are from Class A. They wouldn't really need this item, especially since its function is so limited. It only guarantees that you can freely switch classes and has no other uses. The guys from Class A should be prioritizing items that can prevent them from being expelled."

Tianyin astutely pointed out the biggest weakness of this seemingly invaluable item.

That is, functional limitation.

This item is equivalent to 20 million points, but points can do far more than this item. Whether it's buying points, avoiding expulsion, or even ensuring the survival of the entire class, it's far more valuable than this item.

There are always market limitations to exchanging props between classes. If it's free, everyone will want to compete for it, since they won't lose out anyway.

However, if you want to buy, please do so within your means.

"I see... So that means the price you can accept for Tianyin is five million points?"

Seeing that Ichinose was still persistent, Amane had no choice but to make a preliminary assessment.

Although this prop is almost impossible to resell for a high price once you have it, it is still attractive to students in every grade except Class A. If you buy it, you might be able to use it as a bargaining chip to ask someone for help sometime.

After all, no one could possibly refuse a spot on the direct route to Class A.

Thinking of this, Tianyin nodded.

"I can only accept five million points. If you can really get your hands on Ichinose after the sports festival, I might consider buying her for five million points."

Amane made a promise to Ichinose, and Ichinose immediately smiled.

"Since you say so, Tianyin, I'm relieved. We can discuss the price in detail after I receive the items."

……

Amane, who was leaving Ichinose's dormitory with her birthday present, felt somewhat uneasy. She was certain that she had overlooked something.

But now she can't find where she made a mistake, or what she finds strange.

It's simply a matter of how Ichinose gets the items.

This shouldn't have anything to do with Ichinose, right? Ichinose is probably just a middleman... isn't she?

Tianyin returned to her dormitory with doubts.

As soon as I opened the door, I saw Horikita sitting at the table reading a book with a gloomy face.

The phone screen on the table was still lit, but the screensaver was not unlocked.

It was obviously just used to check the time.

"I'm back~"

Amane smiled, hugged her gift, and ran over to sit obediently next to Horikita.

"Hey, you're back so early. I thought you were going to stay overnight in someone else's dorm."

Horikita's tone was full of teasing as his gaze lingered on the birthday present Ichinose had given him.

"How could that be? No other dorm has the habit of having a bell ring here. Oh, by the way, this is a birthday present from someone! I only went to meet that person today to make up for it."

Amane deliberately obscured the content, attempting to give Horikita the illusion that it was a birthday gift from someone she didn't know well.

However, Amane forgot that Horikita was not someone who could be easily fooled.

"Really? I didn't expect that even though your birthday was several days ago, someone would still remember to give you a birthday present. You must know a lot of people in other classes. May I open it and take a look?"

Horikita casually tapped the tote bag containing the birthday presents with her fingertip.

Although Amane really wanted to witness Ichinose's gift in person, Horikita was clearly curious about it. If she stopped him, although Horikita would definitely choose to give up and continue to look, it would only make her seem more suspicious.

"Of course, no problem! To be honest, I don't even know what they sent me!"

"Really? Then you can open it yourself. I don't have a habit of opening people's birthday presents."

As Horikita spoke, he pushed the birthday present in front of Amane.

"Then I'll open it?"

Tianyin took out a small, exquisite white box from her handbag.

Upon seeing the brand label on the box, Tianyin's heart skipped a beat.

The birthday gift that Sakayanagi gave her was also from this brand; it was a silver-white bear hair clip, which, according to Sakayanagi, cost her 200,000 points.

Ichinose probably, maybe, perhaps... can't come up with 200,000 personal points to buy such an expensive birthday gift, right? But even 100,000 points is still outrageous, isn't it?

Surely Ichinose didn't borrow someone else's points to buy the gift, right? If that were the case, Amane's guilt would be even greater.

At the same time, Sakayanagi Arisu, who had just finished taking a shower and was about to go to sleep, suddenly sneezed twice.

"Hmph, it must be Tianyin talking badly about me behind my back again."

With mixed feelings.

Tianyin opened the beautifully packaged box.

Inside, lying quietly, was a jet-black necklace.

Chapter 404: A Gift That Almost Killed Me

Tianyin curiously picked up the black necklace and examined it closely.

At first glance, it looks like a small gift that girls would give to each other. But when Tianyin saw the very small rhombus-shaped crystal in the middle of the necklace, her intuition told her that the facets of the rhombus-shaped crystal should be made of ruby ​​fragments, and that the necklace should have been deliberately dyed black, but the original material should have been silver.

This necklace goes beyond the concept of a small gift; it is a full-fledged piece of jewelry.

Tianyin's initial valuation may even exceed 300,000 personal points.

Ichinose actually gave such an expensive item as a birthday present?

Amane felt a bit of a headache. She understood the principle of "he who accepts a gift is bound to be obligated to give it." Since she had accepted such an expensive gift from Ichinose, unless she returned the favor with an equivalent gift at Ichinose's birthday party, it would be difficult to repay this favor.

The problem now is that after the sports festival ends in early October, there is a very high chance that Ichinose will bring the item that allows us to switch classes and have Amane buy it. And Ichinose's birthday is definitely not earlier than the end of the sports festival.

In other words... if Ichinose insists on 10 million points after accepting this gift, it will be difficult for Amane to bargain... favors are such a hassle.

Tianyin sighed.

I never expected that Ichinose would trick me with my birthday present.

"How could anyone give me such an ugly necklace?"

Horikita showed a look of disgust. The combination of black and red made Horikita feel uncomfortable. In her opinion, necklaces should be either gold or silver. Wearing a black necklace looked rather strange.

"The black necklace has a special purpose. Don't underestimate this little thing; it's worth at least 300,000 points."

Amane tossed the necklace to Horikita.

"Three hundred thousand points?"

After hearing that this unassuming necklace was so expensive, Horikita became very careful with even the movement of the necklace.

This was probably the most expensive thing she had ever encountered at this school.

"How could someone give you something so expensive? How are you going to reciprocate? You can't exactly send a necklace back, can you?"

It can only be said that Horikita is indeed worthy of his name, as he directly guessed the current troubles of Amane. 300,000 points are nothing to Amane, but they symbolize human feelings and sentiments.

It's one thing to be obligated to someone, but it's even harder to reciprocate their good intentions. Does this school have anything else worth 300,000 points? Even if it does, it's probably just jewelry or something similar. Buying the same thing and sending it back would just seem like a perfunctory gesture.

This is difficult.

"I'm also worried about this... Do you have any good suggestions, Suzune?"

Amane helplessly lay on the table, leaving her troubles to Horikita to think about.

"What advice can I give you... Wait, Tianyin... Can you tell me who gave it to you?"

As Horikita carefully examined the necklace, she suddenly noticed something unusual and immediately looked at Amane with a serious expression.

"Hmm...you could call him a friend?"

Amane's tone sounded somewhat insecure. She knew that Horikita didn't like Ichinose very much, and she was afraid that if she revealed that the other person was Ichinose, Horikita would have some other thoughts.

However, Amane forgot that doing so would only make Horikita even angrier.

"A friend? Would a friend give you a necklace, such an intimate gift, with your name engraved on it? Tianyin, have you gotten quite bold lately?"

As Horikita spoke, she came up behind Amane and gently massaged her shoulders. Amane, who was sitting on the spot, immediately trembled slightly as if she were sitting on pins and needles. Her eyes were curiously looking at the necklace that Horikita had placed on the table, and she couldn't help but pick it up.

Tenon carefully examined the necklace again and, sure enough, found the name "Miyako Tenon" written in a very subtle place.

Oh no!!!

Isn't Ichinose pushing her into a fire pit?

"Actually, this was a gift from Ichinose..."

"Ichinose? Do you two have such a good relationship? Even putting that relationship aside for now, everyone in Class D is eating the cedar tree set meal. I personally saw Ichinose eating the mountain vegetable set meal at the restaurant. Do you think she would spend 300,000 points to buy such an expensive gift?"

"This……"

Amane was speechless for a moment, because Horikita's analysis was very accurate; if she were in that situation, she would basically think the same way.