Chaos in Classroom of the Elite: Class 1-C

Eel Farm.

In a simple little office, Sakayanagi was sitting idly in a chair, basking in the sunlight streaming through the window. With autumn already here, the sunlight was different from the summer heat, making it quite relaxing.

Her constant companion and secretary, Kamuro, had been sent out to meet Yukio. Yukio had sent a message earlier saying he was on the subway on his way over.

Just then, the door was pushed open and then closed again. Sakayanagi looked up and saw that it was Mr. Fujii, the eel farm owner.

The boredom on Sakayanagi's face faded, replaced by a polite and elegant social smile. "Mr. Fujii, are you here to check the records again? I thought you'd be busier now that you've received more orders."

Uncharacteristically, Fujii didn't engage in friendly banter. His expression was quite stern. "Sakayanagi, may I ask you something?"

Sakayanagi nodded slightly, still seeming rather casual. However, under the cover of the desk, her hand had already reached for her phone, ready to notify her classmates.

Unexpectedly, Fujii quickly took a step forward, catching Sakayanagi off guard. Before the screen of the phone could even light up, Fujii had already snatched it away from her.

This made Sakayanagi's expression turn completely cold, and her voice rose. "Mr. Fujii, do you know what you're doing?"

"And do you know what you're doing?" Fujii tossed the phone aside, his expression growing more severe. "Last night, your classmate Hashimoto didn't return to the hotel with the bus."

"Instead, he lingered around my farm late at night. I'm very suspicious that you are trying to steal my trade secrets."

"And there's no need to raise your voice so much. No one is around to hear your calls for help."

Despite being cornered and threatened, Sakayanagi didn't show a hint of fear. Instead, she remained calm and composed. "What does Hashimoto's actions have to do with me? Shouldn't you be asking him, Mr. Fujii?"

"What's the point of coming after me?"

"Don't try to stall." Fujii shook his head, ignoring Sakayanagi's unnecessary chatter as he pressed forward. "Why were you causing trouble late at night? If you don't explain, Sakayanagi, you might be in serious trouble."

"Are you threatening me?" Sakayanagi's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise as she saw Fujii's resolute approach. "If something happens to me here, do you really think you can stay out of it, Mr. Fujii?"

"Even if the AN High School doesn't investigate, just the fact that a student's safety is compromised on your farm could shut you down for several days."

"Such a significant financial loss—are you okay with that, Mr. Fujii?"

The atmosphere in the room grew increasingly tense, reaching a life-or-death level of intensity. Yet Sakayanagi remained calm. She didn't believe Fujii would actually dare to harm her.

She had already warned him—if anything happened to her, Fujii wouldn't escape the consequences. With that in mind, she believed she was somewhat safer.

"Heh." Fujii, who had been around the block and seen all kinds of people, could easily see through Sakayanagi's attempt to stall, waiting for either Kamuro or Hashimoto to return.

Since he had come this far, he was clearly prepared.

With more people around, it would be harder to take action. Fujii stopped holding back and pulled an electric shock device from his jacket pocket. "Don't get your hopes up, Sakayanagi. You've already figured out the secret of this farm, haven't you?"

"Fortunately, when I tested a few of your classmates, they seemed completely unaware. Your biggest mistake was keeping your plan to yourself, waiting for the dust to settle."

"You have a congenital heart condition, right? A normal person would only be temporarily incapacitated by a shock within the safety limits, but someone with your condition might suffer a heart attack. Even with a thorough investigation, I would have plenty of excuses."

"So, don't blame me. Blame your school for letting someone with a heart condition take part in this assignment. It's practically suicide!"

"!" Sakayanagi had never anticipated that Fujii, an outsider to AN High School, would know about her heart condition.

As Fujii mentioned, a normal person could withstand the shock from a taser, but Sakayanagi's heart couldn't take such a stimulus.

Her usual calm expression started to waver, though her rationality still held sway over her anxiety, preventing her from showing any signs of panic: "Mr. Fujii, you should think carefully. Are you really willing to commit murder over something so trivial?"

"Think about it? I have no choice! You forced my hand!" Fujii growled back, holding the taser and flipping the switch: "If your class hadn't insisted on investigating, I wouldn't have to resort to this!"

Sakayanagi bit her lip slightly, quickly releasing it, and tightened her grip on her cane—the only tool she had to defend herself: "That's your problem."

"Why did you make your accounting records like that? The imported probiotics take up two-thirds of your farm's cash flow, more than the cost of the fish fry themselves. Matsushita might not have noticed, but did you really think I wouldn't?"

"At first, I thought these probiotics were some sort of special cultivation material, but after going out with Masumi the other day, I saw that what was brought back was just a box of ordinary fish probiotics."

"Finally, your accounts show numerous transactions with various merchants and wholesale markets—amounts that your farm's production simply doesn't support."

"I'm sure that the imported probiotics are actually imported eels, which you disguise as domestic eels to make a profit."

In Japan, despite the scarcity of local products, the government had designated domestically produced eels as top-grade eels, selling them at the highest prices to support the industry.

European eels imported from Europe and American eels imported from the Americas were classified as second-grade, while eels imported from China were classified as third-grade, the cheapest.

What Sakayanagi had just exposed was Fujii's scheme to use cheaper imported eels, rebranding them as high-priced domestic eels, and making a fortune from the price difference.

"You really did figure it out!" The more Sakayanagi spoke, the more restless and anxious Fujii became!

From the beginning, when Sakayanagi and Matsushita asked for the accounting books, Fujii had been worried. He felt a little relieved when he noticed that Matsushita didn't see through the deception, but Sakayanagi's persistent scrutiny put him back on edge.

Every time the workers brought in a box of probiotics, Sakayanagi insisted on bringing people to inspect it—every single time, without fail!

Finally, with Hashimoto lingering around the farm late at night, as if he were investigating something, Fujii was so unnerved that he had resigned himself to facing the consequences.

But today, after testing the waters, Fujii found that neither Kamuro nor Hashimoto seemed to know the truth, which led him to hurriedly get a taser from security and decide to take drastic measures.

As long as he could silence Sakayanagi, others would at most think she had suffered a heart attack.

The longer he delayed, the worse it would get. If Sakayanagi kept talking, he would get distracted, and if any student walked in, he would be done for.

Therefore, with a twisted expression, Fujii, disregarding everything, charged at Sakayanagi with the crackling taser in hand, aiming to induce a heart attack that he could later explain away.

"!" Sakayanagi was startled and tried to escape, but she misstepped, causing her to fall backward onto the floor, the impact sending a jolt of pain through her body.

Fujii's eyes bulged in rage as he muttered "Die," and brought the taser down towards her.

At that critical moment, a long fish net, typically used for scooping fish, was thrust through the door, knocking it open and covering Fujii's head. The net was yanked back with force, pulling Fujii away from Sakayanagi.

...

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