4
Usually, the cafeteria would be filled with students from all years, but it was quite empty today. No wonder, as many second-year students were still in their classrooms, glued to their phones just like Kei.
They valued saving time and avoiding elimination.
In other words, those who could afford to come to the cafeteria were either leaders with no risk of getting eliminated, students who were already eliminated and had nothing left to do, or those who, like me, didn't think much about it.
Deciding on the menu for two, we bought our meals and sat at the tables frequently used by second-year students, trays of food in hand, just as usual.
"We can choose seats freely."
"That's right. But it's strange, isn't it? Even though first and third-year students can secure plenty of seats today, the places most used by second-year students seem hardly utilized."
There weren't any rules in the cafeteria that determined particular areas for each year to use.
The students just implicitly made these divisions, and most of them abided by this silent agreement.
Of course, there were students who didn't pay this any mind too.
"Horikita, you don't seem to mind the details, do you?"
"Isn't it the same for you?"
"In my case, I prefer to read the atmosphere and blend into the majority."
"You don't seem to care, but you also do... I'll stop thinking about it for now. I can't afford to dedicate my cognitive resources to you."It was a bit sarcastic, but it was rather relieving for me.
"Good day, you two Class B students. If you don't mind, may I join you?"Just as I was about to split my chopsticks, a voice called out to us.
"Sakayanagi-san, where you sit is up to you. I don't have the right to refuse you."
Though she granted permission, she must've been surprised.
She must not have expected to be approached by an opponent's leader during a special exam.
"I don't mind eating together either, but where's your meal?"
From what I could see, Sakayanagi arrived without anything. If she went to buy now, it would result in a slight delay.
"Masumi-san and Kitō-kun are buying lunch for me now. They should arrive shortly."
Following her gaze, I did indeed see Kamuro and Kitō lined up tiredly at the counter.
"You really take care of your friends, don't you?"
"Yes, they're really helpful."
Sakayanagi, who sat opposite to Horikita and propped her cane, was soon joined by Kitō with a tray in each hand. It was a clear indication of his perpetual support of Sakayanagi.
"Now, both of you please sit down."
"Huh? Here? Eating with Horikita and Ayanokōji? I'm not up for that."
"Why not? It could be a good learning experience for you, Masumi-san."
"Planning to drag me into trouble again? I'm sick of humoring your games."
The one who raised this question was Kamuro, who was listed as eliminated in Class A, yet she showed no signs of anxiety.
Despite her rebelliousness, her attitude suggested that she thought that it was unthinkable for Sakayanagi to end up in last place. The fact that she had ended the first half in first place must've been a confidence booster.
I lightly raised my hand to greet Kitō.
Kitō didn't particularly react, but seeing him slightly nod back was satisfying enough.
"I hope you'll be gentle in the second half, Horikita-san."
"Now you say this? I felt quite pressured during the first half, you know."
"I was rather lenient, wasn't I? Isn't that evident from you being in second place?"
"You must be kidding—"
Horikita showed a hint of annoyance at the blatant claim that Sakayanagi went easy on her.
Just then, a male student appeared from behind the irritated Horikita.
"Shall I join the mix too?"
Sensing his presence, Kitō immediately stood up, displaying open hostility.
However, unconcerned, the student sat down next to Horikita without even asking for permission.
"What a rough way to show up, Ryūen-kun."
"Kuku! I just came as the wolf to check on this flock of sheep."
Despite being the only one who had fallen behind in the first half, he had an air of ease.
That said, he wouldn't show signs of exhaustion here of course, even if he had to fake it.
"Get lost."
Those quiet but heavy words came from Kitō.
"Oh? Who gave you the right to order me around? The midget over there's not saying a word."
"Let me have permission. I'll remove him now."
Stating his intention, Kitō stood up, ready to confront Ryūen.
Combined with the insult Ryūen threw at Sakayanagi, he seemed fully prepared.
"There's no need to worry, Kitō-kun. He's here simply because he's hungry.
After all, we have to welcome our weak and pitiful wolf."
"But he didn't seem to bring anything. Maybe he's got someone like Ishizaki doing the grunt work?"
"What he's after isn't food, but points from this special exam. He seems to have started off a bit late in the first half."
"I see. Well, true enough."
While all three classes were locked in close competition, only Ryūen's class was being left behind.
If it was meant as a taunt, it hardly sent ripples.
Confirming that there were no suspicious movements, Kitō quietly took his seat again.
"Even so, Kamuro, you seem quite relaxed for someone that might disappear today."
Kamuro paused, with fried horse mackerel gripped between her chopsticks halfway to her mouth, and glared back.
"You too, Kitō. One mistake and you're eliminated."Sakayanagi was the one to retort to Ryūen's remark.
"My class is currently first, while you're at the bottom. Are you really in a position to have this conversation?"
"Even if I come in last, I only lose foot soldiers. But you, at the moment, are close to having Kamuro or Yamamura expelled. If Kitō or Hashimoto messes up, that number could inflate to four. You're the one who gets hurt if anyone disappears. Or in the second half, will you let Horikita painfully injure you and carelessly increase the number of eliminations as if they were trash?"
Even Sakayanagi wouldn't say that a few more were likely to be eliminated.
If someone was eliminated, you'd lose a point. That was something you essentially didn't want.
"Do you intend to eliminate people close to me?"
"Isn't that obvious by now?"
"It's hard to believe at this point. Given that your peculiar focus on the students who were within your reach during the first half clearly failed. And now, you're still relentlessly pursuing students like Masumi-san and Kitō-kun."
I had a strong impression that Ryūen's strategy was focused on a maximum of about eight people, centering on the students supporting Sakayanagi, like Kitō, Kamuro, and Hashimoto.
Yet, even under such inefficient, concentrated attacks, Sakayanagi couldn't fully protect Kamuro or Yamamura.
Even if you knew who was getting targeted, it wasn't always possible to ward off the attacks.
In fact, in all four classes, Sakayanagi had the highest rate of successfully protected students in the first half.
"Thanks to your immature strategy, our class has been able to maintain first place. So while I'm grateful, I'm also worried about you, Ryūen-kun. If you don't change your tactics in the second half, you'll just be repeating your defeat. Surely even Horikita-san could indirectly see that, right?"
"It's indeed very clear, isn't it? If it was me, and I found out that Sakayanagi-san was likely to ward off my attempts, I'd scatter my focus among more students."
I never thought an evaluation of the special exam would start here, but Ryūen was smiling as he listened.
"I highly recommend you to fight more intelligently."
But nonetheless, Ryūen also demonstrated a defiant attitude, refusing to run away and sitting upright.
"I got you figured out, Sakayanagi. Forget about the point difference for a moment, think about it. Kamuro, if the exam were to end now with two eliminations, and your class comes last, do you know how she'll judge?"
Kamuro still didn't respond, but surely she must've had some concern. How would the leader respond in that particular situation?
Horikita must've been interested as well in what criteria she would use for deciding who to expel.
But Sakayanagi continued eating without stopping.
"Can't you answer? No, is it that you don't want to answer? What do you think, Horikita?"
"What do I think? Why did you target Yamamura-san in the first place? You seemed to have narrowed it down to a few people, but she doesn't seem like the kind to be singled out, does she?"
Kamuro was brought here, but Yamamura wasn't.
From that fact alone, it was only natural to think Kamuro was more special.
Aside from Yamamura, the other students who were targeted all clearly had distinguished abilities.
But in reality, there was an unseen connection between Sakayanagi and Yamamura.
There were students who were evaluated for their invisible abilities, not just their visible OAA ratings.
"You guys probably don't know, so you better remember this. Yamamura is as valuable to Sakayanagi as Kamuro is. She cherishes her a lot behind the scenes, doesn't she?"
By forcefully bringing up Yamamura, he made sure everyone would notice this.
For the first time, Sakayanagi paused eating.
"If you think so, then interpret it that way."
Rather than being vague, she responded sincerely, inviting him to do as he pleased.
"Whether it's true or not, I don't intend to judge individuals as a third party who doesn't know anything. Kamuro-san and Yamamura-san are both excellent classmates to Sakayanagi-san."
Horikita, it seemed, wanted to avoid being used as a factor in swaying Sakayanagi's considerations.
"Both are excellent? Ha, don't make me laugh. Sakayanagi doesn't evaluate people based on their OAAs. How easy they are to use and how obedient they are, that's the standard."
"Behind the scenes, then?"
Kamuro looked at Sakayanagi and quietly asked for confirmation.
"Kamuro seemed taken aback by the mention of Yamamura's name."
Ryūen, who evidently wasn't privy to all of Class A's intricacies, expressed his observation.
Whatever the relationship between Kamuro and Yamamura was, it was apparent that there was some tension or antagonism between them.
"Were you close to Yamamura?"
"It's just his baseless provocation."
"I didn't know you had any connection to Yamamura. I was just asking."Kamuro made a small pause, but I wondered how many people noticed it.
"As I said, it's just his way of provoking. It's pointless to take him seriously."
She wasn't evading the topic because it was sensitive; she genuinely viewed it as irrelevant.
Although Ryūen had stopped, he seemed to enjoy watching Kamuro react so sensitively to his words, displaying the confidence of someone formidable.
"You should decide now who to expel."
It didn't seem like Ryūen had appeared to provoke Sakayanagi.
The goal was to avoid having any more eliminations from Class A, and instead, only push key players like Kamuro or Yamamura, as well as Kitō or Hashimoto, into expulsion.
"I hope you won't be swayed by his meaningless remarks."In order to stop him, Sakayanagi said this to Horikita.
"I know."
But Horikita was fighting to win.
She didn't go into the exam intending to expel anyone from Sakayanagi's class.
If it was effective for winning, that would be another story, but sure enough…
Deciding there was no more to be gained from his cheap provocations, Ryūen switched the topic to the other classes.
"Speaking of which, the only one not here is Ichinose, right?"
"It seems that her class has made it clear that they don't intend to have anybody eliminated. No one from her class is in the cafeteria. It's only natural, I suppose."
Sure enough, nobody from Ichinose's class was in the cafeteria. Even before coming here, I didn't see them anywhere else except for doing whatever was necessary, like going to the bathroom.
They had prepared food from the beginning and fought every single minute and second.
"She's prepared to lose in order to keep anyone from her class from getting expelled. She's a seriously stupid woman."
If anything, Ichinose was probably concerned about the eliminations in other classes. But if you lost in a battle, your class would inevitably be hurt. To avoid that, you needed to become ruthless and eliminate others so they couldn't earn points.
"That's true. She never flinches in any special exams. That's why I've been able to keep her in third place by exploiting her weaknesses."
Horikita, who had been eating for a long time, stopped her chopsticks and reflected on the first half of the exam.
"Ichinose's determination is so extreme, it's almost pathological. If she continues this strategy in the second half, she'll risk discarding her protection slots
to their very limit. That should work to your advantage, Ryūen."
Just like Horikita, Ryūen would be attacking Ichinose's class.
Unless he increased the number of people who had incorrectly answered twice and were on the brink of elimination to six or more, there was a high chance that he'd be able to hit all the protection slots.
Even if you wouldn't gain more points by eliminating the opponent's students, it was necessary to suppress the higher-ranking class to raise your placement.
"But next, I'll be the one attacking your class. Even if the protection success rate increases as the elimination rate rises, I wonder how many points I can get."
Like her setup against Kōenji, Sakayanagi read what the opponent's leader was likely to think of ahead of time.
Depending on how Ryūen used the protection slots, there may be times when he can't get the points he should get.
It was especially difficult to protect classmates who would probably answer incorrectly.
"I'll look forward to it."
Ryūen abruptly stood up from his seat.
"Well, now that the one who was stirring the pot has left, let's resume our meal."
When he turned his back away from Sakayanagi and walked away, Ryūen quietly brushed up his hair.
Contrary to the surrounding thoughts at that moment, he had a powerful expression that hinted that he'd be making a move in the second half of the exam.
It wasn't a mere coincidence that he only momentarily showed me this expression.
It was a forceful message telling me to watch silently.
It was hard to see beyond his desperate situation, but I did wonder how he would overturn it.
The second half of the exam was about to begin soon.
5
In a few minutes, Sakagami-sensei would signal the beginning of the 11th turn, but Horikita was standing at the podium, gathering the students' eyes.
"Class A is truly a formidable enemy. They held the top spot for all 10 turns of the first half. But it's important not to focus too much on that and face the special exam seriously. After all, the only way for us to accumulate points is for us to solve the questions correctly."
Horikita's target for the offensive was Sakayanagi's class, the most troublesome of the three classes.
During the first half, she successfully protected against Ryūen's attacks, and the students achieved a high rate of correct answers.
"How are we going to attack?"
In response to Sudō's innocent question, Horikita scanned her classmates in the room.
There might have been someone here who was connected to Sakayanagi.
Naturally, she couldn't recklessly announce her strategy.
"Do you remember when I asked for your ideas during the preparation period? I've organized that information and I believe I've found a hole." Simplicity was best.
She seemed to prefer a method that targeted individual weaknesses rather than trying to read the opponent.
However, compared to Ichinose's class, information seemed scarce, and it would've been tightly controlled to prevent any leaks since the announcement of this special exam.
In that case, it wouldn't be easy to discover everyone's strengths and weaknesses.
Only Horikita truly knew how effective a strategy she had devised from all this information was.
On the 11th turn, Horikita's first attack on Sakayanagi's class came.
She used one point off the bat and chose a 'Literature' problem with a difficulty of two.
Unfortunately, one person was successfully protected, but three of the four students who faced the challenging problem got it wrong, ensuring a gain of two points.
After deducting the points used to increase the difficulty, getting three points would break us even, and gaining more than four points would give us a surplus on that turn.
Next up to attack was Sakayanagi's class, which must have felt some pressure.
And Sakayanagi unexpectedly spent two points, choosing a 'Sports' problem with difficulty three.
She showed her intent to mercilessly attack against the bottom-ranked Ryūen.
"She really is out to corner Ryūen-kun… How bold."
The second half started off differently, unconcerned about the point difference Class B had.
But immediately after, the result on the monitor caused a surprised outcry from the class.
Defensive's Successfully Protected Members:
'Katsuragi Kōhei,' 'Shiina Hiyori,' 'Tokitō Hiroya,' 'Nomura Yūji,' 'Ibuki Mio'
In this special exam, for the first time, a perfect score was achieved within the protection slots, securing a whopping five points. If everyone was protected, a difficulty level three became meaningless. It was a severe blow.
On the other hand, Ryūen, who had been lagging behind, quickly caught up with 24 points and temporarily tied with Ichinose.
"They have four eliminations, the most so far, but this is... this is too good to be true."
Given that many had anticipated they would steadily fall behind, the outcome must have come as quite a shock.
It seemed that the momentum would continue, but Ryūen's attack on Ichinose's class didn't go as sharply as expected, with three people being protected. However, one person made a mistake in the problem, so it stopped at four points for a total of 28.
All that was left was this class's turn on the defensive, but the gap was quickly closing.
Indeed, I wondered what Ichinose would choose as the category and who she'd choose to target.
Category 'Sports' Difficulty 1
Defensive's Successfully Protected Members:
'Wang Mei-Yui,' 'Shinohara Satsuki'
Offensive's Nominees:
'Ayanokōji Kiyotaka,' 'Miyamoto Sōshi,' 'Karuizawa Kei'
Ichinose's first attack nomination included my name.
And whether intentionally or by coincidence, Kei's name was also named at the same time.
'Sports' difficulty level one was manageable, it could be called neither a strength nor a weakness.
I was confident I could get it if it was based on history or rules, but if current events were involved, it would put me at a disadvantage.
On the other hand, Kei might be able to solve a global question like she would have seen on TV. She used to talk about watching volleyball games regularly.
'What do you call a situation where there's one out or less, with runners on first and second bases, or on first, second, and third bases, and the batter hits a fly ball that an infielder could catch with a standard defensive action?'
Apparently, this question was related to the rules. Fortunately, I had hammered sports rules into my head to some extent, so I could answer this without difficulty. The correct answer was an 'Infield Fly.'
However, I doubt Kei would be able to answer this, let alone Miyamoto. I could only hope that she learned about this in the last few days of cramming…Only two of us, Miyamoto and I, got the answer correct.
Unfortunately, Kei got the question wrong. However, this was her first mistake.
The situation wasn't dire yet, but Kei seemed filled with anxiety on her way back to her seat.
On the other hand, Miyamoto, who had the correct answer, was high-fiving and sharing joy with his classmates.
From the conversation I heard, it seemed he learned about baseball's rules from games, and they were helping him a lot today.
Knowledge could come in handy from unexpected places.
This made it four points. We temporarily surpassed Sakayanagi's class and ranked first.
In the following 12th turn, Sakayanagi's class steadily scored four points with four correct answers, but what surprised the class was once again Ryūen's class.
As if watching a replay, five names were lined up in the list of successful protections.
In other words, they achieved a perfect score solely with the protection slots for the second consecutive time.
"What kind of odds are those!? They're too lucky!?"
Ike, having probably assumed that Ryūen's class would be at the bottom, screamed out while clutching his head.
"...I wonder if we can just dismiss this as good luck."
I could hear Horikita's sense of heaviness in her voice as she calmly stared at the monitor next to me.
Understandably so. They had managed to achieve perfect selection twice in a row, which was an incredibly low-probability event.
If they managed to get another perfect selection in the next turn…
During the incredulous state of surprise, the next attack on Ichinose saw two people protected and two people who answered correctly.It was now time for Ichinose to attack.
Defensive's Successfully Protected Members:
'Ishikura Kayoko,' 'Sudō Ken'
Offensive's Nominees:
'Ayanokōji Kiyotaka,' 'Matsushita Chiaki,' 'Karuizawa Kei'
My name and Kei's name were called out, nominated for the second time in a row.
The moment she saw her name, Kei sprang to her feet, raising her voice in an obviously agitated manner.
"I'm not being targeted, am I!?"
"Calm down. Just because we've been nominated twice in a row doesn't necessarily mean we're being specially targeted.""B-but…!"
It was understandable that Kei panicked.
It would've been better if this nomination was due to Ichinose targeting weaker opponents.
However, the opponent was Ichinose. She must've suspected that she was getting targeted for personal reasons.
Given that I was included as well, it was a nomination indicative of such intent…
Whether there was personal bias involved or not, it was best to consider this as a provocation.
Even so, it was a solid move.
Horikita didn't use the valuable protection slot on me.
Perhaps it was because she foresaw this strategy.
If the category had been academic, Kei might have been protected. But the category was 'News.' It was a field in which even Kei could potentially answer correctly, hence the decision to leave her unprotected. On the other hand, I had to be more cautious since I had already missed a question in the same category earlier.
'What does 'tapiru' mean?'
(TL NOTE: タピる : Literally translates to "to drink bubble tea." It's slang, so of course Ayanokouji has no idea what it means.)Upon seeing the question, I was instantly frozen.
What…? Huh…? What is it? Tapiru? Tapi...?
As I was frozen, the time limit arrived, leaving me unable to write any answer.
The 'News' category questions that other students received mostly revolved around politics or annual events.
Why are curveball questions being thrown when it's my turn?
As a result of the challenging question, this time it was me who was mistaken and Kei who answered correctly.
Looking relieved that we hadn't landed on the brink of defeat, we were able to calm down for the time being.
Matsushita naturally seemed to have gotten the correct answer, securing four points. On the other hand, due to my two mistakes, I was suddenly a candidate for elimination. By the way, the correct answer seemed to be 'sipping a drink with tapioca pearls.'
"Do you... know even less about the world than I thought?"
Immediately upon returning to my seat, I endured a remark from a disgusted Horikita and had no choice but to hunch my back.
It was the 13th turn of Horikita's class's attack.
The genre was 'Kanji' with a difficulty level of 1. However, to my surprise, Horikita's words unexpectedly came to a halt.
Though she was smoothly nominating till the fourth person, she seemed to be at a loss at the last one.
Sorting out the information in her head at this point was also a challenge.
Who was good at what, and who was weak at what.
She might've prematurely exhausted the valuable information about Class A.
There was still time left. Horikita took a deep breath, calming herself.
Then, a helping hand was extended.
"Why not choose Satonaka?"A bored student simply murmured.
This was Kushida, the person who hadn't been selected once during the special exam and had too much free time.
"Thank you, Kushida-san. Then, Sensei, I would like the last person to be
Satonaka-kun."
Without asking for a reason, Horikita entirely trusted her advice.
As a result, Satonaka wasn't protected, and he answered incorrectly.
"Where did you find out that Satonaka has trouble with kanji?"
Makida clapped, admiring her.
"That kind of information comes from everywhere."
Kushida said as if it wasn't a big deal, and her gaze wandered off nonchalantly.
"You've been very helpful. Thank you."
"Not really."
Even after receiving words of gratitude from Horikita, Kushida didn't seem pleased.
However, since her position within the class wasn't great, visibly contributing like this wasn't a bad thing.
It seemed this was one of the reasons why Horikita could challenge the second half of the battle with confidence.
The rare information network that Kushida Kikyō possessed.
Not only did she have a wide circle of friends, but Kushida also constantly collected information about her opponents' weaknesses. That was why she boasted exceptional memory when it came to their weaknesses.
She hadn't shown all her cards yet, but she probably provided Horikita with lots of information in advance. A truly reassuring presence.
On the 13th turn, Ichinose's attack came. It was our third defensive turn, and this time, Horikita chose to protect Karuizawa. It seemed I was left behind without protection.
However, her guess seemed correct, and Karuizawa Kei's name appeared as having been successfully protected.
Although she usually would be pleased to avoid the question, Kei's complexion was clearly off.
"Do they intend to eliminate me...!? They're targeting me, no matter how I look at it!?"
"Maybe… It's a bit too much."
Satō responded in agreement. But such strange misconceptions only led to unnecessary confusion.
"She's not the type to specifically set someone up."
"But that's because...!"
Kei was about to retort that it was because they didn't know the circumstances, but stopped herself.
"Anyway, we don't know what their aim is, but now that the protection was successful, they're likely to shift their target next time."
"...Yeah..."
"But it stands out that the nominations continued three times in a row like when Kōenji-kun was targeted in the first half. I wonder what Ichinose-san is thinking."
Ichinose's attack arrived again on the 14th turn.
"...What should we do?"
Horikita showed hesitation in how to allocate the protection slots. No matter what, a fourth consecutive nomination for Kei was unlikely. Should she make such a judgment? Or should she be wary of being outsmarted?
"What about trying to protect her once more? I think she might be aiming
for it."
Kushida advised the thinking Horikita.
"Do you think so from the flow so far?"
"Not really. I just judged it based on what I've seen of Ichinose-san up until now."
Kushida sensed the signs within Ichinose Honami's thoughts, not from the flow of selections so far.
"That's true. It might be best to protect once more."
She wasn't one step away from elimination yet, but if they were aiming for it, they'd want to securely score points.
Then, the successful protections were disclosed, and Kei's name was shown once again. She set a four-consecutive selection record in this exam, surpassing Kōenji's three consecutive nominations. There were some inexplicable aspects, but being able to compete with other classes without losing seemed like a good thing.
However, the situation was starting to turn for the worse.
Both Horikita and Sakayanagi's classes scored points with a balance of both offensive and defensive measures, but in the second half, Ichinose's class had a high rate of successful protections.
However, Ryūen's class showed even more momentum. Even though Sakayanagi was fighting back by repeating irregular categories and nominations, the situation wasn't improving; they had achieved four consecutive perfect protection results.
There was no doubt that an abnormal situation was occurring that could no longer be explained by luck alone.
But in that situation, there was nothing else Horikita could do.
Just calmly, quietly, and steadily score points.
6
For Ryūen, losing wasn't painful.
Even if he lost once, it was okay if he won the second time.
Even if he lost a hundred times, it was okay as long as he won in the end.
That was how he had lived his life, but one day, a big obstacle stood in front of Ryūen.
The guy looked like a fool that you could find anywhere, but inside, he was keeping a beast.
No, Ryūen thought such an expression was far too mild.
How best to describe it—that answer was still unclear.
But it was certain that among all the people he'd seen up until then, he was the most powerful and brutal.
He wasn't a person that was in a realm obtainable by living an ordinary life.
Over one year had passed since he was defeated by that man, Ayanokōji, and his spirit was broken.
The overwhelming difference in ability—that was probably why there was hardly any emotion similar to hatred welling up.
When he interacted with Ayanokōji, strangely enough, there was no sense of discomfort.
That was probably because even if Ryūen denied it on the surface… No, that's not it.
Deep down, he was acknowledging Ayanokōji's unique abilities.
But he repeatedly told himself not to misunderstand.
Ryūen did not intend to remain under him.
Before Ayanokōji graduates from this school and disappears from his sight, he would definitely pay him back for his defeat.
To do this, he first had to get rid of the clutter.
He decided that it would be necessary to suppress Sakayanagi, who had been reigning as the leader of Class A.
In effect, Sakayanagi was the only obstacle.
And then, after achieving that, he would defeat Ayanokōji.
This had become Ryūen Kakeru's goal to accomplish at this school.
He would never stop until then.
Right after the second half of the exam started, Ryūen, who had been calmly focusing in on Sakayanagi's main entourage during his turn, stood up from his seat.
"Well then—it's about time to start. Move over."
"W-wait a minute!?"
Ryūen pushed aside Hoshinomiya, the teacher in charge, and sat down on the platform.
"It's the second half. The difference in points is only ten. In other words, catching up is possible if you get a perfect score a few times. I can count on you guys, right?"
The leader's oppressive demand allowed for no mistakes, no matter what tasks came their way.
Of course, hard work wouldn't be necessary if the ratio of correct answers could rise based on that threat alone.
"Don't joke around. It's not just the class's problem. Ryūen, you must understand that it's hard for other classes to get perfect scores too. As a leader, you should use your wisdom to protect as many people as possible."
Among all the students who didn't say anything back, Tokitō fearlessly expressed his discontent.
"Kuku! You've made mistakes twice and now have no room for more. If you fail, you'll be the first to be nominated for expulsion among the rebellious types like you.""...!"
"But don't worry. From here on out, as you wish, I'll show you how things unfold."
"What do you mean?"
"The part where I said 'I can count on you guys' was a lie."
Ryūen turned back, confirmed that the monitor had switched, and was told that Sakayanagi's nomination was completed. It was his turn now to protect five candidates.
The category that the opponent chose was 'Sports.' Moreover, they spent two points to raise the difficulty to three.
Ryūen wouldn't give even a single point to their class. The students were flustered by Class A's unrelenting attack.
However, Ryūen was the only one who seemed unperturbed and even a bit pleased.
"Katsuragi, Shiina, Tokitō, Nomura, Ibuki. Get on with it," he commanded without hesitation, regardless of the category or difficulty.
"Hey, be respectful when addressing the teacher," Hoshinomiya interjected, hurrying to input the names that Ryūen had called out, thus finalizing the defensive side's moves.
Meanwhile, among the students, there was speculation.
Was Ryūen's swift decision-making designed to avoid getting caught in Sakayanagi's tactics?
They waited anxiously for the results.
Defensive's Successfully Protected Members:
'Katsuragi Kōhei,' 'Shiina Hiyori,' 'Tokitō Hiroya,' 'Nomura Yuji,' 'Ibuki Mio'
"W-What...?"
Tokitō, who had been standing there glaring at Ryūen, was shocked to see the result.
His decisive, immediate answer was successful, resulting in a perfect score."Gambling can be fun. It's like randomly tossing a dice."
In the following 12th turn, Ryūen once again continued to announce the five names for the protection slots.
As a result, all the students were successfully protected again, showing a tremendous turnaround in just two turns.
The same was true for the 13th and 14th turns.
Even if Sakayanagi's nominations were dispersed, they all stuck together like guided missiles, and Ryūen's selections were all successfully defended.
"Heh. It seems you can't do anything, Sakayanagi."
Even before the start of this special exam, what Ryūen valued was completely different from the other leaders.
How much he could mask the smell of a beast. How much he could corner the prey without letting it sense the fangs approaching from directly behind… That was all.
By having overcome the first half, he scored a win, hence, he launched a full-scale reversal.
"What is happening...!?"
There was no doubt that there was a trick.
But even Hoshinomiya, the teacher in charge of the class, didn't know what it was.
7
From the very first turn attacking and defending, Ichinose had been continually speaking to her classmates.
"We will absolutely avoid having anyone expelled from our class, so don't get nervous and stay calm."
Of course, there were still plenty of students who felt anxious, even though they understood.
That was why Ichinose had been voicing her reassurances—to give her classmates some peace of mind.
Of course, these weren't baseless claims, but the truth. However, if they fought in the same way as before and ended up being on the defensive, other classes would mercilessly exploit the opening.
The primary goal was to keep the number of eliminated classmates to zero to prepare for the unlikely event of losing.
If no students were eliminated, even the lowest-ranked class wouldn't have any expulsions. A defensive approach.
However, she didn't give up on winning.
So, how would one fight defensively while aiming to win?
By dragging the opponents onto your own battle field instead of theirs.
To avoid eliminations, the opponents who saw this scenario would assume that defending themselves was their top priority.
As the first half progressed, with the second turn and third turn, Horikita's aim became clear.
Among an unspecified number of people, her aim was to increase the number of people who made mistakes twice and were on the brink of becoming eliminated.
When this number swelled to five, she intended to test what Ichinose would do.
"Thank you, Horikita-san."
Ichinose expressed her gratitude for Horikita's wise and compassionate actions.
As long as they could earn points, they didn't care if it resulted in eliminations from the enemy class.
It had to be that way.
It was fortunate that the opponent was Horikita, who attacked in a solid and regular manner, unlike Ryūen. Ichinose used the protection function primarily for those on the brink of becoming eliminated.
"I won't abandon anyone. You believe me, right?"
She didn't want to hurt her allies.
She opened her arms to welcome them in, ensuring them that she wouldn't act recklessly.
"I hope no one in the class, year, and school... gets expelled."These feelings were genuine.
However, if it meant creating victims within their class, they were prepared for necessary sacrifices.
Therefore, they didn't hesitate to eliminate students in Ryūen's class.
For victory, they had to sink the other classes.
As a result, by the end of the first half, four students from Ryūen's class had been eliminated due to Ichinose's attacks.
Ultimately, if one of them disappeared, they'd have inadvertently contributed to an expulsion.
Unavoidable sacrifices. They had no choice but to justify it, despite the pain in their hearts.
…However, this was only if Ryūen lost.
"We'll start the second half in one minute. Everyone, take your seats and prepare."
Upon receiving Mashima-sensei's signal, Ichinose opened her phone.
Slowly, she looked back on the chat history on her app.
An exchange with a certain person was made right after the start of the first half.
[Ryūen-kun, this might be sudden, but would you team up with me? I don't want anyone expelled from my class. To achieve this, we need to finish the exam with zero eliminations. So, I want you to play defensively in the second half, so there are no eliminations from my class.]
Right after the special exam started, Ichinose sent this message to Ryūen.
As soon as the message was read, a response came back.
[That's a pretty selfish wish. Do you think I'll just listen and obediently go along with it?]
[There's room for negotiation. I'll give you a present you'll be pleased with.]
[Before all that, can you hold off Suzune's attacks without a scratch?]
In order to ask Ryūen to hold off on eliminating anyone, she had to make it through the first ten turns of the first half with no eliminations.
[I can handle it.]
[An immediate answer, huh? You haven't been negotiating with Suzune before me, have you? If so, it's over.]
A clumsy lie wouldn't work against Ryūen, who was highly cautious.
Even so, Ichinose wasn't planning on negotiating with Horikita from the start. If they tried to negotiate, it would be hard to establish an agreement and Sakayanagi's class would start moving. That was a situation to avoid.
[I want to protect everyone. I don't want any eliminations. The opponent knows that's my aim. That's why Horikita-san must be aiming to first build up five people on the brink of elimination. She probably wants to see whether I will continue to protect those five people.]
If a protection on one of those five people were skipped even once, it would be assumed they were ready to accept an elimination, or even an expulsion if they ended up last.
But if she could keep protecting, nothing would be easier for the attacking Horikita. The valuable protection slots would all continuously be appointed to those five people. Hence, she would switch to targeting students who haven't made mistakes without increasing those who would be on the brink of elimination.
[Unlike you and Sakayanagi-san, Horikita-san doesn't want to eliminate students from other classes. She just wants to win. She'll attack the 34 people who aren't protected fairly.]
Ichinose's strategy in the first half was to intentionally allow those students who felt unsure about their answers to be on the edge of elimination using the initial protection slots they had at their disposal. It wouldn't be an easy battle, but it wasn't impossible to fight on equal grounds.
[If that strategy goes well, and I follow your instructions in the second half, then certainly, there will be no eliminations. But that's quite the outrageous idea, huh? What kind of gift are you going to give me?]
[A guaranteed 25 points. I'll tell you the targeted people in five out of the ten turns that they will attack. Of course, we'll spread them out cleverly so the other classes don't notice.]
If he knew who would be attacked in advance, he'd have an advantage in the exam.
There was an immediate read receipt, but the reply took about three minutes due to thinking.
[I'll pass. It's not a bad deal, but I have my own ideas.]
[That's a shame.]
Ichinose thought she had made a good offer, but he had no choice but to let it go. Any further compromises in the score would result in them losing the chance of coming first. More than anything, she could judge that the chances were slim from the fact that Ryūen didn't even negotiate to raise the score.
"Then, perhaps I'll have to go all out…"
The negotiation failed. She could think of numerous ways in which it could've been worse, but she wouldn't bother.
Even if it was risky, she'd have to aim for a no-elimination strategy on her own.
However—
[You're lucky.]
Just when she thought all hope was lost, she received another message from the recipient.
[What do you mean?]
[If you manage to avoid any eliminations in the first half, I'll partially agree to your proposal.]
[Partially?]
[I'll agree to avoid eliminating any of your classmates, but your guaranteed 25 points are unnecessary. If you act strangely in the first half, Sakayanagi will see through it.]
[So, what are you asking for?]
[After the offense and defense reversal in the second half, accept the points from me as necessary. And no details. Decide whether or not you trust me based on that.]
An enigmatic offer to become the receiver rather than giving points.
Any other student would see it as a joke, suggesting no intention to negotiate from the beginning.
"...I see..."
Ichinose murmured softly.
This time, it was Ichinose who pondered whether or not to trust Ryūen.
It would be a lie to say that she didn't hesitate, just that it took time.
Still, Ichinose replied in less than a minute.
[I understand. I'll trust you.]
The speed of her decision-making was something other students couldn't imitate.
It wasn't a decision made just out of kindness.
Ichinose's logic, thinking, and understanding of what Ryūen was aiming for led to this.
The moment the first message was sent, it was instantly marked as read.Based on that, it could be inferred that Ryūen also wanted to contact Ichinose.
This meant that they had something in common, or something they both wanted, even if they weren't exactly alike.
This exchange occurred before the start of the special exam.
During the second half, from the 11th to the 14th turns, the situation significantly changed.
Sakayanagi's class's 15th attack on Ryūen's class was announced, but once again, they successfully defended perfectly. Seeing this, Ichinose smiled without letting her surroundings notice.
[That's amazing. So this was your aim.]
[Stay quiet and live.]
[There was no need to team up with me from the start, but you did. Thank you.]
[Do you think I agreed out of goodwill? You being the last in line wouldn't have benefited me. I just took the power to control the score as needed.]
Indeed, in Ryūen's negotiations, the condition was that Ichinose had to agree to accept the points. Therefore, if their class was losing to Sakayanagi's, it would be simple to increase the score and forcibly make them third or higher.
Anticipating the outcome of this special exam, Ichinose was relieved that she didn't have to lose any of her friends. During the unanimous vote exam, Ichinose chose not to distribute the Protection Points, fearing it would lead to class conflict in that exam. However, after the announcement of this special exam, she had almost regretted that decision.
Currently, Karuizawa Kei had made her first mistake. If she made a mistake once more, she would be on the brink of elimination. There was still a possibility of Class B falling to last place. There were students of a lower rank than Karuizawa among the members who had already been eliminated, and there was little hope she'd be removed.
Even then—there was a chance.
But for that, the consecutive nominations had to be interrupted once.
"No… That's a bad move…"
She urged herself to act for the class, not for her personal feelings.
Ayanokōji would not reject her. He would accept her even if he continued his relationship with Karuizawa.
Then, there was also a way to progress and overwrite everything by yourself.She realized that she was the worst kind of person, but she didn't care.
"Even if we can't get first place, the way to win in reality is to make
Sakayanagi-san come in last place."
In a small period of time, Ichinose regulated her breath.
Then, she shifted her gaze to her cell phone.
The reason Karuizawa was targeted even after being so protected.
It should've been obvious by now.
Ichinose, who managed to hold herself back, sat down again.
"I would like to nominate Karuizawa Kei-san."
The 16th turn was no different, she had nominated the name Karuizawa.
With renewed determination, Ichinose did not hesitate.
This much was good enough for now.
All that was left was to repeat it relentlessly.
"I would like to nominate Karuizawa Kei-san."
Clutching her phone, Ichinose was certain of her true victory in this special exam.
8
It was the start of the 15th turn.
The four classes were finally almost side-by-side. Ichinose's class was in first place with 42 points. Horikita and Sakayanagi's classes were tied for second place with 40 points each. In third place was Ryūen's class with 39 points.
Their lead from the first half of the battle was exhausted. They had yet to be left behind, but if things continued this way, they would surely be dragged down.
At the start, Ryūen's class had allowed them to suppress their fears, but ominous clouds were gathering.
They were pushed back to a place where there was a very real possibility they could end up in last.
"It's a lie, right? Spare me!"
"I absolutely hate the idea of being expelled!"
"I feel the same way!"
Since the first half of the battle, the number of eliminations had increased to four, causing the students to start panicking.
At this point, there was no way the rest could concentrate on studying.
Horikita stood up from her pulled-out chair. It was time to start the nomination, but she calmly made her way past the panicking students.
"Don't panic."
Horikita, now standing on the lectern, spoke to her classmates.
"Admittedly, the situation is close to dire. Our class has four eliminations at this point. Ichinose-san has taken the lead, and Ryūen-kun's class, which was in last place, is catching up at an absurd pace with continuous perfect scores. We've reached a point where I can't guarantee that we'll definitely win."
If they could see through Ryūen's strategy and reliably prevent perfect scores from then on, it would be different, but they couldn't expect that. Neither could they interfere with Ichinose's protection nominations, which succeeded at a high rate.
"All we can do is fight together until the end."Horikita couldn't guarantee victory at this point.
But, as this was a competitive exam, the leader had to offer assurance, even if there was none to be given.
Being overly timid or overly optimistic would be pointless.
Only the truth behind her words would resonate with her classmates.
Horikita believed they could prevail. That belief would reach the students.
Even Yōsuke, who was usually the one to follow up, was just listening to Horikita's words this time.
"Believe in me."
They would press on, driven by this spirit. Of course, there were no other available options.
But looking at Horikita, there seemed to be more than that.
15th turn—Ichinose's class's turn to attack.
Defensive's Successfully Protected Members:
'Karuizawa Kei,' 'Satō Maya,' and 'Miyake Akito'
Horikita successfully protected three of her classmates.
Moreover, they scored perfectly as the remaining two answered the question correctly.
It was a comeback of five points. However, the relentless nominations didn't stop.
"Wh-what is this?!"
Kei, more overwhelmed with fear than joy, averted her eyes from the screen.
Not only the classmates who were only vaguely aware of the situation, but even ones who were completely oblivious, began feeling uneasy about their opponent obsessively singling her out.
Horikita, who had successfully defended her classmates, didn't seem to be one of them.
16th turn—Ichinose's class's turn to attack.
Defensive's Successfully Protected Members:
'Karuizawa Kei,' 'Nishimura Ryūko'
This time, there were two. But again, Kei's name was there.
"Stop it… What is this…?"
Ichinose continued to target and endlessly attack Karuizawa.
It wasn't strange to infer that if a specific student was being targeted, the intent was to intentionally eliminate and expel that student. This image-destroying behavior continued without end.
17th turn—Ichinose's class's turn to attack.
Defensive's Successfully Protected Members:
'Karuizawa Kei,' 'Hirata Yōsuke'
Still, it didn't stop.
It didn't stop.
It didn't stop, no matter how many times it was thwarted.
The nominations didn't stop.
"Why are you only targeting me… That's not fair…"
18th turn—Ichinose's class's turn to attack.
Defensive's Successfully Protected Members:
'Karuizawa Kei,' 'Hasebe Haruka,' 'Onodera Kayano'
19th turn—Ichinose's class's turn to attack.
Defensive's Successfully Protected Members:
'Karuizawa Kei'
20th turn—Ichinose's class's turn to attack.
Defensive's Successfully Protected Members:
'Karuizawa Kei,' 'Sudō Ken'
There was a total of 10 turns in the second half.
From start to finish, Ichinose never removed Kei as a target.