[He guessed the identities of the other three leaders correctly, obtained 150 points, and the daily expenditure points were also reduced because of Saiki. In the end, we received 300 points. This is an extremely exaggerated number.]
[Even if it were me, I could only judge the identities of the leaders of Class A and Class D. But Saiki actually succeeded in guessing the leader of Class B. How did he do it?]
"It was Saiki who guessed it." Ayanokoji thought for a moment, then answered the other party.
"Saiki?"
Suzune was a little surprised, and only then realized something.
"Could it be that things like changing the leader were all something the two of you planned together?"
Before Suzune could finish speaking, the other students of Class C had already surrounded her tightly.
"Amazing, Horikita! You actually guessed the identities of all the other class leaders!"
"Impressive, Horikita!"
"Ayanokoji told us that you had already seen through Ryuuen's scheme!"
"Huh?" Suzune had a completely confused expression.
"After the test scores were announced, the class rankings also changed."
And at this moment, Chabashira Sae walked up to the group, with an extremely joyful smile on her face.
"You can celebrate a little now. Congratulations to all of you, you've successfully risen to Class B."
At this very moment, on the cruise ship, the "just recovered from a serious illness" Saiki was wholeheartedly enjoying his desserts, completely ignoring the things happening on shore.
———
After finishing the test, students had a few hours of free activity time. They could choose to swim in the sea or rest on the ship.
Sakura Airi and some other students from the class came to look for Saiki at the first moment, Saiki had already returned to his room, lying on the bed, as if he hadn't gone anywhere at all.
"Saiki, how's your recovery? I have good news to tell you! We successfully achieved first place!"
"We actually got 300 points! It's all thanks to Horikita, she guessed all the other class leaders' information correctly!"
"Right now, we're already Class B! The distance to Class A is getting closer and closer!"
'Yare yare, we've already risen to Class B, huh?'
Hearing everyone's words, Saiki couldn't feel happy. But no matter what, everyone thought the main credit this time went to Suzune, which also helped him avoid a lot of trouble.
After a brief chat, the other students had already left, with only Ayanokoji staying behind.
"Thanks for the help."
Saiki nodded slightly toward Ayanokoji. This time, Ayanokoji had indeed helped him a lot.
"I have a question, Saiki."
At this moment, Ayanokoji looked into Saiki's eyes and asked, "How did you determine the identity of Class B's leader?"
'?'
Saiki froze for a moment. He hadn't expected Ayanokoji to ask such a question.
'Shouldn't you also be able to guess the other leaders' information?'
[Class B adopted a completely defensive strategy. Even I couldn't get enough intel from Class B. If it were me, I would probably give up guessing the leader of Class B. But Saiki actually guessed it. What method did he use?]
'Yare yare, so even you don't know?'
Saiki felt a bit helpless. He had always assumed that with Ayanokoji's reasoning and observation skills, he could easily guess the other class leaders. Unexpectedly, even Ayanokoji was just an ordinary person.
No matter how good a detective is, they can't uncover the truth from a case with no clues at all.
'Actually, it was by using telepathy and clairvoyance.'
Although Saiki answered in his heart, he naturally couldn't say it out loud. He could only think quickly and forcibly made up a reason, suddenly recalling Shiina Hiyori's earlier words.
"Because... first, the more prominent someone's presence is, the less likely they are to be the leader... so I excluded Ichinose. But since Ichinose has significant influence in the class, she would most likely choose the person she trusts the most."
"Others would first think of Kanzaki. He also has a strong presence, so I excluded him... So I believed it was Shirakaba Chihiro."
Even Saiki found it hard to believe his own explanation.
'Crap, Ayanokoji is definitely going to be suspicious...'
"I see." At this moment, Ayanokoji nodded.
"Huh?"
[As expected of Saiki, his understanding of others' personalities is far above mine. He can even predict their actions based on their personality. He's basically a monster. Looks like there are beings even scarier than those from the White Room.] Ayanokoji thought this in his heart.
'?'
[Saiki is, without a doubt, a very dangerous person. But fortunately, for now, our goals are aligned, and we won't interfere with each other.]
Saiki was well aware that Ayanokoji's misunderstanding of him was getting deeper and deeper, but it seemed there was no better way to resolve it.
[I hope I won't become enemies with Saiki in the future. If we do become enemies...]
Just then, an extremely urgent knocking sound came from outside the door.
Even from a distance, Saiki could hear the knocker's thoughts. He knew he was about to face a huge headache again.
[These two people must give me a clear explanation!]
The visitor was none other than Suzune.
'What's going on? Why is Horikita coming straight to the door?'
Saiki couldn't understand what was happening and could only turn his head to look at Ayanokoji.
'It's definitely this guy's doing!'
[I suppose this situation was also within Saiki's expectations.] Ayanokoji thought so in his heart.
'???'
Saiki was full of confusion inside and had no idea what Ayanokoji was talking about.
[Saiki's thinking style is very similar to mine, or maybe even above mine. So I need to think in reverse, if I were Saiki, what would I do?]
[I told Horikita about part of what Saiki did so she would realize a portion of Saiki's and my capabilities.]
[This way, Horikita should take the initiative to cooperate with us. Then we'd have another useful tool.]
'Whoa whoa whoa, Isn't that too much?'
Saiki thought to himself, pursed his lips, and never imagined things would develop like this.
"You two, what exactly did you do behind my back? You need to explain this properly."
As soon as Suzune entered the room, she directly questioned the two of them.
"Did what?" Ayanokoji looked at her without any expression.
"I don't quite understand what you mean."
"Our class got first place this time. A full 300 points. How exactly did you do it? That fever of yours was fake, wasn't it?"
[To begin with, I don't know how Saiki did it either. Maybe he used some chemical substance to temporarily raise his forehead's temperature.] Ayanokoji thought this to himself.
'I'll just pretend I really was sick. I don't want to get involved in more trouble.'
Saiki thought so, preparing to bluff his way through.
"Actually, I..."
"That's right. This was Saiki and my plan."
Before Saiki could finish speaking, Ayanokoji spoke first.
"Saiki figured out Ibuki's identity from the very beginning. But he still had Yamauchi bring her back. The purpose was to use Ibuki to learn about Class D's leader and give her false information to mislead the other side."
"What?" Suzune's eyes widened with a trace of surprise.
'What?' Saiki also widened his eyes slightly, shouting in his heart.
Every word Ayanokoji said was completely outside of his expectations.
They were supposed to be helping Saiki divert attention. So why was he spilling everything to Horikita now?
[I suppose Saiki's thoughts were the same as mine, if we can cultivate Horikita into a suitable tool, she can act on our behalf and become our agent in managing the class.]
'Whoa whoa whoa, I never thought that far ahead!'
Saiki screamed in his heart, but now that things had come this far, his only choice was to go along with Ayanokoji's story.
"That's right..." Saiki nodded.
"To make Class D misidentify the leader, Saiki and I purposely acted out this entire play." Ayanokoji continued.
"I see... I really underestimated the two of you."
Suzune frowned slightly and looked at Saiki and Ayanokoji one by one.
[I already sensed something was off earlier. Now it's clear, these two really are capable. I don't know why they're hiding their strength in the class, but if we can get their help, rising to Class A won't just be a dream.]
[We've already surpassed Class B. Although there's still a big score gap with Class A, if we maintain this momentum... maybe we can do it by the second semester of first year.]
Thinking of this, a gleam seemed to flash in Horikita's eyes.
[Horikita must already think that Saiki and I have certain abilities. Now, she'll probably start figuring out how to rise to Class A.]
'I suspect you're a psychic too.'
"You two used me like a pawn this time, didn't you?" Suzune glared at both Saiki and Ayanokoji.
'That has nothing to do with me.'
Even if Saiki thought that in his heart, there was no way he could say it aloud.
"Hmm. I can't deny it." Ayanokoji nodded.
"When exactly did you two start working together? From the beginning?"
"No, it was about halfway through the exam. We realized each other's intentions and began to communicate."
"In the previous exams, you didn't show any special actions. Why act in this one? What's your reasoning behind your actions?"
There was a trace of doubt in Horikita's eyes.
[Because I was threatened by Chabashira-sensei. For now, I'm not sure whether what she said was true or not, so I couldn't take any risky actions.]
Ayanokoji thought this, but only said aloud, "If I said I was moved by how serious you were during the test, would you believe me?"
"Such an absurd lie, do normal people really say things like that?"
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