Sakayanagi had said before that she managed to get Kamuro to leave by having her agree to submit a request to the school through Katsuragi to get back those 50 points.
Now, that 50 points really has been returned to Class A.
And with Sakayanagi also helping Class A this time, their chances of getting an average score above 70 — and earning the full 100-point bonus — are basically guaranteed.
So now, things have gone from bad to worse for Ryuen's class.
Shirogane immediately passed the news on to Shiina — including that Sakayanagi is supporting Class A, and if Class A covers the advanced material, they have a high chance of earning the full 100 points based on real academic performance.
"That's Class A when they get serious. Kinda scary."
Hiyori replied quickly.
"Stop complaining. I got the info."
Right then, a message from Ryuen popped up in the chat.
Shirogane had just posted in Ryuen's class strategy group, so everyone else could see it too.
This was also to avoid the kind of mess that makes getting promoted to Class A even harder.
Ryuen: We finally caught those two today. Shirogane, your guess was right.
Ryuen: The test really was based on old questions.
Ryuen: Some people said there were a lot of things on the test they didn't know, stuff that wasn't in the textbook at all.
Ibuki: So how did they even know the test would be based on old questions?
Ryuen: Simple. Back when their class was still in first year, they felt like they hadn't studied properly for two months and a lot of students thought they'd fail. So someone asked the upperclassmen and bought old test papers from them. They weren't sure it was real at first, but when the test came, it turned out to be exactly the same. And from then on, they found out that the school always reused the same set of questions.
Shirogane: So upperclassmen can just share old test papers whenever they want?
Ryuen: Not exactly. Like last month, the upperclassmen were told to keep quiet. They weren't allowed to leak anything. But if a lowerclassman takes the initiative to ask and offers something in return, it's allowed as a private deal. Basically, the school only checks what the first-years do.
Ryuen: And this month, the whole school took the same written test. The upperclassmen also got old questions. But it looks like only the first-years had strict rules to keep it secret.
Ryuen: It's annoying seeing those guys so relaxed while we're still stressed out. They treated this test like free points. So what do you think would happen if the truth about them using old test papers got out?
Ishizaki Daichi: Ryuen, that's a risky thought.
Ryuen: Don't worry. If the test gets canceled or changed, our class would be the first to suffer. That would only help Class A.
Ryuen: I'm not stupid enough to do that kind of thing.
Ryuen: I just don't get this school's weird rules. What kind of students are they trying to train?
Shiina Hiyori: Maybe the school is trying to tell us first-years not to just follow the rules blindly?
Don't follow the rules too strictly?
Hmm.
Because if you didn't know what was going on, even students in Class A wouldn't be able to get an average score of 70.
So normally, each class would just try to make sure their classmates didn't get expelled.
That's why Ryuen's class chose to control scores.
And if Chabashira-sensei hadn't broken the rules and leaked info, Shirogane probably wouldn't have even guessed that this test could be cheated on, or that the school didn't seem to mind cheating.
After all, when the teachers announced the test rules, they never said anything about the usual procedures.
Other classes who didn't know what was going on would try to handle it by having the top students get just above the fail line—like scoring 51—and letting the weaker students try their best, just to avoid anyone being expelled.
Only after doing things the normal way did they find out that old questions were reused, and you could actually buy test papers from upperclassmen.
Students' whole view of the system would be shaken again—just like it was last month.
Shirogane: These are the only two pieces of info you found out?
Ryuen: Yeah. As for the exam papers, we can get them tomorrow.
Shirogane didn't respond to Ryuen right away.
Because something suddenly came to mind—regarding this usual type of test, Class D had Chabashira-sensei breaking the rules, and Chabashira-sensei also had a private talk with Ayanokouji.
Shirogane wasn't going to underestimate Ayanokouji, the "big boss."
So it was very likely that Class D might be trying to get test papers from upperclassmen.
Ryuen's class also had a way to get papers from the upper grades.
As for Class A, with Sakayanagi's help, they didn't even need to buy the papers. Their academic level was already the highest, and Sakayanagi could fill in the extra material beyond the syllabus. As long as they kept an average score of 70, they'd get the full reward. It wasn't hard for them.
So even if they eventually found out about the option to buy the test, they might not take the risk. They could pass safely without it.
That meant out of the four first-year classes, three already had a clear path to pass the exam.
Only Ichinose's class was left.
Ichinose's Class C didn't seem to be doing well at all. They were even willing to lend their top students to Ryuen's class for tutoring. But now, they had Nagumo trying to win them over.
Shirogane understood.
This was a smart move.
Nagumo knew clearly that Shirogane was on Horikita's side, and that Shirogane's goal was to become student council president—making him Nagumo's rival.
Eventually, they might end up competing for votes in the election.
That meant Nagumo had a reason to win over the votes of the first-years.
But Shirogane wasn't vice president yet, and couldn't even qualify to run. He still had to fulfill the bet with Horikita's brother—leading his class to Class A.
And that gave Nagumo a chance to interfere—either stop him from reaching Class A or make the path harder.
So how could Nagumo interfere?
First, Kushida, who just joined the student council, was recommended by Nagumo. That meant he didn't have enough control to directly touch Class D.
And Shirogane had publicly said that if he became president, he'd choose Sakayanagi as his vice president. So even though Class A and Shirogane's class were rivals now, Nagumo couldn't be sure if Class A would actually side with him.
That left Ichinose's class as the best option for Nagumo.
And he could choose to leak information to them.
Exactly.
Leaking.
Since this exam was the usual one that upperclassmen already knew about, Nagumo definitely knew how to score high.
And Ichinose's class was falling behind—and among the three first-year student council members, Ichinose had the lowest position. They looked like they were in the worst shape.
So…
If Nagumo helped them, it would be like giving warmth in a snowstorm.
And this is where the saying "free is the most expensive" kicks in.
Ichinose's class and Nagumo's class were both originally Class B, so there was some history there. Plus, Ichinose was also part of the student council.
It really was the most fitting class for Nagumo to step in.
But, Nagumo-senpai, you're a second-year.
Isn't controlling the second-years enough for you? Do you really need to get involved with the first-years too?
In the end, they would have to go head-to-head with Nagumo-senpai in the election, trying to win votes—so there was no way they could afford to let the first-year votes go to him.
Especially since Ichinose was still part of the anti-Nagumo team.
Thinking about that—
Shirogane sent a message to Ichinose.
"Just to be safe… Nagumo-senpai's actions are still suspicious. I think he might try something shady against your class."
[Shady?]
Ichinose must've been on her phone already, because she replied almost right away.
"Yeah, there's some information about this test that only upperclassmen know. Knowing it might let someone score big."
"But if an upperclassman leaks it, that breaks the rules."
[So what are you getting at?]
Ichinose replied quickly.
"This will be our first real battle to get into the student council."
Shirogane wrote back:
"Nagumo-senpai made one mistake—he doesn't know we've been part of the anti-Nagumo alliance from the start."
[Hmm…]
Ichinose understood right away. Shirogane was planning to use the fact that Nagumo didn't know they were working together.
[So what's the plan this time?]
Ichinose seemed excited.
This meant there might be a way for their class to handle the written test more effectively. And of course, that would benefit their whole class. As the class rep, Ichinose couldn't help but get fired up.
"Lure him into the trap."
Shirogane wrote back.
Right after sending that to Ichinose, Shirogane suddenly realized who he had forgotten.
It was Kushida Kikyo from Class 1-D.
Originally, Kushida was part of a mission given to him by Horikita's older brother—one worth a full million points.
The goal was to find out why Kushida was so obsessed with Horikita's little sister.
After all, they were classmates—and she was someone hiding secrets. Not dealing with her properly felt risky.
As another older brother himself, Shirogane could kind of understand how Horikita's brother felt.
So Shirogane decided to finally start working on the mission. Directly asking her wasn't going to work, so he'd have to take it slow and keep her close for now.
And this, ironically, was something he had learned from Kushida herself.
Get along with people, build a good relationship, and then slowly get them to open up and share information.
It was the same trick Kushida had used on others—now Shirogane was just turning it back on her.
But after bringing her into the student council today, it felt like his work was done… and he just left, dumping the responsibility of her onto someone else.
Even though Kushida was great at social stuff, she was probably better suited for public morals committee-type work. Putting her in charge of boring office tasks might actually… be tough for her.
Yeah.
Shirogane finally remembered who he had forgotten.
So he pulled out his phone and tapped on Kushida's contact.
[You planning to contact Kushida? Actually, from 9 PM to 10 PM each day, it's easier to find her by the railing near the lake.]
[She often goes there.]
That voice in Shirogane's head—the narration system—spoke up.
[This is your last bit of info for today. It's 9 PM now. I'm going to bed.]
奥.
Ps: second update.
Ps: Please give me monthly votes, razor blades, and recommendation votes. Waaah, you don't love me anymore.
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