Ryuuen walked down the hallway with a relaxed expression.
Corresponding to the bright sunshine outside the windows along the way was the unsettling darkness and silence at the end of the corridor.
Sakaue and Ichinose were both anxiously standing outside the conference room door.
Just seeing this scene made Ryuuen's heart sink.
"Teacher Sakaue, what happened here? Why did you call me so urgently? And Ichinose, shouldn't you be inside participating in the arbitration meeting?"
Facing Ryuuen's questions, both of their faces turned grim.
"Miyako used the excuse of avoiding suspicion to force Horikita Manabu and Ichinose to be unable to participate in the arbitration meeting, and I was kicked out by Nagumo for interrupting. I have no idea what specifically happened inside, but it's clearly nothing good."
Ryuuen nodded.
Teacher Sakaue's words were mostly nonsense.
The only useful information was that Horikita Manabu and Ichinose had been kicked out.
Although the reason was legitimate, it… shouldn't have been necessary.
Preventing Ichinose, as the leader of Class B, from attending the meeting would indeed increase the chances of winning, but if the excuse of avoiding suspicion was to be used, Horikita Manabu would also have to be removed.
After all, no one had more reason to avoid suspicion than Horikita Manabu.
So, the question arose: what happened that made Amane decide that even if it meant self-inflicted harm, Ichinose had to be removed from the scene?
"Catch the king first? Interesting. Since I'm here, I'll go meet that little guy."
"Don't be careless. Miyako gives me a very strange feeling; it seems like he deliberately orchestrated this situation."
Seeing Ryuuen being somewhat careless, Sakaue quickly warned him.
Ichinose, standing nearby, was about to add that Amane already had evidence of their two classes' cooperation, but then she remembered that the evidence came from her own Class B, and Ichinose found herself unable to speak.
"I know. As long as Ishizaki keeps his mouth shut, we won't lose."
Ryuuen admitted that he wasn't fully prepared, but he believed Ichinose's control over Class B should be similar to his own.
This incident seemed to involve many aspects, but it was essentially just a psychological game. As long as they refused to communicate, no matter how capable Amane was, she couldn't possibly guess Ryuuen's plan.
Seeing Ryuuen open the door and walk in, Ichinose opened her mouth to warn him, but it was already too late.
The conference room door was heavily shut.
Ryuuen, completely unprepared, stepped into the trap.
"I'm Ryuuen from Class 1-C. What do you need me for here?"
Ryuuen confidently walked over to the vacant seat left by Sakaue-sensei in Class C and sat down.
"Ryuuen-san, I called you over this time to verify some information with you."
Nagumo Miyabi looked at Ryuuen Kakeru, who showed no signs of nervousness, with great interest.
"Tell me about it. But my memory isn't great, so I might not remember."
Ryuuen leaned back in his chair, his legs crossed, looking completely at ease.
Nagumo Miyabi glanced indifferently at Ryuuen.
"Ryuuen, were you involved in the incident of sending fake love letters to Shibata and Kanzaki from Class B?"
"No."
Ryuuen answered very directly.
Or rather, such an answer was the most correct answer.
Unfortunately, Ryuuen didn't know that Amane had already produced evidence.
Ishizaki gave Ryuuen a look, but Ryuuen didn't take it seriously.
He thought Ishizaki was telling him to show some respect to Nagumo.
What kind of person was Nagumo Miyabi? He, Ryuuen, had never heard of such a person in the Student Council.
"Then did you instruct The Ishizaki Trio to harass Shiraha, intending to frame Class B?"
Ryuuen frowned, not expecting Amane's side to have investigated so thoroughly. But even if it was thoroughly investigated, what good was it? As long as he didn't admit it, Amane wouldn't have enough evidence to convict him.
"Slander! This is complete slander. I demand that the person who made such defamatory claims against my reputation apologize to me."
Ryuuen answered calmly, even planning to turn the tables on Amane to curb her momentum.
Nagumo Miyabi showed a mocking smile upon hearing Ryuuen's reply.
"I will ask you one last time: did you do the things mentioned above?"
Although Nagumo Miyabi's tone made Ryuuen feel a bit strange, he still couldn't figure out which part had gone wrong.
However, since he had already spoken, going back on his words now would make him seem suspicious.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I wasn't involved in any of the above. I'm a good boy, you know."
Ryuuen looked at Amane provocatively.
He was anticipating Amane's furious reaction.
But Amane, at this moment, was looking at Ryuuen with a smug expression.
Something was wrong.
Only then did Ryuuen realize there was something amiss with Nagumo Miyabi's questioning.
Yet, he still didn't know where the other party's trap lay.
Nagumo Miyabi used the information asymmetry to make Ryuuen fall into self-doubt.
"Miyako-san, please play the evidence."
"Mhm."
Amane happily pressed the play button.
As the recording played, Ryuuen's face grew exceptionally grim.
He hadn't expected Amane and her group to obtain such evidence?
Such a clear recording meant... there was a mole by his side.
How, how ridiculous!
His denial just now must have looked like a clown's performance to everyone, making them want to burst out laughing, right?
"Very good, well done. It seems I was careless. But even if I was involved, what then? There's nothing new under the sun. This school tacitly allows students and classes to compete with each other. From the recording, it's also clear that I didn't instruct Ishizaki and them to harm Shiraha. Likewise, I didn't have anyone harm Sakura. At most, it was an excessive prank, wasn't it?"
Ryuuen's quick reaction speed even left Amane a bit speechless.
Indeed, Ryuuen had repeatedly emphasized not to harm Shiraha when executing the plan. Although his scheme was somewhat despicable, it couldn't be said that his subjective intention was to harm Shiraha.
The fake love letter incident was even more so; the only valid information obtained so far was that Ryuuen arranged for Kondo to deliver fake love letters to the two.
Even if it was done under Sakura's name, it was merely a somewhat excessive prank. After all, whether it was public opinion or accusations, there was no way to prove that Ryuuen was pulling the strings behind the scenes.
"As expected of someone who can 'rule' Class C. However, aren't you a bit too confident? Sometimes, one shouldn't pursue perfection too much. Once you pursue perfection too much, you'll leave a flaw."
Ryuuen was the instigator of the Ishizaki Incident, and his subjective malice was undeniable; it could only be said that there was no overt act of harming others.
As for the fake love letter incident, if subjective malice couldn't be proven, then it would be categorized as a prank. In that case, a simple apology from Ryuuen could dismiss Sakura.
The public opinion violence Sakura suffered would seem to simply not exist.
But Ryuuen probably never imagined that his pursuit of perfection back then would confirm his subjectively malicious actions, right?
"I need a witness to attend, if that's possible?"
Amane submitted her request to Nagumo Miyabi.
"Of course."
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