Chapter 329 The Woman Favored by the Great Demon King
"This—this vote definitely has a problem!
Who would be brain-dead enough to give a guy like Ayanokouji a praise vote?"
Shinohara Satsuki slammed the table, her eyes wide with disbelief.
"Well, who knows?
Maybe someone from another class has a favorable impression of me."
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka remained expressionless, offering no further explanation.
The truth was, he had contacted Manabe Shiho again a few days prior. This woman was truly easy to handle; despite having been deceived by him more than once, she was still willing to believe him. Manabe had her small group cast their praise votes for him. In return, Ayanokouji used private points to buy praise votes from a few destitute students in Class D to give to Manabe.
In a sense, during this exam, Ayanokouji and Manabe were "mutually beneficial."
"Tsk!"
Hikigaya couldn't help but click his tongue. He truly hated this "false human" persona the most!
"Hmph! I actually had some expectations for this exam.
I wanted to see what kind of intellectual battle 'False Human Boy' would use to deal with 'Clown Girl.'"
Koenji Rokusuke crossed his arms over his chest, offering cold ridicule without mercy: "In the end, you still resorted to that same unsavory trick of deceiving women. You've shown me an utterly boring performance!"
Koenji's words were highly aggressive, but for a "false human" lacking normal human emotions, no amount of malicious mockery could cause a ripple in his heart.
"Sorry, I don't understand what you're talking about."
Ayanokouji played dumb as usual. Koenji made a face of pure disgust, clearly repulsed by the other's behavior.
Hikigaya, however, understood Koenji's perspective. For a scion of a conglomerate like Koenji, who was born with a silver spoon, he was a winner from the start; such people cared more about enjoying the process than the final result.
In Koenji's eyes, Ayanokouji clearly had the strength to crush Shinohara head-on, yet he hid it—it was as if he were treating everyone else like fools!
"W-what does this mean...
I'm being expelled?
Are you kidding me...
Who would accept such an absurd exam?"
Shinohara Satsuki clutched her head and let out a desperate howl: "I don't want this to happen! Noooooo!!!"
"That's enough, Shinohara!
The exam is over. Your expulsion is set in stone.
No matter how much of a scene you make, you cannot make the school retract this decision."
Chabashira Sae had no intention of coddling her just because she was a girl. In fact, since enrollment, her evaluation of Shinohara had been very low. Shinohara spent all day instigating gender conflict and contributed almost nothing to Class D; her presence was a literal burden.
"Waaaaah!"
"I'm not leaving! I won't go!"
"I don't want to be separated from Satoru-kun!!!"
Shinohara completely broke down, tears and snot flowing as she rolled around on the floor. Even now, she clung to unrealistic fantasies about "love."
"I...! I'm going to find Satoru-kun!
For my sake, Satoru-kun might even leave with me!"
Those words made people's skin crawl. Setting aside whatever this "romance" was that Shinohara had unilaterally declared, even if Satonaka Satoru were her boyfriend, she had no right to ask him to get expelled with her.
He was in Class A; as long as he stayed until graduation, he was guaranteed a spot in a top university with a bright future. How could this woman have the nerve to say that?
Chabashira's patience was exhausted. Without further words, she grabbed Shinohara's arm and dragged her away by force.
-
-
-
The person with the highest praise votes was Kushida Kikyo. There was nothing much to say about that. The most popular little angel in Class D needed no explanation!
However, the vote count wasn't as high as expected, barely exceeding 36 votes including internal and external classes. Given Kushida's popularity, she shouldn't have had so few.
Hikigaya knew exactly why. It was because Kushida was close to him; the fear everyone had of the "Great Demon King" had, to an extent, affected the Angel's popularity.
Hikigaya had once advised her to at least pretend to keep her distance in public, but she had lost her temper and became even more clingy afterward, which was troublesome.
-
-
-
Class C Classroom.
"Hey, Sakagami, give me the mic!"
Ryuen Kakeru's personality was forceful; he was never polite, even to teachers. Sakagami Kazuma didn't get angry; he liked students with this kind of drive.
"Tokito Hiroya: 40 criticism votes, 6 praise votes."
"Manabe Shiho: 40 criticism votes, 4 praise votes."
"Morofuji Rika: 40 criticism votes, 2 praise votes."
Due to Ryuen's designation, the criticism votes of everyone in Class C were concentrated on these three. Therefore, the outcome depended solely on who could secure more praise votes.
Tokito had a violent temper and poor popularity, but he had some ability, so getting a few praise votes was reasonable. Manabe's praise votes were traded from Ayanokouji, allowing her to narrowly pass. Morofuji Rika, however, had a weak personality and bottom-tier abilities; she didn't even have enough private points to try and buy her way out.
"Ryuen, you wanted to kick me out?"
"No chance!"
Tokito, having escaped death, began to act up again.
"Heh~ Tokito, the only reason you're staying is because I let you stay. From now on, you'd better live with your tail between your legs!"
Ryuen glanced at him with contempt before turning his gaze to Manabe: "Manabe, I didn't expect that to save yourself, you'd conspire with an outsider again."
"S-so what?
Ryuen, you said you wouldn't use a forced nomination..." Manabe said, trying to stay calm.
"Hmph, I won't go back on my word."
Ryuen sneered inwardly. Since the rooftop incident, he had gained a basic understanding of Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's terrifying strength. Ryuen believed there was almost zero chance of
victory in a direct confrontation with Ayanokouji. He could only start with the people around him.
Unfortunately, Ayanokouji was a loner in Class D with no friends. Therefore, Ryuen decided to gift him a "friend."
There is a classic saying: "Don't fear a god-like opponent, fear a pig-like teammate." Placing a "pig teammate" like Manabe near Ayanokouji was like planting a landmine for his opponent.
'Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, let's see what happens!'
"Ugh... hmph...
Why is it always me who gets hurt?"
Morofuji Rika sobbed loudly.
"Because you are weak and have no value in staying."
Ryuen's expression was cold, devoid of pity.
Unsurprisingly, the person with the highest praise votes in Class C was Ryuen himself. This had nothing to do with popularity; it was a strategic consideration for class competition. The person with the most praise votes receives a [Protection Point], a privilege that grants immunity from one expulsion!
-
-
-
Class B Classroom.
"In this special exam, no one was expelled."
Hoshinomiya Chie announced the results: "But I suppose congratulations aren't exactly in order."
To grant immunity, Class B had pooled almost all the students' private points, paying a heavy price.
"But we protected our classmate, and that makes it all worth it!"
Ichinose Honami's eyes were firm. In a sense, she was the same type of person as Hirata Yosuke when it came to protecting the class. The difference was that she had the strength to lead the class, whereas Hirata lacked the qualities of a leader.
"That's right!"
"This is the bond of Class B!"
"No matter how difficult the road ahead, we will face it together!"
After this exam, Class B's cohesion was further strengthened! Only Kanzaki Ryuji frowned, a flash of worry crossing his face. If a similar exam occurred later where someone had to be expelled and they couldn't produce 20 million points, what would they do then?
The one with the most praise votes was Ichinose Honami, granting her the [Protection Point].
-
-
-
Class A Classroom.
"The person with the most criticism votes: Totsuka Yahiko.
Regrettably, you did not pass this special exam. This is your expulsion notice."
Mashima Tomoya announced the results with a heavy heart. As an upright man, he had strongly protested the [In-Class Vote] exam added by Acting Director Tsukishiro from the start. Unfortunately, he couldn't stop it.
"Huh?!"
Upon hearing his name, Yahiko froze instantly. Instead, Katsuragi Kohei stood up abruptly, staring fixedly at Sakayanagi Arisu: "Sakayanagi, what is the meaning of this?"
"My, my~ why is Katsuragi-kun so shocked?" Sakayanagi asked nonchalantly.
"Didn't you gather people to vote criticism against me?" Katsuragi questioned loudly.
"I don't recall ever saying that."
On the first day of the [In-Class Vote], Sakayanagi had asked, "If Katsuragi and I, one of us must be expelled, who would you choose?" It was easy for people to assume she was hinting at Katsuragi's expulsion. Thus, over the past few days, Katsuragi had worked hard to lobby classmates he was on good terms with to secure praise votes.
Unfortunately, he only managed to gather 9 praise votes—a drop in the bucket compared to Sakayanagi, who dominated Class A. Katsuragi had even resigned himself to fate and prepared for expulsion.
When the results were announced, Katsuragi found he had zero criticism votes, while Yahiko had a staggering 31!
"Katsuragi-kun, are you looking down on me?"
Sakayanagi looked him directly in the eye: "To suggest I would force an excellent student out of the class just to consolidate my leadership..."
"..."
Katsuragi's voice trailed off. He truly had thought so; he believed Sakayanagi's style was so aggressive that she would never tolerate dissenting voices. Just like when Sakayanagi conspired with outsiders to trap him and take him down to defeat him. He never imagined Sakayanagi would target his close friend Yahiko!
"Katsuragi-kun, the duel between you and me is merely a struggle for class leadership. Regardless of who wins or loses, we would not force the other to be expelled. I imagine even if you defeated me, you wouldn't have me expelled, right?"
As candidates for Class A leadership, both of them possessed strong comprehensive strength; losing either would be a massive loss for Class A.
"Furthermore, setting aside personal feelings... can you accurately judge the true strength of your friend Yahiko?"
Faced with Sakayanagi's relentless questioning, Katsuragi was speechless.
"Wait!
This isn't fair!
My academic scores are clearly much better than Kamuro's!"
Yahiko, finally coming to his senses and realizing he was about to be expelled, suddenly broke down: "Why am I the one being expelled and not Kamuro?! I don't accept this!!"
"Why? Isn't it obvious?" Sakayanagi smiled. "Because Masumi-san is my person."
Kamuro Masumi frowned, seemingly unaccustomed to that phrasing, but she didn't deny it.
"..."
The members of Class A were stunned. What kind of reason was that?
"Sakayanagi, you're acting out of selfishness!" Katsuragi argued.
"Yes, I am acting out of selfishness. Is that a problem?"
Sakayanagi didn't even bother to hide it, looking at Yahiko with mockery: "You knew Masumi-san was my person, yet you targeted her. Even for a fool, there should be a limit. Also... has everyone forgotten one thing?
Our 'Great Demon King' Hachiman-kun is quite fond of Masumi.
For her sake, he even went against the current Student Council President."
"Hey! Why are you saying that..." Kamuro Masumi glared at her with a mix of embarrassment and anger.
"See? Masumi doesn't deny being favored by the Great Demon King~"
Sakayanagi narrowed her eyes. The students of Class A looked at each other with varying expressions.
That was the man who had once knocked Class A down to Class C—no one questioned the Demon King's strength.
Yahiko dared to attack the woman by the Demon King's side—wasn't that just seeking death? Thinking of this, the pity the students felt for Yahiko turned into indifference. If you want to die, fine, but if you provoke the Demon King and he drags Class A down again, that would be true hell!
"I... I... waaaaah!"
It was as if Yahiko's spine had been removed; he collapsed to the floor. In this moment, he lost the dignity of a Class A elite and wailed like a child.
The person with the highest praise votes in Class A, under Sakayanagi's control, was given to Kamuro Masumi. This was the "favor" Sakayanagi bestowed upon her own maid.
Read ahead (160 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting