Compared with Class C, the other classes were moving a little more slowly. Class D, for example, had very little enthusiasm aside from Sudou, who had eagerly signed up for basketball.
"Hey, Horikita. We're going to have to follow Kamio Tatsuya's orders during the exam anyway, right? I don't think he's going to let us win."
Hondo from Class D spoke with an attitude of total defeat. He wasn't the only one who felt that way.
"That's true. We have no chance of winning this exam outright, and we're guaranteed to lose four matches. But that doesn't mean we should stop trying.
We can't take Class C on directly, but we can still steal points from Class A and Class B. If things go well, our class points might even increase."
Horikita had no intention of giving up just like that. In fact, if they started slacking off now, their mindset would change. Even if an opportunity came later, they might not be able to seize it.
"But that would be difficult, right?"
"It would be very difficult. Perhaps even harder than moving up to Class A."
At that, most of the students in Class D looked gloomy.
"But is Class A really the end of your lives?" Horikita's tone grew sharp. "We're only first-year students. At most, we're sixteen years old.
"The average life expectancy in Japan is over eighty. That means we've only lived about one-fifth of our lives.
"Are you really planning to give up on your lives here?"
Horikita's words left many of the Class D students looking at one another.
"Maybe we can't move up to Class A, but that doesn't mean we can't pursue the careers we want.
"Sudou, if I told you right now that you absolutely couldn't graduate from Class A, would you give up your dream of becoming a professional athlete?"
"Do you even have to ask? Even if I had to drop out right now, I'd never give up on my dream. I'm going to become a professional basketball player!"
Sudou's powerful voice made the students of Class D look at one another.
"That's right. Graduating from Class A is nothing more than an unreliable shortcut. If you want to achieve your goals in life, you have to rely on yourself!
"Only the things you gain through your own hard work truly belong to you. We're only in our first year, and we still have plenty of time ahead of us. Are you really going to give up here?"
Horikita's voice reached deep into the hearts of most of the students in Class D.
Ever since signing the contract with Kamio Tatsuya, most of the students in Class D had started living day by day without putting in any real effort.
They had no goals and no direction, like a small boat lost in thick fog, unable to find a route back to shore.
But Horikita's wake-up call was like a lighthouse, lighting the road ahead for them.
That was right. So what if they couldn't graduate from Class A? So what if they didn't have a ticket to success? Students from schools outside this one didn't have Class A's privileges either.
At the very least, compared with them, our room and board were free. Our learning environment and living conditions were also far better than theirs.
If that was the case, then what right did they have to lose themselves here?
"She's right. Horikita is absolutely right. Even if we can't graduate from Class A, we should still work toward our own goals in life."
Hirata played the perfect supporting role, driving Horikita's words even deeper into the hearts of the Class D students.
"Yeah. Even if it's not for the sake of moving up to Class A, we can't keep wasting away like this if we want spending money in the future."
"You're right. No matter how many times I eat that vegetable set meal, I still can't get used to the taste."
…
Seeing Class D regain its spirit, Horikita let out a sigh of relief.
She had no idea how long this state would last, but they could take it one day at a time.
Meanwhile, after taking care of the event arrangements, Kamio Tatsuya went alone to a café in the shopping center. Kamuro had told him that Sakayanagi wanted to meet with him.
"Go ahead. What do you want?"
"Oh my, Kamio-kun doesn't seem very happy to see me."
After Sakayanagi saw Kamio Tatsuya arrive, she smiled and tossed out a teasing remark.
"Since you noticed, hurry up and disappear."
"That won't do. I haven't told you why I called you here yet, so how can I leave?" Sakayanagi tilted her head, showing no sign of anger.
When did this girl become so shameless?
Don't copy my good qualities, all right?
"Just tell me. What is it?"
At that moment, Kamuro walked over carrying a tray with three drinks on it.
"This one is Tatsuya's."
"Thanks, Masumi."
Kamio Tatsuya took the drink, and his mood improved considerably. Sakayanagi looked a little annoyed by that.
"I'm the one who invited you, so why are you only thanking Masumi?"
"Is that so? Then I'll give it back."
As he spoke, Kamio Tatsuya pushed the drink, which he had already taken a sip from, across the table toward Sakayanagi.
At that, Sakayanagi's eyebrow twitched despite herself.
What an asshole!
"No need. Just consider it my treat."
"You're pretty generous." Kamio Tatsuya took the drink back. "Then again, it's not like you have to pay tribute to Ryuen every month."
Even talking to this guy for a few minutes made her feel like she was going to have a heart attack.
"I called you here to discuss this exam."
"The exam, huh…" Kamio Tatsuya gave Sakayanagi a strange look. "Don't tell me you want to team up with me?"
"Would that be a problem?"
Class B was currently Ichinose's class. Teaming up with a lower-ranking class to fight a higher-ranking class had always been one of Kamio Tatsuya's favorite tactics.
And now Sakayanagi wanted to use the same trick.
Are you stealing my move?
Are you supposed to be Kakashi Hatake or something?
Well, that was just a joke.
Teaming up with lower-ranking classes to fight a higher-ranking class was a common strategy, so Kamio Tatsuya wasn't surprised that Sakayanagi would use it.
That was how he had been able to guess her intentions.
Still, while it wasn't surprising, it was also rather strange. Given Sakayanagi's pride, she shouldn't have chosen this kind of strategy.
If Sakayanagi knew what he was thinking, she would definitely point at his nose and curse him out.
Who do you think forced me into doing this?!
Before entering high school, Sakayanagi had lived a mostly carefree life. Her poor health was something she couldn't change, and she had more or less accepted it.
Before high school, there was no one among her peers who was worth paying attention to, except for Ayanokouji, whom she had met once many years ago.
But after entering high school, she had suffered one setback after another at Kamio Tatsuya's hands. For a while, it even made her wonder whether she really was a genius.
Were all those people calling me a genius just flattering me?
"Of course it's possible. But do you really think I'll agree?"
"If we team up with Class B against Class A, then as long as we successfully defeat Class A, Class D will surely take advantage of the situation and attack Class A as well.
"That way, we can eliminate Class A as quickly as possible. It would benefit both of us."
Sakayanagi spoke with complete confidence.
Well, she wasn't wrong. It really would benefit them, and Kamio Tatsuya agreed.
He just had one problem.
Namely…
Wouldn't it be a little too cruel to bully Ichinose like this?
Besides, if he agreed, an unspoken rule would be established among the first-year classes: during every exam, the three lower-ranking classes would join forces against Class A.
Kamio Tatsuya wasn't worried about himself. He had a firm grip on the helm of Class D.
What worried him was whether Sakayanagi would regret this decision so badly that she wouldn't be able to sleep once she realized what she had done.
In any case, Kamio Tatsuya had no reason to reject Sakayanagi's proposal. It would benefit Class C as well.
He was just curious about what kind of expression Sakayanagi would make after Class A was eliminated and she found herself caught between a combined assault from Classes C and D.
"As far as I know, you've never been particularly interested in class competition, Sakayanagi. But you seem unusually invested in this exam.
"You must have another motive, don't you?"
Kamio Tatsuya looked at Sakayanagi as if he intended to see straight through her.
Nearby, Kamuro Masumi quietly drank her coffee while listening to Kamio Tatsuya speak at length. In her mind, she was enthusiastically cheering him on.
As expected of Tatsuya. He saw right through that Sakayanagi girl immediately.
I really had nothing to worry about.
As a Class B student, Kamuro couldn't give Kamio Tatsuya any hints. Still, she was happy to see that he had figured out Sakayanagi's motive.
"You're right. There's no point hiding it anymore, so I'll tell you." Sakayanagi was unusually straightforward. "One of Class B's five events is chess. That's the event I'm entering."
Chess…
Kamio Tatsuya glanced at Sakayanagi and began thinking.
He didn't believe he could beat Sakayanagi at chess, and Class C probably didn't have any students who could defeat her either.
But if Sakayanagi had revealed the event so openly, that meant she definitely wasn't planning to choose Class C as her opponent.
Or was she doing this on purpose?
Did she want to watch me know about the event but be completely helpless against it?
Was this revenge for the time I manipulated Class B into protecting its points?
She couldn't possibly be that bored, could she?
Or was she doing this for Ayanokouji?
"So what? Are you planning to use this event to steal a win from Class C?" Kamio Tatsuya raised an eyebrow.
"What if I am?"
"Then Class B will have to survive until this event is drawn. Of course, if you draw it first, then forget I said anything."
Kamio Tatsuya pursed his lips.
"Heh heh heh." Seeing his expression, Sakayanagi laughed happily. "I never thought there would be something even you couldn't handle."
Before Kamio Tatsuya could fire back, Sakayanagi continued explaining.
"Don't worry. I'm not entering this event for Class C. My real target is Class D. More precisely, I'm doing it for Ayanokouji."
Ayanokouji. So that was it after all.
When Sakayanagi had previously explained the White Room, she had said that the reason she learned chess was because she had seen Ayanokouji playing it.
So Kamio Tatsuya had no trouble understanding her words.
And even if there was a problem, there was nothing he could do about it. Class C had no chance of winning that event anyway.
If Sakayanagi really used chess to target Class C, Kamio Tatsuya would simply send Manabe up against her and have Manabe launch a psychological attack.
Even if they lost, he wouldn't let Sakayanagi enjoy herself.
But if Sakayanagi was telling the truth, then her plan to target Class A made perfect sense.
If all four classes fought each other, it wouldn't be surprising for any one of them to be eliminated first. Everyone had chosen events they were good at, giving themselves at least a sixty percent chance of winning.
But if everyone joined forces against Class A, then Class A's chances of being eliminated first would become extremely high.
Once Class A was eliminated, the number of remaining events would decrease. For example, if Class A lost with a record of zero wins and four losses, its remaining four events would become useless.
That would make it more likely that chess would be drawn. As long as Class B survived for two more rounds, it would eventually get the event it wanted.
So Sakayanagi hadn't come to form an alliance with him because she wanted to win. She simply wanted to play an official chess match against Ayanokouji.
As for how the two of them would compete when one was a contestant and the other was the commander, Kamio Tatsuya was sure Sakayanagi had already figured that out. The commander rules were extremely flexible.
Having seen through her plan, Kamio Tatsuya narrowed his eyes.
"Hey, Sakayanagi. Don't tell me the reason you're doing all this is simply because you want to play chess against Ayanokouji?"
Kamuro's expression didn't change when she heard Kamio Tatsuya say that, but Kamuro herself froze.
As the commander, Kamuro couldn't be left out of Sakayanagi's plan, so Sakayanagi had naturally explained everything to her in advance. She knew the whole story.
But she never imagined that Kamio Tatsuya could figure out Sakayanagi Arisu's true motive from just a few lines of conversation.
He's incredible!
Tatsuya is amazing!
I really like him!
Sakayanagi took one look at Kamuro's expression and realized that her motive had been exposed.
That idiot couldn't even keep a basic poker face.
And she's supposed to be the commander? She'd be completely useless in a real match.
Well, whatever. It didn't matter anymore.
"That's exactly right. That's why I want to eliminate Class A first. Once only three classes remain, it'll be easier to keep things balanced."
You say that as if you'll be the one controlling the balance.
Kamio Tatsuya glanced at Kamuro, making his meaning obvious.
Sakayanagi let out a sigh.
"That's true. It would be difficult for Masumi to control the entire match by herself. So could I ask you to help when the time comes?"
"We'll see when the time comes. We might even draw chess as the very first event." Kamio Tatsuya smiled.
Sakayanagi paused, then gave him a helpless smile.
Since Kamio Tatsuya had said that, it meant the conversation was basically over.
In truth, this meeting had been almost pointless.
If Sakayanagi really wanted to eliminate Class A immediately, then during the second match, Kamuro, as the commander, would definitely target Class A.
At that point, Kamio Tatsuya would certainly follow suit and keep attacking Class A. Class A would already have completed two matches, leaving it with only a limited number of students. It would be at its weakest.
Kamio Tatsuya had never minded taking advantage of someone when they were down.
And as Class D's ally, Ayanokouji's intelligence was beyond question. He would definitely keep up with them.
At that point, no matter how much Ichinose struggled, she would be eliminated first.
Of course, all of this depended on Class B not drawing chess as its first event. If it did draw chess…
If Class B drew chess first, then according to Sakayanagi's plan, Kamuro would definitely target Class D.
If that happened, it would turn into a true free-for-all.
Even if Kamio Tatsuya and Sakayanagi reached an agreement here, it wouldn't matter.
That was why Kamio Tatsuya had rejected Sakayanagi's proposal.
Sakayanagi was also deep in thought over what Kamio Tatsuya had said.
"That's true. There's no point saying too much right now, since something unexpected could easily happen when the time comes."
It seemed she understood what Kamio Tatsuya meant.
It was simple: he would only attack in ways that benefited Class C.
As long as Class B weakened Class A, Kamio Tatsuya wouldn't mind kicking Class A while it was down.
In other words, if Class B actively challenged Class A in its events, and then Class B attacked Class A during its own events, Kamio Tatsuya would naturally join in and attack Class A too.
After all, Sakayanagi had shown her sincerity, so Kamio Tatsuya would give her a response in kind.
Of course, Sakayanagi was currently in Class B. If the Sakayanagi Arisu sitting here belonged to Class A instead, Kamio Tatsuya would never agree.
Why?
Because you're Class A. If you want to wear the crown, you have to bear its weight!
------
You can read 50+ more chapter on patreon com/JYouyi