Watching Yamamura Miki gradually disappear into the night, Itozawa stood where he was and saw her off. There was no disappointment or displeasure on his face.
He knew he had achieved his goal. The seed of doubt had been planted in Yamamura Miki's heart, and that was enough.
Sakayanagi's haughty nature and sharp tongue would make winning her over much more difficult.
Itozawa knew that, given enough time, Class B could very well surpass Class A.
He had even considered working with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. After all, Chabashira had only threatened Ayanokoji to make sure Class D performed well in the exam.
During the Deserted Island Exam, Class B and Class D could both guess the exam topics for Class A and Class C. If everyone ended up with the same score, Chabashira wouldn't have anything to say.
At worst, Class B could spend a few more Energy Stones to let Class D win. That would be worth it.
He believed this approach could give Class B an advantage in the exam, and might even let them surpass Class A.
Itozawa turned and headed toward the dormitory with determined steps. His heart was filled with anticipation for the future and readiness for the challenges ahead.
After resting in the dormitory overnight, the next morning arrived.
Itozawa left the dormitory, refreshed, and headed toward the classroom. Sunlight fell on him, bringing him the energy of a new day.
On the way, he ran into Ichinose as she came out of the Teacher Dormitory.
Itozawa went up to greet him, and Ichinose responded warmly.
"Ichinose, you stayed up all night looking after Hoshimiya-sensei. You must be exhausted." Itozawa's voice was gentle. He tilted his head slightly, his gaze settling on Ichinose's face.
Ichinose answered with a warm smile, her eyes curving into crescents. "Don't worry about me. I didn't expect Hoshimiya-sensei to stay sober, but she was grateful to me. She said she was sorry I'd seen her in an embarrassing state, then warmly invited me to spend the night in the Teacher Dormitory."
Itozawa nodded, then added, "Still, you're the only one who would be thoughtful enough to stay and look after a teacher."
Ichinose waved her hand lightly. "It's only right to take care of our teacher. Besides, I learned quite a lot from last night."
A hint of excitement flickered in her eyes. "There's such an advanced magic array in Hoshimiya-sensei's room. It really opened my eyes. There was even an array that could convert and condense energy into mental energy, and you could train your Mind-Type Ability inside it."
Hearing Ichinose bring it up surprised Itozawa. He hadn't expected him to share even that kind of information so openly.
So Itozawa decided not to hold back either and told him about the arrays assembled from Ling Steel.
"Speaking of that, are those strange little things sold at the school Convenience Store made of Ling Steel, the kind used to assemble magic arrays?"
Ichinose's eyebrows lifted slightly, and a look of surprise flashed in his eyes. "Huh? The school sells things like that too?" But the surprise soon gave way to regret. "Too bad I didn't recognize the structure of those Mental Magic Arrays. Otherwise, we could've bought some and set one up in our dormitory."
Itozawa smiled and cut him off. "I didn't bring it up because of the array. You shared your information so generously, Ichinose, so I felt I shouldn't keep mine to myself either."
He thought, Of course, I also wanted to improve Ichinose's opinion of me. But he left that part unsaid.
After hearing Itozawa's words, Ichinose broke into a broad smile, approval shining in his eyes. "You're right, Itozawa. Classmates should help each other."
Itozawa nodded with a smile, agreeing. Then he changed the subject to something more important. "Ichinose, I got some reliable information about the school's three types of exams." His voice grew serious, and his expression turned solemn. Ichinose immediately focused on him, leaning forward slightly to show how much she cared about the topic. "Really? Tell me about it." Itozawa explained in detail, "First, there's the Entrance Exam, which evaluates both teachers and students.
"Next is the Large Intra-Grade Exam. It tests the students and is key to determining their rankings.
"Finally, there's the Cross-Grade Exam. By then, several core groups will usually have formed within each grade. The school will try to pit students from different grades against one another to identify the most outstanding students."
Ichinose listened attentively, a thoughtful look in her eyes. She nodded to show she understood. "That means we need to prepare in advance.
"Then let's start by making sure everyone understands what their abilities are and train them to use those abilities!"
Seeing her so full of energy, Itozawa sighed inwardly. Sure enough, she had no sense at all that the other classes might target them.
Fortunately, he was there. He knew all about the other classes' plans, so he could secretly help Class B eliminate any hidden threats.
All Ichinose needed to do was keep leading Class B to victory with her usual energy.
Soon, the two of them entered the classroom together, just as Kanzaki arrived.
They returned to their seats and decided to share what they had just discussed with Kanzaki, to see if he had any good suggestions for raising Class B's overall level before the next exam.
"Kanzaki, there's something we'd like to discuss with you," Itozawa said, a hint of anticipation in his voice.
Kanzaki turned around, curiosity in his eyes. "What is it?"
Ichinose picked up the conversation, excitement in her voice. "We want to improve Class B's level before the next exam. We were wondering if you have any good ideas."
Kanzaki raised an eyebrow, clearly interested in the topic. As the son of a wealthy family, he knew a fair amount about ability training, and his family had a well-established training program of their own.
"I do know a few training methods, though they're mainly for Mental Types," Kanzaki said confidently. "There are two or three students in the class with Mental-Type abilities, so the methods should come in handy."
Itozawa nodded, interested in Kanzaki's training methods. "That's great. At least we can start with the Mental Types."
Ichinose agreed. "As for the other abilities, we can ask Hoshimiya-sensei when the time comes and see if she has any good suggestions. Her advice for Amikura's special training in class was quite helpful."
Kanzaki nodded in agreement. "Hoshimiya-sensei does have a lot of practical advice. We can ask her for help."
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