Katsuragi said.
In other words, even if he leaked a little information to Katsuragi now, it was no longer a problem. He already knew.
Besides, Katsuragi had also had the second-year student who'd traded with Yahiko record the details of their deal and submit them to the Student Council.
The President knew about it.
So Katsuragi no longer had to avoid suspicion.
"Mm."
Horikita Manabu nodded. Although Katsuragi had bought his way into his position, the junior's meticulous way of thinking was still commendable.
Then he looked at Nagumo.
"Now that you know about this, Nakano Yuu, how did you figure out the key to this exam?"
Horikita Manabu turned his attention to Nakano Yuu.
"Before that."
But Nakano Yuu looked at Nagumo, as though he were answering a different question. "By the way, Nagumo-senpai, how many points did you get in total from the school's Special Exams and your monthly class allowance over the past year?"
"..."
Nagumo.
Nagumo didn't really remember. He'd spent some points on exams along the way and collected points from students in other classes, too. With everything mixed together, he only knew the total amount.
But if he counted only his personal points, excluding expenses and looking only at his income, then he knew.
"The 1.5 million points I mentioned earlier, minus the points spent on several Special Exams and other expenses, as well as what I just paid you and Katsuragi. I've got about a million points left."
In fact, that wasn't all. Nagumo had left out some figures.
His caution had led him to say only that much. He was the ruler of the second years, and he had the ability to complete the promotion task in his very first year.
He didn't think it was a good sign that Nakano was asking how many points he had left.
After all, Nakano was reporting him, wasn't he?
So.
Nagumo had only added a million points to the 1.5 million he'd mentioned earlier.
He could more or less guess why Nakano was asking.
"Mm-hm."
Nakano nodded, looking fairly satisfied.
"..."
Nagumo.
Damn, so that really was what he was after?
Miyabi Nagumo suddenly felt a headache coming on.
But Nakano Yuu now answered Horikita Manabu's question in earnest.
"Just by observing. We first-years have been running study groups, diligently helping each other study, and then spending our time after class in the library. The second-years have written exams to worry about just like we do, yet they don't seem concerned about this one at all."
"Even though there are plenty of students in the second-year classes C and D who aren't good at studying, you'd think they'd be worried about an exam like this."
"But they aren't. They go shopping and hang out, and they don't even come to the library. That's clearly strange. Considering the school's unusual rules, I concluded there must be some way to pass."
Nakano explained.
"So, with that in mind, I ran into Nagumo-senpai at a bubble tea shop. Before I'd even asked, he took the initiative and told me how to pass."
"..."
Horikita Manabu.
Horikita Manabu rested his left hand on the table and tapped it twice.
He could tell that Nakano Yuu had put particular emphasis on the words "second-years."
Most students hearing Nakano's explanation would probably think he was seriously trying to figure out how to deal with the school. But to Horikita Manabu, Nakano's real goal seemed obvious.
This wasn't his real purpose.
He wanted to target the second-years.
Nagumo was certainly the most prominent figure among the second-years right now, so Nakano Yuu's target was likely the second-years represented by Nagumo.
As President, Horikita Manabu understood that he might have made the mistake of "nurturing a tiger only to invite trouble." He'd admired Nagumo's abilities and brought him into the Student Council, but soon realized that their principles were completely different. If Nagumo became the next Student Council President, he might bring disaster upon the students.
So Horikita had considered ways to keep him in check.
He'd chosen Kiriyama from among the second-years and brought him up. Kiriyama had originally been in Class 2-A, but his class had fallen behind and was now at a disadvantage.
Horikita Manabu had done that, but Kiriyama hadn't yet had a chance to play his part. Instead, Nakano Yuu—a first-year, and one from Class 1-D at that—had been the first to launch an attack on Nagumo.
"Being able to make reasonable deductions and carefully consider each Special Exam is exactly how the school hopes you'll study and apply what you've learned."
However, Horikita Manabu responded to Nakano Yuu in a decidedly official tone.
Nakano Yuu understood that Horikita's brother was still a force to be reckoned with. Just as he'd recorded his conversation with Nagumo, the possibility that he was recording this one now couldn't be ruled out. And if Horikita Manabu admitted that the school's midterm exam used old questions, Nakano could play the recording for students from other classes, which could put Horikita at risk.
So Horikita Manabu knew how to protect himself.
What a meticulous senior.
Nakano Yuu admired him a little.
"But as for Nagumo-senpai..."
Nakano said.
"I recorded my conversation with Suzune at the café, as well as my discussion with him."
"Although I suspected there was a shortcut to passing this Special Exam, Nagumo-senpai directly told me that the key was to buy old exam questions."
Nakano continued.
"I don't think the school would allow that. It's tantamount to upperclassmen directly interfering with the exams of lowerclassmen, which would undermine the school's careful planning. Nagumo-senpai is interfering with the exam."
"..."
Nagumo.
Nagumo thought quickly.
Hadn't Nakano already known what the exam was about during their conversation? They'd already bought the old questions.
Wait.
Wait.
Wait.
Miyabi Nagumo suddenly realized that in their conversation, he hadn't said anything about "old questions." He'd called them "academic records."
They'd bought exam papers, so why had he called them academic records?
Damn it, so it really had been deliberate! Nagumo confirmed once again that he'd fallen into a honey trap—and the same group had lured him into the same trap twice!
"And this recording..."
Nakano took out his phone in front of him again.
"..."
Nagumo.
"And this recording,"
Nakano said, his voice growing slower.
"Please play it."
At that moment, Kiriyama Ikuto, the other Student Council Vice President, who had been sitting quietly in his seat, suddenly stood up, looking quite agitated.
Although he was a Student Council Vice President, he knew Horikita Manabu had invited him in to use him as a weapon to keep Nagumo in check.
He also knew his class had lost.
Although he now held the same Vice President position as Nagumo, his class's defeat was already set in stone. Class 2-B was also 400 points behind Nagumo's class.
That 400-point gap wouldn't be easy to make up.
But if what this first-year Class 1-D student, Nakano Yuu, said was true, and Miyabi Nagumo had really violated the rules, then Nagumo—and even his Class 2-A—might be penalized with a loss of class evaluation points.
So.
His class might still have a chance.
And if Nagumo lost his Vice President position, Kiriyama's own position would become even more important.
If Nagumo could use the Vice President position to get things done, why couldn't Kiriyama?
And so Kiriyama-senpai made his first contribution to the Student Council.
He began to keep Nagumo in check.
Nagumo couldn't possibly have failed to understand Kiriyama's motives. He'd already started trying to win Kiriyama over, telling him there was no point in staying loyal to that lousy class of his and that he'd be better off working independently with Nagumo. Nagumo had even promised to get him a spot graduating from Class A and so on.
But now, wasn't Kiriyama still trying to fight for his Class B?
There was nothing wrong with that. Kiriyama was the leader of Class 2-B, so he was responsible for leading his class and helping it rise to the top.
"I might have misunderstood."
But Nakano shook his head as he looked at his phone.
"I tried to record it on my phone at the time, but I'm not very good with the controls. I messed it up."
As he said this, he played the audio file.
But all that came out was static. Clearly, nothing had been recorded.
"So that's what happened."
Kiriyama-senpai slumped back into his seat, disappointed.
"Coming to the Student Council to report someone based on hearsay isn't the right thing to do, Nakano-kun. But then again, students from your Class D are all like that. You're hopeless."
Nagumo's voice rang out.
His usual pride and confidence had returned to his face.
"Looks like it. I'm sorry to disappoint you after you took such an interest in us, Nagumo-senpai."
As he said that, Nakano-senpai put on an apologetic expression.
"..."
Nagumo.
At that moment, Nagumo really wanted to give Nakano Yuu's acting a six out of six.
Because that troublesome junior had kept looking at him while talking about the recording. He'd been sending just one message:
This guy was here to get money.
So when Kiriyama had been about to speak, Nagumo had hurriedly stepped in and transferred a million points to Nakano Yuu.
And the little brat had indeed stopped at once. He'd even played a corrupted recording. A file like that couldn't have been prepared at the last minute.
Clearly, Nakano had planned this in advance. He hadn't actually come to report him; his real goal was to squeeze points out of him.
"Well, I've done everything I came here to do today."
"Thank you for your support, President."
With that, Nakano-senpai quickly turned and left. He was incredibly quick about it—he'd arrived in a hurry, but left even faster.
But.
"..." × N.
Everyone in the office fell silent.
Before you continue