That Was All There Was to It / Ever Since That Day-

"Now the wounds on your bodies are just about 'good enough.' Have you remembered the other things I told you to do?"

"Y-yes..."

"Make sure you focus on what matters. As for the rest, I imagine Sakagami-sensei will help explain things to protect his students' rights. So don't leave any loose ends, understood?"

"Of course. But if you choose to betray me—"

At that point, Ryuen stopped the audio. It was obvious there was still a lot more that hadn't played. The extra files on his phone also made it clear that whoever was behind this had far more leverage over him than this particular dispute could have provided.

Still, this much was enough. What exactly had that person done?

"Isn't this interesting? I wonder when they planted someone in Class C to record everything I did."

"Though my plan failed this time, you've suffered a far greater loss by learning this important information. You could've used it to hit me with a severe punishment, but instead you just sent me the recording to threaten me for a huge number of points."

"A huge number of points..."

"Yeah. By the way, I've already transferred some of the points. But even if it's only part of them, you'll find something suspicious as soon as you check his account."

"What is this all about...?"

"Whether that person is one of you or not, you'd better remember this. I'll root out the rat in my class soon and find out who you are. And I'll make sure you remember what it feels like to be toyed with, just like you threatened me."

As he spoke, Ryuen turned his gaze to Ichinose of Class B.

"As for you Class B students, just keep playing your little rabbits, Ichinose. I never expected Class B to be such a boring class, with absolutely nothing going for it."

"I don't think you're capable of beating Class B."

"I simply didn't go all out, and I didn't make your class suffer any losses. And that made you naively think you could beat me? If so, just wait and see, Ichinose. Watch your class completely fall apart in the end."

With that, Ryuen left without looking back. We could only watch him go.

Chapter 40: That Was All There Was to It

There was once a story about an accident.

The Trans-Atlantic Liner was the most advanced ocean liner owned by the Brazil Haishun Ocean Shipping Company at the time. Yet this proud ship met with an accident in calm seas. The company erected a stone monument in front of its headquarters, five meters high and two meters wide, engraved with a lesson written in blood.

The causes of the disaster were only trivial matters.

Someone had bought a desk lamp without permission. A fire detector hadn't been replaced in time. The life rafts had been tied up to make it easier to handle the safety equipment and prevent problems. Routine inspections had been done carelessly... These safety measures had become so commonplace that nobody thought twice about them. But when the fire was discovered, it was already too late to save anything.

I remembered this case so clearly because it had been recreated exactly. That day, the entire ship was swallowed by fire and sunk beneath the waves before it could send out a distress signal.

"It was already too late."

People often condemned their own mistakes only after everything was over, but that couldn't change what had already happened. To prevent the unexpected, you had to take every possibility into account.

Think before you act, and plan carefully. That was the idea.

So I didn't resent Horikita's plan requiring more than one surveillance camera to be installed. The plan had ultimately failed, but gathering information this way had been a necessary measure to secure victory.

Yeah, I didn't mind this little thing at all.

Well, all I could do now was quietly pray that they'd win the hearing.

I took down the last camera, carefully stowed it in my crossbody bag with the rest, then returned the ladder to the cleaner.

Next time I accepted a request, I'd have to be more careful. I didn't want to take on such exhausting physical labor again.

All that remained was to safely deliver the goods to Ayanokoji or Horikita.

I stretched lazily, hefted the heavy crossbody bag, and set off toward the conference room.

Gather, analyze, plan, evaluate.

No plan could escape these four steps. Consider every angle to ensure success. Use whatever you could, without regard for the consequences. Do whatever it took to survive. Take absolute measures to win.

Though the most appropriate thing to do would've been to change my whole identity, I'd followed his words and lived the life of a student.

Maybe I was tired, too. Maybe I didn't want to think so much anymore.

I was sick of a life spent gathering, analyzing, planning, and evaluating.

The air here had been purified, free of even the slightest speck of dust. The comfortable temperature seemed to revive my body from the inside out. I could only smell blood when someone nearby got cut and started bleeding, and the explosive haze of gunpowder was nowhere to be found.

If this was the greed I'd felt in hell, then let me indulge in it for a little while.

At least for now, let me escape reality and sink into an impossible dream.

That's right. I, a free man, had decided to continue this peaceful, yet never dull, life.

Just as my desires were ringing through my thoughts, the sound of footsteps intruded unmistakably into my mind. I looked toward them and saw Secretary Tachibana, whom I'd met once before, walking in my direction beside Horikita President.

Since the presiding officer had come out, the hearing must've ended. I had no idea how it had gone. I hoped they'd won... But should I greet the Student Council President if I ran into him? I knew that greeting a teacher when you met them on the road was basic etiquette, but when it came to the Student Council President, I was in a blind spot.

After thinking it over for a moment, my minimalist instincts told me not to do anything unnecessary, so I walked straight past them as if I hadn't seen them.

It didn't work.

"Wait."

"..."

I knew it. Fantasies never became reality.

We'd already passed each other. Calling me over now seemed a bit late.

"Horikita President, is there anything I can help you with?"

"First-year Luomu. I haven't got your name wrong, have I?"

"...You know me?" I tried to search my memories of the meeting for any sign of him, but came up with nothing.

"No. I just know who you are. We don't know each other at all."

What? Had I done something famous? Could the rumors about Ichinose and me have spread to the upper years?

What should I do? If an upperclassman took an interest in me, I'd definitely be bullied.

"Is there something special about this student, President?" Secretary Tachibana asked, looking baffled, but Horikita President didn't seem inclined to respond.

Was this going to turn into a showdown between a secret admirer and the guy rumored to be dating me, with Secretary Tachibana playing the devoted lover who tried to talk us down?

"Does the Student Council President have to remember every student's face and name?"

"Our Student Council doesn't have the time to remember nobodies. You're just one of the few exceptions I've taken note of in the first year."

"Did I do something wrong?"

"Nothing wrong, but... you seem to make yourself look unexpectedly weak. Or are you really like that?"

"I'm sorry, I don't understand what you mean. Could you explain?"

"Don't you understand the literal meaning?"

"Weak... I wouldn't call myself strong. There are plenty of people stronger than me... But I've never met you before, senpai. How can you judge me?"

"Not long ago, we were holding new-student interviews for the Student Council. Does that help you understand?"

"You mean you asked Class President Ichinose about me? But why would you do that? I can't think of any reason I'd have caught your attention."

"You stayed calm in front of the Student Council President. Is that enough?"

"Calm... I understand what you mean, but it's hard to accept. Besides, I'd never met you one-on-one before. I could only conclude that I was calm just now, couldn't I?" I asked, probing for more information.

"Barely good enough."

Huh? Had he just given me some kind of hidden test? What had I done to meet his standards?

"You should remember the entrance exams," Horikita President said after giving me a moment to think. "The requirements for new students joining the Student Council are very strict, and they're assessed in several areas. Academic ability is one of the basic criteria. That was when I noticed your grades were rather interesting."

"But I never interviewed for the Student Council."

"That doesn't stop me from looking at the new students' entrance exam results. Besides, don't you think it's conspicuous to get exactly sixty points in every subject?"

"Huh? Sixty points in every subject? Are you some kind of weirdo?"

It was pretty hurtful to call me a weirdo right to my face.

"That was just a coincidence."

"Don't doubt it. I confirmed the details with your homeroom teacher."

"So that's what you call being energy-efficient."

Energy-efficient...

So that was the full extent of what people knew about me.

Chapter 41: Ever Since That Day—

Only answers remained before absolute reason, because they had already ignored their own existence. —Kun

"Huh? Does the Student Council really have that much power?"

"The school grants us our authority, and we use it within the limits of the rules. Do you have a problem with that?"

"I don't have any complaints. I was just a little surprised. If I gave you the wrong impression, I apologize."

As I spoke, I adjusted the position of my crossbody bag. The long-lasting pressure had left a mark and made my arm a little uncomfortable. I hadn't expected that casual movement to catch Horikita President's attention.

"...Were you involved in this too?"

"What are you referring to?"

"Is pretending to be clueless fun? Don't tell me you're going to claim you don't know about the fight between Classes D and C."

"You haven't specified what you mean either, have you? As for whether I was involved... I wouldn't say I was. I only handled the cleanup. Dealing with the dirty work that needs doing regardless of who wins... Just hearing you call it helping makes me lose interest. I'm still being ordered around as I please."

"Cleanup... I see. So you were the one behind the final reversal. It sounds simple, but what exactly did you do?"

"The boy standing right here made the final decision for Class C?!"

"The final reversal? Do you mean Class D won the hearing?" I quickly latched onto the point and asked Horikita President, but he politely declined to answer.

"Won't you find out the truth soon enough? Your friends are still upstairs. Ask them, and you'll know the result... But I have a question that I might not be able to ask you later. Are you interested in hearing it?"

"...Is it something I'm allowed to know?"

"It's nothing serious. You could even take it as after-dinner gossip. What do you think?"

"If you don't mind."

"Some time ago, I received a threatening email. It said that if I didn't pay the points he demanded, he'd put negative videos and recordings of me online. Do you know who was responsible?" Horikita President casually told us about a threat he'd received months earlier.

I understood the darkness of society and the distortion of human nature, so I wasn't surprised by this kind of underhanded scheme. The more power you had, the more likely you were to be threatened over every little thing. But Secretary Tachibana was deeply shocked.

"When did this happen? How dare anyone threaten the Student Council President!"

"Tachibana, calm down."

"S-sorry. That was rude of me. But this matter—"

"There's no need to concern yourself with it anymore. I've already dealt with the problem. I just have no idea who was behind it." As he spoke, Horikita President narrowed his eyes and studied me with the look of a snake watching its prey.

I forced myself to suppress my inner turmoil and swallowed.

"I haven't heard anything about this from my friends... If word has spread through the year, then I can only explain my ignorance by saying I'm bad at keeping up with people."

After I finished speaking, Horikita President and I stared into each other's eyes. Neither of us had blinked once. I'd played this game before. After you locked eyes, whoever blinked first lost. For a seasoned veteran like me, victory was practically routine.

As our tense battle between men continued, Secretary Tachibana looked confused by the bloodless war unfolding before her.

"P-President?"

"What is it?"

"Um... No, never mind."

Damn it, some girl from the outside had interrupted us. When the tension eased, I stopped pushing and casually looked away.

"Since you don't know anything, let's drop the matter... There's something else I'd like to ask your opinion about."

"I don't think I can offer you any useful advice, but I'll do my best to answer."

Horikita President nodded. "You know that a student from your class is interviewing for the Student Council. I'd like to offer the position to you instead. Are you interested?"

"An invitation to join the Student Council? Does Ichinose not meet your requirements?"

"You're simply a better fit than she is. After all, the position of secretary isn't one just anyone can fill."

"W-wait! Did you just say the position of secretary? Wasn't that just—"