Ten Million, No Haggling: Ryuuen's Terms. / Sakayanagi Arisu: I Can Grant You One Request.

Since this was a matter between the siblings, Hashiba Hikaru didn't want to pry too much.

"That's great! Let's go see Horikita-senpai together when he graduates."

"Good."

Horikita Suzune gazed at the boy before her, a warm feeling welling up inside her. She mustered her courage and threw herself into Hashiba Hikaru's arms.

"Hikari, thank you."

Why do you say that? We're lovers now.

Hashiba Hikaru hugged her slender body tightly, a feeling of tenderness welling up in her heart.

"Um."

The girl rested her head against his chest. Horikita Manabu had already made it quite clear that as long as it was her own decision, he would support her.

Even though this relationship couldn't be made public, she still went ahead without hesitation.

Lover.

The word itself makes Horikita Suzune feel hot just thinking about it; it's a blissful kind of trouble.

The next day arrived, and after the break, all that remained was the course schedule and practice tasks. Although she had already made many guesses about the exam items, Hashiba Hikaru had to handle each one carefully.

On Monday afternoon, right after his PE class, someone approached him.

"Ayanokoji? It's quite surprising that you would take the initiative to come to me."

Under the big tree, Hashiba Hikaru looked at the expressionless boy with a somewhat amused expression.

"I've discovered something very important. Since Classmate Hashiba wants to bring down Nagumo, this might be useful to you."

"What's up?"

Hashiba Hikaru knew that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka wasn't one for idle chatter; what he was talking about must be very important.

"Miyabi Nagumo is preparing to find traitors within your group; some have already defected."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka looked at the other person's face. "Classmate Hashiba, didn't you notice?"

"Really? Which grade are you in?"

After hearing the other party's information, Hashiba Hikaru's expression changed. He immediately recalled the list of members in the group in his mind, but there was no obvious candidate.

"They are first-year students."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka seemed to have seen through Hashiba Hikaru's thoughts. "We failed to win over the Second Year and third-year students, Miyabi Nagumo, and the Class B of the First Year student in your group is the mole."

"Shimazaki -kun?"

Hashiba Hikaru remembered the other person's face, because in his group, besides the members of Class A of the First Year, there was one student from each of the three classes B, C, and D. Except for the students in Class D who liked to slack off, he had been keeping a close eye on the students from the other two classes.

"He didn't go through the trouble of negotiating the cooperation with Miyabi Nagumo on his own; there was an intermediary."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka said calmly, "And this middleman happened to be in our group. I only found out the truth because I ran into him by chance."

Who is the middleman?

"It's Hashimoto- kun."

Upon hearing this, Hashiba Hikaru immediately pictured a face that matched the name.

Hashimoto Masayoshi, a member of the Sakayanagi Faction, betrayed Katsuragi Kohei on the Uninhabited Island, severely damaging Katsuragi's prestige in the class.

"I see."

Hashiba Hikaru thought about it and realized that using an intermediary to make the betrayal was indeed a very safe thing to do. After all, as long as she didn't expose her abnormality, there were many Matoba in this Forest School where information could be transmitted.

For example, the cafeteria is a place with a very high flow of people.

What are you planning to do?

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka looked at the other person's face.

"Hmm... Now that we've discovered a traitor, we naturally have to deal with him, otherwise wouldn't it be too dangerous?"

Hashiba Hikaru raised an eyebrow slightly, a cold smile playing on her lips.

"Is that so?"

"But before that, I need to see someone else."

Who is it?

"Ryuen Kakeru."

507

Chapter 507 Ten Million, No Bargaining: Ryuen's Conditions

After receiving the information from Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Hashiba Hikaru immediately took action. He took the initiative to find Ryuen Kakeru, the Class C, and the two met in the men's bathhouse.

In the misty bathhouse, Hashiba Hikaru led Shibata Sou and Kanzaki Ryuji into the bath, Ryuen Kakeru soaked alone in the water, with no one else in the tub.

"Hey Hashiba, you brought your entourage here to meet me? Don't you trust me at all?"

Ryuen Kakeru leaned casually against the edge of the bathtub, stretching out his arms in a very confident pose.

"They just didn't trust me, that's why they wanted to come along. Please don't misunderstand, Ryuen."

Hashiba Hikaru smiled slightly, then turned to look at Kanzaki and Shibata, who both looked worried, and said in a low voice, "You two should go out first. Since we're discussing something confidential, the fewer people the better."

"OK."

Shibata and Kanzaki Ryuji exchanged a glance. Although they both felt that Ryuen Kakeru was a dangerous person, they also had great confidence in Hashiba Hikaru's abilities.

"We'll be waiting for you outside, Classmate Hashiba."

"Can."

After the two people left, only Hashiba Hikaru and Ryuen Kakeru remained in the spacious bath. He stared at the boy's face, a cold smile playing on his lips.

"Speak, what do you need me for?"

"I came all this way to see you, of course, to collaborate. I wonder if Ryuen would be interested?"

Hashiba Hikaru smiled as he sat on the edge of the bathtub.

"Cooperate? Isn't Classmate Hashiba always arrogant? Why would she want to cooperate with someone like me?"

Ryuen Kakeru always thought that Hashiba Hikaru a very arrogant person who looked down on everyone in the first year. Even though he always spoke to people in an extremely gentle manner, Ryuen Sho could always sense the disdain in this guy's heart.

"Of course not. As the saying goes, there's strength in numbers. By bringing together more partners, we can all achieve our goals."

Hashiba Hikaru didn't care at all about Ryuen Kakeru's evaluation of her, and slowly said, "I'm here to offer you an opportunity to cooperate. If you're not willing, then forget it."

If I refuse, will you continue to try to persuade me?

Ryuen Kakeru pondered for a moment, trying to determine if the other party genuinely wanted to collaborate with him.

"No, I only give one chance, whether it's an enemy or a friend."

Hashiba Hikaru's expression suddenly turned cold. He had come to see Ryuen Kakeru after careful consideration, and the boy was quite certain that the other party would agree.

As someone who refuses to settle for mediocrity, this man's thoughts are quite predictable.

To reiterate, Ryuen Kakeru is an absolute opportunist. Whether it was his previous collaboration with Miyabi Nagumo or his deal with Katsuragi Kohei, these were merely ways for him to achieve his goals. He felt no guilt whatsoever about betraying his partners.

"..."

After staring into Hashiba Hikaru's eyes for a long time, Ryuen Kakeru seemed to understand something. He suddenly laughed and said loudly, "Looks like you had already thought it through, knowing I would definitely agree?"

"Yes."

Hashiba Hikaru nodded. "No matter what, we've already clashed so many times. I know you're a man who refuses to fall behind. You didn't really take either Miyabi Nagumo or Katsuragi Kohei seriously, did you?"

"... Let's assume you're telling the truth. Tell me what kind of collaboration you'd like, and I'll decide whether to agree after I hear it."

Ryuen Kakeru shrugged; that was indeed what he thought.

There weren't many people in the entire school that he took seriously; Horikita Manabu was one, Hashiba Hikaru another.

"The details of the collaboration are simple. In this exam, the six groups of boys will be ranked from first to sixth, and only the top three will receive a reward."

"Then what?"

"I want Nagumo to be in last place. If you can help me achieve this, I can pay you a reward."

Hashiba Hikaru looked at Ryuen Kakeru's face. He had guessed the guy's goal before, and now he was making a breakthrough in that direction.

"I heard you Nagumo made a bet of 20 million points? If I help you win, can you give me all of those points?"

Upon hearing this, Ryuen Kakeru's face turned serious.

"You're being too greedy. When I'm managing a class, I always reward based on merit."

Hashiba Hikaru shook her head. "I'm only asking you to do a small favor for me this time. Do you think it's worth twenty million?"

How much can you give?

"If things go smoothly in the end, I can pay you up to five million Private Points, and the transaction will be completed after Miyabi Nagumo transfers the money to me."

Hashiba Hikaru stared at his face. "This is the price I can offer."

"So little?"

Ryuen Kakeru looked somewhat displeased.

"Don't forget what I just said. I'll only give you one chance. If you refuse, that's fine. I can find someone else to cooperate with."

Hashiba Hikaru smiled and probed, "You should know that Sakayanagi took control of Class B a long time ago, right? Only by defeating her will you have a chance to move up a class."

After pondering for a moment, Ryuen Kakeru said in a deep voice, "Five million is too little. If you can come up with ten million, I'll agree to help you."

"It seems you still haven't understood what I meant. I already said..."

Just as Hashiba Hikaru was about to speak, Ryuen Kakeru quickly interrupted him, "Don't think I don't know that besides Nagumo, your target this time also includes Class B, right?"

"You know that?"

A smile appeared on Hashiba Hikaru's lips; it seemed this guy was really quick-witted.

Just as he had initially suspected, the outcome of the short-term test was not his goal; what he wanted was more Private Points.

"Hmph, ten million, no bargaining. I can send people to both sides for you."

Ryuen Kakeru had already made his choice. Class C's Class Evaluation Points was only a little over 200. Even if they won this time, they would still be far behind Class B. If he could get a large sum of Private Points, that would be the best option for him.

"Tsk, how greedy. Fine, I agree to your terms."

In fact, this was the price that Hashiba Hikaru had initially planned. Attacking Nagumo was real, but on the other hand, the boy needed Ryuen Kakeru to handle another matter.

Regarding the traitor within his own group and the middleman who made the contact, Hashimoto Masayoshi.

It's best to leave these matters to Ryuen, since the two of them have had contact before, and pushing this guy to the forefront can also provide some amusement for Sakayanagi.

He was looking forward to seeing what interesting things would happen in the end.

"Alright then, what are your detailed arrangements? You can tell me now."

After he nodded, Ryuen Kakeru pressed for more information.

"Hehe, it's not complicated at all."

Hashiba Hikaru smiled slightly, a meaningful expression on her face.

508

Chapter 508 Sakayanagi Arisu: I can grant you one request.

It's the sixth day at the Forest School. Tomorrow is the final training day, and the day after tomorrow will be the intensive exam for all subjects. Hashiba Hikaru listens to Kanzaki Ryuji's report and organizes the information from the past two days.

"Ryuen acted swiftly; he arranged for the students from Class C to follow that Shimazaki guy."

Kanzaki Ryuji explained earnestly, "His training has been quite effective recently because he has someone supervising him."

"Training and such are irrelevant; if someone deliberately tries to hold us back, there's nothing we can do."

Hashiba Hikaru didn't care about that. Even with one less person, he was confident that he could reach the finish line as quickly as possible by pushing his Physical Ability to the limit.

"The key point is the situation on Nagumo's side. Since he made contact through Hashimoto, it's highly likely that Katsuragi was behind it."