Welcome to Paradise of Freedom

Ibuki's pretty face flushed red at his words. She nodded and left first.

Kiyotaka stared ahead, his eyes unfocused as if lost in thought.

Everything was still under control. Now, was it just a matter of waiting for the fish to take the bait?

Horikita, how will you perform when faced with the coming difficulties? Don't disappoint me. You're a very important asset in my plans. Only by constantly growing can I fully control Class D.

Chapter 70 — The Brutal Aesthetics of Class C

When Kiyotaka returned, it happened to be Manabu Horikita's race.

And Manabu Horikita claimed first place without any suspense.

"Just as I imagined, he runs really fast."

"That's because he's strong. He can be first at anything."

Horikita said proudly, then glanced at Kiyotaka.

Seeing no particular expression on his face, she continued.

"Rather, it's you who hides too deep. I know you went blow for blow with my brother."

"Ah, is that so? Maybe he was going easy on me then."

Horikita rarely curled her lip at that.

"You're the one going easy, running as slow as a turtle."

Kiyotaka simply pretended not to hear.

After the all-grade hundred-meter dash ended, they entered the first scoring phase.

Red Team had 2,110 points, while White Team had 1,891 points.

A slight advantage, but it was a good start—a welcome sign.

The second event was the hurdles race. Though Kiyotaka was quite puzzled, a mistake in his physical fitness test had landed him on the track again, and this race was his.

Standing beside him was Kanzaki.

"What a coincidence, running into each other so soon."

"Ah... please go easy on me. I'm really not good at this."

Kanzaki looked at Kiyotaka with a strange expression.

"Is that so? Ichinose said you're very fast, you know?"

Kiyotaka paused, thinking about where he might have slipped up, then said.

"That might be misinformation. I gave it my all just to barely snag third in the hundred meters."

"Is that right? But it didn't look like you were using your full strength."

"Come on, this is an official Sports Festival event. Why would I hold back?"

"Who knows? You're one of the calmest people in our grade. That alone is pretty terrifying."

Kanzaki shrugged, looking like he'd accept whatever Kiyotaka said.

So Ichinose has been observing me quite a bit, huh. Kiyotaka narrowed his eyes slightly. It seemed he'd been interacting with Ichinose too much lately. No matter how much he tried to hide it, something would inevitably leak out. He'd need to find an opportunity to deal with that loose end.

While Kiyotaka was thinking, the race had already begun. He ran at the same pace as the hundred meters, looking like he was giving it his all, barely managing to snatch third place.

When Kiyotaka returned to the tent, Airi hurriedly shoved water and a towel into his hands before clumsily running off toward the assembly point.

"Airi, relax."

Kiyotaka cupped his hands around his mouth, his voice neither too loud nor too soft, just enough to reach Airi's ears.

Airi smiled and nodded at that before continuing to run.

It seemed she also had a hurdles race, just like Kiyotaka, as a sacrificial lamb.

And in her group was Horikita.

"Horikita's group assignment isn't great."

"What's wrong?"

Hirata glanced at the other classes' lineups and understood their approximate strength.

"Apparently, the two fastest runners in Class C, both from the Track and Field Club, are on the track. That's practically hell difficulty for Horikita."

Hirata frowned, a rare expression of worry for Horikita's race.

"I see."

Kiyotaka replied flatly.

Sure enough, things played out just as Hirata imagined. Though Horikita bit her lip and ran and jumped with all her might, the two Class C members shot past her like rockets, pulling away. She had no chance to catch up until the very end, finishing in third place.

After learning the result, Hirata inexplicably turned his gaze toward me. It was a look of doubt, as if he sensed something unnatural about the group assignment.

And soon, Hirata's unease grew even stronger.

The next event was the 'Pole Toppling Competition'—a simple, brutal, and dangerous team event.

"Waaahhh! Let's get fired up—we've gotta win!"

Sudo roared with full spirit, rallying the boys from Class A and D who were participating.

On the other side, standing in Sudo's way were Kanzaki and Shibata from Class B, along with Ryuen from Class C leading his crew. In particular, the guys Sudo had fought before were former punks by nature, and there was also a half-Japanese, half-Black guy named Yamada whose burly frame was like a wall.

The rules were simple: the first side to have two flags knocked down lost. Hirata and Katsuragi had discussed many possibilities for this.

"Hey, don't worry—even if it's just me, I'll take down all the opponents!"

Sudo declared fiercely.

"It's about knocking down the flags, not the people."

Kiyotaka offered a reminder, just in case.

"I can't guarantee that. That Koenji guy has me so pissed off right now."

The match began. Since Class A and B were the defending teams and Class C and D were the attacking ones, the rules prevented attacking teams from colliding with each other. So Sudo led Class D's members charging fiercely toward Class B's defensive line.

And true to his word, Sudo's tall, sturdy frame tore through quite a few of the defenses Class B had set up.

"Stop Sudo!"

Kanzaki saw this and immediately gave orders.

In an instant, Sudo's unstoppable offensive was halted.

"What are you doing! Attack!"

Sudo shouted back in frustration.

Class D's weakness became glaringly obvious: aside from Sudo, there was no real offensive power—especially with dead weight like Kiyotaka slacking off and Doctor being completely useless in a fight.

Kiyotaka thought about doing something, but when he saw Sudo surrounded by six or seven people, he gave up.

"Crap, Class A's side is getting completely wrecked by Yamada leading the charge."

Ike glanced behind him and said.

"What!"

Sudo turned to look and saw their own red flag already teetering.

Kiyotaka also took a moment to glance over. He spotted Ryuen standing leisurely with his hands in his pockets, while the rest of Class C lunged fiercely at Class A's defenses like a pack of starving wolves. In particular, the group led by Yamada pushed the aesthetics of violence to their absolute limit, rampaging unchecked through Class A's lines. Soon, the big red flag fell.

The referee immediately blew the whistle to end the round.

"Aghhh! Damn it, what the hell were you all doing!"

Sudo glared angrily at the Class D crowd.

"Don't say that to us—we got hurt too. My hand's all scraped up. Ow ow ow."

Ike spoke up.

"A little scrape means nothing! You should've gone down fighting!"

Sudo punched the ground in fury, as if trying to vent.

"Alright, now it's our turn to defend. Let's do our best."

Hirata stepped in at the right moment to console him.

"Tch... This time we're holding the line to the death, got it?!"

Sudo roared outright.

But all he got in return were scattered, half-hearted responses.

If there was one area where Class D fell short, it was probably cooperation and drive. Even Kiyotaka included, no one looked particularly motivated—everyone seemed listless.

"Kiyotaka, you're ranked second, so even if you go down, you'd better hold that flag!"

Because of the rankings, Kiyotaka had been placed closest to the flag.

At a time like this, even if Kiyotaka wanted to slack off, he couldn't.

"Class C, come at me! Class C!"

Amid Sudo's muttering, the match whistle blew. Though everyone in Class D except Sudo was praying that Class C wouldn't be the ones attacking—because Class C was terrifying in terms of brute force.

But things like that don't just go your way from praying. As the whistle sounded, Class C's members closed in with hostile expressions.

"Alright! Bring it on!"

Sudo beat his chest like a gorilla and shouted.

From the back of Class C, Ryuen strolled over slowly. With a light wave of his hand, the boys led by Yamada cut through the front line like a pair of scissors, charging toward Sudo's position without losing speed.

"Hold them back! Fill in, hurry up and fill in!"

But all that answered Sudo were the cries of Class D's members. Class C repeatedly elbowed right on the edge of fouling, and before long, they had pushed into the center.

Meanwhile, Katsuragi from Class A was leading his people in slowly as well. It was now a pure race against time—but could they make it?

"Ugh."

Sudo, who was propping up the flag, let out a grunt. Standing before him was Yamada, like a wall. Even in terms of sheer physique, Sudo was slightly outmatched.

"Who's hitting my stomach!"

Amidst the groans, Sudo let out a roar.

It seemed someone had been launching personal attacks during the charge, and judging by the situation, it wasn't just once or twice—it was just drowned out by Class C's crowd and shouting.

"Ow, ow! You bastard!"

Sudo fell to his knees in pain, his face twisted into a grimace as if he'd taken a truly severe blow.

Yet even so, his hands still clung tightly to the flag, refusing to let go no matter what, which made Kiyotaka can't help but admire his tenacity.

Then, someone stepped barefoot onto Sudo's back and stomped down with the arrogance of a king.

Crack. A very distinct, crisp sound—a vicious strike delivered from a blind spot.

Sudo stared with bloodshot eyes at the man grinning before him.

That man was none other than Class C's ruler, Ryuen. As Sudo fell, the flag was toppled along with him; it was safe to say the red team had suffered a crushing defeat.

But even though the match was over, Sudo still glared at Ryuen.

"Huff... huff... That's against the rules!"

"What, so you were on the ground? It was so chaotic I didn't even notice?"

Ryuen said casually, then turned and walked away without a shred of guilt.

"Bastard!"

Sudo wanted to stand up and chase after him to land a punch, but the pain in his back forced him to curl up on the ground.

"Is your back okay?"

"I can manage... I can take it, but I'm definitely going to beat him up!"

"And then have that incident happen all over again?"