The Battle Over Class Placement (cont.)

With a smile on his face, Tsukishiro seemed to be deliberately trying to minimize his presence, and he showed no intention of continuing the conversation.

Kitagawa Ryo casually closed the door to the reception room, then sat down unceremoniously at the other end of the sofa and poured himself a cup of tea.

"Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, it's been a long time."

Have we met before?

"Didn't you follow me around the whole time during the last Cultural Festival?"

"You actually noticed."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka nodded. From the moment the other person entered the room, all his muscles and nerves were instantly tense. The keen intuition he had developed in the White Room told him that Kitagawa Ryo's physical fitness had improved considerably since then.

If the trainees in the White Room were rated 5, 10, or even 20 points, then Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was consistently rated 100 points. He hadn't felt this sense of danger from his peers in a long time.

"Alright, alright, I have a lot to do today, there's no time for you two to argue."

Chairman Sakayanagi clapped his hands. As the Chairman, he knew very well that this would be the most special class since the founding of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School. He didn't know how many eyes were watching this place through the surveillance cameras in the room.

Some hoped that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka could win as a bargaining chip for a comeback, while others needed his defeat to completely kick him while he was down.

Perhaps it was because of the excessive external interference that the final stage was decided to be the completely closed Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School.

"Ayanokoji-kun just mentioned the issue of class assignments. Kitagawa-kun, what are your thoughts on that?"

"Before sharing my own opinion, I'm more curious about the school's arrangements."

Kitagawa Ryo didn't really care which class he was assigned to. After all, class assignment only affected the beginning. In the next three years, anything could happen. In Karuizawa Kei's second mock exam, he only spent a little over a semester to bring Class C up to Class B. Moreover, he even had a chance to be promoted directly to Class A in the VIP Exam.

If the content of the Special Exam in the first semester remains unchanged, Kitagawa Ryo will have an advantage in information compared to his simulated self.

That's why he asked about the school's arrangements first.

Where is Ayanokoji-kun?

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka turned his gaze to Tsukishiro, Tsukishiro nodded at him.

"Tell me your arrangements first."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was unaware of the extent of Kitagawa Ryo's knowledge of the school. Although Chairman Sakayanagi was on the same side as Kitagawa Ryo, he believed that the latter would not recklessly leak all the rules of the school.

A valid game must be acknowledged by both players.

Since I was dispatched here to fight the other side, it means that we are at the same level in terms of intelligence about this place.

If Kitagawa Ryo really obtained any information that would undermine fairness, at least the owner of the White Room behind him wouldn't agree to it. Tsukishiro's arrival here was probably also partly for the purpose of supervision.

After receiving joint replies from Kitagawa Ryo and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Chairman Sakayanagi nodded and said:

"The Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School has a tradition of conducting a nationwide survey of junior high school students in advance according to certain standards, and only students deemed 'worthy of affiliation' are allowed to enroll. Interviews or entrance exams are merely formalities."

Once a student is accepted, they will be admitted even if they act foolishly in the interview or score zero on the exam. Although applications are accepted from students all over the country, that's just a formality to weed out everyone.

"Then, the school will rank the students into four classes, A, B, C, and D, based on their overall academic performance. This involves the school's own considerations, so I won't go into details."

"Therefore, theoretically speaking, there are differences between the four classes A, B, C, and D on paper."

"Actually, the fairest approach would be to put Kitagawa-kun and Ayanokoji-kun in the same class and then evaluate their performance and contributions to the class. However, this method is not intuitive and is difficult to quantify."

"Therefore, the school's plan is to put the two of you in different classes. Whoever gets Class A after three years will be the winner. This is in line with the consistent philosophy of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School."

Chairman Sakayanagi took a sip of tea, observing the reactions of the two men.

Kitagawa Ryo maintained his calm and composed demeanor, while Ayanokoji Kiyotaka remained expressionless.

"I agree to be in a different class from Ayanokoji."

I have no objection either.

After the two confirmed their first idea, Chairman Sakayanagi continued:

"But at this point, we encounter the problem I mentioned earlier: there's a gap in strength between Class D, which means the two players won't have an even start."

"For example, if Kitagawa-kun were placed in Class A Ayanokoji-kun in Class D, even if Ayanokoji-kun wouldn't be unhappy, your father wouldn't approve of such a matchup."

"Our solution to this situation is to let the child..."

Chairman Sakayanagi took out the black king and the white king from the Chess on the table and placed them in front of Kitagawa Ryo and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka respectively.

"The strength difference between pieces in Chess is not significant; losing a single pawn can tip the scales of victory to two to one."

"However, in China chess and Go, if there is indeed a difference in strength between the two sides, the stronger side will choose to give up some of its pieces to try to prevent the game from becoming one-sided."

"Single horse, two horses, single chariot, single cannon."

"The pieces here are some of the outstanding talents among this year's freshmen who have been recognized for their excellence in a certain aspect. In fact, judging from the data alone, half of them are qualified to directly enter Class A."

Chairman Sakayanagi took out one black and one white chess piece, representing the five pieces: pawn, rook, knight, bishop, and queen, and placed them between the two players.

He flipped one of the pieces over, revealing the inscription "[Katsuragi Kohei]" on its base.

"[Pawn], a diligent and steady soldier moving forward step by step, represents academic ability through hard work and effort. Katsuragi Kohei was a freshman whose academic ability was rated as A upon entering the university."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka seemed quite interested in this form of comparing people to chess pieces, and he toyed with the [King] piece in his hand and asked:

What are the specific rules for yielding pieces?

"Both sides start with five pieces. Every two classes apart, the player in the higher position gives up one piece to the player in the lower position."

"For example, if Ayanokoji-kun chooses Class B and Kitagawa chooses Class D, with two classes between them, then Kitagawa can choose seven pieces out of these ten pieces first, Ayanokoji-kun can choose three."

"Of course, if both students give up a piece, he will still be admitted to his original class according to the normal standards."

Tsukishiro suddenly smiled and advised from the side:

"Let me add a couple of points. Ultimately, the quality of a class is often not determined by these pawns on the surface. If you blindly pursue top talents and aim for a lower-ranked class, you might need to be prepared that the other students are all flawed."

"Moreover, these chess pieces are all freshmen who excel in only one aspect. After they are actually enrolled, their performance may exceed your expectations or it may greatly disappoint you. Therefore, it is even more necessary for the two of you to make choices and judgments."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka understood that this was a reminder from the other person, and recalling the advice he had heard from that person that morning, he spoke first:

"I choose Class A."

Compared to individuals with unique personalities, he clearly values the overall quality of the class more.

The presence of a single flawed individual can ruin the efforts of an entire class. A class full of flawed individuals may not be effective even if it has many talented students, because they might simply be too lazy to follow orders.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka judged that Kitagawa Ryo would likely choose Class B, but the other party's answer surprised him.

"I choose Class D."

Kitagawa Ryo stroked the [King] chess piece in his hand, completely ignoring the surprised looks from the other three.

The proposal to give up the child was provided to Chairman Sakayanagi from beginning to end by him, because Kitagawa Ryo was very familiar with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's personality and style of doing things.

Regardless of which class Ayanokoji Kiyotaka is assigned to, he will only see the students in that class as tools to achieve ultimate victory. With this mindset, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka will definitely choose the most useful students from Class A as his tools.

But to Tsukishiro and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, those ten chess pieces seemed like a blind box, with no idea what they would get...

Kitagawa Ryo really knew them inside and out.

"[Pawn], as mentioned before, represents academic ability. In the entrance evaluation, the two new students who received an A in academic ability are Katsuragi Kohei and Yukimura Teruhiko."

"I want them all."

Kitagawa Ryo spoke, reaching out to pick up both the black and white [pawns], but quickly tossed them both into the pile of pieces to the side:

"Then I decided to abandon these two."

"This should be within the rules, right?"

"After all, it doesn't say you can't choose and then give up."

"What's the reason?"

"I don't know either of them. Academic ability is the least reliable of the five criteria. They might be bookworms who only know how to study, or they might have excellent grades but terrible character."

Kitagawa Ryo waved his hand casually:

"Let them fend for themselves."

Taking a sip of tea, Kitagawa Ryo quietly observed Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Tsukishiro's expressions. His performance just now was nothing more than labeling himself as someone who didn't understand these new students.

Seeing that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Tsukishiro had no objections, Chairman Sakayanagi nodded:

"All right."

"The next item is [Bishop], the bishop flanking the king and queen, representing the excellent judgment of a close advisor. The two new students rated A are Horikita Suzune and Ryuen Kakeru."

"Horikita Suzune."

Kitagawa Ryo, who had the right to choose first, spoke up first.

He was waiting to see Ayanokoji Kiyotaka would use his only two chances on Ryuen Kakeru.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka shook his head, indicating that he was not interested in the piece.

Excellent judgment means that the other party may disagree with him on the direction of the class, or even escalate into a power struggle. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who is more confident in his own decisions, does not need such a person.

The piece representing Ryuen Kakeru was also placed into the piece pile.

"Next is [Knight]. The free-spirited and unrestrained horse represents interpersonal skills. The two freshmen who received an A in this category are Ichinose Honami and Kushida Kikyo."

"Ichinose Honami."

Kitagawa Ryo made his choice without hesitation.

"Kushida Kikyo".

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka also made his own choice. On the one hand, he considered that his interpersonal skills were not strong, and the class needed a glue-like figure to lead it. On the other hand, the selection of pawns had entered the third round, and Kitagawa Ryo had only used his selection power four times. If he did not make a move, the last four pawns might be swept by the opponent in one fell swoop.

Kitagawa Ryo calmly accepted his chess piece.

"The second to last item is [Rook], which represents physical fitness and athletic ability, and the freshmen rated A are Ken Sudō and Yamada Albert."

"I want them all."

Kitagawa Ryo already knew how to use Ken Sudō, and Yamada Albert, who was originally a student in Class C, also knew the other's personality well, so he chose to take them all down as well.

"The last item is the [Queen]. Besides the King, the most important piece represents one's intelligence level. The two new students who were rated A in intelligence are Koenji Rokusuke and Sakayanagi Arisu."

"Ayanokoji, shall we make a deal?"

Kitagawa Ryo suddenly spoke up and asked.

"What transaction?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka turned his head away. He had given up on this selection, because Kitagawa Ryo still held the right to choose two pieces. There was no reason for the other party not to choose both of them at the same time, after all, they were rare [intellectual] talents.

"I'm giving you this round of choices, and you get to choose first."

"Cost."

Kitagawa Ryo leaned back against the soft sofa cushions and said casually:

"Classes A and D will have their homeroom teachers swapped."

"Class advisor?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was taken aback; he hadn't expected the other party to make such a perplexing request.

His impression of the class teacher was limited to descriptions in books.

"Since there's a difference in ability between Class A and Class D, there must also be a difference in their homeroom teachers, right?"

Kitagawa Ryo explained from his stall:

"Furthermore, the class teacher, as part of the class, should also be included in this part, and should be transferable or even exchangeable."

I have no objection.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka thought for a while. He shared the same idea as his father: when students are either exceptionally talented or exceptionally mediocre, the role of the homeroom teacher is minimized. Using this as a price to acquire an intellectually gifted student for the class is an acceptable condition.

"Then Ayanokoji, please."

Kitagawa Ryo smiled and handed over the two Go pieces.

[Sakayanagi Arisu], or [Koenji Rokusuke].

Sakayanagi... aren't they the same surname?

While it's possible they just share the same surname, the chances are extremely slim.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka glanced at the still smiling Chairman Sakayanagi, and after a few moments of deliberation, picked up [Koenji Rokusuke].

He couldn't simply let the enemy's pieces into his own camp.