There Are Far Too Many People Who Could Kidnap Him / How Could the Cover Star Go Down So Easily?

However, Amasawa Ichika chose to give him a good beating.

Instead of appeasement, they chose threats, and specifically, the most direct form of violence.

In that instant, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka suddenly thought of the things between him Miyabi Nagumo.

First, he must admit that he did indeed deduce Miyabi Nagumo's psychological changes by summarizing the commonalities between the two students, Sakayanagi Arisu and Amasawa Ichika, based on their changing attitudes towards them. However, considering that Amasawa Ichika Miyabi Nagumo was sent by Kitagawa Ryo to manipulate the Criticism Vote that Nagumo had at the time, the other party should have seen through Nagumo Miyabi Nagumo's psychological state much earlier than him.

In other words, what he is doing now, Kitagawa Ryo could have done long ago. After all, the other party's background is even stronger than his own. The title of the sole heir of the conglomerate is there for all to see. Now, Miyabi Nagumo would definitely abandon all past grudges and directly pledge allegiance without any psychological burden, as long as Kitagawa Ryo is willing to reveal even the slightest bit of such intention.

But Kitagawa Ryo did not choose to do so.

This indicates that he personally felt there was no need to recruit Miyabi Nagumo, and he wouldn't even mind giving her to him.

Looking back further, Kamuro Masumi is another example; she's someone Kitagawa Ryo had the ability to win over but didn't.

Perhaps, just like choosing a lover, the other party also has their own set of standards when it comes to recruiting subordinates.

Kushida Kikyo probably didn't pass the test either. Her becoming a spy was most likely a chance occurrence, or a casual move, and not the result of Kitagawa Ryo's intention.

This chance encounter was very likely the direct reason why Amasawa Ichika used violence against the other party.

During that Uninhabited Island Special Exam, Kushida Kikyo must have witnessed something she shouldn't have seen, most likely a meeting between the real spy hiding in Class C and Kitagawa Ryo.

After all, according to the information that Yamamura Miki had gathered, Kushida Kikyo herself had a habit of occasionally going out in the middle of the night to vent her psychological stress in blind spots of surveillance.

It seems I'll have to find a way to get the spy's name out of her.

After sorting out all his thoughts, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka walked out of the forest and encountered Ishikura, who had been waiting for him, on the main road. The Leader of Class 3-B quickly came up to him and explained the current situation.

Following Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's instructions, the students of Class 3-C and Class D have all entangled with the students of Class A, constantly provoking them to create friction. On the one hand, this is to prevent the other side from having time and space to support Kitagawa Ryo, and on the other hand, it is to distract the school administration and cause the teaching staff used to maintain order to exceed their capacity and become overloaded.

After all, ANHS itself needs to allocate staff to drive away wild boars. With a student report coming in every two minutes, the teaching staff available to resolve disputes is stretched thin, and the control over the entire Special Exam naturally drops to its lowest point.

"Hmm, let's wait a bit longer. Let the second-year girls finish first."

"Then, we First Year and third graders will make our move."

Chapter 415: There are way too many people who could kidnap him (6k)

Upon realizing that he would be facing a formidable group of First Year and third-year students, as well as nearly the entire second-year class, Kitagawa Ryo frowned. He knew he couldn't handle it alone; even if hundreds of Special Exam took turns 'serving' him, it would still significantly slow down or even ruin his grades in this course.

Just like with Kiryuin Fuka and Asahina Nazuna earlier, Kitagawa Ryo also needs to find some helpers to deal with the situation and create some space and time for him.

His most natural allies and strongest supporters are undoubtedly Class 3-A and Class 1-B. The former is the class Horikita Manabu is in, and the latter is the class Kitagawa Ryo is currently in. They are teammates who will definitely stand by his side.

However, considering that the encirclement against him was orchestrated by Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, the enemy certainly wouldn't have overlooked his two helpers. They might already be in a state of chaos, given that the enemy's forces undoubtedly have a significant numerical advantage.

It can only be said that Kitagawa Ryo was indeed initially fooled by Sakayanagi Arisu's double trap. For him, it was not surprising that Ryuen Kakeru and Class D would join forces with Ayanokoji's Class C. Rather, it is more accurate to say that Dragon Boy's personality has always been like this. When it comes to the interests of the class, he would be perfectly willing to go to Uninhabited Island and live a life of hardship. This matter itself has nothing to do with the private relationship between the two parties.

Even so, in Kitagawa Ryo's plan, the First Year should have been a fair match between him and Class A and Class B C and D. However, as Sakayanagi Arisu's ambitions became clear, the two-on-two situation suddenly turned into one-on-three, which made the overall Matoba suddenly unfavorable.

If the last Class Vote Special Exam was a tacitly agreed-upon pincer attack by classes A, B, and D against Class C, then this time the target of the pincer attack has become Class 1-B. After all, Class B's current position is quite delicate. Above them is Class A, who wants to maintain its position, and below them is the former Class A, who is eyeing the top and wants to return to the top.

Of course, in this Special Exam for the Mixed Training Camp, the one who attracted the most hatred was definitely Kitagawa Ryo himself, while Class B was somewhat of an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire.

Thinking of this, Kitagawa Ryo naturally thought of Ichinose Honami and Karuizawa Kei, who were currently in the same class as him. From the current outcome, it was indeed unlucky or a waste that these two were drawn into the same group, because with their abilities and reputation, they were qualified to be leaders in any group. Being assigned to the same group actually affected Kitagawa Ryo's judgment of the situation on the girls' side.

Despite Kitagawa Ryo's Sakayanagi Arisu Amasawa Ichika's mind was preoccupied with indescribable things compared to group affairs, Horikita Suzune was only realizing she'd been fooled on the fourth night, and Ichinose Honami and Karuizawa Kei were also having a rough time in that chaotic Second Group, he actually didn't know much about the girls' situation. Crucial information had to be relayed by Asahina Nazuna, his senior, and Kamuro Masumi, a student from Class C.

If Kitagawa Ryo's prediction is correct, this winding, 18-kilometer-long country trail should now be filled with students waiting for him to appear, ready to swarm him like the second-year girls from before.

With his eyes slightly closed, Kitagawa Ryo thought for a while and recalled his memories of looking down at this area from near the highest turning point yesterday.

The 18-kilometer training march refers to the distance from the Forest School along this mountain path to the turnaround point and back. However, as the proverb says, all roads lead to Rome. In fact, there are many more roads to the turnaround point than the one marked by the school. It's just that this road is the only one that is paved by man and is the easiest to walk.

Theoretically speaking, following the animal trails made by wild animals through the nearby forest to the turnaround point wouldn't violate the exam rules at all. After all, the school staff at the turnaround point would only record your score and wouldn't care which route you took. The terrain in these mountains is already rugged, so who would deliberately choose a more difficult path, perhaps even one where wild boars roam, instead of the designated route?

However, for Kitagawa Ryo at the moment, this road has become a good choice. Firstly, it makes it easier for him to avoid other students on the main road, and secondly, it allows him to temporarily hide and observe the situation to find a way out. Moreover, he is also confident in his physical abilities. Neither the muddy and rugged mountain forest trails nor the wild boars that may appear will pose any real obstacle to him.

Rather, given the current situation, Kitagawa Ryo is now somewhat hoping for another wild boar to appear. After all, since the situation has already become a complete mess, he might as well let everything spiral out of control even further, perhaps allowing him to successfully snatch chestnuts from the fire.

Having clearly defined his short-term goal, Kitagawa Ryo plunged into the dense forest and began sprinting towards the turning point, relying on his exceptional sense of direction and superhuman physical abilities.

Meanwhile, in the Second Group First Year girls who had been conducting their long-distance running training as usual earlier, Ichinose Honami and Karuizawa Kei almost simultaneously noticed something, unconsciously slowing their pace and exchanging glances. Shiranami Chihiro, another girl from Class B in their group behind them, also abruptly stopped and asked with some confusion:

"What's wrong?"

"Don't you feel something's off? It's a bit too quiet."

"Hmm? Really? If Honami is referring to the fact that our group ended up with only the three of us running, then there's no need to make a fuss about it. After all, since the start of this special Mixed Training Camp Special Exam, our group has always been operating independently, just like the rest of the class, hasn't it?"

"It's not that I mean that... but you could also say that. What I find strange is that the students from those three classes disappeared at such a close time, it's almost as if they all received some kind of instruction at the same time."

Faced with Shiranami Chihiro's somewhat indignant complaints, Karuizawa Kei knew that the other had suffered some grievances during the training camp these past few days. However, she was not in the mood to comfort her at this moment. Instead, she began to frown and recall the various details she had seen along the way and how the other members of the group looked before they fell behind or overtook each other.

"I know why it felt a bit quiet."

At that Ichinose Honami suddenly remembered something and turned around to look at the other group of students who were hanging behind the three of them.

"For the past half hour, none of the students from other classes we've encountered along the way have said a word to us, not even a greeting. It's the same with the students from Class 1-A. At first, I thought everyone was focused on the exam and didn't have time, but it's still too unusual that not a single one of them has spoken to us."

As the most socially active student in her grade, Ichinose Honami knew that with her proactive change of attitude, her popularity wasn't as explosive as it was at the beginning of the semester. However, even with her current popularity, she shouldn't be ignored by all the students along the way. It seemed that they were intentionally avoiding any interaction with her.

Just as Ichinose Honami and Karuizawa Kei were beginning to have doubts and vaguely sensed some mysterious undercurrent, they suddenly saw someone running towards them in the opposite direction on the road ahead. Anyone who didn't know better would think that this guy had already finished the first half of the race and was starting to sprint for the second half, but this long-distance race had only just begun. Even if someone could fly, they couldn't fly that fast, especially since the first half of the race was an even more difficult uphill section.

However, as the student ran closer and closer to the three of them, Karuizawa Kei and Ichinose Honami realized that the guy running wildly in the opposite direction was Kanzaki Ryuji, the vice class president of their Class 1-B.

The Kanzaki Ryuji before them was the complete opposite of his usual composed demeanor. Despite it being winter, his forehead was already covered in a fine layer of sweat, and his slightly curled hair clung to it, making him look rather disheveled. Upon seeing them, he stopped running, bent over, supporting himself on his knees, panting heavily, and stammered as he spoke to Ichinose Honami and Karuizawa Kei:

"Several girls in our class are being harassed by some third-grade students. They're saying really nasty things, and they're currently blocking the Amikura them."

"Third grade? Which class?"

"I'm not sure, it seems like students from Class B, Class C, and Class D all have them."

"Is this deliberate provocation or has some real conflict occurred?"

"I'm sure it was deliberate provocation. I was standing not far behind when it happened. It seemed to be a senior from the same group as Amikura and Himeno, insisting that there was something wrong with the breakfast they made this morning, causing someone in their group to have an upset stomach and miss the long-distance run. She was demanding an explanation or she wouldn't let them go. But everyone is supposed to eat the breakfast that each group makes, so how could only one or two people feel unwell? Besides, in this kind of situation, the first thing to suspect is whether there's a problem with the ingredients provided by the school."

After listening to Kanzaki Ryuji's story, Ichinose Honami and Karuizawa Kei exchanged a somewhat serious glance. Meanwhile, Shiranami Chihiro, following behind them, began to worry about her good friend in class and urged her anxiously:

"This kind of thing should be reported to the school as soon as possible, so that a teacher can come and resolve it. It's obvious that the other party is deliberately causing trouble."

"I've tried it."

At this point, Kanzaki Ryuji gave a wry smile and wiped the sweat from his brow.

"I've already run around this area for quite a while now. It's no exaggeration to say that there are incidents or disturbances happening everywhere ahead. The few staff members assigned by the school simply can't handle it all, since they also have to arrange for people to drive away the wild boars and tally the scores at the turnaround point."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's approach this time undoubtedly drew on Kitagawa Ryo's thinking during the Uninhabited Island Special Exam. That is, no matter how carefully the school designs each Special Exam, reality is not a game, and there will always be human-made loopholes, or bugs.

Just as the food and water provided by the school in the last Uninhabited Island Special Exam were not unlimited, there must also be a limit to the human resources that the school can invest in this Special Exam. Once the limit is exceeded, it will naturally become overloaded. After the school loses its intervention, all the rules will eventually return to the students' hands for a short period of time.

Sure enough, upon hearing that school staff couldn't arrive immediately, Shiranami Chihiro gritted her teeth:

"Then let's do what we did on the Uninhabited Island last time, and call everyone in our class together. Let's see if these so-called seniors dare to bully us juniors again."

As a girls' group that received special attention, just like Karuizawa Kei and Ichinose Honami complained to Kitagawa Ryo in the cafeteria a couple of days ago, the disintegration of the First Year Second Group so far can indeed be blamed half on these seniors who were picking on each other. After all, unlike Horikita Suzune's Third Group, they didn't have Asahina Nazuna to mediate. Therefore, even Shiranami Chihiro, who has always been timid in the class, was a bit emotional at this moment.

"No."

To Shiranami Chihiro's surprise, it Kanzaki Ryuji who stepped forward to stop her after resting for a while.

"I think this is just a smokescreen to distract our Class B. Their real target is Kitagawa."

After hearing Kanzaki Ryuji's words, Ichinose Honami and Karuizawa Kei, who were standing next to him, nodded in agreement. They had also considered this point, which was why they hadn't spoken up to echo Shiranami Chihiro.

It has to be said that Kanzaki Ryuji's emotional intelligence is truly remarkable. After all, no matter which of them said those words, Shiranami Chihiro would probably have interpreted them differently, thinking that they valued Kitagawa Ryo more than the other students in Class B. However, now that Kanzaki Ryuji brought it up, it was easier for them to respond.

"As far as I know, many people don't want Liang to get first place in the whole school in this Special Exam."

"Yeah, after all, if Liang gets it, our Class B might be able to overtake Class Points and become the new Class A."

Without making a scene, Karuizawa Kei brought the matter back to the topic of class interests and proactively asked Kanzaki Ryuji:

Have you seen Liang along the way?

"No, besides me, there are many other students looking for him, boys and girls from all grades. It seems they've already started searching into the forest or are blocking the gate at the turnaround point."

"Blocking the gate at the turnaround point is indeed a good idea. After all, I reckon Liang should be headed straight into the forest by now. Although I could chase after him myself, I don't think it's necessary."

After ANHS, she was a girl who had survived alone on Uninhabited Island for nearly two weeks, Karuizawa Kei's words were quite convincing.

"The most important thing now is to gather our students together, and then find other students who are willing and able to help."

"How about we go find Class A? Wasn't Beichuan a transfer student from their class?"

"... No, Class A must have defected too, because I saw Class 1-A student in the search party for Beichuan on the way. Although they didn't seem very willing, they were doing it for the class. In the end, they didn't want to be squeezed out by our class like this."

After hearing Kanzaki Ryuji's explanation, Karuizawa Kei frowned slightly, but then something else occurred to her:

"Go find Class D, go find Hiyori."

Of the three First Year classes besides Class B, Class A and Class C have already confirmed that all members are following orders to surround and intercept Kitagawa Ryo. Therefore, the only class left that can be won over is Class D.

To be precise, it was the girls in Class 1-D.

Although Ryuen Kakeru always claimed to be the absolute Leader of Class D, in reality, both Class D and Class C at this stage had the same problem: neither Katsuragi Kohei Ryuen Kakeru could truly lead the girls in their class. This was because neither of them were the type to get along well with girls. The former mainly relied on Kushida Kikyo and Hirata Yosuke, while the latter, needless to say, basically relied on Shiina Hiyori.

However, there are also differences between the two classes. The majority of students in the current Class C, which was originally Class A, are quite clear-headed when it comes to matters involving the interests of the class. Even Morishita Ai and Kamuro Masumi, who had previously been somewhat uncooperative, were forced to obey Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's orders.

However, such discipline and subjective awareness do not exist in Class D. Moreover, Shiina Hiyori is the most ruthless member of Kitagawa Ryo's faction. If she were willing to speak out and take action, she could rally a group of people against Ryuen Kakeru. After all, she had already ousted Ryuen Sho from his position Leader during the Sports Festival.

"No, you can contact all the students in Class D, especially Ishizaki and Komiya, who are in the same group as Kitagawa Ryo."

After Karuizawa Kei suggested the strategy of finding Class D, Ichinose Honami added this sentence, her bright blue eyes shining.

"The fact that Ayanokoji can command Class 1-C so easily means that his bargaining chips or conditions are something that Class C can't refuse right now. Ryo told me at the end of winter break that he made contact with Nagumo in the second year, so this reward that can mobilize the entire Class C must be related to the debt between their class and Nagumo. It is very likely that it is the reduction of part or even all of the several million yen of debt."

Ichinose Honami finished speaking, Karuizawa Kei quickly understood her meaning. However, seeing that Kanzaki Ryuji and Shiranami Chihiro still looked a little confused, she added another explanation:

"Just like Class 1-C owes Nagumo a debt, the students in Class 1-D are now also indebted to Ryuen. In fact, this is one of the fundamental reasons why they were able to smoothly take back control of the class after the Sports Festival, and why they remained in their position as class Leader even after the Cultural Festival defeat and the Manabe Shiho, who opposed the class's decision to withdraw during the Special Exam Class Vote election."

"Since Ayanokoji can use the debt to his advantage by getting Class C to work for him, we can also sow discord in Class D by helping them pay off their debts. We could even directly bring their students to our side. Then Ryuen will be all alone again. After all, Ryo has very good interpersonal relationships in Class D, and many students probably don't want to mess with him."

After hearing Karuizawa Kei's explanation, Kanzaki Ryuji and Shiranami Chihiro both looked enlightened, but immediately asked:

"But we can't just make empty promises. Now the whole grade knows that our Class B spent all our Private Points to transfer to Beichuan, and it's even going to cost our homeroom teacher money. Do the students in Class D really believe we have the ability to help them pay off their debts?"

"It's alright if we don't have any. Ryo definitely has enough points, and Hiyori from Class D has a lot of Private Points stored up on him. If it really comes down to it, she probably won't hesitate to spend those points."

After Ichinose Honami gave her explanation with a smile, Karuizawa Kei glanced at her with some apprehension. After all, both of them knew that the Private Points Shiina Hiyori had accumulated with Kitagawa Ryo were for the purpose of transferring classes later. Unexpectedly, Ichinose Honami still had the extra thought to calculate the transfer fee under such circumstances. The rather heavy emotions that were faintly revealed behind her made Karuizawa Kei feel a chill down her spine.

"That's good."

Seeing that Ichinose Honami and Karuizawa Kei had quickly sorted out the situation that had been giving him a headache, Kanzaki Ryuji breathed a sigh of relief.

"We'll split up now."

Before Ichinose Honami, Karuizawa Kei took the initiative to give instructions:

"Kanzaki, you and Chihiro go and gather the rest of our Class B students nearby, then take them to Amikura and Himeno. With your numbers, those third-year students shouldn't be able to stop you. Honami and I will contact the students in Class D, and we'll meet up at the turnaround point."

However, Kanzaki Ryuji himself was quite cautious. After noticing that Ichinose Honami did not object, he nodded in agreement and left with Shiranami Chihiro.

"Let's go find the students in Class D. It would be even better if we could run into Hiyori; it would save us a lot of trouble."

Seeing Kanzaki Ryuji and Shiranami Chihiro jogging away, Ichinose Honami also called out to Karuizawa Kei, only to find her still standing there with a thoughtful expression.

"What's wrong?"

"... I suddenly remembered the last Uninhabited Island Exam. Honami, do you remember? I was surrounded by Class A back then, which eventually dragged almost all the students from Class B into it. In other words, I was the hostage used to hold the class hostage back then."

"You mean?"

"Yes, this time their target is Liang."

Despite it being a rather serious topic, Karuizawa Kei's tone was filled with helplessness and resentment as she spoke.

"There are too many people who could kidnap him."

Chapter 416: How Can I, the One on the Cover, Fall So Easily?

Just as Ichinose Honami and Karuizawa Kei were planning to set off to find Shiina Hiyori from Class 1-D and seek her help, just like Sherlock Holmes meeting and confronting Professor Moriarty Sherlock Holmes the Reichenbach Falls cliff, this avid fan of detective novels was also experiencing the greatest crisis to date.

However, this didn't mean she had encountered a wild boar attack like Mizowaki and Tonokawa yesterday, and her life wasn't in danger. But for Shiina Hiyori at this moment, she might have preferred to encounter a wild boar. After all, the probability of Kitagawa Ryo miraculously arriving to save her was much higher than her current predicament of frantically searching through the empty pocket of her down jacket dozens or even hundreds of times in just a few minutes to find the ring she had carefully kept there.

Ever since she unexpectedly received that ring from Kitagawa Ryo during the obstacle course race at the Sports Festival, Shiina Hiyori, unlike Sakayanagi Arisu, never flaunts a particular sports ring on her wrist every day, but she always carries it with the utmost care and cherishes it, even when participating in the Special Exam for this Mixed Training Camp.

After all, the Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School only confiscated all electronic devices from the students before the exam started. Even Sakayanagi Arisu's sports ring was not spared. However, the school did not care about such personal accessories. Just like Asahina Nazuna is now wearing the amulet that Hotaru brought back to her wrist, Shiina Hiyori's ring is also allowed to be worn.

Since this was a shared accommodation session with unfamiliar girls from other classes, Shiina Hiyori was very careful and kept her ring in the small pocket inside her down jacket. She didn't have to worry about it falling out during exercise, as long as the zipper was closed.

But not long after the field training began, when Shiina Hiyori reached out to touch the ring as usual, she unexpectedly found nothing. Even after turning the entire inner pocket inside out, she couldn't find the ring anywhere.

Theoretically speaking, with the zipper closed, the ring should not roll out due to movement. After all, there were long-distance running training sessions in the days leading up to this Special Exam, Shiina Hiyori had never encountered such a situation before.