Can't do anything, but number one in infighting?

Under the parasol.

The three bigwigs of Class C sat around the table.

Albert and Ishizaki stood behind Prince Ganlongdao respectively.

Looking at the stack of A4 paper that Ryuuen had tossed onto the table, Kaneda and Prince Ganlongdao raised their eyebrows.

"What is this?"

"See for yourself."

Ryuuen's tone was unpleasant.

Aside from the Midterm Exam, he had spent this entire period gathering all sorts of intelligence.

And then.

He discovered.

What had Prince Ganlongdao been doing all this time?

He hadn't done a single thing!

Every day was just eating, chasing girls, and beating up Kaneda!

He hadn't done a damn thing.

Ryuuen was practically exploding with rage.

When he was competing with him, Prince Ganlongdao had acted like he was the king of the world.

But after a careful investigation, he realized.

So you're useless at everything, but number one at infighting, right?

If he hadn't yet seen the opportunity for a shift, Ryuuen would have wanted to kill him right then and there.

However.

Before seeing the true nature of this school.

Continuing to fight internally with Prince Ganlongdao would only bring harm, not a single benefit, and forcing such a strong individual to drop out would undoubtedly be like cutting off his own arm.

Therefore.

Ryuuen did not intend to make a move just yet.

But he certainly couldn't be like Prince Ganlongdao, doing nothing but eating, chasing girls, and beating up Kaneda every day.

Watching the two men pick up the A4 papers, Ryuuen explained coldly:

"This is the intelligence I've gathered recently: school surveillance, blind spots, the placement of buckets and mops, staff shift schedules, and the status of the leaders of each class."

"What?"

Kaneda turned his head sharply.

The look he gave Ryuuen was one of utter bewilderment.

He hadn't expected that the reason Ryuuen kept skipping the study sessions was that he had been investigating these things.

More importantly.

In just half a month.

Ryuuen had investigated every aspect of the school thoroughly.

Thinking of this.

While somewhat shocked by Ryuuen's ability, Kaneda felt more unease and anger in his heart.

"I was wondering why you weren't attending the study sessions. So you were wasting your time on these things all along? What is your intention?"

"Eh?"

A confused Ishizaki tried to mediate first:

"Brother Kaneda, Brother Ryuuen is also thinking about the class, right? Besides, these things should be quite important and beneficial to the class, so there's no need to be this angry."

"Shut up, what do you know?"

Kaneda pointed at Ryuuen and glared at Ishizaki: "When could these things not be investigated? Why did he have to do it right during the Midterm Exam? I think he's deliberately going against me."

"It... shouldn't be that..."

Ishizaki glanced at Ryuuen.

He suddenly felt that what Kaneda said made some sense... but he really didn't feel there was any need to be this angry.

In fact, it was very simple.

Compared to clear logic and reason.

Most people actually care more about the relationship between two people.

When someone likes you.

Even if you are wrong, they will still think you are right.

When a person dislikes you.

Even if you are right, they will still think you are wrong.

It was just an information investigation.

Could nothing be done about this?

Kaneda simply felt that this guy, Dragon Garden, was acting clever and playing party politics.

In reality.

Dragon Garden and Kaneda both shared the same flaw.

That was arrogance.

They felt that they were the center of the world.

Both thought they were the best and their plans were the finest, unable to see the merits of others.

A common mindset among university students.

Hearing the conversation between the two.

Dragon Garden didn't even put Kaneda in his eyes, merely watching Prince Ganlongdao with cold eyes.

"How is it?"

"You drew it really ugly."

"..."

Dragon Garden narrowed his eyes.

No good.

He felt like he and Prince Ganlongdao were fundamentally incompatible.

He really wanted to kill this guy.

The work he had done in half a month was more than what you had done in two months.

And yet, it was just drawn ugly?

Prince Ganlongdao glanced at Kaneda.

"Alright, you two settle down as well. The matter has already happened; there is no use thinking about these things anymore."

"Hmph."

Hearing this.

The two immediately quieted down.

Kaneda looked at Dragon Garden and revealed a cold sneer; clearly, Prince Ganlongdao was still on his side.

"Compared to this surveillance."

Prince Ganlongdao crossed his legs and flipped the A4 paper to the last two pages:

On it were written the names of the leaders of each class, along with their general personalities and physical characteristics.

"I am more interested in the leaders of the other classes. Are there any interesting guys?"

As soon as these words were spoken.

Kaneda and the others pricked up their ears, also feeling somewhat curious.

In reality.

Even within the same school.

Being in different classes, they basically rarely met.

Even if they did meet.

At most, it was just a nodding acquaintance.

Those who could establish connections across classes were undoubtedly very excellent social talents.

"First, Class A."

Hearing this, Dragon Garden leaned back in his chair, hooking his hands over the backrest, and said playfully:

"It seems Class A hasn't unified yet. Currently, there are two leaders: the conservative Katsuragi Kohei who has the upper hand, and Sakayanagi Arisu who leans toward the offensive faction."

"Heh."

Kaneda pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose and mocked:

"They haven't even managed to unify the class yet, and this is still Class A? It seems they aren't anything special."

"..."

Prince Ganlongdao offered no comment, so Dragon Garden continued:

"Then there is Ichinose Honami of Class B. I heard she unified the class in half a month, and furthermore..."

Speaking of this.

Ryuen paused.

It was only after Kaneda and Prince Ganlongdao had their curiosity piqued that Ryuen's expression turned somewhat grave:

"I heard she was elected class representative by the unanimous choice of her entire class. There was no silence, let alone opposition; it was a genuine collective show of support. You could say it was the will of the people!"

"Even now, I can't figure out how she managed to pull that off."

"Who are you trying to kid?"

Kaneda scoffed, clearly skeptical: "I could believe no one opposed her election, but how could there not even be a single person who stayed silent?"

"About that..."

Ishizaki raised his hand, looking a bit awkward: "I've heard Kondo and the others talk about Ichinose too. It seems she's genuinely popular, and her reputation among the upperclassmen is apparently very high as well."

"How is that possible?"

Kaneda frowned, still finding it hard to believe.

"Even you've heard of it? Winning everyone's trust in just two months, and even earning praise from the upperclassmen—how on earth did she do it?"

In truth.

Whether it was Ryuen or Prince Ganlongdao.

Kaneda had never truly been convinced by them.

The two of them were just good at fighting, disregarded class rules, and were shameless enough. He had better academic grades than both of them, and he could spot certain patterns in the class rules himself.

He only held back for the sake of reaching Class A and because there were benefits to be had.

Kaneda felt he was enduring for the sake of the class, that he was making concessions for the class.

He never felt he was inferior to the two of them.

It was just like playing chess.

Even when he was being crushed, during the post-game analysis.

He would suddenly slap his thigh.

Why didn't I think of that move at the time? And then he would feel like he was capable again.

However, a miss is as good as a mile.

One minute on stage requires ten years of practice off stage.

Realizing things after the fact was useless; the true skill lay in being able to make split-second decisions and adapt to changing circumstances.

The strength of this personality type was that it was hard to discourage and possessed invincible stress resistance, but the weakness was a tendency to lack self-awareness.

However.

If what Ishizaki said was true.

Kaneda asked himself if he could have accomplished what Ichinose Honami had done.

Of course.

Kaneda didn't think this was his own fault.

It was just that there were too many idiots out there.

Even though what he said made more sense and was more beneficial to others, the world was always full of idiots who refused to listen to him. Kaneda could never figure out why that was.

It just meant.

Ichinose Honami had a very strong ability to communicate with idiots.

Compared to Class A.

Kaneda felt that Ichinose Honami was a much more dangerous opponent.

Hearing their conversation.

Prince Ganlongdao, however, felt somewhat dissatisfied.

This Ryuen.

Why couldn't he grasp the main point at all?