Transaction

For the students of Class D, having endured over two months of a grueling life without Private Points, these few days on the ship must have felt exceptionally wonderful. After all, every expense on this vessel was covered by the school, and they could finally indulge themselves... though returning to school would be even harder to bear.

Kushida Kikyo, the most popular girl in Class D, had likely been incredibly busy these past two days. At school, her friends might still be considerate of her financial situation, but on this ship, that was no longer the case. After all, if two people were close, they would even go to the restroom together, let alone go for beauty treatments, eat out, or watch movies.

The more friends one has, the more social obligations one must fulfill.

"I really appreciate you carving out so much time for me." Sawahara looked at Kushida Kikyo. Though they had only been apart for seven hours, Kushida carried a sense of exhaustion... and perhaps a hint of irritation. Was it just his imagination?

"No, after all, I was the one who asked you out." Kushida shook her head, her gaze toward Sawahara complex.

Originally, she had merely thought of Sawahara as a boy who had a crush on her, someone she could utilize, only to suffer a major setback during the midterm exams. At the time, she hadn't suspected Sawahara, assuming it was Ryuen's scheme, as he was the one who ultimately stepped forward.

However, during the last exam, it became clearly evident that Sawahara was the true core of Class C. She had to start wondering if her previous guess was wrong—that Sawahara was the mastermind who had pushed her into such a miserable state.

"Kushida-san, is there something you needed to see me about at this hour?" Sawahara asked. In truth, he had already guessed that she was definitely looking for him regarding the VIPs.

"Sawahara-kun, what is your take on this VIP Exam?" Kushida didn't state her purpose directly, instead asking for Sawahara's opinion on the exam.

"This exam?" Sawahara raised an eyebrow. "My opinion is that we should just ignore it. After all, as long as no one does anything, no class will suffer any losses."

"I think so too, but if it goes on like this, only the VIPs in the Dragon Group will receive points. That seems so unfair." Kushida said, sounding as if she were complaining.

Unfair? You're just greedy. Sawahara had already grasped Kushida's intentions, but he didn't point it out directly.

"It doesn't matter. It's just a small amount of money."

"..." Upon hearing Sawahara's words, Kushida's expression instantly stiffened.

This conversation couldn't continue. Small money? This was 500,000 Private Points, and to him, it was just a small amount! The damage that wealth inflicts upon the poor was truly staggering; even the mask Kushida had worn for years could barely suppress the sting of this deep-seated wound.

It seems the little angel of Class D isn't exactly what she appears to be on the surface.

"Kushida-san? Kushida-san?" Sawahara's voice finally brought Kushida back to her senses.

"Ahaha, although that's true, wouldn't it be better if everyone could get more points?" Kushida laughed awkwardly, recovering her composure.

"I see. So, Kushida-san, you wish to achieve Result 1?" Sawahara wore an expression of sudden realization. "But Kushida-san, why would I help you?"

"I know a bit of information regarding the VIP of the Dragon Group." Kushida nodded. She was truly fed up with days without points. Not only was it difficult to maintain normal social interactions with her 'friends,' but the thoughts of certain boys also made her feel incredibly disgusted. Furthermore, she was burdened with a large debt, so she had to obtain more points in this special exam.

At the same time, she had another goal...

"I'm sorry, Kushida-san, I can't help you." Sawahara said with a smile. "It's not that I lack the ability, but rather that you haven't brought a bargaining chip that satisfies me."

"..." Kushida's expression shifted gloomily for a moment before she spoke again, adding to her offer. "I have information on more than one Class D VIP."

"Not planning to keep up the facade anymore?" Sawahara smiled as he watched the gloomy, irritable aura gradually coil around the little angel of Class D. "But unfortunately, my answer remains the same."

"Wh—" Before Kushida could finish, Sawahara spoke again.

"Group Dragon, Kushida Kikyo; Group Horse, Minami-kun; and Group Rabbit, Karuizawa Kei. Does that sound familiar?" Sawahara calmly listed the three VIPs of Class D.

Kushida Kikyo stared at Sawahara in utter shock. Even she only knew the information for two VIPs in her class—herself and Minami from the Horse Group.

"How is this..."

She couldn't understand; it was completely incomprehensible why Sawahara had fully grasped the VIP information on the very first day of the exam.

"Why is this happening? The exam is still ongoing..."

"That has nothing to do with you." Sawahara didn't answer the question. After reaching an agreement with Class A and Class B, he had intended to end the exams for the groups containing the three Class D VIPs, but the appearance of Koenji had forced him to pause his original plan.

"So, Kushida-san, may I ask what other bargaining chips you have for this trade?"

"..." What else could I use? Kushida remained silent, thinking for a long time. "I have one final bargaining chip..."

"Then the deal is struck." Hearing the final chip Kushida offered, Sawahara readily agreed.

Not long before Sawahara and Kushida made their deal, a violent conflict erupted within Class A.

"Just how far are you going to go before you're satisfied!" Katsuragi shouted at Hashimoto Masayoshi, a stark contrast to the usually rigorous and serious Katsuragi.

"I already agreed to give up the leadership position! Why do you still have to do things like this! Are you only satisfied if you drive Class A into the ground!"

"What on earth are you talking about, Katsuragi?" The students of Class A were taken aback by Katsuragi's reaction.

"Katsuragi-san, did something happen?" Hashimoto frowned, unable to understand the reason for Katsuragi's sudden outburst. He hadn't seen him this angry even after the Uninhabited Island Exam ended.

"Hah, the VIP information for our class in this exam has already been fully grasped by Class C." Katsuragi took a deep breath, suppressing the anger in his heart as he told the students of Class A what had happened.

"Hashimoto, you were the ones who leaked the leader's information to Class C during the last Uninhabited Island Exam, weren't you? Just how much chaos do you have to cause before you're satisfied!"

He had originally intended to keep this matter buried, but he could no longer tolerate Hashimoto and his group repeatedly betraying the class's interests.

Once Katsuragi finished speaking, the students of Class A erupted.

"What? Katsuragi, is what you're saying true!"

"Hashimoto, the leader incident before was all your doing!" The members of the Katsuragi Faction and the neutral students turned pale, casting their gazes toward Hashimoto.

"Katsuragi, don't go biting people without evidence."

"It's clearly because you failed to lead the class properly."

The Sakayanagi Faction confronted Katsuragi without showing any weakness.

"Katsuragi, I have no knowledge of the VIP matter." Hearing Katsuragi's words, Hashimoto spoke with a grave expression.

"Do you think I would still believe you?" Can someone who has already betrayed you really be trusted a second time? Katsuragi didn't know if others could believe him, but at the very least, he couldn't trust Hashimoto right now.

"As I thought, my initial assessment was correct. Handing Class A over to you was absolutely a mistake."

With that, a rift had once again appeared within Class A.

Class B

"Sawahara-kun is leading the way again." Upon hearing the news from Kanzaki, Ichinose's face clouded with distress. "Sawahara-kun is just too incredible. How on earth did he manage to figure out the VIP situation this time?"

"...Ichinose." Kanzaki hesitated for a moment, but still chose to voice his opinion. "There might be a traitor in our class."

"...I still believe our classmates wouldn't do such a thing. There must be something about this exam that we don't know yet." Ichinose shook her head, still refusing to accept Kanzaki's judgment.

"But... what if there really is a traitor?"

"Then we'll just have to work twice as hard to make Class B better, including their share of the effort. Wouldn't they eventually come back to us then?" A bright smile remained on Ichinose's face, smoothing over the turmoil caused by the mention of a 'traitor'.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right."

At eight o'clock in the evening, the second discussion of the first day took place. The atmosphere in Group Dragon was even more awkward than before.

Class A remained silent, Class C was playing on their phones, and Kanzaki from Class B looked listless. His classmates were worried about his condition, which caused Class B to fall into a similar silence.

This bizarre situation made Horikita Suzune feel extremely uncomfortable. Why weren't the other classes discussing anything? Had that guy done something again?

Thinking this, Horikita Suzune couldn't help but turn her gaze toward Sawahara. Noticing the look, Sawahara lifted his head slightly, returned a faint smile, and then lowered his head again to chat with Shiina.

Shiina had just sent a message asking about Kushida, and Sawahara was busy replying.

Time ticked away second by second. Soon, an hour had passed, and the first day of discussions ended in a muddled haze.

"Did Group Dragon not have any discussions at all yesterday?" Listening to Horikita, Ayanokoji pondered the current situation.

"How is the situation in Group Rabbit?" Horikita asked about the state of his group.

"It's somewhat similar to yours. In the morning, Class A and Class C didn't participate in the discussion at all. Only Class B, led by Ichinose, kept trying to break the deadlock, but unfortunately, it didn't lead to any results." Ayanokoji recalled the situation during today's discussion. "In the evening, the students from Class A started arguing among themselves, and Ichinose was there trying to mediate... Other than that, there wasn't anything different."

"No useful information, then." Horikita Suzune sighed.

"However, Karuizawa's behavior was a bit strange." As soon as Ayanokoji finished speaking, he noticed the look in Horikita's eyes change.

"Haah, what on earth is going through your head during an exam? To actually focus your attention on a woman—is your brain filled with nothing but lewd thoughts? Besides, the other party has a boyfriend. Your habits are truly disgraceful."

"...No, that's not what I meant." Ayanokoji wanted to offer some defense, but Horikita had already swiftly changed the subject.

"What exactly is going on with Koenji? You're roommates, right? Why didn't you stop him from acting out?"

"There's nothing I can do about that. Even if I tried to stop him, he wouldn't listen," Ayanokoji said helplessly. He didn't have any good way to deal with Koenji either.

"So you didn't even try to stop him at all, did you?" Horikita Suzune was very good at getting to the point.

"Just pretend you were bitten by a dog and drop the subject... But do you think Koenji chose randomly?" Ayanokoji posed another question.

"What else could it be? You don't actually think he figured out the hidden VIP during the first discussion, do you?" Horikita Suzune completely refused to believe anyone could do that.

"Well, I suppose that's true." Ayanokoji didn't say anything more. He also found it hard to determine what Koenji's purpose was in ending the exam; perhaps it was just for the sake of his own freedom.

"Has that Sawahara student from Class C made any moves?"

"If I knew what he was doing, I might actually feel more at ease right now," Horikita said with some irritation. This exam was becoming increasingly strange.

After receiving a text from a student in his class confirming that Koenji had gone to the large public bath alone, Sawahara set off immediately, intending to meet this variable.

"Koenji-kun from Class D, first year. You certainly caused quite a stir earlier." Sawahara sat down in the bath and looked at the blonde man opposite him.

Even though steam was drifting above the water, Sawahara could still see the well-defined muscles on Koenji's body.

"Oh, I've heard of you. The 'Conspiracy Boy' from Class C, first year." Koenji opened his eyes upon hearing Sawahara's voice. "Any interest in working for me after graduation?"

"That nickname is really..." Sawahara was speechless. Had he really used any conspiracies? "Let's save talk of after graduation for when we actually graduate. I'm more curious about something else."

Sawahara paused, his eyes fixed intently on Koenji. "Your answer earlier was correct, wasn't it, Koenji-kun?"

"Ho, it seems you've already discovered the truth of this exam. You truly are worthy of my attention. My eye for talent is as excellent as ever; I am just too beautiful." Koenji sat up straight, looking at Sawahara with interest, before proceeding to praise himself.

"...I really shouldn't underestimate any opponent." Sawahara let out a long breath. Class D was truly full of talent. Had his previous judgment about the class divisions been flawed?

"Until this exam is over, could you please keep your mouth shut, Koenji-kun?" Sawahara looked at Koenji, this existence who could bring variables to the exam.

"Hehehe, my hush money is very expensive." Koenji agreed readily. He hadn't intended to reveal it anyway, and money earned for nothing was naturally worth taking.

It wasn't that he hadn't considered using this pattern to make a deal, but he was well aware of his own image within the school; it wouldn't be easy to sell it. And contribute to his own class? Don't tell such unfunny jokes.

"Five hundred thousand."

"One million."

"Seven hundred thousand."

"Seven hundred and fifty thousand."

"Deal."