You Don't Want to Move Up a Class?

"The Horse Group and Rabbit Group exams have ended."

At noon the next day, an hour before the discussion was due to begin, the announcement sounded over the ship's PA system again.

"Who do you think submitted the answers?" Ayanokoji glanced at Horikita Suzune, whose expression had darkened. To act ahead of schedule like this, they must have been very confident. And the VIP in the Horse Group was a Class D student.

"Class C," Horikita Suzune answered. She had no proof, but her instincts told her that Sawahara had done something again.

"Yeah." Ayanokoji gave a quiet reply. Clearly, discussing things together wasn't the only way to identify the VIPs. He was certain that they hadn't learned anything about the VIP during yesterday's Rabbit Group discussion, so there could only be another explanation.

Had Koenji already figured out that part of the exam, and was that why he'd answered the questions? He really was hard to read. Classes A and B had apparently already been taken down, so this time Class C had targeted Class D. The Rabbit Group's VIP... Was it her?

But why hadn't they targeted Group Dragon?

Still, if they wanted to make up for the disadvantage...

"Horikita, go talk to Koenji..." Ayanokoji suggested, hoping it wasn't too late.

"Katsuragi, the Sakayanagi Faction definitely had nothing to do with the VIP matter this time." Hashimoto found Katsuragi and tried to explain. "After all, with the class united, this wouldn't benefit us at all."

"Who knows? Maybe you did it to undermine my authority. You've done that before, haven't you?" Katsuragi wasn't budging. He wouldn't fall for the same trick twice.

"The Horse Group and Rabbit Group exams have ended."

The announcement from the cruise ship made Katsuragi frown.

"Two groups' exams ended at the same time?" Katsuragi frowned. Neither group had a VIP from their class. Which class had submitted answers? Or had the Class D students acted recklessly? It was possible, but if Class C had done it... Had they obtained the VIP lists for at least two classes? Could they really have found out by leaking the information?

"Hashimoto, are you sure the Sakayanagi Faction had nothing to do with the VIP leak this time?" Katsuragi asked in a low voice, looking at Hashimoto.

"I'm sure." Hashimoto nodded. Without the little princess's orders, no one in the Sakayanagi Faction would do something like this.

"..." Katsuragi fell silent for a moment. "I still can't completely trust you. But if what you're saying is true, then it seems there's another way to solve this exam besides getting information through discussion."

During the discussion the following afternoon, in Group Dragon.

"Sawahara, I've found the second way to pass this exam. You're certainly clever to have figured out the pattern so quickly, but unfortunately, your trick won't work anymore." As soon as the discussion began, Katsuragi broke with his usual approach and immediately turned on Sawahara.

"As expected of Class A's top student. You figured it out so quickly. Well done." Sawahara showed no sign of panic at Katsuragi's words. So what if he'd realized there was another way to pass the exam? He wouldn't be able to crack the pattern in such a short time.

There'd already been enough time to resolve every problem. That was why he'd been willing to pay Koenji a hefty sum to keep quiet.

"I'll tell you all directly. There's a pattern to how the VIPs were chosen for this exam." Sawahara openly shared this with everyone in Group Dragon.

"I found and confirmed the pattern on the first day of the exam, and got hold of the list of all the VIPs. The VIPs in the two groups whose exams ended this morning were both Class D students. I'm sorry, Horikita, but Class D has suffered another crushing defeat in this exam."

"What? That can't..." Horikita bit her lip. She desperately didn't want to believe Sawahara, but reason told her he was most likely telling the truth.

"Why? You could have ended the exam on the first day, but..."

"But I didn't end it?" Sawahara finished for her. "Because I wanted to get more out of this exam.

"I've said it before: Class C has never been after Class Points. We're after Private Points. Class Points can be deducted at any time for all sorts of reasons, so turning them into a contract suits me better."

"Hold on. I don't think there's any need for us in Class A to sign a contract," Katsuragi interrupted Sawahara. Now that he knew how Sawahara had done it, there was nothing to worry about. If Sawahara could do it, so could they in Class A.

"Even if you figure out all the VIPs in Class A, we can figure out the VIPs in your class too. In the end, it'll just cancel out.

"I think it'd be better if everyone stopped guessing the VIPs and let the exam end as it is."

Katsuragi still intended to stick to a defensive strategy. In his eyes, holding on to their current advantage was more important.

"Katsuragi, you don't think you still have a choice, do you?" Ryuen scoffed. Katsuragi really was naïve. Fall behind by one step, and you fell behind at every step. The moment Class C found the pattern, the game was already over. Now the winner was simply choosing their spoils.

"What do you mean by that, Ryuen?" Katsuragi sensed something was wrong. Class C's attitude was completely unexpected. Why were they still so confident?

"The Snake Group, Sheep Group, and Dog Group exams have ended."

The announcement sounded over the ship's PA system once again. Six groups' exams had now ended.

"Could it be..." Katsuragi's eyes widened as he quickly thought of a possibility.

"You guessed right. The VIPs in those three groups are all members of our class." Sawahara smiled, confirming Katsuragi's guess. "All three guesses were wrong, so our Class Points will increase by 150."

"Impossible. Which class would do something like this?" Katsuragi couldn't understand. This wouldn't benefit the guesser's class in the slightest. How could anyone agree to it?

Horikita Suzune's expression was grim. Which class's students would agree to it? Obviously, students from their Class 1-D. Whether their class gained or lost Class Points in this exam, their income wouldn't change at all.

All it took was a few Private Points to buy them off, and those poor students would agree without a second thought.

Even so, Horikita Suzune understood the logic behind it, but she still couldn't accept what they'd done.

Why were they all so short-sighted? Didn't they want to move up a class?