"Shinjo, tell me, if this school expels students with poor academic performance after the midterms, why did it approve Sudo and the others for admission in the first place? Isn't that a little strange?"
While everyone else was focused on Suzune Horikita's lesson, he nudged Shinjo, who was sitting beside him looking listless.
Since the two of them had nothing to worry about academically, Horikita couldn't be bothered to supervise them. As long as they didn't distract the struggling students, they could do whatever they wanted.
"Hmm? Are you saying the school is pissing with its pants down?"
"Uh..."
"Well, you're not entirely wrong. Rather than recruiting students they're just going to expel, they'd be better off bringing in a few wild cards—guinea pigs whose behavior might produce some unexpected results. Even if they were only there for entertainment, that'd be a better choice."
Ayanokoji nodded along. That was what he found most puzzling. Since the school had accepted Sudo and the others, there had to be a way for them to pass perfectly.
But what could it be?
"Don't overthink it. I don't mind telling you: the first midterm exam is the same for every new class. As it happens, I've got the answers from a senior~~"
To keep Ayanokoji from coming up with a solution himself and ruining Karuizawa's plan to win over the whole class, Shinjo decided to come clean.
"Ah? I see... Then why don't you share the answers with everyone? That way they wouldn't have to be forced to study."
Ayanokoji could clearly understand the reason, but he asked anyway.
In his view, if there were smart people around him, it was better to make himself look like an idiot. That way, he could pull off what he thought was the perfect disguise.
"That's a great idea, Ayanokoji. But if we gave them the answers now, their academic ability wouldn't improve. They might even develop a bad habit of relying on backdoor tricks. What would they do on the next exam?"
"Uh, all right. You're right."
As the two chatted about this and that, time ticked by second by second.
The three struggling students made rapid progress during that time.
To boost their enthusiasm for studying, Kushida suggested appealing to people's instinct to teach others.
When parents taught their children to put away their toys, ordering them around harshly could make them rebellious and less likely to tidy up.
But asking, "Where should this toy go? Could you tell me?" could work much better.
"Let's test everyone. What was the name of the person who came up with the inductive method?"
"Uh... I think it was that guy we just learned about..."
Ike and Yamauchi wracked their brains but couldn't remember. Sudo, sitting beside them, seemed to have a better memory, though only slightly.
"Francis Galileo! I think that's right!"
"It was Francis Bacon! I remember now!"
Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in Ike's head, and he got the answer right.
"Correct!"
"Yeah! Now we can get a perfect score!"
Shinjo couldn't understand what it was like inside an idiot's head. But he'd known for a long time that if he could understand idiots, then he'd be one himself.
Just as everyone was cheering each other on to keep studying, an irritating voice came from nearby.
"Hey, keep it down! You're making a racket!"
Ike had gotten so excited that he'd forgotten they were in the library. The memory of being kicked out by the librarian last time was still fresh, so he quickly stood up and apologized.
"Sorry, sorry. I got too excited. I finally got a question right! The guy who came up with the inductive method was Francis Bacon, you know. Maybe I should write that down."
Then he scratched the back of his head and sat there, grinning foolishly.
"You guys... You're not students from Class D, are you?"
"Huh? What's wrong with Class D?! Got a problem with us?!"
"N-no, of course I don't have a problem with you. I'm Yamawaki from Class C. You people are at the very bottom, after all. Who knows what you might suddenly do?"
"What did you say?!"
Sudo, the hottest-tempered of them all, immediately got to his feet. He didn't want to lose his temper all the time, but he couldn't understand why people kept picking on him.
Meanwhile, when Shinjo heard the other guy was from Class C, he glanced around. After making sure there didn't seem to be anyone familiar nearby, he decided to do nothing.
Unlike Class D, which was left to fend for itself, Class C had clearly formed one large organization.
And its leader was Ryuen.
Some of the others might not have been happy about it. Ibuki, for instance, clearly didn't like Ryuen much, but she still followed along whenever he made a move.
So if that was the case, even the movements of some nobody from Class C needed to be watched carefully. They could very well be an agent sent out by Ryuen.
"I just told the truth. There's no need to get so angry, is there? If you do something violent on campus, who knows how many points you'll lose... Oh! That's right, you don't have any points to lose anyway! So what'll happen then? Maybe you'll get expelled outright! Hahahahahaha!"
Yamawaki had come to provoke them, and he was itching for Sudo to hit him.
Even if he only got hurt, Class D would surely receive a harsher punishment.
"Heh. I don't think there's anything about you being from Class C that you can brag about, either."
"The gap between Class C and Class A is so small it might as well not exist! Only you Class D trash are from another dimension!"
"Is that so? From where I'm standing, there's no fundamental difference between any of the three classes below Class A."
Suzune Horikita wasn't the sort to back down, either. She didn't take this level of provocation seriously.
"You Class D losers don't even have any points left! What gives you the right to say that?! Don't think you can do whatever you want just because you're a cute girl!"
"I find it pretty unpleasant to have my appearance complimented by someone like you."
"Say that again?!"
Yamawaki slammed his hands on the table and stood up, startling the classmate beside him. The other student hurriedly tugged at his arm.
Shinjo, who had been watching from the side, couldn't help feeling a little dumbfounded. He'd thought Ryuen's agent would amount to something, but this guy was useless too.
In that case, I don't need to keep acting!
"Listen, you know that failing this exam means getting expelled, right? What good will cramming at the last minute do? You're all acting proud just because you got the person who came up with the inductive method right. Hey, hey, you do know that part isn't even on the exam, don't you?"
"So what?! Even if we get expelled, it's none of your business!"
Sudo said, swinging his arm back to give Yamawaki a good beating, but Shinjo grabbed him and pulled him behind him.
"Stop!"
Before you continue