Chapter 48

"It's a good plan, but this kind of trick can only be used for the next exam. Like I said, Katsuragi is a turtle; he won't take the initiative to attack." Ryuen looked smug, as if he understood everything. "A turtle? Then we'll light a fire under his tail! Let's see if he reacts... Doesn't Alice always want to toy with Katsuragi? Why don't we give her a gift! Satoru, is the material from the last exam still around?" Kaneda pushed up his glasses: "Of course, I've collected and saved it all." "Good, give me the math section... It's just a matter of making a few phone calls anyway." "Brilliant! Minya, the girls in Class D like Karuizawa have been investigating this lately; this move to divert the trouble is truly masterful." Kaneda clapped in approval.

"It's not impossible..." Ryuen swirled his glass, "but how do we let Class D know about this?" "We don't need to specifically let Class D know. In fact, it's best if they discover it by accident. Just have Alice's people slip this into the study materials of one of Katsuragi's subordinates, and have it 'happen' to be discovered by Alice's people. No need to make a scene, or it will look fake. Katsuragi himself doesn't know the content of the fake test papers, so he won't care about such a small matter before Class D finds out." "What about the second-years? Should we notify them too?" "Right, let Nagumo's side loosen their lips; if asked again, they should act impatient. Finally, tell Class D that we're short on money lately, and if they pay about 300,000 points, we'll tell them it was Katsuragi's lackey. As for evidence, just give them this draft; the handwriting isn't mine. The pen was destroyed along with that fake surveillance camera..." I sat up straight and slowly laid out my plan.

"Minya, can you be a decent human being? You won't even let Class D's points go..." Shiina rolled her eyes. "Can't help it, some things don't sell unless they're expensive; that's just how people are—cheap." "What if doing this ruins our relationship with the Katsuragi faction? Is it really worth making so many enemies?" Ibuki, who had been listening on the side, raised an objection. "It won't. First, Katsuragi will suspect Alice is the mastermind. Second, if the relationship is ruined, so be it; he's just a small fry compared to Alice anyway. Furthermore, hitting other classes is good for Class A; whether it's the Alice faction or the Katsuragi faction, they'll all be cheering for Katsuragi on the surface once they find out."

"Does this mean Katsuragi might use this opportunity to increase his support within Class A? You even thought of that?" Ibuki wasn't stupid; she understood with a little hint. "Am I good or what!" I raised my eyebrows triumphantly, "Otherwise, there would be no need to go through such a long detour to roast the turtle. I've calculated that Katsuragi will choose his approval rating over being misunderstood by Karuizawa and the others." "Indeed, that bald guy looks like he's above worldly desires... Never mind carrying the blame for this little test paper, as long as he can graduate from Class A, he'll take the fall for anything. For the sake of surface-level class unity, he has no choice." Ryuen laughed in agreement.

"And once he mistakenly thinks he's gained a lot of popularity and controls the class, it'll be even easier for us to scheme against him with Alice. Plus, gaining the friendship of the Alice faction—three birds with one stone... No, more than that, I also won my bet with Karuizawa, destroying the main structure of Class D in one fell swoop." I counted on my fingers and found the benefits were too many to list. "It's good, but what if Horikita jumps out again?" Sonoda reminded me. "No way, if even Katsuragi defaults to it, how could Horikita still keep hounding me... Then I really wouldn't be able to clear my name." Even though it was indeed me.

"Don't say that, it's possible. I heard from people in Class D that Horikita has a very stubborn personality. You might want to clear your name, but she might not agree. Especially since you just almost got Sudo expelled..." Kaneda patted my shoulder sympathetically. "Is that Horikita really that amazing?" Nishino asked curiously. "She's a very strange girl with mysterious strength. She always easily falls for our various schemes, and then saves the class at the very last moment in a desperate situation... If it were me, wouldn't it be better to solve the problem at the beginning?" "What do you mean?" Ryuen became interested when he heard Horikita's name.

"The fake test paper incident—she could have easily bought the papers herself and distributed them to the class, but she was stupid enough not to buy them at all... Kushida and her have a bad relationship, and Hirata was given the papers by us, so neither of them bought them." "True. What about the Sudo incident?" "That was even stupider. Her lack of composure at the hearing and the cold, decisive way she sacrificed her own subordinate later—it didn't look like the same person at all." "Could it be... the legendary split personality!?" "Ibuki, you watch too many TV dramas... If she were really a mental patient like that, Class D would have exploded long ago. Do you think those monkeys could keep such news hidden for days? Half a day at most..."

"An interesting woman, I like her... An honor student. Leave her to me to deal with; I'll take the field myself for the next exam!" Ryuen gave his assessment. "I'm starting to pity Horikita for being targeted by a disgusting guy like Ryuen." Ibuki didn't give Ryuen any face; it seemed she was already fully immersed in the role. "Then I wish you the best of luck..." I was dying for some peace and quiet; stirring up trouble and then sitting on the mountain to watch the tigers fight—that's the true style of a master strategist. Next, I'll just find a VIP seat to watch the BD Alliance and Class A battle it out!

Volume 1: First Glimpse of Talent : 29 A woman who can think is truly a woman of boundless power. A woman who can think is truly a woman of boundless power. -- Balzac

Of course, I had to personally handle contacting the Alice faction as an old acquaintance. To be honest, I didn't want to see Alice at all, but for the sake of the class's grand plan, I had to grit my teeth and meet her. I don't know if she used her father's connections, but Alice had been occupying a corner of the library, doing terrifying things every day like playing chess against herself, reading all sorts of strange books, and luring unsuspecting students who passed by. But that was just at the start of the semester; after a while, no one dared to come to her corner. That's right, just like me, she had very few friends. Sitting quietly in the library flipping through books, it's no wonder people who don't know her would mistake her for a quiet literary girl... I'm definitely not the only one who made that mistake.

"Min-min?" Seeing me arrive, she put down her book without hiding her joy, seemingly forgetting to even use a bookmark. Well, with her freakish memory, she probably didn't need such things. "Can you stop calling me that? Miss Alice." "I thought you liked this cute nickname!" Alice's smile was exactly like a fox. "Isn't 'cute' a derogatory term when used here? Do you like being called cute?" "I don't know, try saying it and see." Ugh, I really shot myself in the foot... Forget it, I'm here to ask for a favor; I'd better lower my posture!