When Kanda arrived, Kushida hurried over to greet him and told him what had happened earlier.
The reason was actually quite simple: while Ike was memorizing history, some C-Class students nearby had mocked him, saying they didn't even know what was on the exam.
Hearing this, Shuichi Kanda immediately understood. Damn that Chabashira-sensei—she's still stirring up trouble, is she?
"Thank you, Ichinose."
"Don't mention it, Kanda. It's what I should do as someone who uses the library." With that, Ichinose left.
The two had met before, and Hoshinomiya-sensei had taken the time to introduce them, so they weren't complete strangers.
"Let's go. Looks like we won't be able to hold our study session today."
"Are you saying the exam topics we were given were actually wrong?" Horikita could hardly believe it. Chabashira-sensei had personally told them what would be on the exam in class.
"Why not just ask her directly and find out?"
Kanda didn't bother explaining further. It would only be exhausting.
This Midterm Exam wasn't purely a test of the students' academic ability. It was meant to make them find a way to pass.
There were plenty of students like Sudo at this school. Even the other classes would have one or two students who weren't particularly good academically.
After taking it easy for the first month, it would be incredibly difficult to bring all their grades up to the average in just three weeks.
But on May 1, Chabashira-sensei had said, "There are three weeks left until the Midterm Exam. Think carefully, and find a way to avoid expulsion. I believe there's a way to avoid failing and make it through the exam."
She clearly didn't think that Sudo, who had scored 12 points, could raise his grades to the average in just three weeks. And yet she had said that.
So there really was a way for even Sudo to pass the exam.
Combining that with what Hashikura-senpai had told him at the Archery Club, Kanda came up with a possibility.
"Horikita, I'll leave confirming the exam topics to you. I have something to take care of."
With that, he turned and headed out of the school building.
Watching Kanda walk away, Horikita furrowed her brow. Then she began packing up, and soon led a large group of students marching toward the teachers' office.
Kanda, meanwhile, went straight to the third-year building.
The third-years were surprised to see him. It was rare for a first-year to come all the way over there.
Kanda also spotted the class rankings displayed in the lobby on the first floor of the third-year building.
Class 3-A: 1959 points,
Class 3-B: 1510 points,
Class 3-C: 630 points,
Class 3-D: 301 points,
Honestly, the gap was ridiculous. Class A and Class B didn't seem all that far apart, but Classes C and D had already lost any real chance of competing. Especially Class D—it looked like most of them had given up and were just waiting to die.
Horikita Manabu was impressive, though. Kanda's first impression of him had been right.
After all, conquering a kingdom was easy compared to holding on to one. Staying in Class A couldn't be as simple as it seemed. It was lonely at the top, after all.
When Kanda reached the Class 3-A classroom, a familiar voice spoke before he could say a word.
"You're a first-year, right? What are you doing in a third-year classroom?"
Horikita Manabu appeared right in front of Kanda, with a round-bunned secretary named Akane Tachibana following behind him.
"Hello, Horikita-senpai. I'm Shuichi Kanda from Class 1-D. I'm here to see Sato Ken-senpai, the Archery Club captain."
Shuichi Kanda.
Horikita Manabu's expression turned a little more serious. Was this the guy who had brought Class 1-A down a notch?
"Tachibana, go get Sato."
"Yes, President."
Akane Tachibana glanced curiously at the slender boy before her, then went into the classroom.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?"
"Huh? What are you talking about, Horikita-senpai?" Kanda looked confused.
"The library incident."
"Oh, that. I don't know anything about it. Besides, haven't you already made your ruling?" Kanda replied with a smile.
"Who's asking for me?"
At that moment, Sato Ken came out of the classroom.
"Huh? Manabu, do you know this kid, Kanda?"
Judging by the way he addressed him, Sato Ken and Horikita Manabu seemed to get along pretty well.
"I dealt with something involving him." Horikita Manabu adjusted his glasses. "You two talk. I'm going back inside."
"Oh, right. If Manabu hadn't mentioned it, I would've forgotten. You're pretty impressive, you know. You actually managed to bring Class A down." Sato Ken sounded genuinely complimentary.
"I'm the victim here."
Kanda smiled helplessly, insisting that he really was innocent.
Chapter 55: Archaeological Exam Questions
After teasing him, Sato Ken glanced around.
"By the way, did you come alone? Miyake isn't here?"
"Yeah. I'm mainly here to ask about our first-year Midterm Exam."
"Oh? You figured it out?"
"The exam questions are from previous years, right?"
Sato nodded approvingly.
"That's right. But all of us second- and third-years aren't going to give them away for free, even if you are an important junior in the Archery Club."
So that was a school rule, too?
Kanda nodded. "Then how many points will it cost me?"
"At least 30,000 Private Points!"
Thirty thousand was quite a lot for an ordinary first-year.
"In that case, I'll buy them."
"Oh? Didn't expect you to have that many points." Sato glanced at Kanda in surprise.
"Then come by the Archery Club after school today. I'll have Hashikura prepare everything."
Sato had been about to give Kanda a discount, but immediately abandoned the idea.
"Wait! Why does Hashikura-senpai have to be involved?"
Kanda had come all the way to the distant third-year classrooms precisely because he didn't want her to know about this. And now he still had to get the materials from her?
"She has her own circumstances. Besides, she could use the points. If you want to know, ask her."
Sato Ken chose not to tell him the real reason.
"It's almost time. If you don't head back, you might be late."
There was no helping it. Sato was a bit of a cryptic one, too.
"Then I'll be going. Oh, please tell Hashikura-senpai to bring the first quiz we took after enrollment, too."
"Got it, got it. Hurry back—you're really going to be late."
Only after Kanda had left did Sato Ken shake his head and return to the classroom.
"This year's Class 1-D is something else."
"What's wrong?"
Horikita Manabu, sitting at his desk, had heard him and asked curiously.
"That guy actually figured out about the old exam questions."
"I see. That's interesting."
After leaving the third-year building, Kanda hurried back to his classroom. When he arrived, he saw that Horikita and the others looked unhappy.
As expected, that bitch Chabashira hadn't disappointed him: the exam topics she'd given them had all been wrong.
Kanda had barely sat down when the first class of the afternoon began. Even though he wanted to talk, he had to wait until class was over.
The 50 minutes of the first class quickly passed in agony.
When the bell rang, Kushida called Hirata over, and the two of them immediately joined Horikita.
"Horikita, I heard you reconfirmed the history exam topics with Chabashira-sensei at lunchtime. What happened?"
Hirata got straight to the point without wasting a moment.
"Unfortunately, the new exam topics she gave us were completely different from the ones she'd given us before."
As Horikita said this, her expression was grim. Her small hand, resting on the desk, was clenched tight enough that the veins on its back were faintly visible, as if she were gripping that awful Chabashira-sensei in her palm.
"Can she even call herself a teacher!?"
Sudo had appeared at some point, his face filled with anger and resentment. Things had already been bad enough, and then someone came along halfway through and told you that what you'd been studying wasn't even on the exam.
That was far worse than salt in the wound. A disaster from the heavens might have been beyond their control, but the situation they were in now had been caused entirely by their Class D homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae.
"There's no point dwelling on it now. We need to let everyone in class know as soon as possible. Hirata, can I leave that to you?" Kanda shook his head. He thought Chabashira had probably done this to get back at him for sitting by while Class D lost all its points.
"Of course. I'll tell everyone at the study session after school today." Hirata readily agreed, but wasn't planning to tell them right away. There was no point, and it would only ruin everyone's mood for the next class.
"I'll condense the new exam topics even further."
Horikita's voice was tinged with frustration, but at least she was still able to keep her composure.
"Horikita, I know this is a lot of work, but please."
Sudo bowed to Horikita as he spoke.
"I... I'll stop going to club activities for a week, starting tomorrow. That should help, right?"
"Are you sure? It'll be tough."
"Studying's tough anyway, isn't it?" Sudo gave a slight smile, looking quite mature.
"Sudo, are you serious?"
"Yeah. Right now, I'm furious with both Chabashira-sensei and those people in Class C."
And so, in just a few minutes, they settled on a plan of action for the coming week.
"I'll think about some other options." Kanda didn't reveal anything about the old exam questions. He thought it might be better to let Sudo and the others keep up this diligent studying for a week.
After school, Kanda packed his bag and prepared to leave the classroom for club activities.
"Wait a moment, Kanda."
As soon as he stepped out, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji hurried after him from behind.
"What is it, Ayanokoji?"
"You're going to look for the old exam questions, right?"
This guy really was something. Kanda had only figured it out because an upperclassman at his club had pointed him in the right direction, yet Ayanokoji had managed to work it out from nothing but Chabashira-sensei's offhand remarks and actions.
"You figured it out, too?"
"Um, Horikita told me."
Bullshit. If she'd figured that out, she wouldn't have been so frantic during the break last class.
You're just as good at casually making things up as I am.
Suddenly, Kanda sighed and hooked an arm around Ayanokoji's shoulders.
"You don't have to pretend around me. I'm not Horikita. Do I look like an idiot to you?"
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