Kiriyama's Growing Confidence

"Hiyori, did your homeroom teacher inform you that the scope of this exam has been changed?"

"Sakagami-sensei already announced it to us during this morning's homeroom, so we'll need to make some adjustments to the study plans we prepared."

Inside the Traditional Literature Club room, the leader of Class B, Ichinose, was working with Hiyori to help the students of Class C organize and plan their studies.

If you're wondering why Ichinose is here, it all started after the conversation those two had that afternoon.

Because Ichinose was desperate to compensate the victims from Class C, Hiyori took the initiative to have Ichinose bring over other students who felt similarly guilty to help the Class C students with their tutoring for the foreseeable future.

In a sense, this was also Hiyori's way of venting her dissatisfaction with me; ever since I absorbed the Class C students into the club, she had been solely responsible for their academic tutoring.

The burden was indeed a bit heavy, so Hiyori simply chose to find some helpers to unburden herself, which also caused the progress of our "performance" to skyrocket over this past month.

"It's fortunate that the change happened at this point in time, otherwise it would have been quite difficult to manage the schedule."

If I recall correctly, there is one class that hasn't received this news from their homeroom teacher yet. I wonder who that could be~

"Hiyori, Ichinose, I have something to take care of, so I'll leave things to you for lunch today."

"Understood, Masaryu-kun."

"Don't worry about us, Masaryu-kun. Just go and give it your all."

After handing off the lunch duties to the two of them, I left the activity room and headed to the location Kiriyama and I had agreed upon.

Palette Cafe, the most popular hangout spot among the student body.

"You've finally arrived, underclassman."

As soon as I pushed the door open, Kiriyama stood up from his seat to welcome me.

"Is all this really necessary? I recall this place being quite expensive, isn't it?"

I stood at the entrance and scanned the room, noticing that Palette Cafe was essentially being "bought out" for a private event.

Everyone sitting here were students from the second year who supported Kiriyama, including the vast majority of Class B, as well as over 30 students from Class C and Class D.

If Nagumo were to suddenly have a mental breakdown and toss a bomb in here, the total annihilation of the Kiriyama faction would be unavoidable.

"It seems your class isn't as united as you thought; not everyone showed up."

After taking a seat next to Kiriyama, I made a casual, snide remark.

"That is my strategy. Every class has its 'traitors.' Since there must be traitors, why not keep them under my control?"

Judging by Kiriyama's tone, he had already identified the traitors Nagumo had bought off within Class B, purged them, and was even planning to turn them to his own use.

"So? You've gone to the trouble of gathering everyone here for a meeting today—have you reached a decision?"

Ryuen, looking visibly impatient, interrupted my exchange with Kiriyama, eager to get straight to the point.

"That's right. Through some secret channels, I've learned of the specific plans Nagumo has formulated for this special exam. We are already in an invincible position for this test."

"However, the rewards and penalties for this special exam are too meager; we can't use this opportunity to take Nagumo down in one fell swoop. Therefore, I have set my sights on the uninhabited island assessment at the end of this semester."

"Every previous uninhabited island assessment has been a large-scale special exam. We only need to land a fatal blow on Nagumo during that test to drive him out for good."

Kiriyama's talent for empty rhetoric must be truly impressive; he managed to talk for so long without mentioning a single concrete plan of action.

"So it's the uninhabited island assessment. No wonder the swimming instructor was so strict during the first month—they were afraid we'd drown."

A smile that didn't reach my eyes; that was my expression.

Before coming to this meeting initiated by Kiriyama, I had already received word from Ryuen.

Putting on such a grand display at this meeting was an act Kiriyama staged specifically for my benefit.

Because in this battle between the second years, Class C cannot afford to throw all its weight behind one side to reap the benefits.

If we did that, Class C would be branded with a faction label. Neither the Nagumo faction nor the Kiriyama faction are any good; choosing either is a losing game.

The plan Ryuen and I formulated was for him to take the majority of Class C to approach Kiriyama and act as his mercenaries.

As for me, I used the convenience provided by Horikita Manabu to have Manabe, my proxy within the Student Council, contact Nagumo.

At first, Nagumo didn't believe I would choose to join his faction, but convincing him was simple—or rather, it didn't take any effort to make Nagumo trust me.

Even within the conservative camp, there are divisions between the moderates and the radicals. People gather together because of shared interests or ideologies, not because of personal friendships.

Class C is internally divided with two factions fighting for power, Horikita Manabu cannot provide the support or help I want, and my competitor within the class has received a massive amount of points from Kiriyama.

Since you are also competing with Kiriyama for leadership of the second years, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

On this matter, our interests aligned, so I used that as my reason to join forces with Nagumo.

The previous unpleasantness was merely verbal; such things don't carry any real weight when put to the test.

And just as I was considering how to let Kiriyama notice my "betrayal" without it looking deliberate, Manabe made her move. Her clumsiness perfectly compensated for the shortcomings in my plan.

The natural expressions she wore when Kiriyama approached her, and the natural pauses in her speech, became the best assists.

The foolish Kiriyama even thought he could threaten Manabe with his words.

Of all the reasons he could have used, he chose to threaten her with expulsion from the Student Council.

And after receiving Manabe's "defection," he actually believed it!

That is why he said such aimless things in front of me today; he was trying to signal me. Why do villains in TV dramas reveal their entire plan to the protagonist right before it succeeds? Because it's part of enjoying the victory; it gives them a sense of total control.

This is a good thing for me. He believes Manabe has defected to him, and I know he believes it, so I can now pass false information through Manabe and Ryuen's multiple channels.

Furthermore, in Kiriyama's eyes, I don't know that Manabe has betrayed me, so he will continue to act like a fool in front of me, putting on this show with such a large crowd.

I truly feel for him—spending so much money to put on this play, inviting me to be the audience, only to be crushed by Nagumo in the end.

Ryuen and I won't be offering advice to either side in this second-year conflict. We are purely here as hired muscle; we do whatever the paymaster tells us to do.