No Business, No Points

By the weekend before the special exam, all four first-year classes had submitted their participants and the order in which they would compete.

"All nine 8s and 9s are here."

"Then, the deal is done."

Having agreed on a time, Ryuen met Katsuragi at the faculty office to collect the total of 81 cards. He handed over all the 8s and 9s, and in exchange, Katsuragi provided the 2 million points stipulated in their contract, along with all the 1s and 2s.

"Pleasure doing business. As long as Class A is willing to pay a price that satisfies me in future special exams, Class C remains happy to help Class A consolidate its position."

Realizing that the customer is god, Ryuen set aside his usual delinquent persona and treated Katsuragi with a serious attitude.

"Pleasure doing business. However, if the cost of our cooperation requires Class C to sacrifice class points, would you still be willing to work with Class A?"

Before Ryuen could turn to leave, Katsuragi called out to stop him.

For Class A, as long as their position is maintained, everything else in this school can be sacrificed. This is the strategy adopted by Class A under Katsuragi's leadership, and it has been the strategy of every generation of Class A before them.

In the leading position, no leader of Class A dares to adopt an aggressive strategy, because once a failure causes the class to fall, their position as leader would be shaken.

Therefore, the leader only uses conservative strategies. It is like interviewing a passerby on the street and asking if they would be willing to donate a school building to poor students; the passerby would certainly answer yes.

But if you were to ask them if they would be willing to donate a car or a house to those same students, they would likely refuse, because they actually possess those things.

Class A is the class that truly enjoys the benefits of graduating from this school.

The students of Class A would never collectively agree to let their class fall to conserve strength and then attempt a comeback at the end, because no one has the certainty of victory. They must seize every opportunity to ensure their lead.

Now, such an opportunity was laid out before Katsuragi, and it was impossible for him not to be tempted. Especially since he was not yet the sole leader of Class A; Sakayanagi and her faction were watching his every move. If he made a mistake, only demotion awaited him.

Coupled with Sakayanagi's strong personality, Katsuragi would certainly not have a good outcome if he were to step down from his leadership position. As long as he remained in the class, there would be die-hard followers continuing to tear the class apart. This is why a minister can surrender, but an emperor cannot.

Only a Katsuragi who has been expelled is a "good" Katsuragi in Sakayanagi's eyes, which is why Katsuragi kept Ryuen there, hoping to reach a long-term cooperation.

"Class C only wants private points, not class points. If you pay enough, you can take all 940 points that Class C currently has during the special exam."

The attitude Ryuen displayed left Katsuragi deep in thought. If Ryuen only wanted private points, then the possibility of him betraying Class A still existed, provided another class could offer more private points than Class A. He decided to be more cautious about this in the future.

"Then, barring any accidents, there will be a possibility of us working together in the next special exam. I look forward to our next cooperation."

After confirming the information he wanted, Katsuragi left, satisfied.

"That's enough, your hair is showing. He asked me to give you a message."

After Katsuragi left, Ryuen walked to the corner of the hallway, leaned against the wall, and toyed with the 82nd card he had fished out of his pocket.

This extra card was a 9, which Ryuen had obtained from Kushida in Class D.

After the rules for this special exam were announced, Kushida had taken the initiative to find Ryuen. Her goal was simple: after using her network to learn from upperclassmen that some special exams could lead to expulsion, she found her target—to use the hands of another class to expel Horikita Suzune.

The attitude of Class A students since the start of the school year showed they looked down on lower classes, and Kushida would not go out of her way to be snubbed by them.

Although the alliance between Class B and Class D was gone, Kushida did not believe the students of Class B could help her with her goal.

Only Class C remained. Class C had already demonstrated their methods and capabilities to her during the Sudo incident, and most importantly, Class C had a genuine conflict with Class D.

Therefore, she chose to approach Ryuen to achieve her goal. Upon learning of Kushida's thoughts, Ryuen naturally agreed on the surface, while planning to use her.

What Kushida considered a "pledge of loyalty" was not something Ryuen took seriously at all. He didn't intend to give her even a shred of trust; in his eyes, this cooperation was just a free ride.

Even without Kushida, Class D would have had Sakura to help. When Chabashira announced the rules of the exam to Class D, Hirata asked for volunteers to participate, but other than Horikita, no one else was willing.

Sakura, pretending to be moved by Horikita's courage, raised her hand and became one of Class D's participants, with her turn in the order placed last.

On the Class A side, the person placed last was Hashimoto Masayoshi, who was currently still taking orders from Sakayanagi.

Thus, in the final ninth round, Hashimoto from Class A, Ryuen from Class C, Sakura from Class D, and Ichinose from Class B would become opponents.

Ryuen had also used the card from Kushida to complete his set of 8s and 9s; next, he would have to send someone to provide Kushida with the cards she needed.

"What message did that villain ask you to pass on?"

Kamuro, who had also been leaning against the hallway wall, stood up and walked toward Ryuen.

"Tell Sakayanagi when you go back that I've completed my set of 8s and 9s. If she wants a head-on confrontation with Ayanokoji, she can offer him a suitable price."

Everything is for the sake of earning points; now, he would earn from whoever had them!

Sakayanagi had won so many points from those clubs; she couldn't possibly have spent them all, right?

Didn't she always want to compete against Ayanokoji? Although this wasn't chess, it could at least serve as a substitute; it was bound to be worth something, wasn't it?

"Ayanokoji? Who is that? Is there such a person in our school?"

Kamuro searched her memory carefully and found that she had no impression of this Ayanokoji that Ryuen spoke of.

"The one sitting in the first row by the door in Class 1-D. Barring any accidents, he should be very strong, though I haven't seen it myself. It's perfectly normal that you don't know him; you just need to deliver the message. That little shrimp will give a response."