Tiger Fight

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the high jump competition began.

As Horikita had anticipated, Hashimoto Masayoshi had indeed signed up. With his tall stature and long legs, he possessed excellent physical fitness and was a favorite to win.

The competition followed an elimination format, with the bar height gradually increasing. Horikita was in good form, clearing her first few jumps with ease. Hashimoto also passed through without issue.

However, when the height was raised to 1.65 meters, the situation changed.

Horikita jumped first. She approached, took off, and cleared the bar with fluid motion. But the moment she landed, a section of the mat's edge suddenly collapsed!

"Ah!" Horikita lost her balance and fell to the ground.

"What's going on?!" The referee ran over to inspect the area.

At the corner of the high jump mat, the foam padding was clearly uneven, as if someone had tampered with it. Horikita had landed on a harder, exposed part, twisting her ankle in the process.

"I'm fine." Horikita gritted her teeth and stood up, though she was clearly limping.

Ayanokoji looked toward Hashimoto. He was shrugging with an innocent expression, but a trace of smugness flashed in his eyes.

It was Hashimoto's turn to jump. He cleared 1.65 meters easily, but upon landing, he "accidentally" kicked the high jump bar with his foot, causing it to fall and land exactly on the spot where Horikita had fallen.

"Oops, my bad, my bad." Hashimoto apologized with zero sincerity.

Anyone with eyes could see it was intentional, but there was no proof.

The height was raised to 1.70 meters. Horikita's ankle was already swollen, and she failed her first two attempts. On the third, she barely cleared the bar, but her face turned pale with pain upon landing.

Hashimoto succeeded on his first try, even deliberately performing a fancy move in mid-air.

In the end, Hashimoto took first place, and Horikita finished fourth.

After the competition ended, Horikita was helped to the rest area. Her right ankle was swollen like a bun.

"Go to the infirmary," Ayanokoji said.

"No need," Horikita gritted her teeth. "There's still the swimming relay this afternoon; I can still swim."

"How are you going to swim like that?"

"I can do it." Horikita raised her head, her eyes stubborn. "Class D has already lost Sudo and Sakura; we can't afford to lose anyone else."

Ayanokoji watched her in silence. A few seconds later, he nodded. "Fine. But don't push yourself too hard."

At three-thirty in the afternoon, at the swimming pool.

The swimming relay was the finale of the Sports Festival, with each of the four classes fielding four participants (two men and two women) for a 4x100 meter medley relay.

The original lineup for Class D was: Sudo (men's freestyle), Horikita (women's breaststroke), Hirata (men's butterfly), and Karuizawa (women's backstroke).

But now, Sudo was injured, and Horikita had a sprained ankle.

"We need to adjust," Ayanokoji decided. "I'll swim freestyle, and Horikita will switch to backstroke to reduce the strain on her feet. Hirata will take breaststroke, and Karuizawa will take butterfly."

"You can swim?" Hirata asked, surprised.

"A little."

In truth, it was more than a little. The physical control granted by

Combat Mastery (Master Level)

applied just as well to swimming. Furthermore, he had used system points last night to temporarily exchange for

Swimming Technique (Proficient)

.

During the pre-race preparations, Ayanokoji noticed an extra person at the referee's table—Sakayanagi Arisu.

She sat in her wheelchair with a scorecard and rulebook in front of her, chatting with the head referee with a smile.

"What exactly is she trying to do?" Karuizawa whispered.

"I don't know," Ayanokoji said. "But she definitely isn't here to act as a regular referee."

The participants from each class took their positions by the pool. Class A had a strong lineup, including two members of the swimming club. Class B had a complete roster, with Ichinose participating herself. Class C was led by Ryuen himself.

The starter was ready.

"On your marks—"

The gun went off!

The first leg was backstroke. Horikita endured the pain in her foot as she entered the water; her movements were somewhat stiff, but she tried her best to maintain speed. Class B was temporarily in the lead, with Class A in second, Class C in third, and Class D in fourth.

The second leg was breaststroke. Hirata's swimming technique was average, but he was very consistent. The gap did not widen.

The third leg was butterfly. Karuizawa entered the water; her explosive power was good, and she made up some distance. The current ranking was Class A in first, Class B in second, Class C in third, and Class D in fourth, but the gaps were very small.

The final leg was freestyle.

All four participants entered the water at the same time!

The participant from Class A was a member of the swimming club and was incredibly fast. Ryuen from Class C was no slouch either. Ichinose from Class B was chasing hard.

Ayanokoji was in the fourth lane, entering his rhythm as soon as he hit the water. His stroke frequency wasn't the fastest, but every stroke was extremely efficient, his body gliding through the water like a fish.

At fifty meters, he caught up to Class B.

At seventy-five meters, he caught up to Class C.

In the final twenty-five meters, he was neck-and-neck with the participant from Class A!

The entire arena erupted.

"Go! Go!"

The shouts were deafening.

In the final ten meters, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka suddenly accelerated, executing a beautiful touch at the wall!

Almost simultaneously, the Class A representative also touched the wall.

Who had won?

Everyone looked toward the timer.

Class A: 3 minutes 48.21 seconds

Class D: 3 minutes 48.23 seconds

A difference of 0.02 seconds! Class A had narrowly won!

"Wow--"

"What a shame!"

"Just by a hair!"

The Class D area was filled with sighs, but there was more pride than anything else—chasing from the bottom to within 0.02 seconds was already a miracle.

The judging panel began to verify the results. But just then, Sakayanagi Arisu raised her hand to signal.

"Chief Judge, I have an objection."

The entire venue fell silent.

Sakayanagi maneuvered her wheelchair to the edge of the pool, her voice carrying clearly across the venue through the microphone: "According to Article 7, Section 3 of the rules, a freestyle swimmer must touch the wall with one hand or both hands simultaneously. I observed that the Class D representative used a 'flip turn' technique, and the touch was not clearly defined."

She paused, pulling up the slow-motion replay: "Everyone, please look. At the moment Ayanokoji-kun touched the wall, his body was still rotating, and it was his shoulder that made contact, not the hand as required. This should be ruled a foul, and the result should be invalidated."

The big screen played the slow-motion footage of the touch repeatedly. Indeed, during the high-speed flip turn, the point of contact was somewhat blurred, looking more like his shoulder had hit the wall first.

"This..." The judging panel gathered to discuss.

"That's so despicable!" Karuizawa couldn't help but shout. "It was only by a tiny margin, and you're using technicalities like this to deny it?"

"But rules are rules," Sakayanagi said with a smile. "If such ambiguous touches are allowed, then every athlete will be able to exploit loopholes in the future."

She looked at Ayanokoji: "What do you say, Ayanokoji-kun?"

All eyes in the venue focused on Ayanokoji.

He did not argue, but calmly asked: "What is the complete content of Article 7, Section 3 of the rules?"

Sakayanagi froze for a moment, then recited fluently: "'A freestyle swimmer may touch the wall with any part of the body when turning or reaching the finish line. However, after the turn, the swimmer must begin the stroke from a prone or supine position.'"

"Then," Ayanokoji asked, "do the rules state that the touch must be made with a 'hand'?"

Sakayanagi's smile stiffened.

The entire venue was silent.

Ayanokoji continued: "What you just said about 'must touch with one or both hands' is actually the regulation for breaststroke and butterfly. The rule for freestyle is that 'any part of the body may be used to touch the wall.' I used my shoulder, which complies with the rules."

He looked at the Chief Judge: "If the judging panel has any doubts, you may consult the rulebook."

The Chief Judge immediately had someone bring the manual and flipped to the relevant page.

A few seconds later, he looked up and announced: "After verification, the freestyle rules indeed allow for any part of the body to touch the wall. The Class D representative's touch was compliant, and the result stands!"

A reversal!

"Yeah--!" A massive cheer erupted from the Class D area.

Sakayanagi Arisu sat in her wheelchair, the smile on her face not disappearing, but rather becoming even brighter. She clapped softly: "Beautiful, Ayanokoji-kun. I intentionally misquoted the rules, yet you were able to discover and correct it immediately. You won this game."

So, this was another test of hers. She had intentionally misquoted the rules to see if Ayanokoji would be bluffed, or if he could calmly identify the loophole.

"So," Ayanokoji looked at her, "the 'clean way' you mentioned earlier refers to this?"

"Yes," Sakayanagi nodded. "Competing using the rules themselves—that is the Game of the Wise. However..."

She paused: "The game isn't over yet. After the Sports Festival, there will be a new special exam. I look forward to crossing swords with you again on a real battlefield."

With that, she signaled her assistant to push her away.

The final results for the swimming relay were confirmed: Class A first, Class D second, Class B third, and Class C fourth.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, the closing ceremony began.

The final total point standings were announced:

Class A: 380 points

Class D: 355 points

Class B: 335 points

Class C: 245 points

"The comprehensive ranking results," Horikita Manabu announced, "First place in the first-year Sports Festival—Class A! Second place—Class D! Third place—Class B! Fourth place—Class C!"

Amidst the applause, the representatives of each class went on stage to receive their awards.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka stood in the Class D line, looking at the silver medal in his hand.

[Ding! Main quest "Battle for Glory" completed!]

[Completion Rating: A (Led Class D to second place in overall rankings)]

[Rewards Distributed: Personal Points +8000, Class Points +300, "Tactical Deduction" EXP +100.]

[Ding! Hidden quest "Game of the Wise" completed!]

[Rating: Successfully identified and dismantled Arisu Sakayanagi's "Rule Trap."]

[Rewards Distributed: Logical Thinking +15, Arisu Sakayanagi "Recognition" +20.]

[Current Arisu Sakayanagi Recognition: 35/100 (Curiosity → Preliminary Recognition)]

The rewards were generous, but Ayanokoji felt little joy.

He looked down at the crowd below.

In the Class A section, Arisu Sakayanagi nodded at him with a smile.

In the Class C section, Kakeru Ryuen's face was terrifyingly grim as he whispered something to Ishizaki and Albert (whose right arm was in a cast).

In the Class B section, Honami Ichinose gave him a thumbs-up, though her smile was somewhat forced—the fallout from the Tetsuya Hamaguchi incident was still lingering.

Within Class D, Kikyo Kushida was applauding, but deep within her eyes, something cold was hidden.

The Sports Festival had ended.

But as Sakayanagi had said, the game was far from over.

A new special exam was fast approaching.

And the enemies in the shadows had already begun to move.

As the awards ceremony concluded, Ayanokoji received an anonymous message:

"Watch out for Kushida. She's about to make a move. —Advice from a 'traitor'"

The sender was unknown, but Ayanokoji had already guessed who it was.

Mio Ibuki.

It seemed that the days of peace had truly come to an end.