"Buy a voice recorder? Why?"
Amikura Asako tilted her head, her lively, fawn-like eyes glimmering with confusion.
Wasn't this topic changing a little too quickly?
They'd been talking about Class C and her friend just a moment ago. How had they suddenly ended up discussing voice recorders?
"I know Shiina Hiyori. She's one of the few smart people in Class C, and I need to contact Ryuen Kakeru through her."
"But I don't plan to reveal my identity at first. When Ryuen Kakeru investigates me, he'll definitely trace things back to you through Shiina Hiyori."
"That domineering guy is hard to deal with. You need to protect yourself."
Nishikado warned her.
Nishikado knew perfectly well what Ryuen Kakeru was like.
"He wouldn't go so far as to bully a girl, would he?"
Amikura Asako didn't take his words too seriously. She smiled and shook her head.
She didn't know what Ryuen Kakeru had done in Class C, but she'd heard that he was only able to act so recklessly because Class C's homeroom teacher didn't interfere at all.
Surely they were allowed to use force in class competitions, were they?
Class B was full of good kids who weren't good at dealing with violence, but they could report it to the teachers.
Besides, a voice recorder wasn't exactly cheap.
She didn't want to waste money unless she had to.
The Class B students had all handed over half their personal points, but that didn't mean they'd spent all the rest.
Quite a few of them were trying to save up, ready to donate their points when it really mattered. In everyday life, they were careful to spend as little as possible.
Amikura Asako also hoped to help her classmates when the time came, so she didn't want to waste money.
"Force is a form of strength, too."
"As long as he doesn't get caught, who can say he did anything?"
"Next, I'll give you a map showing the school's blind spots. Memorize it, and don't go to those places with students from Class C."
Nishikado mercilessly shattered Amikura Asako's naive hopes.
Even Horikita Manabu, the Student Council president from the dove faction, could fight.
At that, the Class B students exchanged uneasy glances.
They became even more wary of Ryuen Kakeru.
Still, Nishikado felt they weren't wary enough—especially the boys.
"I ran into a guy from Class C in the bathroom that day. He looked like he could fight, and his muscles were like iron."
"I was just about to go say hello. I was even worried that he might not speak the same language as me."
"Then Ryuen Kakeru showed up. Do you know what happened after that?"
Nishikado suddenly lowered his voice, deliberately leaving them in suspense.
"Did Ryuen Kakeru do something terrible?"
"What could he do in a bathroom?"
"I've seen that guy, too. He looks like he's good at fighting. Could Ryuen Kakeru really beat even him?"
Amid their guesses and urging, Nishikado gave them the answer.
"Ryuen Kakeru ambushed the guy while he was using the toilet."
[Triggered Ryuji Kanzaki's emotions, gained 1,297 emotion points.] [Triggered Tokito Katsumi's emotions, gained 3,564 emotion points.]
Class B students: "..."
The Class B students, especially the boys, all sucked in a sharp breath.
"Is that how he rules his class?"
Hayato Shibata stared blankly, overcome by an indescribable fear of Ryuen Kakeru.
There really was a muscular Black-Japanese mixed-race student in Class C named Yamada Albert.
The guy was indeed extremely strong. Hayato Shibata thought that if anyone in Class B had a chance against him in a fight, it was Nishikado.
Ryuen Kakeru didn't look nearly as burly, and Hayato Shibata had wondered how he'd beaten the guy.
So that was how he'd dealt with him!
When you were using the toilet, you were undoubtedly at your most relaxed and vulnerable.
He'd actually chosen to ambush him at a time like that. Did he have no shame at all?
For a moment, the Class B students were filled with gratitude toward Nishikado.
They'd already thought Nishikado was impressive and accepted him as their class leader.
Now that they compared him with Ryuen Kakeru, they were even more thoroughly convinced by Nishikado.
Nishikado won people over with reason, while Ryuen Kakeru used physical force—and his methods were especially underhanded.
From now on, they wouldn't dare use the bathroom at the same time as Ryuen Kakeru!
"Um, can't I just avoid provoking him? Do I really need to buy a voice recorder just for that?"
Amikura Asako raised her hand timidly.
She didn't dare go near a demon king like Ryuen Kakeru.
If she didn't even dare approach him, there was no need to prepare a voice recorder, was there?
"You won't provoke him, but I will approach Shiina Hiyori. I'll work with Class C through her, and use her to scheme against Class C, too."
"I'll conceal my identity, but Ryuen Kakeru will definitely find out that you're her friend."
"To be safe, you should be prepared."
"Also, give me Shiina Hiyori's contact information."
Nishikado had already worked out his strategy against Class C.
Shiina Hiyori was a crucial part of it.
Class C didn't have many capable people to begin with. If he could win Shiina Hiyori over, Class C was bound to accomplish very little.
He hadn't brought this up before, mainly because he hadn't expected Amikura Asako and Shiina Hiyori to become friends.
That could be considered a butterfly effect caused by him.
As for Ryuen Kakeru, since he'd been willing to target Karuizawa Kei in the original story, he'd naturally target Amikura Asako as well.
You couldn't expect Dragon Boy to have any sense of decency, because he didn't have any to begin with.
"All right."
Amikura Asako hesitated for a moment, then took out her Personal Terminal and gave Nishikado Shiina Hiyori's contact information.
She didn't really understand why Nishikado wanted to scheme against Class C through Shiina Hiyori.
Wasn't Hiyori a soft-spoken, adorable bookworm?
She'd said herself that she had no friends in class and was just an invisible nobody. Her presence shouldn't have much of an impact on Class C.
But Amikura Asako didn't ask any more questions.
Nishikado was in charge of Class B's external strategy. Everyone in Class B agreed on that.
She wouldn't question him when she didn't know the whole story.
To protect herself from Ryuen Kakeru, she really did need to buy a voice recorder.
"Ichinose, I'll leave things to you from here. Everyone, focus on your studies."
Nishikado stood up and dusted off clothes that weren't even dirty.
After Nishikado left, Honami Ichinose naturally took over the responsibility of leading the class.
Nishikado only had to handle Class B's overall strategy and external offensives, so he had plenty of free time.
Honami Ichinose, on the other hand, was responsible for keeping everyone united. She had to keep an eye on everyone's state of mind, so she had much more to think about.
Meanwhile, Nishikado found Chie Hoshinomiya and had her set up an anonymous account for him.
Before officially meeting Shiina Hiyori, Nishikado planned to read a few books.
For a girl like Shiina Hiyori, having something in common was the only way they might become friends.
As he headed to the library to borrow some books, Nishikado noticed that Shiina Hiyori was still there reading.
She really was like an NPC who respawned in the library.
But Nishikado didn't go over to bother her. He borrowed two popular works of literature at random and left.
On his way back to the dorm, Nishikado received good news on his Personal Terminal.
[Kamuro Masumi: Tomorrow's the day of our duel. Are you ready?]
[Nishikado: If it's a date, where do you like to go?]
[Kamuro Masumi: Do you think you've already won?]
[Nishikado: If not, then what?]
Before you continue