Sakayanagi IF Route

The information provided by Ichinose was within Oreki's expectations.

The leader of Class B is Kanzaki Ryuji.

He is the capable right-hand man of Ichinose Honami.

Given this man's reputation, it is clear he would not be able to secure the position of leader.

So why did he become one?

A smokescreen.

If one were to ask who is the most popular person in Class B, there is no doubt...

Fatty Honami.

That is to say, our classmate Ichinose Honami.

Moreover, this is true not only among the boys but also among the girls.

She is a presence with maxed-out charisma.

If one were to gather even a little intelligence on Class B, they would highly likely assume that the leader of Class B is Ichinose Honami during this guessing phase.

Quite the contrary.

In reality, the leader of Class B is Kanzaki Ryuji.

That man with the sharp gaze who rarely smiles.

Doing this certainly serves the purpose of catching others off guard.

But in truth, it comes with significant requirements.

At the very least, there must be someone whom the majority of the class trusts.

And then, there is unity.

Oreki began to calculate.

Now that the leaders of Class B and Class D are known.

Only Class C remains.

Hmm... Class C is the hardest one to guess.

To unify the class in a short time, Ryuen used a reign of terror.

Under his violence.

Presumably, as long as the demands aren't too excessive, the people in Class C will obediently carry them out.

For instance, picking someone inconspicuous to be the leader.

If it were Shiina Hiyori...

No, it would be rude to think of her like that now.

Oreki thought to himself.

He had intended to explain, but because of the matter with Sakayanagi, he had been delayed.

Furthermore, if he were to ask Shiina Hiyori who the leader of Class C is right now, she wouldn't tell him anyway.

The relationship between Oreki and Shiina has not reached that point yet.

Not enough to make Shiina Hiyori betray her class.

In short, the Shiina Hiyori route is a dead end.

Then...

He will just have to rely on his own guesses.

Time ticked away, second by second.

The front door opened, and the homeroom teacher walked in holding a form.

"Time is up, Oreki, come up here and fill out this form."

"Yes."

Just as he had said.

Leaders and the like, as expected, are not that simple.

Oreki walked up to the podium.

There were four classes on the form.

Behind each of the four classes was a blank space.

There was no need for Mashima to continue explaining what to write.

He quickly took the pen and wrote them down in order.

Class A: Oreki Houtarou

Class B: Kanzaki Ryuji

Class C:

Class D: Hirata Yosuke

Only one of the four slots remained.

Although it was just a guess, it wasn't that easy.

This kind of situation was actually the most difficult.

There were too many possibilities, and the smarter a person was, the more they would overthink it.

"Should we leave it blank?"

"No. I have a candidate."

In the end, he wrote down...

The name of the man least likely to be the leader.

"Hmm, then let the weekly test begin."

Mashima Tomoya quickly opened his laptop.

It turned out to be an online meeting.

Students from the other three classes appeared on the screen one after another.

"Teachers, please aim your answers at the camera."

The voice of the Acting Chairman came through the speaker.

Mashima Tomoya displayed the answer Oreki had written.

"Hmm, Class A is all correct... Class B got three right and one wrong, Class C got three right and one wrong, and Class D got two right and two wrong. Now, will the Class A leader please prepare for the draw."

After speaking, the Acting Chairman turned off the microphone.

Most of the people in the room felt admiration for Oreki.

If they couldn't refute him before, then now...

"Amazing..."

"Not only did he guess there would be this segment, but he also guessed the leaders of the other classes."

"Is this guy even human?"

Oreki let out a sigh of relief.

It was a good thing he had bet correctly.

As expected, the leader of Class C was Ryuen Kakeru himself.

If asked why...

It was obviously to deceive Class A and Class B.

Class D would definitely choose Ryuen Kakeru without hesitation, because they wouldn't consider much at all.

But Class A and Class B were different.

Ryuen Kakeru wasn't in their considerations from the start.

Ichinose Honami guessing wrong was a perfect example of this.

As for Oreki...

He hadn't considered Ryuen Kakeru at first either.

But after recalling the personality of a tyrant-like person...

Oreki decided to write down the name of Ryuen Kakeru.

"Hmm, write down your name."

Mashima Tomoya looked at Oreki with satisfaction.

As expected of a genius.

To be able to understand the words he left behind in such a short time, and even guess the leaders of the other classes correctly.

His information-gathering ability was beyond reproach.

His mind was also very sharp.

Oreki nodded, then deliberately dropped the pen in his hand to the floor.

"Sorry."

He crouched down as he spoke.

The moment he touched the pen, an identical one appeared from Oreki's right sleeve.

It slid along the underside of Oreki's arm into his palm.

As for the previous one, it had already been quickly pushed back into his sleeve by Oreki.

What a slick sleight of hand.

Oreki picked up the pen he had swapped for as if nothing were amiss and wrote down his name.

"Mm, wait here for a moment."

"Understood."

Mashima Tomoya took the box and left.

With that, the task was more than half complete.

Now, all that remained was to wait.

Compared to Oreki's calm, the students of Class C and Class D wore expressions of utter disbelief.

If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes...

They would have absolutely suspected that Oreki was cheating.

However, it wasn't entirely hopeless yet.

Because they believed the weekly test focused primarily on scores, not on guessing the leaders.

In reality, that was not the case.

It was true that it looked at scores.

But it was not only about scores.

The score was the average of the group; in other words, if you were matched with a dead weight of a teammate...

The result, needless to say, would be obvious.

The school was testing the students' comprehensive abilities.

Having strong academic ability alone was not enough.

That was why there was such a loophole-ridden drawing process.

Those who were adept at exploiting the rules would naturally seize the opportunity.

As for those who followed the rules to the letter...

They could only pray for their own luck.

After Mashima Tomoya returned to the classroom.

The voice of the Acting Chairman came through the speakers once again.

"Very well, judging by the results just now... Class A, Oreki Houtarou."

"Present."

"You may choose first, or designate someone else to choose first."

"In that case, I designate Class B to choose first."

"Mm, Mashima-sensei?"

Mashima Tomoya, standing to the side, nodded and left.

He carried the box toward Class B.

On the screen, the leader of Class B, Kanzaki Ryuji, approached Mashima Tomoya.

He reached his right hand inside.

After fumbling around for a while, he finally withdrew his hand.

Upon opening it.

It bore the name of Oreki Houtarou.

"Grouping complete. Class A and Class B are a group; Class C and Class D are a group."

Hearing this news, Hashimoto Masayoshi snapped his fingers.

He hadn't expected...

Things to go so smoothly.

The backup measures Oreki had prepared were completely unnecessary.

There were two possible scenarios in total.

Either Class A guessed the most, or Class B guessed the most.

Although Hashimoto Masayoshi had suggested that Oreki have Class B intentionally guess one wrong.

The risk was too high.

If Class A didn't end up being the one with the most correct guesses, then the entire plan would have gone down the drain.

What remained to be done was very simple.

Write the name with a pen that wouldn't dry quickly.

This was the reason Class B was able to accurately draw Class A.

And it was also the reason why Kanzaki Ryuji had been unwilling to unclench his right hand until now.

Because...

There was a very obvious black smudge on his right thumb.

--To be continue