A Win Was a Foregone Conclusion (Optional)

The first exam: politics.

Should I say it was unexpected, or not surprising at all?

At any rate, Houtarou was planning to compete himself.

However...

"The rules are as follows: each class in each group will send one student to compete. The group score will be calculated by adding fifty percent of the average score of these two students to fifty percent of the average score of the two classes."

The rules seemed perfectly reasonable.

But how would it work in practice?

Regardless, at least none of the students from the four classes objected.

Besides, it really would be boring just sitting around watching other people take the test.

More importantly...

The test was meant to assess everyone.

Not just a single individual.

At least, not yet.

"Houtarou... good luck..."

"Do your best!"

"Houtarou, after this exam, let's go back to our hometown together and get—"

Wait!

Hey, you!

Did you just set some kind of weird flag?

Amid all the well-wishes, Houtarou entered the room reserved for him.

Uh...

It really was exactly as the description said.

A completely sealed little room.

Cameras covered every angle.

The footage was also broadcast to a giant screen.

Since Class A and Class B were going first, Classes C and D wouldn't have to take the test yet.

But...

That didn't mean they had nothing to do.

Their job was to keep an eye on Classes A and B.

If one cheater was caught, the group would lose ten points.

If two or more were caught, the group's score would be invalidated outright.

What a terrifying rule.

For the sake of their classes—or, more accurately...

For their own sake, everyone would surely keep a close eye on the screen.

Cheating would be difficult now.

Because, unlike teachers...

Students understood other students better.

The latest tricks changed too quickly for the teachers to keep up.

Houtarou glanced at the exam paper.

Question one:

Why is the birth rate in Japan declining today?

Hmm?

Hmm???

Wasn't the answer obvious?

Without hesitation, he wrote... (unreadable)

Simply put, living things adapted to their environment.

Different environments naturally produced different living things.

It was only to be expected.

A truth as old as time.

Question two:

What do you think of Japan's current employment situation?

Answer:

Far ahead.

Far ahead of the world.

Far ahead of history.

Question three:

What do you think of marriage in Japan today?

(Unreadable)

Phew...

Houtarou let out a breath of relief.

What a tricky question.

It would be dangerous to let his guard down—he might write what he truly thought.

Dangerous, dangerous...

Don't say anything that might undermine unity.

"Time's up."

As the bell rang, someone collected Houtarou's paper.

It was graded in less than five minutes.

His score...

One point short of perfect.

In other words, ninety-nine.

What a shame.

So where had he lost that point?

Because Houtarou had written in a color other than red!

He lacked the red spirit!

Just kidding.

Actually, he'd lost the point for his analysis of the constitutional revisionists' position.

He'd forgotten to mention the spirit of pacifism.

It was extremely important, yet so easy to forget.

Why was that?

He had no idea.

Back to the point.

After the score of Class A's contestant was announced, the score of Class B's contestant was revealed as well.

Himeno Yuki: 94 points

Houtarou knew this girl.

Twin tails, black stockings.

She wore a very conspicuous gray uniform.

Though it wasn't as if he knew her personally...

He'd only seen her photo in the information on Class B.

Uh, it had been collected by Yamamura Miki, who'd been mentioned earlier.

She always looked indifferent, but she was surprisingly good at gathering information.

He'd forgotten to mention it.

She was also one of Sakayanagi's followers.

She'd probably been so cooperative with Houtarou because he was on good terms with Sakayanagi.

In any case, Classes A and B had now completed half the group's test.

(94+99) / 4

48.25

As a percentage...

96.5%

An astonishing figure.

But that was only because Houtarou Oreki and Himeno Yuki were both so capable.

And their scores alone weren't enough.

After all...

The remaining points depended on the students in the two classes.

...To be continued

P.S.

I'd had my fill of promises made by the old guard.

So I wrote this.

Just treat it as a bonus chapter.

(Deleted)