"And even maintain first place in the next six events."
"Then there's only one thing she could have done."
"And it would be something the other groups would agree to."
With that, Ryuen fell silent for a moment, pausing.
But Kaneda, acting as strategist, had already figured it out.
"President Sakayanagi... she actually bought off the groups she was supposed to face, didn't she?"
In other words, they had thrown the matches.
She had paid the other side to lose that round to them.
And perhaps any later rounds they encountered as well.
"Since she's already bought off the other groups, she can ensure victory in the upcoming exams," Ryuen said.
"..." Kaneda.
That left Kaneda silent.
No wonder President Sakayanagi had been so confident and arrogant. She had turned a closed-book test into an open-book one long ago.
"This exam has nothing to do with class points, but I have to admit, Sakayanagi's move was rather brilliant."
"Spend some points, and she gets to create the image of overwhelming, absolute victory."
"And then..."
Ryuen was somewhat displeased.
Because Sakayanagi's performance would only crush him.
It could be said that in this exam, the two sides had clashed, and Ryuen's side had essentially lost to Sakayanagi.
"Then is there anything else you need me to do, Ryuen?" Kaneda asked.
Once it was confirmed that Sakayanagi had bought off the opposing groups, there was no need to report the exam results and process one by one.
The outcome had already been decided. At the same time, Kaneda was in a different group, so he asked Ryuen.
"I'll reflect on this first," Ryuen said. "You can leave."
"Hashimoto used to like reflecting in the restroom. It seemed to help him come to some realizations."
"And in this exam..."
"I admit that I