The Rule

For people, other humans are like ferocious wolves.

"Remember to find out Class D's Beneficiary and tell me. Of course, it's fine if you can't, but I'll punish you again." Ryuuen walked out of the ship's cabin, his steps much lighter than when he arrived.

Kushida Kikyo was still adjusting the bow at her collar, not wanting to speak. She was tidying her hair using her phone. Although her makeup was smudged, it still couldn't hide her charm; instead, it added a sense of fragility.

She just nodded, pouting. Kushida Kikyo wanted to go back and drink water quickly, but her legs felt weak, so she didn't walk fast.

Not long after Kushida left, Ryuuen received a message from her: "I'm one of Class D's Beneficiaries. I'll do my best to find the remaining ones."

Ryuuen replied with "Okay," then messaged Shiranami Chihiro. Ryuuen had quite a bit of trust in Shiranami, his spy embedded with Ichinose Honami, because their interests aligned, and she wouldn't dare betray him. From the moment she poisoned someone, she had no way out; she could only follow Ryuuen to the end.

The second discussion session began quickly, but each class stuck to its own approach, making no real progress. The Monkey Group, where Ichinose was, was no different. When things stalled, Ichinose had no choice but to suggest playing a game to pass the time, but it had little effect.

After the discussion, Ryuuen gathered Ibuki, Kaneda, and Hiyori again. This time, Ryuuen also provided an additional list, which contained some of Class B and Class D's Beneficiaries: "Tell me your thoughts."

"Analyzing based on the group names, is it possible that the Beneficiaries were chosen based on their zodiac signs?" Ibuki straightforwardly offered her opinion first.

Then she saw the three people around her looking at her as if she were an idiot.

"What kind of look is that? Want to fight?" Ibuki waved her fist at Ryuuen.

"Blame yourself for saying something stupid first. How could students in the same grade be eleven years apart?" Ryuuen rolled his eyes, and the other two nodded in agreement.

"Of course, I know that. I was just trying to lighten the mood. Don't you get it?" Ibuki's face flushed, as if genuinely embarrassed by her own stupidity, as she offered a forced explanation.

"Kaneda, what's your take?"

"Although the zodiac sign possibility is very low, if you think in that direction, could it be that Beneficiaries were chosen based on students' birth months?"

If analyzed rationally, this was a possibility. Ibuki and Hiyori were both considering this direction.

Ryuuen sighed inwardly. Ibuki really led them astray. As expected, it's best not to have expectations for Ibuki. The correct direction is the order of names. However, Ryuuen didn't want to remind the three people present. This meeting was also a form of training for them. Class planning couldn't always be decided by Ryuuen alone. His energy was limited, and he also needed a capable second-in-command.

"Hiyori, what was the pattern you found earlier?" Ryuuen could only place his final hope on Hiyori.

"Hmm, at the time, I thought this pattern might be related to gender and surnames."

Hiyori's voice was truly pleasant to listen to. Ryuuen nodded in agreement: "I also think this pattern should be in the names. You guys consider it from that direction. I'm going back for a bit."

Without explaining what he was going to do, Ryuuen stood up and left. He hadn't even walked out the door when he heard Ibuki grumbling: "That bastard Ryuuen just loves bossing people around. He's definitely gone off to slack off now."

Ryuuen ignored Ibuki. She was still complaining about how Ryuuen pushed all the work onto her during the Uninhabited Island exam. In reality, Ibuki didn't care at all, but she still had to grumble about it.

Ryuuen had known the pattern for a long time. If he wanted to, by designating one member of Class C in each group as the Traitor, he could obtain a total of 450 class Points from the other classes.

However, Ryuuen didn't want to do that. It was lonely at the top. If they gained the full 450 Points in this exam, Class C would undoubtedly leap to Class A. But what then? Class C's current overall strength wasn't even comparable to Class B's. Although they had increased their efforts in studies and training, it was still not enough.

Under such conditions, even if they were promoted to Class A, Ryuuen believed they would quickly be pushed down, as their virtue didn't match their position. If they fell from Class A, the biggest victim would be Ryuuen. By then, the long-simmering resentment within the class would erupt, shaking Ryuuen's rule. A tyrant who couldn't continuously lead the class to victory would be drowned by the masses.

Because of this consideration, Ryuuen did not want to achieve Outcome Three.

So he was going to negotiate and obtain more personal Points from other classes, as Ryuuen's ultimate goal was to reach Class A with eight hundred million Points.

There was still a long way to go to reach eight hundred million.

The first person Ryuuen approached was Ichinose, because Ryuuen knew that Ichinose was one of the few wealthy students in the school.

"Is there something you need, Ryuuen-kun?"

Ryuuen arranged to meet Ichinose for coffee at an outdoor cafe.

"Why so nervous? I'm not going to do anything to you. I've been helping you all this time, shouldn't you be happy I came to find you?" Ryuuen toyed with his coffee cup. The cappuccino in the cup was already cold, and Ryuuen had no desire to drink it.

Ichinose, dressed in casual clothes, sat opposite Ryuuen, holding her coffee cup with both hands: "It feels like every time Ryuuen-kun looks for me, it's something very serious, not a topic that can be discussed casually."

That was a subtle way of putting it. If it were Horikita Suzune, she would definitely say, "Ryuuen, you only ever bring trouble."

But Ryuuen didn't dislike Ichinose's gentleness in this regard, though that didn't mean Ryuuen would go easy on her.

"Kobashi Yume, Himeno Yuki, Sumida Makoto," Ryuuen said softly, gazing at the latte art. Although his voice was quiet, Ichinose heard it clearly.

"Does that sound familiar?" Ryuuen used a spoon to stir the latte art until it was muddled.

Ichinose was silent for a moment. This was the Class B Beneficiary list. "How do you know this?"

"Do you think I'll tell you?" Ryuuen pushed his coffee aside. "That's not the main point. I want to make a deal with you, just like during the Uninhabited Island exam, to exchange for some personal Points from you."

"The Points you want aren't just 'some'." Ichinose also understood Ryuuen's objective. Although she didn't know how Ryuuen got this list, Ichinose was unwilling to consider the possibility of a Traitor within her class.

What Ichinose didn't know was that many people in her class suspected there was a Traitor, but they didn't want to cause trouble for Ichinose, so they hadn't brought it up in front of her.

Ichinose hadn't decided whether to trade with Ryuuen when a message came over the broadcast: "Monkey Group exam ended."

The Beneficiary of the Monkey Group was Himeno Yuki.

"...Is this a threat?" Ichinose's expression also turned grim.

Ryuuen waved his hand. He hadn't arranged for anyone from Class C to be a Traitor in the Monkey Group yet.

Ryuuen remembered Kouenji was in the Monkey Group, so it was clearly Kouenji's masterpiece.

However, Ryuuen's explanation at this point would be futile, so he might as well go along with the plan: "Your class still has two groups left. My condition is four million personal Points. This is very worthwhile for you. If you don't agree, you'll lose one million personal Points and one hundred class Points. Right now, your class Points are precarious; you could easily drop to Class C."

Ichinose didn't rush to give an answer. Instead, she asked Ryuuen: "Don't you want to move up to Class B? Through this exam, you even have hope of moving up to Class A, don't you?"

"Then you guess what I'm thinking." Ryuuen stood up and took Ichinose's half-empty coffee cup from her hand. It was still a bit warm. Ryuuen drank it all in one gulp, the bitter taste overwhelming his mind.