The Sports Festival ended

The prospect of beating Horikita Manabu stimulated Ishikura's brain, keeping his adrenaline pumping and his speed steady.

He was already imagining himself standing on the podium, smiling as he accepted the trophy.

Huh? Why can I still hear footsteps? Has that guy Ryuuen caught up? Ishikura wondered, but his pace did not slow.

Ishikura felt the footsteps drawing closer and closer. He could even hear the other runner breathing, and he began to suspect something was wrong with his ears.

But the next moment, his eyes told him his ears had not been hearing things.

A boy holding a baton flashed past him at high speed.

Lezheng's mind was blank, his gaze fixed on the approaching finish line. He could hear the gasps and cheers from the stands, but the loudest sound was still the wind rushing past his ears.

Lezheng crossed the finish line ahead of Ishikura. He found the dumbstruck Nagumo in the crowd and gave him a smile.

Only now did Nagumo understand that Lezheng had never used his full strength, not even when racing Horikita Manabu.

Because Lezheng won the Mixed-Gender Relay, the Red Team overtook the White Team in points and won. Every class on the Red Team received 100 class points.

The first-year class rankings were as follows:

First place: Class A, awarded 50 class points

Second place: Class B, points unchanged

Third place: Class D, deducted 50 points

Fourth place: Class C, deducted 100 class points

Overall, Class A gained 150 class points, Class B lost 100, Class C lost 200, and Class D gained 50. The classes' current class points were:

Class A: 1,787 points

Class B: 570 points

Class C: 466 points

Class D: 50 points

"Next, we will announce the student with the highest overall score," the commentator's voice rang out over the speakers. "Let us congratulate... Lezheng Youyan of Class 1-A!"

As the commentator made the announcement, the screen displaying the team scores switched to a close-up photo of Lezheng. On the screen, he was smiling and making peace signs with both hands.

The student with the highest overall score received 100,000 private points from the school. Adding the 5,000 private points awarded for each event he had won earlier, Lezheng now had 1.3 million points.

In the teachers' stands.

"Oh my, Sae, it looks like you'll have to defeat an opponent who excels in both academics and athletics like Lezheng if you want to move up to Class A," Hoshinomiya said, looking very pleased.

"He actually managed to win the Best Individual Award. That was rather unexpected," Mashima remarked.

Chasuke said nothing and simply stared at the screen.

In Class D's stands.

"Hell yeah! Teaming up with Class A is awesome!" Yamauchi cheered.

"We'll finally have some points!" Ike excitedly picked Yukimura up.

"Is that really a speed someone our age can run at?" Hirata murmured to himself.

"Well? I wasn't lying, was I?"

On the field, Lezheng nudged Kamuro.

"Tsk, does being fast give you something to brag about?" Kamuro said with some disdain.

"Why is your brain full of dirty thoughts?"

"So what?"

After the Sports Festival, Lezheng Youyan's name was frequently on people's lips. He became the talk of the school, and his standing in Class A temporarily eclipsed Sakayanagi's and Katsuragi's.

Immediately after the Sports Festival ended, Nagumo devoted a great deal of effort to setting up precautions against Kiryuin. Yet a month passed, and Kiryuin showed no intention of taking control of Class B again.

Lezheng wondered how the school assigned its students. As things stood, Class A was clearly stronger than the other three classes. Was that reasonable? He believed the three most important things for the school were:

Fairness, fairness, and fairness.

If Lezheng succeeded in becoming the next Student Council president, he would reshuffle the first- and second-year class rosters to ensure that the classes were roughly equal in strength.

As for the third-years... they were about to graduate and start working, so he would not split them up.

He could discuss the class points after the reshuffle with the school and have them set to the same number. There would certainly be objections from the students, but that did not matter. All he needed was the school's approval.

Lezheng noticed that Sakayanagi had been coming to see him noticeably more often lately. Sometimes, instead of playing chess, she simply said things he did not understand: white room, artificial genius, all-rounder.

"Sakayanagi, you... don't happen to like me, do you?" Lezheng asked tentatively.

"...Lezheng, I never expected you to have such a sense of humor." Sakayanagi froze for a moment, then covered her mouth and laughed.

"Sorry, just pretend you didn't hear anything."

He had fallen for one of life's three great delusions again.

"Ichinose has been getting quite close to Class D lately. According to my people, the two classes have organized a study group," Sakayanagi said, changing the subject.

"Horikita and Ichinose, huh? Neither of them is an opponent who can be dealt with easily. I'll go to the library tomorrow and keep an eye on them myself."

"Sorry for the trouble, then. I'll head back now."

"I'll walk you to the elevator. I need to go out anyway."

Lezheng left the Dormitory Lobby and headed for the Student Council Activity Room.

"Since Secretary Tachibana and I will be graduating soon, I intend to recruit more first-years. These are the candidates I selected in the preliminary screening. I'll leave their assessments to you tomorrow," President Horikita said, pointing to the documents in front of Lezheng.

"Understood, President." Lezheng nodded.

"Watch out for Nagumo," President Horikita reminded him.

Lezheng understood what Horikita Manabu was worried about. After all, this Sports Festival had shown Lezheng that Nagumo had most likely taken control of the entire second year, and Class 3-B had also reached some sort of deal with him.

What had Nagumo relied on to control the entire second year? Nothing more than promises of getting into Class A. That raised a question: were there other ways to get into Class A? The answer was yes. Girls could rely on their looks, which explained why Nagumo had looked so sexually exhausted when Lezheng saw him at the start of the school year. Boys did not have that advantage, so they could only rely on loyalty and points.

As for Nagumo's cooperation with Ishikura, Lezheng guessed that Nagumo wanted to beat President Horikita just once. What, then, would the basis of their agreement be? Simple: nothing more than points.

"I'll keep him quiet for a while." Lezheng had thought of a way.

The next day, the school issued an announcement: a report had been received alleging that Vice President Nagumo had used his Student Council position to obtain large amounts of points in violation of regulations. He had now been suspended pending investigation.

Lezheng was in the Student Council Reception Room, reviewing the student files Horikita Manabu had given him the previous night. He selected two of them.

Horikita Suzune

Academic ability: A

Intelligence: A-

Judgment: B-

Athletic ability: B+

Teamwork: E

Ichinose Honami

Academic ability: B+

Intelligence: A

Judgment: B

Athletic ability: C

Teamwork: A-