The invincible Nagumo had fallen again. At least, he considered himself invincible. Having ruled the entire second year for so long, apart from the two exceptions, Kiryuin and Asahina, who among them had not fawned over him like a dog whenever they saw him?
But today-or rather, last night-his pride had been shattered by a schoolmate a year younger than him, three times in a row.
He lay in a bed in the infirmary, staring blankly at the ceiling.
"Nagumo, time to apply your medicine," the nurse said, interrupting his painful recollections.
"Sorry for the trouble."
Nagumo sat up and looked around. The beds were occupied by the people he had taken along to join the fight last night. He knew he could not back down, or the entire second year would slip out of his control again.
In that case, I'll make my move on the girls.
The eighth day was also the last day of the mixed training camp. Four tests would take place in the morning, and the rankings for this special exam would be announced in the afternoon.
Since all the second-year boys had been injured, they were bound to perform worse than they had during regular practice. They dragged down the overall scores of all six large groups, but fortunately, every group cleared the school's passing threshold.
Among the girls, two groups failed: Igari's group, led by Class 3-B, and Asahina's group, led by Class 2-A.
Asahina's entire group had accidentally eaten wild mushrooms and suffered hallucinations, missing the tests and automatically failing. In Igari's group, only Tachibana completed all the events, so they failed as well.
When Nagumo heard the teacher announce the results, he froze on the spot.
"Teacher, I designate Akane Tachibana to be expelled with me," Igari said, still following her instructions.
"After the rest of you missed the tests, Akane Tachibana persisted in completing every event alone, so your designation is rejected."
"She's the reason we ended up like this! Why can't I designate her?" Igari shouted.
"You need to provide evidence before accusing me, don't you?" Tachibana sounded slightly nervous.
"You made breakfast today! Who else could it have been?"
"Suzuki and Asakura were there too. Why couldn't it have been them?"
"Quiet! Igari, please designate someone other than Akane Tachibana." The teacher did not want to listen to their argument.
"I... I..." Igari looked toward Nagumo.
She did not know whether he would spend twenty million private points to save her now that she had failed to carry out his plan. Under the teacher's urging, however, she designated a Class D student.
Asahina whispered in Nagumo's ear, "Sorry, Miyabi. I've caused you trouble again."
"Not at all, Naji. I'll use my private points to save you both. Just designate anyone," Nagumo replied.
Asahina also designated a girl from Class D, so Class A would lose fewer class points.
Miyabi Nagumo was considering whether to spend private points to help Igari. Saving her would preserve his reputation and prestige, since the third years had no more special exams, leaving him unable to put Horikita Manabu in check again.
If he did not save her, he feared Igari might expose him, potentially affecting his campaign for Student Council President.
After much deliberation, Nagumo still decided that abandoning Igari would benefit him more.
Ishikura also chose not to save her. They had no more special exams, and their chances of reaching Class A had slipped away. They were better off saving more private points, which they could exchange for cash after graduation.
Since Class 1-A had teamed up with Horikita Manabu, with the second-year groups performing about equally, their large group still came first.
The girls' results were less promising, however. They only placed third.
Each class's points after the mixed training camp exam:
Class A: 2197
Class B: 866
Class C: 670
Class D: 200
The school gave the students half an hour to pack. The buses would depart punctually after that.
"What did you do?" President Horikita approached Lezheng without any attempt at discretion.
"I added something to their breakfast. Horikita deserves some credit for it too," Lezheng answered quietly.
"Suzune..." Horikita Manabu murmured.
"Were you responsible for Nagumo and the others' injuries?" Sakayanagi sat down beside Lezheng.
There were not many people on the bus yet, which was why Sakayanagi asked that question.
Lezheng said nothing, merely blinking his eyes with a sparkle.
"You really are something." Sakayanagi could not help smiling.
"But I'm still curious how you got to the girls."
"A secret wouldn't be a secret if I told you." Lezheng did not answer the question.
"It's a shame Class D didn't have anyone expelled this time."
"You're still holding on to that?"
"Of course. I'm just a girl, not some magnanimous gentleman. And I still remember you lifting me by the collar."
Lezheng made a face at Sakayanagi, and she pressed her planner down on his instep without hesitation.
"Are you two dating?"
As they were messing around, Kamuro's voice interrupted at an inopportune moment.
"No, but Sakayanagi seems to like me. She's looking for a way to win me over," Lezheng said bashfully.
"Kamuro, have you figured out how to win Lezheng over?" Sakayanagi played along with him.
"Let me think." Kamuro sat down in the row behind Sakayanagi. "How about making him egg fried rice?"
"Good idea. Then I hope I can try your egg fried rice when we get back to school, Kamuro." Sakayanagi turned around and smiled.
"Why me? Aren't you supposed to make it?"
"She's already silly enough, and you're still teasing her." Lezheng laughed.
"What the hell! So you were just teasing me this whole time! And you!"
Kamuro reached forward from behind Lezheng and pressed his bandaged forehead.
"You don't actually think I'm injured, do you?" Lezheng "enjoyed" Kamuro's massage.
"So you were faking it." Kamuro let go.
Fuck, that hurt like hell! Lezheng screamed inwardly.
After returning from Forest School, Lezheng felt for the first time that Advanced Nurturing was such a welcoming place.
After this special exam, Nagumo not only lost forty million private points, but negative rumors about him also spread rapidly with Lezheng's encouragement. Lezheng becoming Student Council President was already a foregone conclusion, but the process had stalled on the school's end.
That lasted until Sakayanagi brought him a bombshell.
"My father has been suspended from his duties. Do you have any connections that could help me?" Sakayanagi's usual smile was absent.
"Who's your father?" Lezheng was a little bewildered.
"The Chairman is my father."
"What! But I really don't have any resources in that area." Lezheng was shocked.
Sakayanagi said, "The people from the White Room have made their move."
"So what is the White Room?"
"The White Room is a place that cultivates artificial geniuses."
"Geniuses can be artificially made? What kind of high-tech terminology is that?"
"You just need to know what the White Room is. I'll head back now." Sakayanagi left in a hurry.
"Hey, you can't just leave things half-explained."
Lezheng watched Sakayanagi leave, then sat down at his computer and began searching his browser for information about the White Room.
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