On the morning of the second day of the special exam, I was heading out to eat breakfast with Hiyori and Masumi.
"Hey, Hikigaya boy, reading girl, and maid girl, are you together in the morning too?"
Rokusuke Koenji, a freeman from Class D, asks, his blonde hair swaying. Masumi, on the other hand, looks extremely disgusted.
"Would you please stop calling me that maid girl?"
Well, from Masumi's point of view, maid uniforms may be a dark past.
However, I plan to have her wear a maid costume after the trip is over.
In response to Masumi's request, Koenji gave a small nod... "I refuse."
He declined with a nice smile.
"Why?!"
Masumi raises her voice at this, but I think it's better to give up because it will only lead to further reduction of limited brain cells of Masumi-san.
"Even if you don't like what I call you that, that's no reason for me to change it. Do you understand, Maid Girl?"
"This..."
Koenji's going-my-way remark causes Masumi to tremble and express her anger.
"Calm down, Masumi"
"Ah...this idiot..."
When I pat Masumi on the head to calm her down, Masumi regains her composure even though she is annoyed.
So cute...
"Hehe, it looks like you're quite used to being treated as a maid girl."
"Leave her alone. By the way, has your group finished their exams?"
"Yeah. It's a pain to have an exam that lasts for three days. I finished it."
I finished it, which means...
"Are you the traitor of the monkey group?"
There were 8 groups that finished the exam yesterday, the dragon group was finished by Ryuen, the snake group was finished by me, the Pig group was finished by Masumi, and the 4 groups of rats, cows, sheep, and birds were finished by Ryuen's subordinates.
As for the monkey group, I didn't know who betrayed them, I had a suspicion it was this guy after checking the members of this group.
"That's right. Now I'm happy and free. Well, it seems like the other groups have also ended since my group ended. Was that the work of Hikigaya Boy?"
"No. It's the work of the C-class Ryuen."
"Ah. Was it Dragon Boy's work?"
D-Dragon Boy... it's no good. I'll definitely laugh the next time I meet Ryuen.
"That's right. By the way, which method did you use to find out who was receiving preferential treatment?"
In the case of betrayal, the popular method is to see through the rules like I did, or to find out the liar through discussion.
I'm curious as to which one Koenji did.
"I saw through the rules of preferential treatment, and through discussions I discovered the lies of preferential treatment, that's all.''
Koenji said as he elegantly ate the steak in hand. Being the successor to Koenji Conglomerate, the dining etiquette can be said to be top-notch.
But did he see through the law of preferential treatment? I think if he was really motivated, his overall strength would be better than Arisu.
Only If you're willing to do it?
I don't know why this guy came to this school, he's already excellent in my opinion.
Only reason I could think of is this guy's conversation with Yukimura, saying that school will beg him to come back.
Since this school is backed by the government, it's possible that they made a deal with Koenji's family to show that a heir of a powerful family graduated from their school?
But it'll be real shame to both his company and school if Koenji graduates as a D-class student, right?
So, I came to the conclusion that this guy is also after private points like me and will fly solo.
With that in mind, I ordered breakfast and ate it, "Hey, Koenji is it really okay for you to graduate as a D-class student?"
Koenji hearing this, put down his knife and narrowed his eyes at me, "What are you trying to say, Hikigaya boy?"
"I mean, you said it doesn't matter if you graduate as D-class student or A-class student, right? But won't your company lose it's face, after seeing that their future heir is graduated from D-Class. Even if doesn't affect much, it's still a hit to your reputation, right?"
Koenji's face turned quite scary after hearing my words, "So, you're saying that I'll definitely graduate from A-Class in the end?"
"Yeah, I have no doubt about that. Besides, I don't think your admission in this school is a simple matter. There must be some kind of deal behind the scenes to show good faith towards the government or something?" I opened my mouth, and didn't stop even when Koenji's face turned really ugly at the end.
It must be true then.
"You say some interesting things, Hikigaya boy? But if I had that goal, wouldn't I be working with the class to increase our class points or collect 20 million points like you?" Koenji said, in a serious tone while frowning unlike his usual cool self.
I frowned at his words and thought about it seriously for a moment, he's n't doing anything in special exams to get private points like me, and I don't think I'm wrong about my previous deduction.
Because Koenji's face turned really ugly when I mentioned about the deal between the government and his company.
If it's not special exams, then that means he'd already secured a way to collect a large amount of private points without doing anything.
So far, the only thing I have seen him do is interacting with senior girls in the cafeteria or rather they were mostly third-year students who are about to graduate.
From what I heard, from my seniors in the chess club you can exchange private points for cash at 0.8 exchange ratio before graduating completely opposite from what Chabashira-sensei said during our first day.
Money
Koenji has a lot of money!
Money...
I turned towards Koenji who was looking at my face the whole time I was thinking, I opened my mouth.
"Are you planning to buy points from third-year seniors before they graduate in exchange for real cash? Because that's the only way I can think for now, besides it's possible right, since you have a lot of mon-
Boom!
"What the hell!!?" Masumi-san screamed because of the sudden noise.
I was also startled and immediately tried to stop both Hiyori and my cup of coffee from spreading on the table.
Apparently Koenji smashed his table in anger, sending his half-eaten steak flying around the second table which was empty and left the cafeteria without paying any money, with his face really ugly.
The complete opposite compared to when I first entered here with Hiyori and Masumi and saw him smiling happily.
And here I was just impressed by his dinning etiquette skills a while ago.
The waiter who heard the loud commotion, came to Koenji's table to clean it, apparently his tea was all over the floor.
"Hikigaya-kun, was that really okay?" Hiyori looked really worried.
"What the hell is this guy's problem?!" Masumi-san was really angry now.
"It's okay, I'll pay Koenji's bill. Besides it's my fault in the first place for underestimating his temper. I didn't know he would lose his composure like that" I said, while standing up from the table, and went towards the staff member to apologise for my classmates's poor behaviour.
I don't want some stupid people, especially Horikita to get a chance saying that I was responsible for reducing their Class points or something.
When I came back, Masumi opened her mouth.
"Hey Hachiman, I really appreciate you taking revenge on that guy for calling me a maid girl earlier!" Masumi said with a smile.
She was in a good mood for some reason.
Oh, are you happy?
Apparently, she thought I did it for her. Well, it's a good thing so I'll keep quiet.
"Yeah, but keep this conversation private. It's not a good thing to antagonize Koenji any further," I warned them not to spread it, and picked my spoon again.
_____________
"Horikita is here."
"I see. Let's go for the massage we talked about earlier."
After breakfast, we encountered Horikita, so we decided to run away.
"Let's put that behind the scenes. To be honest, did you tell the girl next door about the rules of the preferential treatment regarding the Pig Group?"
While saying this, Horikita looks at Masumi. Masumi, on the other hand, looked back at Horikita with her usual expression.
"No. I didn't tell Masumi about the rules for preferential treatment. Not even about Hiyori over there."
I didn't tell them the rules for preferential treatment. I just told them about the preferential treatment person in their group.
Well, if I say something like that, I'll definitely get into trouble, so I won't say it.
"What are you saying? Now that you told Ryuen-kun about the preferential treatment, I can't trust you."
"I only told him because you said I could tell him. Besides, I think Ryūen would be able to see through the law of preferential treatment even if I didn't tell him."
"That's right. Right after the discussion ended last night, all of Class C, including me, showed Ryuen-kun our phones, so it's bound to happen sooner rather than later."
Hiyori says so. Yeah, I thought he would definitely do it.
Horikita narrows her eyes at those words.
"That's a violation!"
''Under the rules, it is prohibited to obtain information through threats, and if consent is obtained, we will not touch on prohibited matters. And in order to win the special exam, we C-class readily accept Ryuen-kun's request.''
"Just like Hiyori said it's not a violation of the rules."
Well, only the ruler, Ryuen, could do such a thing. If you look at the cellphones of other classes, you'll have to throw them away, but if Ryuen does whatever he wants within the C class, there's no problem.
If you don't complain to the school about threats, that means you agree.
"...He's crazy."
"I guess. But that madness is one of Ryūen's weapons, and one of the reasons why D class is inferior to other classes."
"...What does that mean?"
"It's just as I said. Leaders in classes A to C have their weapons. Arisu from class A has overwhelming thinking ability and charisma, Ichinose from class B has high brainwashing ability that strengthens the bonds between her classmates, The C-class Ryūen seems to rule by violence.The D-class, on the other hand, have no weapons. Hirata and Kushida may have leadership abilities, but they are just ticking time bombs and stupid clowns when compared to Archangel Ichinose.''
I don't deny that there are many quirks in class D, but I think it's true that both Hirata and Kushida are bombs that could explode if you step on their bottom line.
"In your case, your grades are good, but that's it. You're just a smart girl. So, I think that pervert name Ayanokoji was responsible for most of the desert island incident, right?"
I can only think so. I don't know what kind of person Ayanokoji is, but since Arisu says she's known him for a long time, there's no doubt that he's no ordinary person.
No, in fact far from ordinary, he is creepy!
Arisu is indifferent to things she doesn't find attractive.
"...That's why you're aiming for A class on your own, right?"
"That's right. If you're lucky, you might be able to win in class B and C, but class A will be tough."
I think there is a chance of winning in A class, if Arisu and Katsuragi are competing against each other, but I think it will be difficult to win against A class when Arisu is in complete control, which stands at the top of the class.
"Even if that's the case, I don't understand. Why do you want to move up to A-class quickly? There's no guarantee that the current A-class will remain A-class when we reach our third year. If you think about it normally, even if you want to move up to A class on your own, I think you should do it right before making a recommendation or looking for a job.''
Well, that's usually the case. It wouldn't be funny if you got into class A but failed in class B.
"Normally. But in my case, Arisu told me, ''I want to move up to A class as soon as possible and spend time as classmates,'' so I'm just trying to get to A class as soon as possible."
To be honest, I'm not that interested in school backup. The reason I originally wanted to go to this school was because I wanted to get away from my family and my middle school students.
That's why I don't care when I move up to class A, I just want to go to the same class as Arisu.
Some of the D-class students are decent, but there are too many time-bombs and idiots in my class, and I don't want to get involved with them.
"Are you going to class A so quickly for such a stupid reason? Are you crazy?"
"Say whatever you want. Even if it's not trivial to you, it's important to me."
Values vary from person to person. If I think I'm good, I don't care what other people say.
"Let's get back to the topic. I haven't told anyone about the Law of Favorites. Therefore, I didn't tell Masumi about the Law of Favorites about yesterday's Pig group either. You're free to doubt it, but this is the truth. Rather than that, if you have time to sell oil in a place like this, why don't you take measures against the remaining four groups?''
"There's no need to tell me. I have to wipe my ass off from your selfish actions."
"I don't remember it. I got proper consent, so there's no problem."
With that said, I lead the two of them to the massage corner. They tried to separate the men and women, but two of them said they could do it together, so the three of them ended up having the massage together.
but...
"Ah...mm..."
"Huh... Anh..."
Hiyori and Masumi who were receiving massages on either side of me were making extremely erotic voices, and I couldn't think of anything about the massage I was receiving.
Moreover, all of them were dressed in swimsuits, and Hiyori and Masumi were wearing bikini-type swimsuits, but the straps on the back had been removed.
Being sandwiched between a half-naked Hiyori and Masumi, not only does my body feel good, but my rationality seems to be blown away.
"Hey, you guys. Don't make such erotic moaning sounds. It's seriously going to blow my mind away."
"I'm sorry...mm..."
"It feels better than I expected...mmmm."
"I see. But I want to meet Arisu soon..."
Entertainment on the ship isn't bad, but since it's a ship, there are only so many places to play, and I want to meet Arisu soon and play chess.
Besides, I also want to be teased by Arisu. I don't deny that I sometimes get irritated when I'm teased, but it's true that there are parts of me that feel unsatisfactory without Arisu.
"...You really care about Sakayanagi."
"I don't deny it. That's why I feel lonely."
"Hmm... Hachiman, if it was me who was absent instead of Sakayanagi... would you feel lonely?"
Masumi has an unusually anxious look in her eyes. In response to Masumi's question, I...
"Well, I guess I'll be lonely."
"Thank you."
When I answered that, Masumi played with her hair. That's what it looks like again.
I was embarrassed to answer, but I thought it was okay if I could see Masumi's expression like that.
"Hachiman-kun. Were you sad when I was absent?"
"Are you asking that question too...I feel lonely, do you have anything to complain about?"
"No. I'm really happy."
Hiyori smiles. That's a violation...
In the end, I was so nervous about their attitude that I couldn't benefit from Niharu-sensei's massage.