167 -166- The only person you can trust is yourself

From the very beginning, Ryuen Kakeru planned to put on a show in front of Nanaya Hori.

In order to send Ibuki Mio into Class D, Ryuen Kakeru didn't mention his plan to anyone. Even Ibuki Mio and Kaneda Satoru, who were supposed to carry out the mission, were only acting under Ryuen Kakeru's orders to infiltrate and find the leaders. Ryuen Kakeru didn't disclose other preparations, such as cooperation with Katsuragi Kouhei or games with Hori.

Ryuen Kakeru knew very well that in front of Hori, any flaw would lead to defeat. This realization had been deeply ingrained in Ryuen Kakeru's heart since the violent incident.

Therefore, Ryuen Kakeru didn't reveal his plan to anyone, only letting Ibuki Mio and Kaneda Satoru carry out the infiltration while handling all other preparations himself.

For example, Ishizaki Daichi's appearance in Class D's camp was guided by Ryuen Kakeru to convey the "appearance of dissenters from Class C" and "the identity of the dissenter" to Hori.

Once Hori learned about Ibuki Mio and Kaneda Satoru from Ishizaki Daichi, he would definitely want to gather intelligence. And there was Kushida Kikyou in Class D. Ryuen Kakeru naturally couldn't overlook Hori's understanding of other classes and his close relationship with Kushida.

Therefore, Ryuen Kakeru concluded that once Hori learned about Ibuki Mio and Kaneda Satoru from Ishizaki Daichi, Hori would surely learn about the situation from Kushida Kikyou.

At that time, Ryuen Kakeru's first goal would be achieved.

That is, to let "Ibuki Mio and Kaneda Satoru's situation with Class C" reach Hori's ears.

If a random person were chosen as a spy, even if they did a perfect job, others would suspect them. But Ibuki Mio and Kaneda Satoru had been out of place with their classmates since the beginning of the school year.

Once this information reached others, even if these two clashed with Ryuen Kakeru, resulting in their expulsion from the camp, it wouldn't seem abrupt at all.

Given this, Ryuen Kakeru chose these two people.

And in order for Ishizaki Daichi to perform well in front of Hori, Ryuen Kakeru didn't even give instructions to Ishizaki Daichi. He simply guided Ishizaki Daichi naturally to find Ibuki Mio and Kaneda Satoru.

In other words, Ishizaki Daichi didn't deliberately act. His performance in front of Hori was genuine.

If it weren't for this, with Ishizaki Daichi's ability, Hori would have seen through it at any moment.

Just like Totsuka Yahiko from Class A, both of them were no different from useless people in Ryuen Kakeru's eyes, only to be utilized.

Even Ishizaki Daichi finding Class D's camp was guided by Ryuen Kakeru.

To ensure that Ishizaki Daichi saw the smoke rising from Class D's campfire from the cliff in the forest, Ryuen Kakeru had put in a lot of effort.

Thanks to this, Ishizaki Daichi could remain unnoticed in front of Hori.

At the same time, knowing that Class C had problems, Hori would surely go to Class C's camp to investigate, right?

At that time, it would be Ryuen Kakeru's turn to act.

(In this school, only Nanaya realized that I was really aiming for personal points, not class points.)

In that case, Ryuen Kakeru could boldly declare in front of Hori that he had already given up the special exam.

Perhaps others would find it hard to understand why Class C would give up such a good opportunity.

But Hori, who knew Ryuen Kakeru's true purpose, wouldn't think so.

So, what Ryuen Kakeru needed to do was to let Hori know that he had completely given up the special exam.

In this way, with Class C itself having given up the exam, the likelihood of others suspecting Ibuki Mio and Kaneda Satoru would be minimized.

For this reason, after squandering the remaining 100 points from the trade with Class A, Ryuen Kakeru used all of them except for preparing digital cameras for Ibuki Mio and Kaneda Satoru and using them as chips for the trade with Katsuragi Kouhei, all the rest were used for entertainment, creating a scene where Class C willingly fell into decadence.

Then, the remaining members of Class C were no longer needed.

To prevent unnecessary errors caused by extra people, Ryuen Kakeru had everyone abstain and return to the ship, which would also make people from other classes believe that Class C really lacked enthusiasm for the special exam.

Next, it was time for Ibuki Mio and Kaneda Satoru to make their appearance.

With so much preparation, others' suspicion of Ibuki Mio and Kaneda Satoru would be close to zero.

Moreover, there were many "kind" peoples in Classes B and D, so it wouldn't be too difficult for the two of them to infiltrate under these circumstances.

The reason Ryuen Kakeru said that Ibuki Mio's infiltration succeeded precisely because it was Hori lay here.

(Knowing that the man who knew I was targeting personal points wouldn't suspect my giving up the special exam, and knowing Ibuki's personality from Kushida, he wouldn't suspect Ibuki's conflict with me.)

In summary, all of these were carefully planned by Ryuen Kakeru specifically to eliminate Hori's suspicions and defenses.

As for Kaneda Satoru's infiltration, it was much simpler than Ibuki Mio's.

(Well, after all, Ichinose herself is an irredeemable goody two shoes.)

Of course, there were still unforeseen events for Ryuen Kakeru.

For example, it was surprising that Hori actually controlled the actions of the entire D class, leading the entire class. Originally, in Ryuen Kakeru's plan, Hori, who was not interested in class competition, wouldn't even make a decision on whether or not to admit Ibuki Mio to the D class; instead, it would be up to those useless individuals in the D class to push it forward.

Who would have thought that in the end, it was Hori who made the decision, which truly surprised Ryuen Kakeru.

(Fortunately, it still worked out in the end.)

Although it was quite surprising that Hori readily agreed to admit Ibuki Mio, which made Ryuen Kakeru quite suspicious at one point, the key card couldn't deceive anyone.

The name engraved on the key card was unmistakably the leader.

(Even if Nanaya didn't completely eliminate his guard against Ibuki, it might not have been the same if he had chosen that useless person.)

That's why Ryuen Kakeru said that Hori and Katsuragi Kouhei were the same, choosing the wrong person.

Katsuragi Kouhei chose Totsuka Yahiko as the leader, but in the end, Totsuka Yahiko's personal incompetence led to his identity being exposed due to a successful probe.

Hori chose Ayanokouji Kiyotaka as the leader, but in the end, due to the slight rapport between Ayanokouji Kiyotaka and Ibuki Mio, a momentary oversight led to the exposure.

(In this world, the only person you can trust is yourself.)

Let me teach you this point well, Nanaya.

Thinking of this, Ryuen Kakeru raised his eyes and looked at Katsuragi Kouhei, taking out a contract from his pocket.

"No matter what, I've already told you the identities of the leaders of Class B and Class D, and provided physical evidence. Whether you want to give up guessing the leaders, that's your own business, it has nothing to do with me. You wouldn't want to say that because of your own mistakes, you couldn't guess the situation of the leader of Class D, this deal has failed, right?"

Ryuen Kakeru provoked Katsuragi Kouhei.

"...Yeah, this is our own mistake, there's no reason to blame it on you."

Katsuragi Kouhei remained silent for a moment, then nodded.

"Understood, the deal is successful then."

After saying that, Katsuragi Kouhei took the contract and signed his name on it.

Seeing this, Ryuen Kakeru smiled.

This scene, only Ibuki Mio could see.

And Ibuki Mio knew.

The one being manipulated wasn't just Class B and Class D.

The man named Ryuen Kakeru wouldn't trust anyone.

Therefore, he wouldn't cooperate with anyone, only antagonize everyone.

The same goes for Class A.