6.6

For Ryūen, losing wasn't painful.

Even if he lost once, it was okay if he won the second time.

Even if he lost a hundred times, it was okay as long as he won in the end.

That was how he had lived his life, but one day, a big obstacle stood in front of Ryūen.

The guy looked like a fool that you could find anywhere, but inside, he was keeping a beast.

No, Ryūen thought such an expression was far too mild.

How best to describe it—that answer was still unclear.

But it was certain that among all the people he'd seen up until then, he was the most powerful and brutal.

He wasn't a person that was in a realm obtainable by living an ordinary life.

Over one year had passed since he was defeated by that man, Ayanokōji, and his spirit was broken.

The overwhelming difference in ability—that was probably why there was hardly any emotion similar to hatred welling up.

When he interacted with Ayanokōji, strangely enough, there was no sense of discomfort.

That was probably because even if Ryūen denied it on the surface… No, that's not it.

Deep down, he was acknowledging Ayanokōji's unique abilities.

But he repeatedly told himself not to misunderstand.

Ryūen did not intend to remain under him.

Before Ayanokōji graduates from this school and disappears from his sight, he would definitely pay him back for his defeat.

To do this, he first had to get rid of the clutter.

He decided that it would be necessary to suppress Sakayanagi, who had been reigning as the leader of Class A.

In effect, Sakayanagi was the only obstacle.

And then, after achieving that, he would defeat Ayanokōji.

This had become Ryūen Kakeru's goal to accomplish at this school.

He would never stop until then.

Right after the second half of the exam started, Ryūen, who had been calmly focusing in on Sakayanagi's main entourage during his turn, stood up from his seat.

"Well then—it's about time to start. Move over."

"W-wait a minute!?"

Ryūen pushed aside Hoshinomiya, the teacher in charge, and sat down on the platform.

"It's the second half. The difference in points is only ten. In other words, catching up is possible if you get a perfect score a few times. I can count on you guys, right?"

The leader's oppressive demand allowed for no mistakes, no matter what tasks came their way.

Of course, hard work wouldn't be necessary if the ratio of correct answers could rise based on that threat alone.

(Illustration)

"Don't joke around. It's not just the class's problem. Ryūen, you must understand that it's hard for other classes to get perfect scores too. As a leader, you should use your wisdom to protect as many people as possible."

Among all the students who didn't say anything back, Tokitō fearlessly expressed his discontent.

"Kuku! You've made mistakes twice and now have no room for more. If you fail, you'll be the first to be nominated for expulsion among the rebellious types like you."

"...!"

"But don't worry. From here on out, as you wish, I'll show you how things unfold."

"What do you mean?"

"The part where I said 'I can count on you guys' was a lie."

Ryūen turned back, confirmed that the monitor had switched, and was told that Sakayanagi's nomination was completed. It was his turn now to protect five candidates.

The category that the opponent chose was 'Sports.' Moreover, they spent two points to raise the difficulty to three.

Ryūen wouldn't give even a single point to their class. The students were flustered by Class A's unrelenting attack.

However, Ryūen was the only one who seemed unperturbed and even a bit pleased.

"Katsuragi, Shiina, Tokitō, Nomura, Ibuki. Get on with it," he commanded without hesitation, regardless of the category or difficulty.

"Hey, be respectful when addressing the teacher," Hoshinomiya interjected, hurrying to input the names that Ryūen had called out, thus finalizing the defensive side's moves.

Meanwhile, among the students, there was speculation.

Was Ryūen's swift decision-making designed to avoid getting caught in Sakayanagi's tactics?

They waited anxiously for the results.

Defensive's Successfully Protected Members:

'Katsuragi Kōhei,' 'Shiina Hiyori,' 'Tokitō Hiroya,' 'Nomura Yuji,' 'Ibuki Mio'

"W-What...?"

Tokitō, who had been standing there glaring at Ryūen, was shocked to see the result.

His decisive, immediate answer was successful, resulting in a perfect score.

"Gambling can be fun. It's like randomly tossing a dice."

In the following 12th turn, Ryūen once again continued to announce the five names for the protection slots.

As a result, all the students were successfully protected again, showing a tremendous turnaround in just two turns.

The same was true for the 13th and 14th turns.

Even if Sakayanagi's nominations were dispersed, they all stuck together like guided missiles, and Ryūen's selections were all successfully defended.

"Heh. It seems you can't do anything, Sakayanagi."

Even before the start of this special exam, what Ryūen valued was completely different from the other leaders.

How much he could mask the smell of a beast. How much he could corner the prey without letting it sense the fangs approaching from directly behind… That was all.

By having overcome the first half, he scored a win, hence, he launched a full-scale reversal.

"What is happening...!?"

There was no doubt that there was a trick.

But even Hoshinomiya, the teacher in charge of the class, didn't know what it was.