Chapter 84: Dust Settles, The Final Discussion

"Huh?"

Upon hearing Saiki's words, Karuizawa Kei was momentarily stunned, seemingly unable to fully comprehend what he had just said.

"If you encounter any unexpected situations in the future, just contact me directly. But don't go out of your way to cause trouble anymore."

Saiki paused briefly before continuing,

"As for the matter with Manabe, I'll handle it. They shouldn't bother you again."

Saiki knew that given Manabe Shiho's malicious personality, she and her group would likely seek an opportunity to retaliate against Karuizawa Kei in an even more terrifying manner.

However, it seemed that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had recorded their attempt to bully Karuizawa Kei. Perhaps this could be used to put an end to Manabe Shiho's actions.

"Also, that girl named Rika, I suggest you apologize to her. I can help you get her contact information."

"But..."

"If that's not possible, just send her an apology message."

Saiki said.

To Saiki, these two matters were separate. Even Karuizawa Kei shouldn't bully others just to protect herself.

Karuizawa Kei wanted to say something more, but in the end, she couldn't bring herself to speak. She simply pursed her lips and nodded.

"Well, that's it then. I'll head back now. Thanks for today."

Saiki said to Karuizawa Kei, then prepared to leave.

But at that moment, Karuizawa Kei spoke up again, stopping Saiki:

"Oh, Saiki-kun... um... I'm the Privileged Student in this group..."

"Hmm, I see. Let's discuss the exam strategy together tonight."

...

After returning to his dorm, Saiki immediately sought out Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and informed him that Karuizawa Kei was the Privileged Student.

"I see, so Karuizawa is the Privileged Student?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka wasn't particularly surprised.

"Now that we know who the Privileged Student is, you can decide what to do next."

Saiki said.

Almost simultaneously, Saiki heard Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's thoughts.

[At this point, although Chabashira-sensei's words are becoming less credible, it's still better to take a more conservative approach. I'll put in some effort for this exam.]

[Since Karuizawa is our leader, our goal is to mislead the others—especially Class A.]

[The best way to confirm the Privileged Student is to directly check the phone messages. This is the best way to mislead them. Although the SIM card is tied to each phone, it's possible to unbind it by spending points. Then, while switching SIM cards, we can also switch phones with others, creating a double layer of deception—and the first layer of deception needs to be discovered by the others, so they'll have a hard time uncovering the second layer of the trap, fully believing what they see.]

'So fast...'

Saiki couldn't help but marvel inwardly. In the few seconds after he revealed the identity of the Privileged Student, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had already come up with a plan to pass the exam.

"Well, I've roughly thought of a strategy. Tomorrow is the last day of this special exam, and the results will be announced afterward."

"Oh, and one more thing, Ayanokoji. You recorded the video of Manabe and Karuizawa earlier, right?"

"Yeah."

"Send me a copy."

"Understood."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka nodded.

[It seems Saiki is going to take action.]

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka thought to himself as he sent the recording to Saiki.

...

That night, Saiki used the method he had seen in Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's mind. Using an anonymous account, he sent a message to Manabe Shiho, threatening her with the recording and demanding that she and her group stop any further bullying of Karuizawa Kei.

In this school, once bullying is exposed, the consequences for the bullies would be dire.

However, Karuizawa Kei was unwilling to report the incident, as doing so would expose everything she had endured, ruining the image she had carefully built over the semester.

So Saiki directly used the recording to threaten Manabe Shiho.

Since Saiki also appeared at the end of the recording, Manabe Shiho wouldn't suspect that he was the one who recorded it.

"Who are you?!"

Manabe Shiho sent a series of questions, but Saiki didn't respond. Instead, he used his clairvoyance to see Manabe Shiho, who was holding her phone with a look of panic on her face.

'Yare yare, it seems to be somewhat effective.'

Saiki thought to himself, but his actions weren't over yet.

After Manabe Shiho fell asleep that night, Saiki flooded her mind with negative examples of school bullying.

Just as he had done with Sudo Ken before.

'This should settle things completely.'

After resolving everything, Saiki could finally take a breather.

...

The next day, the final meeting of the special exam.

After this meeting, the outcome of the exam would be decided, though the results wouldn't be announced until that evening.

Saiki arrived early at the meeting room. This was likely the last exam of the school trip, and after this, he could finally enjoy some free time during the summer vacation.

The others gradually arrived at the meeting room—including Karuizawa Kei.

"Good morning, Saiki!"

Karuizawa Kei greeted Saiki with a bright smile, waving at him before sitting down right next to him, appearing somewhat intimate.

'Could you not sit right next to me?'

Saiki inwardly groaned, knowing full well that Karuizawa Kei's actions would once again draw unnecessary attention to him.

[What's going on? That troublemaker Karuizawa... actually greeted Saiki on her own?]

Both Yukimura Teruhiko and Sotomura Hideo were shocked by what they saw.

[Has Saiki completely taken control of Karuizawa?]

On the other side, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka observed Saiki from a distance.

[If it were me, I'd need to create a more critical situation to ensure Karuizawa fully obeys me. But Saiki has already done it. Impressive.]

'What is this even about...'

Saiki sighed inwardly.

At that moment, Manabe Shiho and her group also entered the meeting room.

[I hope these guys don't start any trouble...]

The moment they entered, everyone in the room thought the same thing.

Manabe Shiho and the other two walked straight toward Karuizawa Kei, causing her heart to race. Her body instinctively leaned slightly toward Saiki, and a hint of fear flashed in her eyes.

But then, Karuizawa Kei noticed that Manabe Shiho had dark circles under her eyes, and her complexion looked terrible.

"Um, Karuizawa-san... I was out of line before... I'm really sorry..."

Manabe Shiho and the other two bowed deeply to Karuizawa Kei, their tone sincere and even somewhat humble.

"Huh?"

Karuizawa Kei was completely taken aback, never expecting Manabe Shiho to apologize so sincerely.

"Um... I was also in the wrong... I sent a message to that friend of yours, Rika, yesterday..."

Karuizawa Kei responded.

"I... I see. Then let's consider this matter settled..."

Manabe Shiho's eyes revealed a faint trace of fear.

"Yeah... let's consider it settled..."

After speaking, Manabe Shiho and her group returned to their seats, seemingly distracted.

[Manabe... after what happened yesterday, she's apologizing to me today? What's going on? Could it be...]

Karuizawa Kei turned to look at Saiki beside her, recalling what he had said to her the day before.

[Could it be... that Saiki did something?]

"Well, let's begin today's meeting."

"Yeah."

With that, everyone began the final discussion about the exam.

This was the last meeting, and it would determine the outcome of the exam for their group.

The exam proceeded just as Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had anticipated. The group members decided to reveal the information in their phones to determine the Privileged Student's identity. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had already switched phones with Yukimura Teruhiko, leading the others to initially believe that Yukimura was the Privileged Student.

However, this trap was quickly discovered by Ichinose Honami.

Ichinose Honami saw through the phone-switching ploy and publicly exposed it.

Just as Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had predicted, this was a tactic to make others believe that Ayanokoji was the real Privileged Student.

But Saiki knew that Ichinose Honami had not only seen through this layer but had also uncovered the second layer of the trap involving the SIM card switch.

However, Ichinose Honami didn't reveal this. Instead, she played along with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Saiki, acting out the charade.

As long as the Privileged Student's name was revealed at the end of the exam, everyone would receive a large amount of personal points.

But if a traitor emerged, the outcome would be completely different.

Although Ichinose Honami had previously expressed hope that their group could achieve a win-win outcome, Saiki noticed that she no longer seemed to think that way.

She also wanted to use this opportunity to strike a blow against Class A.

This surprised Saiki slightly. Although he had known Ichinose Honami for some time, he hadn't expected her abilities to be this sharp.

"I hope no one betrays us!"

As Ichinose Honami finished speaking, the school broadcast sounded, signaling the end of the meeting's discussion time. Everyone began to leave.

Although everyone claimed they wouldn't betray the group, Saiki clearly heard the thoughts of a certain boy from Class A, who planned to send the Privileged Student's name to the school.

He didn't know it was a trap.

Soon, only Ichinose Honami and Saiki remained in the meeting room.

Saiki wanted to leave quickly, but Ichinose Honami stopped him.

"Saiki-kun, your plan was very successful. I know the SIM card is locked to the device, but there's a way to unlock it, right? I confirmed with Hoshinomiya-sensei, and she said that by spending points, you can immediately unlock it."

Ichinose Honami directly pointed out what she had seen through but hadn't revealed earlier.

"People tend to mistake the answer that appears after a false answer as the truth. By deliberately showing the phone information, Yukimura-kun was never the Privileged Student—the moment this lie was exposed, the fact that Ayanokoji-kun is the Privileged Student would quietly surface. But in reality, your Privileged Student is Karuizawa-san, right?"

"Sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about."

Saiki simply shrugged, pretending to know nothing.

"Ayanokoji and Horikita came up with this strategy, but I wasn't involved, so I don't know the details."

"Really? Karuizawa-san's attitude toward you today has changed quite a bit from before. I don't believe you had nothing to do with it."

"That's really all there is to it."

Saiki replied.

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

"Huh?"

Saiki's indifferent attitude surprised Ichinose Honami. She had expected him to ask why she hadn't revealed those things publicly.

In truth, Saiki really didn't care. He hadn't been heavily involved in this exam. After identifying the Privileged Student, the strategy had been entirely Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's doing.

However, Saiki knew that even if he denied it, Ichinose Honami probably wouldn't fully believe him.

'Yare yare, this shouldn't cause any major issues for now.'

Saiki thought to himself.

"Um... although we're friends, there's one thing I need to tell you, Saiki-kun. Right now, you're in Class B, and we're in Class C. We're no longer allies—we're rivals now."