"You also think her way of speaking is strange, right?"

"No... do I have to say it out loud?"

"If it's about me, then there's no need."

Honami Ichinose sighed as if she had a headache, then raised another question.

"Actually, for Sakayanagi-san, ending it all at once would be the best outcome, right? If she stops now, wouldn't it be a wasted opportunity? As long as you end the exam quickly, Class C's offensive would be rendered moot."

She wasn't wrong.

This was indeed the best opportunity for Arisu Sakayanagi and Kakeru Ryuen to take advantage of Kaoru Mitoma's lack of response and seize control of the entire exam.

"Aside from Class A's VIPs, there are still six groups left," Kaoru Mitoma held up two fingers.

"Among them, the Snake Group and the Sheep Group are both Class C's VIPs. Tonight, Shiina-san agreed to your proposal, which means that Ryuen behind her wants to gain more benefits and doesn't want all the VIPs in his class to be wiped out."

The Snake Group's VIP is a Class C student?

Although it was a bit surprising, considering that even the entire Class A knew about it, it wasn't strange for Kaoru Mitoma to tell her this now.

The only thing that bothered her was that Kaoru Mitoma had been watching her efforts from the sidelines.

It was a bit embarrassing and somewhat frustrating.

"Sakayanagi-san's goal is probably to preserve Class A's VIPs, allowing Class C to act freely. Meanwhile, Ryuen, in order to make up for the losses from the uninhabited island exam, merely attacking Class B and Class D isn't enough. Especially knowing that Class A also knows the answers, he needs to protect the VIPs in his own class."

Kaoru Mitoma calmly analyzed the thought processes of the two.

Arisu Sakayanagi, out of caution, secretly conspired with Ryuen alone.

She must have understood the consequences of ending the entire exam on the first day.

If everyone was wiped out, only Class A's VIPs would remain until the end and achieving Outcome One would become significantly more difficult.

Whether it was due to internal suspicion within Class A or considering the presence of Class B and Class D, Arisu Sakayanagi clearly couldn't be so overt.

Therefore, she likely exchanged information about the VIPs for Ryuen's promise, ensuring that he wouldn't attack Class A and that they would cooperate to achieve Outcome One.

Ryuen must also be well aware that completely annihilating the opponent on the first day would lead to their alliance.

Therefore, he must have reached another agreement with Arisu Sakayanagi—to take it slow and pretend not to know about Class A's plan.

"Theoretically, their best opportunity should be during the final discussion, when Class A is completely unprepared. If someone beats them to it, they might not even have time to react," Kaoru Mitoma chuckled.

"But doing so is very risky. For Ryuen, he would have to endure Class A's attacks on Class C for the first two days and on the final day, he would have to race against Class A for time. It's too much to bear."

"So, Class C only attacked one group tonight, planning to act like bystanders?" Honami Ichinose was also pondering Ryuen Kakeru's intentions.

"Sakayanagi has no control over Class C. This idea must be Ryuen's own decision, at most, he might have informed her."

Hearing this, Honami Ichinose's expression turned strange.

If her class hadn't been attacked twice tonight, she would probably have dismissed it as a strange coincidence.

However, this had already alerted the enemy.

Kaoru Mitoma held her small hand as they walked to the railing of the deck.

The cool, slightly salty sea breeze brushed against their faces, tousling her long hair, while the scent of citrus grew stronger.

"Although Sakayanagi appears composed, it also shows that she has limited options. Because she was a bit slow, she's now in a passive position."

Honami Ichinose secretly glanced at his face and found that his serious expression seemed somewhat handsome.

Things like licking feet or playing with breasts were just too perverse for her to accept.

"Are you going to launch a counterattack now?"

"We could, but we could also ignore her," Kaoru Mitoma shook his head. "Apart from Katsuragi expressing concern to me, most of Class A's students don't care at all, treating it as just an unexpected incident."

Honami Ichinose was momentarily stunned, but then she realized that for Class A's students, who hadn't lost a single exam in months, it was inevitable that their vigilance would have waned.

"Given the current situation, countering her and Ryuen early could minimize losses..."

Seeing Kaoru Mitoma's thoughtful expression, Honami Ichinose also tried to help her boyfriend think of a strategy.

But as he said, if they didn't strike back now, would they just sit back and wait for Class C and Class A to compete for class points?

"Actually, it's not that complicated. The proposal to end one or two group exams each day, trying not to alert the enemy, was ours. Agreeing to let her attempt Result One was also our decision. Now, suddenly ending most group exams early would naturally disrupt her preparations for completing Result One."

As he spoke, Kaoru Mitoma gently caressed her small hand.

"Isn't that better?" Honami Ichinose blushed slightly.

It was the first time she had appeared before him in such a state and she couldn't help feeling nervous, yet also anticipating what he might do.

"Failing because of your own actions and failing because of someone else's actions are two different things," Kaoru Mitoma said. "The latter could allow her to take the victim's stance and potentially blame me and Katsuragi."

Due to the sudden termination of the group exam for classes other than Class A, it was bound to raise vigilance among the other classes, thereby preventing Arisu Sakayanagi from achieving Outcome One.

Therefore, Katsuragi had to provide a reason that would satisfy her.

Under these circumstances, it was not impossible to guide the class's public opinion and question Katsuragi based on the final prestige.

This was also what Arisu Sakayanagi referred to as a draw in chess, where a draw between both sides is a common occurrence.

"So, is this Sakayanagi-san's goal?" Honami Ichinose pursed her lips.

"Your class... it's so strange. There's really no need to treat your own classmates like this, right?"

The intense internal strife within Class A was something Honami Ichinose couldn't imagine.

She found it unbelievable.

Shouldn't everyone in the class work together?

"The strange one is you. The more Class A fights internally, the more advantageous it is for you, isn't it?"

"But this will create rifts among many Class A students. Just because they follow different leaders, they have to exclude and oppose each other. Isn't that painful?"

"Don't you have cliques in your class?"

"What?"

Seeing Honami Ichinose tilt her head, Kaoru Mitoma realized he had asked the wrong person.

For her, there couldn't possibly be any cliques in the class.

"Speaking of which, I just met Sakayanagi-san. She told me about her thoughts on the VIPs and Outcome One," Honami Ichinose suddenly said.

Kaoru Mitoma smiled faintly and asked, "Regardless of what she told you, after hearing all this, what do you think now?"

Honami Ichinose pouted.

From the class's perspective, of course, she her class to go down with you class A!

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