Practical teaching: Starting from the soul traveling through Dragon Garden

Chapter 449 Sakayanagi's Purpose?
"By the way, Fanbo, is there something you need from me?"

Ichinose's expression became awkward. It was already strange enough that she was here. Ryuen had asked her very tactfully because she was his girlfriend. After all, no matter how you looked at it, Ichinose's appearance was premeditated.

"Can I not say it?"

Ichinose lowered her head.

"Is it that you don't want to talk about it? Or that you can't talk about it?"

Ryuen wasn't angry that Ichinose was trying to hide something from her; her current attitude at least showed that she didn't want to deceive her.

Ichinose remained silent, pursing her lips, unsure how to answer, and Ryuen didn't press her further.

"Okay, I understand. I won't ask anymore. If there's nothing else, I'll head back now."

Just as Ryuen was about to leave, Ichinose grabbed his sleeve: "Ryuen-kun, are you angry?"

"You know I'm not easily angered. Besides, I'm very tolerant of you. Don't underestimate your importance in my heart."

Ryuen pinched Ichinose's cheek. Everyone has their own secrets, and no matter how gentle Ichinose is, she is still a little girl. Ryuen has seen how complicated a little girl's mind can be, so Ryuen is very tolerant of Ichinose now, and Ryuen has also guessed a little bit about it.

Ichinose was moved, but still found it difficult to speak. She didn't want to deceive Ryuen, but keeping it from him was also agonizing for her, as it was, in a sense, a betrayal.

So, after hesitating for a while, Ichinose decided to inform Ryuen.

However, before Ichinose could speak, Ryuen said first: "Sakayanagi sent you, didn't he?"

"How did you know?"

Ichinose was somewhat surprised.

"So, it was Sakayanagi who told you not to tell me that she was the one who sent you to find me?"

“That’s right, but I don’t understand. She just asked me to come to you, without telling me anything special, yet she asked me to keep this a secret from you.”

Ichinose lowered her head dejectedly: "I don't know what the point of Sakayanagi asking me to do this is, but I did it anyway. Am I causing you trouble?"

Ichinose now felt incredibly stupid. How could he have agreed to Sakayanagi's request? Now, he had not only broken his promise to Sakayanagi to keep it a secret, but he had also hurt Ryuen. After all, Ichinose had just intended to keep it from Ryuen, and he felt guilty towards Ryuen.

Long Yuan took out his phone, glanced at the time, and saw that the morning's freestyle tournament had already ended.

"Looks like we were tricked by Sakayanagi."

Ryuen tapped Ichinose on the head: "Alright, don't be so downcast. It was all a scheme by that woman Sakayanagi. You were tricked by her from the very beginning."

Ichinose realized this as well, but he wasn't quite sure what Sakayanagi had planned. He had only come to find Ryuen and rescued Yamamura on the side. Other than that, he hadn't done anything or lost anything.

Wait a minute, Yamamura!
Ichinose's brain started working.

"Yamamura's goal is to stall you! And Sakayanagi knows she can't do it alone, so she sent me!"

Ryuen snapped her fingers: "You guessed right. Too bad there's no prize. Sakayanagi's so-called secrecy didn't mean she expected you to keep it a secret. She guessed you'd be conflicted about it, which is exactly what she wanted. That way, Ichinose, you'd waste a lot of time here with me because of your indecision, and Sakayanagi's goal would be achieved." "So what do we do now?"

Ichinose was panicked because she knew she had really done something wrong, and she hoped she could do something to make amends.

"So be it. Since Sakayanagi wants to stall me here, it's not hard to guess her purpose. She must be someone in the exam hall. She's worried I'll interfere with the morning's free play. Could it be Kito?"

Ryuen shook her head, denying her own idea. Sakayanagi's goal was definitely not Kito. After all, Kito was Sakayanagi's subordinate. If she wanted Kito to lose the match, it would only take a word. Moreover, if it were Kito, Sakayanagi's attempt to stall Ryuen would be meaningless.

Ryuen believes that Sakayanagi's goal is to win the championship, so as her biggest rival, she will definitely try to make Ryuen's group lose the free match. However, in the morning free match, only Ryuen's group Kito participated, so there is no reason for Sakayanagi to arrange for Yamamura and Ichinose to restrain Ryuen.

Seeing Ryuen deep in thought and whispering, Ichinose interrupted him quietly: "Ryuen-kun, I think Sakayanagi's goal in this exam isn't to get first place."

"Ok?"

Ryuen looked up at Ichinose: "Why?"

"Although there is no evidence, I saw absolutely no desire for first place when I was with Sakayanagi. She seemed... no, she absolutely would not get first place."

In the Ryuen group, Nishino, who is in the same class, is "Oni". Could it be that Sakayanagi's goal is to make the Ryuen group win first place and then have Nishino drop out of school to weaken the Ryuen group's strength?
Ryuen thought this was possible, but that didn't explain why Sakayanagi would arrange for Yamamura and Ichinose to restrain her. After all, if Sakayanagi's goal was really to let Ryuen's team win the championship, then she would let Kito get more points, and there would be no need to restrain Ryuen. Even if Ryuen went on the field and made Kito lose the game, Kito would definitely not listen to Ryuen, but would listen to Sakayanagi's goal.

If that is truly Sakayanagi's purpose, then she would deliberately lose to Kito, or arrange for someone else to lose to Kito.

Long Yuan jogged back and asked Gui Tou, "How did it go?"

Kito looked somewhat embarrassed. Kikyo approached Ryuen and whispered in his ear, "Kito-kun, he stood there without moving from beginning to end, until the exam was over."

"So that means neither of you has challenged you, nor have you challenged anyone else?"

Longyuan really didn't expect this to happen.

Watanabe tried to smooth things over: "The result isn't unacceptable. So many groups lost because of greed and didn't get any points. At least Kito got two points, which is pretty good."

"Yes, yes."

The other girls were also encouraging Kito, and Nishino was mixed in with them, only opening his mouth but not making a sound.

"I'd rather you lose to someone else directly, or keep winning."

In this situation, Ryuen couldn't understand what Sakayanagi's purpose was at all, because Kito's performance clearly showed that he hadn't received any guidance from Sakayanagi. In other words, Sakayanagi's target wasn't the Ryuen group, so who could it be?
"Sakayanagi also participated in the morning's competition, right? How is she doing?"

Ryuen asked Ayanokouji about the situation, as Ryuen had asked him to observe the situation of several participants before the competition.

"They won all their matches and got the highest score of sixteen points, making them the group with the highest score so far."

Ayako reported expressionlessly.

It's both reasonable and unexpected. After all, Ichinose had previously said that Sakayanagi's goal wasn't to be number one, but now he's temporarily number one. Could it be that Ichinose has been outmaneuvered by Sakayanagi again?
(End of this chapter)