People bring their own maids to the training camp

"This...is it that powerful?!" Fanbo's eyes widened.

In her own words: "Anyway, I don't need to take any etiquette classes. Fighting is all about having a good, satisfying fight!"

"Waaah! How scary!"

"That's when she's dealing with someone as hot-tempered as Sudo-san. She's usually quite gentle." After all, Chihaya and Hayasaka can handle Kiryuin, so she's naturally forced to be "gentle."

"Haha, after all, suddenly making a move on a girl is indeed a bit..."

Those who know, know. Fanbo didn't put it too bluntly, but he still had some prejudice against such a rude person.

"Later, Suzune said that Sudo had sincerely apologized to her, and that he was also very serious about studying."

"Really? That's great." Honami nodded. "By the way, Chihaya and Horikita-san are already able to call each other by their first names?"

"Because I ran into the brother and sister at the same time once, it was a bit inconvenient to call them by their surnames, so I chose to call the sister Lingyin."

"Oh, I almost forgot, this is indeed more convenient." Fanbo nodded in agreement.

"Oh, by the way, I got a little inside information," Chihaya said quietly.

"Eh?"

"There should be a small special exam in a few days, similar to the one before the midterm exams, but it definitely won't be a knowledge competition."

"Chihaya, who told you that?"

“The student council,” Chihaya said frankly. “President Horikita told me that since I don’t know the details anyway, it doesn’t matter if they tell me this much, because we can’t prepare in advance if we don’t know the details of the competition.”

“That’s true, but no matter what we’re competing in, we have to participate actively.” Fanbo clenched his fist. “Although it doesn’t involve class points, individual points are also very important, especially since we don’t know if they will come in handy in the future.”

"That's what I thought too, so after the exam content was announced, I felt we had to register up to the maximum number of people allowed to register."

"Yes, I think so too, and I believe everyone will understand."

"Last time it was mental, could this time it be related to physical strength?" Honami began to let his thoughts wander. "If that's the case, then Chihaya really needs to go."

"I will definitely participate, but don't expect me to win the championship this time," Chihaya said. "If it's a football or basketball competition, don't expect me to achieve anything."

"I don't think so, right? After all, such a project is not suitable for both boys and girls to participate in. Although girls can play basketball, they are not skilled enough."

"So, Fanbo thinks it's a sport that balances gender roles?"

"And it should be unrelated to the sports meet, for example, it is unlikely to be a relay race."

"That makes sense. Whatever it is, let's wait for the official announcement first."

...........

102. Small Special Examination

"Now I'd like to announce the details of the small special exam in two weeks," said Ms. Hoshinomiya as she stepped onto the podium. "Listen carefully."

"This exam does not involve class points, and participation is entirely voluntary; there are no strict requirements for participation."

"So you're saying there's no registration fee for this special exam?" Shibata blurted out immediately.

“That’s right, but there’s a limit to the number of participants this time. Each class can register a maximum of 4 people. If the number exceeds 4, we need to select from within the class, or decide for ourselves—in short, only 4 names can be reported to me in the end, and it’s required that there be male and female teams.” Teacher Hoshinomiya continued, “Now I’ll talk about the test content. Please wait until I’ve finished before asking any questions.”

"First, teams must consist of one male and one female. If the number of participants is odd, the team will be either paired with another odd-numbered team from another class or will be considered as a substitute for the team from the current class. Next, the most important thing for everyone is the specific content, which the school has named: The Great Flying Chess Battle!"

Upon hearing this name, the students in Class B below the stage all showed rather subtle expressions.

The last knowledge quiz seemed like a fairly formal event, but this time they came up with a board game, which is a bit puzzling.

In particular, Ludo is actually a very simple game, but it requires a lot of luck.

"I know you're all eager, but hold on a minute, this Ludo isn't as simple as it seems," Ms. Hoshinomiya smiled, probably because the students had indeed lived up to her expectations of being shocked. "First, the map is a cube. Each of the four classes starts from one of the four corners. Just like in regular Ludo, you can only start if you roll a six. The winning condition is to complete a lap around the board as quickly as possible." Ms. Hoshinomiya paused after speaking. "Sounds simple, right? But that's just the surface—every square on the map has a special effect. And the significance of the two-person team is that one person is the player and the other plays the piece. The player is responsible for rolling the dice to make decisions, while the piece executes them."

"For example, Shibata is a chess piece, and Princess is the chess player. Shibata moves to a square and has to choose between holding his breath underwater for 30 seconds or slapping himself in the face in order to move forward. Princess is the one who makes the decision."

"Besides this, there are secret items available for use. The method of obtaining them is kept secret, and the trigger for their use is also determined by the players. In addition, when pieces from two classes meet, a duel will be forced: the content of the duel will be determined by a roulette wheel, and the losing side will have to accept a severe punishment. Of course, pieces from the same class will not duel when they meet."

"There are also shortcuts on the map that can help the pieces shorten their journey, but it depends on luck, because shortcuts are not marked on the map. They will only appear when you encounter them, and they are narrow paths that only allow one person to pass at a time."

"Then a piece will be eliminated if it loses three duels. Finally, the pieces are ranked according to the completion time and distance. For example, Shibata finished in 20 dice rolls, Kanzaki in 18, and Kobashi and Amakura did not finish and moved 30 and 40 squares respectively. So the result is that Kanzaki is first, Shibata is second, Amakura is third, and Kobashi is fourth."

The students below looked enlightened. Although it was still based on the framework of Ludo, the content was richer, mainly testing the tacit understanding, adaptability, and overall strength of the two players.

For an all-rounder, such a test is naturally very advantageous, since the content of the duel is not public, and it may be something like English listening comprehension or mental math.

Similarly, students with weak physiques will definitely be at a disadvantage if they are assigned to physical activities such as pull-ups and push-ups, which will also affect their performance in subsequent competitions.

"In short, these are the general rules. Then, the rewards: all teams that successfully complete the competition will receive 10000 personal points per person. In addition, the fastest team will receive 30000 personal points, the second place team will receive 20000 points, the third place team will receive 10000 points, and there will be no extra points for the fourth place team and beyond. Oh, and by the way, all participants will receive two vouchers for the cafeteria's daily meal set meal. We won't let everyone participate for nothing, isn't that a great deal?"

"Alright, the rest of the content I haven't mentioned will be announced on the day of the competition. Students who are not participating don't need to worry. The school will provide a live video stream, which you can watch directly on your mobile phone. Moreover, there will be perspectives from all four classes: A, B, C, and D!"

Now that the basic rules have been explained, the next step is naturally to select the two teams to participate in the competition.

In other classes, some people might fight for points, but Class B always puts the interests of the class before their own, so everyone said that Fanbo could handle this matter.

However, despite saying that, there was actually no reason to hesitate about the selection process.

On the girls' side, it's basically Chihaya and Honami, and on the boys' side, it's Kanzaki and Shibata.

There were no problems with the four candidates, but the question of how to form a team made them hesitate.

Since the requirement is for a team to consist of one male and one female, it is naturally impossible for Chihaya Honami to be in one team and Kanzaki Shibata to be in the other.

"How about we decide on a black-and-white pairing?" Fanbo finally suggested a solution, "No matter what, we won't back out."

The final result was that Chihaya and Kanzaki were paired together, while Honami and Shibata were paired together.

"Then please give me your guidance, Your Highness."

"Yes, nice to meet you, Kanzaki-kun."

"There are still two weeks until the competition. Let's get to know each other better during this time, which will make it easier to cooperate during the competition."

"of course."

Two weeks later, around June 6.15th.

The final exams will be about two weeks after this special exam.

Apart from Class B, the other classes hadn't decided on their representatives so quickly. However, based on her understanding of those three classes, Chihaya could roughly guess what kind of lineups they would send.

Since it didn't involve class points, Chihaya treated it as a regular game and didn't care much about points. He was more concerned about whether this exam would allow him to further study the action logic of the class leaders.

In addition, it's about whether we can discover more talented people.

After all, there aren't any large-scale events now, and many people are just being honest and straightforward. Aside from exam scores, there's really no way to see their other abilities. If they're hiding their talents, there's really no way to assess them.

103. A new month

A new month has arrived, but the first-grade classes have not received their points.

"The reason the points haven't been distributed is probably because Class C made their move," Hayasaka said to Chihaya after preparing breakfast. "It was yesterday, I think, when Ryuen finally made his move."

"Really? So it's Sudo?"

“Yes.” Hayasaka nodded. “From what I understand, it seems that Class C is suing Class D’s Sudo for assaulting a Class C student, so the first-year students won’t receive any points until the specific punishment is announced.”

“I see.” Chihaya nodded in understanding. She would have almost forgotten about this if the points hadn’t been missed. “A wise choice. Punishing Sudo at this time might kill two birds with one stone, preventing Class D from sending Sudo to the next special exam.”

Although many details have not yet been released, based on the currently available information, it is speculated that the players mostly need to have high intelligence, while the pieces need to have excellent physical strength. As someone who can become a regular member of the team in his first year, Sudo's physical strength is definitely among the best in Class D, and he will definitely appear as a piece for Class D.

Do you think Ayanokouji will make an appearance?

“Most likely not, unless it’s as Rin’s partner.” Chihaya waved her hand. “There’s no need for him to participate in a small test that doesn’t involve class points, and he’s probably still thinking about our recruitment proposal.”

"Is it really that easy to recruit him to our side?"

“We’re evaluating him, but he’s evaluating us too. But it doesn’t matter, we’re not in a hurry, he’s the one who should be in a hurry.” Chihaya said, taking a sip of milk.

There's milk on the corner of your mouth.

"Oh." Chihaya reached for a tissue after hearing this, but Hayasaka suddenly pressed himself against her and licked her tongue.

"..."

"We need to conserve paper," Hayasaka said seriously. "Paper tissues are a very precious resource."

"Tell me, what makes tissue paper so valuable?"

"It's precious because once you take it out in class, it will be used up very quickly."

Chihaya fell silent.

"is that OK?"

"Fine, you win." Chihaya shook her head helplessly.

"So, does Class C need me to add fuel to the fire?" Hayasaka asked. "If your goal is to destroy Class D, Class C's actions weren't ruthless enough."

"That's not necessarily the case. Let's observe Ryuen's actions first. He's currently one of the candidates we're considering. If he's not that impressive, then the only one we need to deal with is Sakayanagi from Class A."

"Understood. So, should we intervene in the infighting within Class A?"

"There's no need for that. Katsuragi is bound to lose. He's perfectly normal. Facing an opponent who doesn't prioritize the class's interests, he's destined to lose and will have no choice but to step down."

"If you were to compete with Ichinose for leadership of Class B, it would turn out the same way."

"That might be a bit more exaggerated. After all, Honami is more upright than Katsuragi and would never use underhanded methods to lead the class, while Katsuragi would use them selectively."

"You're the most sinister one, full of schemes and plots. If others knew, they would definitely be shocked and exclaim that your image has collapsed."

"That's just their assumption. They don't really think that so-called rich girls live a peaceful and beautiful life on their own, do they? What rich girl wouldn't receive some kind of education? Those who only know how to eat, drink, and have fun every day are just rich kids, spoiled brats."

Even if the family isn't involved in politics, the heirs of business tycoons still need to learn about it, since office politics is a form of politics. Although there are significant differences in the details, the underlying principles are very similar.

"Do you know exactly how Class C did it?" Chihaya asked again.

"I roughly know, but the details are not very clear, because Ryuen himself did not appear. Instead, he sent his subordinate Ishizaki to do it. It seems that he sent someone from Class C of the basketball club to provoke him."

"If he didn't do it himself... isn't he worried about things going wrong?" Chihaya had some impression of Ishizaki from Class C. In short, he was Sudo from Class C, who was a bit better-tempered.

Simple-minded and physically strong—and not even the most physically strong one, after all, there was also an African student in Class C who was big and burly, and probably no one in the whole school had such a robust physique.

That kind of talent is considered racial, after all, he's Black, and he seems to exercise regularly.

If it were Chihaya, even if she didn't personally take action, she would carefully select the person in charge of carrying out the mission, and would never choose a henchman to be the operator.

"I don't know, maybe he was just too confident," Hayasaka said. "After all, Sudo from Class D was completely unprepared and fell into the trap easily. I bet the people in Class D are wondering right now why the 5000 points they fought so hard for haven't been deposited into their accounts yet."