Demon Slayer: I was taken home by Shinobu Kocho at the beginning.

"Let me go wash my face."

A few minutes later, Katsuragi explained the current situation to Kamio Tatsuya.

"You mean, Nagumo spent 20 million to have the students in the Hope Class deliberately get low scores so that I would drop out of school?"

As he said this, Kamio Tatsuya couldn't help but laugh.

"How amusing. Doesn't he know I have two more scapegoats?"

“It’s also possible that he’s testing me,” Katsuragi suggested.

“Possibly.” Tatsuya Kamio nodded. “Let’s assume he knows I have two scapegoats for now. In that case, what he might want to do is sow discord and make Ban lose one of my scapegoats by self-destructing.”

If that's the case, he would use all sorts of sweet talk to deceive Totsuka and the others, making them deliberately give low scores.

For example, he could fabricate things like the authority of the student council to make you believe that you won't be expelled if you deliberately get a low score.

Or he might say that the class has 20 million private points saved from the preferential treatment exam, as well as a large number of class points, so there's no need to worry about being expelled.

The points for Class C were used up when I transferred classes. Even if I manage to win this exam and collect enough class points, I still won't be able to collect 2000 million personal points.

Using 20 million personal points plus 400 class points to eliminate me, this major threat, would be very worthwhile for you guys, etc.

His ultimate goal is to make us both lose: you lose 400 class points and 2000 million personal points, while I lose a scapegoat.

This result is not worthwhile for either of us, is it?

Katsuragi nodded, agreeing with Tatsuya Kamio's analysis.

"What if he really didn't know you had a scapegoat?"

“If he doesn’t know about this, then he will offer you tangible benefits to get you to take action, for example…” At this point, Kamio Tatsuya thought for a moment, “For example, he will promise to give you 20 million personal points after the matter is accomplished to put your minds at ease.”

If you manage to do that, then he spent 20 million personal points to eliminate me, and you also lost 400 class points.

If you fail to do so, he will not suffer any loss.

Katsuragi nodded: "It seems that the basis for judging whether Nagumo knows about that matter is whether he will pay the price."

“That’s right.” Tatsuya Kamio nodded. “But since you’ve come to me, you want to ask for my opinion, right?”

Katsuragi nodded.

"What do you think?"

"My opinion is... if he's just trying to fool you, you definitely won't agree, right? So you can just stall him or simply refuse him."

If he is truly willing to pay 2000 million and sign a contract—and remember, he must be willing to sign a contract to prove he doesn't know about my scapegoat—then it means he doesn't know about my scapegoat situation.

Furthermore, no matter how appealing his promises may be, you absolutely cannot believe him, even if there are teachers present to testify!

Furthermore, when signing the contract, the witness must be a teacher we trust; we absolutely cannot trust anyone else, as there is a possibility that the teacher may also have been bribed by Nagumo.

Ideally, it would be Ms. Majima; I trust Ms. Majima.

If he's willing to pay 2000 million private points, then we can have a collaboration. I'll be the scapegoat, and you can negotiate with Nagumo.

"Of the points we get from Nan Yun, besides the 2 million needed for the withdrawal and transfer, I'll give you 5 million of the remaining 18 million. After all, I sacrificed a scapegoat, and you only have to talk the talk, how about it?"

After hearing Tatsuya Kamio's answer, Katsuragi fell into deep thought, then nodded and looked at Yahiko Totsuka.

"Yahiko, I'll need your help then. When I'm hesitating about whether to accept Nagumo's offer, I need you to give me a push. At other times, don't say a word, or Nagumo might discover my weakness."

Totsuka Yahiko nodded solemnly.

It turns out this guy has grown a lot during this time; he even fooled Nagumo with that anxious expression.

However, this didn't mean Nagumo gained nothing. At least when dealing with Kamio Tatsuya again, Kamio Tatsuya would only have a scapegoat left.

Wait a minute, Tatsuya Kamio suddenly thought of another possibility: Nagumo did it on purpose.

He deliberately took out 20 million personal points and pretended not to know that Kamio Tatsuya had two scapegoats.

He probably knows about my cooperation with Katsuragi. If that's the case, then his purpose is a bit hard to fathom.

Assuming that all of this was part of Nagumo's plan, what will Nagumo ultimately gain?

To sum up the final result, Tatsuya Kamio's group failed to reach the passing grade in the end, and Tatsuya Kamio was expelled from school.

Then Nagumo paid 2000 million personal points, and then Kamio Tatsuya used a scapegoat contract to have someone else drop out of school in his place.

The result was that Kamio Tatsuya lost a scapegoat and gained 1300 million personal points, while Katsuragi gained 500 million personal points.

then……

Then Katsuragi returned to the students' sight.

His real purpose was to incite internal strife within the class?

It doesn't seem to be in his best interest. What exactly is this guy trying to do?

Chapter 247 The First Day of the Special Exam

The next day, Friday, the first day of the official exam, cheerful music started playing from the loudspeakers in the room at six o'clock in the morning.

However, for the students who were still half asleep, it was like a death knell.

Most of the students in the room got out of their beds like zombies.

"It's so noisy! What's going on?"

Ishizaki was woken from his sleep and then hid his head under the pillow.

Kamio Tatsuya, who was also woken up, yawned, then sat up and fumbled for the light switch by the door in the dark. With a click, the lights in the room were turned on.

Everyone lying on the upper bunk instinctively shielded their eyes from the bright light with their arms, but the students on the lower bunks didn't have this problem.

"Alright, it's about time to get up. From today onwards, we'll probably get up at this time every day."

In fact, Tatsuya Kamio slept quite well yesterday. Since he didn't have a cell phone, the only thing he did while lying in bed was sleep.

And since it was everyone's first day here, basically no one was talking.

After getting out of bed, Tatsuya Kamio discovered that Koenji, who was on the innermost bunk, was not there.

He should have been resting in bed when the lights were turned off last night.

It seems he went to train. When they went to the deserted island during the summer vacation of their first year, Kamio Tatsuya and Koenji lived in the same dormitory. It seems that Koenji had this habit back then.

Sure enough, just as the students inside were getting up, Koenji pushed open the door and walked in, dressed in light clothing.

Seeing the slight sweat on Koenji's forehead, Kamio Tatsu knew that his guess was correct.

"Kōenji, although I don't object to you getting up early to exercise, you should at least pay attention to keeping warm. I don't want you to be unable to take the final exam because you're sick."

"If I fail the exam, I'll be the one who gets expelled."

"Thank you for your concern, but as a perfect human being, I've never caught a cold before." Koenji had a bright smile on his face.

Then he went into the room, picked up his towel, and started wiping his sweat.

In any case, Tatsuya Kamio has already given us a heads-up.

"Alright everyone, let's get ready and meet in the classroom on the first floor. I don't want to get points deducted for being late."

After changing his clothes, Kamio Tatsuya still gave a reminder to the students who were still lazing in bed in the dormitory.

As for whether the other party wants to get up now, Kamio Tatsuya has no say in it and is too lazy to care.

Kamio Tatsuya's reminder was merely his duty as the person in charge. Whether others got up or not was their right. At most, if someone failed on the last day, he could just drag them down with him.

This is the attitude that Tatsuya Kamio displayed in this exam, and it's what he wanted others to see.

After tidying up, Kamio Tatsuya and a few other students who had already finished tidying up went to the assembly classroom first.

When they arrived, most of the second and third-year students were already there.

However, when they saw that the first-year students hadn't come along, a boy stood up. He was Matsui from Class 3-B.

As a student in Class 3B, but because he was popular, he chose to step forward and lead most of the less capable students at the end.

"Kamio-kun, didn't you come with your group?"

“I have already reminded them and fulfilled my responsibility as a person in charge. Whether they can come here on time is their own business.”

"Aren't you worried about losing points for the group because you're late?"

"Don't worry, I don't think they'll go too far and make the group's average score fail, right?" Kamio Tatsuya said with a smile. "Besides, if being late really results in a deduction of points, then their lateness will already be one of the reasons why the group's score will fail."

In other words, if someone fails the final exam, Kamio Tatsu can randomly pick someone from those who are late to take the blame.

The school doesn't even need to investigate; it will directly deem the burial of the deceased valid.

Kamio Tatsuya understood this principle, as did the others in the group, so they wouldn't take the risk.

Oh, right, maybe Ishizaki doesn't understand, but Ishizaki is one of our own, so he definitely won't cause trouble for us. Otherwise, Ryuen would deal with him immediately.

Sure enough, all the first-year students arrived before the assembly time was up.

Next, the teacher in charge of this group also arrived; he was a middle-aged man I had never seen before.

"I am the homeroom teacher of Class C in the third year..."

The teacher briefly introduced the work that Tatsuya Kamio and his classmates would be doing next: cleaning the school buildings and playground every morning.

If it rains, the playground doesn't need to be cleaned, but the cleaning time won't be shortened.

However, cleaning is not unfamiliar to students. They have to clean their own rooms at school and occasionally clean the classroom as students on duty.

Perhaps because it was the first day and there were teachers supervising, everyone cleaned quite diligently.

After finishing the morning cleaning, the students moved on to their next task—meditation.

The course was taught by a different teacher, a male teacher who looked very serious.

“From today onward, you will meditate here every morning and evening.”

After explaining the purpose, the teacher immediately began to explain the qualification standards for meditation.

It is important to note that whether you are meditating or standing up and walking, you should make a fist with your left or right hand and hold the fist with the other hand.

Moreover, you must raise your fist to heart level.

The teacher demonstrated to the students as he spoke.

"This gesture is called 'clasped hands.' Some students are used to making a fist with their left hand, while others are used to making a fist with their right hand. There is no requirement in this regard."

"Next is sitting cross-legged, with each foot stacked on the thigh. The academic name for this posture is the lotus position."

On the final day of the exam, whether your posture is correct or not will affect how well you finish, so remember to try your best to learn it.

The students in the group all began to imitate the teacher's actions.

It seems pretty simple.

Of course it's simple. Tatsuya Kamio's body has been enhanced; his agility of 7 points, which is the human limit, also gives his body a certain degree of flexibility.

So he did it easily, but there were others in the group who couldn't.

It's not that many people in the group can't do this. Looking around, apart from Koenji, the others either don't have the correct form or simply can't do it at all.

It's not just the first graders; even the second and third graders seem unable to do this.

Huh?

Does that mean they haven't tried their best in similar special exams before?

"It hurts..."

Some people were even quietly crying out in pain.

"If you can't do it at first, it's okay to just put one leg up in a half-lotus position." The teacher gave appropriate advice after seeing the current situation.

As a result, many students followed their teacher's advice and chose to sit in a half-lotus position.

Kamio Tatsuya was somewhat surprised to see Koenji sitting in meditation so obediently.

After sitting down, the students were asked to begin meditating, which means quietly closing their eyes and then imagining something.

The most important thing is to stay calm and suppress your agitated emotions.

Unfortunately, many people can't do this. There's no way around it, after all, we were enemies before, and now we're supposed to sit together and meditate.

After a short meditation, it was 7 o'clock, breakfast time. However, the place for breakfast was not the large restaurant we went to yesterday, but an open-air area outside the building, where several kitchens were set up for use.

"Breakfast was provided by the school today, but starting tomorrow, breakfast will be prepared by each group. Remember to discuss the number of people and task allocation together."

As soon as the teacher finished speaking, many students became restless and even started whispering to each other.