I'm in a real religion, why are all the people who confess to me girls?

But the fact is that Ichinose did indeed do it.

Unable to explain further, Amane could only tell Horikita the whole story.

When he heard that Ichinose planned to sell promotion slots for ten million points, he couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.

"She really has a good plan. This kind of prop has very limited uses, and there's absolutely no way a fool would use it in first grade. So the target audience should be third graders, but third graders can't afford to buy points, so the prop essentially loses its value. Whoever buys it will definitely use it the day before graduation, only in this way can she ensure everything goes smoothly..."

Horikita rolled her eyes at Amane, who was playing a fingertip game and seemed a little guilty, before continuing.

"But this item has no value to you, Tianyin, which is why she wanted to use an expensive birthday gift to keep you interested. After all, ten million points isn't unacceptable to you, so you'll still consider spending money on something that's dispensable but might be useful in the future. This increases the probability of her making a purchase, and the mere three hundred thousand points of the birthday gift will immediately recoup the cost... Now the issue isn't whether you buy it or not, but—"

Horikita suddenly stood up, his gaze becoming profound.

"What makes Ichinose Honami so confident that she can get her hands on a gift of this caliber? Even if someone asked her to do it for them, where does the person behind her get the confidence that they can definitely get first place? Is she underestimating all the classes?"

This is indeed a mysterious question.

Even Tianyin couldn't guess who was behind her targeting her.

This feeling is quite unpleasant, but the lack of intelligence is what makes people feel completely lost; all strategies require sufficient intelligence support.

Without intelligence, it's like losing your eyes and ears; it completely affects your judgment of things.

Unfortunately, even Amane only built a simple intelligence network with Kushida in her first year, and now it has been handed over to Ayanokouji.

Because Kiryuin was a lone wolf in the second year, Amane couldn't expect her to provide any information. In the third year, Amane wanted to get involved, but considering that the third year would graduate in at most half a year and there wouldn't be many opportunities to contact the third year, Amane didn't plan to build an intelligence network among the third year. It was a series of coincidences that led to the current situation.

"Anyway, I'm going to send people to monitor Class D's actions. I hope you don't have any objections, Tianyin?"

Horikita tapped Amane's head with the back of his finger, asking Amane what she thought.

"I agree. It would be great if we could get some useful information, but I have a feeling that Ichinose won't reveal any weaknesses to us so easily."

"Whether it will reveal any flaws or not, we'll only know after trying."

Chapter 405: The Deal on the Rooftop

Finally, the rare weekend arrived. While everyone was either hiding in their dormitories to avoid the sweltering heat of autumn, or voluntarily coming to the playground for extra training to prepare for the sports festival.

Honami Ichinose, contrary to her usual practice, chose to come to the teaching building on Sunday.

Because the school has a rule that you must wear a school uniform to enter the teaching building, no one wants to suffer in the sweltering heat outside wearing a school uniform, so it is almost impossible to go to the teaching building. Even club members who need to change their shoes at the shoe locker or students who come for extra training for the sports festival will cleverly enter the teaching building from the side of the playground, where the entrance is directly opposite the shoe locker, which can effectively avoid violating the rules.

However, Ichinose wasn't there for extra training for the sports festival, so everything proceeded as normal. She first went to the shoe locker to change her shoes and then headed towards the rooftop.

Just one floor away from the rooftop, Ichinose spotted Albert keeping watch at the top of the stairs.

His tall figure and strong body brought an overwhelming sense of oppression to Ichinose. Unlike the oppressive feeling brought by Amane's absolute confidence in her strength, Albert's oppressive feeling came from pure violence.

"Yamada-san, I've come to..."

Albert stepped aside before Ichinose could finish speaking, without saying a word the entire time. Ichinose looked up in surprise, but couldn't see whether Albert's gaze behind his sunglasses met hers.

However, she didn't feel any gaze upon her. Albert probably didn't even bother to glance at her, likely thinking that Ichinose's physique posed no threat to the people waiting on the rooftop.

Or perhaps his orders were simply to intercept the other people who had followed him?

Ichinose shook her head slightly. What she needed to do now was not to think about such irrelevant things. She had come here alone today and had not communicated with Kanzaki or Shibata, so their preparations could be said to have been in vain.

Thank you.

Ichinose smiled and nodded, then continued walking upstairs, but unexpectedly Albert knocked on the door three times first.

Ichinose instinctively gripped the handle and realized that the other side of the door seemed to be locked from the inside. She figured the knocking earlier must have been a code.

"Is it finally here? I'm dying of heat!"

With an ice cream in her mouth, Ibuki reluctantly opened the door.

The sweat dripping from her brow and the faded white shirt clearly indicated that the girl had been waiting on the balcony for quite some time.

"Hello, I'm here to..."

"Longyuan is over there. You can go up there yourself. I'll lock the door from the inside in a bit. If you want to leave, knock three times, understand?"

Without waiting for Ichinose's reply, Ibuki pulled Ichinose onto the rooftop and quickly disappeared into the shadows of the stairwell. Immediately afterward, Ichinose heard the sound of the door leading to the rooftop closing.

For a moment, Ichinose felt a little uneasy. In the past, she was always accompanied by her classmates when she went to meet anyone. Now, she had to meet someone alone, and that person was the class leader with a terrible reputation for violence. This made Ichinose feel somewhat uneasy.

"You're way too punctual. Don't you know you should arrive early when you meet someone? But you're quite bold, coming to see me alone."

Ryuen, hands in his pockets, scrutinized Ichinose as if examining some rare and unusual item.

Ichinose could feel Ryuen's arrogant gaze, but she still mustered up the courage to step out from the only bit of shade on the rooftop into the blazing sun.

Upon entering Ichinose, it was surprising to find that although Ryuen's clothes were damp with sweat, he himself showed no signs of sweating. This was probably because Ryuen's physical condition was also terrifying.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't expect you to be here waiting for me so early."

"Alright, enough chit-chat, let's get straight to the point, shall we? Is everything you said in the email you sent me true?"

"Of course, it is precisely because I have that kind of confidence that I dared to come here alone."

Ichinose revealed a confident smile.

Long Yuan stroked his stubble-covered chin, his eyes filled with contemplation.

"I admit your idea is interesting, but to be honest, the price you're asking for is far too high. That thing is worth a full twenty million points, and you want me to just give it away? Even if I agree to this request, do you think those guys in Class C will agree?"

Longyuan immediately launched into a test.

He wanted to confirm whether Ichinose had come prepared or if he had just come up with the idea on a whim.

"Does it matter what the other people in Class C think? In my opinion, Ryuen, aren't you the ruler of Class C?"

After Ichinose's tension subsided, she also displayed an unusual attitude.

Long Yuan became excited.

Things seem to be getting interesting.

"Hey, really? I can't believe I've heard such flattery from you, Ichinose!"

Ryuen laughed loudly, while Ichinose humbly maintained his smile.

Ryuen had been secretly watching Ichinose out of the corner of his eye, and when he found that Ichinose's expression had not changed at all, he couldn't help but be secretly amazed.

If it were someone else...

Long Yuan thought of another woman, but immediately gave up. That woman would never say such an embarrassing compliment. Besides, if he provoked her like that, she would probably yell, "What are you so smug about?" and punch him in the face.

While thinking this way might be a bit disrespectful to her, the imagery is quite vivid; it's definitely something that guy would do.

"I have another question. What you're doing doesn't benefit Class B at all. Aren't you afraid of retaliation from Class B? It's not that I look down on you, but Class B has quite a few monsters and lunatics. If they find out you helped me get first place, they might want to tear Class D apart."

Long Yuan's voice turned somber.

Ichinose's smile also faded. Although Ryuen used exaggerated words to scare her, Ichinose knew very well that, given Class B's personality, first place was probably already in their hands. If they found out after the competition that Class D had snatched first place through despicable means, they would undoubtedly try every means to harm Class D.

but……

"I wouldn't have come to you if I wasn't mentally prepared. To me, she's the only friend in Class B. Everyone else is irrelevant. What's the difference between this and an irreconcilable feud? Besides... how can they retaliate? The weak have their own way of fighting, don't they?"

Chapter 406: The Mask

Ryuen smiled with satisfaction at Ichinose's unusual behavior. He had thought that the races for first-year students would be incredibly boring after that guy went behind the scenes. After all, compared to that guy, both Sakayanagi and Ichinose were incredibly gentle.

Sakayanagi and Katsuragi, who is as cautious as a tortoise, could fight for more than half a year without a clear winner. If it were Ryuen, he could tame a rigid guy like Katsuragi in half a month.

Ichinose, despite having united the class, didn't take the opportunity to establish her own system of rule.

Instead, we should share the right to speak with everyone. Why don't those idiots step up and become leaders? Is it because they don't want to? It's because they simply don't have the ability or courage.

Ichinose was so stupid as to listen to his companions' opinions. As a result, this smart person was led by the nose by his companions and was treated as a puppet by Kanzaki and Shibata. In the end, Shibata even stole his house.

If Shibata hadn't been tricked by her, the power in Class D would probably be in the hands of that good-for-nothing Shibata by now.

What? Horikita?

That naive guy could easily make her kneel on the ground and submit with just a little bit of leverage over her; he's not worth mentioning at all.

Just when Ryuen thought she was going to have to endure three boring years of school life, Ichinose brought her an unexpected surprise.

"The way the weak fight? Don't the weak only know how to bow their heads and beg for mercy or raise their heads and look up to the strong?"

Ryuen tried to provoke Ichinose again. He couldn't believe that Ichinose could grow so fast. A single rumor scandal had turned an innocent guy into a skilled player. What a joke! If such an incredible thing really happened, it could only mean one thing.

Ichinose is not as innocent as she appears.

Or even... was it a deliberate attempt to hide one's talents? But was it necessary to hide one's talents to the point that one almost lost their position as leader?

No...no!!!

I understand.

Long Yuan smiled.

He finally understood why Ichinose had undergone such a drastic change, and why she had performed like a useless puppet in both the deserted island and the preferential treatment exams, voluntarily playing an insignificant role.

If this is a sign of weakness, then everything makes sense; Kanzaki and Shibata never considered Ichinose a 'threat'.

Ichinose watched the game between the two from a detached perspective. Perhaps Ichinose had foreseen the class's impending failure during the preferential treatment exam and decisively used a self-destructive tactic to escape unscathed, making Shibata the scapegoat.

If that's really the case, Ichinose's level of danger might be comparable to that guy's.

"No, Ryuen-kun, the weak's greatest weapon is courage."

"courage?"

"That's right. With courage, you can do things that even the strongest can't. For example, our class has zero points this time, so we're not afraid of being penalized with points deducted. That's why I said only our Class D can help you win first place."

Ichinose had a confident smile on her face, but she didn't come across as arrogant. Instead, she gave off a natural feeling, as if this was the natural outcome.

"Then why choose me? Compared to my not-so-good reputation, isn't Class B a much better choice? With Miyako around, you won't suffer any losses, right?"

Ryuen approached Ichinose, looking down at the petite Ichinose from his elevated position.

"Class B doesn't need the help of the weak. They're blinded by their consecutive victories and wouldn't look down on former losers. As long as Amane doesn't interfere, my plan will be perfectly executed; I can guarantee that. As for the reason for choosing Class C, it's better to offer help in times of need than to add to someone's success. Although Class B has significant flaws overall, the presence of an exceptionally strong individual like Amane is an unpredictable factor. If I had to choose which of the three pursuing classes is most likely to advance to Class A, I would choose Class B without hesitation. But whether they're willing to trust me is another matter entirely. After all, you know about the unfriendly things that happened before, Ryuen-kun."

The previous collaboration with Longyuan now seems to be the most foolish thing I ever did, bar none.

Even now, Ichinose still can't understand why she had to go along with them and betray Amane for a hundred class points.

Perhaps... it was because Tianyin hadn't yet shown her talent at that time, so I just regarded her as a girl who was good at talking, and therefore underestimated her, thinking that the points would make her give up pursuing the matter.

What she didn't expect was that from that time onwards, Tianyin stepped over the former Class B and gradually made her way to where she is now.

They've reached a point where Ichinose has to look up to them. From zero points to over seven hundred points now, Amane only took four months.

It's obvious that this is probably the fastest record in the school. Can she do it too? Lead the current Class D out of the abyss?

Just as Ichinose was re-examining herself.

Ichinose's phone received a notification that a message had been received.

Curious, she opened her phone to see who was messaging her at this hour. It was the weekend, and in the past, it would probably be a group of three or five people making plans to go somewhere together. But with points so scarce these days, that was impossible. So, the person contacting her at this hour must have something on their mind.

After Ichinose opened the chat box, she froze.

The message was actually sent by Long Yuan, who was standing in front of her. The message was very simple and contained only one word.

Transaction.

Ichinose looked up at Ryuen, who simply chuckled dismissively.

"Better safe than sorry. I've already been tricked once, and I won't give anyone a second chance. Delete the record now."

Ichinose admired Ryuen's caution, so she deleted all of their chat history in front of him.

Even if screenshots were taken yesterday, without today's meeting, they cannot be used as evidence.

The reason Long Yuan insisted on meeting on the rooftop yesterday was probably for the same reason; she had nowhere to escape from there.

Putting aside the fact that the door was locked from the inside by Ibuki, Ryuen alone was no match for her. Albert was probably also making preparations for any accompanying personnel who might come along.

Looking at Long Yuan's calm gaze, it's hard to imagine that he was just now so arrogant and conceited, even constantly provoking and irritating her.

People may have been intimidated by the terrifying word "tyrant" and thought that Long Yuan was just a brute who knew how to play some tricks but was really good at violence.

But it's unrealistic to think that you can rule a class with violence alone.

Ichinose left the rooftop with a satisfied conclusion to the conversation.

Chapter 407: Caught Something Soft

As the days went by, each class began intensive extra training for the sports festival-related events.

Teacher Chabashira also mentioned that in order to make way for this sports festival, even the time for the quizzes was postponed until after the sports festival.