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

What a scumbag woman!!!

After inwardly despising Amane, Ibuki remembered something important.

She had added Tenon as a friend a long time ago, but Tenon had never sent her even a single message! Thinking of this, Ibuki's jealousy flared up completely.

"Pshaw, it's just a few text messages, I don't care."

Ibuki slunk away from Amane and sat down next to Shiina.

Seeing Shiina's gentle demeanor, which was no less than Ichinose's, Ibuki's expression softened considerably.

At least Shiina is quite reliable!

"Hiyori, what are you looking at? You seem so engrossed."

When Ibuki saw Shiina taking a book out of her bag and reading it with great interest during a break, she couldn't help but ask what the book was about.

For Ibuki, the title of the book doesn't really matter; what matters is that the other person can accurately pick up on the topic she raises so that the conversation can continue.

Even if it's just listening to Shiina talk about things she doesn't understand, it's still much better than sitting there like a fool.

"Ibuki-kun, you're not exactly someone who's interested in reading."

Shiina responded to Ibuki with eyes that seemed to see through everything and a gentle voice that carried a hint of teasing.

This answer was completely unexpected by Ibuki, which caused her to fail to properly catch the 'ball' thrown back by Shiina. If Ibuki didn't come up with a solution, the conversation might have ended there.

"Don't underestimate me, I've been studying hard lately."

Ibuki belatedly responded to Shiina's teasing, but unfortunately, Ibuki only 'threw' the ball back to Shiina instead of 'throwing' the topic back to her. Therefore, Shiina could even choose not to answer, which would render Ibuki's efforts futile.

She was once described by Longyuan as a completely socially inept and stupid girl.

She was quite angry at the time, thinking that communication was just talking and there was nothing difficult about it. But when she actually started learning how to communicate, she found that just having a normal, fluent conversation was enough to make her brain explode.

"I'm watching 'Whose Corpse'."

Shiina thoughtfully guided the conversation, even though it was just idle chatter without any real meaning, but she couldn't just leave Ibuki hanging there.

However, with good intentions, she soon realized that Ibuki might genuinely be bad at chatting and interacting with others.

How would I know whose body you're looking at? It's definitely not mine.

Chapter 53: Who would argue with a fool?

Shiina stared wide-eyed, unsure how to respond to Ibuki's innocent expression, while Amane burst into laughter without any restraint.

"Hahahaha, I told you not to discuss things with Mio that she's not good at, hahaha~ Hiyori, whose corpse are you looking at?"

Amane rested her chin on Ibuki's shoulder and leaned in to tease Shiina, causing Shiina's face to darken.

The oppressive aura emanating from him made even the usually carefree Ibuki feel uneasy.

Did I say something wrong?

Ibuki wanted to distance herself from Shiina, but Amane behind her blocked her retreat. Now she could only face the oppressive feeling emanating from Shiina.

"It's alright. I just said I was reading the book 'Whose Corpse'. Maybe you misunderstood something, Ibuki-kun. But it's okay. As for Amane... if you keep stirring things up, I might be reading your corpse instead."

Shiina uttered some truly terrifying words in the gentlest of tones.

"Waaah, this isn't fair! Why are you bullying me when Mio was the one who said the wrong thing first?"

"Since Ibuki-san's mistake was unintentional, while you were just trying to make a fool of me, it's impossible to treat you the same way. Besides... who would argue with an idiot?"

Shiina reached out to touch Ibuki's head, but Ibuki immediately slapped her hand away.

"I'm not an idiot. If anyone's an idiot, it's the guy behind me, isn't he the more idiot?"

As Ibuki spoke, she poked Amane's cheek with her finger, and Amane let out a cute sound.

Shiina sighed. Why did these two people give her the feeling that they weren't very smart?

Amane looks better, but her head often disconnects from her body, resulting in her current appearance. She looks much cuter than when she's serious, but she also looks a bit too clumsy. Taking her out might attract attention from other people. I wonder if Horikita-san has the same problem.

"By the way, I remember your grades were pretty good, Hiyori."

Amane suddenly asked about Shiina's academic performance, catching both Shiina and Ibuki off guard. The abrupt shift in Amane's topic was simply too jarring.

"Hmm... it's alright, I guess? Although our class's overall academic ability is a bit low, we do have students like Kaneda who are quite capable."

Shiina's answer was impeccable. Whether Amane was just chatting or trying to test Class B's strength, Shiina's answer was flawless. However, judging from Amane's wise gaze, it should be that she was just asking casually and had no other purpose.

"That's not what I wanted to ask... I understand that Hiyori's grades are good and she's usually quite relaxed, but why are you wandering around here, Mio? If I remember correctly, you need to get 60 points in each subject for the final exams. In terms of academic ability... that must be a bit difficult for you, right?"

Amane had only just noticed that both Shiina and Ibuki seemed a bit too relaxed during this period leading up to the final exams.

If top students like Shiina can relax a bit, then underachievers like Ibuki, who are all talk and no action, should be studying like crazy right now.

But now, Ibuki doesn't seem nervous at all; she practically has "I'm so bored" written all over her face, which explains why Amane is curious.

"Don't you know? Our final exams this semester have..."

"Ibuki-kun"

Shiina's voice interrupted Ibuki, who was almost tricked into revealing information by Amane.

After Ibuki belatedly realized that she had almost revealed something, her expression turned somewhat grim.

"I'm feeling a bit cold, shall we go back to the dorm?"

Shiina took the initiative to signal that she wanted to end the conversation, and Ibuki hesitated before looking at Amane.

She did want to stay a little longer, but now Amane had picked up on something from Ibuki's interrupted words, and her gaze became as sharp as Ryuen's—no, it could even be said that it was much sharper than Ryuen's.

"I'm feeling a bit cold too. Let's end our conversation here. Let's go out and have fun together next time we're free."

After the conversation ended, Tianyin did not return to the dormitory immediately, but instead circled around and returned to the bench.

Shiina's interruption to prevent Ibuki from leaking the secret was somewhat deliberate, but it was unavoidable. If Shiina hadn't stopped it, the plan would have been leaked, and Ibuki would have faced Ryuen's wrath and would have been severely beaten. So Shiina was doing this to help Ibuki.

As for getting Amane out of the business between Class B and Class A, Shiina didn't have high hopes. Amane had a good relationship with many people in Class B, but compared to Sakayanagi, even if all the people in Class B were tied together, they wouldn't be as important as Sakayanagi in Amane's eyes.

Therefore, once Amane obtains information about Class A from Class B, she will almost certainly share it with Sakayanagi, which is why Shiina dares not gamble.

However, even if Ibuki hadn't let it slip, Amane could have guessed the general idea.

There are only a few reasons why a poor student could remain so calm before the final exam, when failing the test would mean expulsion along with their classmates. After ruling out normal and school-compliant methods, the easiest thing to do is to obtain the answers from the test setter.

In this final exam, Class B's designated opponent is Class A, which means that Ryuen intends to win this time against Sakayanagi. If Sakayanagi makes no mistakes, the only way Ryuen can obtain the final exam answers is to contact the remnants of the Katsuragi faction.

Thinking about it this way, Class B does have a better chance of winning. Even if Class A has good overall academic ability, just like the other classes have students with good grades, there are always a few students in Class A whose grades are quite average. Although they are not failing, it is unrealistic to expect them to get very high scores.

If Longyuan obtains the answer key for Class A's exam, then Class B will undoubtedly surpass Class A in the total score, thus winning the final exam competition.

The plan seems simple, but there are many factors to consider, such as how to contact and persuade the Katsuragi faction to sacrifice the interests of Class A, how to get them to prove that the exam answers are correct, and even how to prevent them from changing the exam.

There are too many uncertainties involved. A steady leader like Hirata or Katsuragi would definitely not do something like this. However, the success rate of the plan is still there, and it is understandable that Ryuen-kai wants to take a gamble.

But...

"Class B seems to have underestimated Arisu."

Chapter 54: The Bizarre Small Group

There's one day left until the final exams.

Compared to the upcoming exams, everyone seemed much more relaxed, regardless of the class.

One reason is to help everyone relax so they can perform at their best.

On the other hand, all strategies have been employed, and all that's left is to wait for the day of the exam.

Just yesterday, Horikita announced that Class C and Class D had teamed up and distributed the answers to the final exam.

Although there were some dissenting voices, everyone accepted the arrangement after Horikita uploaded photos of herself, Amane, and Ichinose discussing things together.

For Class C, being able to safely pass the final exams was undoubtedly the best thing that could happen. As for the 50,000 personal points collected from each student, everyone paid them off quite readily. Although it was equivalent to almost two months' living expenses, if given the choice between being expelled and paying the personal points, most people with a sound mind would choose to pay the personal points.

As a result, Ichinose also easily acquired two million personal points. This means that even if no class points are earned, Ichinose's savings will be enough for Class D to last until graduation.

In order to return to Class B, Horikita went to great lengths, spending two million personal points to completely deplete Class C's personal point reserves, except for Amane and a very few others.

If any unexpected situation arises and Tianyin does not intend to help, then Class C will be powerless to cope with any crisis.

Therefore, Horikita is also taking a gamble.

In this final exam, everyone was essentially gambling.

Class D is betting that Amane's favor will play a crucial role in the future, while Horikita is betting that Sakayanagi can defeat Ryuen, thus allowing Horikita and her group to be promoted back to Class B.

B-Class is betting that their bribed mole will provide accurate intelligence, allowing them to carve out a significant portion of A-Class's resources.

Class A currently has 695 points, and Class B has 399 points.

If the adventure at Dragon Garden succeeds, Class A will lose 100 class points, which will then be transferred to Class B. In that case, Class A will have 595 class points, while Class B will have 499. This will be the moment when the gap between Class A and Class B is the smallest.

So, although Ryuen was forced to fight Class A due to other factors, Ryuen also saw that Class A was at its weakest point after the power transition, and it was also the moment when it was most likely to succeed by taking risks.

Using 100 points as a trial balloon is considered quite worthwhile by Longyuan.

As for Class A, Sakayanagi is betting that Katsuragi won't make any more moves behind the scenes. As long as Katsuragi stays put and contributes her strength to Class A, then under her leadership, Class A cannot possibly lose to the other classes.

The final exams gradually arrived in this atmosphere.

Compared to the busy crowd, Amane was definitely idle. Because she was too leisurely, Amane would tease Horikita whenever she had nothing to do, only to be grabbed by the back of the neck and thrown out by Horikita.

Left with no other choice, Tianyin could only wander aimlessly through the streets.

The temperature was still very cold, but the streets were much busier than they had been a few days earlier.

Every now and then you can see groups of girls walking towards the shopping center.

However, Tianyin had no intention of joining in the fun.

Because... no one is going with her this time, and she feels that going shopping alone will probably get boring quickly and end this leisurely shopping trip, right?

Amane decided to go to the coffee shop to sit for a while, hoping to run into some acquaintances. She remembered seeing Sakayanagi and Kamuro often at the entrance of the coffee shop.

Upon arriving at the entrance of Palette Cafe, Tianyin was slightly disappointed, as the two familiar figures did not appear at the door.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. It's so cold outside. If Sakayanagi and Kamuro were still sitting outside drinking coffee, it would seem a bit odd.

Opening the door to the palette reveals a much livelier interior compared to the deserted outside, where many third-grade students are engaged in enthusiastic discussions.

As they approach graduation, they must have a lot to say, right?

Huh?

When Tianyin looked around the coffee shop, she actually saw a few familiar faces. It seems that as long as you have a wide social circle, you don't have to worry about not running into acquaintances at school.

However, the feeling she got from having these people sitting together was a little...

It's very incongruous.

Yes, it's just not harmonious.

First, Yukimura, who had good grades and was always categorized as an excellent student by Amane, sat in a prominent position. It was clear that he was the core figure in this small circle, but the people around him did not fit the label on Yukimura at all.

To Yukimura's left sat Hasebe Haruka, who had asked Amane for help some time ago; to his right sat Miyake Akito of the archery club; then came Mori Nene, who had been in the Karuizawa group but seemed to have a better relationship with Sato; and Shinohara Chiaki, an old acquaintance of Amane and who used to have her own small group.

If we had to say, only Matsushita's true academic ability could be compared to Yukimura's; the others were far inferior to Yukimura. So, it was quite strange to Amane that these people could sit together.

"Huh? Isn't that Tianyin?"

Because Matsushita was facing the door, she saw Amane at a glance. However, she did not take it upon herself to let Amane join the conversation. Instead, she deliberately made noise to attract the attention of others.

"It's Miyako-san, shall we call her over too? To be honest, your affairs are none of our business, are they?"

Hasebe took the initiative to offer his suggestion.

"I agree. After all, Amane is very intelligent and should be able to offer you some advice, Shinohara."

Matsushita followed suit by agreeing to invite Amane to join.

Shinohara, standing to the side, looked at Matsushita with a strange expression.

"Amane? Have you and Miyako become that close?"

Shinohara's inquiry attracted the attention of Mori Nene and Miyake, among others.

"It's alright... Anyway, this is your private matter, Shinohara. Whether or not you ask Amane for help is entirely up to you, Shinohara."

Matsushita knew he was being too conspicuous, so he shifted the focus of the problem back to Shinohara.

Shino was already somewhat indecisive when it came to handling matters, and if she were to make a decision now, even if the group sat together until dawn, she probably still wouldn't be able to make up her mind.

After observing Matsushita's somewhat guilty expression, Yukimura, who was sitting at the head of the table, turned to Amane and extended an invitation.