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

The school originally considered that even the best-coordinated team would be doing a remarkable job of completing the relay race in an hour and a half.

Therefore, they set the relay race time to two hours. Completing the relay race within two hours is considered passing, and points will be deducted if it exceeds two hours.

Originally, the 18-kilometer relay race was planned to be run by 15 people. Each person was supposed to run 1.2 kilometers, and even if they were slow, they could finish in 2.5 hours. However, in reality, each person ran their own distance as if it were a sprint, and they could finish in about four to five minutes. So, it would only take about 75 minutes to finish.

Seventy-five minutes is already considered a relatively fast time by their standards.

But Tianyin shattered their understanding.

Watching Tenon's figure sprint like a cheetah, Ninomiya gritted her teeth. She finally understood why Tenon didn't care at all about her withdrawal from the competition; it wasn't just because she had a noble status.

Rather... that monster truly possesses the power to turn the tide single-handedly. Ninomiya believes that even without Ichinose, Amane could probably run those eighteen kilometers by herself.

Such a person is truly...

"That's terrifying..."

"That's right. No matter how you look at it, Tianyin's speed is unimaginable. Even professional athletes could not achieve what Tianyin did, running ten kilometers continuously and still increasing in speed. It's as if Tianyin's speed has no limit. Probably only Tianyin in the whole world can do this."

Ninomiya glanced in the direction from which the sound came.

Dressed in sportswear, Sakayanagi leaned on his cane, his eyes glued to the large screen broadcasting the live stream on the playground, a look of pride on his face, as if Amane's brilliant performance made him feel proud as well.

Sakayanagi looked like a child showing off his precious treasure to others.

Since they weren't very familiar with each other, Ninomiya didn't intend to strike up a conversation, but it was clear that Sakayanagi had spoken up specifically for her.

Is there anything you want to say to me?

Watching Sakayanagi gradually approach him, Ninomiya felt no fear. Sakayanagi was banned from participating in relay races because of her poor health. In this state, she posed no threat to Ninomiya. Just seeing how difficult it was for Sakayanagi to walk, Ninomiya was afraid that she might fall down in front of him.

"Of course, I'll test you first, Ninomiya-kun. Do you know why I came to see you?"

A cute smile appeared on Sakayanagi's face.

There was no hint of a smile in his eyes; instead, he exuded an air of authority.

"I... I'm not familiar with you, Sakayanagi-san, how could I possibly know why you came to see me? If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

Ninomiya sensed something was amiss, but since Sakayanagi posed no real threat to her, she said goodbye and prepared to leave.

bass.

Even though Sakayanagi was using a cane, he blocked her path first.

This made Ninomiya's temper flare up instantly. She couldn't get any advantage from Amane, so how could she be intimidated by Sakayanagi, who was half-crippled?

"you……"

Before Ninomiya could finish speaking, his throat was pressed against Sakayanagi's cane.

Sakayanagi's movements were so fluid and seamless that Ninomiya couldn't tell at all that she was a girl with a physical disability.

"How dare you try to play tricks on Tianyin? What benefits did Tongshan give you that made you follow him so devotedly?"

I don't understand what you're talking about.

It's been a long time since Sakayanagi, as the student council vice president, and Kiriyama have been at odds. At the same time, Sakayanagi's relationship with Amane is also quite unusual. Ninomiya knew without a doubt that Sakayanagi was here to cause her trouble this time.

However, even if Sakayanagi came to cause her trouble, she had no reason to be afraid. Firstly, Sakayanagi was physically disabled, and if she focused on escaping, there was no way Sakayanagi could catch her.

On the other hand, we are on the playground now. Although some classes have not finished their exams, making the playground relatively deserted, there are still people around. If she shouts, even Sakayanagi will not dare to make a move.

So Ninomiya insisted that she knew nothing and didn't believe that Sakayanagi could get any information from her.

"Hehe, it's no use pretending to be stupid in front of me. Since you won't say it, I'll say it for you. Kiriyama is asking you to expel Ichinose in exchange for eliminating your class's point deficit. If Ichinose uses his joint liability to expel you, he'll also be responsible for saving you with 20 million personal points. Am I right?"

Listening to Sakayanagi recount the details with such familiarity, Ninomiya couldn't help but frown.

Why does it seem like everyone in the world knows about her and Kiriyama's plan? Could it be that Kiriyama deliberately leaked the information?

That doesn't make sense. She was targeting Ichinose, and to Kiriyama, Ichinose was just one of the easiest "chickens" to deal with in the "kill the chicken to scare the monkey" campaign. To Kiriyama, Ninomiya Yui was just an insignificant pawn. It would be best if Ichinose could be expelled from school, but even if he couldn't, he wouldn't lose anything. So why didn't he choose to maximize the value of his pawn by exposing her?

This is not in line with common sense.

If Kiriyama didn't deliberately leak the information, then that would truly defy common sense!

If it wasn't Kiriyama who leaked the information, then it means everyone guessed the deal between the two.

For a moment, Ninomiya was at a loss for what to do.

"Hmph, such a rudimentary plan, you don't actually think no one can guess it, do you? It's not good to treat everyone like fools, Ninomiya-kun."

What exactly do you want to do?

"What? Your defeat is inevitable. A worthless piece will inevitably be discarded in the end, but... I like to discover the potential of others, so how about you do me a small favor?"

Ninomiya hesitated when faced with Sakayanagi's offer to recruit her. Amane's outstanding performance made Ninomiya see no value in her at all, so it was truly unbelievable that Sakayanagi would personally come to recruit such a loser as her.

What if I refuse?

Ninomiya did not rush to agree or refuse, but instead planned to test Sakayanagi's attitude.

"I see... That's a real shame. Don't worry, I won't do anything to you. In my condition... I can't do anything to you anyway, can I?"

Sakayanagi put down his cane and shrugged, indicating that he would not make things difficult for Ninomiya.

Ninomiya hesitated and took a few steps back. After confirming that Sakayanagi had no intention of stopping her, she turned around and prepared to flee from this terrifying woman.

But in the instant she turned her head...

Unbeknownst to her, Ghost Head had been quietly watching her from behind.

If someone doesn't know who Sakayanagi Arisu is, that might be understandable, but if you still don't know who Kito Hayabusa is after the Sports Festival... then you're definitely a bit ignorant.

"What are you trying to do? There are security cameras here... I advise you not to do anything reckless, lest..."

Before she could finish speaking, Gui Tou bit her glove and gently pulled it off.

Anyone who has watched the Sports Festival and witnessed Kito's rampage knows that this is Kito entering battle mode. Kito Hayabusa, with one hand shaped like a snake's head, stands silently in front of Ninomiya.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, Ninomiya-kun, the school temporarily cut off the surveillance cameras on the playground in order to broadcast the Amane relay race live, so... if something accidentally happens... it could be troublesome."

Sakayanagi made no attempt to conceal his threatening words.

Forced into a corner, Ninomiya had no choice but to agree.

On the other side, the relay race for the first-grade girls went very smoothly. As expected, Tianyin won first place and even finished within an hour, which surprised many people. But it really happened.

All they could do was applaud and celebrate Tianyin's performance.

The remaining Zen, speech, and written exams were all very easy for Ichinose and Amane. They were originally burdened by a large group of children, but now that they were free of pressure and burden, they were naturally very relaxed. Ichinose even performed exceptionally well in the speech exam and achieved a very high score.

No matter how you look at it, it seems unlikely that Ichinose's group will get last place. And as long as they don't get last place, the school has no reason to expel the outstanding Ichinose.

It might even save you a lot of trouble.

Tianyin thought to herself with delight.

However, sometimes the outcome of things is contrary to expectations.

By the afternoon, all the exams had gradually come to an end, and the average scores of each group were being calculated rapidly. Since there were a total of twelve groups of boys and girls participating in the competition, the school considered that there were obvious differences in physical fitness between boys and girls. If they were mixed together for the evaluation, it would be quite difficult for the girls' group to get into the top three.

After discussion, the school decided to calculate the scores of male and female students separately, and to determine the ranking order of the group based on the average score of the group.

With the release of group average scores, this special exam is drawing to a close.

Chapter 145: Who are the Dropouts? (6K)

The day the special exam for the forest school was to end was set for the afternoon of the ninth day. However, due to a sudden downpour that required the school to spend a day repairing the track, the eight-day, seven-night special exam was postponed by one day.

Fortunately, the exam, though fraught with twists and turns, ended without major incident.

The first thing announced was the ranking of the boys' group. The first place in the boys' group was the group led by Fujimaki from Class 3-A, which is the group where Horikita Manabu is.

The same group, also led by Ayanokouji, consisted of the boys from Class B. The only downside was that the boys' group was split into two teams, one led by Hirata and the other by Ayanokouji. Although Ayanokouji's team won first place, they didn't receive as much of a reward as expected because the team wasn't centered around the boys from Class B.

The second-place boys' group was led by Yagami from Class A of the second year, and was also the group that Kiriyama belonged to. The first-year group was led by Katsuragi and was centered around the boys from Class A. Although they were only in second place, everyone in Class A had smiles on their faces.

Because this group was composed of all the remaining students from three other classes, all of whom were boys from Class A, it was a group designed to maximize profits. In terms of the final overall benefits, Class A, which came in second place, actually obtained more class points than Class B, which came in first place.

The third place goes to the large group that Longyuan belongs to. Longyuan's large group was also formed with the goal of maximizing profits, so its returns are quite substantial.

Hirata's group dropped to fourth place, which meant there would be some punishment, and the advantage created by Ayanokoji's group was thus wiped out.

However, the biggest losers were undoubtedly Class C and Class D, especially Class D. Because of the dramatic change among the girls, some of the boys who supported Ichinose were unwilling to cooperate with Shibata and Kanzaki and wait and see the results. In the end, the whole class took all the exams passively and got the last place, which was really embarrassing.

After the boys announced their results, it was the girls' turn to announce their scores.

The girls' group ranked first was the group led by Akane Tachibana from Class 3-A, which was also the group that Suzune Horikita belonged to.

Second place went to the group led by Hiyori Shiina, which was mainly composed of girls from Class C, with Arisu Sakayanagi in third place.

As the rankings were gradually released, Ichinose's heart sank to the bottom.

Finally, the sixth place, which is the last place, was achieved by the group led by Fujiwara-senpai, which is the group that Amane was in.

The situation on the girls' side immediately attracted a lot of attention, because although there was also a last place in the boys' group, the average scores of each group were very close, so the school did not choose to expel anyone.

On the girls' side, Kiriyama, who was in charge of announcing the results, emphasized that the Fujiwara group's results were far behind those of the other groups, so they would be expelled as punishment.

"Fujiwara-senpai, do you have anything to say in your defense?"

Kiriyama asked, feigning concern.

Logically speaking, Fujiwara is the person in charge of this group, and if she were to drop out of school, she should be the one to take responsibility. But the problem is... Fujiwara is an outstanding student who not only got full marks in the written test and Zen test, but also achieved top scores in the speech and relay race, ranking among the best among all the girls in the school.

Unless it's a joint liability, there's no reason to expel Fujiwara. Kiriyama asked that question just to annoy Fujiwara and Ichinose.

If Fujiwara takes the blame under everyone's watchful eyes, she could very well be expelled from school by Kiriyama for taking responsibility for the group's poor performance.

Not only Fujiwara, but also the others in her class would certainly not agree to this. So the only explanation Fujiwara could give was that her group came in last place – Ichinose's group collapsed, and the vast majority of its members withdrew from the competition, which led to their average score being far behind the other groups.

If it were only Ichinose, Fujiwara wouldn't give Ichinose any face and would definitely point out the reason directly. But the problem is that Amane is still in Ichinose's group.

If Fujiwara said that Ichinose was no match for Kiriyama, he might believe it, but to say that Amane couldn't beat Kiriyama? That goes against Fujiwara's common sense, so it's obvious which side he should take next.

"I have nothing to say in my defense. I believe that anyone with eyes can see why my group is in this situation. I also believe that President Kiriyama will make a fair judgment. Am I right?"

Faced with Fujiwara's swift rebuttal, Kiriyama's smile faded considerably.

"Of course, the school teachers grade students based on their exam scores and overall performance, and as the student council president, I naturally cannot allow any innocent person to be expelled from school."

Kiriyama felt many third-year students looking at him. Generally speaking, because they were about to graduate, the third-year students did not want to have a conflict with Kiriyama, so they could be regarded as supporting Kiriyama.

He didn't need to provoke the entire third year just to teach Fujiwara a lesson, so Kiriyama assured Fujiwara in front of everyone that he wouldn't let her drop out of school.

Since Fujiwara couldn't take responsibility for the last place in the group, the investigation had to continue, and the poor performance of the Ichinose group was laid bare before everyone.

"The group led by Honami Ichinose of Class D, Grade 1, only had two members actually take the exam. Moreover, the rest of the students preferred to risk expulsion rather than participate. Does Honami Ichinose have anything to say about this?"

Kiriyama called out Ichinose's name, and Ichinose came to the front of the line and bowed deeply to Fujiwara.

"I'm very sorry that something happened in my group, which affected everyone. I really feel terrible."

Fujiwara said nothing in response to Ichinose's apology, but simply shook her head. A mere punishment was nothing to their class, and it was obvious at a glance that Kiriyama was deliberately targeting Ichinose.

With almost the entire group facing enemies, what can be done?

"Then there was something that happened in our group. Ninomiya said that President Kiriyama wanted me to drop out of school. I disagreed, so they used the method of refusing to take the exam to coerce me into giving in."

Seeing that there was no way to turn things around, Ichinose simply laid the matter out in the open.

The incident immediately caused a huge uproar at the scene.

"Toriyama? What exactly is going on?"

Why is the student council president targeting first-year students?

"I knew long ago that Kiriyama was no good..."

……

As the discussions and noise at the scene grew louder, Kiriyama had no choice but to pick up the microphone he had prepared in advance and try to persuade everyone to quiet down.

"Please be quiet for a moment. Do not discuss or spread rumors before the facts are clear. Although the exam is over, everyone's performance and behavior will still be recorded and points will be deducted. These deductions will be reflected in your personal points when they are distributed next month. So please be quiet for the sake of your points."

Seemingly prepared for such a chaotic situation, Kiriyama immediately used the simplest and most direct method to quiet the scene once the situation began to deteriorate.

Upon hearing that class and personal points might be deducted, the playground quickly fell silent. Kiriyama was satisfied with the current effect. After looking around to make sure no one was still whispering, he looked at Ichinose.

"Ichinose-san, you so confidently claim that I encouraged them to withdraw from the exam in order to make you drop out of school, and even had them use it to threaten you. Ichinose-san, what evidence do you have?"

Kiriyama had long known that Ninomiya's abilities were bound to have flaws, so he had prepared countermeasures in advance. Even if everyone knew that he was the one who instigated Ninomiya, so what? Without evidence, he would not be punished in any way.

“These things were told to me personally by Ninomiya-san. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Ninomiya-san.”

How naive.