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

Hime was certain that Amane was in a 'serious' state at that time, which is why she became so aloof.

So... what's going on with Tianyin in front of her now?

First of all, Tianyin's arrogant aura seemed to be blown away by a warm breeze, and it no longer caused Ji Ye that stinging sensation like a sharp blade piercing his skin.

The previous disdain in his eyes disappeared, replaced by a clear, spring-like gaze that brought a sense of peace and tranquility.

Similarly, Tianyin's once intimidating purple eyes no longer inspired fear, but instead gained an air of mystery. Combined with her gentle yet dignified demeanor, it unconsciously gave people a feeling that Tianyin was so noble that it was impossible to look directly at her.

Tianyin sat elegantly in front of the chessboard, as if the carefree girl was just a figment of everyone's imagination.

"I feel like you've become a completely different person."

Ji Ye couldn't hold back any longer and blurted out what was on his mind.

Tianyin was stunned for a moment, then gently shook her head.

"Hime-san, you can rest assured, I am still me. The reason why I behave differently in different situations is simply to tell others that I can become anyone, but no one can become Miyako Amane."

Tianyin's voice wasn't loud, yet it possessed a power that seemed to penetrate the soul.

"So that's how it is. No wonder... I heard that you, despite being the eldest daughter of the Miyako family, behaved just like those delinquent girls outside, and I was quite disappointed by that. Now it seems I was too shallow to judge a book by its cover. Please forgive my previous arrogance. I am Himeno Yuki from Class D, first year. Please take care of me, Amane-kun."

Ji Ye straightened his body and bowed slightly to Tian Yin opposite him.

"It's just a friendly exchange of ideas, please."

Tenon pushed the two chess boxes in front of Hime, clearly giving Hime the chance to choose first.

In the rules of checkers, White has the first move. Although both sides have the same piece positions and number of moves, White doesn't seem to have any advantage.

However, players using white pieces often manage to capture first to open up the game or gain the initiative, even though it may not be obvious which player is better or worse when their skill levels are similar.

However, a stronger player with white pieces will basically slaughter a weaker player, who will be overwhelmed by white's offensive from start to finish.

Tenon letting Himeko choose the first move seemed like a gesture of humility, but in reality, it was a way of telling Himeko that there was a difference in their skill levels.

If Hime hadn't taken the white pieces, she would have almost certainly lost the game.

Although this might seem like Tenon was being overly confident, Hime didn't dare to be too presumptuous in front of her. She casually picked up a white chess piece and began placing it on the chessboard made up of black and white squares.

Tianyin also began to arrange the black chess pieces.

After both sides had their twenty pieces in place, the referee announced the start of the game.

Since the general's duel is decided in one round, Hime carefully considered a move before starting to move her pieces.

Tianyin, without even looking, picked up the black piece at the very edge and moved it diagonally one space.

At this point, Ji Ye had not yet realized that there was a problem, and simply continued to jump one more space until she was about to make her third move when she suddenly realized Tian Yin's tactics.

Tenon intends to move a piece to her bottom edge to become a king, but unfortunately, this move is rarely used in checkers. The reason is simple: this move is too easy to counter. You only need to keep the piece on that side still to block the opponent's piece that wants to become a king.

but……

Is this really a good idea?

That's right, Ji Ye knew how to counter this move, but hesitated whether to use it to break through Tian Yin's strategy.

The reason why Hime had this idea was quite simple. First of all, Amane's chess skills were likely stronger than hers, which also meant that Amane might have created her own unique chess style.

Although Ji Ye is considered skilled at checkers, this skill level is only relative to that of ordinary people. If he encounters a professional, Ji Ye would have no chance of winning.

Ji Ye has already guessed Tian Yin's tactics based on her moves and has a way to deal with them. But if she can break through Tian Yin's move, and Tian Yin plays seriously against her, will she still have a chance to win?

It's better to deal with a strategy that has already been thoroughly studied than to fight a strategy that has no information whatsoever.

To put it bluntly, Tianyin's way of playing chess is gambling. She uses other pieces to keep sending them to Jiye's mouth to lure away the white pieces on the outermost edge of the defense, and then moves her own piece to the bottom to become the 'king'. She has an incredibly powerful capturing rule. If she's lucky, she can jump several times in a row and capture more than ten pieces without any problem. It can be said to be the most entertaining and satisfying way to win.

However, what is relatively fatal is that in order to get Hime's pieces out of their defensive positions, Tenon has to sacrifice a large number of black pieces. In the end, when her piece becomes the king, she may only have that one piece left.

In this way, Tenon will only have one chance to capture a piece, because the entire board will become Hime's territory. If Tenon's king piece stops, then it is basically certain that Tenon will lose in the second round.

In other words, this is a high-risk, high-reward strategy, and only skilled players use this tactic when dominating weaker opponents to enhance the viewing experience for the audience.

It seems that Tianyin still considers her to be just an insignificant novice in international checkers.

In that case, she might as well play the rookie role to the end.

Hime pretended not to see Tenon's pieces, and instead began to use other pieces to seize advantageous positions.

For a moment, the only sound on the chessboard was the constant clicking and capturing of pieces by both sides.

After a dozen or so moves, Tianyin's pieces were reduced to a pitiful few at a visible speed. Since international checkers has a rule that pieces that can be captured must be captured, as long as the opponent's defense is broken, it is basically possible to wreak havoc.

With Tenon's excellent cooperation, Himeko only lost three white stones and gained a significant advantage in the entire game.

Even on the large screen provided by the school, the winning percentage of Himeno Yuki, who was playing white, reached a terrifying 97.3%. Normally, black would resign at this point, but Amane seemed unaware of her huge disadvantage and delivered the only two black stones to Himeno's last white stones at the bottom of the board.

Once Hime captures this black piece, there will be no other black pieces on the board except for the black piece that Tenon is about to become king.

However, leaving the last line of defense also means that the black "pawn" in Tianyin's hand will soon become a terrifying "king".

Since the rules of checkers dictate that any piece that can be captured must be captured, Yuki Himeno had no choice but to capture the only black piece that was practically in her mouth.

As the penultimate black piece was captured, an unprecedentedly radiant smile appeared on Tianyin's face.

"Himeno-kun, is there anything else you want to say?"

It was still time to play chess, and it would be very impolite to talk at this time. However, Ji Ye's heart was already in suspense, and she desperately needed to relieve her inner pressure through conversation. So she started chatting with Tian Yin instead.

"I think it should be Tianyin who says something. If you're willing to put aside your young lady attitude and beg me to go easy on you, I might consider it."

Ji Ye immediately proposed a condition that Tian Yin could not accept at all. If it were the usual Tian Yin, she might have ridiculed her or even punched her in the face in a fit of rage.

But right now, Tianyin was just looking at Jiye with a playful gaze.

"Himeno-kun, are you really willing to go easy on me? But I don't think I can cry right now."

Tenon didn't seem to be pleading for mercy, so Hime thought Tenon was just teasing her and replied casually.

"It's okay if you don't cry. As long as you beg me, I might consider giving in to you."

Of course, this was Hime's lie. Now it was the final match between Class B and Class D. If losing the match only resulted in the deduction of class points, then Amane and Hime wouldn't be so tense. The reason they were at odds now was because losing the match would mean their respective command towers would be expelled.

Himeno dislikes Ninomiya. In Himeno's opinion, if Ninomiya hadn't bullied Ichinose, causing Ichinose to be persuaded by Amane to transfer classes, she would still be hiding under Ichinose's wing and slacking off to her heart's content.

Even though she disliked Ichinose's group activities that homogenized everyone and resembled playing a large-scale house, it is undeniable that Himeno felt happy at that time, even though she was in a hostile relationship with Ichinose.

She doesn't have to worry about anything; it's practically the perfect situation.

But now that Ichinose has been kidnapped by Amane, even she, who used to slack off, has been dragged out to try and hold up Class D. This kind of tiring thing has made Himeno feel annoyed, and she can't help but hate Ninomiya, who caused all of this.

However, it must be said that Ninomiya is quite shrewd, and her practical abilities seem to be stronger than Kanzaki's. At least she can outmaneuver Koenji and defeat Ayanokoji.

This gives the second palace a reason to be preserved.

Therefore, no matter how much Hime dislikes Ninomiya, she can only prioritize the interests of the class. So even if Amane really begs her, she will not give in. Moreover... how could a proud and arrogant young lady lower her noble head to beg her?

"Then please, Hime-no-san, let me off the hook, okay?"

After speaking earnestly to Ji Ye, Tian Yin actually lowered her head.

"Huh?!!"

Ji Ye was startled by Tian Yin's sudden action and let out a scream. She never expected that Tian Yin would actually be willing to lower herself and ask her to let her go.

So what should we do next?

Should I really go easy on them? But if I don't... Tianyin has shown so much sincerity, it seems a bit unreasonable for me to do nothing...

For a moment, Ji Ye was caught in a dilemma.

Reason told her that she absolutely could not let him win. Tianyin's pieces had already become the king pieces, and if she let him win, Ji Ye would have no chance of winning.

But her emotions told her that the strongest girl in school had bowed down to her and begged her to go easy on her, which was something to be very proud of, and that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Moreover, if she were to give in, it might even be recorded in the school history. So what if her classmates scolded her? At least her reputation would be impeccable. When graduation was approaching, she could beg Amane, and maybe Amane would take her to Class B like she did with Ichinose. No, by then Amane might already be in Class A.

Isn't this just like catching a free ride?

A fierce internal struggle raged between personal interests and class interests, and Ji Ye vaguely felt as if his head was about to split open.

Unlike Hime, who was struggling on stage.

The people on the stage remained completely silent.

Would Miyako Tenon really bow down and beg for mercy?

This kind of thing shouldn't happen no matter how you look at it, right?

But now this outrageous thing has actually happened in full view of everyone!!!

"Is Himeko really that strong? Are you kidding me?"

Ibuki turned to look at Shiina.

Shiina also had some experience in checkers, and at this moment, Shiina's brows were furrowed, clearly indicating that he had discovered something.

"Amane is so mean, sigh, Himeno-kun..."

Shiina sighed and stopped talking. Hearing that Shiina only said half of what she was saying, Ibuki immediately started shaking Shiina.

"Hiyori! Hiyori!! Tell me what's going on, I don't understand at all!! Besides, you can't just say half of what you mean, it's driving me crazy!"

Under Ibuki's desperate shaking, Shiina decisively chose to surrender.

"Stop shaking me, I'm going to faint... Ugh, my head is spinning. Actually, the game is already decided, but the loser is completely unaware. Next, it's just a game of cat and mouse for Tianyin."

"A game of cat and mouse?"

……

"That's right, it's a cat-and-mouse game. Tianyin is getting worse and worse."

After explaining to Kamuro beside him, Sakayanagi's gaze toward Amane became complicated.

Amane is undoubtedly the most comfortable persona she can be right now, but Sakayanagi doesn't know whether this is the real Amane or just Amane pretending to be someone "liked by everyone".

"When I get back, I'll examine you thoroughly from the inside out. I want to see if you've really changed, Tianyin. Humph."

Sakayanagi snorted and turned to leave.

When Kamuro saw that Sakayanagi was about to leave, he quickly stopped her.

"Seriously? The special exam isn't even over yet and you're already trying to sneak away? I'm still here waiting for them to finish their competition. This isn't fair at all! For the sake of fairness, you can't sneak away either!"

Kamuro didn't want Sakayanagi to leave for an even more important reason: Class A had failed the special exam and might not even be able to keep their Class A title.

Who would believe that everyone has no grievances?

If Sakayanagi, the only one who can keep everyone in check, leaves prematurely, the students of Class A who are dissatisfied with the defeat will definitely have a fierce argument with the Sakayanagi faction. In that case, Class A, which has finally managed to unite, will fall apart again in the blink of an eye.

Conversely, if Sakayanagi stayed, even if the opponents were dissatisfied with the results of this special exam, their lingering influence would deter them from causing trouble.

Sakayanagi only exchanged a glance with Kamuro and knew what Kamuro was thinking, but she didn't want to stay and watch Amane win.

If Amane were fighting for herself, Sakayanagi would never say anything, but Amane is fighting on stage only to keep her promise to Horikita.

She fights for women other than Sakayanagi Arisu, and goes to great lengths to help that woman achieve her dreams, even going so far as to challenge her.

Today is the day Horikita Suzune's dream comes true, but it is also the day that Sakayanagi Arisu fails. Is it still necessary for her to be here to see the result?

If the celebrations start later and Horikita throws herself at me, even if Sakayanagi is very magnanimous, he will inevitably feel a little jealous in this situation.

Therefore, out of sight, out of mind.

"I know what you're thinking, Masumi-kun, but the situation later is really not suitable for me to stay. If anything happens, go to Hashimoto-kun for help."

After finishing speaking, Sakayanagi turned around, leaning on his cane, and slowly walked away from Kamuro's sight.

"This is terrible, why are all the students in Class A like this..."

Kamuro crouched on the ground in agony, clutching his head.

……

Ji Ye hesitated for a long time on the stage, but finally shook his head and chose to refuse.

"I'm sorry, I can't grant your request, Tianyin."

"What? Hime-chan, how could you be so heartless..."

Tianyin covered the lower half of her face with her hand, making it look as if she was sobbing.

Ji Ye immediately panicked, disregarding etiquette, and quickly stood up to put his hand on Tian Yin's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry, I didn't mean to... Tianyin, you—"