Kitō quietly appeared and glared at Katsuragi before taking his seat.
The battle between the middle guards seemed to be headed for a quiet start, with neither party exchanging a word.
However, the situation quickly began to escalate.
Right after the first round of discussion ended, Katsuragi chose to pass, and Kitō immediately made a decisive nomination. He gambled on identifying one of the two honor students hidden among the fourteen participants without any hints.
'Kitō-kun has made an incorrect nomination and will lose one life.'
The announcement was made. Kitō quietly clicked his tongue, but his expression showed no signs of darkening.
The probability was about 14.3%. He took a high risk to steal a life.
He was prepared to make mistakes, so he was able to remain calm.
"That's typical of you, Kitō. Quite a bold move. But what will you do next?"
"There's only one thing to do. Keep moving forward..."
Despite losing a life in the blink of an eye, Kitō continued his aggressive approach in the second round, attempting to target an honor student again. This time, the probability was about 16.7%.
'Kitō-kun has made an incorrect nomination and will lose two lives.'
Another miss. Moreover, the targeted student was a teacher or a graduate, costing him two lives.
Katsuragi even gasped slightly at the reckless assault.
"Now you have four lives left. Are you still planning to continue these reckless nominations?"
"...Of course."
"This special exam clearly isn't your forte. It must not be pleasing for you. I figured your options would naturally be limited, but to resort to such a kamikaze tactic. Did Sakayanagi give you permission? Or was it her instructions?"
Kitō deliberately chose not to answer. His strategy was indeed as Katsuragi pointed out, something Sakayanagi instructed, hoping for him to get even a single successful nomination.
Having volunteered as a representative, Kitō was expected to produce results no matter how challenging the exam was. The success rate per nomination wasn't high, but whether he missed and lost one or two lives, increasing the number of attempts before the opponent could start nominating was what Kitō could do.
His course of action was decided from the start. Naturally, it'd be frustrating if things didn't go well.
He slammed the desk with the tablet on it, showing his irritation.
Katsuragi, ignoring his agitated neighbor, continued to focus solely on the monitor to advance his deductions.
Meanwhile, Kitō, listening to the conversation, hardly made any inferences. He simply observed the students' emotions and reactions, searching for those who responded appropriately. In the third round, Kitō made another incorrect nomination, resulting in losing another life. Now he was down to just three lives, continuing to dwindle his remaining lives through self-destruction.
In the fourth round, Kitō, undeterred, targeted only honor students again.
Katsuragi considered passing at first but then reconsidered.
Kitō had missed three nominations so far, but as the number of participants decreased, the success rate gradually increased. It could be 25% this time.
Katsuragi, having grasped the tendencies of the students Kitō had previously nominated, identified a person who might be an honor student among them.
Even if Kitō forcefully nominated that one person, if Katsuragi also made the same nomination, it could lead to a draw. Getting the wrong person would only cost one or two lives. After considering various angles, Katsuragi, though ideally wanting to observe another round, greedily launched his attack to obtain his victory.
The result was...
'Katsuragi-kun has successfully identified Yamawaki-kun as an honor student, so Kitō-kun will lose three lives. As this brings his lives to zero, Kitō-kun, please leave the room.'
Kitō, a middle guard with seven lives, was defeated in four rounds without landing a significant blow.
"Why... Damn it!! Why can you get it right but not me!!"
More forcefully than ever before, Kitō slammed the desk, openly displaying his anger.
"This isn't an exam you can win without a plan. I can fight so well because I know everyone."
Katsuragi's high accuracy was built by his experience belonging to both Sakayanagi's and Ryūen's classes. At a certain point in time, he served as the leader of Class A, requiring him to closely observe his classmates. That was why he could see through the participants' expressions, tones, and gestures throughout the whole process.
"Leave the room, Kitō."
Katsuragi declared, glaring at Kitō.
However, Kitō didn't move. He remained seated, pounding his fist on the desk twice, then three times.
'Kitō-kun, please leave the room immediately.'
Despite the urging announcement, Kitō still didn't rise, and he just continued glaring at Katsuragi.
"Delaying won't change anything. The outcome has already been decided."
Those words were the trigger.
Kitō, with a voice clouded by anger, stood up and confronted Katsuragi.
"The exit is the other way."
"Katsuragi...!"
Calling his name, he reached out his long arms and grabbed Katsuragi by the collar.
Facing that nearly murderous rage head-on, Katsuragi also stood up and met his gaze directly.
"Stop it. Acts of violence are strictly prohibited."
Katsuragi advised Kitō in a calm tone, without panic.
However, the strength in Kitō's arms didn't lessen, showing no signs of letting go.
"I respect your abilities. But you just weren't suited to be the representative for this special exam. That's all."
Kitō felt his own immaturity in losing to Katsuragi, and was unable to contain his irritation. Though, in truth, there was no need to suppress it.
'Immediately release him and step back. Should any further action be observed, even slightly, we will deem your actions to be violent, Kitō-kun.'
The mechanical words from the staff in charge came through the speaker.
Though furious, feeling this was the limit, Kitō managed to restrain his anger and shakily released his grip from Katsuragi's chest.
"...This is my defeat..."
[ILLUSTRATION]
Bitterly muttering, Kitō turned his back on Katsuragi and opened the door somewhat roughly.
"I thought your anger was pointed towards me, but were you also looking past me, at Ryūen, Kitō?"
Katsuragi spoke to the departing loser, but Kitō slammed the door shut and left.
He watched Kitō's back as he left, then took a moment to breathe in the now-empty room.
Katsuragi wasn't aware of the specific exchanges, but apart from being from another class, Kitō tended to be extremely hostile toward Ryūen.
Perhaps he had set a goal to defeat Katsuragi and then bring down Ryūen himself.
There was a ten-minute recess interval before the next representative appeared.
"Did you manage to make it here…?"
The next representative to open that door and enter was Sakayanagi Arisu, the Class A leader.
At the time of enrollment, they were in the same class and competed for the leader position.
It wouldn't pan out like it did with Sanada or Kitō. Katsuragi resolved himself for that.
And finally, the moment Katsuragi had been waiting for had arrived.
"I'm surprised you only lost one life while both defeating my vanguard and middle guard."
Sakayanagi appeared quietly, showing no signs of being flustered.
"Choosing Kitō as the representative was a clear mistake."
"It was his own wish to directly defeat Ryūen-kun himself. Besides, as long as the general isn't defeated in this special exam, there's no problem. I judged that it was fine to discard two slots regardless of the content of the exam. That's all."
"Such complacency might lead to your defeat."
"Heh. First, let me praise you. I've revised my view of you a little, Katsuragi-kun."
Even though he was the only student with experience in two classes, Sakayanagi hadn't expected Katsuragi to defeat Sanada and Kitō so easily. Such praise was given based on those results.
Katsuragi solemnly voiced the thoughts he'd been harboring while listening to her words.
"I have been striving for this day—to avenge a grudge."
"A grudge? I see, you mean Totsuka Yahiko-kun, whom I drove to expulsion?"
Katsuragi clenched the fists on his lap. That was his answer.
"If it were the old me, it would've been difficult to understand your feelings, Katsuragi-kun. But now, I can understand a little. Perhaps we should've chosen a different method to determine who should've been expelled."
"Tell me, are you saying you've changed your mind?"
"You can take it however you like. Your anger is justified, but your revenge won't be fulfilled. Now that I'm here, things won't go your way."
While enrolled in Class A, Katsuragi, despite his reluctance, acknowledged Sakayanagi's abilities, having been ousted from the leadership position in the past. The rules of this end-of-year special exam were undoubtedly in Sakayanagi's favor. Moreover, his lives put him at a disadvantage, with it being six compared to Sakayanagi's ten lives.
Yet, Katsuragi was sitting there, ready to cut through flesh to break the bone.
"Let's start the next discussion—"
As the announcement came, both parties closed their mouths and straightened their postures.
The battle between Katsuragi and Sakayanagi began.