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Volume 4, Chapter 3: Double Question Part 5

On the day of the exam\'s interval, I chose to take a certain course of action but I was unexpectedly called by Sakura and so I instead decided to hear her out.

"It seems the (Cow) group\'s exam ended" I said.

"Yeah..."

I checked the mail on my phone that was sent to Sakura too along with all the other students by the school side. It simply said

"The test for the (Cow) group has ended. Members of the (Cow) group are no longer required to participate in the exam. Please make sure to not disturb the other students".

It was the same sort of text sent after the (Monkey) group\'s exam ended. Sakura looked at me with uneasy eyes. "Have I...done something wrong?" she asks.

"No that\'s not it. It just means that someone in the (Cow) group reported the "target" to the school" I told her. Leaving aside the case that occurred thanks to Kouenji\'s rampage, perhaps betrayal is becoming more prevalent in this exam.

Either it was \'betrayal with certainty\' or \'betrayal from being in a rush\'.

"By the way, Sakura, were you the "target" of your group or was it someone else?" I asked her. When I asked her, Sakura shook her head from side to side to deny it. "N-no. I\'m not the "target". But, I\'m not sure about Sudo-kun and the others..." she replied.

For Sakura, who\'d been a part of the (Cow) group for only two days, it seems like she has no idea what to make of the situation.

"Don\'t overthink it, even I still don\'t know\'s the "target" of my group after all" I said to her.

"Yeah...thank you Ayanokouji-kun. I\'m happy you told me that".

"How was the situation with Class A? From the rumors it seems like they didn\'t participate in the discussions" I asked her.

"That\'s...yeah. Just like the others have been saying. They didn\'t talk at all" she replied to me.

It seems Katsuragi\'s been thoroughly carrying out his strategy in all the groups. That would mean the party that caused this event would have to be Class C. But in that case a question would arise. Ryuuen had foregone the rules set by the school. But since the school does not actively announce the details of the exam it is impossible to ascertain whether I\'m correct or not at the moment. That is precisely why it\'s difficult to figure out rule behind this exam.

If I misread it, I would just end up self-destructing and receiving massive damage that way.

Other than the (Cow) group, the fact that the other groups have not yet ended their exams must mean that even Ryuuen has not figured out the answer yet too.

After the end of a mysterious exam like this, no doubt many students are also feeling lost.

"If there\'s anything else, feel free to consult me anytime" I told Sakura.

"Thank you, Ayanokouji-kun. See you"

Having bid farewell to Sakura who left while swinging her little hands cutely from side to side, I now headed down towards the basement. Then I descended into the lower levels of the ship where people don\'t usually go. Although the area was prohibited for students, it was still unlocked to allow the crew access to it. The area where the switchboard room is located, although easy to access, is not a popular spot for people to be in at all.

Although if one shouts with a loud voice, echoes will form, since this place is practically automated no one will normally come to such a place.

There are only two entrances and exits to this place including the regular one. The other one is a door that leads to the emergency staircase and even the crew usually do not use it. From the dust that had accumulated on that door I could tell that much. That means I can monitor the situation just by keeping an eye on the one access that\'s normally used.

Furthermore, more conveniently for me it seems that phones do not have reception down here. Occasionally there is sometimes reception down here but most of the time it is extremely difficult to send a mail or chat from down here much less make a call. "All the pieces are in place" I murmured.

All that\'s left is to execute the plan step by step so I won\'t make a mistake.

First I\'ll have to contact Hirata, then have him call Karuizawa to this place. To make sure there\'s enough time for everything, I\'d have to call Karuizawa here at least an hour early. For that I ascended back up to the upper floors to make the call.

I\'m sure she\'ll be cautious after the events of last night\'s conversation, but if Hirata calls her out again to speak alone with her Karuizawa will surely respond to that. She did say she would break up with Hirata, but if she really does break up with him, she\'s the only one who will suffer from that. As long as Manabe and her group are targeting her, for Karuizawa, the existence of Hirata is necessary for her to continue her life in school.

"I\'ve already asked Karuizawa-san to be there at 4PM. I\'ll send you Manabe-san\'s address to you now". I received such a mail from Hirata. As expected, he\'s listened to my request excellently and has succeeded in calling her out here. As a bonus, Hirata even knew the contact address of Manabe from another class. If he didn\'t, I would have had to run the risk of asking Kushida so it saves me the trouble.

"But I cannot help you any more than this. Don\'t make Karuizawa-san sad please" Hirata added that as a postscript in the mail.

So he doesn\'t want her to be sad, huh? If he knew what I\'m really about to do to Karuizawa, I\'m sure Hirata would be furious with me. But as long as I don\'t run into a problem now that\'s fine. As such, even if she breaks here now, as long as he doesn\'t notice after the event there would be no problem. To use an extreme example even if you commit murder, as long as there\'s insufficient evidence, you\'re a free man.

I then quickly skip through the text I wrote earlier and sent it. The contents were "Hey, do you have a moment?". A brief sentence just like that.

As a general rule, the chat application I\'m using only allows one account per phone. But there is a slight loophole in that rule, by creating a new major SNS account you can create another account for yourself. Of course, normally there are no students who divide themselves between a main and a sub account. Because there\'s not much merit in switching between these accounts. But by doing so, I can contact a third party without having my own identity be revealed as well.

I have to proceed delicately from here on. As long as I don\'t make a mistake in the process it should go perfectly.

Despite the message having come from an anonymous sender, Manabe quickly replied to it. "Who are you?". Manabe, naturally not knowing the sender, replied with that question. "Is ther anyone around you right now?" I replied. "No. I\'m alone...who are you?" she asked again.

"Don\'t show this chat to anyone. This is for your sake" I told her. "Like I said, who are you?" she asked.

"I\'m the same as you. We hate the same person. Let\'s just leave it at that" I told Manabe. Although the \'read\' sign appeared immediately, Manabe took her time to reply. Perhaps she still doesn\'t understand the implication of that sentence. "Have you mistaken me for someone?" she finally replies. "I\'m not making a mistake, Manabe-san. I\'m contacting you to inform you about the Karuizawa-san you hate so much. I thought I could consult you on the situation, Manabe-san" I mailed that to her.

"I don\'t know what you\'re talking about. Please stop sending me messages" she quickly replied. It seems she\'s on guard, not knowing whether I\'m an enemy or not. A natural reaction. I need to resolve this misunderstanding firstly.

"The truth is, as her fellow classmate, I\'ve been harboring a grudge against Karuizawa-san for a while now. That\'s why I thought we could cooperate and have our revenge on her. Since I\'m her classmate it\'s hard for me to exact my vengeance on Karuizawa-san directly, but that\'s why I would like to cooperate with you" I said to Manabe.

"I don\'t know what you\'re talking about. I\'m going to ignore you then" she replied.

Even though she was wary of me, the fact that she still hasn\'t cut off contact with me is a testament to how much she hates Karuizawa it seems. It surely stems from her desire to avenge her friend Rika and her own hate towards Karuizawa. I could easily deduce that from the fact that Manabe used force to bring Karuizawa into the emergency staircase.

"Rika-chan is still scared of Karuizawa-san. Don\'t you want to help her as a friend? Your face has revenge written all over it you know? But the truth is, you can\'t do it even if you want to. Since after yesterday\'s events, Karuizawa-san is on her guard. I\'m sure she won\'t leave Hirata-kun or Machida-kun\'s side for a while. And she\'ll always be together with her female friends so she won\'t be alone either" I told Manabe.

"I don\'t need your help. I just need to bring Rika into contact with Karuizawa-san. The truth will be out then" she said.

"I wonder if it\'ll be that easy. I don\'t think she would easily admit to her wrongdoing. On the contrary, it would just trouble Rika-chan. If Karuizawa-san uses heartless words she\'ll only just end up wounding Rika-chan further. No, that\'s not all. If she harbors a grudge, she might even bully Rika-chan further" I replied to Manabe.

"...then what should I do? Are you saying ther\'s a way?" she asks. Manabe\'s desire to settle this with the next confrontation becomes clear. "There is. You and me. We can cooperate to make sure we can exact our revenge on her in a secure location" I told her. "And the guarantee? It looks like you\'re just planning on selling me out to the school. This smells like a sub account anyways" Manabe replied to me.

"If I am indeed selling you out, please feel free to show this chat log to the teachers, Manabe-san. This account has been registered with the school\'s phone. In other words, I\'m risking my identity to take revenge on Karuizawa-san. That way, I\'m the one bearing the most responsibility. Isn\'t that right?" I told her.

I\'m sure Manabe also understands this well. Even if this is a sub account, once you analyze it thoroughly, the identity of the person behind it can be revealed. If it comes to that, I, as the one who masterminded this plan for revenge, would bear the most responsibility and undoubtedly be punished harshly. "Then if I show this chat to the school now what would you do, it\'s over for you" Manabe asks me.

"Because I believe Manabe-san is not the type of person to do that. I must trust in order to be trusted after all" I told her. "I understand what you\'re trying to say, more or less. I\'ll hear you out at least" she finally said.

After that I repeat a similar story to her multiple times over. About how much I hated Karuizawa. About how I wanted revenge on her yet couldn\'t as someone in a weaker position. And about how I overheard how Manabe and her friends were quarreling with Karuizawa. I thoroughly made sure to play the victim.

"Once we return to land, contact with Karuizawa would surely become difficult. Since the school dorms are littered with surveillance cameras, even if you tried to bring her into a private area, there would be eyes watching you. This place, a battlefield with no escape, would be the perfect place for you." I told Manabe. This would make sure Manabe and the others realize this place, only on this ship, can they get their revenge. "So...what are you proposing you can do?" she finally asks me.

Manabe, who seems to have finally caught up with my plan, finally starts asking questions.

"I can call Karuizawa-san. After that, you can take your time talking with her and settling the problem" I told Manabe.

And with that, through the chat, I sent her a map of the lower levels of the ship.

"Since phones don\'t get reception down there. She can\'t call for help either. And no one normally goes down there anyways" I said. "I see...so you can call Karuizawa-san down there as a classmate?" Manabe asks. "I would like you to decide now whether to cooperate with my plan or not. After I call her, you can decide whether or not you\'d like to have your revenge. There would be no problems that way, no?" I asked her.

After that, for the longest time, despite the \'read\' sign having appeared. No reply came from Manabe. Then. Once the reply came, I became sure I would succeed. IF my plan to convince her via chat failed, I had another plan prepared where I would have to appear before Manabe myself via direct contact. Of course that was dangerous. Since I had taken several pictures of her threatening Karuizawa in the emergency staircase, I could have blackmailed her into following my plan. But the risk is also massive, since I would like to avoid my existence standing out.

"Now. Let me see what you can do, Manabe".