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Volume 7, Chapter 4: Intro - Time for Settlement

"This concludes our homeroom session. A reminder to act appropriately as a student of this school over the winter vacation and to not go overboard. That will be all".

Sakagami\'s words are much appreciated no matter how meaningless they may be. I took out my phone.

The day for me to attack has finally come.

Today\'s the closing ceremony for our second semester. All classes will end in the morning and we\'ll be free from that point onwards. There will be no club activities either and the school itself is encouraging students to head back early.

In other words, there will barely be any students left inside the school building.

"I\'ve ruled out those I can rule out but there\'s still around 10 possible candidates left over".

There are a few I\'ve never even heard of before mixed in there too but I suppose there\'s no helping that. Ideally I won\'t have to use Karuizawa but as expected, I wasn\'t able to track down X\'s trail.

"Well, I guess this just means I\'ll get to enjoy myself more on the contrary".

To be honest I already have a mark in mind, but there\'s no point in narrowing it down at this point. Rather, it would be far more exciting to confront X with zero preconceptions. I made a certain move after the Paper Shuffle.

I utilized every last person in Class C that I could and gave them targets to keep an eye on.

But it\'s not like I\'ll be able to figure out X\'s identity from just keeping a tail on them. Taking into account the risk of another massive problem occurring, I did not make them tail the more fragile boys and girls. The ones to keep an eye on should only be, at most, delinquent types like Sudou or Miyake.

Or someone conservative like Hirata who fears the occurrence of a problem above all else. But that alone tipped those Class D folks off to the threat my actions posed. In Sudou\'s case though, he was stupider than I had imagined so I was forced into provoking him directly. Anyway, the point is to make them constantly aware that I\'m \'after them\'.

That person\'s probably trembling in fear every day by now.

From the fear of \'having their identity exposed\'.

So far, that person\'s hid behind Suzune and stubbornly kept hiding their identity. In other words, that person\'s terrified that the fact that they\'re Class D\'s shadow puppeteer will come to light.

In that case, I\'ll keep hounding them and then I\'ll close in on them. There\'s no possible way they wouldn\'t feel fear at that. And one more thing, I even told them I\'ll be targeting Karuizawa yet they didn\'t make a move.

That person should have been on edge for the past two weeks or so. About how exactly I\'m going to make contact with Karuizawa. Or about how I\'m going to interrogate her. They probably made Karuizawa report to them daily to check if any events out of the ordinary have occurred. They\'d be wondering what actions I\'d take in the process of uncovering their identity.

That must be, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the only thought running through their mind. It\'s far more tiring that it sounds and invites nothing but confusion.

They\'d be left unable to draw a rational conclusion about how close I\'ve gotten. That doubt would shake them up.

And so---today\'s the best day to corner X since they would have already fallen into panic by now.

In the span of a few minutes, more than half the class have left. The clock in the classroom feels like it\'s going slower than usual.

Students after leaving one after another.

"Kuku...".

I felt my heartbeat quicken. It\'s been many years since I last felt this sort of exhilaration.

I recalled the question Ibuki asked me a few days back.

She asked me why I would go out of my way taking risks just to find X. Ibuki said that there\'s no point to it even if I find X. She\'s certainly right in that there\'s nothing beyond uncovering their identity.

Oh, so it was you the whole time? She thinks that\'s how it\'s going to end. But that only holds true for normal people. I\'ve been fighting against Class D this whole time by thinking up a variety of strategies. I\'d know best that X possesses a mindset similar to my own.

I\'ve never before seen a person similar to me.

That fascination has gotten me all worked up like this.

I wonder how I myself will change when I come face-to-face with X. I want to know what I\'ll desire then. I\'ll be able to see the X who\'s kept me entertained this whole time.

That thought made my heart throb, almost like the feeling one feels when thinking of their first love.

I\'ll do anything for this.

The text I sent to X this morning has already been marked as read. There\'s no doubt it reached them. Now that they know what\'s going to go down today, I wonder what sort of strategy X has in mind.

"Ryuuen-kun".

The one who called my name is Shiina Hiyori, who did so from beside me.

"What?".

"Everyone seems rather restless today".

She said so while looking around. The students who stayed behind are all moving closer to me.

"What are you planning on doing after this?".

"I\'m off to see the person who\'s kept me entertained for the last couple of months. Do you want to tag along?".

"No. I must decline. I don\'t quite see the fun in that......".

She then added as a afterthought.

"Do you really have to hunt them down?".

"Huh?".

"...no, I suppose that\'s something Ryuuen-kun gets to decide as the leader of this class".

Hiyori then starts walking away. Perhaps because she\'s said her piece.

"I will be at the library. If you find yourself in any trouble, please contact me".

"It\'s not like you\'ll be of any use".

"I suppose so. Happy winter holidays".

Hiyori, without any timidity, said her piece at her own pace and left. Hiyori is sharp but she hates conflict.

I thought I could manipulate her but as I suspected, she\'s of no use to me as a pawn.

Compared to her, the ones who\'d obediently follow me around are far more usable. I finished making the preparations and had my pawns assemble.

"It\'s time, Ryuuen-san".

Ishizaki said so restlessly.

"Make sure you enjoy this".

I handed Ishizaki a bag. Inside are the items we\'ll be needing. Ibuki and Albert also stood up. Numbers aren\'t important here. I\'ll only bring along those I need. And those who can keep their mouths shut.

What I\'m about to do is something out of place at a refined school like this one.