<h4>Chapter 449: 6.7</h4>


    From the very first turn attacking and defending, Ichinose had been continually speaking to her ssmates.


    "We will absolutely avoid having anyone expelled from our ss, so don''t get nervous and stay calm."


    Of course, there were still plenty of students who felt anxious, even though they understood.


    That was why Ichinose had been voicing her reassurances—to give her ssmates some peace of mind.


    Of course, these weren''t baseless ims, but the truth. However, if they fought in the same way as before and ended up being on the defensive, other sses would mercilessly exploit the opening.


    The primary goal was to keep the number of eliminated ssmates to zero to prepare for the unlikely event of losing.


    If no students were eliminated, even the lowest-ranked ss wouldn''t have any expulsions. A defensive approach.


    However, she didn''t give up on winning.


    So, how would one fight defensively while aiming to win?


    By dragging the opponents onto your own battle field instead of theirs.


    To avoid eliminations, the opponents who saw this scenario would assume that defending themselves was their top priority.


    As the first half progressed, with the second turn and third turn, Horikita''s aim became clear.


    Among an unspecified number of people, her aim was to increase the number of people who made mistakes twice and were on the brink of bing eliminated.


    When this number swelled to five, she intended to test what Ichinose would do.


    "Thank you, Horikita-san."


    Ichinose expressed her gratitude for Horikita''s wise andpassionate actions.


    As long as they could earn points, they didn''t care if it resulted in eliminations from the enemy ss.


    It had to be that way.


    It was fortunate that the opponent was Horikita, who attacked in a solid and regr manner, unlike Ryūen. Ichinose used the protection function primarily for those on the brink of bing eliminated.


    "I won''t abandon anyone. You believe me, right?"


    She didn''t want to hurt her allies.


    She opened her arms to wee them in, ensuring them that she wouldn''t act recklessly.


    <strong><i>(Illustration)</i></strong>


    "I hope no one in the ss, year, and school... gets expelled."


    These feelings were genuine.


    However, if it meant creating victims within their ss, they were prepared for necessary sacrifices.


    Therefore, they didn''t hesitate to eliminate students in Ryūen''s ss.


    For victory, they had to sink the other sses.


    As a result, by the end of the first half, four students from Ryūen''s ss had been eliminated due to Ichinose''s attacks.


    Ultimately, if one of them disappeared, they''d have inadvertently contributed to an expulsion.


    Unavoidable sacrifices. They had no choice but to justify it, despite the pain in their hearts.


    ...However, this was only if Ryūen lost.


    "We''ll start the second half in one minute. Everyone, take your seats and prepare."


    Upon receiving Mashima-sensei''s signal, Ichinose opened her phone.


    Slowly, she looked back on the chat history on her app.


    An exchange with a certain person was made right after the start of the first half.


    [Ryūen-kun, this might be sudden, but would you team up with me? I don''t want anyone expelled from my ss. To achieve this, we need to finish the exam with zero eliminations. So, I want you to y defensively in the second half, so there are no eliminations from my ss.]


    Right after the special exam started, Ichinose sent this message to Ryūen.


    As soon as the message was read, a response came back.


    [That''s a pretty selfish wish. Do you think I''ll just listen and obediently go along with it?]


    [There''s room for negotiation. I''ll give you a present you''ll be pleased with.]


    [Before all that, can you hold off Suzune''s attacks without a scratch?]


    In order to ask Ryūen to hold off on eliminating anyone, she had to make it through the first ten turns of the first half with no eliminations.


    [I can handle it.]


    [An immediate answer, huh? You haven''t been negotiating with Suzune before me, have you? If so, it''s over.]


    A clumsy lie wouldn''t work against Ryūen, who was highly cautious.


    Even so, Ichinose wasn''t nning on negotiating with Horikita from the start. If they tried to negotiate, it would be hard to establish an agreement and Sakayanagi''s ss would start moving. That was a situation to avoid.


    [I want to protect everyone. I don''t want any eliminations. The opponent knows that''s my aim. That''s why Horikita-san must be aiming to first build up five people on the brink of elimination. She probably wants to see whether I will continue to protect those five people.]


    If a protection on one of those five people were skipped even once, it would be assumed they were ready to ept an elimination, or even an expulsion if they ended upst.


    But if she could keep protecting, nothing would be easier for the attacking Horikita. The valuable protection slots would all continuously be appointed to those five people. Hence, she would switch to targeting students who haven''t made mistakes without increasing those who would be on the brink of elimination.


    [Unlike you and Sakayanagi-san, Horikita-san doesn''t want to eliminate students from other sses. She just wants to win. She''ll attack the 34 people who aren''t protected fairly.]


    Ichinose''s strategy in the first half was to intentionally allow those students who felt unsure about their answers to be on the edge of elimination using the initial protection slots they had at their disposal. It wouldn''t be an easy battle, but it wasn''t impossible to fight on equal grounds.


    [If that strategy goes well, and I follow your instructions in the second half, then certainly, there will be no eliminations. But that''s quite the outrageous idea, huh? What kind of gift are you going to give me?]


    [A guaranteed 25 points. I''ll tell you the targeted people in five out of the ten turns that they will attack. Of course, we''ll spread them out cleverly so the other sses don''t notice.]


    If he knew who would be attacked in advance, he''d have an advantage in the exam.


    There was an immediate read receipt, but the reply took about three minutes due to thinking.


    [I''ll pass. It''s not a bad deal, but I have my own ideas.]


    [That''s a shame.]


    Ichinose thought she had made a good offer, but he had no choice but to let it go. Any furtherpromises in the score would result in them losing the chance ofing first. More than anything, she could judge that the chances were slim from the fact that Ryūen didn''t even negotiate to raise the score.


    "Then, perhaps I''ll have to go all out..."


    The negotiation failed. She could think of numerous ways in which it could''ve been worse, but she wouldn''t bother.


    Even if it was risky, she''d have to aim for a no-elimination strategy on her own.


    However—


    [You''re lucky.]


    Just when she thought all hope was lost, she received another message from the recipient.


    [What do you mean?]


    [If you manage to avoid any eliminations in the first half, I''ll partially agree to your proposal.]


    [Partially?]


    [I''ll agree to avoid eliminating any of your ssmates, but your guaranteed 25 points are unnecessary. If you act strangely in the first half, Sakayanagi will see through it.]


    [So, what are you asking for?]


    [After the offense and defense reversal in the second half, ept the points from me as necessary. And no details. Decide whether or not you trust me based on that.]


    An enigmatic offer to be the receiver rather than giving points.


    Any other student would see it as a joke, suggesting no intention to negotiate from the beginning.


    "...I see..."


    Ichinose murmured softly.


    This time, it was Ichinose who pondered whether or not to trust Ryūen.


    It would be a lie to say that she didn''t hesitate, just that it took time.


    Still, Ichinose replied in less than a minute.


    [I understand. I''ll trust you.]


    The speed of her decision-making was something other students couldn''t imitate.


    It wasn''t a decision made just out of kindness.


    Ichinose''s logic, thinking, and understanding of what Ryūen was aiming for led to this.


    The moment the first message was sent, it was instantly marked as read.


    Based on that, it could be inferred that Ryūen also wanted to contact Ichinose.


    This meant that they had something inmon, or something they both wanted, even if they weren''t exactly alike.


    This exchange urred before the start of the special exam.


    During the second half, from the 11th to the 14th turns, the situation significantly changed.


    Sakayanagi''s ss''s 15th attack on Ryūen''s ss was announced, but once again, they sessfully defended perfectly. Seeing this, Ichinose smiled without letting her surroundings notice.


    [That''s amazing. So this was your aim.]


    [Stay quiet and live.]


    [There was no need to team up with me from the start, but you did. Thank you.]


    [Do you think I agreed out of goodwill? You being thest in line wouldn''t have benefited me. I just took the power to control the score as needed.]


    Indeed, in Ryūen''s negotiations, the condition was that Ichinose had to agree to ept the points. Therefore, if their ss was losing to Sakayanagi''s, it would be simple to increase the score and forcibly make them third or higher.


    Anticipating the oue of this special exam, Ichinose was relieved that she didn''t have to lose any of her friends. During the unanimous vote exam, Ichinose chose not to distribute the Protection Points, fearing it would lead to ss conflict in that exam. However, after the announcement of this special exam, she had almost regretted that decision.


    Currently, Karuizawa Kei had made her first mistake. If she made a mistake once more, she would be on the brink of elimination. There was still a possibility of ss B falling tost ce. There were students of a lower rank than Karuizawa among the members who had already been eliminated, and there was little hope she''d be removed.


    Even then—there was a chance.


    But for that, the consecutive nominations had to be interrupted once.


    "No... That''s a bad move..."


    She urged herself to act for the ss, not for her personal feelings.


    Ayanokōji would not reject her. He would ept her even if he continued his rtionship with Karuizawa.


    Then, there was also a way to progress and overwrite everything by yourself.


    She realized that she was the worst kind of person, but she didn''t care.


    "Even if we can''t get first ce, the way to win in reality is to make Sakayanagi-sane inst ce."


    In a small period of time, Ichinose regted her breath.


    Then, she shifted her gaze to her cell phone.


    The reason Karuizawa was targeted even after being so protected.


    It should''ve been obvious by now.


    Ichinose, who managed to hold herself back, sat down again.


    "I would like to nominate Karuizawa Kei-san."


    The 16th turn was no different, she had nominated the name Karuizawa.


    With renewed determination, Ichinose did not hesitate.


    This much was good enough for now.


    All that was left was to repeat it relentlessly.


    "I would like to nominate Karuizawa Kei-san."


    Clutching her phone, Ichinose was certain of her true victory in this special exam.