<h4>Chapter 453: Chapter 7: Ayanokōji Vs. Sakayanagi</h4>


    After a lengthy period of preparation, the day of the first years'' final special exam had finally arrived.


    As per the rules, themanders of the losing sses would be expelled from the school. However, this time, they would be stripped of their protection point instead.


    The twomanders in charge of the defeated sses would lose the protection point that they had earned during the provisional exam.


    While there wouldn''t be any expulsions, it was important to keep in mind that the ss Points would probably fluctuate dramatically.


    Depending on the oue of the exam, there was a good chance that the standings of each ss would be affected.


    "Today, I want you to forget about all the notes and pointers I''ve given you."


    As I waited for morning homeroom to begin, Horikita spoke up from her seat beside me.


    "Choose whichever five events you want, and then pick whoever you want to participate in them."


    "If I take charge and mess up your ns, wouldn''t the rest of the ss be unable to adapt to it?"


    "I never told anyone which events I''d be choosing or which events they''d be participating in. I simply said that I''d be making those decisions pragmatically depending on the situation, so that shouldn''t be a problem."


    In other words, she had thoroughly set the stage for me topete without running into any issues.


    "Don''t me me if something goes wrong."


    "This is a sspetition. Even though themanders are allowed to intervene, the exam basically boils down to the strength of our ss as a whole. The opponent we''ll be facing is ss A, led by Sakayanagi-san. The most formidable opponent in our school year. Even if you lose, it''s not like anyone would me you."


    I cast Horikita a sidelong nce and took a look at thest message she had sent me the night before.


    It was a record of everything ss C had done to prepare for the special exam these past two weeks.


    There was information on what each student had shared in the ss discussions, which events they had tried, and how much they had practiced.


    "I''ll make the most of your efforts."


    As I got up from my seat, ready to go do what I needed to do, Horikita left me with a few words.


    "The odds of chess getting chosen are 7 out of 10. A 70% chance isn''t exactly low."


    Over the past couple of days, Horikita and I had yed several matches of chess against each other.


    "In the end, I hardly ever won against you, even with you going easy on me."


    It was true that the number of times she had beaten me were few and far between. However, there was no need for her to keep track of it. In this short period of time, Horikita''s chess skills had improved considerably.


    "Nobody is stronger than me, even when I''m going easy on them. Remember that."


    "You sure have a lot of confidence in yourself."


    Having wrapped up my conversation with Horikita, I set off to go fulfill my duties as themander.


    The remaining students were pretty much on standby in the main ssroom, waiting to receive instructions from the multipurpose room.


    After an event is announced, the participants would then change their clothes and go to the designated location. The finer details of the event wouldn''t be shared on the monitors, so the students in the main ssroom would have to wait for the participants to get back to learn what happened.