"We will now announce the results for the girls' groups. First place goes to the group belonging to Ayase Natsu from Class 3-C."
After the results were announced, the girls started cheering. Most of the first-year students in Ayase Natsu's group were from Class D.
On the girls' side, since Ichinose didn't lead most of Class B's students, and Sakayanagi from Class A couldn't participate in the road relay, both Class A and Class B had fairly average results.
Instead, Class D's group, which no one paid attention to, took first place under Kushida's leadership.
Perhaps Class D could gain some class points now.
The results were announced one by one. Class C's girls didn't do very well, only getting fourth place. Fortunately, fourth place doesn't incur deductions in class points, so it was still quite good.
For your information, second place went to a Class A group, and third place to a Class B group.
"Unfortunately, one group on the girls' side did not meet the school's standard for average scores, and that is the group belonging to Ikari Momoko from Class 3-B."
Hearing this, Nagumo's lips curved into a smile, while Horikita Manabu stared coldly at Nagumo.
"Ikari, are you going to exercise your authority as the leader?"
"Of course!" Ikari Momoko stepped out from the crowd. "The one who disrupted our group's stability was Tachibana Akane from Class A. I want her to go down with me!"
Ikari said angrily, as if wanting everyone to hear.
"Nagumo... your agreement with Horikita was not to involve outsiders, right!"
"This has nothing to do with me. No matter what, I can't influence the girls' side."
"Playing dumb!"
Nagumo clearly couldn't be bothered to respond to Fukumaki's questioning and merely glanced at Ikari.
Ikari then spoke calmly, "-sensei, I want Tachibana Akane from our group to be expelled alongside me."
However, what happened next stunned Nagumo, Ikari, and even Ishikura.
"Unfortunately, your request is invalid."
The school-sensei's answer left Ikari a bit stunned.
Nagumo, standing nearby, was also taken aback.
"What's going on? Why is this happening?"
"According to the school's review, Tachibana Akane was not one of the reasons for the group's failure to meet the standard, so she does not qualify for expulsion. That's all."
The school-sensei said calmly but with unwavering resolve.
"Why is that?"
"Someone privately submitted evidence proving that other members of Ikari's group deliberately targeted Tachibana Akane and deliberately scored low to make the average score fall short.
Therefore, Tachibana Akane is not the reason for Ikari's group failing this exam. In fact, Tachibana Akane's grades in all subjects were excellent."
Even after the sensei said this, Ikari was still unwilling to give up.
"But Tachibana Akane was always making noise at night and preventing us from sleeping."
"Is that so? The evidence I received indicates that it was someone else who was making noise." The school-sensei looked at Ikari with a stern gaze. "Are you sure the one making noise was Tachibana Akane? Are you trying to deceive the school authorities?"
"I..."
Under the sensei's cold stare, Ikari couldn't refute.
However, Nagumo on the other side finally understood: someone within the group had betrayed them and sided with Tachibana Akane.
"-sensei, can you tell me who provided the evidence?"
"The person who submitted the evidence requested confidentiality, so I cannot tell you. However, I can guarantee the authenticity of the evidence."
Nagumo secretly sighed, realizing that even this had been considered.
"Amazing, truly amazing, Horikita Manabu. I didn't expect you to have bribed others within the group."
With Nagumo's hint, Ikari finally understood.
The perfection of this plan lay in the fact that everyone except Tachibana Akane was in on it. A group targeting one person, Tachibana Akane, was something the school wouldn't easily uncover.
But now, one person had jumped to Tachibana Akane's side, breaking the encirclement and disrupting the chain of evidence.
If even one person's opinion differed from the others, their statements could not be considered evidence.
Therefore, Ikari and the others' testimonies naturally couldn't be true. In the absence of sufficient evidence, the school would only accept the evidence it observed.
And under the school's observation, Tachibana Akane's behavior showed no impropriety, so Tachibana Akane could easily escape disaster.
As for the bribe that made others betray Ikari, it was undoubtedly the ticket to Class A, which meant 20 million private points.
Well done, Yoshida-senpai.
Although I don't know how Yoshida-senpai persuaded his girlfriend Kinui, the outcome was truly excellent.
"I concede defeat wholeheartedly."
Despite losing, Nagumo's expression wasn't overly upset. Instead, he felt that losing to Horikita Manabu wasn't a big deal.
"Unfortunately, the person who came up with this plan was not me."
"Not you... could it be?"
Nagumo turned his gaze towards Kamio Tatsuya.
Kamio Tatsuya stepped out from the crowd with a smile.
"A petty trick, not worth mentioning."
To cover for Yoshida-senpai, Kamio Tatsuya had to step forward now. He couldn't just abandon him.
"You've truly given me a surprise," Nagumo said with a sigh.
"Putting that aside for now, I'm quite curious about the expression of Nagumo-senpai's collaborator, Ishikura-senpai." Kamio Tatsuya's gaze fell on Ishikura in the crowd. "Ishikura-senpai, are you planning to help Ikari-senpai?"
Ishikura was silent for a moment, seemingly contemplating something.
Ikari nervously looked at Ishikura, awaiting his answer.
"-sensei, I want to buy something."
Undoubtedly, Ishikura chose to help Ikari.
"Wait, Ishikura, if you choose to help Ikari, the gap between us and Class A will widen to over 600 points. We only have two months left..."
"Are you suggesting we abandon Ikari? We weren't a match for Class A to begin with. If we abandon a fellow student now, won't we have even less chance of winning?"
Ishikura retorted, "You should know very well that the closer we get to graduation, the more important the number of students becomes."
The students of Class 3-B fell silent.
If they didn't help, Class B would be leading by 40 million private points and would be behind by over 300 class points, but they would lose one companion.
If they helped, Class B would retain their companion, but the leading private points would become 20 million, and the class points would drop to 600. This was an almost desperate gap.
And their opponent was none other than Horikita Manabu. How could they possibly close a 600-point class point gap with only a 20 million private point lead!
However, regardless of the circumstances, since Ishikura, the leader, chose to help Ikari, the ordinary students had no choice but to follow.
Watching Ishikura take out his phone to make the payment, Kamio Tatsuya shook his head. 'If only he had known better at the start.'
Kamio Tatsuya's original intention in telling Ishikura that their plan was not foolproof was to make Ishikura abandon the plan.
Since they didn't listen to his advice, Kamio Tatsuya couldn't do anything.
In this engagement, Nagumo spent 40 million private points and gained nothing. Ishikura lost 300 class points. They were utterly defeated.
Horikita Manabu spent 20 million private points but further widened the gap with Class B, thus achieving a small victory.
As for Kamio Tatsuya, he sacrificed a scapegoat, and with just a few words, he gained 28 million private points and eliminated a potential threat, Koenji.
It could also be considered a small victory.
Oh, and there was Katsuragi, who obtained 5 million private points and prevented Kamio Tatsuya from getting Class A students expelled. He also accumulated some credibility within Class A. A great victory!
Besides these, there was another loser, and that was Class B of the first years. Since no one saw through Kamio Tatsuya's plan, he extorted 15 million private points from them.
Even though their class had accumulated a lot of private points since the beginning of the semester, this expenditure was a significant blow.
Furthermore, on the first-year side, the Class C group, led by Horikita Manabu, took first place. Kaneda's group had a total of 14 members, with each person earning 3 points (base points) * 3 (four classes) * 1.4 (14 group members) = 12.6 points.
Rounding up, that's 13 points. For 11 people, that's 143 points. Since the group leader was also from Class C, it was doubled again, resulting in 286 points.
The second-place group had one student from Class C, earning 1 * 3 * 1.4, which rounded up to 4 points. Third place received 0 points, and fourth place received 0 points. Fifth place lost 6 class points, and sixth place lost 15 class points.
Therefore, the Class C boys' group made a net profit of 269 points.
After calculation, the girls even made a net profit of 13 class points.
Adding these up, Class C gained a total of 282 class points this time. A complete and utter victory!
It was just a shame that due to Kamio's group's average score falling short, although Yamauchi took the penalty of expulsion, 100 class points were still deducted. So, in the end, they only had a net gain of 182, which wasn't a particularly great victory.
The other classes also gained or lost points to varying degrees.
Class A gained no points on the boys' side and even lost 65 points. However, the girls' results weren't that impressive either, so the final outcome was roughly balanced, with a final score of -59 points.
Class B and Class D performed well this time. Class B took second place for both boys and girls, earning a combined total of 95 class points.
Class D, due to the excellent performance of the girls, managed to earn 137 class points. Although the boys' results weren't great, the girls' adoption of the 14+1 model meant that just one first-place group earned 126 class points.
The boys earned 17 points. Deducting the 6 points lost by fifth place, they had a net gain of 11 points. Therefore, Class D was the second-largest winner this time, earning 137 class points.
Thus, the landscape of the first-year classes was about to change.
Class A (Sakayanagi Arisu): 871 points
Class B (Ichinose Honami): 1007 points
Class C (Ryuen Kakeru): 501 points
Class D (Horikita Suzune): 137 points
Class B, with 1007 class points, would surpass Class A's 871 points and take the top spot. Next month, Ichinose's class would become Class A.
Class D finally had class points again, at least not zero.
However, Class D had two students expelled in this exam. Coupled with the previously expelled Ike and Kamio Tatsuya, who transferred classes, there were only 36 students left in the class. They were likely one step away from class dissolution.
It was just a pity that the method of replacing expelled students could no longer be used.
Otherwise, he truly would have wanted to lend Hirata two million private points to make him disappear.
What a shame.
Then, cheers erupted from the Class B camp.
"Yay! We did it! We're going to be Class A soon!"
"Woohoo! That's great!"
The students of Class B shouted excitedly. Although they didn't win first place in this exam, they had indeed achieved their goal of surpassing Class A.
Moreover, they had widened the gap by over a hundred class points.
In contrast, Class A was not as happy.
After being Class A for nearly a year, to be pulled down from above right before the final exams, anyone would be unhappy.
Even Sakayanagi was no exception.
Putting aside the previous exams, in this exam, the boys almost faced a situation where everyone would be expelled. Although they were safe in the end, they lost the possibility of victory.
On the girls' side, the group she had formed didn't win first place either, only achieving a lukewarm third place.
It could be said to be a complete failure. Furthermore, Katsuragi's contribution of 5 million private points to Class A had somewhat restored his credibility.
As long as Katsuragi was willing, Class A could immediately return to a two-way standoff.
However, judging from Katsuragi's demeanor, he didn't seem to have that intention. What he probably wanted was to fight as a member of Class A.
Overall, this camp exam was quite good. Although Kamio Tatsuya's scapegoat was reduced to one, he earned 28 million private points.
Class C's class points were steadily increasing. Although they wouldn't reach Class A's level anytime soon, the students were not discouraged and were filled with hope.
After the exam, the students packed their belongings for thirty minutes and collectively left the forest school.
Yamauchi, who was expelled, was picked up by a separate car.
As for Koenji, he had left even earlier.
The two people who were injured by the wild boar had already been transported to the school hospital for recovery.
After Okabe-sensei took attendance, the students boarded the bus one by one.
"By the way, -sensei, can't we eat dinner before we go back? The trip back is three hours long, and I'm starving!"
As soon as he got on the bus, Ishizaki complained.
Indeed, the food at the forest school was mediocre. Breakfast was self-made, and lunch and dinner were also quite bland, with even portion control.
They weren't ascetics, how could they endure it.
"Unfortunately, enduring is also part of training. The school cafeteria will be open late today, so we'll just have to wait until we get back to school to eat."
Okabe was also in a very good mood. Although Class B's promotion seemed like the biggest winner, anyone with eyes could see that the biggest winner was Class C, and Kamio Tatsuya.
Ryuen's decision back then was indeed correct to bring Kamio Tatsuya into Class C.
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