Classroom of the Elite, Kusuo Saiki

"Ah."

"Send me a copy."

"understood."

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka nodded.

It seems Qi Mu is about to make a move.

As he thought about it, Kiyotaka Ayanokouji sent a copy of the video recording to Kusuo Saiki.

......

That evening, Kusuo Saiki used the method he had seen in Kiyotaka Ayanokouji's mind to send a message to Shiho Manabe through an anonymous account, threatening her with the previous video recording to stop her and the others from bullying Megumi Karuizawa.

In this school, once bullying is exposed, the consequences for the bullies will be unimaginable.

However, Karuizawa Kei was unwilling to reveal such things, because if she reported it to the school, everything she had experienced would be exposed, and the image she had worked so hard to build for a semester would be ruined.

Therefore, Kusuo Saiki directly used the previous video recording to threaten Shiho Manabe.

Because Kusuo Saiki also appeared at the end of the video, Shiho Manabe would not suspect that the video was recorded by Kusuo Saiki.

"Who are you?!!"

Manabe Shiho sent a series of questions, but Saiki Kusuo did not reply. Then, using his clairvoyance, he saw Manabe Shiho holding her phone with a look of panic.

'Well, it seems to be having some effect.'

Saiki Kusuo thought to himself, but his operation was not yet completely over.

By the time Shiho Manabe fell asleep that night, Kusuo Saiki flooded her mind with negative cases of school bullying.

Just like how I treated Takeru Sudo before.

'Now, everything should be completely alright, right?'

After resolving all these matters, Kusuo Saiki was finally able to take a short rest.

.......

The next day was the final meeting for the special exam.

After this meeting, the outcome of the exam was already decided; it just wouldn't be announced until the evening.

Kusuo Saiki arrived at the conference room early. This should be the last exam of this school trip. After that, he could finally enjoy a free summer vacation.

Others gradually entered the conference room—including Megumi Karuizawa.

Good morning, Qi Mu!

With a bright smile on her face, Karuizawa waved to Saiki Kusuo and then sat down next to him, looking rather intimate.

'Could you please not sit right next to me?'

Kusuo Saiki inwardly groaned, because he knew very well that the actions of Kei Karuizawa would draw unnecessary attention to him.

[What's going on? That troublemaker Karuizawa... actually greeted Saiki first?]

Both Yukimura Keisei and Sotomura Takehide were shocked by what they saw.

Has Saiki completely taken control of Karuizawa?

Meanwhile, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was observing Saiki Kusuo from afar.

[If it were me, I would need to create an even more critical situation to ensure Karuizawa's complete obedience, but Saiki has already done it. Remarkable.]

'What on earth is this all about...?'

Kusuo Saiki sighed inwardly.

At that moment, Shiho Manabe and a few others also arrived at the conference room.

I really hope these people stop arguing...

The moment they entered the meeting room, the others all had the same thought.

Manabe Shiho and the other two walked up to Karuizawa Megumi with an extremely clear purpose, which made Karuizawa Megumi's heart beat faster. At the same time, her body subconsciously leaned slightly towards Saiki Kusuo, and a trace of fear flashed in her eyes.

But at that moment, Karuizawa Kei noticed that Manabe Shiho had dark circles under her eyes and looked very unwell.

"Um, Karuizawa-san... I was a bit too harsh earlier... I'm very sorry..."

Manabe Shiho and the other two bowed to Karuizawa Megumi in apology. This was not sarcastic, but rather very sincere, even somewhat humble.

"what?"

Karuizawa Kei was stunned for a moment, completely unexpected that Manabe Shiho would apologize to her so sincerely.

"Um... I also made mistakes... I sent a text message to your friend named Rika yesterday..."

Karuizawa Kei also responded.

"I...I understand. Let's just leave it at that..."

A faint hint of fear flickered in Shiho Manabe's eyes.

"Hmm... let's just consider it a thing of the past..."

After finishing her conversation with Karuizawa, Shiho Manabe returned to her seat, looking somewhat absent-minded.

[Manabe... did that yesterday, but today 1 apologized to me directly? What's going on!? Could it be...?]

Karuizawa Megumi turned her head to look at Saiki Kusuo beside her, remembering what he had said to her yesterday.

Could it be... that Saiki did something?

"Then let's begin today's meeting."

"Ah."

Then everyone began their final discussion about the exam.

This is the last meeting, so the results of this exam for Group 1 will be finalized.

The exam proceeded exactly as Ayanokouji Kiyotaka had predicted. The group members ultimately decided to share the information on their phones to confirm the recipients' status. However, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka had swapped phones with Yukimura Keisei beforehand, allowing the others to assume Yukimura was the recipient first.

Soon enough, the trap was discovered by Honami Ichinose.

Honami Ichinose saw through the scheme of switching phones and exposed it in front of everyone.

Just as Ayanokouji Kiyotaka had anticipated, he used this method to make others believe that he was the one who truly received preferential treatment.

However, Kusuo Saiki knew that Honami Ichinose had seen through not only this point, but also the second layer of the trap of changing the SIM card.

However, Honami Ichinose did not reveal it, but instead cooperated with Kiyotaka Ayanokouji, Kusuo Saiki, and others to finish the charade.

If the names of the beneficiaries are announced together at the end of the exam, everyone will receive a large number of personal points.

However, the outcome is completely different once a traitor appears.

Although Ichinose Honami had previously mentioned hoping that the U-gumi could achieve a win-win outcome, Saiki Kusuo discovered that Ichinose Honami no longer thought that way.

She also wanted to take this opportunity to launch an attack on Class A.

This surprised Kusuo Saiki somewhat. Although he had known Honami Ichinose for some time, he hadn't expected her abilities to be so good.

"I hope everyone will refrain from betrayal!"

After Honami Ichinose finished speaking, the school's loudspeaker rang out, the discussion in the meeting room ended, and everyone left one after another.

Although everyone said they wouldn't betray the school, Kusuo Saiki clearly heard the thoughts of a boy from Class A who was about to send the names of the recipients of special treatment to the school.

He didn't know it was a trap.

Soon, only Honami Ichinose and Kusuo Saiki remained in the conference room.

Kusuo Saiki wanted to leave this place as soon as possible, but at that moment, Honami Ichinose called out to him.

"Saiki-kun, your plan was a great success. I know that the phone's SIM card and the device are indeed locked, but there is a way to unlock it, right? Because I checked with Ms. Hoshinomiya, and she said that as long as I pay some points, I can unlock it immediately."

Ichinose Honami directly stated the point that she had previously seen through but had not mentioned.

"People tend to mistake the answer that follows a false one for the truth. The moment the lie of deliberately showing phone information is exposed, the fact that Ayanokouji is the one receiving preferential treatment will quietly be revealed. In fact, your preferential treatment is Karuizawa, isn't it?"

"Sorry, I don't know what you're talking about."

Kusuo Saiki simply shrugged, pretending he knew nothing.

"Ayanokouji and Horikita devised this tactic, but I wasn't involved, so I don't know the specifics."

"Really? Karuizawa, who is treated with special privileges, has changed her attitude towards you quite a bit today. I don't believe that you, Saiki, were not involved in any of this."

"That's actually the case."

Kusuo Saiki continued in his reply,

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

"Hey?"

Ichinose Honami was somewhat surprised by Saiki Kusuo's indifferent attitude. She was also surprised that Saiki Kusuo would directly ask her questions such as why she didn't make those things public.

In reality, Kusuo Saiki didn't really care. He didn't participate much in the exam. After the preferential treatment status was confirmed, the tactics were all devised by Kiyotaka Ayanokoji.

However, Kusuo Saiki knew that even if he denied it, Honami Ichinose probably wouldn't completely believe him.

"Well, it shouldn't have too much of an impact for now."

Kusuo Saiki thought to himself.

"Um... Although we are friends, there's something I still need to tell you, Qi Mu. You guys are now in Class B, and we're in Class C. We're no longer allies; we're rivals now."

Chapter 85: Finally, a peaceful vacation...?

"I didn't mention that Karuizawa was the one receiving preferential treatment because our class's ultimate goal is also Class A. Morishige from Class A would probably betray us, since he's not part of Katsuragi's faction. I suppose he would betray us."

Just as Saiki Kusuo was about to leave, Ichinose Honami immediately spoke, as if explaining something.

"That's it."

Kusuo Saiki stopped and replied.

Should I pretend to be even more surprised?

At that moment, they received a message from the school.