People bring their own maids to the training camp

It's not impossible to secretly tell Hayasaka, but it wouldn't make any difference, because once you're on the deserted island, you're not allowed to use anything you brought with you; everyone is only allowed to bring the most basic change of clothes.

Chihaya didn't hint that Hayasaka should learn anything, after all, you can't cook without rice, and Hayasaka's character doesn't seem like a hardcore person who knows about wilderness survival.

Fortunately, it's not purely about wilderness survival; instead, you can use points to exchange for supplies and make good use of these points and supplies to complete a week of wilderness survival.

Although Chihaya didn't consider herself to have any princess syndrome, the idea of ​​wilderness survival was still a bit hard for her to accept.

Although she practiced diligently and was not afraid of hardship, Chihaya had always had a comfortable life and had never experienced anything like this before. So even the usually calm Chihaya felt a little uneasy.

Now he could only console himself that things would work out in the end, and he would consider the subsequent arrangements when it came to actually fighting for the stronghold. After all, according to Horikita Manabu, he could obtain the coordinates of the checkpoint in advance.

(P.S.: The rules for the Desert Island arc will be modified to enhance the competitive aspect; see subsequent chapters for details.)

He could make a profit from these check-in points, since they're real points, and no class would refuse such a deal.

The initial idea was to make a deal with either Class D or Class C, but Chihaya decided to analyze the specific circumstances further. After all, Ryuen was known for his unpredictable nature.

Through the Ludo game, Chihaya gave Ayanokouji plenty of hints, and anyone with a brain could guess her identity. Furthermore, if Suzune were the "leader" of Class D, the deal could be completed discreetly, making it even more secretive.

Chihaya's current strategies are not based on Class B, so he is not worried that Class C or Class D will not cooperate with him.

Especially since Lingyin now trusts him a lot, she doesn't care as long as there are no losses to Class D.

If handled properly, Chihaya could completely gain the trust of Class D—in fact, as long as Suzune and Ayanokouji are willing to cooperate, the rest of the people are irrelevant.

Kogen-ji Temple is an unstable factor, but it doesn't matter. "Collusion between officials and businessmen" is common. Chihaya has plenty of capital to negotiate with Kogen-ji Temple. It's not impossible that he could take it over directly if he were to act tough.

In addition, he had "made many friends" in Class D, so taking control of Class D was not difficult.

Furthermore, although Class B is currently under Honami's command, Chihaya can immediately take control of Class B should any problems arise.

The premise is that Fanbo's leadership has problems—but given Fanbo's personality, he will suffer sooner or later in future class confrontations, as his overly righteous thinking makes him vulnerable to underhanded attacks.

Chihaya herself is the biggest "traitor." She has a good relationship with Honami, but this has nothing to do with Class B.

152. A new member joins the imperial concubine group.

"So, it should be like this—"

At the Four Seasons Cafe, Suzune patiently teaches Hasebe and Sakura math problems.

On the other side, Chihaya was checking Miyake's Chinese recitation, while Ayanokouji was reading a book by himself.

The background music in the store was still classical music, and Chopin's "Fantaisie-Impromptu" was playing at the moment.

Although it wasn't the most soothing music, the shop adjusted the volume appropriately because there were more students studying for exams. What originally attracted Chihaya to Shiki Cafe was that they used classical music as background music, so they would occasionally play other styles of music. When Chihaya entered the shop, the staff would very considerately switch to classical music.

"Alright, Akito recited it very well. Just be careful not to make any spelling mistakes." Chihaya handed the book back to Miyake. "Everyone, shall we take a break? I brought some freshly baked cookies!"

"Yay!" Hasebe was the first to cheer. "We can rest now!"

"Haruka, aren't you exaggerating a bit too much?"

"No way! Math is really hard, you know!" Hasebe pouted in dissatisfaction at Miyake's question. "If we could choose to skip one subject, everyone would definitely choose math, right?"

Although Sakura didn't speak, she nodded repeatedly, and just by looking at her, you could tell that she was definitely the type who was also tormented by math.

"But it might not be the same for the boss and Horikita, right?"

"For me, not having to take exams would be the best," Chihaya said with a light laugh.

"Wow, is this something the top student in the grade should say?" Hasebe clicked his tongue in astonishment. "Terrifying."

"Nobody likes exams, Haruka, right? If it weren't for exams, we could be having a pleasant afternoon tea and chatting about your favorite gossip, wouldn't you say?"

"Well......"

"Alright, everyone, have some cookies to replenish your sugar levels." Chihaya took out two boxes from her bag. "These are cookie boxes I bought at the supermarket. Since they are tin boxes, I washed them and kept them. I hope you don't mind."

"Thank you." Rinne thanked them very politely, and only took a cookie after everyone else in the Princess Group had taken one.

"Thank you." Then Ayanokouji picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. "Delicious!"

"Thank you for the compliment, Ayanokouji-san," Chihaya said with a smile. "It's a pity that there's no oven in the room, so I can't cook whenever I want. I'll have to borrow the oven from the cooking club."

"So, boss, you joined the cooking club for ulterior motives!"

“That’s right.” Chihaya admitted frankly without hiding anything. “It’s a mutually beneficial thing, and the minister is very happy about it.”

"It really is delicious," Suzune commented. "I can tell you make this often, Chihaya."

"It's alright, I sometimes think about how to make desserts."

"Does Horikita-kun also like sweets?" Hasebe wasn't shy at all and started talking to Suzune directly.

She rarely had the chance to chat in class, and she was too lazy to take the initiative. But since they were together this time, they definitely had to have a chat—Hasebe was essentially a chatterbox and loved talking to people.

"I don't have any particular favorites, my tastes are pretty balanced," Lingyin replied after thinking for a moment.

"Rin's cooking skills are pretty good too, but I haven't tried any of Rin's desserts yet," Chihaya said.

"As Chihaya said, it's indeed a bit troublesome without an oven when it comes to desserts," Suzune said helplessly. "There's really no need to buy them separately."

"Then next time, why don't you just come to the cooking club and borrow the oven?" Chihaya offered. "Everyone in the cooking club really welcomes guests."

"I'll consider it," Lingyin nodded.

"I feel like I've gotten to know Horikita-san all over again today," Hasebe said after watching Chihaya and Suzune's conversation. "Actually, Horikita-san is quite easy to talk to! I don't know why, but it seems like everyone thinks Horikita-san has some kind of silent aura."

"Silent Domain?" Rinne didn't understand.

"Ah, it means silence within a certain range."

Although she doesn't play games, Lingyin felt that she should understand what her classmate meant just by looking at the literal meaning of the words.

"Actually, I was a little surprised too. I didn't expect you guys to be so familiar with Chihaya."

As her classmate, Hasebe had actually reached the point of calling Chihaya from Class B by her first name and even giving her nicknames, which made Suzune somewhat admire Hasebe's ability to make friends so naturally—it had only been a little over three months since the start of the school year.

"Hehehe, fate is truly wonderful—isn't Horikita also on good terms with the boss?"

This study session was actually organized by Chihaya. After Miyake mentioned that the Queen's group was all girls, he came up with this idea. It just so happened that Suzune could bring Ayanokouji along, so there would be one more boy.

Furthermore, Suzune is more willing to attend study sessions for students in Class D. However, she always refuses invitations to study sessions for Class B.

Moreover, the average score of Miyake Hasebe and Sakura was much higher than that of the three idiots. Even Sakura, who had the lowest score, would listen attentively instead of complaining like the three idiots, who would listen but would inevitably make a few complaints.

The fact that Kushida was always present at the three idiots' study sessions particularly annoyed Suzune.

She doesn't have these kinds of worries when she's with Chihaya.

"With Horikita here, Chihaya can relax a bit. Otherwise, it would be a bit too much for one person to teach the three of us, since the three of us have different weaknesses."

Miyake was being rather polite; he and Hasebe were at an average level with weak subjects, but Sakura, who was at the bottom, was weak in all five subjects.

"Haha, how about Suzune joins the study sessions from now on? Ayanokouji too." Chihaya extended the invitation, "Wouldn't that be great?"

"I'll consider it." Rin didn't agree immediately.

"If you don't mind, I'd be happy to." Ayanokouji readily agreed, after all, he also felt he needed a reasonable reason to contact Chihaya.

So, the two of them, who knew each other implicitly, took advantage of Chihaya's invitation to Horikita Suzune to work together.

"So, does this mean that Ayanokouji has joined our 'Himeko-gumi' group?" Hasebe suddenly said.

"The Princess Group?" Ayanokouji and Suzune were both taken aback. Apart from the Ludo Grand Tournament, this was the first time they had heard this term.

"It's just the few of us, and our leader is Chihaya, so I call her 'Boss'," Hasebe explained patiently. "Isn't Ayanokouji-san joining? That's like joining the Princess Group, right?"

"Hmm, I'm fine. Do I need to be assessed?"

"Of course not! Is that alright, boss?"

"of course."

153. We unite

As a result, at Hasebe's instigation, Suzune and Ayanokouji were both pulled into a group chat called "Himeko-gumi".

Rinne was a little helpless, but Chihaya patted her and said that it was okay if she didn't talk usually, and that it would be much easier to notify others about study sessions after she joined the group.

Lingyin had no choice but to agree.

In fact, let alone group chats, Ringtone doesn't even use the chat function much. She just calls directly when she needs something, which is a clean and efficient style.

This is different from popular contestants like Honami and Kushida—they always have endless messages to reply to, and they never stop chatting in group chats or private messages.

Especially group chats. Even in a class like Class B, there are bound to be some smaller group chats outside of the main class group. Chihaya himself had been added to a few group chats, but he didn't say much.

On the contrary, Hayasaka was very enthusiastic about it, saying that she could get a lot of useful gossip. Her phone had a lot of group chats. When Hayasaka got into a frenzy of chatting in the groups, she was like a flashing acupressure therapist, her two thumbs never stopping, able to reply to several groups in an instant.

Whether it's effective or not is long gone, since he basically only sends messages in a few group chats—relatively speaking, he's quite active in the Concubine Palace group chat.

While it's true that you don't need a chat app to contact only Chihaya, group chats are more convenient for multiple people. After a moment's thought, Suzune agreed, thinking that she should probably develop the habit of glancing at her chat app.

Generally speaking, she's the type of person who only checks for missed calls and doesn't use messaging apps at all—although they're quite advanced, the school doesn't have a habit of using mobile phones for notifications except for mandatory text messages. Class teachers also give notifications during class, so there's basically no disturbance after school.

As Chihaya gradually gets to know Suzune, she'll call directly when she wants to meet up with her. In contrast, if she needs to find Kushida, she only needs to send a message on a messaging app—not to mention that Chihaya and Hayasaka are pinned to the top of Kushida's chat list, even if they weren't, she would reply quickly. This is why Kushida is so popular—even if she can't reply instantly, she can respond at lightning speed, making the person who messages her feel important to her.

......

After the study session for the Princess Group ended, Chihaya and Suzune left together.

"Rinne got second place in the Ludo Grandmaster, so she should get some extra points as a reward, right?" Chihaya asked casually.

“...Yes.” After a few seconds of silence, Lingyin gave an affirmative answer.

In those few seconds, she understood what Chihaya meant.

Since Chihaya, who came in first place, asked her this question, it proves that she, as the first-place winner, received an extra reward, which is why she asked Chihaya, who came in second place, whether she also received an extra reward. The purpose of asking this question is most likely for the purpose of planning the next step. Otherwise, she could have pretended not to know, since it is impossible to know the other party's information without communication.

Suzune believed that Chihaya wouldn't harm her, so she gave an affirmative answer after thinking it over.

"Is that so? Although I don't know what kind of reward Rinne received, the reward I received is very significant, so the student council has forbidden me from revealing any related information."

"That?"

"But I can say whatever I want as long as it's unrelated, right?" Chihaya winked playfully at Suzune. "Kansaki and I can each ask a question and get some 'benefits,' and Kanzaki chose the subsequent final exam—but I didn't choose the final exam. Do you understand what I mean, Suzune?"

“I think I understand.” Lingyin nodded. “I wasn’t told not to tell anyone, but the information I have is quite limited.”

“I understand. After all, it’s second place, so even if there’s extra, it won’t be too much.” Chihaya nodded. “Then Suzune should understand that as long as she passes the final exams smoothly, the next thing is the cruise ship trip.”

"Ah."