Chapter 5: Katsuragi's Counterattack

AS THE BATTLE BETWEEN Hirata and Hamaguchi was about to begin, the representatives' battle was also about to start in another room.

The participants appeared in the discussion area, with two people watching over them through a monitor.

[First Debate]

Participants:

2nd Year Class A

Shimizu Naoki, Machida Kōji, Yoshida Kenta, Fukuyama Shinobu, Motodoi Chikako, Yano Koharu, Rotsukaku Momoe

2nd Year Class C

Sonoda Masashi, Oda Takumi, Yamada Albert, Yoshimoto Kōsetsu, Isoyama Nagisa, Yamashita Saki, Kinoshita Minori

The vanguard assigned for Class A versus Class C was the matchup between Nishino and Sanada.

"Please take good care of me, Nishino-san."

Once alone in the classroom, Sanada, feeling slightly nervous, greeted Nishino politely before taking his seat. Sanada, who always maintained a polite tone even with his classmates, showed his usual demeanor even in front of an opponent. She was aware of her own rough personality and was bad at polite speech, thus mainly spoke in a casual manner. That's why she found it difficult to get along with those who spoke formally.

(TL NOTE: keigo (敬語), lit polite speech; A way of speaking used to show respect, considered mandatory in most social situations)

However, such likes and dislikes were irrelevant now. More than the details of her feelings, she was unable to shake off her immense nervousness, and her body was completely stiff. Nishino, who normally didn't flinch even when facing delinquents like Ryūen, was completely unaccustomed to the atmosphere of such a serious exam. Being the vanguard meant carrying part of the class's fate, and she couldn't help but feel the pressure.

The representative role, which she thought had nothing to do with her, was an unexpected selection by Ryūen. She deeply regretted having carelessly accepted it. Seeing Nishino standing still, forgetting even to sit, it was clear she wasn't in her usual state of mind. Sanada felt slightly hesitant about whether to offer help.

"Nishi—"

He called out her name, but then forcefully held back from saying more. He reconsidered, realizing that this inadvertent kindness might strangle himself. If his opponent was overwhelmed by the situation, he shouldn't miss the chance to use it. Suppressing his guilt, he quietly took several deep breaths.

By the time Nishino finally sat down, the exam seemed to have started as if it had been waiting for just that moment.

'The discussion will start now.'

With that announcement, a voice began to play from the monitor.

'The end-of-year special exam will now begin. The roles of each student will be displayed on their respective tablets. Please check before starting the first round of discussion.'

Participants were seated across the inorganic array of monitors. Without a moment to calm down, the discussion began. Nishino, whose nervousness hadn't eased at all, causing her vision to narrow, didn't check on Sanada even once and kept staring at the monitor.

"Ah, uh... has everyone finished checking their roles already...?"

Nishino couldn't remember the scene where the participants had just been checking their roles. It seemed like the discussion had started without her noticing, causing her to slightly panic.

However, the images in front of her were progressing in real time, and it was impossible to pause or rewind.

The participants' frantic conversation continued to reach Nishino's ears, whether she liked it or not. From right to left. She couldn't keep the conversation in her head, nor could she understand what was being discussed.

'Please proceed with nominating or passing. You have one minute.''

"What? Already, um, five minutes have passed...?"

Without understanding anything, the signal for the end of the first round was announced. Nishino reflexively hurried to look at her tablet. The screen displayed a list of 14 names.

If she didn't understand anything, passing seemed like the usual tactic, but Nishino continued to look at the names of the students with confused thoughts. The time limit for nominations, of course, kept ticking down.

Then, her focus landed on Yoshida's name, and she tried to recall the earlier discussion.

She barely remembered anything, but something felt suspicious.

That vague memory suddenly crossed her mind vividly.

Yoshida's behavior and conversation, which she couldn't be sure were truthful, seemed to indicate that he was an honor student. While feeling dizzy and overwhelmed, Nishino used her tablet. Somehow, she managed to finish using the tablet before time ran out…

'Nishino-san has made an incorrect nomination and will lose one life.'

It was a reckless move to suddenly nominate an honor student. As a result, she lost one life. Sanada silently watched Nishino's condition and didn't follow suit, choosing to calmly avoid nominating.

"They weren't an honor student... ugh... I don't get this at all..."

Perhaps out of panic, a loud muttering reached Sanada's ears. Since the teacher role had successfully blocked the nomination by an honor student, only one participant was required to leave this round.

With 13 participants remaining, the second round of discussion began, but Nishino was still in almost the same mental state as she was in the first round, showing no signs of improvement and aimlessly wasting time.

Not knowing what to do, Nishino finally strayed from looking back and forth between the monitor and the tablet and looked at Sanada. Noticing her, Sanada pretended not to see Nishino's gaze and continued to act as if he was about to nominate, but chose to pass instead.

Sanada wasn't particularly good at acting, but it was effective enough for Nishino at that moment.

That seemed to have confirmed her choice, as Nishino once again made a baseless nomination.

'Nishino-san has made an incorrect nomination and will lose two lives.'

Nishino had again nominated the wrong role, repeating the same pattern as the first round but with more severe consequences. Fukuyama's dismissal from the room was decided.

Now, Nishino had lost a total of three lives. She was all too quickly pushed to a situation where, without it even needing to be an honor student, any successful specific role nomination from Sanada would decide her defeat.

Sanada decided it was best to continue primarily through passing.

Considering the possibility that Nishino might become defeated by self-destructing herself was part of his decision.

However, by the third round, Nishino had mostly lost the courage to nominate.

Thus, both passed, and an honor student nominated Isoyama to leave.

Sanada, who had been watching the participants' discussion, noticed that Nishino's gaze was fixed only on the participants from the rival class, Class A.

Caught in the absolute structure of Class A versus Class C, she couldn't see the whole picture.

But Sanada realized it was also important to consider which class the participating students belonged to and deliberately decided not to focus on Class C students. If Nishino was only looking at Class A, Sanada, who knew the students well, had a significant advantage.

Then, in the fourth round, a significant development occurred in the discussion.

Here, Shimizu, who claimed to be a graduate, stated that Kinoshita wasn't an honor student.

But at that moment, Yoshimoto declared that he was the real graduate, and reported that Kinoshita was an honor student. At that point, it was certain that at least one of them was lying.

The time for the representatives' fourth round of nominations came.

Here, Sanada used almost all of the allotted time to decide upon his fourth pass.

He was tempted to nominate, but he hadn't reached a conclusion yet. On the other hand, for Nishino, who was out of options, that precious information was too valuable to carelessly waste. If Sanada had discerned the roles, she would likely lose, so she had no choice but to make a risky nomination.

If she could definitively declare that Shimizu, who made the claim first, was a graduate, it would be ideal. However, considering the worst-case scenario, she decided to stop trying to assess whether they really held an executive role or not.

The result was—

'Nishino-san has made an incorrect nomination and will lose two lives.'

The self-proclaimed graduate, Shimizu, was actually an honor student. It had been a major self-destruction. Meanwhile, Sanada, without losing a single life, successfully defeated the vanguard, Nishino.

'As this brings her lives to zero, Nishino-san, please leave the room.'

"What's going on, this makes no sense...!"

While feeling irritated with the exam and herself, Nishino was ordered to leave the room without even having time to feel frustrated.

"Phew... While I'm glad that it was Nishino-san..."

Sanada had won by only passing without ever stepping forward to nominate.

"In order to win, taking it slow is definitely the best approach for me..."

Having observed several discussions, he realized that discerning truth from lies through the monitor wasn't easy. He prepared himself to tackle the next match calmly, waiting in the same room for the next battle.

However, during the recess interval, complex emotions began to bubble up inside Sanada.

He couldn't wholeheartedly rejoice over the fact that he had completely defeated Nishino.

Even after being at this school for two years, he still couldn't sincerely get used to winning.

Light and shadow, there must always be a loser on the other side.

(TL NOTE: 'Light and Shadow' (光と影), Light and Shadow refer to winner and loser here)

That was why he struggled to face this reality.

"This is no good… I must do my best for the sake of the class..."

About five more minutes passed, and a middle guard belonging to Ryūen's class entered the room.

Shaking off the gloomy feelings, Sanada stood up and greeted the person with a smile.

"Katsuragi-kun, please take good care of me."

Sanada greeted him politely, just as he had done with Nishino.

"It's been a while since just the two of us talked."

"That's right. The last time we talked was quite a while ago."

The two of them, who used to share the same classroom in Class A, weren't particularly close friends, but they hadn't quarreled either. They were just ordinary classmates.

"When I heard about the rules for this special exam, I thought you would definitely be a representative."

Hearing those words, Katsuragi stopped walking and sensed the intention in his expression.

"It seems you were easily able to defeat Nishino."

"...Rather than easily, it's that I didn't particularly do anything. It seems she was just overwhelmed by the exam. Before the discussion starts, I have one question: why was Nishino-san chosen as the representative? I thought there were more suitable students in your class, Katsuragi-kun... Of course, Nishino-san tried hard and there are many good things about her, but..."

He stressed that he wasn't looking down on Nishino, but he couldn't help wondering if there was someone more suitable. He considered the possibility of her being a substitute representative, but since there were no absentees from Ryūen's class, that possibility was ruled out.

"Well, even if you ask me, I can't answer. Ryūen chose the representatives."

"I see. So if I defeat you, I can get the answer."

"That's right."

Katsuragi resumed walking and slowly sat down in his prepared seat.

"But you should expect that it won't be easy. Just as you want to ask Ryūen about the reason for choosing Nishino, I have business with Sakayanagi waiting ahead."

Katsuragi declared that he'd defeat him, and then defeat Kitō, who was waiting for his turn, next.

"Please go easy on me."

Soon, the room fell silent. From then on, they had no private conversation and waited for the signal to start the discussion.

[First Discussion]

Participants:

2nd Year Class A

Satonaka Satoru, Tsukasaki Taiga, Sugio Hiroshi, Morishige Takurō, Tanihara Mao, Tsukaji Shihori, Yamamura Miki

2nd Year Class C

Ibuki Mio, Inoue Toa, Okabe Fuyu, Suzuhira Miu, Morofuji Rika, Yajima Mariko, Yūbe Yoshika

'Please start the first discussion.'

As everything was ready, the silence was broken by the monitor's voice connecting and announcing.

Participants were captured from various angles by numerous monitors.

Both of them silently stared at the monitors, listening intently to the discussion involving the 14 participants.

The participants had all changed from the previous discussion, and it was the first time for these new participants.

In other words, the situation was exactly the same as the first discussion, and trying to rummage for information was an awkward process.

Therefore, it wasn't easy to determine who was holding what role.

It was a tense, probing, and dense five minutes. Although few clues could be obtained from the first discussion, they would still closely pay attention to even the smallest blink. Sanada, having focused only on his own classmates in the latter half of his battle with Nishino, chose to return to the basics and observe the whole group this time.

The seemingly long yet brief time for the discussion ended, and it was time for the representatives to make their moves.

'Please proceed with nominating or passing. You have one minute.'

The first nomination period arrived. Unless some very revealing information came out, Sanada had decided to adopt the same strategy as when he completely shut down Nishino.

If he carelessly rushed to nominate someone, there was a high possibility of him self-destructing and losing lives as Nishino did.

He had five, untouched lives. The vanguard had less leeway than the middle guard, but still, the fact that Sanada still had a good amount of lives firmly remaining was a significant factor. Even if Katsuragi hit an honor student, he'd still have two lives left. With two remaining, he'd have a chance to counterattack.

However, he wouldn't hastily choose to pass here either.

While giving him time to think carefully, he would hint at making a nomination.

On the other hand, Katsuragi, facing his first battle, stared openly at him.

"Having experienced the exam first—is it… an advantage?"

"I wonder if that's the case. However, there was certainly information to be gained from the current discussion."

He mixed in such a lead, having grasped the few available hints.

But perhaps him being unaccustomed to acting backfired, causing Katsuragi's eyes to momentarily narrow at his words.

He tried to read Sanada's approach—what he was thinking, what kind of strategy he had. Neither of them completed what they were doing on their tablets, and only the countdown of the available time for nomination continued.

"Are you wondering whether to nominate?"

Katsuragi pointed out that Sanada's fingertip had stopped on the screen.

"Yes. There are participants I'm concerned about, so making a bold nomination might be an option."

He used up all the allotted time, continuing to act as a student considering a nomination.

He was hoping that Katsuragi would be provoked and impatiently rush into a nomination.

"Have you decided what to do, Katsuragi-kun?"

"I can't answer that. But since you've already fought Nishino, you must understand the situation better. Feel free to nominate."

Katsuragi, in a special exam where getting struck first could be troublesome, urged him to nominate.

Is he still not understanding the essence of the special exam, or are his words calculated?

As the time limit approached, he relaxed his shoulders.

"No, I'll stop. It seems difficult to narrow it down, at least for now."

He chose to pass, putting an end to his nomination period, and soon after, Katsuragi also finished.

Without rushing, he could strike from the second round onwards. He nodded internally at his own decision.

However—

"Is that so? Then, I'll feel free to go ahead."

"Eh...?"

'Katsuragi-kun has successfully identified Morishige-kun as having an executive role, so Sanada-kun will lose one life.'

Katsuragi, who he expected to be on the defensive, made a decisive nomination in the first round.

The announcement played, and before the second round came, one of his lives was lost.

"How... did you know?"

"Rather, how didn't you know, Sanada? Morishige is a student from your class, right?"

Katsuragi had been watching students from Sakayanagi's class, not his own, during the first five minutes. Sanada hardly knew the students from Ryūen's class, and it was difficult to discern their habits in just about five minutes.

At first, he broadened his view, believing that observing everyone was certainly correct.

"There were students among the participants who were suspicious, but it seems you didn't notice."

What he did was the same as Nishino, but the accuracy was on a different level.

"...Did you completely discard half of your view?"

"The group I chose for the discussion could act reasonably well. I figured they wouldn't easily show their tails in the first five minutes. On the contrary, it wasn't the case for you. Did you overlook that it was written on Morishige's face that he was given a special role?"

Indeed, Morishige had been restless since entering the room.

He didn't make eye contact with any specific person, just occasionally raising the corners of his mouth.

Katsuragi, who had been focusing only on the participants from Class A, didn't overlook Morishige's behavior as he pondered whose role to discern. Of course, there was no definite guarantee, and he couldn't narrow down what role he had. However, Katsuragi prioritized the importance of striking down his opponent's life in the first move, leading to him nominating Morishige as having an executive role.

"You've skillfully defeated me. But it won't go the same way next time."

He strengthened his focus before the second round began, staring intently at the monitor.

However, his unsettled heart hadn't yet decided where he should look.

Should I look only at Class A, as Katsuragi did?

Or should I focus on Class C because of the lack of information?

Or should I once again carefully observe the whole scene?

Unable to settle on a strategy, the five-minute discussion started again.

"Your strategy is pretty predictable, given the time it took to finish the game and the fact that you completely won against Nishino. It probably ended with Nishino self-destructing without you nominating even once, right?"

Faced with the sharp remark, he could only give a wry smile. He intended to focus on the ongoing discussion, but he couldn't help but be distracted by numerous stray thoughts. Then, five minutes passed.

'Please proceed with nominating or passing. You have one minute.'

"I'll pass."

As the announcement was made, Katsuragi deliberately declared his intentions and quickly finished using the tablet. Sanada wondered whether his statement and action were true or false.

"...I'm forced into a difficult decision."

No new, clear information had emerged from the discussion, but there was a student who slightly caught his attention. It was unlikely that Katsuragi had overlooked this realization. Considering his initial decision, there might be a possibility that he'd continue to nominate students as having executive roles. Thus, Sanada couldn't completely discard the possibility that he was lying.

Sanada realized that being the first to lose a life was more damaging to his spirit than he thought.

Perhaps, I should take some risks and attack as well.

Such a psychological state was at play.

Even in the worst-case scenario, the nominating representative would only lose one or two lives.

"If you've stepped back, Katsuragi-kun… then I will make my move."

Deciding to show an aggressive stance like Katsuragi in the first round, he decided to nominate.

The number of participants had decreased to twelve. One person with an executive role had definitely been eliminated, but there was still a chance of winning. The question was whether to target the honor students, play it safe with someone holding an executive role, or specifically target a particular role.

To balance the situation, he wanted to hit an honor student and reduce his opponent's lives by three.

Rika Morishita from Class 2-C, honor student, confirmed. He used his tablet and touched the confirm button.

After sending, a brief silence followed as the nomination was evaluated. And then...

'Sanada-kun has made an incorrect nomination and will lose two lives.'

"Was I wrong…?"

The result was a merciless failure. Morishita left the room looking frustrated.

It was frustrating to end up with that result, especially since his belief that she had a special role was correct.

His lives were reduced to two.

"That's not like you, Sanada. It's not like you to step in with uncertain information."

Katsuragi spoke as if they were still classmates.

"Morishita-san's gestures seemed a bit suspicious."

"That might be true. But how well do you know Morishita? You probably don't know anything, do you? You should think carefully about where those gestures come from. If Morishita had been an honor student, it would've meant that she had an ally. Whether she was in this alone or with someone on her side, it would've greatly affected her state of mind. If it were me, I would've only gone as far as nominating her as having an executive role."

Receiving what felt like guidance, he managed to suppress his disturbed heart.

Indeed, it wasn't a trivial mistake, but Sanada hadn't run out of lives yet.

If he could make a successful nomination in the next round, he could still inflict a serious wound on the opponent.

However… in the following third round, Inoue and Tanihara started accusing each other of being an honor student due to some baseless accusation that a girl started. It was a back-and-forth exchange about who was more suspicious and who wasn't. From there, the discussion continued to delve into unrelated topics.

Suddenly, it became disorganized, but there were no rules against unrelated topics in the room, and they wouldn't be interrupted unless someone violated a specific rule.

Sanada couldn't afford to take any reckless actions here, so reluctantly, he chose to pass in the third round. Meanwhile, Katsuragi, not focusing on the two conspicuous participants, nominated Tsukaji as someone with an executive role. However, he ended up getting it incorrect, reducing his lives from seven to six. After that, it seemed like either Inoue or Tanihara would be eliminated by an honor student's nomination, but instead, Satonaka was ordered to leave. The fourth round also ended mostly with Inoue and Tanihara's conversation. And here too, Okabe, who was neither of the two, was chosen by an honor student and left.

Then, only seven students remained.

But since there was hardly any progress in the discussion, there was nothing much to be done.

When nominating a student as having an executive role, the representative could find out whether they had such a role or not, but they couldn't find out whether students dismissed by the honor students were ordinary students or students holding such roles.

Thus, it was impossible to definitively determine how many executive roles were left.

Sanada wanted to make a move here, but making any mistake now would weigh heavily on him.

I want to observe one more round. Maybe I can narrow it down by then.

Such feelings surged more than in the previous round.

Surely, Katsuragi must be thinking something similar.

He imagined such a conveniently favorable scenario.

Sanada had an overwhelming feeling that made him want to pass. Overwhelmed by this feeling, he touched the 'pass' option displayed on the screen. The final confirmation screen with two options appeared.

"It seems you've chosen to pass. Then, let me take the offensive."

Sanada was about to confirm the pass, but he stopped his finger at Katsuragi's words.

It was a prematurely made statement, mistakenly believing that Sanada had completed his pass.

Now that Katsuragi had made his move, if he was correct, Sanada might not receive another turn to attack. He quickly canceled the option he had just selected right before it was confirmed, tentatively choosing the student's name and firmly selecting the 'executive role' to confirm his choice.

'Sanada-kun has made an incorrect nomination and will lose two lives. As this brings his lives to zero, Sanada-kun, please leave the room.'

The announcement played, and he realized the contradiction between Katsuragi's statement and the result.

"Honor student... That backfired as well... But what about Katsuragi-kun, did you end up being right or wrong?"

"It seemed like a wise choice, but you were just being swayed by the situation, Sanada."

"What does that mean?"

"I chose to pass this time."

"Eh...?"

"My previous statement was a lie. I figured it would be better to have you attack me than for me to attack you. It seems you didn't see through it."

"Is that so? I didn't even realize that."

Sanada replied weakly. He had only now realized that his heart had been beating rapidly this whole time. Initially, he hadn't noticed because Nishino was more nervous than him, but he was also in a considerably nervous state.

Sanada had hoped to chip away at Katsuragi's lives a little and perhaps even secure a victory if he was lucky, but Katsuragi, having made up his mind, was precise and efficient in his decisions, and he also had the courage to step into the fight from the start.

Feeling completely outclassed, Sanada was left with no recourse, and Katsuragi had defeated him.

As if switching positions from when he had entered, Katsuragi saw Sanada off as he left the room, and took a breather.

"I've only lost one life. No problem... I just need to proceed calmly..."

Crossing his arms, Katsuragi suppressed his rising emotions.

Before thinking about revenge or anything grand, the task at hand was to defeat the opponent's middle guard.

Only after dragging out the general, Sakayanagi, was it time to let emotions run high.