-159- A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

After leaving the camp of Class A, Hori and Horikita Suzune began their triumphant return.

A well-deserved triumph.

Because Hori and Horikita were returning to the camp of Class D with significant gains.

The leader of Class A is Totsuka Yahiko.

With this extremely important information, Hori and Horikita headed towards the camp of Class D.

On the way, Horikita Suzune finally couldn't contain herself and asked Hori about her inner doubts.

"Why did you suspect Totsuka Yahiko was the leader of Class A?"

Just now, in the camp of Class A, after Hori's probing, the identity of their leader was exposed.

But Hori's probing was based on suspicion of Totsuka Yahiko's identity.

"If you didn't suspect Totsuka Yahiko was the leader of Class A from the beginning, you wouldn't suddenly probe him, right?"

Horikita Suzune looked at Hori's back as they walked and spoke out.

"Why did you suspect him?"

This was Horikita Suzune's doubt.

Knowing Hori as she did, Horikita knew that Hori wouldn't suddenly say something like that without reason.

Hori must have had a reason to suspect Totsuka Yahiko's identity, prompting her to probe him suddenly.

Otherwise, Katsuragi Kouhei wouldn't have had such an uncontrollable reaction.

So, Horikita Suzune was certain that Hori must have discovered something to prompt her to probe like that.

This speculation was correct.

Naturally, Hori didn't suspect Totsuka Yahiko for no reason.

From the moment they entered the range of Class A's camp, Hori had observed all of Class A's actions.

In other words, Hori clearly saw the behavior and reactions of the entire Class A.

From the moment the swarm of bees began attacking Class A's camp, causing the students to flee from the cave, Hori noticed several details.

"Maybe you didn't notice?"

Hori walked ahead, clearing the way, without hiding anything, and answered directly.

"When Katsuragi Kouhei came out of the cave with a torch, the first thing he did was not to rush forward to help his struggling classmates, but to look for Totsuka Yahiko's position in the crowd and then to help him drive away the bees."

This was a move worth investigating.

Because Katsuragi Kouhei didn't seem like someone who would play favorites.

Even if Totsuka Yahiko was Katsuragi Kouhei's follower, given Katsuragi Kouhei's position as a leader of a major faction in Class A and his steady personality, he had no reason to ignore the other members of his faction and only focus on Totsuka Yahiko.

In other words, Katsuragi Kouhei wouldn't deliberately favor Totsuka Yahiko for personal reasons.

However, at the first sign of trouble, Katsuragi Kouhei thought of Totsuka Yahiko first, not only immediately locating him but also, without hesitation, helping him out of trouble.

That could only mean one thing.

That is, Totsuka Yahiko's safety is crucial for the entire Class A.

Only in this way, with Katsuragi Kouhei's meticulous personality, would he confirm his condition and safety first, and ensure his safety first.

But Totsuka Yahiko's abilities are obvious to everyone; he's just a small-time bully who only knows how to bully. His abilities are not enough to influence the extent of Class A.

Unless Totsuka Yahiko is the leader of Class A.

So, from that moment on, Hori began to suspect that Totsuka Yahiko was the leader.

"Of course, suspicion is just suspicion. Just relying on these, there is still no way to confirm that Totsuka Yahiko is the leader of Class A. Maybe Katsuragi subconsciously helped him first because he has a good relationship with Totsuka Yahiko in private, which is also normal."

Hori explained to Horikita Suzune.

"So, to confirm whether Totsuka Yahiko is the real leader, I just tried a little probing."

If it weren't for this purpose, Hori didn't plan to show up immediately after Class A came out of the cave.

Hori originally planned to sneak into the cave while Class A was in chaos from the swarm, to check the situation inside the cave.

Until he saw that scene, suspecting Totsuka Yahiko's identity, Hori changed his mind and chose to show up to probe.

And without a doubt, Hori's probing was successful.

"Seeing that reaction, Totsuka Yahiko is probably the leader of Class A."

Hori affirmed this.

Horikita Suzune finally understood why Hori suspected Totsuka Yahiko and spoke out to probe.

"I didn't expect Class A to so easily expose the identity of their leader."

Horikita Suzune made a somewhat harsh evaluation.

"Just as you said, Katsuragi chose the wrong person."

If Totsuka Yahiko was just a small-time bully who only knew how to bully, a single probe wouldn't have exposed his identity so easily, right?

Of course, ordinary probing wouldn't work.

Hori used a very abrupt method of probing, catching Class A off guard, which made it possible for him to succeed.

And if it weren't for the initial suspicion, there would be no way to use that kind of probing method, right?

Therefore, although it seemed like just a verbal confrontation and probing, in reality, it went through a lot of consideration and steps.

If Hori hadn't keenly perceived the significance of Katsuragi Kouhei's actions and suspected Totsuka Yahiko's identity, the probe would never have been successful.

It's only natural to need a thorough grasp and understanding of Katsuragi Kouhei's personality to perceive the significance of his actions.

Although Hori only met Katsuragi Kouhei this summer and had only seen him once before, he was able to grasp Katsuragi Kouhei's personality and thoughts so clearly, which is truly surprising.

But...

"Although based on Class A's reaction just now, I also think there's a high possibility that Totsuka Yahiko is the leader, we still can't be completely sure, right?"

Horikita Suzune said to Hori.

"As you said, there's an eighty percent chance that Totsuka Yahiko is the leader, but there's still a twenty percent chance that he's not, right?"

Better safe than sorry.

If Class A's reaction just now was all an act, and they ended up fooling Hori and Horikita Suzune into guessing the wrong leader, then it would be a loss.

Even though this possibility is very small, it still cannot be completely ruled out.

There is a risk that Katsuragi Kouhei mentioned.

That is...

"Should we really guess the leader of Class A and put Totsuka Yahiko's name in?"

Horikita Suzune seemed somewhat hesitant.

After all, unlike Hori, Horikita Suzune is rational and without evidence, she cannot act decisively like Hori, right?

But Hori still wanted to say...

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."

Hori said indifferently.

"In this world, there are no benefits without any risk."

Only by daring to take risks can one profit.

And Hori is the one who can take any risk.