Chapter 26

A world-class spa, multiple first-class restaurants, and a gigantic library were the essence of summer vacation. Forget the special exam; I would enjoy this trip no matter the cost.

As I peered over the ship's railing at the dark blue Pacific Ocean, I felt somewhat indebted to this school. I had already earned over 10 million yen at this school, and now I was going on a hundred-million-dollar yacht for free. This was a far cry from my middle school dream of being a professional money moocher.

As I walked towards the library to entertain myself, I could see a group of 10 students so engrossed in the scene of some girls playing in the pool that they were basically statues.

Unsurprisingly, the library on the cruise ship was completely empty, so I grabbed a book Hyori had recommended to me earlier and headed to the restaurant. Though the restaurant was surely crowded, I wouldn't miss out on some amazing food.

As I entered the restaurant, I looked around in confusion as I saw multiple students wearing their school uniforms. Why did I buy extra clothes? Didn't it tell us to bring multiple pairs of clothes? Had I been tricked?

I looked around for a table with only two chairs and sat down. The mood in the restaurant was akin to some business conversion. Were these students really high schoolers, or why were they being so classy and respectful? I guess it's to be expected from students of the best school in Japan.

After about 5 minutes, a waiter came and took my order, so I took out my second phone and waited patiently. Before getting on the cruise ship, I acquired an anonymous phone from Hoshanomiya for about 100,000 private points and some teasing.

"Hikigaya, are you thinking of two-timing someone?"

How can I two-time someone when I don't even have one?

Anyway, now should be the perfect time. I drafted a quick email saying, "Follow my orders or the video gets leaked. Respond if you agree." I sent it to Kushida.

Within 5 minutes, I received an email back. As expected from the queen of the social hierarchy, she has to be obsessed with her smartphone. Censoring some very mean cuss words, the mail was something along the lines of "Who are you? What do you want? I'll do what you want, but don't release the video." 

Breaking my focus, I heard an annoying voice echo through the restaurant.

"E-Excuse me! Can we order already? 'Scuse me! Hey!"

I looked over and saw Yamauchi with his hand raised. Does this guy think this is a god damn classroom? Why the hell is he raising his hand?

The classy and fancy mood of the restaurant was ruined, and most of the students began glaring at the Class D students' tables.

Since I was sitting relatively close to the Class D students, I also heard a green-haired student respond.

"You're Class D, aren't you?"

Sudo aggressively retorted

"Yeah? So what if we are?"

I can't believe this guy has such a big ego. He cost his class 20 million private points and also attempted to videotape the girl's locker room. Where does this cockiness come from? The Class D students were clearly at fault for acting so disrespectfully.

The green-haired student ate another bit of his food before responding.

"Listen to me. This restaurant is no place for garbage like you."

Sudo stood up from his chair and approached the green-haired student, but the green-haired boy kept going.

"Garbage should be eating junk food. Go get yourselves some hamburgers."

Sudo grabbed the student's tie and lifted him up from his chair.

"You got something ain't hamburgers?!"

Interrupting the two's discussion, a bald student said.

"Yahiko, Cease these ridiculous provocations. Although we are currently on vacation, we may still lose points for bad behavior. You should conduct yourself in a manner befitting a Class A student. Your Class D lot would benefit from studying manners."

Was this guy really a student? How the hell are you bald at age 16?

The Class D students promptly left the cafeteria, so I finished eating and headed out as well.

As I left the restaurant, I could see the 3 perverts angrily discussing amongst themselves, and as I passed by, they dared glare at me.

I took my phone out of my pocket and harshly said.

"Kneel"

They tensed up but didn't budge, so I began to pretend to type on my phone. Instantly, the 3 students abandoned all their dignity and collapsed on their knees. I didn't have anything against Class D or the hierarchy, but these 3 were getting a bit too cocky for my liking. 

I scoffed and returned to the deck to find a comfortable reading place for the day. Finally, I found a bar on a secluded part of the ship, so I sat down and ordered a green tea. The time passed quickly as I was immersed in the book, so I didn't even notice when 2 class D students sat down to my right. 

I looked up from my book only when one of them spoke to me.

"Could you leave? I'm here to discuss something with a classmate."

The voice's owner was Horikita, but this girl had no power over me, unlike Manabu. Also, I had been here for over 3 hours; why the hell should I leave? I continued reading and responded.

"I'm good."

She waved her phone at me and said

"here, take 5,000 points and leave."

Was she really trying to bribe me? I was the richest individual in the school. Other students had higher balances than me, but it wasn't their money; it was the whole classes. I let out a light laugh at her words and continued reading.

Giving up, Horikita turned to her accomplice, Ayanokoji, and started speaking.

"I was going to ask you about the cruise ship, but it seems we'll have to go somewhere else."

I couldn't help myself from laughing again.

"PFFT, do you even know where this ship is heading?"

Horikita glared at me, turned to Ayanokoji, and whispered something to him.

Ayanokoji responded loudly, trying to make me hear.

"the school's private island"

I glanced at Ayanokoji with confusion. Ryuen didn't let anyone spread the information, so someone else had figured it out. Maybe that Sakayanagi is in Class A. I heard she's pretty smart, but then how did Class D find out? I guess maybe Kushida found out from her network?

Knowing about the island would not have changed anything, as they were oblivious to the existence of special exams.

Horikita, seeing that Ayanokoji was comfortable with me hearing them, speculated about Ayanokoji about the cruise ship vacation.

I continued reading, ignoring the two talking, but I was once again interrupted by some more footsteps. Hiding my face with the book, I glanced to my left and saw Ryuen with his bodyguard heading towards Horikita. Thankfully, Ryuen didn't notice, so I could continue reading while he confronted Horikita.

"Setting up cameras in the special annex. That was a funny little prank you pulled."

Ah, I guess Class D used the fake security camera strategy during the trial. 

"Who are you?"

"I like women like you, Suzune."

"I don't know how you found that out, but I haven't given you permission to use my given name."

Ryuen put his finger on Horikita's face and turned it towards him.

"There's something really sexy about that look on your face."

Can these guys take their flirting elsewhere?

Horikita pushed Ryuen's hand away and spoke.

"I don't know who you are, but your presence absolutely disgusts me."

Ryuen snapped a picture of her and said.

"I'm a fan of yours."

I almost started laughing, but thankfully, I covered my mouth. Ryuen had no filter.

As Ryuen walked away, I chuckled and removed my hand from my mouth. Class C was sure to be a funny place.

It seemed Horikita noticed me as she harshly asked.

"Was something funny?"

"yeah, that whole situation was pretty funny."

"Weren't you just hiding in your book to escape Ryuen?"

She wasn't wrong, but her reason for my hiding was wrong. I wasn't scared or anything.

Interrupting my conversation, I heard another voice call out. Wasn't this supposed to be a secluded part of the ship?

"Ryuen"

"Oh, Ibuki.."

A girl with short blue hair was standing in front of Ryuen.

"I need to talk to you."

Ryuen pulled her in and wrapped her against his arm. Didn't he call Horikita sexy a minute ago? The blue-haired girl removed herself from Ryuen and angrily said.

"I've become fed up with the way you do things."

"I see. That's fine. We can talk about it in my room later. It's just you and me."

Ibuki, the blue-haired girl, moved to attack Ryuen, but she was instantly stopped by Ryuen's bodyguard.

"Albert! Are you alright with this? ... So Ryuen's completely tamed you."

Ryuen and bodyguard ignored Ibuki's taunts and walked away.

"Come back here, Ryuen! We're not done talking yet!"

Ibuki still attempted to follow Ryuen, but the bodyguard stopped her and threw her towards us.

I ignored Ibuki sitting down motionless on the floor, but I saw Ayanokoji walk up to her.

"Hey. Are you okay?"

Ibuki swiped away his hand and angrily said.

"This is none of your business."

Ibuki walked away while Ayanokoji returned to his seat beside Horikita.

"Class C may be on the verge of collapse."

What? On the verge of collapse, how? If anything, Ryuen clearly has complete control over Class C. He controlled Ibuki without moving himself. Even if it were unstable, as long as Ryuen wasn't expelled, the entire class would be under his thumb.

Seeing the scene between Ryuen and Horikita, I was reminded of the existence of security cameras. How was Ryuen so confidently able to do these violent acts in public? 

Since I had nothing else to do, I decided that finding all the security camera and non-security camera locations could be useful, so I got up from my seat.

Seeing me get up, Horikita coldly asked.

"Oh, so you're leaving now. You really were a spy."

I sighed and responded.

"Where do you get this confidence from? Even your friend beside you knows I have more information than you can possibly dream of."

When Ayanokoji spoke loudly about the private island, I knew he had realized I knew something. Why else would he tell me about the private island? He knew I was on the student council, so it was possible for him to infer this.

Horikita glanced at Ayanokoji, who was shrugging, so I walked away.

After about 10 minutes of searching, I realized there was no way I could find all the cameras. Ryuen had probably already investigated, as security cameras were his great weakness, but I didn't want to ask him.

I headed back to the dorm, which was empty. I guess my dorm mates made some plans with the others from Class B.

-*-

The days on the cruise ship passed quickly as I read and looked around the ship all day. Finally, a week passed, and my dorm mates and I were woken up by an announcement.

[We hope that you'll take this time to observe this highly significant scenery]

Significant Scenery? What the hell does that mean?

[A/N: First two chapters of new book is out, check it out if you're bored: https://www.webnovel.com/book/the-last-quest-ascension_29426287600259705]