Ryūen holds a meeting between Class C.

" Looking back on the exams so far, there are several unnatural things. "

The name of the man who spoke to the class was Ryūen Kakeru. Standing beside him was Albert Yamada, Ishizaki, as well as other students proficient in martial arts.

" For it to come to this, it couldn't have been by chance. Based on what happened on the uninhabited island, and at the sports festival, there appears to be a person in Class D who thinks like me. "

Ichizaki gaped. " Someone like Ryūen-kun? I don't think Class D has someone like that... "

" I used to think that too, but I feel like I need to face reality. I thought Akabane was like me, but... " Ryuuen gave a harsh chuckle.

Ryuuen then shook; that shocked Class C.

" . "

" The rumored Akabane? " Ichizaki trailed. " Is this also related to the results of the uninhabited island exam and the sports festival? "

" That's it. But rest assured; I have a general idea of how the other side is doing things. Moving forward, we'll be looking to launch an all-out attack on Class D. I must take out the person running Class D from the shadows, and his ally Akabane. Class A and Class B will have to be put aside for now. "

Few students had objections to Ryūen's plans. Even if someone was against it, it would be impossible to speak up because the class has signed a contract with the devil himself.

" Ryūen-san... Does Class D really have someone working in the background? Someone other than Horikita or Hirata? " Ichizaki ask hesitantly.

" Yes. Akabane admitted that there was a mastermind behind Class D, and that he helped him, but that's it. The people in this class have the key to exposing their identity. "

" What are you trying to say, Ryūen? " In this heavy atmosphere, Ibuki stood in the classroom with her arms crossed.

Ryuuen chuckled. " Kuku. Ibuki, can you not even listen quietly? "

Ibuki gave a scoff. " I don't have that much free time, and you don't get to keep intimidating your classmates. "

" You're a big talker for someone who hasn't asked for permission. Haven't you already made a fool of yourself? "

" That's... " In the face of his remark, Ibuki had no choice but to eat her words. However, Ibuki also had the option of rebuttal. She lowered her arms and glared at Ryūen.

" Are you one to talk? At the end of the day, you failed to defeat Horikita at the sports festival. You also lost to Akabane in the 1 vs 1 confrontation in front of the whole school. Did you manage to get the private points for the collection? Aren't you the same as me? "

Ryuuen look up to the female. " The same as you? Don't make jokes like that. The strategy I set up at the sports festival was perfect. "

Ibuki didn't falter. " What's up with that outcome? You don't even explain anything to us and now you say there's another guy that thinks like you in that class and that Akabane may even be crazier than you? You want us to just accept that? "

All of the students in the class were trembling due to the rebuttals being made by Ibuki. But Ryūen paid them no mind, and showed a constantly slight smile. " Don't you think that no matter how perfect a strategy, it will fail if somebody leaks it? "

Ibuki blink. " ...Leak? "

" The mysterious success of Class D is due to Akabane and the mysterious existence of 'X', who dares to draw and manipulate the Class C students at my command. In short, we have spies among us. "

There was a little confusion in the classroom because of his remark. Ibuki's eyes blew open in surprise.

" Are you serious...? "

" It truly is a pity. " Ryūen smiled happily at the fact that he will become intertwined with the spy. A disaster had sprung for everyone in the class. Everyone present began praying that this would be over soon.

" However, this noisy espionage will end here. " Ryūen slammed the podium with his palm and silenced the chaos of the room. " First of all, I will try to ask honestly. The student who betrayed me, raise your hand. "

Of course, none of the students raised their hands. Some of the students glanced around at each other, which were responded to with feigned ignorance.

" Oh yeah... if you come forward easily, you won't have betrayed me at all. I knew that the spy would choose to hide. Then, you don't have to raise your hand. No, rather, don't raise your hand. Even if you're now considering it, stay completely hidden. " Ryuuen sway his hand dismissively.

Ibuki stared at Ryuuen in disbelief. " What are you saying? Are you really tolerating traitors? "

" You're annoying, Ibuki. Don't disturb my pleasure. I'll kill you if you do that again. " Ryūen's smiling face tightened into an expression of anger for a moment and he glared at Ibuki. " I've been trying not to make a big deal out of it. Others may think I'm lying, but it's true. To put it simply, I've been slacking off. "

'Bam!'

'Bam!'

He struck the podium twice. It was the sound of the upcoming purge.

" However... Maybe that's a bad thing. After all, there is a traitor. "

'Bam!'

The classroom further resounded with the sound.

" This means that I'll have to play some games. It's nothing. Not a big deal. It's just a silly game where we find a spy who's trying to remain hidden. It shouldn't take long; it'll take less than 30 minutes. "

The room was full of an atmosphere of fear, so it wasn't so simple. The only one who had remained calm in the face of Ryūen was Ibuki, but even she was beginning to be swallowed by the authority of Ryūen.

" First things first, everyone unlock your phone and place it on your desk. I'll check it myself. Are there any idiots who don't have their phone with them? If you don't, speak up immediately. That person is the culprit. "

Ryuuen didn't raise his voice but it did struck fear.

________________________

Complying with Ryūen's instructions, the students placed their phones on their desks immediately to avoid suspicion.

" A very sensible decision, it's very helpful. "

Ishizaki went around the classroom and gathered the phones one by one. Ibuki also took out her mobile phone from her pocket. Although she wasn't convinced, she handed it over to Ishizaki.

" Ryūen-san, everyone's phone has been collected. Our phones have also been included. " Ishizaki report.

" But where should we look... Call history?

" As if someone who is trying to stay hidden is going to use the call function! "

" Anyway. Thank you for your hard work. Then, it's time we conduct a thorough investigation. " Ryuuen rub the back of his neck. " Look at the email history, and of course look at the text messages. Even if it's a conversation with someone, look at all of it. We can't rule out the possibility they're interacting with each other under an alternative name. "

Nishino quickly stands up. " Wait, wait a minute, there are a lot of very personal messages on my phone! "

" Nishino. You don't want me to look at your phone? " Ryuuen ask.

" Of course! Even if it's Ryūen-kun, It's unacceptable! "

Ishizaki glare at the girl. " Are you joking, Nishino? You gave your phone to Ryūen-kun on the cruise ship, didn't you? Why are you so concerned now? "

Nishino glared back. " This is different from that time! All he did then was do a confirmation check of my email from the school! "

Ryūen was not surprised at all, and listened to Nishino's appeal indifferently. " Of course you know that you will be suspected, Nishino. "

" I-I will obey you, Ryūen-kun, but there are some things that cannot be accepted! "

Takumi throw a suspicious glance. " Nishino, was it you? "

Students in the class had begun to suspect Nishino.

Nishino look around in alarm. " No! I am not a spy! I just want to protect my privacy! "

Ryūen didn't show any interest in the conversation happening in the classroom. He reaches out and grabs one of the phones on the table.

" Your cell phone is this one, isn't it, Nishino? "

" Hey! "

Nishino expects him to start to look over the contents and begins to panic. However... Ryūen hands Nishino's phone over to Ishizaki.

" Give this back to Nishino. "

Ishizaki looked confused. " Sh-should I? You didn't confirm the content. "

" I told you to return it to her. "

Ishizaki promptly apologized to Ryūen and returned the phone to Nishino. In the face of this series of events, Nishino, as well as the other students are shaken.

Ryuuen calmly face the girl. " I judged you to be innocent, that's why I returned it to you. That's it. It's to be expected right? It wasn't the traitor's cell phone. It would be a waste of time and energy to look at it. "

Ryūen disregarded the dumbfounded Nishino and other students.

" If you find this unacceptable like Nishino has, feel free to raise your hand. However, be prepared to be suspected much more than she was. "

Nishino didn't have her phone inspected, and was considered 'innocent', the second and third people wouldn't be so lucky. In the face of these two options, four girls and two boys raised their hands despite their fears.

Ishizaki then announce. " There are actually six people who are defying Ryūen-san... The spy is definitely one of them! And the last one to raise his hand, Nomura, you aren't thinking of saving yourself by jumping on the bandwagon, are you?

Ryūen showed a gloomy smile in response to Ishizaki's words.

The said student, Nomura freak out. " No, no! I wasn't going to do that! "

" Gather their phones. "

" Yes. " Ishizaki collected their six phones and handed them over to Ryūen.

" So, even if you all are suspected, you don't want us to take a look at anything? " Ryuuen ask the ones who raise their hands earlier.

They all gave different responses, but they all agreed to this statement.

" Nomura, you took quite some time before raising your hand, don't tell me you were waiting for the right opportunity? "

Nomura jumped. " Eh! No, that... "

" Your eyes are darting around the room in an exaggerated way, and you're sweating. "

" What!? "

Looking at him in such a state, Ryūen gave out a happy laugh before turning to Ishizaki to give out instructions.

" Ishizaki, these people are all 'innocent', give them their phones back. "

This was another shock. Ryūen did not look at the contents and had Ishizaki return all of the phones. None of the students outside of Ryūen could understand the reason behind these actions.

Ibuki let out a disgruntled sigh. " Will you explain what's going on? "

" I'll explain it later. " Ryuuen He ran his hand through his hair and picked up her cell phone. " As for the rest of the cell phones, let's thoroughly investigate. We'll start with Ibuki. "

" ...Whatever you say. "

//////////////

Ryūen finished going through the final phone, having confirmed the content of them all on his own. The whole situation took about 20 minutes, and he spent less than a minute on each phone.

Most of the students had their doubts, but none of them would dare speak up about it. But for the spy, the tens of seconds that their mobile phone was being examined should have been very long and stressful.

" I see. It turns out that there is no information contained within these phones. "

Ibuki cross her arms. " Then Nishino or one of the others who were 'innocent' turned out to be the traitor after all... "

" That's not it. "

Ibuki's irritation and doubt did not disappear even with Ryūen's assertion. " Explain to me exactly what's going on here. Is there really a spy here in the first place? "

" Proof is stronger than theory. In that case, let me personally tell you something. I assume this is something everyone here already knows very well. "

Ryūen played the audio file sent to him by 'X'. The voice on the recording was one that every student in Class C had heard before. The voice of Kakeru Ryūen explaining his strategy for the sports festival to his classmates.

" This was sent to me when I was one step away from victory over a desperate Suzune. And at the same time, Akabane appeared to 'help' her. Thanks to this, I wasn't even able to see her knowledge, much less see any points. Do you understand now? "

Ibuki didn't look satisfied. " Wait a minute. Even if we assume that you didn't record that yourself, but instead it was recorded by a spy, there are still strange questions left unanswered. "

" It was a coincidence, purely a matter of probability. The best time for him to make a move was after school after the sports festival was over. There is nothing written in the message that came with the audio file. Akabane only appeared to mock me. "

Ryūen analyzed the blank message he received that contained the audio file.

" X, the master of Class D, and Akabane, the Devil of Class D, are very clearly telling me that they're aware of the strategy I came up with by sending me this audio file. Since they knew about my plans, they could have avoided the attacks I had targeted against Suzune at the sports festival. They should have been able to prevent Suzune from being defeated and being forced to apologize altogether. However, X and Akabane deliberately ignored these openings. Despite knowing my strategy, they were allowed to rout Suzune, and of course, she suffered due to this. "

Kaneda hummed at Ryuen's explanation. " By letting Ryūen-shi carry out his strategy, did they not make the audio file into credible evidence? "

Ryuen smirk. " How very smart of you, Kaneda. As long as we execute the strategy, the audio file has meaning. Then it could make sense as evidence. "

" The plans made by 'X' and Akabane are truly brutal. They know harm will come to their partner, but they take no steps to avoid it. " Kaneda comment.

" Yes. They aren't interested in Suzune's apology. That's the reason why nothing was written in the message. This is to say, from their perspective; they don't hold any regard for Suzune's pride or the loss of pride that she will go through. "

" That is to say; Akabane and X welcome the idea of playing with Suzune " Ryuuen said.

Ibuki grip her palm. " This kind of situation... I don't understand. Class C was saved by Akabane and X, who we don't even know. "

Ryuen turn to Ibuki. " If you were the spy, would you risk leaving a suspicious mail on your phone? "

Ibuki looked taken back at the sudden change of topic. " I... would not. Because of that, I had thought that checking phones like this was a waste of time. "

" Right. If you think about it, checking the class's cellphones is an obvious result of this. In other words, the spy attempted to look innocent by willingly letting me look at their phone. It follows that those who refused to show me their cellphones are clearly innocent, and the spy wouldn't have taken that chance. I'm going to ask the spy again. "

Ryūen looked at each person's eyes and movements one by one.

" Are you afraid of the unknown X? Are you afraid of Akabane Karma? Or of me? Ask yourself which one is truly terrible to make into an enemy. What happens to the people who resist me? Right, Ishizaki? "

Ishizaki flinch and look down. " Y-Yes... "

Ishizaki slightly shivered after being mentioned. Albert, who always calmly stood at Ryūen's side, also gave a slight reaction. It was these two men who had fallen to the ground in the end.

" The strongest force in the world is 'violence' when it's fully committed. Even if the school tries to expel me, I'd be certain to kill the traitor before it happens. Do you understand what I mean? If I end up expelled because of this betrayal, I will make sure to stomp the life out of this spy like the insect they are. As I had said in the beginning, if you believe in and obey me, I will lead this class to Class A. As long as you follow me, I will protect you. "

Ryūen stepped down from the podium and stood in front of the classroom, watching the eyes of his classmates.

" Do you understand? What does it mean to offend me? " He stared into the eyes of his classmates one by one. Then, Ryūen finally walked over to a female student and stood before her. Ryūen had set her as the target from the beginning.

" What's wrong? Can you not look into my eyes? " Ryuuen ask Manabu.

" Ah... A-A... I... " Manabu's breathing was disorderly, and she had a face that was about to burst into tears.

" Kuku. It's you, Manabe, Class C's traitor. "

Most students hadn't imagined it to be her, and were unable to understand this unexpected revelation.

" Don't be so afraid, Manabe. You didn't take the initiative to report it to me, but I knew you were the spy from the beginning. Your complexion has been bad from the start. There was no way for you to hide it. " Ryūen smoothed out her hair next to her ear and touched her face.

Manabe began trembling as if she were exposed to the extreme cold. " Please. Sorry, I'm sorry, I— "

" Don't worry, I'll forgive you. I'll handle this with magnanimity. So let's hear it. Tell me the true nature of X who had you betray me. " Ryuuen order in a soothing tone.

Ryūen turned from Shiho Manabe and shot a sharp glance to her friends Nanami Yabu and Saki Yamashita. After the announcement, he gets everyone to leave, except his top lackeys, Ibuki, and the traitors to question them.

" Question: Do you know the identity of the guy who gave you instructions? "

Manabe and the others denied the question by shaking their heads from side to side.

" Well, next question: What are your reasons for betraying Class C? Explain it to me. "

" That is– "

Ryuuen cut her words. " If you choose to hide it anyways, then tomorrow is when your time as my classmates' end and you'll be treated like nothing more than maggots. "

" D... Karuizawa of Class D, do you know...? " Manabu then add. " That girl, she is acting strong right now... but I believe she was a victim of bullying in the past. "

Ryuuen raise a brow. " Oh? Then? "

" Rika was treated terribly by Karuizawa, so we attempted to retaliate... "

Even though Manabe was scared, she spoke about the events that happened during the summer on the cruise ship. From how they were members of the same group in the special test, to how they had found out about her past with bullying, and even the violent act of revenge that they took part in.

She spoke of everything. She also brought up that the reason for their spying was due to threats being made from the other side with evidence. She said it was something that had to be done in order to avoid punishment from both the school as well as Ryūen.

Ryuuen smile. " Indeed. You've been having a lot of fun. "

Ibuki scowl. " Are you an idiot? They're being threatened by a guy who they don't even know the identity of. Don't you know that things might get even worse from here? "