"In other words..."
Horikita forcibly shifted her attention, redirecting her focus back to the incident itself.
Looking at Subaru, Horikita took a deep breath, calming her emotions as much as possible, and whispered, "Ryuen from Class C believes that you, Natsuki, pose a significant threat to their class, so he decided to take certain actions."
"Is that correct?"
Subaru's strength was unquestionable.
Horikita could understand perfectly well that Ryuen of Class C, having recognized this, would be filled with wariness toward Subaru, perhaps even treating him directly as an imaginary enemy. However, Class C's current behavior left Horikita somewhat scratching her head.
After all, Class C was doing exactly what Class D was doing, which was clearly very uneconomical and not worth the cost.
Merely the tip of the iceberg revealed yesterday afternoon had already made Horikita realize that Class C's methods were far more ruthless than Class D's. When it came time to assign responsibility, the scruples involved would likely be greater.
The problem was that Class C was different from Class D.
Class C actually possessed class points. If they acted this way, even if their class points didn't return to zero, there probably wouldn't be many left.
This was the part Horikita truly couldn't understand.
"Yeah, that's roughly the situation."
Subaru did not deny Horikita's deduction.
"Does Ryuen of Class C think that doing this will pose a threat to you?"
Seeing Subaru confirm her speculation, the confusion on Horikita's face became even more apparent. She asked with a lack of understanding, "Natsuki, where do you think the meaning in Class C doing this lies?"
"Meaning?"
"Horikita-san, the only meaning this academy endows to every class is the single matter of 'graduating from Class A' or 'graduating with the status of Class A'."
Subaru looked at Horikita, who was still pondering the so-called meaning, and shook his head.
If she were to truly face Ryuen head-on, Horikita would probably be eaten alive in an instant. She was too naive.
"As for threats and the like... I haven't had that feeling for a long time."
Looking at Horikita, a trace of anticipation quietly flashed deep within Subaru's eyes. "If someone could make me feel the emotion of being threatened, I might actually jump up in joy and dance with excitement."
Subaru hadn't felt threatened in a long time. Not just since traveling back to this parallel modern society, but even before that, when Subaru was the Purge King, he hadn't felt that sensation.
Even if Subaru were to die in the very next instant, he wouldn't feel that sense of threat.
The moment Ram's hands gripped his neck once again, the first thing Subaru felt wasn't suffocation, nor was there any resistance to death. There wasn't even the instinct of life.
Subaru felt only a thorough, complete sense of tranquility.
This tranquility even surpassed that of the former Emilia—the Emilia who possessed color, the Emilia who truly existed.
"Besides, Horikita-san, you seem to have misunderstood something."
Subaru propped his chin on his hand, looking at Horikita with a somewhat relaxed smile. "Ryuen-kun hasn't 'made a move' on me yet. Those actions by Class C yesterday were just things Class C had prepared long ago."
In Subaru's view, these actions by Class C were, on the whole, no different from when Daichi Ishizaki and his two lackeys picked a quarrel with him last time.
Basically, they would come over and say a few casual words, then deliberately do something that might provoke the other party's emotions—similar to preparing to knock over a dinner tray or splashing water on a student using the restroom.
After the dust settled, they would offer a hypocritical apology and compensation.
Although they would lose some personal points, it was indeed a very effective method. Even if one had made a lot of mental preparations, after being set up like this a few times, it would be difficult not to lose emotional control.
It was just that Subaru had a little bit of strength and directly controlled Daichi Ishizaki.
Otherwise, if Daichi Ishizaki and those guys had really succeeded back then, things would have been a little troublesome.
He didn't know whether it was his own luck that was good, or the luck of Daichi Ishizaki and his group.
"What do you mean?"
"If it isn't because of you, Natsuki, isn't Class C just purely lowering their own class points by doing this?"
Horikita frowned slightly, but she immediately came to a realization.
"No, Class C doesn't care at all how low their class points drop..."
"Their goal is consistent with ours. They also want to graduate from this school with the status of Class A. So even if their class points become very low... or even zero like ours, it doesn't matter..."
After all, Horikita was the command tower of Class D's self-destruct racketeering plan this time. Although she had considerable doubts in her heart, she didn't wait for Subaru's further answer and figured it out herself.
No, Horikita, that isn't the only thing you need to pay attention to.
The reason Class C doesn't hesitate to lower their own class points, forcibly doing this even knowing that Class D is already executing a similar plan... is that time may not be as abundant as imagined.
Ayanokoji, who had been quietly listening to the conversation between Subaru and Horikita the entire time, shook his head slightly in his heart.
In Ayanokoji's view, Horikita was still the same as always, forever unable to focus on the true key points. There was no need to speculate about Class C's goals; it was completely obvious.
Subaru had basically just explicitly stated it.
The meaning this school endowed to every class was to graduate from Class A, to graduate with the status of Class A.
Now, Class C had suddenly adopted an approach that seemed very pressed for time. Even at the cost of losing class points, they insisted on dragging Classes A and B into the water. It was obvious that Class C had also determined that the self-destruct racketeering plan could not continue for long.
The school administration couldn't possibly ignore these matters indefinitely.
However, Ayanokoji had known this point from the very beginning. As the existence directing this plan from behind the scenes, Ayanokoji was very clear on where the plan's upper limit lay.
The reason Class C intervened so forcefully was simply that they felt that relying on Class D alone would not achieve their goals. Class D's petty skirmishes, even if dragged out to the end, would not cause any significant changes to the current situation.
At most, it would be like it is now—making the competition between Classes A and B more intense and suspenseful. But this had nothing to do with Class C.
Regardless of which class ended up as Class A, it had nothing to do with Class C. Moreover, even without this matter with Class D, the class points between Classes A and B were biting very close, full of suspense.
In this way, it had nothing to do with Class C either way, yet Class C's class points were becoming lower instead. This was something Class C absolutely could not accept. Rather than that, it was better to blow everything up completely.
What Class D dared to do, Class C would do. What Class D dared not do, Class C would also do!
With Class C's active intervention... the plan seemed to have succeeded in a strange way.
In a posture similar to Subaru's, Ayanokoji looked at the scenery outside the window, thinking somewhat aimlessly.
"If that's the case..."
"Class C is actually nothing to worry about. On the contrary, Class D and Class C might act as allied factions."
After believing she had figured out Class C's goal, Horikita thought there was absolutely nothing to worry about regarding Class C for the time being, so she paid no further heed to Class C's obviously overly aggressive behavior.
On the contrary, Horikita felt a few points of joy in her heart.
Whether it was easier to gather twenty million personal points or easier to lead Class D to promote to Class A and finally graduate with Class A status, Horikita found it hard to distinguish.
Regardless of which one, Horikita felt she didn't have much confidence.
However, with Class C's assist, Horikita suddenly became much more confident.
Originally, she felt the self-destruct plan might end up as an anti-climax, given that Class D's racketeering efficiency was getting lower and lower. But now, Horikita was confident that with Class C's assistance, they could pull the class points of Classes A and B down to a very low number.
Then, they only needed to replicate the operations from the midterm exam a few times, and they could certainly achieve a class counterattack with ease, directly allowing Class D to become Class A and stand at the apex of the first year!
If that happened... Horikita felt that her brother, Manabu Horikita, would definitely look at her great achievements with new eyes!
Horikita already knew that so far, in the decades since the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School was founded, there had never been a case of Class D counterattacking and graduating with Class A status.
She would create the school's history.
Before Horikita could continue thinking, a vibration from her student terminal drew her attention back.
Who would contact me at this time?
Horikita took out her student terminal with some curiosity.
In Horikita's impression, the people she usually contacted were just those few, and they were basically right beside her. There shouldn't be many people sending her messages at this time...
"I see."
"Ryuen of Class C really helped a lot."
Looking at the message on the student terminal, a trace of a smile surfaced on Horikita's face. "Ichinose Honami actively invited me for a 'talk' after school."
"It seems Class C's behavior has brought a lot of pressure to Class A."
Horikita had still been thinking about how to negotiate with Ichinose Honami next.
After Ayanokoji's explanation, Horikita had clearly realized that Class D had reached a critical point. If she wanted to continue using the collective power of Class D, she had to provide actual benefits.
Therefore, Horikita was thinking about how to enable Class D to obtain as many personal points as possible.
Horikita did not prepare to distribute all the harvested personal points; at most, she would distribute half. The remaining half had to be controlled in her own hands to facilitate subsequent actions.
At this moment, Horikita had already realized that without enough personal points in this academy, it was difficult to move a single step.
"Did Ichinose-san send a message to Horikita-san on her own initiative?"
"I remember when we traded with Ichinose-san just after school started, she was quite easy to talk to."
Hearing Horikita's words, Subaru smiled and said, "However, I am somewhat curious..."
"How many personal points are you planning to ask Ichinose-san for, Horikita-san?"
"Just the number you had before, Natsuki. One million personal points."
Horikita glanced at Subaru and spoke plainly, "I calculated the current personal point income of Class A. It has been three months since the start of school; it shouldn't be difficult for the current Class A to take out one million personal points."
Originally, Horikita hadn't prepared to ask for one million.
But who asked Ichinose Honami to speak up first?
Since that was the case, naturally she needed to ask for a bit more. Opportunities were rare, after all.
...
Although there is the saying 'ask for a sky-high price, pay back the money on the ground'... Horikita, you are being very insincere like this.
Ayanokoji withdrew his gaze from the scenery outside the window and looked at Horikita.
Regarding Ichinose Honami, Ayanokoji had observed her while following Horikita. Or rather, Ayanokoji had observed the leaders of all four classes in the first year.
Essentially, there was nothing wrong with Horikita's negotiation method.
However, it was completely formulaic, an action mode devoid of any observational power. Given Ichinose Honami's personality and the atmosphere of the class she was in, 'sincerity' was the best strategy.
Horikita's act of asking for a sky-high price directly put her at a disadvantage.
Leaving aside whether she could get one million personal points, she basically completely cut off some future possibilities.
Anyway, if Ayanokoji were to evaluate it, the loss outweighed the gain.
"One million personal points?"
Subaru nodded and laughed. "If it's Ichinose-san, she should be able to take it out."
Compared to Ayanokoji's side-eye, Subaru was much more normal.
Ever since Horikita learned some things about Subaru and saw the post Arisu Sakayanagi had exposed about him, Subaru found that Horikita had been secretly competing with him.
No matter what it was, she just wanted to compete.
Subaru had obtained one million personal points from the transaction with Ichinose Honami back then, so Horikita definitely wouldn't call out a price lower than one million personal points.
This was all very normal; there was nothing to be surprised about.
It was just that, whether Ichinose Honami could take it out was one thing, but whether the transaction could succeed was another matter entirely.
Based on Subaru's preliminary understanding of Ichinose Honami back then, it was unlikely she would be manipulated by Horikita. There was even a high probability that Horikita would be manipulated in return.
Horikita's thinking was simply too crude and couldn't withstand scrutiny.
It was only because Ichinose Honami's character was relatively upright and open. If she were like Arisu Sakayanagi, having many 'good friends' in Class D, the result could be easily imagined.
____
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