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A silent space isn't bad at all.
It allows one to immerse completely in their own world, unconcerned with surroundings.
Everyone must have such a space.
One's own room, for instance. Generally no one enters, and you can do as you please in your natural state.
The students at this school live in dorms, so they likely experience that feeling deeply.
When I'm in the dorms, I surrender myself to the quiet, even amid boredom.
The dorms aren't bad. Yet there is a place I'd recommend.
The library.
A space everyone uses, but since people generally don't speak, it can be called quiet.
This is a place to borrow or read books on site, though some students use it for other purposes.
Many, in particular, treat it as a study spot.
This school's library is quite large, with desks scattered in various areas, so a little searching easily reveals studying students.
The silence spreads that thoroughly. Time passes in relaxation.
I learned of this space from Shiina-san.
When she forcibly dragged me here before, I had no expectations, but discovering it turned the experience decisively positive.
For that, I am grateful to her.
She truly is a literary girl who adores books. I even speculate she might possess Ultimate Writing Prodigy talent.
…Honestly, I think she'd be more fitting.
The Ultimate Writing Prodigy I saw in records wasn't unsuitable either.
The issue lies in her dual personality.
…No, Shiina-san's on-and-off switch is extreme enough to seem like split personalities too.
They're evenly matched, so let's conclude both possess Ultimate Writing Prodigy talent.
Now, back to the present.
I am currently in the library.
It's exam period, so it feels more crowded than usual.
The relaxing atmosphere is somewhat disrupted.
I'm not alone this time, so I didn't come to relax.
Today, I was asked to tutor, so I came to the library.
The other day, I submitted to Ryuuen-kun.
Expecting that school life I'd deemed boring would become vivid.
Because I saw the unknown in the hope displayed by a human with no talent.
Whether he can handle me—impossible. He'll let me act freely while issuing certain orders.
This is one such.
This afternoon, a change in the midterm exam scope was announced.
The scope announced three weeks prior suddenly shifted to two weeks prior.
Unreasonable. For those weak in studies, many haven't started two weeks out—so irrelevant.
For diligent students studying steadily each day, it's headache-inducing.
Ryuuen-kun made his move here.
He's the type to abandon mediocre students, but considering the Class Points lost from expulsions, he devised countermeasures.
His countermeasure is to tutor students at risk of failing the upcoming midterms to save them.
This success would strengthen his position within the class and solidify his standing further while suppress potential rebels with results.
And the one suited to deliver those results is me who have a perfect score on the short quiz.
It's an apt placement and I already predicted this order, boring as it is, but I don't have complaints.
Thus, I was tutoring classmates in the library.
"You look gloomy, Kamukura-kun."
"This is my default face."
Teaching alone is less efficient than two, so Ryuuen-kun dispatched Shiina-san, who had spare time.
Even she, uninterested in class conflict, seems vaguely displeased at classmates facing expulsion and lends a hand.
This study session—held during lunch and after school—is already the sixth. Excluding me and Shiina-san, five students are at expulsion risk, and we've finished grasping each one's weaknesses.
Yet Ibuki-san is inexplicably here too. She's not particularly at risk—so I judge Ryuuen-kun sent her as overseer.
Effectively, four are in danger.
I've left them to Shiina-san for now, assisting as needed.
Originally I was main tutor, but male students like Ishizaki-kun and Yamawaki-kun, clearly smitten, requested Shiina-san—so I yielded.
She gladly accepted. Her reason—organizing knowledge through teaching—is a model answer revealing sincere character.
"Kamukura, explain this part."
"Understood. But first, let's take a break here."
When studying, appropriate breaks are essential.
Quantity isn't what matters in study—it's quality. One way to raise quality: breaks.
For most, studying three hours with one or two breaks yields better final efficiency than three straight hours at the desk.
I explained this to Ibuki-san and Shiina-san, and we entered break time.
I left the library for the restroom.
Well, everyone has their own study methods, so I generally don't comment.
But since we're holding a study session, I teach my way.
Thus, I'll get Ibuki-san—who's tagging along—a perfect score.
She's not bright, but quick-witted. Above all, she tries earnestly—worth teaching.
...
Returning from the restroom, I found Yamawaki-kun seized by the collar by a red-haired, clearly delinquent-looking, well-built male student.
What happened in the few minutes I was gone.
Ishizaki-kun, Ibuki-san, and Shiina-san watch without intervening.
From surrounding attitudes and atmosphere, I predict the situation somewhat—but the red-haired student is poised to swing his right fist.
The top priority is to stop him.
Using Ultimate Assassin talent, I erase my presence and footsteps while approaching as quickly as possible and seize his hand.
Situation resolved. A few seconds later, Yamawaki-kun's face would have become unrecognizable.
"What are you doing?"
At my appearance, Yamawaki-kun offers no answer. Fear manifests as trembling—he's in no state. The trouble he caused exposed to me, he shakes. Less fear of me than of Ryuuen-kun behind me, it seems.
As I surmise, the red-haired boy brushes off my hand and steps back.
That motion alone reveals superior physical ability. Irrelevant now.
"Yamawaki-kun, I asked what you're doing."
"…S-sorry. Just got carried away messing around. Right? S-so, please don't tell Ryuuen-san…"
Carried away. Yet it nearly escalated to violence—fact remains.
Above all, I don't want apologies or excuses.
The inconvenienced class… likely Class D.
Among them, the blonde girl matches features of a central female figure in Class D from recent information gathering.
I believe her name's Kikyo Kushida.
Even without analyzing it seriously, I can conclude that this time it might be our class that is at fault. Yamawaki-kun always bullies those below him and grovels to those above him like Ryuuen-kun.
So basically, this person is good at socializing, but overall he's scum. The reason this problem happened was definitely because he taunting the D class, and that overwhelmed him until I saved him.
"Boring."
"Huh?"
"…After apologizing to them, return to the classroom."
"Y-yeah, got it. Then about Ryuuen-san…"
"I won't."
Relief washes over him after hearing my word, my assurance and escape from the scene stop his trembling.
After offering a perfunctory apology to the red-haired student and gathering his study materials, he hurried toward the library exit.
Meanwhile, ignoring the tense atmosphere around them, Ibuki-san spoke to Shiina-san and Ishizaki-kun after seeing Yamawaki-kun leave.
It was clear that she wanted to leave quickly to avoid trouble.
"I leave the rest to you."
Aren't you the overseer?
I thought that to myself but nodded in agreement. What an irresponsible girl.
"Now then, it seems a Class C student caused trouble."
To wrap this up quickly, I checked out the students in Class D because it was a rare chance to see so many students from other classes in one place.
They were quite distinctive, and it was clear that Ryuuen-kun shouldn't underestimate them.
The black-haired girl who was clearly an honor student looked a little intimidated but stared back at me intently.
The red-haired boy who was the troublemaker in the previous incident looked wary after seeing my gaze.
As for the blonde girl whose name I remember is Kushida-san, she acted scared on the surface, but if one looked closely at her eyes, they would definitely see the clear distrust and wariness in them.
She possesses considerable talent too.
The other three seem ordinary students.
Yet… the plainly dressed and unremarkable boy behind the black-haired girl regards me with deep interest.
Of course he's wary. But his excited gaze like a child opening a toy box is predominates.
Interesting.
This's the first time I seeing this type of broken… human.
I intuitively judge him a potential enemy, but it's just a mere first impression. I can ignore for now.
With the skills he currently has, he will surely stand out in the end. I can handle him later.
"…Yes, could you ensure this doesn't happen again?"
The black-haired girl was clearly trying hard to force herself to say that.
Her problem was clearly not from my aura, It's like clinging to something—well, fine. No need to dwell it.
"Yes. I'll pass it along."
My words ease the Class D students' wariness.
I was quite lucky today. My original plan to teach a few students in the library ended up giving me some interesting information. Still, it was boring.
"Ufufufu, looks like I didn't need to step in after all!"
A girly voice came from behind us, a cheerful girl with light peach-colored hair approached and speaking to me.
Her standout feature is her exceptional figure. With her hight around 160 cm, her voluptuous body hardly looks high school age.
In fact, it captivates the Class D boys' eyes.
Above all, her face is so perfectly beautiful it could title a painting "Girl Who Makes Everyone Smile."
"Ah! Ichinose-san!"
"Oh! Kushida-san! It's been a while!! Are you studying for tests right now?"
Ichinose... so she's the effective leader of Class B.
The central figure in the famously cohesive Class B—she must be immensely popular.
Yet boring.
If Ichinose-san is as rumored, Ryuuen-kun would be her natural enemy.
From this interaction, toppling Class B may take time but shouldn't prove difficult.
"You're Izuru Kamukura, right? Honestly, I was surprised to hear you're running a study group."
With me proudly hold first place in the gloomy guy ranking, her sentiment isn't strange.
From what I heard, this unflattering ranking is secretly conducted by the girls.
When I confirmed with Ibuki-san, she reported, "I voted too," so it's factual.
"Kushida-san, who's she?"
The black-haired girl asks Kikyo Kushida.
"She's Honami Ichinose! She's in Class B and a really great person!"
"Oh, stop Kushida-san's the better person!"
Such annoying pleasantries and greetings... one hides ill will while the other is pure.
However, it's mildly worth observing, human communication like this can't be learned from textbooks.
"Thanks for the introduction, Kushida-san. Ichinose-san—and is Kamukura fine? I have something to ask you both. About the midterm exam scope you were told."
"You're Suzune Horikita, right? Nice to meet you! The scope? Hmm, could I borrow your textbook? …Here, from this part to this. Yeah—the school's pretty harsh! It was about a week ago, right? Suddenly changing the scope like that!"
"A week ago… the scope changed!?"
Horikita-san, the black-haired girl wears an expression of shock after hearing that.
From her words and reaction, this is clearly news to her.
Ichinose-san isn't lying.
In other words, some failure in communication within Class D.
Unfortunate. Yet convenient. And boring. A troublesome Class D self-destructing on its own would ease things for Ryuuen-kun, but it makes the future too predictable.
Boring.
Still, this's clearly not yet set in stone. If they learn of the exam's hidden mechanic, they have ample chance to overcome this.
"…As expected, it differs from what we were told. And the change itself…"
"Huh? Class D wasn't informed? That's pretty bad, isn't it? …Could it be the scope differs by class…? Hey, Kamukura-kun—what scope did Class C hear?"
"The same as what you described."
Communication error… Class D's homeroom teacher must be quite incompetent. A flaw before even measuring ability.
"Then probably all classes take the same test. Why only Class D… maybe a transmission mistake?"
Her guess is likely correct. Different tests per class is impossible.
Without clear standards, meaningful evaluation vanishes.
"Thank you, Ichinose-san, Kamukura-kun. We'll excuse ourselves here."
"The lunch break has only about ten minutes left, if your want leading to the faculty office, you better hurry!"
At Ichinose-san's words, the Class D students checked for forgotten items and quickened toward the exit.
Now I too leave the scene. I must return to the classroom quickly and complain to Ibuki-san who fled first despite being overseer.
Yet...
"Kamukura-kun! Once again—thank you for stopping their fight."
Honami Ichinose. The light peach-haired girl from earlier approaches me.
"I see. Then, goodbye."
No particular business, so I end it promptly.
"…Huh? W-wait, wait! Why are you leaving so fast!?"
"Because I want to return to the classroom."
"Even so, that response is way too cold!!"
"…What exactly do you want?"
Seeing my willingness to listen, she looks relieved.
Then, with a fufufu laugh, she regards me.
"To put it bluntly—I came to talk!"
"Please let me prepare for afternoon classes."
I quicken my pace to evade her.
Yet she grabs my arm and holding me back.
"Stooooop!! I told you you're too fast!!"
"You're noisy. This is a library."
"Whose fault do you think that is!?"
Persistent. If I ignore her, she seems the type to keep talking endlessly.
Really troublesome, but perhaps I'll speak briefly for information gathering.
She's no ordinary talent, even if poorly matched with Ryuuen-kun.
"Lunch break ends soon, so keep it short."
"Phew, you're quite a unique person~ The rumors didn't quite prepare me."
"Rumors? The ranking?"
"No, not the ranking… Wait, you knowing about it yourself is bad!"
"I don't mind."
Others' opinions are irrelevant to me.
"Oh, really… Still, sorry. On behalf of the girls, I apologize."
"Is that all?"
"How badly do you want to leave? …Well, time's short, so straight to the point. About Ryuuen-kun... are you on his side?"
My earlier assessment about her to not underestimate her is proved correct. She's not mere an airhead.
Using her communication skills for direct information gathering is a weapon. She's skilled at drawing more from opponents.
Considerable talent. But unfortunately, if there were no variables interfering with her growth, she would surely fall in Ryuuen-kun's hands.
"I'm friends with Ryuuen-kun. Close enough to walk home side-by-side after school."
This should inform her I'm on Ryuuen-kun's side.
Yet nothing more. I'm not generous enough to reveal my position or Class C's current state as she likely wishes.
"…Ufufufu. I can't picture Ryuuen-kun doing that."
One thing learned about her.
Her personality is far too kind.
Thus, even faced with an obvious lie from a stranger, she can't badmouth their friend.
Unlike Ryuuen-kun who cares for nothing—she's popular school-wide.
This is a library and people are still around, so if she makes a careless remarks, it will quickly spread as a rumor that could put her at risk if she decides to press further for answers.
"People can't be judged by appearances. If you want information on him, ask him directly."
A future of me and Ryuuen-kun walking amicably is impossible. Quite a terrible lie even for me.
"Tough nut. Well, learning you're a cautious opponent is good. Hey, hey—if it's okay, let's exchange contacts."
"I don't mind."
"Oh, thank you!"
We swiftly exchange contacts while also checking the clock with five minutes until class.
"…Almost five minutes left! Thanks for your time today!! Let's talk again next time we meet!"
Keeping a connection with her holds no downsides.
Rather It's have many upsides. With her wealth of information, she's worth utilizing.
Yet she and Ryuuen-kun are incompatible. Eventually, they'll clash.
I'll observe from above—will something unpredictable emerge?
No, likely not. Thus, a future I wish would change.
***
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