The task of searching for someone inside this enormous ship was like looking for a needle in a haystack. No matter how much you tried to think and search around, you would find nothing.
I was beginning to feel like all my efforts were going to waste.
Seriously, where was Ryuuen hiding? I used to see him all the time whenever he wanted to annoy me, but now finding him had become practically impossible.
I made a list in my head of most of the restaurants I had visited. I figured that a delinquent like Ryuuen might visit one of them, but I had no luck. I was running out of restaurants, and I still hadn't found him.
I stopped in front of a restaurant that served heavy, old-fashioned food, including grilled dishes.
Maybe he would be here.
If I didn't find him, I would give up and get myself something to eat.
I entered the restaurant. There was nothing particularly special about it except for its quiet atmosphere, accompanied by a soft melody blending into the background.
There were a few customers, and among them were indeed several delinquent-looking boys.
Looks like I got lucky. I found my target. What now? Should I return to my room?
That would definitely have been my choice under normal circumstances, but time was starting to run out.
Tomorrow was a day off, and after that, we would only be two sessions away from the end of the exam. So we had to settle this now.
I walked toward his table while looking around. There didn't seem to be any students from my group besides Albert, who was standing beside him as usual.
"Yo..."
I gave him a quick greeting before sitting in the chair opposite him.
"What is the student council secretary doing here?" Ryuuen asked as he stabbed his fork deep into his salad before putting it into his mouth.
Wait a second.
Is Ryuuen a vegetarian?
No, there were meat dishes on the table.
"Let's just consider it a visit..." I said, moving my eyes between the dishes.
I could honestly compliment his taste in food after seeing what he had ordered.
Seriously, he knew what to order.
"A visit... Then get lost. I don't have time to waste on you," Ryuuen said, returning to his meal.
I gave him a reproachful look and shook my head dramatically.
What kind of aggressive behavior was this?
The least he could do was show some respect.
"Okay, okay... I'm here to make you an offer," I said, tapping my finger against the table.
Ryuuen stopped eating for a moment before calmly placing his fork on the table and looking at me.
"Fufufufu... An offer? What do you want?" he asked, as if he had suddenly found this interesting.
"I want you to order them around because I want to achieve the first-place result in my group," I said, pointing toward Albert.
Their class's situation was different from the others, especially since Ryuuen ruled over them almost like a dictator. So even if I tried to convince them one by one, I wouldn't succeed.
The best method was to go straight to the center of power.
It sounded like a simple approach, but it was effective.
Ryuuen burst out laughing in my face before resting his arm on the table and narrowing his eyes at me.
"Have you finally decided to admit that you're the VIP? I've already heard about your little tricks, but they won't work against anyone except pawns like the ones in your group."
I leaned back in my chair for a moment, staring at Ryuuen in surprise.
Was that really how he viewed the people around him?
"Well, you're right. They only work against pawns. So, am I the VIP or not?" I asked with a mocking smile.
He was right. They were merely tricks that wouldn't work at all against someone like him.
But they were enough to plant doubt and hesitation.
Just like the hesitation he was showing now.
Ryuuen stared at me for a moment before picking up a napkin and carefully wiping his mouth.
"One million points, and I'll accept your request. Anything else is rejected," Ryuuen said, as if he were trying to put up a wall that would make me abandon the idea completely.
One million points.
That was an expensive price, and all I would earn from it was half a million.
Still, he had the right to set conditions that suited him. I needed to set mine as well.
I reached for a paper napkin before looking around for a waiter.
"Excuse me, could I get a pen?"
The waiter lent me his own pen. I placed the napkin on the table in front of me and began thinking about what I should write.
"What are you doing?" Ryuuen asked, watching me from above, unable to understand what I was trying to do.
"I'm going to write you a check," I said, pressing the tip of the pen against the napkin as I recalled the names in my head.
Yukinoshita's solution hadn't been confirmed yet. It had only worked within our class so far. Writing down the names of the three VIPs from Ryuuen's class was a gamble.
If I was wrong, everything would fall apart.
Still, I was certain Yukinoshita had worked hard to figure them out on her own.
All I had to do was trust the names I had memorized.
I opened my eyes after recalling the three names and quickly wrote them down on the napkin before pushing it toward Ryuuen.
He gave it a brief glance from above before picking it up and examining it carefully.
"What is this...?" Ryuuen asked, trying to act as though nothing had happened.
I'm sure he had forced every student to tell him about the message they had received from the school, so he already knew who the VIPs in his class were.
There was no need to drag this out.
"I think you know very well who they are..." I said, leaning back.
Judging from his reaction, Yukinoshita had really succeeded in solving the puzzle.
That would be useful in dealing with this situation.
"Hmm..." Ryuuen continued staring at me, waiting for me to say more.
"Ah, well... considering that I also know the VIPs in the other classes, I could end this entire exam at any moment. What do you think? Guess the VIP in our class and have your class celebrate those 150 points," I said, putting my hand into my pocket and pressing against my phone.
"Fufufufu... How interesting. So you've uncovered the game behind this special exam. But even I can uncover them, so you have no chance," Ryuuen said confidently, as if he considered my words meaningless.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and sighed deeply before opening the group chat that Hirata had added me to.
"Look here. With one message from me, everyone will send their answers to the school, and the exam will officially end. There's no need to drag this out any longer," I said, holding my phone up.
I wasn't sure what kind of image Ryuuen had of my position in my class, but he probably didn't know that if I sent a message right now, they would say, "Who is this idiot?" and, at best, ignore it.
But at least he wouldn't know that.
I think.
"Tch... What do you want, you con artist?" Ryuuen said, sticking his pinky finger into his ear as if he was finally ready to hear my offer.
"I'm not interested in winning this exam. And I know someone is feeding you information. Fine, I'll admit it. That's one thing I won't object to," I said, raising both hands in surrender.
Ryuuen stared at me before a sinister smile appeared on his face. He had quickly understood what I meant.
"Fufufufu... You figured that out so easily?" Ryuuen said, bursting into laughter for no apparent reason.
"Okay, okay. What exactly do you want?" Ryuuen asked, wiping the corner of his eye before looking at me seriously.
"You're free to guess the other classes. You don't interfere with my class, and I won't interfere with yours. In return, tell them to cooperate so they can achieve the result they want," I said, tapping my finger against the table.
That was my complete offer.
If he didn't accept it, we'd see what we could do next.
"Interesting. It seems like a fairly reasonable deal. At the very least, I want to achieve first place in my group as well," Ryuuen said seriously, as if he had already accepted my conditions.
"You're free to do so. If you can convince them, go ahead."
He already knew the VIPs in his own group, so he didn't need to convince the students from my class. He only needed to deal with the other classes.
"And have you convinced the others?" Ryuuen asked, returning to his meal.
"No. But at least they'll be easier than you."
I didn't think I'd need to threaten Ichinose or Katsuragi the way I had here. A friendly conversation might be enough to settle things.
"Fufufufu... I didn't expect you to offer such a fair deal."
"I didn't expect you to accept it this easily."
I pushed myself up from the chair to leave. My work here was done.
But before I could move, I stopped.
I had forgotten to ask him about the most important thing.
"Hey, Ryuuen..."
"What?" Ryuuen shouted, annoyed at my constant interruptions.
"Is that meat dish any good?"
It looked properly cooked, and the smell of the spices was good too.
Maybe I should try it later.