After Zazen, everyone starts leaving the room without making any small talk. Of course, we’re probably still being assessed until we’re outside the dojo itself. While being watched by the teachers, students leave the room and head over to their assigned classrooms as instructed.

Once everyone in our group assembled in the classroom, Keisei sat down as though in relief.

“Leg felt numb through the whole thing……”.

“Did you manage to endure it?”.

Maybe Ishizaki’s the same too because while rubbing his leg, he asked Keisei.

“Somehow. But maybe I got a few demerits”.

“Well, no use crying over spilt milk. Nothing you can do now that it’s over. You think so too, right Ayanokouji?”.

Saying that, Hashimoto looked at me.

“That’s right. Next up is the written exam, Keisei’s specialty. It’ll be better to focus on that instead”.

What he heard from Nagumo last night must still be on Hashimoto’s mind. But that doesn’t mean he’s just going to directly ask me about it or anything.

Because Hashimoto doesn’t even know what part of me the older Horikita considers special in the first place.

Aside from us, two more 1st year small groups linked up. One of them is the group led by Akito that Ryuuen is a member of. I could tell Ishizaki and Albert turning to look at Ryuuen.

But rather than look at us, Ryuuen simply took a seat alone. Not talking to anyone else. Alone. He’s part of the group but at the same time, he isn’t. He’s giving off the feeling of being completely isolated.

“That’s just strange, isn’t it?”.

Beside me, Hashimoto whispers as though talking to himself. It would be so easy to just ignore him but I suppose I’ll humor him a bit.

“What is?”.

“I’m talking about Ishizaki and Albert’s eyes. They’re looking at someone they hate but I just don’t feel that from them. It’s almost like they’re pets thrown away by their master, looking at him with sorrowful eyes”.

“I don’t quite understand. Didn’t Ishizaki and the others start the fight after being fed up with the tyranny?”.

“That’s true but……just maybe, there’s something else behind Ryuuen’s fall?”.

Hashimoto doesn’t have a single shred of evidence linking me to Ryuuen. However, taking into consideration Nagumo’s interest in Ryuuen, it’s not strange that his thoughts would forcibly lead him there.

“Don’t know……I’m not familiar with the affairs of other classes”.

“I see. Sorry about bringing up a strange topic”.

Not too long afterwards, after the 10 minute break ended, we moved onto the written portion of the exam. There’s nothing particularly noteworthy about it. The things we learned during the training camp are the things we are tested on.

As long as I get the essentials down, I could definitely get a perfect score but for a struggling student, 50~70 percent would be about right. I wonder what I should do…..

While everyone else is giving it their all in this exam, I tried to figure out just how many points I should lose. I don’t think they’ll announce individual results but it’s not very desirable to keep letting the school see me get perfect scores either. There are already far too many students trying to sound me out recently. I’m not lying when I say I want to hold myself back from getting a high score.

And then I reached a conclusion.

I decided to deliberately get a question that seems difficult wrong. This means it’ll be difficult for me to get any higher than 95 percent. After I finished writing down all the exams, I felt like looking out the window. But it would be troublesome if they think I’m cheating so I chose to silently close my eyes and wait for the end.

After the test is over, the groups once again assembled and we score ourselves. Well, it’s not like anything will change just because we have to score ourselves but I cannot help but wonder whether I got that question right or wrong.

I suppose changing your thoughts does help to a certain degree. We’re missing one person though since Kouenji left the classroom as soon as the test ended. As usual, Ishizaki seems to have missed out on many questions. Looks like I was right to insure against it.

Still, the written exam itself was rather easy overall so every group should have scored highly. And from what I could see of the other students back at the dojo, there isn’t a significant gap forming in both ‘Zazen’ and the ‘Written exam’ portions. Everyone seemed to be performing Zazen relatively well.

Since both the ‘Speech’ and ‘Zazen’ portions involve simply regurgitating what we’ve already learned, it’s unlikely to give rise to any differences in points as long as they’re properly done. That means the ‘Long-distance relay’ portion will have the most influence on the group rankings in this exam.

If the scores directly translate to the rankings then the top group would have to have 100 percent but…….number one=100 percent might be too straightforward. Our times will also have an impact.

For instance, you’ll still be able to gain additional points even if you’re in sixth place so long as your time’s good.

It all depends on how fast you finish and how high a rank you get. When I went outside, I spotted many vans parked. Looks like they’ll be using these vans to take each student to where they’re supposed to receive the baton.

We received instructions from the staff to get into the vans. The minimum requirement for each student is to run at least more than 1.2 kilometers.

The baton may be passed to another student every 1.2 kilometers. If due to an accident, the student becomes unable to continue running or is otherwise unable to fulfill the minimum requirements, they will be disqualified.

After carefully informing us of those three things, they dropped off Keisei who would be first to run and then we left.

That’s because our plan is to have the unathletic students run first. Keisei would go first and then next up would be Class B’s Sumida, Tokitou and then Moriyama. Yahiko is fifth up.

That’s because the opening phase won’t have too many ups and downs plus there’s not much pressure on you to not be overtaken. These five will run the minimum length of 1.2 kilometers each. 6 kilometers in total. And then the baton will pass to Hashimoto and we’ll have him give it his all in running 3.6 kilometers including the turnaround point. Then Albert will take the baton and run 1.2 kilometers before passing it to Ishizaki, who will then run 3.6 kilometers. I would’ve been fine with taking over after Albert but Keisei insisted that linking up with a fellow classmate would make the transition go smoother. Kouenji will only be running 1.2 kilometers and so I’ll pass the baton over to him last after running 2.4 kilometers myself.

That’s the conclusion Keisei ultimately reached. The reason he placed Kouenji last is to tempt him into the mood by baiting him with the goal plus to assuage any anxiety about him not carrying the baton.

In the case that he holds back, we may be hit with a demerit if they’re unable to determine who ran slowly. Ishizaki then got off the van and now there’s only me, the teacher driving the van and Kouenji left.

Since there’s the turnaround point to consider, it wouldn’t have been strange for them to drop us off first but it looks like they’re dropping us off in the exact order in which we’re running.

All that’s left now is for me to stand by 3.6 kilometers away from the goal. The van starts moving back in the direction we came from.

“Ayanokouji Boy, let me ask you this directly. If we get 1st place in the long-distance relay, what will the result be overall?”.

“…there’s no way I’d know that even if you ask me. In the first place, the results of the exam will depend on the average score of our large group. It all hinges on how well our seniors can perform, right?”.

No matter how hard we try, if the rest of them aren’t carrying their weight then it’ll be difficult for us to secure first place.

“So you won’t say there’s a possibility of us being in first place, even as a lie?”.

“You’re not the type of man I could cheer up by saying that, right?”.

“I wonder about that. How about giving me 1.2 kilometers of your distance? If I run with everything I’ve got then there’s a very high chance the rest of the group will win”.

After getting up, Kouenji whispered that into my ear.

“What’s gotten into you?”.

“Just a whim. I’m saying that this whim of mine may help you out. Not a bad deal, right?”.

“In other words, you’re saying you’ll take responsibility for 2.4 kilometers and give us results?”.

“No need to be so formal. It’s just a whim of mine after all”.

“I see. Sorry but I refuse. I don’t intend to just up and change Keisei’s strategy on my own”.

“Fu. Fu. Fu. Really? That’s unfortunate”.

Kouenji said that and then returned to his seat.

I don’t know what he’s up to but I have no intention of taking any risks. If he’s helping us on a whim then that means he could hold back during the run itself on another whim. The only thing Kouenji’s promised to do is to run the minimum distance required.

In other words, he may hold back once he’s running the extra 1.2 kilometers. The proof lies in how he brushed me aside when I asked whether or not he’d take responsibility.

Besides, if some sort of trouble occurs because of a call I made then that may draw attention to me.

“It looks like you’re sharper than I thought. But at the same time, you’re also a boring man”.

If this evaluation of me leads him to treat me the same way he treats the other students, then that’s something to be grateful for. I got off the van and waited 3.6 kilometers away from the goal for Ishizaki.

“Hey, Ayanokouji-kun”.

Of course, there are also other boys at this spot and Hirata’s the one who called my name.

“You’re not the anchor?”.

“Yeah. Kouenji will take over after me. What about you? Going with Sudou?”.

“Yeah. After all, he looks like he’s itching to run. But with 15 people, things don’t always go your way”.

Currently, for the last 1.2 kilometers, Sudou’s rivalry with Kouenji is probably reaching its peak.

“I personally would’ve preferred having more people. It would’ve been a little easier”.

“Anyways, let’s do our best. Because as long as we’re over the borderline, no one will get expelled”.

“Yeah”.

While we’re waiting, everyone’s free to either chat or remain silent. Since water supply points are located every 1.2 kilometers, it’s also possible to go and grab a drink.

Well, if you guzzle water before running you run the risk of getting a stomach ache though…..A single student, completely ignoring those concerns of mine, guzzled water from a bottle.

“Ahh—I’m getting nervous…”.

That student whispered before turning around and locking eyes with me. It’s the Professor.

He approached me. Maybe he wants someone to talk to.

“So you’re in this position too, Ayanokouji-kun”.

“A-Ayanokouji-kun? In this position….?”.

I couldn’t believe my ears at the way the Professor’s talking. The usual Professor would’ve gone with ‘Ayanokouji-dono~ You have been stationed at this location too~’ or something like that.

“Ahh…no, I stopped speaking like that. I was doing it to imitate a character in the first place but after they warned me during Zazen, I thought I’d just quit doing it”.

“I-I see”.

I couldn’t hide my surprise at the Professor’s ill-suited normal speech. It’s like he’s lost his individuality. He’s giving me the impression of a Student A.

Afterwards, I had a normal back-and-forth conversation with the Professor but to be honest, I can hardly recall any of it. Just changing your manner of speech can change a lot of things so there’s no telling.

Anyways, I wonder if Keisei’s successfully passed the baton. No matter how long it takes, the important thing is to stay in the race.

This may not sound nice but even if our large group comes in dead last and our group falls below the borderline there’s still absolutely no chance of any harm coming my way.

But I do genuinely think it would be best if no one gets expelled. I wonder how many minutes have passed but finally, I could see a student coming over. But he turned out to be from Kanzaki’s group rather than Ishizaki.

One by one, students continued to arrive after that. Ishizaki came in fourth after a close struggle against the runner in third place.

“Hah, haaah. Take it, Ayanokouji! Get 1st place!”.

He screamed and handed the baton over to me. Whether or not we can take the lead depends on Kouenji but I just quietly accepted it and started running.

“I’ll kill you if you hold back!”.

After handing me the baton, Ishizaki screamed that to me with the last of his strength before collapsing. I suppose it’s natural given that he just ran over 3 kilometers through mountainous terrain.

I decided to slowly bridge the gap between me and the ones in front by running faster than the people around me while not letting it affect my breathing. Rather than me attacking them by going at a fast pace, I allowed their stamina to fail them before overtaking them. By doing so, it’s easier to fool them into thinking they were overtaken because they were slow.

Despite the ups and downs, a distance of about 2 kilometers isn’t enough to make me pant. And just like that, I ended up overtaking one runner and ended up coming in third, not too far off from second place. Then I handed the baton over to Kouenji.

The baton that passed through nine hands before reaching this point. Its fate now depends on the man before me.

“Now then, let’s work up a little sweat”.

Brushing back his hair, Kouenji accepted the baton and started running with an innocent look on his face. He’s probably not doing his best but he’s more than fast enough.

If it’s like this then it should be fine. Of course, that is only if he doesn’t just started walking once he’s out of our sight. Afterwards, despite making us worry, Kouenji successfully reached the goal and ranked second.

I don’t know whether he couldn’t keep up with the runner in first place or simply didn’t bother to. Probably the latter.

The speech that will be taking place after this race may yet be a hell above all others for the 1st years. Because they’ll have to speak up after having exhausted themselves here.

However, you could say there’s nothing else particularly noteworthy about it. Because despite Kouenji having a flair for the dramatic, I’m sure everyone else will be able to safely overcome this.