"Hahaha, it's finally my turn! I'm going to pick Albert. Hurry up and say, 'Welcome back, Master!'"

That night, in the Snake Group's room, Kyogo Komiya, who had just won a game, couldn't help but laugh heartily, while the large black man across from him remained silent.

"Are the guys in Class C always this perverted?" Kaoru Mitoma whispered to Hiyori Shiina beside him.

Perhaps to distance herself, Honami Ichinose didn't deliberately stay by his side but instead stuck close to Yuki Himeno.

However, Kaoru Mitoma felt that her gaze tonight was a bit off.

"I-I don't know," Hiyori Shiina replied with a faint blush on her cheeks, too embarrassed to answer such a question, worried he might steer the conversation in an awkward direction.

In fact, it wasn't just Kaoru Mitoma who was puzzled.

Many others also looked at Komiya with strange expressions, though he remained oblivious, too excited as he commanded Albert.

"Albert, please, hurry up and call me Master!"

"Please be normal…"

"Come on, I don't understand English. Say 'Goshujin-sama!'"

Haruka Hasebe openly showed a look of disgust, unable to stand it.

"Are all guys like this?"

"Seems like it. There are similar guys in our class too" Mei Yu Wang replied softly, feeling quite reserved here, with only Haruka Hasebe and Kyosuke Okiya as her conversational partners.

Hayato Kikuchi silently averted his gaze.

He was probably one of the guys Mei Yu Wang was referring to.

Haruka Hasebe seemed dumbfounded, letting out a long sigh before glancing around.

Like Honami Ichinose, she had also been observing the reactions of her group members these past two days.

Unfortunately, she hadn't noticed anything unusual.

It seemed this was how things would end.

Though it was a bit of a pity, at least they had played a few games, and the experience wasn't bad.

Haruka Hasebe decided not to dwell on the matter of the VIP and the exam anymore.

Until the group discussion ended, Komiya still couldn't get Albert to call him "master," and he almost got beaten up instead.

Just as Kaoru Mitoma stepped out of the room, he suddenly remembered something and stopped abruptly.

Something hit his back hard.

Turning around, he saw Miki Yamamura with tears in her eyes, holding her nose.

She must have been following him too closely and didn't notice he had stopped, causing her to bump into him

"Sorry, I didn't realize you were behind me."

"N-no, it's fine... It's my fault for not paying attention. I should be the one apologizing."

Miki Yamamura carefully stepped aside, only to bump into Hiyori Shiina, startling both of them.

Miki Yamamura was the first to react, quickly saying.

"Sorry, sorry! I'm a bit clumsy!"

"Ah, it's alright. I just wanted to ask if you'll be coming to the library tomorrow," Hiyori Shiina said with a smile.

Though her tone was questioning, the eager look in her eyes made it hard to refuse.

Miki Yamamura hesitated, "Is it really okay to be with someone like me?"

Hiyori Shiina found this strange and asked, puzzled, "What's the problem? Yamamura-san likes reading too, right?"

This afternoon, Kaoru Mitoma had brought Miki Yamamura to the library and introduced her to Hiyori Shiina, who naturally welcomed her.

Perhaps because she was a Class A student, Miki Yamamura found herself able to get into the mystery novels Hiyori Shiina recommended, which pleasantly surprised Hiyori.

"I've read similar novels before, so I'm a bit interested, though I don't really understand them well," Miki Yamamura seemed quite uncomfortable in such situations, appearing very nervous.

"That's enough. I'm really glad. It's not just Mitoma-kun, I can make friends with others too" Hiyori Shiina smiled happily.

"You're not really friendless, are you?" Kaoru Mitoma corrected.

"Don't tease me, that's not what I meant," Hiyori Shiina muttered. "You know no one in class talks to me about novels, and most of the students who frequent the library are seniors."

After saying that, she happily told Miki Yamamura that she had many more mystery novels and would always welcome her to the school library to find her.

After Hiyori Shiina left, Kaoru Mitoma asked Miki Yamamura.

"Are you planning to continue tonight?"

The "continue" naturally referred to stalking him.

Miki Yamamura looked around.

By now, most members of the Snake Group had left, including Honami Ichinose.

"Until you return to your room," she said, then added in a whisper, "If you hate it, I won't follow."

Kaoru Mitoma really wanted to tell Miki Yamamura that any normal man wouldn't refuse a beautiful girl following him and might even wish she followed him all the way to bed.

"First, I want to make it clear that I don't dislike Yamamura-san," Kaoru Mitoma paused. "Second, if Sakayanagi-san asks you to tail me in the future, you can just tell me, and I'll let you do it. No need to go through so much trouble."

Miki Yamamura was stunned.

Could there really be someone in this world who would agree to be followed by a strange person?

"Lastly, you don't need to tail me tonight."

Because Kaoru Mitoma was planning to give Sakayanagi Arisu a surprise later.

If she found out beforehand, it wouldn't have the same impact.

*****

Tonight felt a bit strange.

Sakayanagi Arisu looked out at the night sky.

The stars and moon were dim, and the sea was pitch black, with no light to be seen.

In the last century, the Titanic had crashed into an iceberg on such a night, eventually sinking into the depths of the Atlantic.

Nowadays, human technology has far surpassed that of the last century.

Not to mention positioning systems, the radar systems installed on ships can easily detect suspicious targets and avoid them.

However, the instinctive fear of darkness in humans has not disappeared.

Arisu Sakayanagi thought of Kaoru Mitoma, who was like a thick night, slowly enveloping her in pitch-black darkness.

Masumi Kamuro, who was originally one of her radars, had now become his plaything.

Today, she had sent out Miki Yamamura, but she had a feeling that she wouldn't last long either.

And Masayoshi Hashimoto seemed to have adopted a defeatist attitude.

Since he had strong ambitions for Class A, it was only natural for him to give up when he saw that he would most likely graduate from Class A.

Arisu Sakayanagi felt like she was walking on thin ice.

One misstep, and she would fall into the deep sea under the night, allowing him to devour her completely.

But there was another possibility—that she would successfully navigate through the darkness and reach the other side.

Like walking on the edge of a knife, Arisu Sakayanagi enjoyed this feeling.

Not only did she want to defeat him, but she also looked forward to him defeating her.

Being a little maid didn't seem so bad either.

"Sorry, I'm late."

Hearing the girl's voice, Arisu Sakayanagi turned around and saw her slightly out of breath.

She couldn't help but smile.

"It's fine, I just arrived not long ago."

Mitoma-kun, what a pity—i win this special exam.

-----------------------------

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