Ever since the sports festival ended, Nagumo Miyabi had been in a foul mood.

The humiliation on the field had made him look like a clown, and the consecutive crushing defeats in both the group and grade battles had cast a strange atmosphere over his class.

The lower-ranked classes were gradually slipping out of his control, and the flames of rebellion seemed to be rekindling—especially in Kiriyama Ikuyo's Class 2-B.

In the recent special exam, Kiriyama Ikuyo had been relentlessly pursuing him.

Though the situation hadn't yet reached a critical point, dealing with Kiriyama would still require considerable time and effort.

And on top of all this, Nagumo Miyabi still hadn't uncovered who the traitor was.

What's more, he had originally planned to play the role of the hero and make a grand reappearance before Ichinose Honami.

But to his surprise, she had chosen to self-destruct instead.

He hadn't even had time to react before losing his chance to intervene.

Today, when he came to the library, Nagumo Miyabi checked everyone's assigned questions before intending to have Ryuuen Kakeru take them away.

Unexpectedly, Class 1-C and Class 1-B ended up clashing in the library—apparently over seating arrangements—with the girls from Class 1-C being particularly aggressive.

Seizing the opportunity to gauge Ichinose Honami's thoughts, Nagumo stepped in under the guise of his authority as student council president.

Ichinose Honami didn't seem pleased by his arrival, but he paid it no mind.

Just as he was about to probe further, Tonokawa Sosuke noticed Mizuto Mizowaki approaching.

When the two turned around, they saw Mizuto Mizowaki holding up his phone as if taking a photo.

Given the distance, they couldn't tell exactly what he was photographing.

Thus, Nagumo Miyabi and Tonokawa Sosuke had no choice but to return.

To their surprise, Mizuto Mizowaki seemed to sense the danger and immediately began packing up to flee.

"Why is the surveillance broken?"

At this moment, Mizuto Mizowaki's expression was grim as he muttered under his breath.

Nagumo Miyabi didn't care what he was thinking.

His voice was icy as he demanded, "Don't you have anything to say to me?"

To be honest, he was quite disappointed in this subordinate.

Searching his conscience, he had never treated those around him poorly.

If someone would betray him for something as laughable as Personal Points, it would be utterly absurd.

Personal Points didn't matter at all.

If Mizuto Mizowaki wanted them, Nagumo Miyabi could easily give him a few million more.

Mizuto Mizowaki snapped out of his thoughts, a flicker of confusion flashing in his eyes before they hardened with resolve.

"I didn't betray you. This must be Katsuragi and Mitoma's scheme!"

Nagumo Miyabi remained silent.

Of course, he had considered that possibility—why would Katsuragi Kouhei approach Mizuto Mizowaki? What was he trying to achieve?

But—

It was common knowledge that there was a traitor hiding in their class.

Under normal circumstances, Kaoru Mitoma and the others would surely try to conceal the traitor's existence to avoid exposing their identity.

Given that, Katsuragi Kouhei seeking out Mizuto Mizowaki was highly suspicious.

If their goal was to make him suspect Mizuto Mizowaki and thus divert attention from the real traitor, then all the oddities would make sense—for instance, the fact that the surveillance here had been turned off by Kaoru Mitoma.

However, Nagumo Miyabi was also wary. He had already fallen into Kaoru Mitoma's traps multiple times, each time unwittingly stumbling into a pit.

Whenever he smugly thought he had seen through Kaoru Mitoma's tricks, the reality was often far more tragic.

So this time, Nagumo Miyabi decided to think differently.

What if there wasn't just one traitor?

Sacrificing one traitor to make him believe he had uncovered the culprit, thereby hiding another, was a perfectly plausible tactic.

Nagumo Miyabi suddenly grasped the complexity of the situation.

He even began to speculate why Mizuto Mizowaki might have betrayed him.

Personal Points?

No, it couldn't be something so ridiculous.

He suspected it was the same as with Horikita Manabu—discontent and disapproval of his leadership philosophy at Koudo Ikusei.

Mizuto Mizowaki had always been in the student council.

It wouldn't be strange if Horikita Manabu had taken advantage of that, turning him into an ally behind his back.

Nagumo Miyabi started recalling Mizuto Mizowaki's usual behavior.

Things that hadn't seemed suspicious before now appeared increasingly dubious.

Mizuto Mizowaki had no idea what he was thinking and grew increasingly uneasy.

His gaze happened to meet Tonokawa Sosuke's, who subtly shook his head.

"Mizuto-kun, are you short on Personal Points?"

"N-No, not at all."

"I do believe you wouldn't betray me, but right now, it's hard to prove your words."

"I know! There are people nearby—someone must have noticed what I was doing just now!"

Mizuto Mizowaki suddenly remembered this.

Even if the surveillance didn't work, that didn't mean the library was empty.

Why not just ask a fellow student?

Excited, he rushed to the neighboring seat where a boy with black-framed glasses sat.

But when questioned, the boy just looked bewildered—everyone was studying; who had time to watch others?

Seeing this, Tonokawa Sosuke grew even more convinced that his good friend couldn't possibly be the traitor.

He knew him too well.

However, this wasn't his call to make.

Though Nagumo Miyabi appeared composed on the surface, Tonokawa Sosuke knew he had fallen into a state of self-doubt.

Under normal circumstances, Nagumo Miyabi would never take this long to identify a traitor.

He had begun questioning his own judgment.

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you seniors doing here?" Ryuuen Kakeru's voice suddenly sounded beside Tonokawa Sosuke, causing the latter's heart to sink.

The timing couldn't have been worse.

As expected, Nagumo Miyabi quickly regained his composure and said calmly.

"It's nothing. You can go back now. There's a minor issue with the questions that I need to fix."

"Seriously? You made me come all this way just to send me back?" Ryuuen chuckled softly.

"I told you before, I'm not your slave, right?"

Nagumo replied impassively, "I just realized something—the library is too conspicuous. Our deal should be conducted privately."

Ryuuen frowned.

The other's words sounded almost like a joke.

The entire Class 1-C was being tutored by Nagumo's people.

Kaoru and the others weren't blind; they'd obviously know they were already collaborating.

However, as he studied Tonokawa Sosuke and Mizuto Mizowaki, something suddenly clicked.

"Tsk tsk, fine then. I'll go along with your plan. I'll head back and wait for your good news."

Ryuuen turned away before he could no longer suppress his smirk.

This tense atmosphere was all too familiar—it was exactly the scene when a leader discovered a traitor in their midst.

Back when he was a delinquent, he'd encountered this kind of situation countless times.

In the end, it was always his fists that made the traitors regret their choices for life.

Yet, for some reason, he felt inexplicably irritated.

While he was still figuring out how to climb the class ranks, Kaoru had already expanded the battle to the second years, completely disregarding his existence.

No—Ryuuen suddenly paused.

Kaoru had never taken him seriously in the first place.

Every time they met, Kaoru treated him like some street thug, never giving him a second thought.

It finally dawned on Ryuuen.

The reason he'd been so fixated on Kaoru wasn't because their methods were similar, but because Kaoru reminded him of those outsiders.

Some people occasionally hired delinquents to handle shady business.

Ryuuen had encountered such offers before, though he'd never accepted.

Still, he remembered their attitudes clearly—they were exactly like Kaoru's.

"So that's how it is..."

Ryuuen muttered to himself, repeating Kaoru's name under his breath.