What a terrible subtitle.
I couldn’t think of any other term for the characters appearing this time besides “unfortunate souls.” Anyway, about the next chapter…
I’m planning to introduce a character from the Classroom of the Elite side who can see Cursed Spirits.
Originally, I hadn’t really thought about making an original novel character able to see Cursed Spirits, but a sudden thought struck me: wouldn’t it be pretty funny if this specific person could see them?
However, when it comes to this person, I haven’t quite grasped their character myself, and if I bring them out, thinking about their future interactions sounds like a pain.
So my desire to write it and my fear are about half and half.
I’m giving this preview to harden my resolve, but writing this is scary enough to make me hesitate a little.
If possible, I’d like to post within three days, but it might be slightly delayed.
By the way, here is a hint for the character scheduled to appear: Our MC gets liked by exceptionally talented trouble-makers like Gojo-sensei and Sakayanagi.
In other words, that person is also…
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– A week had passed since the decision to hold the internal class conflict.
Initially, everyone in the class assumed Mamoru would belong to Arisu’s camp, but contrary to those expectations, he chose to remain an observer.
Regarding this, quite a few people in the class showed confusion, but Arisu herself—the one who mattered most—didn’t say anything to Mamoru.
She understood that Mamoru had no interest in this sort of conflict.
Even if she couldn’t fully pull him into her own camp, there was no fear of him drifting toward the Katsuragi faction, so she adopted a stance of leaving him be.
And currently…
“Man, I suddenly got super free…” Mamoru was sitting alone at a campus cafe, munching on a parfait.
Since the start of the conflict, the people around him—including non-participants—were somewhat tense due to midterm prep, but in contrast to that atmosphere, Mamoru found himself with unexpected leisure.
For one thing, Arisu had been holding discussions with her own group a lot lately, reducing her joint activities with Mamoru on campus.
Furthermore, the number of Cursed Spirits on campus had decreased, and because he had established a patrol route, his rounds had become much more manageable.
‘For now, I don’t have any jobs from Big Brother either, so what should I do?’ The only thing that came to mind as something he ought to do right now was preparing for the midterms, but he didn’t feel the need to go out of his way to increase his study time.
To begin with, when it came to studying, he maintained a minimum consistent effort on a daily basis.
Even going at it normally, he would score over 80%.
Even if irregular questions like those on the quiz were mixed in, Mamoru had the confidence that he wouldn’t end up with failing marks.
‘Increase training time…
No, only being able to think of work or training—am I a workaholic?’ Because he had been busy until recently, now that he suddenly had spare time, nothing came to mind.
Trying to play around on campus cost points, but going off-campus just to kill a little time felt too exaggerated.
In a moment of liberation from his duties, he had accidentally ordered a menu item he had been curious about for a while, but he didn’t feel like wasting any more points.
‘Things I should do…
It’s not like there’s nothing, but…’ Thinking that, he glanced toward several students passing by the front of the cafe.
With gloomy expressions, they passed by while casting somewhat envious glances at the other patrons chatting happily inside the cafe.
‘Probably Class D students.’ For the past few days, many students with similarly depressed expressions had been seen around campus, and the common thread among them was that they were Class 1-D students.
“…That’s really not a good situation.” He muttered quietly to no one in particular.
Negative emotions were the breeding ground for Cursed Spirits.
Right now, Mamoru was exorcising Cursed Spirits on campus, but that didn’t mean the Cursed Energy accumulated from those emotions vanished at its root.
In a situation where no one knew what catalyst might trigger the birth of a Cursed Spirit, having an excessive amount of negative thoughts accumulate was an undesirable state of affairs.
‘0 points is really harsh, though…’ Even Mamoru understood that this school operated in such an environment, and he accepted that disparities naturally arising was unavoidable.
Hence, he himself had no intention of getting too involved in that competition.
However, a result with this much of a gap was unexpected.
‘Even so, what can I even do?’ Even if he were to host study groups or something, he doubted Class D students would trust Mamoru, who belonged to Class A.
Since no concrete plan came to mind, it was a bit frustrating, but he had no choice but to hope Class D would manage on their own.
In the end, realizing he had spent time on fruitless thoughts, he took a sip of coffee as if to wash away the gloomy mood and took a breath.
Just then, a man sat down in the seat right in front of him.
“Do you mind if I sit for a moment?” “…Katsuragi-kun, huh.
I don’t mind, but what do you need?” That person was Kouhei Katsuragi, currently in the middle of a conflict with Arisu.
Even for Mamoru, receiving a contact from him at this timing was somewhat unexpected.
When asked what he wanted, Katsuragi folded his hands on the table and spoke with a formal posture.
“I’ll come straight to the point.
For this upcoming score competition, I want you to step forward and form a third group to participate.” The moment he heard those words, Mamoru’s eyes widened slightly.
‘So that’s his move.’ Though Mamoru had no interest in the conflict itself, the moment he heard the rules of the game, he had anticipated several strategy patterns that both Katsuragi and Arisu might choose.
This was one of the choices he had thought least likely to be taken.
“…For starters, let me hear the process that led you to that line of thought.” “First, in case you might be misunderstanding, let me say that I have no obsession with the position of leader.
If there is another leader who can guide the class, I am more than willing to serve in a supporting role.” “Are you saying Arisu-san is inadequate as a leader?” “I acknowledge her ability.
However, she is dangerous.
That became abundantly clear during the last meeting.” “From that tone, you realize you were taken for a ride, then?” It seemed he had noticed that almost the entire flow of the previous meeting was Arisu’s setup.
In response to Mamoru’s question, Katsuragi grimaced in frustration.
“Even I am not that slow-witted.
When the situation is engineered to that extent, one notices whether they want to or not.” “Isn’t the skill to pull strings behind the scenes beforehand something that can be evaluated positively in a leader, though?” “That is not the issue.
The issue is her perception of the class.
Having such a reckless game proposed made me realize it.
That girl mistakenly views this class as her personal toy.” ‘I can’t even refute that…’ Regarding that point, Mamoru shared a similar perception, so he couldn’t talk back to Katsuragi’s words at all.
“It’s fine if I lose.
But Sakayanagi’s total victory is the one thing that must be avoided.” “You sound as if you’ve already given up on winning.” “…To be frank, I can only say the odds are against me.
At the very least, Sakayanagi holds a higher proportion of top performers from the quiz.” In this game, strictly speaking, Katsuragi had little chance of winning if they fought head-on.
First of all, Arisu had the brand power of being the top scorer on the quiz.
At this point, high-performing students who were originally neutral leaned toward joining Arisu’s side to jump on the winning band.
Katsuragi likely understood this area all too well.
However, in truth, that was not the only point working against Katsuragi.
‘…Judging by his tone, he probably hasn’t noticed.’ The moment Mamoru heard about this game, he didn’t think Arisu was relying on a pure battle of academic skill.
Without a doubt, she must have proposed this game after hiding a move that guaranteed her victory somewhere.
“By the way, right now, how many participants have gathered for Arisu-san and for you, Katsuragi-kun?” “14 people on my side.
7 on Sakayanagi’s.” ‘The numbers are more lopsided than I thought.
Does that mean it’s confirmed?’ Without proof, it was entirely Mamoru’s speculation, but Arisu had likely snuck a few of her own operatives into Katsuragi’s camp.
Intentionally bringing down the opponent’s average score.
It was a tactic anyone could think of if they pondered it, but Katsuragi himself had likely excluded it from his options.
The results of the upcoming midterms directly impacted class points.
If it were merely having spies for information gathering, he might reach that conclusion, but under these conditions, he likely believed no one would actually go as far as lowering scores.
‘Even so, I have no obligation to advise him.’ Since he had decided not to get involved in the conflict, telling Katsuragi now would be unfair.
To a Jujutsu sorcerer accustomed to deception as second nature, a strategy of this level didn’t feel particularly villainous.
“Anyway, I get your reasoning, but why me?
Did you not think I would side with Arisu-san?” “Looking at your daily life, I felt there is no hierarchical relationship between you and Sakayanagi.
Rather, I even get the impression that Sakayanagi is the one clinging to you.
In fact, even now, you do not belong to Sakayanagi’s camp.
That likely means you yourself are negative toward this game, and Sakayanagi is not in a position to force you, right?” Mamoru was genuinely impressed.
While most classmates saw Mamoru and Arisu as close, Katsuragi accurately grasped the distance between the two.
He hadn’t made a strong impression because he was led around by Arisu, but Katsuragi’s observational skills were quite formidable.
“Still, that’s not a reason why it has to be me, right?” “…A half-hearted choice would just get crushed by Sakayanagi.
Even if we gained a momentary victory, there’s no telling what would happen afterward if they were recognized as an enemy.
In that regard, since you are favored by Sakayanagi, I calculated that she wouldn’t direct genuine hostility toward you.” ‘He talks like he’s dealing with a wild beast.
I won’t deny it, though.’ “Earlier, I said 14 people gathered on my side, but in truth, I asked a few high-performing students to hold off on participating after explaining the situation.
I want you to form a third group with them and bring both me and Sakayanagi to a mutual compromise.
If you have no interest in being leader, I won’t force that on you, but I want you to at least cooperate for this game.” Among the options Katsuragi could take, this was likely the method with the least damage.
In this game, even if Katsuragi won, the outcome of drawing bad blood from Sakayanagi’s camp and splitting the class in two was unavoidable.
In that case, establishing a third party unrelated to the factional dispute and having them scoop up the victory would keep class division to a minimum.
Of course, that was provided Mamoru agreed.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t be of help.” Hearing that response, Katsuragi wore a grim expression.
“…May I ask the reason?” “I’ve said something similar to Arisu-san before, but I have no interest in conflicts between classes.
At minimum, I intend to cooperate so as not to disturb class harmony, but honestly, whether I graduate from Class D or Class A, my true feeling is that I don’t care either way.” Katsuragi seemed taken aback by the words don’t care, but he quickly switched gears to offer a counterargument.
“If you say it’s to avoid disturbing harmony, shouldn’t you cooperate then?” “I want to avoid getting involved in class conflicts as much as possible, and I don’t want to get involved in disputes that decide the class’s direction either.
If I cooperate here, it would mean endorsing the direction of the class that you are aiming for, Katsuragi-kun.” Mamoru was conscious of the fact that he was an anomaly in this school.
Even so, as long as he belonged to a class, he felt a slight obligation to cooperate, but changing the very state of the group through his own will felt like an overstepping act.
“Even if you suffer disadvantages in a class ruled by Sakayanagi?” “I can only say I’ll do my best to maneuver well around it.
‘I won’t get involved.’ If the resulting environment comes from making that choice, I have no right to voice complaints.
If I really can’t stand it, I’ll think about it when that time comes.” If there ever came a time when Mamoru acted proactively, it would be when it interfered with his duties as a Jujutsu sorcerer.
Outside of that, he intended to resignedly accept a certain amount of trouble.
Facing Katsuragi, who stared directly at him, Mamoru stared back with an intent that conveyed he wouldn’t yield.
After a moment, Katsuragi finally let out a sigh, as if giving up.
“…I see.
It doesn’t look like I can change your resolve.
It’s unfortunate, but I’ll give up.” “Sorry when you relied on me.
As a substitute, though, I’ll promise you this: I have no intention of lending a hand to Arisu-san in this conflict either.” “That helps a lot.
To be completely honest, I had hoped you would become the leader.
Even Sakayanagi wouldn’t look down on an opponent like you.” “Is that so?
When it comes to that girl, even I don’t know what she’s thinking.” As for Mamoru, he couldn’t picture himself becoming a leader, nor could he imagine Arisu serving as his assistant.
At any rate, the conversation was over.
Having already finished his parfait, Mamoru stood up with the bill in hand.
“Well then, I’ll be going now.” “Yeah.” Waving his hand while turning his back, Mamoru thought to himself: What will Katsuragi do from here on out?
Would he set up a group with someone else as representative, or choose to give up and fight with what they had?
‘Either way, the chances of winning are low.’ Setting up a third group wasn’t a bad move, but that was only in the sense that it was better among the remaining choices.
With an insider mixed in, even if he took that strategy, it would leak straight to Arisu.
Or rather, there was even a possibility that an insider was mixed among those whose participation was held off.
He didn’t think Arisu was being ruthless.
And Mamoru himself, staying silent while knowing about it, was hardly one to talk.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Author’s Note: By the way, one of the insiders is the bat-like guy, Hashimoto-kun.
In reality, while Sakayanagi-san sends in insiders, she avoids blatant score manipulation.
Making it a close line like getting 51 points in all subjects would get caught, so she’ll target specific subjects to drop them by 10–20 points or so.
With 2 to 3 insiders, the average score dropped is at most 3 to 4 points, but if they get sniped in subjects where they’re disadvantaged, it’s fairly fatal.
Since neutral high performers are flowing to Sakayanagi-san’s side, even fighting normally gives her a 60–70% advantage.
Add underhanded tactics into the mix, and there’s a 90% chance of no way to win.
If there’s a chance of victory, it would be exposing the insider to feed false information, or sending in a spy in the same way.
Either way, the probability of Sakayanagi-san seeing through it is higher.
By the way, if she judges she can win without adjustment, she’ll just compete normally.
Having class points is always better for Sakayanagi-san too.
…I thought the game would end up as dead lore, but I’m delving into it surprisingly deep.