Early the next morning, after eating a simple breakfast equivalent to the portion of three adult men, Amane-san leisurely walked towards her designated room.
As soon as she arrived at the door, she heard loud arguments not far away. Even though the exam start time was approaching, Amane-san, with a mind to join the fun, walked over.
At this moment, Katsuragi was arguing with Sakayanagi, his face full of anger.
For Katsuragi to be angered to such an extent, Amane-san found it hard to imagine what Sakayanagi had done.
Curiosity piqued, she was about to eavesdrop when a familiar figure suddenly emerged from the corner.
"Miyako-san, what are you doing here?"
Kitou's voice was very loud. In an instant, both Sakayanagi and Katsuragi regained their calm expressions, as if nothing had happened, much like a face-changing technique Amane-san had heard of.
Only Katsuragi's constantly heaving chest proved that the furious Katsuragi Amane-san had just seen was real.
"Oh, I was just passing by, you two continue your conversation."
Although it was a pity not to have heard what Sakayanagi and Katsuragi were arguing about earlier, rashly intervening in the current situation would only cause displeasure to others.
Especially in a situation that was very likely an internal Class A dispute, if Amane-san chose to intervene, Katsuragi's side would instinctively think Amane-san was Sakayanagi's person, and thus interfere with and monitor her actions.
Although Amane-san didn't care about the harassment from those little bugs, she was very disgusted by things like being followed.
So, Amane-san decisively gave up on the idea of delving further.
Amane-san arrived at the room with a sign that read'Snake'. Without even knocking, Amane-san directly opened the door and walked in.
The thirteen people inside the room had already found their seats and sat down.
Amane-san exchanged glances with the people she knew and then went to sit next to Karuizawa-san.
Then, she casually picked up the list of snake group members on the table and began to read it.
Class A's snake group members are: Fukuyama Shichou, Fukuyama Shinobu, Ishida Yusuke, Tamiya Emi.
Class B's snake group members are: Hirono Yuki, Ninomiya Yui, Yonezu Haruto.
Class C's snake group members are: Nishino Takeko, Morofuji Rika, Yajima Mariko.
Class D's snake group members are: Miyako Amane, Karuizawa Kei, Makita Susumu, Hasebe Haruka.
A quick glance at the member list showed that most of them were people Amane-san knew. Perhaps she hadn't gotten to know some of them in detail, but she had at least met them once or was acquainted with them.
Only a very few names were ones she was seeing for the first time.
"Which one is Ninomiya-san?"
Amane-san asked seemingly casually, but her gaze was fixed on the very dignified-looking girl sitting next to Hirono Yuki.
"I am Ninomiya Yui. You must be Miyako-san, right?"
Ninomiya Yui looked at Amane-san with a somewhat cold gaze.
"Oh? You know me?"
Amane-san flipped over the printed paper with the snake group member list. The back of the printed paper contained some Precautions for the special exam.
Amane-san pretended to look at it, while asking hypocritically.
Seeing Amane-san's attitude, Ninomiya clenched her hands. Although she knew Amane-san was asking something she already knew, she couldn't not answer.
"Perhaps in other classes in the first year, some people might not recognize you, but I think in Class B, no one would forget how you made everyone run around in circles that day."
Amane-san's lips curved slightly.
"I didn't notice it during the briefing session, but now that I look closely, you have a bit of his shadow on you."
"Please don't mention him here."
"Even if he's a scoundrel, he's still your father, isn't he?"
"He's just a shameless gambler who would put his wife and daughter on the gambling table. My purpose in coming here is to forget those things. I don't want you to interfere with my life again. I just want to graduate as an ordinary high school student and find a decent-paying job. This is all that's left of my life. I hope again... no, I beg you not to interfere with my life anymore."
Ninomiya Yui's fierce, gritting-teeth expression stunned the two Class B students beside her. Clearly, they had no idea that the usually gentle and soft-spoken Ninomiya-san had such a side to her.
The Class A students, though curious, all picked up their phones and pretended to be indifferent.
From the lines of conversation, many people could already roughly guess what had happened. No one would be so foolish as to pry into someone else's privacy at this critical moment. If there truly were such a person, it would no longer be a matter of emotional intelligence.
Even the few Class C students who had originally intended to watch the drama now pretended to be engrossed in their phones. Everyone tacitly pretended not to have heard anything, wanting to give the hurt Ninomiya-san a way out.
Just then, Karuizawa-san spoke up inappropriately.
"So... your name is Ninomiya, right? Ninomiya-san, were you lost in a bet?"
As soon as Karuizawa-san spoke, Hasebe and Makita's expressions changed.
The gazes of the other class members instantly focused on Karuizawa-san.
Even Amane-san couldn't help but want to cover her face and sigh.
"Why are you all looking at me? Don't you all have questions? What exactly happened to her? Was she eventually rescued? How did the winners treat them? Were they arrested? What happened to her mother? Does no one really have any curiosity at all?"
Karuizawa-san looked at the others with an even more astonished expression.
Many people felt a sense of helplessness.
Of course, they were also curious about these matters.
But these were all the other person's sore points. How could the other person tell you directly? Moreover, discussing Ninomiya-san's private matters in front of her was inherently disrespectful to others.
"Karuizawa-san, I think instead of caring about other people's private matters, we should focus our attention on this special exam, shouldn't we? Now is the time to discuss who the favored person is. How about we get back to the main topic?"
Fukuyama Shichou offered both sides a way out.
Ninomiya, whose face was somewhat unsightly from anger, remained silent, clearly hoping the matter would just pass.
Karuizawa-san, however, waved her hand.
"This is only the first round, there's nothing worth discussing, is there? Amane-san hasn't even drawn the clue about the favored person yet, and the favored person won't know their identity for another two days. Even if we discuss until dark, we won't figure anything out. We might as well talk about something interesting."
Karuizawa-san's matter-of-fact attitude angered Morofuji Rika, who was nearby.
"You're truly too much! Yesterday you called people over to make a scene, and today you're being aggressive, trying to pry into other people's privacy. Do you have some kind of illness? If so, I hope you can go to a doctor quickly, instead of coming here and making everyone feel disgusted."
Morofuji Rika stood up directly, pointing her finger at Karuizawa-san's nose and accusing her.
The atmosphere of the snake group's discussion was instantly pushed to its peak.
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