On the top floor of the cruise ship, in the highest-grade room separated by only one wall from Amane's room, all the teachers for the First Year of Advanced Nurturing High School had gathered. Even the Student Council Vice President, Nagumo Miyabi, was present at this small meeting.
However, the person sitting in the center position was neither Mashima, who was the overall supervisor for this off-campus Special Exam, nor the Student Council Vice President Nagumo Miyabi, who was responsible for supervising students and acting as a mediator.
Sitting at the head of the table with her legs crossed was Fujiwara Rin, who was responsible for supervising the Advanced Nurturing High School Special Exam in the capacity of a special investigator.
Although it was already late at night, Fujiwara had still summoned everyone. Anyone who saw Fujiwara's expression knew clearly that she was quite dissatisfied with the Advanced Nurturing High School Special Exam.
"Fire, bullying, and even jumping off the ship to commit suicide—within a mere fifteen days, such terrible incidents have occurred one after another during your Special Exam. I hope you can all give me a satisfactory and convincing answer."
Fujiwara's request was normal and reasonable. No matter the school, if such events occurred, it would be mired in public controversy, and might even face indefinite suspension for reorganization, as well as investigations and supervision by higher authorities, until it was approved to resume teaching only after everything was completely resolved.
Among these three shocking incidents, bullying—which has always been criticized by society, students, and parents—was actually the least severe, which was truly astonishing.
The few teachers exchanged glances. Even though Fujiwara had a good relationship with them previously, was a graduate of Advanced Nurturing High School, and had complex ties to the school, they could not ignore the fact that her current role was merely that of a special investigator.
All she could do was report everything she saw and heard truthfully to her superiors. She didn't even have decision-making power; as for whether Advanced Nurturing High School would be punished, it depended entirely on what kind of information she brought back.
That was why Fujiwara emphasized that Advanced Nurturing High School must give her a satisfactory and convincing answer.
If the intelligence she brought back could not provide a reasonable explanation for the vicious incidents like the fire, bullying, and student suicide, then even Chairman Sakayanagi would likely be implicated.
The matter was of great importance, so for a time, no one dared to speak rashly. The atmosphere in the room gradually became oppressive. Fujiwara was not in a hurry to urge everyone; time was the one thing she had plenty of. Even if this meeting lasted for ten days or half a month, she wouldn't care. What she needed was a perfect answer. If there was even the slightest slip-up, those who had been lurking in the shadows, eyeing Advanced Nurturing High School like tigers, would likely seize the opportunity to propose the school's dissolution.
In fact, every year the state provided Advanced Nurturing High School with a substantial amount of funding. Coupled with investments from various sectors of society—especially large families and conglomerates that often sent their outstanding children to Advanced Nurturing High School for training, hoping that it would eventually bring more valuable returns to their families.
However, the results of Advanced Nurturing High School over the years had been mediocre. Although the school had sent quite a bit of talent into society, the strength of Class A—the school's calling card—was uneven. It was undeniable that as the top class of the grade, graduates of Class A did indeed possess significant strength, and many became pillars of society after entering the workforce. However, those who coasted their way into Class A caused the "report card" that the school presented to society to be widely questioned regarding its true value.
In previous years, due to the school's enormous expenditures and disproportionate returns, factions opposed to Advanced Nurturing High School seized the opportunity to stir up a wave of opposition through public opinion.
However, it was suppressed by Kijima, one of the founders of Advanced Nurturing High School, who leveraged the power of the public to silence the unfavorable comments, barely quelling everyone's dissatisfaction.
After all, it was impossible for children from ordinary families not to be interested in a 100% employment and university placement rate.
Moreover, it was an opportunity where they could choose for themselves. Once they were fortunate enough to graduate as Class A, they could improve their family's conditions and achieve what commoners saw as a leap in social class by attending a good school or being hired by a good company.
It was precisely by grasping the psychology of ordinary people hoping to take a shortcut to leap across social classes that Kijima thwarted the conspiracy against Advanced Nurturing High School back then.
But now, this wasn't a matter of conspiracy, nor was it a question of whether the quality was excellent; it was that flaws had appeared in the way the school cultivated its students.
If one viewed Advanced Nurturing High School as a company, then the massive property damage caused by the fire in a short period, the bullying that might involve employees resigning, and the most serious issue of employee suicidal tendencies—from any angle, closing down this enterprise would be the reasonable course of action.
Otherwise, no one would dare to gamble on whether even more serious problems would occur in the future.
Those who opposed Advanced Nurturing High School would certainly use its current track record of bad deeds as a reason for opposition; the school was clearly in a disadvantageous position.
Seeing the teachers sitting there as still as old monks without saying a word, Nagumo Miyabi couldn't help but inwardly disparage them.
Even Mashima, who was clearly the person most responsible, wouldn't speak up. What was that supposed to mean?
Finally, seeing that everyone had a tacit understanding to drag out the time, Nagumo Miyabi, unable to bear it any longer, spoke up to answer Fujiwara's question.
"Regarding the terrible incidents that occurred during the Special Exam, as the Student Council Vice President, I feel deeply pained. Through these events—for instance, the fire that occurred on the Uninhabited Island due to student carelessness, which expanded in scope due to improper handling—it can be seen that we lack experience in dealing with fires. Moving forward, the Student Council will certainly learn from this fire, strengthen safety education for students regarding the use of fire, and provide training on response measures in the face of fires."
After Nagumo Miyabi finished speaking, he glanced at the various teachers from the corner of his eye and found that no one had any expression, as if they tacitly accepted that Nagumo Miyabi could answer this question on their behalf, or perhaps... they simply didn't want to speak to avoid bearing unnecessary responsibility.
Seeing that Fujiwara also didn't seem to object, Nagumo Miyabi took the courage to continue.
"Regarding the bullying incidents, it was entirely because the Disciplinary Committee was facing reorganization. Due to the Special Exam, the Disciplinary Committee was short-staffed during supervision and could not effectively stop the bullying. Moving forward, we will complete the reorganization of the Disciplinary Committee as soon as possible, install more cameras, and increase penalties for bullies to minimize the occurrence of similar incidents."
Nagumo Miyabi's attitude toward bullying was not that proactive. In his view, so-called bullying was merely a form of violence in competition. If violence could solve problems, then why couldn't it be used? If the other party was willing to pay the price for their violent behavior, then violence, as an indispensable part of competition, should be permitted in Advanced Nurturing High School, which advocated for meritocracy.
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