The official exam began at 9:00 AM.
Before that, first-year students were required to remain in their respective classrooms, awaiting instructions from their homeroom teachers.
Therefore, the moment Mashima Tomonari entered the classroom, every student's eyes were fixed on him.
"The class vote will now commence. When your name is called, please proceed to the voting room in order."
Though it sounded tedious, individual voting ensured the anonymity of the ballots—likely a carefully considered decision by the school.
Immediately after, Mashima Tomonari began calling out names according to student ID numbers.
In just a short while, it was Kamuro's turn, who sat next to Kaoru.
Before standing up, she deliberately lowered her voice and asked, "Are you sure you don't want me to cast my Praise Vote for you?"
The student with the most Criticism Votes would be expelled, while the one with the most Praise Votes would receive Protection Points.
Kamuro believed the latter would be beneficial for Kaoru, especially given his ongoing rivalry with Nagumo.
"I'm not interested in that."
Kaoru propped his chin on his hand, his mind seemingly elsewhere.
Since Protection Points were non-transferable and served only their literal purpose, what use did he have for them?
Seeing his reaction, Kamuro naturally didn't press further.
She had only asked on a whim, and even if she wanted to vote for him, it was too late now.
After the girl left, Kaoru gazed at Sakayanagi Arisu and Katsuragi Kohei in front of him, pondering the day's exam results.
In reality, Nagumo's assumption that he had 80 Praise Votes was incorrect, as that was merely a theoretical number.
Kaoru could have gathered that many Praise Votes, but there was no need.
Including the Praise Votes Nagumo would funnel into Class 1-D, if he added another 80 Praise Votes, the concentration of so many in one class would be alarming.
The reason Nagumo had sent Yamauchi Haruki to target Kei Karuizawa and others was not only to use him as bait to divert Kaoru's attention but also to clearly identify who would be expelled.
Praise Votes should be cast for those with Criticism Votes.
If Nagumo didn't know who the top three candidates were, his plan would be impossible to execute.
Thus, after assessing Class 1-D's situation, he had already predetermined the top three candidates.
Even Nagumo had heard of the infamous "Idiot Trio," indicating their reputation within the class.
Therefore, knowing this, Kaoru only needed to follow Nagumo's voting strategy: cast votes for individuals other than Yamauchi Haruki to offset the remaining Criticism Votes.
Assuming Yamauchi Haruki had 30 Criticism Votes, Kaoru only needed to contribute 40 to 50 Praise Votes—perhaps even fewer, considering Nagumo's Praise Votes and the existing Praise Votes within Class 1-D.
Hence, this time, Kaoru only informed Katsuragi Kohei, and his Katsuragi faction was able to contribute 26 Praise Votes.
It might not sound like much, as the Katsuragi faction only accounted for half the class.
But one must not forget that Class 1-A still had some neutral students who remained passive, like Morishita Ai.
They didn't care who the leader was, as long as they remained in Class A.
After excluding the neutral faction, Kaoru easily calculated the number of Sakayanagi faction students remaining around Sakayanagi Arisu.
The claim that fewer than 10 people remained was already the most polite way to put it.
In any case, Kaoru now had 66 Praise Votes—enough to crush the conspiracy targeting Sakura Airi.
He even had enough surplus to discreetly distribute Praise Votes in Class C, secretly casting votes for Manabe Shiho and Shiina Hiyori among others, though not in large quantities.
"Next, Kaoru Mitoma."
Mashima Tomonari's voice interrupted Kaoru's thoughts.
Collecting himself, he stood up and left the classroom for the so-called voting room.
It was a separate classroom supervised by teachers, with four ballot boxes labeled with each class's designation.
Kaoru wrote Katsuragi Kohei's name on a Criticism Vote, randomly filled two other names, then cast a Praise Vote for Yamamura Miki.
After finishing his vote, he noticed Hasebe Haruka appearing at the doorway, still visibly simmering with anger.
When Hasebe Haruka saw Kaoru, she seemed to want to say something but immediately closed her mouth, clearly mindful of the teacher's presence.
Kaoru secretly gestured to her before exiting the voting room.
...
The voting lasted about an hour.
After the final voter returned, Mashima Tomonari announced that the school would release exam results before 11:00 AM, and everyone was required to remain in the classroom until then.
Though there was minor unrest, the class atmosphere quickly settled.
They had nothing to worry about—Katsuragi Kohei had proactively asked them to cast Criticism Votes against him before the exam, something that had surprised even Kaoru.
The reason for Katsuragi's stance was simple: even knowing no one would actually be expelled this time, seeing oneself chosen by everyone would likely evoke complicated feelings.
Thus, Katsuragi Kohei decided to become the "expelled" student himself to prevent any fissures from forming within the class.
Kaoru could only think this bald guy was somewhat naive—essentially an honest and upright person.
So when Mashima Tomonari returned, the first name he announced was, unsurprisingly, Katsuragi Kohei.
Thirty-eight students had cast Criticism Votes against him, likely because his follower Totsuka Yahiko stubbornly refused to obediently vote against his leader.
However, Totsuka Yahiko's defiance couldn't change the outcome.
Not far away, Morishita Ai already had her phone ready to transfer 20 million Personal Points to the school at any moment.
"The student who received the most Praise Votes in this special exam—Sakayanagi Arisu, you obtained 24 votes."
After announcing the final results, Mashima Tomonari felt inwardly stirred.
In previous years, Class A would inevitably lose one or two students by this point—both Nagumo and Horikita Manabu's Class A had operated with incomplete rosters.
Yet this year's Class A not only safely navigated their first year but did so without major losses, the entire process proceeding remarkably smoothly.
Even with one final special exam remaining, Mashima didn't believe it would threaten Class A's position.
Compared to other classes, they might as well start popping champagne corks already.
"How could it be her?"
Totsuka Yahiko expressed disbelief, "Do people still think she's better than Katsuragi-san?"
"With all the Criticism Votes concentrated on Katsuragi-san, why is it strange for the princess to receive Praise Votes?" Hashimoto Masayoshi was utterly speechless.
"The princess is so adorable, and you still won't vote for her?"
Totsuka Yahiko was momentarily stunned into silence.
Just as everyone expected another argument to break out, he closed his mouth instead—perhaps he actually acknowledged Hashimoto's reasoning.
"Thank you for speaking up for me, Hashimoto-kun. I must admit, I'm quite surprised too."
Sakayanagi Arisu showed a look of astonishment before breaking into a gentle smile.
"I never imagined I would be chosen. Thank you, everyone."
She truly hadn't manipulated this additional exam.
When she suddenly found herself in first place, she almost suspected Kaoru was behind some mischief.
Twenty-four Praise Votes—it seemed that aside from her own faction, many other students held favorable impressions of her.
Kaoru, however, felt a bit frustrated.
Had he known earlier, he would have asked Katsuragi to vote for Yamamura Miki instead.
Who would have thought the votes would be so scattered?
Little did he know that he was actually the runner-up right after Sakayanagi Arisu, with twenty-two students voting for him.
Over half the students believed that Class A should currently be led by Kaoru, Katsuragi Kohei, and Sakayanagi Arisu.
This included Hashimoto Masayoshi, who had been vigorously promoting Kaoru's leadership behind the scenes.
Unaware of this, Kaoru assumed Katsuragi had overt control of the situation. In reality, everyone knew who the true leader was.
After all, it was common knowledge that even Sakayanagi Arisu was under his influence.
Some even radically believed that the conflict between Katsuragi Kohei and Sakayanagi Arisu was merely Kaoru's way of amusing himself—using Katsuragi to discipline his "little wife" and repeatedly make Sakayanagi suffer setbacks.
If Kaoru were to step forward and lead the class now, about half the students would likely follow him immediately.
The other half would simply remain passive, caring only about maintaining their status as Class A, regardless of who was in charge.
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