9.1
Discussion No. 1
Participants
Class 2-A
Yanagibashi Motofumi, Ishida Yuusuke, Shimazaki Ikkei, Toba Shigeru, Tamiya Emi, Morishita Ai, Takanashi Kou
Class 2-C
Ishizaki Daiichi, Kaneda Satoru, Komiya Kyougo, Nakaizumi Shouhei, Suminokura Mami, Takarajima Miko, Hatate Kaoru
The curtains rose on the first discussion, which would be an important match between generals. Moreover, the right to send in a traitor had been exercised immediately. At this point, one traitor was mixed in among the students from Ryuuen’s Class C. In a situation where everyone seemed hesitant to speak up first, it was none other than Morishita Ai from Class A who made the first move.
“Ishizaki Daiichi. First, could I ask you to prove, with certainty, that you are not a model student?” asked Morishita.
“Huh? Wha—m-me?! Why me, all of the sudden?!” he wailed.
“Because suspicious people are called upon,” replied Morishita. “It is what police officers and private detectives do as well.”
The traitor who had been sent in should have been a concern as well, but Morishita didn’t seem to make any mention of that whatsoever. As if to go with the flow, all the eyes in the room followed Morishita to Ishizaki.
“No way, dude… Uh, I mean, I ain’t the model student!” exclaimed Ishizaki.
“Then, could I ask you to prove it?” replied Morishita.
“Aww dude, that’s legit impossible though! How the hell could I even prove it?!”
“How about this: if you are the model student, you promise that you’ll bite your tongue and die later. Well?”
“H-huh?! Stop sayin’ stuff I can’t understand!”
Ishizaki was flummoxed by Morishita’s continued questioning, but Kaneda quickly intervened, without a moment’s delay.
“Please wait, Morishita-shi. Ishizaki-shi, you don’t need to answer her. I do not approve of such heavy-handed methods. Let’s talk about something that can actually be resolved in this discussion. Now, if we follow the established practices of police officers and private detectives, then I would suspect the person who spoke first. I would ask that you prove with certainty that you are not the model student,” said Kaneda.
Saying this, Kaneda shifted his glasses, and all of the attention that had been focused on Ishizaki shifted onto Morishita.
“There is no way to prove anything with certainty under the rules of this discussion, though,” replied Morishita with a look of exasperation on her face, like she was dealing with an idiot, even though she herself had been pressing Ishizaki for definitive proof just moments ago.
“In that case, why were you trying to force an unreasonable demand onto Ishizaki-shi?” asked Kaneda.
“Because he had a stupid look on his face and seemed like he would give himself up.”
“Who’s gotta stupid look on his face?!” shouted Ishizaki.
“Please calm yourself,” Kaneda said. “To defeat Sakayanagi-shi, it is necessary for us to use the appropriate means. Conversely, defeating Ryuuen-shi will be similarly difficult. Morishita-shi is provoking you in order to make sure her class leader wins. If you want to assist Ryuuen-shi, who I imagine is fighting on the other side of that camera, then you must remain calm here. If you find yourself swayed by her words, then you’ll be playing right into our opponent’s hands.”
Kaneda had succeeded in pacifying the indignant Ishizaki.
“Y’know, I’ve been watching other people’s discussions for a while now, and I’ve noticed something. It seems like the model students tend to look each other in the eyes. Komiya-kun and Takanashi-san were looking at each other right before the discussion started, weren’t they?” said Class A’s Tamiya, openly suspecting the other students with a skeptical gaze.
“Oh, yeah, you’re right. I felt like that was suspicious too,” replied Nakaizumi.
Perhaps Nakaizumi was on the same page as Tamiya, because he nodded several times in affirmation as he said that. Even though Class A and Class C were enemies, their back-and-forth didn’t give that impression.
“Right? And didn’t Komiya-kun look especially relieved when everyone’s attention was focused on Ishizaki-kun?” added Tamiya.
Tamiya was making a strong case to those around her that those two, Komiya and Takanashi, were the model students. Was that genuinely what she thought, or was it something to divert attention away from herself? Even though she was new to the discussion, she had learned how to handle things by watching as a bystander thus far. The superior students made full use of the skills they had developed through those experiences to advance the conversation. While the presence of the traitor was a disadvantageous element in the battle between representatives, it was a great boon to the traitor and their classmates. That was precisely why neither class’s participants forcefully pursued the issue.
9.2
THE DISCUSSION BEGAN with a surprise attack from Morishita, and then the time came for nominations by the representatives as the five-minute mark approached.
“This debate’s gotten pretty wild right from the start, huh?” said Ryuuen.
“It would seem so,” replied Sakayanagi.
They both casually offered their impressions of the discussion.
“Now then…what do you think, Ryuuen-kun? There were a few things that appeared to be clues,” said Sakayanagi.
Just as she had exercised her right to send in a traitor preemptively, Sakayanagi had made the first move here as well. Some bits of information that seemed like they could be used as a stepping stone had quickly popped up in the earlier discussion. There was Komiya and Takanashi, who Tamiya had claimed exchanged looks with one another. Then there was Tamiya, who had spoken up about the exchange of glances, and Nakaizumi.
It was quite possible that one of those two pairs could have been a pair of model students. However, there was no guarantee of that. Without further clues, it would be quite risky to start attacking in the first round. However, if Ryuuen chose to pass at this point, information would actually be disclosed to Sakayanagi by the end of the round, thanks to the traitor’s effect. To prevent that, he needed to exercise his right to a dialogue to get rid of the traitor.
In addition, Ryuuen absolutely needed to avoid picking the traitor if he did push ahead and make a nomination. If he made that mistake in nominating, he would lose two Life Points, and on top of that, he would restore Sakayanagi’s right to send in a traitor. If that happened, it would inevitably become more difficult for him to nominate students from his own class. Without uttering a word, Ryuuen calmly thought back on the discussion that had just taken place. Who was lying, and who was telling the truth? Though he had temporarily stepped down from his position, for the past two years, he had reigned as king of his class. Now, his true worth was being tested. After using the entire time and entering his nomination, it was finally time for the answer to that question.
“Because Ryuuen-kun has nominated erroneously, he will lose one Life Point.”