Chapter 65: Side Story - Lexical Bait

Chapter 65: Chapter 65: Side Story - Lexical Bait

Nanami’s monologue, POV

----------

?Last semester, two months before its end.

?The black monitor in front of the classroom of the first years of Class 3A lit up after lessons, catching the attention of the students present.

?Suddenly, it turned blank, just black. Then a transmission display appeared.

?A male voice was heard from the monitor. It was calm and detached, but presentable.

?"Attention students, a special test will be given to you five weeks from now. The name of the test is the ’Tri-Factor Asymmetric Liquidation Test’. Put in mind that this test will determine your position in class, and it could affect your standing and achievements. Thank you."

?And just like that, the message came to an end.

?I didn’t like this sort of treatment, but the school hadn’t been fair from the start, so I just played along.

?The announcement had been displayed for less than six hours.

?That was enough to destabilize the entire class.

?"Assholes, you can’t just drop a bomb on us like that," a male student said in irritation. He couldn’t hold in the frustration he felt.

?"What’s the test all about?" another asked. Most looked composed, but a few were worried.

?The test was stated to affect your standing in your class, so yeah, why wouldn’t they panic?

?Though it was not stated, it felt like it could affect our SOAAD metrics as well, along with our class ranking, which could spell disaster.

?Apart from all this, I had a different thing in mind. I had heard of a student called ’Shion’ attending this school. If it was the person I knew, then we were in big trouble.

?This year would be her evaluation period, so coming next semester would be her official start. I was looking forward to meeting her.

?’Tri-Factor Asymmetric Liquidation Test’

?No explanation or supplementary document, no sample questions, only the title, a scheduled date, and a notice informing every faction that further instructions would be released at the appropriate time.

?I checked the school app on my smartphone for more info on it, but it remained unreleased to the student body.

?Our class was divided into three factions—A, B, and C—with other dominant students not attaching themselves to any, of course. With this in mind, it was hard to tell if the test was between other classes or among our own class factions.

?Faction C took it the worst.

?Or perhaps they took it the most seriously.

By the time the final class period ended, rumors had already spread through the enormous class hall.

?Some believed the test would involve physical combat. Others thought students would be separated into teams and forced to eliminate opposing members. A few students insisted that the word ’liquidation’ had been deliberately chosen because the school wanted them to think about removing something or someone.

?Nobody actually knew.

?But Faction C had apparently decided that uncertainty was not an excuse to remain unprepared.

?Their positioning and movements after the announcement were filled or backed up with confidence.

?What’s Gontan up to?

?As the leader of Faction C, the dynamic of the group had to be his doing, or someone behind him.

?I shouldn’t have been concerned, but since it was an official test brought up by the school, I had to be conscious of my decisions.

?That was why, after class the following evening, I was sitting in the cafeteria with a cup of tea, quietly watching three students from Faction C argue over equipment. At first, I thought they were leading me on, but the conversation seemed useful in its own way, apparently.

?"That’s not enough," one argued.

?"It doesn’t need to be enough. We aren’t going to war."

?"Then why did you order twelve?"

?"Because if it is what we think it is, twelve won’t be enough." Their voices weren’t particularly loud, but they weren’t careful either.

?I slowly lowered my cup.

?Across the table, Kinko—a classmate of mine and a member of my faction, Faction B—continued eating as if he hadn’t heard anything.

?He was a small, gentle-looking boy with a habit of speaking so politely that people often forgot to be cautious around him. Even his mannerisms contributed to it. He was a slender young man with slightly long gray hair, half-lidded eyes, and a perpetually relaxed expression. He wasn’t wearing his school jacket, just his slightly oversized, long-sleeved white uniform, whose buttons hung loosely.

?He held his utensils carefully, rarely interrupted anyone, and tended to tilt his head slightly whenever someone spoke to him.

?There was something almost harmless about him. That was useful.

?Beside me sat another member of Faction B.

?Reina.

?She was less noticeable than either of them, which was precisely why I had invited her. Reina wasn’t an especially close friend; she didn’t need to be. She was observant, quiet, and, most importantly, understood when not to speak.

?I glanced toward Kinko, which he noticed immediately.

?His eyes moved briefly toward the three students, then back to his food.

?A few seconds passed.

?"We should leave," Kinko said softly.

?I raised an eyebrow. "Already?"

?"They’ve started noticing people looking at them," he added. Reina looked over. One of the Faction C students had indeed glanced in our direction.

?Not suspiciously—just enough to notice. Well, at the very least, he wasn’t completely engrossed in his food.

?"Good."

?Kinko looked at me.

?"Good?" he repeated.

?"We don’t need their attention." I stood. "All we just need to know is that they are confident. Which on it’s own, is already saying a lot for us"

?The first part of our plan had nothing to do with questions. That was the point; direct questions created resistance. If I walked up to someone from Faction C and asked, "What are you preparing for?", they would immediately understand the purpose behind the question. They could refuse, change the subject, or simply walk away.

?And because the Lex Veritas Protocol punished deliberate falsehoods in academic zones, people had become particularly skilled at avoiding questions without technically lying.

?I didn’t intend to give them that opportunity. I wanted them to volunteer the information, which obviously would take some time to accomplish, but thankfully there was time.

?Three days later, Kinko approached some students from Faction C outside the classroom. The conversation took place in one of the open recreation corridors between the residential blocks and the main academic building.

?Students passed constantly. There were vending machines along the wall, several benches, and enough background noise to make private conversations feel ordinary.

?Kinko stood beside a vending machine, staring at the drink options, while I was in my dorm room observing from an active video field transmitted from a chip-sized camera placed not where Kinko was standing, but opposite them, adhered to the wall.

?A Faction C student named Hayama walked past.

?"Kinko?"

?Kinko turned. "Oh. Hayama."

?Hayama stopped. "You buying something?"

?"I was thinking about it." Kinko looked back at the machine. "But I don’t know which one." Kinko’s movements and eyes were natural; he didn’t give any hint of a hidden recorder or camera. His eyes and behavior remained completely natural.

?Hayama laughed. "You’re seriously struggling with that?"

?"Yes apparently"

?Hayama shook his head. "You overthink everything."

?Kinko smiled. "Maybe i guess."

?There was a short silence, then Kinko sighed.

?"Actually..."

?Hayama looked at him. "What?"

?Kinko hesitated, his expression changing, though not dramatically.

?"I’ve been worrying about the test you know,"

?Hayama’s expression immediately became more interested.

?"The liquidation test?"

?Kinko nodded. "I heard people saying it might be physical."

?"People say everything these days."

?"I know." Kinko lowered his voice. "But some people in my faction are already preparing."

?Hayama grinned faintly. "Then you should prepare too, shouldn’t you?"

?"That’s the problem." Kinko looked genuinely uncomfortable. "I don’t know what to prepare for."

?Hayama shrugged. "Nobody does."

?"I heard Faction C already has a plan."

?That was the bait. Hayama’s expression changed for less than a second, but it changed. "We’re just being prepared."

?"Prepared for what?"

?Hayama laughed. "Nothing specific."

?Kinko nodded slowly. "Right."

?He looked embarrassed. "Sorry. I shouldn’t have asked."

?"Don’t worry about it." Hayama started walking away.

?Kinko called after him. "Hayama."

?"Yeah?"

---------

"The hardest test in life is the one you cannot prepare for, that has no name, and whose only grade is whether you survive it or are changed by it forever."

--------