Class-E, The Experiments

Chapter XIX: Slow Tick

I don't react. My voice remains level. "That might be true. But why would that convince me?"

Something flickers in her eyes. A slight hesitation. She wasn't expecting me to not care. And I know why.

"Hm? So, you really don't care, do you? About anything? You don't care that you might be expelled in the future due to your uselessness?"

Just a little more.

"No, that's not it," I say, watching her closely. "I want to know why you care so much about making me your ally."

She blinks, taken aback for a split second. But then, her gaze narrows. "Why would you..."

She's struggling to process it. The idea that someone with such strange thinking exists.

"Fine," she finally says. "The school's Role System is very accurate. I was assigned 'Natural Genius.' That means they've deemed me one of the best students in academics at this school. And yet, despite that, someone like me was still assigned—"

"An advisor," I finish for her.

Silence.

Her fingers tighten slightly on the armrests.

"So that's it, huh?" I muse, tilting my head. "Your ego is so inflated that you can't accept the idea that someone as 'useless' as me could one day be your advisor. So now, you're trying to force my evolution, just so that afterward, you can beat me at something and prove to the school that you're still superior."

More silence.

Ah, I see.

So this is the real Sakayanagi.

An egotistical brat who can't stand the idea of anyone outshining her not in strength, not in status, and especially not in intelligence. Because intelligence is all she has. It's the one thing she excels in. The one thing she needs to be the best at.

And the mere possibility that someone else might be smarter than her?

Unacceptable.

I have to hold myself back from outright laughing, but I still need to act like the classmate they know, calm and composed.

I glance at Kamuro. Unlike me, she isn't even trying to hide her amusement. She's actually laughing—quietly, but it's still noticeable.

Then, I shift my gaze back to Sakayanagi.

Her smug little smirk? Gone.

Instead, she's giving me a very hard glare, her usual mask of superiority shattered, even if just for a moment. My words got to her.

I don't say anything. I wait.

The only sounds in the room are the rhythmic ticking of the clock and Kamuro's barely-contained giggles.

Did I mess up?

No.

And I know that because, for all her arrogance, Sakayanagi isn't an idiot.

Finally, she speaks.

"I see... Now I understand why they assigned you that role in the first place. You are more than what you seem." She exhales lightly, her voice steady but missing its usual playful lilt. "Your words are direct and precise, ensuring that everyone understands them clearly. You just exposed my faults in a way I can't refute. The school... simply wants you to use that ability for tactics rather than turning it against your classmates."