Classroom of the Elite: Alter - Self-Test

Vol. 2: Chapter 9.1 - Just How?

I'm not someone who cowers after a loss. In contrast, I just come back stronger and fiercer. That goes double towards opponents that I find interesting. I want to have a good time. I want to have fun. I want to crush someone who's worth crushing.

This school was the perfect environment to exercise control over others through competition with the presence of the class hierarchy. To be honest, being demoted to Class D didn't mean anything to me. I didn't really care if I didn't graduate in Class A. I just want to have fun.

That's why I was overjoyed-- overjoyed with the fact that I had a reason to rise up. I want to crush the so-called "leaders" of each class and come out on top. I'll hunt them down one by one and have the greatest time of my life. Given how this school was structured, I'm sure they're worth my while.

"What now...?" Albert asked in English as he looked at me.

I have a mental list of whom I want to destroy. Horikita Suzune, the leader of Class B, tops that list right now. She thoroughly defeated me this time. I didn't expect to be one dancing on her palm. Or at least, that's what she wants me to think. Some things about what just happened didn't make sense to me.

"R-Ryuuen-san... Couldn't we have grabbed their phones to destroy the evidence by force?" asked Ishizaki.

"Nah. I don't know how, but it seems like they've managed to record everything. It'll be over if we try to do anything stupid. Do you seriously think that they didn't make copies already?"

"That's-! My bad..." Ishizaki clicked his tongue in frustration. "It seems like they hid other phones on their bodies."

"I was careful with checking Yamauchi's pockets, so even if you fucked up in checking Ike's pockets, this wouldn't have happened," I said. "Let's go. Let's relay our magnificent defeat to Manabe and the others."

I met up with everyone and told them about my encounter with Suzune.

"What?! They had recordings?!" asked Manabe.

"B-But I thought-" followed Kinoshita.

Kondou and the other guys appeared panicked as well.

"Relax, you lot. They won't use that against us if we withdraw from the case. We haven't lost anything, and we're not in trouble."

"But Ryuuen-san, you'll be forced to cooperate with them, right?" asked Ishizaki.

"That wouldn't matter. I'll make sure that our class won't get touched whenever that deal comes around."

Suzune got too overconfident with this win. She seems to be underestimating me. If our positions were switched, I would've used that evidence to thoroughly destroy her class to the point that they'll be nearly incapacitated. She doesn't treat me as a threat just because we're Class D.

But a weapon against Class A, huh? Not a bad plan, but a naive one. These three years are long, Suzune. I'll find a way to pay you or anyone who's with you back tenfold.

"Just how did they do it...?" Kondou mused.

"Heh, that doesn't matter now, does it?" I shrugged. 

To begin with, I was at a disadvantage since I attacked first without knowing who my opponent is. However, I won't make that excuse.

"So Class B also has a mastermind who can match up to Ryuuen-san..." commented Ishizaki.

"I'll devour Suzune soon enough. I won't let her bask in this victory for long."

There were a lot of questionable things about earlier. First, why didn't she call out to me before the hearing started yesterday? Second, she actually sacrificed her classmates just to create a card against me. Suzune appeared cold, but she didn't give me the impression of someone who does things as I do. And third, now she's treating me like her own card.

After Suzune sent me the copies of the recordings, I repeatedly listened to them...

I compared them to how an open recording would, but they were muffled in comparison. I proceeded to record my own muffled voice by stuffing my phone inside my breast pocket before comparing the two...

They're the same.

In conclusion, these recordings were taken behind clothes. Based on their volumes, Ike and Yamauchi were much nearer than us relative to the phones.

How the hell did they hide it? No... They didn't hide it. They didn't even know it was hidden. If they hid the phone in their underwear, for example, then they should've been part of the plan. Suzune couldn't possibly hide those phones without their awareness. But basing it on Yamauchi's reactions alone, I'm completely sure that he wasn't aware of the phone in action.

Even I can tell that these were phone-recorded voices... But if that really was the case, just how did Suzune do it?