He was at the white team's pole, arms wrapped tightly around it to prevent it from being pushed over, when he realized something was wrong.
"Damn... Ryūen! We need backup! Where did everyone go?" Ken shouted, "I'm being attacked! I can't let go of the pole!"
Yōsuke, who had originally agreed to help guard the pole, also noticed something was wrong.
Just moments ago, at least seven or eight students had stayed to guard the white team's pole, but now the area around Ken was eerily empty of his classmates.
Yōsuke noticed that Kakeru had formed a human wall around them, leaving one deliberate gap. Through this opening, several students from Class D began to violently attack Ken.
His classmates — Hideo, Kanji, and Yamauchi — were nearby, but trapped inside Kakeru's human wall. One by one, they crawled through the gap and fled.
Ken was being attacked alone while everyone else abandoned him.
"Ryūen, you're going too far! This is against the rules—"
But Yōsuke's voice was drowned out as he too was surrounded and forcibly pulled away.
"Heh... what if I am breaking the rules?" The red-haired man from within the human wall approached Ken, who was still desperately clinging to the pole despite being kicked over a dozen times, "How pitiful, no one's going to help you in this state. And that pole you're protecting..."
He paused. Then he stepped on Ken's face.
"Take it down!" Kakeru gave the order.
"Yes, boss!" Albert used his full strength.
After Ken was stepped on, Albert's force came next, and the surrounding students quickly backed away to avoid getting caught up in it.
The white team's pole fell in a cloud of dust.
Whistle!
The referee blew the whistle, indicating this round of pole toppling was over, with another victory for the red team.
"Things are getting brutal up there—"
Meanwhile at the red team's position, Houtarou and the others were guarding their pole. Thanks to their classmates' efforts, Class B's angels couldn't break through.
But they could see clouds of dust rising from the white team's position. Several students from Kakeru's class were deliberately running around, stirring up more dust than normal to obscure everyone's vision.
They were clearly doing this on purpose.
"Still, to think Ryūen would use such tactics..." Kōhei's expression grew serious as Kakeru's actions bordered on rule violation.
"It's unfortunate — if we went over there, we might be able to gather evidence of his rule violations, but I'm worried about getting caught in the crossfire." Masayoshi, who was also at their position, said.
As a sharp-minded observer, he recognized that Kakeru was breaking rules. While gathering evidence could be useful, getting injured would be problematic.
He was scheduled to participate in the 1200-meter relay, a major event and his chance to showcase his abilities. He couldn't risk anything going wrong.
"But Class C students have no hope of winning anyway. Does Ryūen need to target them like this?" Kōhei said.
Being an honest person who disapproved of Kakeru's violent methods, he questioned the need to target Ken so aggressively.
But there was a reason. What Kōhei didn't understand was that this Sports Festival, despite requiring all students to participate, had a loophole.
In Houtarou's strategy for Class C, while it largely ignored athletic weaknesses, having just one athletic ace could earn significant Points — especially in the mixed-gender three-legged race.
The boys' and girls' three-legged races differed significantly. With their superior strength, boys could essentially carry their partners while running, even if the girls couldn't match their pace.
Ken's exceptional physical abilities meant he could easily support his partner's weight while maintaining speed to secure first place.
His remarkable strength and performance had drawn attention — no one in Kakeru's class could match his physical capabilities.
As long as Class C had Ken as their athletic ace, they maintained a chance to reverse their fortunes.
Since Kakeru was determined to make his move in this Sports Festival, he couldn't allow Ken to continue accumulating points.
Having lost several previous tests, Kakeru needed a win. His only option was to quickly close the gap in Class Points.
Therefore, Ken had to be neutralized — he couldn't be allowed to keep scoring.
"Looks like Sudō won't fight for Class C anymore." Houtarou observed as Ken angrily walked away through the settling dust cloud.
Indeed, he wouldn't. His classmates had proven useless, and when he needed help while being bullied, no one came to his aid. Even the pole he'd fought so desperately to protect had fallen.
What was the point? He was done with all of it!
He used to dislike Rokusuke, but now he realized that guy had been right all along — these people weren't worth his effort!
Ken stormed off toward the student dormitory without looking back.
A 10-minute break followed the pole toppling competition, after which the four-way tug-of-war would begin.
However...
"Sudō is absent..."
At the tug-of-war venue, Class C had only 19 boys. After the four-way tug-of-war concluded, they moved straight to the boys' cavalry battle.
During the cavalry battle, both Ken and Class C's Yōsuke were missing — the latter likely trying to convince Ken to return.
Whistle!
The referee blew the whistle.
The scoreboard displaying the red and white teams' scores had changed.
The scores were:
Red Team (Class A & D Alliance): 5,751 Points
White Team (Class B & C Alliance): 4,130 Points
The gap between the teams continued to widen.
When the boys' three-legged race began, Yōsuke returned looking defeated.
He was covering his face with a towel, and three Band-Aids were visible beneath it.
The injuries looked more like the result of a punch than an accidental bump.
It was clear that Yōsuke had failed to convince Ken — and was trying to hide evidence of their physical altercation.
"Hmph—" Kakeru observed Yōsuke's reaction before continuing with the next test.
While violence could be used to deal with Ken, direct attacks would be noticed. Besides, Ken's physical strength meant beating him would only make him more resistant.
So Kakeru had chosen a different approach: attack his confidence, isolate him, and force him out.
Through his multiple interactions with Ken, including when Houtarou arranged for him and Rokusuke to provoke a fight, Kakeru had discovered that beneath Ken's fierce exterior lay a timid nature.
Any attempts by Yōsuke to persuade Ken would be futile, as Ken would simply direct his anger toward his classmates.
Though Ken wasn't seriously injured, they still needed to monitor him given his physical capabilities.
Yet Yōsuke had proven inadequate for this task.
Ken's true value lay in exploiting the loophole within the recommended mixed three-legged race.
The recommended events allowed each class to participate in the mixed three-legged race five times, with a maximum of 10 participants. This created potential for a 200–300 point advantage.
Once they made it through the three-legged race—where points could be maximized—Ken's return would be irrelevant. Class C's last-place finish in this Sports Festival was now guaranteed!
"Next group!"
The referee's call snapped Kakeru to attention.
Noting the tight event schedule, he rushed to report in.
⍟⍟⍟
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