Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Kiro
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 47
The pole toppling began. Since it was a team competition, Class B was at a disadvantage because there was no unity, and the students of Class C also didn’t have much expectation.
I had thought that we would lose naturally… but the first few minutes quickly subverted my expectations.
“ORA! Die!”
A boy from Class B elbowed a Class D student who was guarding the pole. It was an act that could be considered a foul, but if they claimed it happened by accident as they reached out to the pole… well, I think it would probably be forgiven.
“Damn, that’s dirty!”
As there was a student who tried to topple the pole on our side, a student from our side pretended to slip and kicked that student. There was also another student who grabbed the sand on the ground and used it to blind the opposition. Both of them were people from our class.
The fallen elite group was nowhere to be seen. In front of everyone was a group of rogues who were venting their daily stress through acts of violence. In a sense, they became a worse existence than Ryuuen’s group.
It was a combination of their latent resentment toward Ryuuen for wounding their pride and a selfish judgment that any dirty trick could be forgiven against Class D, which had a bad reputation. It showed that Katsuragi, who had the role of admonishing them, had lost his influence, and nobody could stop them anymore.
After a while, some students from both sides were forced to leave the competition due to foul play. It was because they had forgotten the justification of toppling the pole and chose to blatantly commit direct attacks. It was no longer a competition, but a fight.
Some people were suspected to have broken bones, so the relief team carried them away on stretchers.
The number of students in Class B and Class D was decreasing gradually.
After a warning announcement from teachers, the competition finally somewhat returned to proper pole toppling.
However, there were still some bastards whose main purpose was to beat, trample, and use violence in the midst of the confusion.
My first priority was to not get caught in the conflict so I stood in place.
A pole was toppled. The first one was the victory for team Class A and D.
It would be best if it ended here, but unfortunately, this competition was best of three.
“What the hell are you bastards doing?!”
Sudou yelled at us.
“Kek, Ryuuen and the maggots that are following him are annoying, so I just hit them.”
“I don’t give a damn whose pole gets toppled either way.”
“You should just compete on your own.”
“Rather than that, have you seen Ishizaki’s face? It got beaten up, serves him right.”
“That one was a masterpiece. He even wobbles around, so I will kick him from behind next time.”
“Hahah, that’s the best. Those bastards are looking down on us, so this is their just deserts.”
“…You bastards.”
They had no intention of winning and only thought about hitting people they personally didn’t like.
Seeing how terrible it was, I felt a little sorry for Sudou.
Class C students were in a resigned mood, but then I looked at Class D’s camp from a distance.
…It seemed that the total number of ejected students and wounded were higher than our own.
Most of them ended up forced to leave after fist-fighting, but all of them were provoked by Class B.
However, both the ones who provoked and those who fought back were forced to leave. Since there was a rule that regulated violent behavior, it didn’t matter which side started it.
…Those who hit others were ejected from the competition. It was just that simple. It might feel unfair for the Class D students who were just provoked into a fight, but that was the rule, so it couldn’t be helped.
Since the Ryuuen group was protecting the official stance of the competition, they couldn’t launch preemptive attacks. On the other hand, Class B already had nothing to lose, they didn’t even give a damn about the possibility of being forced to leave. In this situation, it could be said that it couldn’t be helped that the number of injured people was increasing.
There was no doubt that pole toppling was a competition where it was more advantageous with more people, so how would it turn out?
The second round turned out quite differently.
It seemed that Class C decided to focus on protecting the pole and didn’t leave the base that much. Since there were groups who aimed at the students instead of the pole, I guess this was their only choice.
In addition, it seemed the students of Class A adopted the policy of not interfering with us so as to avoid danger, so their movement was worse than in the first round. That decision served as the tailwind for Class B.
As I thought, the difference in the number of personnel mattered a lot. It was even more so when it came to fights.
One of the toughest men of Class D… the student named Alberto was throwing away students of Class B one after another in order to protect his own class. However, it didn’t mean much as the violence against other students continued despite that. As expected, he couldn’t handle dozens of students all alone.
With Class C focusing on defending the pole and Class A no longer assisting, there was a state of war around the opponent’s pole. Everyone seemed to lose their normal sensibility and the act of trampling over students who already fell stood out. Totsuka even did that as his main action.
An act of not only deliberately catching others’ legs and trampling on their head on purpose came to light. Perhaps he had suffered a concussion from the strong impact on the back of his head, so he stood up unsteadily with a pale face and walked away from the pole. He had a gentle look on his face, which was rare among students of Class D, so it made me feel sorry for him.
…I had been watching for a while and what came to my mind were many who chose to avoid strong people and aim for the weak ones instead. Ishizaki was already wounded and was subjected to a group lynching, but other weak-looking students were mainly targeted as well. The fact that Alberto and Ryuuen remained unscathed was good proof of that.
Even as things became this rough, it seemed they were still scared of the retaliation of the strong. They chose to beat down people who seemed weaker than they were and with no retaliation afterward, and they gained pleasure from oppressing them unilaterally.
That thought process was close to bullying. However, that immoral act paid off.
Before I knew it, the opponent side of the pole was knocked over, making the second match the victory for team Class B and C.
There was nobody ejected from the competition this time with only several injured people being carried away on stretchers. No, you are supposed to eject them.
Then we proceeded to the third round as it was, and somehow, we won the match.
“…Is this actually happening?”
“A group with strong unity is powerful, but individuals that have nothing to lose are also strong. That’s what I thought.”
Kiyotaka came to me and said so.
The battered Class B had rather good expressions on their faces. Perhaps they felt something close to a sense of accomplishment as they got rid of their pent-up frustration. It was so low that it made me laugh.
Five students were ejected due to foul play, and six were ejected due to injuries. More than half of the boys in the class were ejected.
If the gray actions such as hitting the elbow were included, only Katsuragi and I in Class B could say for sure we didn’t commit any violent acts during the match. Even the Katsuragi faction, which was relatively tame during the first round, became increasingly violent as more time passed. Rather, they were the people who did the most despicable acts… Their insidious actions, such as trampling over a fallen student and pretending it was an accident, were barely considered a foul and stood out badly.
“Can I really consider this a victory?”
Katsuragi was confused. This man was the person who toppled the pole in the last round.
And probably, this was the first time he “won” ever since he came to this school.
“Well, I think you can be happy with it, right?”
After telling that to Katsuragi, I left.
For the time being, I think I was glad that I managed to get through it without getting hurt. I could only say I was lucky I didn’t get caught in it.
…Perhaps there was an order to not attack Takashiro? Well, I doubt that was actually happening.1
I returned to the class tent and took a rest.
Due to the strong fatigue, my originally low motivation was approaching zero. I was overwhelmed by the desire to return to the dorms. In the first place, there were too many events that required the participation of the whole class… How many of them were left?
While gulping down water, I lamented the situation where I could do nothing about it.
“Many foul acts occurred during the pole toppling competition. In consideration of that, both Class B and Class D will be penalized. Specifically, both classes will lose 30 class points after the sports festival. The students who caused it should reflect on it.”
Mashima-sensei who entered the class tent said so and gave us a glance.
“So there won’t be any change regarding the result of the competition?”
“That’s only natural. This is just punishment determined according to the rule ‘in case of a large number of foul acts committed by students.’ It’s not like the outcome of the competition will be overturned.”
Mashima-sensei answered Katsuragi’s question with an expressionless face.
The reason why decisions were made so quickly was probably because there was such a rule from the beginning. Perhaps there weren’t many cases that ended up becoming such a large-scale scenario, but pole toppling itself was a sport where things could easily get rough, so fouls were expected. Even so, this punishment felt light… but since the punishment for foul play itself was already standardized, it couldn’t be helped.
Since the punishment wasn’t that great, many students ended up grinning.
…I guess it was better for Class A to control them quickly. I honestly felt the pole toppling this time was quite fun, but if something like this happened every time, I would be exhausted. So I would have Honami quickly convert them into part of her cult.
Since most students were already prioritizing their personal gains, it was certain they would get baited by points. Even Katsuragi would have no choice but to accept the majority vote. If there were still stubborn fellows who insisted on not obeying… then it wasn’t a bad idea to order Honami to have them expelled from the school.
The one who could bring this collapsed class together was only Honami.
I was expecting the god’s ability to guide their devastated mentality in the “correct” direction.
The ball-throwing event that was held immediately after that also ended with victories for Class B and C.
Since the difference was very close, I think things might have been different if Manabe’s group of four had participated.
All I could say from all this was that Class B was unexpectedly strong. Leaving aside the process of winning the pole toppling, the result of each event itself wasn’t bad. They contributed enough for the white team.
Not only did Class B not practice properly, but the participation table itself was blank. Not even the students themselves knew when they would be called to participate. Despite that, it was quite amazing they still managed to produce this kind of result.
I guess even if they turned rotten, they were still formerly Class A, so their individual abilities were quite high. In other words, as long as the carrot and stick were used properly to control them well… they might be able to exert great power.
I might have sounded like it was someone else’s problem, but I do think that way.
…That said, almost nobody showed motivation during the tug-of-war, so we were miserably defeated, as if everything before was a lie.
Want early access to Cannon Fodder, Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer, and I Was a Man Before Reincarnating, So I Refuse a Reverse Harem? Support the translator on Patreon!
