On Monday morning, only 23 students showed up.


    "Xuan Kai…" Feng Mian whispered beside me in worry. "It''s those two from Saturday…"


    I narrowed my eyes and frowned in thought. "… So they did get expelled, huh?"


    "E-Eh?! Doesn''t thyat mean our ss is nyow at a disadvyantage against the others?!" Amane cried in shock.


    "A-Ah… I''m sorry…" Lan Xiao Su whimpered quietly like a poor lost kitten, thinking it was her fault they got expelled, thus resulting in our ss''s disadvantage.


    "Don''t worry about it," I quickly said. "It''s not your fault… and besides, this isn''t all that bad."


    "Huh? How so?" Yu An Yan asked in confusion.


    But before I could exin, Ms. Cai walked into the room, expression as neutral as ever.


    "Okay… good morning, ss… I''m toozy to do attendance since everyone appears to be here, so I''ll just announce some news…"


    The ss was evidently confused. There was only 23 people in the room excluding the teacher, so how in the world was ''everyone here''? But Ms. Cai''s next words silenced all their questions — then raised countless more.


    "… Over the weekend, two of your ssmates, Dai Yun Hong and Zhang Kang, were expelled from the school."


    Immediately, the students descended into chaos.


    "WHAT?! WHY?"


    "THE HELL?"


    Long Lu was the only one who remained calm and tried his best to keep the ss the same way.


    "Hold on, everyone!" He yelled loudly above everyone else''s cries of bewilderment. "Let Ms. Cai exin."


    "Well… I''m not allowed to disclose the details, but let''s just say they got into a bit of trouble concerning a female student and ended up expelled for it."


    Long Lu clenched his fists. "Those bastards… what the hell are they thinking?!"


    "… Ms. Cai," I asked, raising my hand. Her gaze fell on me for a second, then on Lan Xiao Su, then back on me.


    "Yes…?"


    "There is no sense in crying over spilt milk. What''s done is done. All I want to know is… what disadvantages will this bring to the ss in the future?"


    "Well… you''ll have two less people than other sses, which will make your overall fighting strength lower unless all of you are exceptionally strong — which you aren''t," she said coldly and brutally. "In most special exams, the more people you have in your ss, the better it will be for you, so there''s that as well…"


    <em>There are advantages too… but she''s purposely not talking about them?</em>


    <em>What could this mean… is Ms. Cai testing us to see how we will handle a dire situation like this? Or… is this just part of the school''s n to build the students'' mental fortitude?</em>


    "Now… here are some review quizzes to help you prepare for the exam this Friday. Best of luck."


    *****


    After ss, the girls and I headed back to the dorms.


    "I… I''m sorry!" Lan Xiao Su immediately blurted out, tears in her eyes as she bowed deeply.


    "What for…?" I asked, slightly surprised.


    "A-All those disadvantages Ms. Cai mentioned earlier today… it''s all my fault…"


    "Hey, hey," Feng Mian interrupted, cing aforting hand on her shoulder. "Don''t me yourself. This is so much better than you getting harassed by them, no?"


    "Rx, Xiao Su," I added, closing my eyes calmly. "I know Ms. Cai said all those things earlier today, but… she only mentioned the cons on purpose."


    "Only the cons… wait, you mean there are actually pros to this situation?" Yu An Yan blinked in surprise.


    "Of course," I chuckled.


    "In fact… this happening is of great benefit to Master''s long-term n for ss D," Mei Gui added.


    "… Oho," Obsidia murmured, realizing what I was getting at. "I didn''t even think of that. Clever, human."


    "Thank you for the praise," I replied. "But as much as I''d like to say I orchestrated this whole thing, I didn''t. In which case — the credit goes all to you, Xiao Su."


    "E-Eh? Me…?"


    "S-Sorry, I still don''t get it," Lin Luo cut in. "In what way is this beneficial to our ss? I don''t particrly care if we''re at a disadvantage to the other sses, but I would still like to know what you are talking about."


    I sighed. "It''s simple. The core of my n for ss D is to slowly climb the ranks without being targeted by the other sses, correct?"


    The girls nodded in unison.


    "Exactly. Think about it — if you were the leader of a different ss, would you go for a ss with only 23 people in special exams?"


    At this, the girls'' eyes all widened.


    "Ah, so that''s what it is…" Feng Mian murmured. "Obsidia''s right… I didn''t even think of that either."


    "Mhm…" Qing Yue rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "As expected of Big Brother Xuan Kai."


    "And that''s not all," I continued. "Earlier, Ms. Cai used the term ''most'' when referring to special exams where having more people meant more benefits. But that means there are still <em>some</em> exams where having more is not necessarily better."


    The girls all looked up to me like students listening to a teacher, so I exined it in a clearer way.


    "Let''s suppose there was an exam where defeating opponents from different sses would score your ss points, and getting defeated would lose your ss points. In that case… wouldn''t having less people in your ss mean there were less possibilities to losing points?"


    "Ah…" The girls nodded in agreement.


    "Yes, overall, you''ll have less people to go on the offensive with, but the advantage makes up for this."


    Just in case they weren''t convinced, I tossed them another example.


    "Also, say we''re having a 1v1 tournament between sses, where everyone has to go once. This means the other sses would need to have all of their students participate, whereas we can choose two of our strongest fighters to go again. Do you see now?"


    "Oh…"


    I sighed. "Now, stop oohing and ahhing, and go shower. Xiao Su… you''re not at fault here. Remember that."


    "Mm! Hearing that made me feel a lot better, thanks~" She replied with a bright smile, nodding happily.


    "Eh… you didn''t react like that when <em>I</em> told you it wasn''t your fault…" Feng Mian pouted a bit, ncing at Lan Xiao Su in dismay.


    "Fufu~ just the difference between lover and friend," Qing Yue giggled.


    *****


    For the next week, study groupsmenced as usual. In the school day, Ms. Cai would give us review quizzes and material, while in our free time, we would spend at the library. Sure, none of us were at any risk of failing the exam as long as the school doesn''t suddenly escte the difficulty, but it was still better to be prepared.


    Of course, Qing Yue and Amane spent all their time reading manga instead, but that was besides the point.


    Before we knew it, Friday rolled around and it was time for the exams to begin.


    *****


    - The Morning Of -


    "How are you guys all feeling?" I asked the girls on the way to the Main Campus.


    "Hm… I mean, I feel okay, I guess?" Yu An Yan was the first to respond. "I don''t think I''ll get expelled for this, but I can''t be sure I''ll get a good score either."


    "Really?" Lan Xiao Su asked. "Your scores on normal tests are quite good though."


    "This has… always been… a habit… of sis…" Yu An Xue exined, murmuring quietly. "Whenever… a big exam…es around… she bes very… unconfident… and hesitant…"


    "H-Hey!" Yu An Yan whispered sharply at her sister. "You didn''t have to tell them that…"


    "Ara~ you were hoping for somefort from Big brother Xuan Kai, weren''t you?" Qing Yue snickered.


    "H-Huh? What are you talking about?" She cried, blushing and looking away.


    I chuckled. "Well… if you aren''t feeling confident, just keep in mind I''ve only barely managed to pass my high school years."


    "Wow, way to encourage someone," Feng Mianughed.


    "Master," Mei Gui suddenly said, having taken my words seriously and now had a burning fire in her eyes.


    "Uh… yes?"


    "You got this!" She said in an unusually determined tone, looking up into my face and pumping her fist down in a cheering gesture.


    "…"


    An awkward silence ensued as we stopped walking, but after a while, Iughed heartily.


    "M-Master…?"


    "Mei Gui… thank you."


    "… Mm." She smiled happily, hugging my arm. Lately, she''s be a lot more attached and aggressive… probably thanks to Qing Yue taunting her all the time.


    At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the other girls started doing the same. One day, I''m going to get torn apart between these girls…


    Soon after, we arrived at the Main Campus and walked into our ssroom. There, all our other ssmates had all gathered already. Even Ms. Cai was here earlier than usual… though she was as drowsy and dreamy as always.


    "Okay, ss… it''s time to begin. If you cheat, you will be immediately expelled. There are security cameras covering every angle of this room, so don''t even think about it… anyway, here are your test papers… Imma go sleep."


    "… What a teacher," Yu An Yan mused.


    I chuckled.


    "What a teacher indeed."