“I never thought I’d be toyed with by such an incompetent man. To acknowledge someone like that as your nemesis... I didn’t think you could even make a mistake.”

“A mistake... it seems you don’t even understand what kind of man Ryūen is.”

After finishing our recon of Class C Horikita was pretending to keep calm but she was furious at Ryūen’s rude and vulgar provocation.

“Even if it’s part of a strategy, if you think about the future this is self-destruction. Now that their confirmed points are zero the gap with the upper classes will widen so it’ll get harder to reach Class A and if our Class D earns a large amount of points the gap will narrow. Then it’ll be hard for Class C to even maintain their position. It’s simple math.”

At that I stopped and looked at Horikita with pity and when she didn’t hear my footsteps she stopped and turned around.

“Horikita... I’m impressed by your incompetence again. At this point it’s almost worthy of respect.”

“...Is there anything wrong with what I said?”

I calmly walked up to Horikita and started explaining Ryūen’s real objective.

“Ryūen definitely gave up all 300 points. He might have even given up the points from occupation.”

“I know that. Who do you think you’re calling an idiot?”

“The things Ryūen spent on were thoroughly all kinds of food and entertainment to enjoy a vacation. You don’t doubt that either.”

“I don’t get what you’re trying to say. I don’t know how deep you are with Ryūen but stop taking his side. What meaning is there in a plan full of holes like that...”

“Isn’t the radio kind of out of place?”

At my words Horikita flinched.

It seems this woman was so hung up on Ryūen’s provocation that she didn’t even notice the radio placed right beside him.

“A radio... what are you talking about?”

“The radio placed there like it’s showing off. If they’re all going to retire anyway you know what it means that he bought it.”

“...A means to contact someone. Then Ibuki?”

Exactly.

It’s perfect evidence that Ibuki is a spy.

“That’s a tool for Ryūen and Ibuki and also spies in other classes to contact each other. Which means Ryūen intends to make everyone retire and then stay on the island. Then what would that be for?”

“Using all points and still staying on the island is just...”

It seems Horikita’s brain isn’t turning well enough to reach the right answer.

“You useless bitch, I’ve given you this many hints and you still don’t get it? Ryūen is going to use spies to find the leaders and name them.”

Horikita’s expression stiffened.

If you hit all three leaders it’s +150 and all other classes take –50 and their bonus points become invalid.

Meaning depending on how many points the other classes use he can completely change the gap.

“Now you get it? Ryūen isn’t someone you can judge like that.”

“T-that’s impossible... then the leader is almost certainly Ryūen! If we name Ryūen we’ll get hurt in reverse...”

“Almost certainly? The only one staying in Class C won’t be Ryūen. The leader could be Ibuki or a spy from another class. Maybe besides Ryūen a few others will stay behind and act individually. Your head seriously doesn’t work that well? How long are you going to keep acting this pathetic?”

Horikita staggered and clutched her head.

Whether she was shocked that I noticed what she didn’t or shocked by Ryūen’s hidden strategy I didn’t care either way.

“You... you noticed Ibuki was a spy from the start?”

“I didn’t have certainty. Ryūen is the kind of guy who can create spies and won’t hesitate to kick out his own classmates. I got certainty from that radio just now.”

“...Why did you bring me? Was it to make me know my place again?”

Ugh, Horikita.

You really see me as trash.

I’m helping you.

For my plan to succeed you need to know quite a lot and as a bonus I’m widening your perspective too.

“I told you what you obviously needed to know. You know what you have to do, right? Never let Ibuki find out who the leader is. No matter what happens. That’s a special mission given only to you as the leader. A mission for you who doesn’t stand out, has a strong sense of responsibility, can respond immediately and flexibly and is easy for me to read.”

At that Horikita looked like she had a lot on her mind.

Me who understands everything and her who is already being led around by me.

Horikita had realized she was already being dragged into my plan.

And she also knows that’s the best path.

Horikita, you’re the main character of this operation.

This time you don’t even need any special ability.

Show me you can satisfy me.

Not as some chess piece but as my exclusive servant.

“Fine, I get it. I just have to protect it no matter what... I don’t want to be tossed around by your schemes but I have to get to Class A... if that’s what it takes then I’ll do what you want.”

...Yeah, that reason is enough.

“Like I expected, you understand fast because you’re good at studying. Let’s go to Class B.”

That is exactly the you I wanted.

* * *

Following the path Kanzaki told us about we went a little into the forest from where we could see the broken big tree.

Looking closely it didn’t seem naturally broken but more like it was made as a marker.

It might be a hint from the school to tell us about spots.

The moment we stepped into the forest it felt different.

When I looked closer there were many traces of people passing by.

I thought following those would lead us to Class B’s base camp.

Then after a short while we arrived at Class B’s camp.

“...I have to ask. Was Class B always like this?”

“Not sure... this is my first time seeing them as a whole class too.”

Class B’s base camp was completely different from Class D and Class C.

There were many trees around the well they were using as the central spot so they couldn’t set up three or four eight-person tents but they replaced that with hammocks to secure sleeping space.

Even with the same start their items were different.

I couldn’t know every detail but I thought they could definitely leave a lot of points.

But what surprised me was something else.

It was the unique atmosphere Class B had that other classes didn’t.

Even in the library I’d thought they were kind of strange but I never imagined the whole class would be like this.

“Huh? Horikita? And Ayanokoji too?”

The first to notice our visit was Ichinose who was tying ropes to set up hammocks.

Gym clothes suited Ichinose’s lively vibe very well.

Kanzaki, who was nearby with Ichinose, also approached us.

“Your class seems to be running well. It looks like it has a lot of difficulties to use as a base though.”

“Ahaha. At first it was rough. But we put ideas together and somehow made it work. Then it ended up making even more work. We still have a mountain of things to do.”

With a confident expression she suggested I sit on a hammock so I did.

Since it was tied firmly it seemed fine for sleeping or resting.

Once we all sat I gave my impression of Class B.

“Your cohesion is impressive. Everyone’s working while smiling. Normally there’d be at least one person slacking off but I can’t find anyone like that.”

“Hehe, we struggled a lot at first too. But we just try all sorts of things and see what happens.”

“The one leading is you, right?”

“For now. In Class D is Ayanokoji leading and directing too?”

“No. Class D’s representative is a boy named Hirata Yosuke. I’m just a strategist. So with that said, I have something I want to propose to Class B as acting representative authority.”

As soon as I had a chance I brought up the main point.

“How about Class B and Class D both reveal what we spent points on? It seems like we can roughly calculate each other anyway so even if you tell us directly it won’t really be a loss.”

Ichinose smiled and pulled the manual out from her bag at her feet.

Then she began reading the list where she had written the purchases.

“Hammocks, cooking tools, small tents, lanterns, temporary toilets, fishing rods, camp shower device... if you add up food and things like that it’s exactly 70 points.”

Excluding Koenji’s withdrawal, it was almost the same usage rate as us.

But I was curious about the camp shower device.

It was more expensive than a temporary shower so we had postponed buying it.

“For food we gather vegetables and fruits in the forest and cover what’s lacking with points. We can also catch fish at sea for meat. That’s the feeling. For water we can draw it from the well and drink it.”

Their general saving method is similar to Class D.

But the word vegetables suggests they have better results than us.

“This well had a risk of water contamination so we debated whether to drink it but after looking at the cultivated food and the surrounding environment we judged the well is managed too. Just in case one person tried drinking it first. We observed over time and their stomach was fine. So starting this morning we’ve all been using well water together.”

Good.

It’s a proper response to confirm before using it.

Even if it seems obvious if you get pulled by saving points you end up wanting to drink it without thinking.

Compared to Class D where we even started a fight over whether to drink river water their cohesion and initiative are excellent.

“And we learned the well has plenty of water. It’s enough even with showers. This is the camp shower device.”

From what I heard in more detail it’s a method where you fill a tank with water and warm it with butane gas as a heat source.

But the manual doesn’t describe how to use a tool like that so it’s dangerous to use it for the first time.

Does Class B also have someone with camping experience like Ike?

Besides that they used the one-touch tent issued for toilets as a shower room, they got lots of portable toilet bags to use as a substitute mat and they sprinkled water around the sleeping area to maintain a cool environment by taking away heat through evaporation...

I’m sure of it.

This Class B is the completed form of Class D.

“Yeah, it’s impressive. Our strategies are similar but your tool usage and creativity are excellent. It’s strategic and intelligent at the same time.”

“Ahaha! Hearing that from someone capable like Ayanokoji makes me feel embarrassed for no reason. Anyway our strategy is just this. We’re going to work hard to gather points with it.”

“Then is it our turn now? For our usage...”

I explained our situation in detail without dressing it up.

I even explained very carefully that Koenji ran off without permission and we took a 30 point loss.

“I see... it must hurt that someone dropped out.”

“That damn asshole will pay for it for sure. Well, for now it’s fine. There are still many unstable elements in the class but it’s not at a level we can’t cover.”

“Right. Hey, Ayanokoji. Horikita. We can keep our cooperative relationship going, right? With the additional rule about identifying leaders, excluding each other’s class seems like a good method, what do you think?”

The condition for full cooperation is excluding each other from leader naming.

A promise not to touch each other’s 50 points.

It’s a rule that benefits us too.

However...

“If one class gets excluded as a target that’d be welcome if Ichinose is okay with it—”

“Sorry but even if we keep a cooperative relationship I don’t think we can keep that.”