Since Class A and Class D had made an agreement, Class A students knew that Class D's remaining Base Point supplies weren't enough for all students. This left Class D with no option but to forfeit.
Moreover, Class D's Rokusuke still had 35 Reward Points from outposts. After this exam, Class D would likely receive 500-600 Class Points — they had already made significant gains.
But this was Class D, after all. Though the point value seemed impressive at first, even Class A students, including Kōhei, weren't concerned about it.
After all, this was the same class that had lost all their Class Points in a single month, with some students still failing basic test papers. Even if they gained several hundred points now, they'd likely lose them just as quickly.
Meanwhile, Class A would earn around 400 Points in this exam — about the same as Manabu. That was excellent.
Now, Kōhei wanted to consult Houtarou about Kakeru. Class C's forfeit made him uneasy.
In the previous written exam, Class C students had earned the highest reward. Despite being known for poor academic performance, they had somehow achieved perfect scores.
This demonstrated exceptional leadership and execution abilities. Kakeru had proven himself dangerous — so why would he give up so easily?
Then there was Class B, who had made the same choice as them by letting other classes provide supplies. They clearly had strong ambitions to advance.
This was something Class A students needed to watch carefully.
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Meanwhile, Houtarou glanced at the remaining Class D students.
Suzune's decision to stay wasn't surprising. With their Class D ATM plan in motion, it wouldn't be right for her to relax on the ship.
Still, he wished she would return. Her health was poor. Though his supernatural ability was maintaining her condition for now, symptoms would eventually surface. The ship would be the better option.
But since she insisted on staying, he would manage by using his Restoration Ability on her daily.
Then he noticed that Kikyō had also stayed behind.
She lifted her face at that moment, looking over with glistening eyes.
Their gazes met briefly. Though she maintained her sweet expression, Houtarou, knowing her well, understood.
Ah. Kikyō was angry.
While he was glad she stayed, ensuring their weekly meetings could continue, she likely knew she had been excluded from the Class D Points distribution plan. This meant she might take out her anger on him during their next meeting — probably by dumping garbage on him again.
Was this island exam going to become troublesome with women?
Houtarou thought to himself.
"Oreki-san."
Houtarou noticed Kōhei looking at him.
"I think Ryūen from Class C is a dangerous man." Kōhei said.
"Let's check out the situation with Ryūen's class." Houtarou replied, "We just need to look at his outpost."
Kōhei agreed, and they arranged for some Class A students to return to their outpost first.
Since it was nighttime, Houtarou decided not to bring Masumi along when they went to check Kakeru's outpost, letting her return with the other students.
As they walked, they encountered Honami from Class B approaching with three others: Chihiro Shiranami, Ryūji Kanzaki, and Sō Shibata.
While Houtarou knew Honami and Chihiro fairly well, the two male students from Class B were unfamiliar to him.
"If you're going to check out Ryūen's class situation, let us join you." Honami said, "It's safer with more people at night."
"Looks like Class B doesn't trust Ryūen." Kōhei said bluntly, "You want to confirm if he really forfeited."
"Isn't it because your Class A students rushed to ally with Class D first?" Ryūji snapped, "We had no choice but to ally with Ryūen — and our class had to walk all day!"
His emotional outburst suggested he'd reached his mental limit.
The exhaustion was clear on their faces — they must have walked about 20,000 steps. A pitiful sight indeed.
The Class A students offered sympathetic glances, though everyone remained aware they were still competitors.
"..."
Tension hung in the air as both sides faced each other, while Houtarou maintained his silence.
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The group walked for a while until they reached an outpost, where they quickly found the card reader.
The card reader displayed:
『 Class C occupied, time remaining 05:45:04 』
This confirmed Class C had been here. The surroundings were in complete disarray — like tourists had swept through. Empty soda bottles littered the ground, and a recently extinguished grill still held uneaten lamb, chicken, and pigeon skewers.
Kakeru's disregard was evident. Not only had his students withdrawn, but they'd left garbage strewn everywhere, abandoning even their cooked food without a care.
They'd left behind a bathroom worth 20 Base Points, two unopened school-provided tents, and even a beach chair.
Honami bent down to pick up an empty soda bottle while Kōhei stood with arms crossed, surveying the scene.
"Looks like Class C really did forfeit." Honami said.
No one disagreed — after all, how could they survive on the island after abandoning their supplies?
Were they truly planning to rough it in the wilderness?
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The bracelet on the left wrist showed 20:40.
Given the late hour, Honami's group departed, though they planned to return later with classmates to retrieve the abandoned tents.
They mentioned that one tent could accommodate 6-8 people, but extra tents would provide more comfort and space. A practical consideration.
Class A, well-supplied with tents from Class D's exchange, had no need for such scavenging.
Houtarou's group headed back to their outpost, discussing Class C's withdrawal.
"Looks like I misjudged this time." Kōhei said, "Ryūen gave up on this exam."
"Are you sure?" Houtarou looked at him, "What we saw only proves that Class C's group withdrew. But who confirmed Ryūen gave up? When Class C forfeited, did anyone count how many students left? Did anyone actually see Ryūen board the ship?"
"Is that so?" Yahiko asked from beside Kōhei.
"Then Ryūen might still be on the island." Kōhei said, suddenly alert, "And he's hiding... Could he be Class C's leader? Yes — without proper reason, leaders can't be changed, so as the leader he couldn't forfeit whenever he wanted."
He had discovered a blind spot.
"We can confirm this on the seventh day." Houtarou said, "During the leader guessing phase, if Class C's section can still be filled in, it means their leader hasn't forfeited. But that's not what we need to focus on right now."
"It's not?"
"If Ryūen stayed on the island, what do you think he'll do? His class's Base Points are at zero. Since they're already at zero, rule violations wouldn't matter anymore. But as long as the leader hasn't forfeited, they could still capture outposts for bonus points or try to guess other classes' leaders."
"Which means—" Kōhei frowned, "Ryūen wants to guess the other classes' leaders, including ours."
Class A's leader wasn't Kōhei, but his follower Yahiko who stood beside him.
Kōhei hadn't kept this secret from the Class A students — he trusted his class. But Houtarou felt they needed to prepare for the worst.
The conflict between Kōhei's faction and Arisu's faction was intense. Almost daily, they'd see his faction lose one member, gain two, then lose three more days later.
This showed that members of both factions might act foolishly for their side's interests.
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