Sunlight was carved into fragnts by the jagged, rugged rocks, casting mottled shadows within the cave. The scent of earth perated the air, and from ti to ti, the distant calls of birds from the forest drifted in, accentuating the profound silence that reigned inside.
"As expected, this is a base point specially excavated by the school."
Fuyuji Mikage surveyed the conditions of the cave. The entrance was roughly a little over a ter wide and over two ters high—the dinsions of a normal doorway. Leading the main Class A force inside, the temperature plumted abruptly, as if stepping into an air-conditioned room.
"Ah! I'm coming back to life!"
Ishida Yosuke, responsible for carrying the tents, raised both hands high and shouted toward the outside from the cave entrance. Several other boys also collapsed to the ground, unanimously pounding and beating their own shoulders.
The entire cave was not large. There were no places where water seeped through. It was at just the right size to accommodate forty people. Logically, such a place should easily have beco a nesting spot for animals like snakes, but when Fuyuji expanded his psychic senses outward, he only found a couple of geckos and a few small creatures like crickets. The school must have specially cleared it out before the students arrived.
"So? Shall we choose this location?" Katsuragi Kohei once again sought Fuyuji's opinion.
This cave was a base point with both prominent strengths and obvious weaknesses. The strength was that it was sufficiently safe—as long as they found sothing to block the entrance, there was fundantally no need to worry about people or animals coming to cause trouble. The weakness was that this place had no water source. Every day, they would have to allocate a portion of their manpower to prepare sufficient water for daily living.
However, if they were simply choosing this place because it was easy to defend, that was completely unnecessary. Holding the locations of nurous potential base points, Class A, which had already dispatched personnel to search for and occupy these points, could not possibly abandon this advantage. They would inevitably use the key card frequently to check in at these points. Any leader with even a modicum of intelligence would choose to lie in ambush at a certain base point and fish for opponents.
Fuyuji swept his gaze across the entire class. Morishita Ai, ignoring the beads of sweat on her face, was pulling Yamamura Miki down into a crouch, curiously using Fuyuji's bonded weapon to poke at a gecko withdrawing into a crevice. Kamuro Masumi was walking about inside the cave alone, appearing very interested in the cave's interior. Shiraishi Asuka was seated on the ground, both legs slanting to one side, quietly talking with Nishikawa Ryoko.
Sensing Fuyuji's gaze, Shiraishi gently cast him an inquiring look.
What is it?
Nothing.
Fuyuji withdrew his gaze and faced Katsuragi. "Let's go with this place. As for the water source..." He looked up. The pitch-black cave walls twisted and snaked irregularly upward. "Since it's a mountain, there should be fresh water sowhere up there. We can look for it together later."
"Alright. Now there's only one final problem left." Katsuragi folded his arms and looked toward a device with a screen embedded deep within the mountain. A wooden signboard was inserted into the wall, and written on it were the words: This cave is a designated base point. Use without permission is forbidden.
"Who should we choose as the leader?"
...
The Class A students sat in a circle inside the cave, their expressions grave and solemn. Even the sharper students could see it clearly—the leader was the single most critical component of this exam. Once guessed, not only would all the points from occupation be reduced to zero, there was even the possibility of losing a further hundred and fifty points in a single stroke.
"If it's the leader... then it should definitely be Katsuragi-aniki, right?"
"How could we possibly choose Katsuragi?! What if that twisted Ryuen really does go crazy and take a wild guess?!"
The first to jump out, Class A's ever-loyal hype-man Totsuka Yahiko, was instantly subjected to a universal verbal battering from the entire class.
"The primary imperative for the leader is to ensure their identity is not discovered. Our class has already confird we will be conducting large-scale point occupation. Starting from this premise alone, the pool of people who can be chosen is inherently limited." Takemoto Shigeru cupped his chin and muttered.
"In other words, reconnaissance ability is the bare minimum requirent." Shimizu Naoki picked up a tree branch and wrote out the corresponding conditions on the ground.
"Best of all, they should be soone not particularly noticeable—the kind of person students from other classes wouldn't even spare a second glance at." Nishikawa Ryoko spoke with a beaming smile.
"Additionally, other capabilities are also very important. Otherwise, they won't be able to respond to sudden contingencies." Nishi Haruka raised an index finger and continued to supplent.
Sanada Kōsei pushed up his glasses and summarized. "In other words, we need to find a classmate who possesses outstanding ability, is not conspicuous to the other classes, and whom we can also trust completely, correct?"
"But students like that... our class never had many to begin with, right?" A low murmur drifted out from the crowd.
"No. It's not 'not many.' It's vanishingly few."
"The ones who fit the conditions here are probably only..."
The gazes of the Class A students, by unspoken agreent, gathered upon a certain soone who was still flipping through the guidebook.
"Aiya~" Fuyuji, as if possessed by the spirit of Crayon Shin-chan, waved his hand through the air in an effeminate flourish. "Don't praise like that, you guys. Even soone like can get embarrassed..."
"..." The Class A students present simultaneously pressed their hands to their foreheads. A sigh echoed softly within the cave. Forget it. Every ti this guy does sothing reliable, he imdiately jumps out and shows everyone that, actually, he's not reliable in the slightest.
"Actually, the leader doesn't necessarily have to be outstandingly capable. As long as there is soone with outstanding ability who can stay by their side at all tis and ensure they aren't discovered by students from other classes, that's sufficient." Katsuragi provided a completely new line of thought.
Indeed. The leader couldn't possibly act alone. At the very least, they would need several people to accompany them. As long as they could guarantee that those few people could see through the sches of the other classes, that would be enough. This way, the essential condition was only one—being inconspicuous.
While the other students had begun discussing, Yamamura Miki, who had been seated beside Fuyuji the whole ti, silently bit her lip. Her fists, resting on her knees, unconsciously clenched tight. She watched Fuyuji's face quietly for a long while, and drawing a deep breath, she gritted her teeth and raised her head, lifting her hand high.
"Slap—!"
A crisp yet not loud sound lingered beside the ears of the few nearby. A large hand reached out and pressed her small hand down.
Yamamura's face instantly flushed as red as dripping blood, but she still twisted her head and looked at Fuyuji. Her sky-blue eyes t his calm, steady gaze.
"Why? I should be very suitable for this."
Fuyuji shook his head. "No. I'm opposed."
Yamamura placed her other hand over her own chest and spoke, slow but resolute. "I... I want to do sothing I'm capable of doing..."
"I know... but I'm still opposed. You don't need to do that kind of thing. For this exam, just enjoy yourself happily."
"You..." Fuyuji's expression—one that said "anyone else is fine but it absolutely cannot be you"—made Yamamura puff out her cheeks in anger.
Just then, another hand reached over and pressed down on Fuyuji's hand. Morishita Ai was staring somberly at the two of them.
"This kind of thing... and you didn't even think to include Morishita-sama?!"
Yamamura imdiately sought Morishita's help. "Morishita-san, I want to do it!"
"No." Fuyuji seized the initiative and spoke first, his voice decisive and absolute.
Morishita grinned triumphantly. "According to the 'Morishita, Yamamura, Fuyuji Group Regulations,' when faced with a difference of opinion, the group shall abide by the principle of majority rule. A show-of-hands vote on approving Yamamura Miki as leader... three, two, one... two to one. Very well, Yamamura Miki, your application has been approved."
Yamamura's face overflowed with unconcealed joy.
Fuyuji stared at Morishita in utter disbelief. "Have you gone insane? The leader of Class A has to set aside at least three hours every day to check in at each of the base points. To say nothing of anything else—her physical stamina, first and foremost, simply won't keep up."
It wasn't that Fuyuji didn't trust Yamamura. Rather, it was because he trusted her all too well. This girl looked soft and frail on the outside, but inside, she was strong-willed and resolute. She truly would push herself to the very limit for just a tiny bit of class points. And Yamamura's physical constitution could be said to be among the weakest in the entire class. Seven days of high-intensity check-ins could very easily make her body break down.
Morishita inclined her head, her tone suddenly turning serious. "Don't underestimate Yamamura Miki so much."
Fuyuji's expression froze for a mont. Could it be...
"She'll have the illustrious Morishita-sama by her side. There definitely won't be any problems."
Fuyuji's face darkened with black lines. I actually thought you had so kind of secret weapon. So all that was just you praising yourself?!
The small hand that had been pinned down the whole ti reversed its grip and held Fuyuji's palm. Then, her other hand also grasped his palm, slowly pulling it up to her chest. Yamamura's gaze, bright and intense, stared straight into Fuyuji's eyes.
I can do this.
"..." Fuyuji let out a long, drawn-out sigh. Closing the guidebook he had been examining, he reached out and stroked the top of her head, his fingertips gently brushing through the strands of her hair as he said softly. "It might be very tough, you know."
"There definitely won't be any problems." A glimr of watery light shimred and swirled within Yamamura's eyes. As long as... you are here...
"Haah—" Fuyuji exhaled a long breath. Since it had already been decided...
"Everyone." He stood up and cleared his throat heavily, drawing the attention of every person present. "I have a question I want to ask all of you."
His sharp, piercing gaze swept across every person present. Fuyuji's expression was grave and solemn as he enunciated each word with deliberate clarity.
"Have any of you ever told students from other classes Yamamura's na?"
"Yamamura?"
The entire group of Class A students tilted their heads in perfect unison, their faces revealing expressions of utter bewildernt.
"Who... was that again?" A murmured voice drifted out from the crowd.
"It seems to be..." Another uncertain voice rang out. "That girl who's always together with Fuyuji-san and Morishita..."
"..." In that very instant, the entire class seed to realize sothing. Their heads snapped upward violently!
That's right. In this exam, attempting to guess the leaders of other classes required one basic, and also most critical, condition. One had to know that leader's na! No matter how flashy and elaborate your preceding operations were, in the end, you still had to fill in the leader's na and submit it.
Now, here was the problem. Yamamura Miki herself was practically a ghost even within Class A. An average person's gaze sweeping past would simply never register her existence. She had no friends in other classes. The overwhelming majority of her ti was spent together with those two oddballs, Fuyuji and Morishita. This "darkness beneath the lamp" effect made it even more difficult for others to notice her.
Therefore, so long as no student in the class had disclosed Yamamura's na to anyone in another class, the opposing side might not even know what she was called. Ah~ Without even knowing the na, how exactly do you write it down on the form?
One had to understand that social skills were also a part of this rit-based hierarchy. It wasn't as though you could, when guessing the leader, point at Yamamura and say, "I know she's the leader, but I don't know her na. Tell her na."
Furthermore, wanting to know that Yamamura was the leader required yet another prerequisite—one had to precisely pick out her, with her exceedingly faint presence, from among forty people. Go ahead and try. Pick one, and you'll get one silent, blank stare. Even standing right in front of you, one might not necessarily register her presence.
"An absolutely brilliant stratagem..." A murmured, self-talking voice erged from a student's mouth.
The entire group of Class A students instantly shifted their gazes onto Yamamura. The atmosphere on the scene imdiately turned fiery and fervent. "That's right! No one will possibly be able to guess her. To be completely honest, even I don't rember Yamamura's full na myself. Students from other classes have even less chance of knowing it."
"We can win! This exam—our class is absolutely certain to win!" Shimizu Naoki waved his fist in excitent, delivering the summary.
Fuyuji rubbed his temples, grinding his teeth with a slight itch of irritation. "Don't celebrate too much just yet. This plan actually has a weak point." The poking and prodding against his back abruptly halted. The lively, heated noise was instantly doused, as if a bucket of ice-cold water had been thrown over it. Only the grating, noisy drone of cicadas from the forest edge echoed inside the cave.
Drawing a deep breath, Fuyuji turned his head and nabbed Morishita, who was stealthily retreating step by step. Both hands latched onto her soft, pink cheeks.
"Spill it! You, the person who loves calling people by their full nas—have you ever loudly called out Yamamura's full na in a public setting?! Especially in situations where Ichinose and Kushida were present!"
Correct! The sole weak point of this perfect plan lay with Morishita Ai, who had a habit of calling people by their full nas. Who could have ever known that one day they'd run into an exam like this, one that actually required filling in nas? Other people were one thing. They wouldn't be so idle and bored as to rember the na of a girl in a public setting. Except for Ichinose and Cha-Cha! He truly couldn't guarantee whether, under these circumstances, those two friendship-loving people might have inadvertently morized Yamamura's na. If they were truly seen through, they could only spend thirty points and send Yamamura back to the ship.
The large, violet-blue eyes swiveled cunningly around. Morishita's voice ca out flattened and squashed. "I haven't."
"Really truly haven't?" Fuyuji leaned in close, his voice thick with suspicion.
"I just haven't!" Morishita lifted her little foot and kicked Fuyuji in the shin, speaking with absolute conviction.
"Why can you be so firmly certain that you've never called Yamamura by her full na in front of those two? Do you rember the number of tis they've appeared beside you so clearly?" Fuyuji pressed in relentlessly, step by step.
"..." Morishita's gaze drifted evasively for a mont. She turned her little head away and muttered under her breath. "I just rember, alright? None of your business."
"I'll trust you for now, this once. Oddball Miss Morishita, lover of calling people by their full nas."
Releasing Morishita, Fuyuji turned around and prepared to continue discussing the details of the leader selection.
"What do you an, 'trust for now'?!" Morishita flew into a towering rage. Her small fists hamred against Fuyuji's back. "You should trust Morishita-sama with all your heart and soul!"
"Hold on, pause for a mont."
Fuyuji, whose back was actually feeling rather comfortable from Morishita's pounding, initiated a ceasefire agreent.
"Before that... there's one last thing to take care of."
...
-----------------------------------------------------------
If you want to Support , you can Read 100 Advanced Chapters on : [email protected]/Yuni_TL
50 [Power Stones] = Bonus Chapter!
User Comments
0 comments from readers