From this angle, Honami was testing his reaction to determine whether Rokusuke was truly Class D's leader.
My, how devious Honami had become, using her charm offensive on him.
Today's events had forced her to use every tool at her disposal. It was clear that Class B's angels had endured a terrible day. As their class representative who had led them on such a long trek, she felt responsible for their exhaustion.
Given that Class B remained his untrimmed cash cow and was now allied with Class C, this spelled trouble for Class A.
"Today my classmates found Ibuki." Houtarou said, "But your classmates weren't surprised about Class C students still being on the island."
He deliberately revealed this information while probing his suspicions about Kakeru.
"Could it be that you also encountered other Class C students?"
"'Found' isn't quite the right word." Honami said, "My class discovered a Class C student — Satoru Kaneda — alone while heading back for roll call. Though academically gifted, he struggled to fit in with Class C. Ryūen rules through violence, disregarding academic merit. When he tried to monopolize the rewards from our class agreement, Kaneda, Ibuki, and Ishizaki resisted. After beating them, Ryūen forfeited, took the other students back to the ship, and abandoned these three on the island as punishment."
This meant the stranded Class C students were Daichi, Mio, and Satoru. Mio had been placed on Class A's return route, while Satoru was on Class B's.
It was obvious that Class D must have picked up Daichi, who'd been "discarded" by Kakeru.
After all, Class D had their own kind-hearted angel who wouldn't ignore a stranded classmate. Their regular students wouldn't take class competition so seriously as to worry about spies. They'd likely welcomed him without hesitation.
How unimpressive, Kakeru. Simply planting spies in Classes A, B, and D.
Lurking in the shadows, waiting for your spies to report back?
This confirmed that Kakeru himself must be Class C's leader.
"I feel like Oreki-kun suddenly lost all motivation." Honami said.
Is that so?
The exam had evolved into multiple tests, including an easy 50 Base Points for identifying Class C's leader. Now Kakeru had planted spies throughout every class.
His Class A had already sent Mio to Honami. As for Class D—
Well, Class D posed little concern. Though Rokusuke was indeed the leader, he made no effort to hide when using his card. Any spy would immediately see his name on the leader card.
Besides, Rokusuke clearly intended to use the special option to change leaders. His early exposure hardly mattered.
So then…
Houtarou looked at Honami with sympathy.
"Eh?" She was confused.
Of course she was confused.
Though she was cute, they were still competing classes. Houtarou couldn't bring himself to tell her that her class had two spies, one of whom he had specifically sent her way due to concerns about stability.
So he could only give her a helpless expression.
Though with an angel like Honami, even if she knew Mio and Satoru were spies, she probably wouldn't have the heart to throw them out.
He thought to himself.
But seeing such an angel in distress was too pitiful. So as he was leaving, Houtarou's conscience stirred and he added:
"Ichinose-san, I think you should only occupy one base."
"..." Honami paused, "Why do you say that?"
Her group currently occupied the vegetable garden.
After discovering that Kakeru's group had forfeited, they planned to wait until the 8-hour time limit expired, then occupy the base that Class C had previously claimed.
Though that base had few resources, even one Reward Point from occupation mattered to Class B.
"Because Kōenji wants to earn 600 Class Points in this exam." Houtarou said, "He needs to secure 34 bases. If you take over the base that Ryūen's group occupied, it will be taken back."
Oh. I see.
But the bases were on the island — wasn't it presumptuous to claim them all? Once the time expired, anyone could swipe their card to occupy them.
Moreover, if Class D's Rokusuke earned 600 Points, that would put them above Class B's total.
{T/N: Class B=670 Class Points; Class D=80+600=680 Class Points}
Did this mean Class B would fall behind?
And could Class D really occupy 34 bases? Were there even that many on the island?
There were 40 bases total on the island. Houtarou had confirmed this from the white tower in the center that afternoon. The number matched what Rokusuke had discovered.
But were there really only 40 bases?
He had his doubts. While he had always found this school intriguing, simply occupying bases seemed too straightforward — especially since one could see everything from the white tower.
Perhaps there were special Reward Points hidden somewhere. Living on this small island for a week, he couldn't help but be curious.
However, he returned to camp with Honami — he still needed to collect Arisu's puppy.
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"Do you know why I placed Ibuki with Ichinose?" Houtarou asked as he walked back with Masumi.
Hayato Kitō had already returned, since Honami had called him out earlier.
Houtarou asked Masumi to turn on the flashlight.
"Why?" She asked sternly.
"I just learned that Class B picked up a Class C student. Class D probably has one too." He said.
"So Ibuki might be a spy? And you saw through this and that's why you brought her to Class B?" Masumi realized.
"Let's confirm it." Houtarou said, "Where did you find Ibuki? I noticed dirt on her hands — not from falling, but as if she'd been burying something."
"I noticed that too."
And you still brought her back?
They went to where Masumi had found Mio — along the path Class A students would take from the beach roll call point back to their base.
"A spy would need to contact someone and pass information." Houtarou analyzed, "Words alone aren't enough proof about class leaders — she'd need photos and a way to contact Ryūen."
He had Masumi shine the flashlight around, and they quickly found signs of recent digging near where Mio had been discovered.
Then they began to dig.
Without tools or shovels, they could only use their hands.
Though nervous, Masumi followed instructions without complaint.
In less than two minutes, she suddenly froze.
There in the small hole lay a walkie-talkie and a camera.
"Well, that seems conclusive." Houtarou said, "And Kamuro, you almost caused our class to lose between 170 and 270 Class Points."
"Uh—" Masumi suddenly choked up.
The realization hit her hard. If her actions caused such massive losses for the class, Arisu's faction would blame her entirely. After all, this had been her own independent decision, not something ordered by either Arisu or Houtarou.
Would she have to face the consequences alone?
Masumi abandoned any hopes of having Houtarou help her earn money away from Arisu. Her more pressing concern was what would happen if the class leader's information leaked and Mio was exposed as a spy.
As the one who brought Mio back, she would undoubtedly become the scapegoat. That was absolutely unacceptable.
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When Masumi returned to camp, everyone noticed her apparent shift in allegiance.
After Houtarou's bath, she stood ready with clean clothes and silently took his dirty ones to wash. Knowing he had spent the day walking around the island, she even offered him a massage to help him relax.
The others watched with curiosity — hadn't she previously shown such devotion only to Arisu? Now she was extending the same careful attention to Houtarou.
Had her loyalty truly shifted?
Some even wondered if Arisu and Houtarou were secretly dating, and she had simply transferred Masumi's services to her boyfriend.
The little princess's faction watched her with knowing looks.
Masumi understood their scrutiny perfectly.
But what choice did she have? She was acting out of desperation.
She vowed that from now on, she wouldn't take any risks — even if she saw money lying on the ground.
The night passed without incident.
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