But now Sae seems to lack that obsessive ambition to climb higher. As a result, her class seems to be getting a large amount of Points this time.
Consequently, she doesn't seem happy at all.
"And don't casually treat students as spies. This should be considered a strategy. Haven't you done it in the past?"
"..." Chie, "Hehe—"
It seemed she had misjudged the situation, but if Kakeru's spy in Class D proves effective, then all those Reward Points Class D earned would be reset to 0.
That's something she would like to see. So…
"However—" Seemingly finishing with what she was concerned about, Chie looked at Tomonari's computer, "Both Class A and Class D students are quite strange."
Indeed. Very strange.
They clearly discovered the 41st outpost. If they just brought their class leader over and swiped the card, they could immediately gain a high reward of 50 Points.
But these two students seem to have no intention of leaving to find their respective class leaders. Moreover, they appear to have come together to the island manager's cabin.
Not swiping cards, not leaving. Just staying in the cabin.
Ten minutes have already passed.
So what are they doing?
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Of course, they're not doing anything.
During today's 8 o'clock roll call, Houtarou already noticed that Class B's little angels had requested their homeroom teacher to photograph Mio and Satoru's injuries. They planned to report to the Student Council when the exam ends and they return to school — to seek justice for the two aggravated students and to punish Kakeru.
About this, Mio and Satoru can tolerate it. Rather, doing so helps them integrate into Class B, gain the trust of Class B students, and then obtain information about Class B's leader.
As for Class D, although their base points have been reset to 0, so it doesn't matter whether they attend roll call or not.
However, probably to let teachers confirm their health condition, they all showed up. They're still obedient.
After Class A's roll call ended, Houtarou was preparing to investigate the 41st outpost.
Walking forward, he discovered that a student from Class D's camp had separated from their team. They seemed to be following him.
After discovering the other party's identity, he didn't point it out. He finally found the 41st outpost, then deliberately waited for some time, but when the other party didn't come down, he went up to look for them.
"Kushida-san."
The person standing in the grass under the white tower is Kikyō Kushida, a short-haired first-year girl from Class D.
She's the type who's kind to others — an angel, really. She probably does work similar to Yōsuke's in daily life. When students remain on the island, someone needs to handle conflicts between them or with other classes.
Class D has two people of this type: Kikyō and Yōsuke.
Yet this exam clearly favored Class D, but Yōsuke chose not to stay. This suggests Class D has major flaws. That guy, excellent in all aspects, seems to care more about his classmates than advancing to Class A together.
Class D produces problem children though, so there's no need to worry too much. If one wanted to attack Class D, Yōsuke would be the entry point.
He maintains relationships between classmates, which means if there's an exam where someone must be expelled — absolutely must be expelled — then he who can't protect his classmates would be finished.
While contemplating plans to undermine Class D, Houtarou led Kikyō toward the island caretaker's cabin.
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When Houtarou arrived at the cabin, Kikyō was immediately captivated by the surroundings.
She never imagined such a place existed on this island — flat ground, small hills, a lake with a waterfall, and a beautiful cabin.
"This place is unique." Houtarou said, "If you'd been a bit braver, you would've discovered it first."
"It is novel." Kikyō replied, "Despite being on a deserted island, it feels like human society."
"Are you sure this is a deserted island? Class D has already found vegetables, fruits, sugarcane, corn, and more at various outposts. Do you think these things grow by themselves?"
"Oh my... how annoying." Kikyō seemed to act cute momentarily, "But finding a place like this—Oreki-kun, you're really amazing."
Though her voice and language were typically cute, today she spoke in a monotone.
"So…" Houtarou said, "Are your emotions about to break down?"
Kikyō: "…"
"I've observed that this place has no cameras or outsiders. There's a wooden post you can kick — probably used by the administrator for exercise. You could kick it to vent your emotions. Won't you try it?" he suggested.
"How annoying, Oreki-kun. What strange things you're saying." Kikyō replied, "I'm not a violent person."
"You still have to stay on this island for six more days. Class D students can leave at will since your basic points have been reset to zero. But you, Kushida-san — you still have the responsibility of mediating conflicts among classmates who remain, right? So you can't leave." Houtarou said calmly, "Are the emotions you've accumulated these days, plus those you'll gather from mediating various conflicts ahead, becoming unbearable?"
Kikyō: "..."
Being told this, she didn't deny it with a cute act this time.
"How does letting me vent my emotions benefit you?"
"You haven't given me this week's once-a-week yet." He said, "I don't want you to come when you're in a bad mood. I find that disrespectful."
Oh. I see.
Damn. So it was like that after all?
She knew it. Following him here — and although he had already discovered her, he deliberately didn't expose her — then brought her here, actually just for the weekly session.
She deeply regretted it now. Even if her emotions and pressure had accumulated too much, she shouldn't have come here to walk into his trap.
But if Houtarou really wanted to respect people, then he shouldn't treat her as some experience-gathering object.
"So, won't you kick it?" He said, "This is the only place on this island where others won't discover you. It's also a place where you can vent your emotions freely."
"..." Kikyō glared quite fiercely at him, but then admitted honestly, "I will kick it!"
Right. If she didn't vent the pressure accumulated these days, her mood would be terrible.
At the same time, although she occasionally sent some junk messages to him, there was indeed nothing more comfortable than direct physical venting.
The school was toxic. Cameras everywhere, and places without cameras always had people coming by. She was even more unfortunate, being caught by Houtarou while venting her emotions.
So it turned into this situation — not only did she press her handprint for nothing, but it also transformed into a daily session to have him keep her secret.
Because there was a card reader in the cabin. This meant, having discovered this place, it could be used as an outpost. So they could use it.
Houtarou returned to the cabin; since staying here was a boring process for the staff, they had prepared quite a few books.
He took two books down from the bookshelf. One was "David Copperfield" and one was "The Insulted and Injured".
First was David Copperfield.
Basically a biography. The story was roughly about David's father's death, then his mother being taken by another man. And that wasn't all. His stepfather was the final villain in the book, particularly fierce and greedy, and in the original work, there was also a portrayal of some genuine feelings for David's mother.
However, what this scoundrel ultimately desired was probably the mother's beauty and family property. In the end, she died of depression. Because of this, David was driven out of the house and began a miserable childhood.
Then David's good friend, his childhood sweetheart Emily, grew up to despise their poverty and went to bed with a rich young master. The good friend died trying to save this young master. Additionally, this Emily was also the object of young David's affection.
Just reading the book made one feel pressure.
But the outcome of the plot was good. David, as the protagonist, lived quite a comfortable life, and his family maid Peggotty also had a good ending with the coachman.
This classic was also one of the few novels with two female leads — David had two wives.
Overall, it was a... depressing novel.
But compared to "The Insulted and Injured", it was much better. The content of the latter was rather dismal.
It was roughly about a cuckolded man constantly giving his beloved woman various opportunities to go on dates with her lover.
From this perspective, this novel wasn't good at all.
But it was a very trashy story.
However, Houtarou discovered that there was a little girl in the story who really liked the male protagonist, which was very exciting. That little girl was both pitiful and proud, yet still loyal, which made his heart race.
It feels like...
He read the book for a while. And Kikyō, who had kicked the post and was somewhat sweaty, borrowed the bathroom here.
Houtarou even lent her his jacket to dry off.
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