"Look, I'm not here to listen to your personal affairs!" Kakeru said, "Why do three classes all know I'm the leader? And they all fucking wrote down my name!"
He was clearly furious.
"P-personal affairs—" Even the normally sociable and cheerful Honami couldn't help but blush.
But Class B's students were grateful to Houtarou.
They hadn't realized that she had taken all the responsibility upon herself and gone to stand in the rain as self-punishment. It was heartbreaking.
Several students worried about damage to her health.
As Kakeru complained, Honami thought back to the earlier scene.
⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟
Concerned about worrying her classmates, Masumi had lent Honami dry clothes and taken her to Class A's campsite shower area for a hot bath.
She changed into the borrowed clothes.
"Is anything uncomfortable?" Masumi asked.
"The tracksuit feels a bit tight—" Honami started, then quickly caught herself, "Ah, no."
She corrected herself upon noticing Masumi's expression darken.
"Thank you, Kamuro-san."
She was quite naive about it.
Unlike in middle school, her body had developed significantly during the transition to first year of high school. This made things even more challenging for someone who already struggled with sports.
"But where is Houtarou-kun?"
Honami was now at one of Class A's campsites.
The Class A students had pitched their tents here, but due to the rain, most were taking shelter inside them.
Masumi led her to one of the tents to escape the rain.
Inside was a single Class A girl from Arisu's faction.
Though surprised to see Honami, she said nothing about it — after all, Honami got along with everyone, and people had seen her walking with Arisu at 7 PM. She simply moved further back, making herself less noticeable.
"Him... look, he's back." Masumi said sternly.
She and Honami looked over to see Houtarou approaching under an umbrella, accompanied by a cute girl with short golden hair.
It was Kikyō Kushida, Class D's angel.
"Ichinose-san—" Kikyō hurried over, "We need to treat your rain exposure quickly. We were making soup at our camp, so I brought some hot water with ginger and brown sugar."
She offered a small thermos.
"Um... thank you, Kushida-san." Honami said quickly.
The two clearly had a good relationship — fitting for the two angels of the first year.
Kikyō had been specially called over by Houtarou, with the explanation that Honami had been in the rain and he was worried she might catch a cold, and Kikyō immediately prepared something to ward off the cold.
She seemed eager to earn Honami's favor, and Houtarou had his own reasons for bringing her.
With everyone gathered, they could address the situation.
⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟
"There was a spy in Ichinose-san's class." Houtarou said, "I can temporarily form an alliance with you to minimize your losses."
"Can we still minimize the losses?" Honami asked, holding the thermos Kikyō had given her.
"Yes." He said, "We can even ensure your class doesn't lose any points. There are two possible countermeasures. One is the method Class D is currently using. And Kushida, who just came with me, probably doesn't know yet — Daichi Ishizaki, whom Class D took in, is actually a spy planted by Class C to obtain Class D's leader information."
"What?" Kikyō's eyes widened in surprise, "Ishizaki-kun is a spy? But he was beaten by Ryūen and had injuries! And he left yesterday. If he's really a spy, that's terrible—"
At this point, everyone understood.
Class C had prepared thoroughly for this exam, sending spies to both Class B and Class D.
As for Class A, their students had encountered Mio while returning to their base when they learned about Class C students' withdrawal.
They brought her to the camp, though Houtarou later transferred her to Class B.
Masumi, sitting quietly in the tent, felt relieved that Class A had avoided this spy attack.
But wasn't Class C now in a precarious position?
Earlier, Masayoshi had claimed they easily acquired a Class C spy. But now these Class C spies seemed unstable — their students were apparently better actors than expected.
They would need to reassess the situation carefully.
Houtarou turned to Kikyō.
"So what was Kōenji doing when you came over?"
"Um... Kōenji has been soaking in water since yesterday." She said.
"Soaking in water?" Honami asked, confused.
"Um, he's been soaking in a pool behind the campsite since midnight." Kikyō said, "Even now with the rain, he's still in the pool."
"And that's our countermeasure." Houtarou said, "Your class can follow this example too, Ichinose-san."
"This is—" Honami hadn't caught on yet.
Houtarou looked toward Masumi.
The girl was confused at first, but quickly noticed he was looking past her at the supply exchange manual distributed to each class by the school.
The test rules were listed there:
[ 1. A special leader card is required to occupy bases. ]
[ 2. One Reward Point is awarded for each occupation. Occupied bases can be freely used. ]
[ 3. Unauthorized use of bases occupied by other classes will result in penalties for extended stays. ]
[ 4. Only designated leaders can use leader cards. ]
[ 5. Leaders cannot be replaced without valid reason. ]
"Kōenji is quite clever." Houtarou said, "He absolutely needs these base occupation Reward Points. And as you may know, when he went to swipe his card, he did it openly, without trying to hide it."
He looked at Honami, who nodded. In their previous conversation, they had discussed similar points — how Rokusuke had swiped his card without any precautions, leading many to suspect he might be Class D's leader.
"Only leaders can swipe cards, so Kōenji's actions were within the rules. However, tomorrow morning — the seventh day of the exam — there will be a leader-guessing phase. If a leader's identity is correctly guessed, all their base occupation Reward Points will be nullified. That's why he prepared in advance. His plan involves Rule 5: Leaders cannot be replaced without valid reason.
But illness and physical conditions beyond one's control would constitute a valid reason for replacing a leader. Therefore, Kōenji is preparing to have Class D's leader replaced, likely tomorrow morning just before the exam ends.
So Ichinose, your class can do the same. Ibuki may know your leader's identity, but if your leader happens to fall ill 'beyond their control', you can request a replacement. Once the leader is replaced, Ibuki's information becomes worthless."
"You mean—" Honami's eyes widened in understanding, "You want our class's leader to... get sick."
"The weather is perfect for it." Houtarou said, "You don't even need to soak in water like Kōenji — just wearing thick wet clothes and standing in the rain will do."
She nodded, considering the implications.
Class B was in panic because their leader's identity had been leaked. Chihiro had been crying, blaming herself for being too relaxed with the leader card's protection.
But Honami felt equally responsible. Their Class B shower area had been poorly constructed — just a frame with cut-up garbage bags for curtains.
There hadn't been anywhere inside to hang clothes, forcing students to leave them outside.
In short, they'd been too frugal. If they'd had proper clothing storage inside the shower area, Mio wouldn't have gotten access so easily.
Honami felt she needed to take responsibility too.
Yet getting sick wasn't a simple matter. If this led to chronic health issues later, wouldn't that be terribly unfair to Chihiro?
She faced a difficult choice between protecting her classmates or their points. Replacing the leader would eliminate the risk of exposure.
"Are there any other options?" She asked.
⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟
This situation was the direct result of that alternative plan — all three classes had correctly identified Kakeru as Class C's leader.
"Damn it—" He growled.
He could understand why Class D would switch their leader from that bastard Rokusuke to Mei-Yu.
Sensing Honami was finally getting to the crucial part, he focused his attention.
⍟⍟⍟
T/N: If you want more chapters like this, check out my Patreon! Take a look at my other translations too, you might like them!
For just $1.50 you can access all the extra content, and descriptive images, costs only $2!
That's it and happy reading! (-‿◦)
https://www.patreon.com/mrblackwing