Chapter 131: Volume 4 Chapter 5 Part 4

Gazing out over the sea shimmering with a diamond-like beauty, Sakayanagi took a sip of water into her mouth. Said water was meant more so to moisten her lips than for regular hydration.

The time on the clock read 7:05 AM, precisely when Tsubaki had put her strategy into action.

“It seems they’re finally starting to move.”

With her gaze having fallen down toward her tablet and a walkie-talkie in hand, Sakayanagi began to issue instructions.

She had been running continuous GPS Searches late into the night for the past three days now. After all, in order to successfully trap Ayanokōji, it would be necessary to take action outside of the standard exam hours.

“And it looks like everything’s ready on our end as well, so let’s get started, shall we?”

『That’s true and all, but, uhm… there’s no guarantee we’ll bump into them just because we’re in the same area, no?』

A listless-sounding voice came back through the walkie-talkie. The speaker was none other than Sakayanagi’s classmate, Tsukasaki.

Sakayanagi proceeded to explain her plan: To interfere with the first-years and prevent them from taking part in any Tasks.

“Over these past twelve days, the terrain of this uninhabited island has gradually undergone some changes. Would you happen to know why that is?”

『The terrain’s changed? I assume it’s due to people constantly walking around the island?』

“Correct. Every day, both students and faculty are constantly traversing the island. In fact, aren’t you yourself currently trying to find the safest, quickest route to your destination, Tsukasaki-kun?”

The changes weren’t dramatic, but there were still many pathways that showed clear signs of human passage due to the prior rainfall.

“At the end of the day, it’s not difficult to guess which route someone’ll take when they have a fixed destination.”

『It’s almost like you’ve seen the pathways yourself despite not having actually come out here to look at any of them.』

Although Sakayanagi’s understanding of the island was confined to the information given by her tablet, she could still visualize it in a three-dimensional way.

She ran realistic simulations in her mind of exactly what everyone would do. And from that, she had grabbed ahold of the faint traces left behind by the one who had come up with this entire scheme.

After gazing out at the ocean for another thirty minutes or so, Sakayanagi checked her tablet again.

“Now then, with everyone heading for their Tasks and designated areas, there are seldom few who aren’t moving at all.”

Moreover, if you were to narrow it down to just first-year students, the number of options was even fewer. Out of all the GPS signals that hadn’t moved since the exam started for the day, there were only three that belonged to first-years.

“Yagami Takuya-kun, Utomiya Riku-kun, Tsubaki Sakurako-san… I wonder which one is truly my opponent here? Or perhaps it’s all three?”

With a delighted giggle, Sakayanagi leaned back and shut her eyes, thinking back fondly on the conversation with a certain someone that had gotten her wrapped up in this amusing conflict in the first place.

Three days earlier, on the night of the tenth day of the exam, Sakayanagi had received a call from Takemoto’s group, who she had previously entrusted with one of her walkie-talkies.

“Why are you contacting me so late? Did you run into trouble?”

Sakayanagi thought there might have been some kind of accident, but that didn’t seem to be the case here.

『No, it’s nothing like that. Ayanokōji wants to speak with you.』

“Ayanokōji-kun?”

Hearing the unexpected name immediately shook Sakayanagi out of her drowsy stupor.

『I kinda owe him a bit of a favor, so it’d be great if you could talk with him─』

“Of course, it’s no problem at all. Put him on for me.”

『Just a moment please.』

There was a brief moment of silence, and then─

『Sakayanagi?』

“Good evening, Ayanokōji-kun.”

Sakayanagi started off the conversation with such an elegant, out-of-place greeting that it was hard to believe that they were still in the midst of such a rigorous special exam.

『It seems your collaborative efforts have been going well.』

“Indeed. I’ve managed to make contact with both Ryūen-kun and Horikita-san, and things are progressing smoothly. I’m not aware of the details, but from what I’ve heard, you’ve been a great help to Takemoto-kun and the others.”

『Your group has been making great strides as well. You’re currently in fifth place, right? You’re in a great position to take the top spot.』

“It’s not like I’m without cause for concern.”

『Is that so?』

“Have you met with Ichinose-san at all?”

『No, I haven’t seen her at all since the exam began. Is something wrong?』

“I’ve been informed that she’s been acting a bit strange recently. From what I’m told, she’s been distracted or something these past few days. I’m rather worried.”

This was a lengthy, arduous special exam, so it wasn’t that unusual for students to fall ill, be it physically or mentally.

“In any case, what business do you have with me?”

『I wanted to ask you for a favor, Sakayanagi.』

“Please, don’t hesitate. I’ll gladly pay you back for the help you’ve shown my classmates.”

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『It’s about the White Room.』

“Well… It sounds like I’m in for something exceptionally interesting.”

Given that Sakayanagi was already more than familiar with the circumstances surrounding Acting Director Tsukishiro, Ayanokōji began by explaining that Nanase had been an enforcer sent in to force his expulsion. However, he also explained that there was another White Room student lurking in the shadows, one that he highly suspected to be Amasawa Ichika.

“You should’ve told me this much earlier.”

Sakayanagi felt somewhat disappointed, as if she’d missed out on an opportunity to indulge in some fun.

『I didn’t tell you because I wasn’t absolutely certain of anything until just recently.』

“So from what I’ve gathered, you want me to crush Amasawa Ichika-san for you, yes?”

『…No, that’s not it.』

The nonchalance with which Sakayanagi brought up the idea seemed to throw Ayanokōji for a bit of a loop.

『To tell you the truth, there’s yet another thorn in my side.』

At this point, Ayanokōji disclosed the real issue at hand here: the bounty that had been put forward by Nagumo and Tsukishiro.

Sakayanagi was the only student among the second-years that was aware of Ayanokōji’s peculiar background, given that she had known him since early childhood.

However, the reason why Ayanokōji hadn’t shared any of these things with her was largely due to the heavy burden associated with such knowledge, but also because Ayanokōji didn’t think of her as an “ally”.

Originally, in this school, students from different classes were fated to go against each other until the day they graduated.

As a result, there was always a chance that Sakayanagi might leverage her knowledge of the White Room in order to win out in the end.

And yet, from all of his previous interactions with her, he knew that the risks of that happening weren’t all that high.

But now, after weighing the relatively unlikely risk of Sakayanagi’s betrayal against the new risk he was facing, he had found himself reconsidering his priorities.

“In other words, you’re saying that the first-years will start to move against you soon.”

『That’s right. I’d like to ask you to take care of it.』

“Still, aside from White Room students, I can’t imagine anyone else would have the ability to successfully corner you, Ayanokōji-kun.”

『The first-years will likely resort to violence. After all, their safest bet to get me expelled is to exploit the fact that I’m on my own. In which case, I imagine they’ll concentrate on stopping me from taking part in any Tasks and maybe even try to prevent me from reaching my designated areas.』

Sakayanagi had no doubt that Ayanokōji would win if he chose to take a more forceful approach, no matter how many people they sent after him.

That, however, wouldn’t be a very great way to handle this.

“If the first-years aren’t able to take you down despite their numbers, your name would likely end up spreading all throughout the school, Ayanokōji-kun. Personally, I’m not sure if I feel excited or upset about that.”

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『Personally, I’d rather you be upset. And there’s a possibility that Tsukishiro might still be planning something too. I’d like to concentrate on dealing with that if possible.』

“I understand what you’re asking of me.”

『You’ll be taking on a heavy burden, Sakayanagi.』

“I realize that. If I’m to keep constant surveillance on the first-years, I’ll simply have to accept the costs, or rather, GPS Searches, that come along with doing so.”

At the end of the day, there were certain things that had to be left to Sakayanagi.

“Oh, don’t worry. I already have a solid grasp of how many points the Class A groups have right now.”

『That’s… a very elaborate communication network you’ve made for yourself.』

“According to the rules, the scores of the bottom ten groups will be publicly available until the end of the twelfth day. As such, it’s incredibly important to know which groups are in trouble and which have plenty of leeway moving forward. There are several groups out there with plenty of points that have little to no chance of making it to the top ten. So, hypothetically, even if they had to perform a fair number of GPS Searches, they’d still have more than enough points to cover their bases until the end of the exam.”

It was a strategy only made possible thanks to the union between Class A and Class C, with Sakayanagi’s flawless, iron-tight leadership and Ichinose’s unwavering trust. It was the type of strategy that Class D would never be able to pull off. The cost of securing enough walkie-talkies alone would make it impossible.

“So I just need to hold back the first-years that are after you, right, Ayanokōji-kun?”

『Can I take that as you agreeing to help me?』

“Spending all my time helping groups clear Tasks has made for a slightly dull exam on my part. Not to mention this ordeal seems like it could be rather beneficial for me.”

『Which means…?』

“The favor you’re asking of me is far too great compared to the debt I owe for helping Takemoto-kun. So essentially, I’m saying that I’ll help if you promise to owe me a favor in turn.”

『That sounds rather harsh, but if you manage to get results, I can accept it.』

“It’s decided then. I’ll begin with my preparations.”

『Ah, one more thing. Do you mind if I hold on to this walkie-talkie?』

“Of course not. I was planning on letting you hold onto it anyway. It’ll make it much easier for us to communicate with each other. But, could you hand the walkie-talkie back to Takemoto-kun for a moment? I’ll fill him in on the situation and have him give it back to you.”

─As Sakayanagi thought back on her memories of that night, a slight smile crossed her lips.

She looked down at her tablet as the five groups she had mobilized began to close in on the first-years.

“Well then, the suspicious first-year groups have been stopped for now. Let’s see if we can pinpoint who exactly is behind all of this, shall we?”

With a walkie-talkie in one hand, Sakayanagi began issuing further instructions to her classmates.