3.3

The sun has now set on the tenth day, and it's just after 9 P.M. It was when I was checking the group rankings and the GPS screenshots I had saved, when I saw a bright light flicker outside the tent.

"Someone's moving at this time?" I mutter to myself.

Although it was dangerous, there were definitely people who would choose to reach the final designated area at night with the moonlight.

Without thinking, I looked out from the tent to the light source area. It wasn't intentionally shining towards me; it was sweeping the perimeter as the person walked. The movement of the flashlight beam was very erratic, and they seemed to be looking for something. A little concerned, I decided to go out of the tent to find out what was going on.

Sure enough, I saw someone trying to find something.

Was Amasawa looking for me so she could set a trap for me? No, it would be very unwise to use a flashlight so carelessly. She would use the GPS to determine my location then secretly approach.

"Yume... Yume-chan!" I heard the person faintly cry out.

Although I don't know who the person was, I know there's only one person in this school named "Yume."

There is no doubt that they're referring to Yume Kobashi of second-year of Class C. It would be logical to assume that the owner of the voice is a member of that class. I'm sure there was a girl in Kobashi's group; it must be Chihiro Shiranami of second-year Class C.

Anyways, the owner of this voice is about to break down in tears at any moment. Although I could have just ignored her, the second-year Class C

students are now in partnership with the second-year Class A, Arisu Sakayanagi.

I use my tablet, which has a built-in flashlight. It's not bright enough to use as a navigation light, but it's bright enough for the other party to notice. I point the light towards the voice, and not long after, I hear them call out to me.

"Yume-chan?!" I hear them say in a panicked voice.

Slowly, I heard them coming closer, then soon after, I saw their dazzling flashlight.

"Yume-chan!"

"No, sorry, I'm not Yume."

The person who had been calling out was indeed Shiranami.

"Oh... Ayanokōji-kun, good evening." Shiranami said with a relieved sigh.

Even though we aren't close at all, she already seems to be at ease. I wonder how dangerous her situation is.

"It's quite dangerous to go out alone in the middle of the night. What happened to Kobashi and Takemoto?"

"Oh, I lost track of where I was... I was in a hurry and didn't know where I was going."

I wasn't about to ask a girl why she was alone in the woods during the middle of the night.

In this forest, it looks the same wherever you look. Sometimes you'll think you're headed the right way, only to find out you were going the wrong way. Then you'll try and backtrack, only to go the wrong way once more.

There's a high probability anyone would get lost like that.

That's most likely how Shiranami found herself lost in the woods.

"How long have you been separated?"

"I'm not really sure... fifteen minutes... or maybe twenty minutes?"

That means they aren't that far off; she should easily be able to return.

Voices, however, can't be heard this far away.

"Wandering aimlessly and simply calling out their names will only make things worse."

"I guess..."

I take the lead and tell her to stay close to me as I light the way back to my campsite. It would be troublesome if she got lost again and if I got lost looking for her. Also, I really don't like the idea of leaving my stuff alone and going to search for her group.

I assume there's been many people who've found themselves in similar situations as Shiranami.

At this point, it's just a matter of knowing if you can get back on the path you were previously on. If you can't go back, you'll most likely be forced to spend the night in the woods, which isn't an easy thing to do.

Even if your body can stand it, you're bound to become mentally exhausted.

Shortly after returning to my camp, I call out to the restless Shiranami.

"There are a lot of bugs. You may want to go into the tent first."

"Ehhhh?!" Shiranami said with a somewhat fearful and surprised tone.

"I won't go in, so please don't worry."

Although my explanation was slightly problematic, I herded the puzzled-looking Shiranami into my tent.

"I'm sorry... you were resting and..." She said from inside the tent.

"No worries. Are Kobashi and Takemoto in good health?"

"Yes."

If that's the case, they're probably panicking right now since Shiranami hasn't returned yet. I need to decide if we should go look for them or stay where we are.

"Did you guys make a plan in case someone gets lost?"

I asked, but Shiranami just shook her head from side to side.

"Then there's a possibility that Takemoto will go out to look for you, but there's also the possibility that'll become an additional disaster. On the other hand, it would be quite risky for both of them to leave their tents and luggage and go out looking for you. They should also realize if they carry their luggage with them, it'll cause problems if you were to return and find no one there."

If they valued safety over everything, they wouldn't leave the campsite but simply wait for Shiranami to hear them calling out her name and rely on the strong light to find her way. However, if their group didn't even think of a countermeasure to prevent these things from happening, it's hard to imagine they're in a good mental state right now. That makes it very likely they're going to run out recklessly and look for Shiranami soon.

"What should I do..." I whisper to myself Although they may think they're doing the right thing, they're making a major mistake from anyone else's perspective. People tend to become irrational when attacked by impatience.

The question right now is what are the other two going to do.

Depending on the situation, there's a high probability that something serious will happen that cannot be anticipated.

"Is your group still three people? Or has it increased to more than four?"

I ask Shiranami.

"That..."

Shiranami, who had explained the situation in detail so far, was left speechless. She clearly knows her group very well, so the hesitation stems from elsewhere.

Ichinose's class now cooperates with Sakayanagi's class. Of course, some friendship groups transcend these borders, but most of them are created by the agreements of the central nucleus. Telling me the details of what happens in the group can be classified as leaking information. In this sense, it can be said that Shiranami made the right decision by not talking about whether her group has been changed or not.

"That's fine, you don't need to tell me the details of your group. Just listen to what I have to say,"

I continue on.

"If I were a member of Shiranami's group, I would be aware of the current situation. I would have concluded that my companion was wandering alone through the dark forest without being able to return."

Shiranami nodded in response to my words.

"Of course, I wouldn't leave you be. I would first call out to see if you can hear me and come back. However, as I said before, if there isn't any reaction from this, we would have to make the next move. Suppose Kobashi got lost alone, what would you and Takemoto do?"

"I don't know... I think we would go look for Yume-chan..."

"Even if it could lead to additional disaster, the risk of becoming injured, and ultimately retiring?"

"I couldn't just leave her behind... she's my friend."

The typical response from Ichinose's class. The first thing they consider is the well-being of their comrades. Even if Takemoto of Class A stays behind in the tent, he'll definitely join the search sooner or later.

The most reliable option would be to wait in my tent for them to find us. Maybe they'll even use a GPS scan to locate Shiranami. However, in this darkness, I don't know how well that method would work even if they used two searches.

"Can you afford to give out points? If you use it twice, would you be hesitant to use it for a third time?"

"I... No, I don't think that would be a good idea." Shiranami replies solemnly.

Not that high in the ranks, I assume. It makes sense to be wary of losing points right now, as they might play a bigger role after the exam is over.

For someone like Shiranami, it would break her heart if they spent points on looking for her.

At this rate, it would be better to wait and let things unfold naturally.

There's also the possibility, however, where they don't come to look. That would mean I need to spend the night outside. In that case, it'll deeply disturb my rhythm I've carried thus far.

If I want to act, it needs to be now.

"Do you still have strength?"

"Huh?"

"I'm asking if you still have the strength to walk."

"Well yeah. I can still walk but..."

I urged Shiranami to leave the tent.

"I'll take you to your group now."

"But how?"

"Searching haphazardly isn't an option, we're going to use this." I showed her the tablet in my hand.

"We can use the GPS scan to determine which direction they're in, and to grasp their approximate distance."

It still won't be easy. It's going to be very difficult moving in the forest when it's this dark. For average students like Shiranami, it would be impossible without using repeated GPS searches.

"Why... Why are you helping me?"

"Why do you think? This exam is considered a battle between the years. That's the main reason I'm helping you."

"But you're going as far as spending points..." Shiranami pointed out.

That's true, but sparing one or two points wouldn't significantly impact me. I can maintain my position relatively easily. Of course, I can't talk about this with her, so I'll try using another reason.

"If I had to say... maybe because you're in Ichinose's class."

The moment I answered that I turned around and saw Shiranami's face seemed to become a little stiff.

"Do you..."

Did I say something to make her feel uncomfortable?

"Hmm?"

"Is it because... Ayanokōji-kun and Honami-chan are..." Shiranami said with a flustered look.

Right after she said that Shiranami shut her mouth. Although I was slow, I slowly understood what she was trying to express. After all, there was that incident the other day where I met up with Ichinose's classmates.

"There isn't anything going on between me and her."

Although I tried to remedy the situation, Shiranami's expression remained rigid. It would be best if I ended the topic and started scanning. The fact that Kobashi and Takemoto's GPS signals were still overlapping indicated that they were still together. We continued to walk, looking for Shiranami's group.

I must have walked in the direction of their GPS signals for about ten minutes.

"Chihiro-chan!!" I heard a voice call out.

As we made our way through a gap in the dark forest, Kobashi, carrying a backpack, spotted us. From the fact that she was also holding her backpack in her hand, it seems that they have brought all their bags out to look for Shiranami.

Considering the fact, they were coming directly towards us, they most likely used a GPS search too. As a result, we all moved to where I had previously set up my tent.

Thank you very much, Ayanokōji-kun, for helping Chihiro-chan." Said Takemoto.

"No, you would have found her eventually even if I did nothing. It wasn't that big of a deal."

"Yes it was. If she had wandered farther, she might have gotten hurt and it would have been even harder to find her."

Even Takemoto, who was in a different class, was relieved to find Shiranami. If it became a one-sided search, it might have been more than just a point or two spent.

"I would like to ask, do you have a radio transceiver with you?" I asked Takemoto.

"What? A walkie-talkie? I have one, but..."

Since they owe me a favour, he should be willing to lend it to me.

"If you don't mind, can I talk to Sakayanagi? I'm a little concerned about the students from Class D who went to the starting point."

"I'll help you with that. Give me a minute." Takemoto says as he pulls the walkie-talkie out of the backpack.

Thankfully, he didn't say no. I think he wanted to express his gratitude to me.

The walkie-talkies that are available for purchase are digital and have the feature of carrying confidential calls. This means that there isn't any need to worry about someone tuning into your call. The group that prepared the walkie-talkie for this exam should have also prepared a personal access code to prevent information from leaking.

Takemoto calls Sakayanagi and waits for her to answer.

Not long after, there was a reply from Sakayanagi, and he hands me the walkie-talkie.

"Please let me talk to her in private."

The three of them nodded, so I pulled away from their group. I purposely stood where they could see me in order to let them know I wasn't doing anything wrong.

After talking with Sakayanagi for a while, I returned the radio transceiver to Takemoto.

"That's all, Sakayanagi. Sorry to bother you at this time of night."

Takemoto speaks into the walkie-talkie.

I could hear Sakayanagi respond from the other side, which eased Takemoto's tense face. I think he might have thought he'd be in trouble for disturbing her. The call ended with an exchange that showed everything was fine, and the conversation was over.

"You saved me, I've really been wanting to speak with Sakayanagi for a couple days now."

"That's good, and Sakayanagi asked me to give you this", Takemoto says as he hands me the walkie-talkie.

"Ah, thank you very much."

"We're the ones who should be thanking you." I hear Kobashi say from the background.

"Thank you for helping me Ayanokōji-kun." Says Shiranami.

I was once again thanked by the three of them, and the four of us decided to spend the night together.

I fell asleep listening to the stories of Class A and Class C, which I don't usually listen to.