75.3

...

The next day, Oreki stared at the roof of the tent. After a moment, he walked out and gazed at the narrow one-meter-wide river in front of him, still in a bit of a daze. However, the fresh mountain air quickly swept away his lingering grogginess, making him feel refreshed and alert.

He was in a good mood, especially since no one had snored in the tent, which was a relief for him. Oreki was the type of person who struggled to sleep when there was any loud noise.

After washing up, he didn't notice Kamuro approaching—or rather, it was already 6:30, and she hadn't gotten up yet. It was likely due to the exhaustion from yesterday. After finding out that Ibuki was a spy, Kamuro had to take on various tasks, which had left her both mentally and physically drained.

Understanding this, Oreki didn't mind that she wasn't up yet. After all, unlike Sakayanagi, he wasn't particularly accustomed to being served.

...

Beachside in the morning.

"Well, the morning roll call is complete. All 40 students are present," Teacher Mashima, the homeroom teacher of Class A, announced. "The roll call will continue at eight o'clock this evening."

With that, the morning roll call ended.

The students were required to live on the island for a week. One day had already passed, leaving six more, though the seventh day would only be a half-day. The critical task now was to organize the schedule for the remaining five days.

Class A had already traded their 270 basic points with Class D, so they had to wait for protection. The focus then shifted to securing strongholds. Since there were only five strongholds available, they could earn a maximum of 15 bonus points each day, aiming for a total of 90 bonus points.

With this strategy in mind, the plan was straightforward: adhere to the exam rules, accumulate a class evaluation score close to 400 points, and complete the exam successfully.

Katsuragi's plan was to have someone stay at the stronghold each day, with another person acting as the cover leader to swipe the card and occupy the stronghold. Meanwhile, others would be responsible for preparing and distributing breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily.

In addition to harvesting corn, sugar cane, and other resources to improve their living conditions, Katsuragi-san made specific arrangements for the students who stayed behind at the camp.

The importance of securing the stronghold became clear when Katsuragi noticed that the Class B students who came for roll call were almost in a state of panic.

It seemed that Ichinose and her classmates ultimately decided not to heed Oreki-san's advice. After discussing it among themselves, they believed that although Class D had initially occupied many strongholds, it didn't mean they could hold onto them indefinitely.

So, they decided to take a chance. However, things quickly took a turn for the worse.

In the middle of the night, around 2 AM, they discovered that Kouenji had swiped the card at the stronghold.

Kouenji arrived at the vegetable field camp where Class B was stationed, he swiped the card. The leader of Class B wasn't present at the camp, meaning they couldn't swipe the card back in time, nor could they prevent Kouenji from doing so.

All they could do was watch as Kouenji swiped his card, claiming the stronghold. The display on the credit card machine showed:

[Class D, Occupy this Stronghold, Remaining Time 07:59:58]

The realization that their base, where everyone had camped and rested, had been taken over by another class was a devastating blow.

The atmosphere among the students grew tense. You can imagine how bad this was.

The students in Class B were in a miserable state. They were all woken up in the middle of the night. The move started at midnight because if they didn't relocate, they would lose 50 points for staying too long in the base occupied by Class D.

This sudden turn of events left them feeling numb and exhausted. They looked even worse than they did the previous day—truly pitiful, especially since they had been warned.

Oreki glanced in the direction of Class D. The students had their backs turned to him, and he counted 17 of them. Earlier, there had only been 16, which meant Class D had accepted Daichi Ishizaki as a spy. Oreki quickly recognized Ishizaki standing next to Kouenji.

Kouenji then raised his left hand, and Ishizaki gave him a squeeze. Oreki couldn't help but notice that Kouenji seemed to be enjoying the situation.

For Kouenji, the exposure of his team leader's identity didn't matter. He had even swiped his card right in front of everyone, showing he wasn't afraid of spies.

But with a useful tool like Ishizaki at his disposal, Kouenji had no reason to worry, even for a moment. With that in mind, Oreki decided it was time to explore the island.

He suspected that beyond the 40 visible strongholds from the White Tower, there might be others offering special rewards.

So, Oreki decided he wouldn't stay at camp today or pick corn. Instead, he would venture out to see what the island had to offer.

...

Oreki's first destination was one of Class A's strongholds, the White Tower, from which most of the strongholds could be observed.

However, his real interest wasn't in the White Tower itself. Knowing this was an artificial island, Oreki reasoned that things like sugar cane and corn didn't grow naturally; they were being taken care of by someone.

Oreki speculated that the island had dedicated staff to maintain the vegetation. Given that staff members would need to tend to a lot of vegetable and fruit trees, their base of operations would logically be near the center of the island to minimize travel distance.

In the island's center stood a central tower, though it wasn't a place for staying overnight. Oreki had quickly climbed this tower upon arriving, using its height to scout for strongholds.

While only 40 strongholds were visible from the tower, Oreki suspected there might be another one hidden from plain sight. He began searching around the small tower.

Since the central tower was built mainly as a symbol and a place for inspections, Oreki figured the staff's living quarters would be nearby.

As he walked along the grass, carefully scanning the surroundings, he suddenly stopped at the edge of a seemingly inconspicuous patch of grass.

There, he noticed two large nails driven securely into the ground. Bending down for a closer look, he discovered a hidden entrance.

Where the two nails were embedded, a steel ladder hung down, with a thick rope beside it, likely for added safety. Oreki tested the ladder's sturdiness by tugging on it twice to ensure the nails were firmly in place and the ladder was safe to descend.

He walked down the stairs. The descent wasn't very deep, only about ten meters. As he reached the bottom, a small valley opened up before him. Not far from the stairs stood a small house—a simple structure, but clearly a house nonetheless.

He opened the door, finding it unlocked. The wooden floor was relatively clean, with only a faint layer of dust, suggesting that someone might have lived there not long ago.

He found it! Oreki-san let out a sigh of relief. The interior was modest but functional. There was a bed, fishing gear, even a small refrigerator and kitchen area. A pair of binoculars hung on the wall.

Near the fishing gear, he noticed a card reader. The screen was still dark, indicating that no other students had discovered or entered this place yet.

Oreki checked the battery. It was the same model as the one used in the card machines at the Class A strongholds, and it appeared brand new.

The binoculars aligned with his earlier suspicion—this place, perched near the small tower, was equipped to observe the surrounding area.

In other words, the 41st stronghold had been found!

"Mashima, a student in your class has discovered the 41st stronghold,"

Hoshinomiya suddenly announced while the teachers were monitoring their computers on the beach.

Mashima-sensei knew that Chie Hoshinomiya had been peeking at his screen again. Turning off the GPS software now wouldn't help, so he kept his composure.

But then, Hoshinomiya added, "Hey... Chabashira-chan, a student in your class also discovered the 41st stronghold."

Jealousy tinged her voice as she glanced at Chabashira Sae's computer. On Chabashira's GPS map, a student had deviated from the group and was heading back to the camp.

It seemed they were following the same path as the student from Mashima's class, leading them both to the same undiscovered stronghold—the island keeper's hut, like an Easter egg hidden away.

At this point, Oreki-san walked out of the hut, making his way up the stairs until he reached the grass again. From this distance, he noticed something—a figure, though not a girl's skirt, as all the students were wearing gym clothes. He recognized the person immediately, prompting him to speak.

"I've secured the ropes for you to use as a second layer of protection, but you still don't dare to go down the stairs," Oreki said. "But since you're here, why not come down together?"

He paused, his dark green pupils locking onto the figure in front of him. "Kushida-san."