As the setting sun painted the sky in hues of crimson, an inexplicable sense of dread welled up inside Horikita Suzune.
There were only two days left before the special exam on the uninhabited isnd came to an end, yet she still had no leads on the leaders of the other csses.
More importantly, the css she was most wary of—Css B—had yet to make a single move.
Although she always accused Uesugi of deceiving her, her instincts told her that he never spoke without reason.
He was simply waiting.
Waiting for the perfect moment to strike—where a single move would checkmate the board.
But what exactly was he waiting for…?
The more she thought about it, the stronger the ominous feeling became.
It was like hearing slow, heavy footsteps approaching her tent in the dead of night—getting closer, step by step.
This overwhelming sense of unease pushed her to once again review everything that had happened since the start of the exam.
Uesugi… 150 points of supplies…
Disagreement… Internal conflict…
Temporary truce… Supply trade… Kōenji withdrawing…
Css C celebrating… Points running dry… Withdrawals…
These tangled thoughts wove together in her mind like intersecting threads.
150 points of supplies… Internal conflict… Kōenji withdrawing… Points running dry… Withdrawals…
No. No, that’s not right!
Horikita shook her head, trying to reorganize the clues.
150 points of supplies… Kōenji withdrawing…?… Points running dry… Internal conflict… Withdrawals…
Suddenly, her eyes snapped open, her pupils contracting sharply.
So that’s it.
The reason he hadn’t made a move yet… was because he was waiting for us to run out of points.
No wonder he said those words.
【Horikita-san, if I completely crush your Css D this time, don’t go crying on me, okay?】
That crush… was meant literally?
Horikita clenched her teeth.
She immediately stood up and scanned Css D’s camp, counting heads before raising her voice.
"Call back everyone who’s still outside—right now!"
But instead of immediate action, she was met with resistance.
"What’s your problem now? I just finished exercising and I really need a bath. I feel gross."
The speaker was Sato Maya, one of the girls in css.
"There’s no time to expin! Just get everyone back here!"
Horikita ignored Sato’s compints and turned to the others.
Hirata Yōsuke stepped in to mediate.
"Horikita, can you tell us why? Everyone’s exhausted after today’s activities."
"…"
Looking at her uncooperative cssmates, a wave of helplessness surged in her chest.
Why is it that even when Uesugi fools around, he has an entire group willing to go along with him…
Yet when I try to take charge, I can’t even get them to move…?
Understanding that they wouldn’t act without a proper expnation, Horikita turned and ran, shouting as she went.
"With the number of points we have left, if one more person withdraws, we won’t have enough points to st the next two days! If other csses target this weakness, we’ll lose for sure!"
Hirata wasn’t slow.
Realizing the gravity of the situation, his face immediately darkened.
He turned toward the direction the boys had gone—then sprinted after them.
"Horikita, where are you going?"
Kushida Kikyō’s fake concerned voice rang out behind her.
Horikita had no time to deal with Kikyō right now.
She had to find Chabashira Sae and spend every st point on food—immediately!
---
"Chabashira… sensei… please… use our remaining points… to buy food…!"
Horikita leaned over with her hands on her knees, gasping for breath as she made her request.
"Sure."
Chabashira agreed without hesitation.
But before Horikita could even begin to feel relieved—
Chabashira’s next words sent her plummeting into despair.
"However… you can only afford one meal’s worth."
Her calm, indifferent tone echoed mercilessly in Horikita’s ears.
There was no joy or sorrow on Chabashira’s face—just the same detached expression she always had, as if her css’s fate was nothing more than an ordinary event.
"Twenty minutes ago, Yamauchi Haruki mistakenly ate poisonous berries and was sent back to the ship."
Hoshinomiya-sensei emerged from a tent, smiling as she delivered the verdict.
Horikita’s mind went bnk.
She colpsed onto the sand, sitting in a daze.
We lost.
Her first special exam—
Utterly crushed by him.
It only took one move to completely shatter Css D.
【If you kept solving the same one-plus-one equations over and over, would you find that fun?】
【Hah? Are you saying taking down Css D is as easy as solving one-plus-one?】
As she recalled that conversation from the first day, Horikita let out a silent, bitter ugh.
So he really wasn’t bluffing.
In a trance, Horikita wandered back to Css D’s camp, only to hear—
"We only have food for one more meal. How are we supposed to survive the next two days?"
"Yeah, and there’s barely anything left in the wild! We can’t just drink water for two days straight!"
…
"This is all Yamauchi’s fault! We should’ve never saved him. That 150 points we wasted—gone."
"Yeah! And if it wasn’t for Hirata and Horikita making that deal with Css B, we wouldn’t be in this mess! At least then, we’d still have 100 points left!"
…
"Let go of me! I’m going back to the ship! We have zero points now, don’t we?! What’s the point of staying here? I’d rather go back than starve!"
"Yeah, yeah! Look at Css C! They’re rexing on the ship while we’re stuck suffering out here. If we had just followed their example from the start, we wouldn’t be in this mess!"
"No—you know what? We never should’ve let Horikita be the leader in the first pce!"
…
Horikita ignored the infighting.
She ignored the accusations.
Silently, she walked to her tent, y down, and turned to her side.
There’s no convincing them anymore.
She knew that clearly.
Whether they withdrew from the exam or not—that was their problem.
But Horikita Suzune… would endure until the final day.
Even in defeat—
She would see the exam through to the end.
At that moment, a voice as calm as still water spoke from outside her tent.
"Horikita, I have a proposal."
---
T/N: ...he's finally making a move...
"......"
- Gardevoir
(End of Chapter—Support the transtor at [patreon.com/WiseTL]!)
