“Oh my, isn’t this Horikita-san?”

  Uesugi Gen enthusiastically grasped Horikita Suzune’s hand.

  “Welcome to our Css B camp! What an honor to have you visit.”

  “…I know you didn’t actually want me to come here, but at least this tone is better than earlier,” Horikita muttered, looking slightly annoyed. It was clear she was still baffled by the drastic contrast between his current demeanor and his previous act.

  “So, Horikita-san, now that you’ve completed your reconnaissance of Css B’s camp, have you achieved your goal?”

  Uesugi smoothly shifted the topic back to the special exam.

  “No, not at all,” Horikita admitted outright. “I expected your camp to be in better shape than ours, so that wasn’t surprising. But I still have no clue who your leader is.”

  “Your css… hasn’t made any major moves since the start of the exam. What exactly are you pnning?”

  “Who knows? Maybe I’m just waiting for the other three csses to fight it out so I can swoop in and steal the spoils of victory.”

  Uesugi shrugged, feigning nonchance.

  “……”

  Horikita scrutinized his rexed expression. Naturally, she didn’t believe a single word. If Uesugi hadn’t made a move yet, it could only mean he was waiting for the right moment.

  “Speaking of which,” Ichinose chimed in, joining the conversation, “Kanzaki-kun mentioned something earlier. Two students from Css C came to provoke us just now.”

  Horikita’s eyes narrowed at that.

  “Two students from Css C came to stir up trouble with us as well,” she revealed. “They said something about, ‘We’ll be sure to let you all enjoy a dreamlike vacation that’ll make you hate your own foolish existence.’”

  “…Huh.”

  A smirk crept onto Uesugi’s face.

  One css could be a coincidence.

  But two csses?

  There must be a reason Ryūen wants us to go there.

  Ichinose rested her chin on her hand, deep in thought.

  “Looks like Ryūen’s finally making his move.”

  Even Horikita seemed to sense something was off. She lowered her head, considering the situation.

  “Horikita-san, have you visited Css C’s camp yet this morning?” Uesugi asked.

  “No. I originally thought you were the biggest threat in this exam, so I prioritized scouting Css B first,” Horikita admitted. “But instead of taking this seriously, you were… cospying.”

  She gave him a look of pure disdain, then sighed as if menting her own poor judgment in assessing people.

  “Ahaha… Well, special exams should be approached with a rexed mindset, don’t you think?”

  Uesugi scratched his head, forcing an excuse.

  Man… Horikita-san, you really think too highly of me.

  He continued guiding Horikita through the camp, and soon enough, she had gathered all the information she needed.

  Then—

  “Um… I was pnning to check out Css C’s camp next,” Horikita hesitated for a moment before finally extending an invitation. “Do you… want to come with me?”

  “Of cou—”

  “Of course not! I haven’t eaten since st night, and I’m starving! Ichinose, let’s get some food.”

  Before Horikita could even finish processing his initial reaction, Uesugi had already grabbed Ichinose’s hand and completely rejected the offer.

  “Horikita-san, good luck with your reconnaissance. Oh, and take some people with you when you go. Ryūen isn’t nearly as polite as I am.”

  “They said they were inviting you guys to enjoy your summer break, right? Bring along those shameless guys from your css. If they start eating and mooching off Css C, I’d love to see if Ryūen can still keep smiling.”

  Uesugi waved casually as he dragged Ichinose away.

  Horikita felt a twinge of disappointment at first. It had been her first time inviting someone. But as soon as she heard Uesugi’s suggestion—

  And then imagined what those guys from Css D would do…

  Her cold and composed expression twitched.

  This guy… is ridiculously petty.

  “Uesugi-kun, that wasn’t very nice,” Ichinose chided him. “Horikita-san worked up the courage to invite you, and you just rejected her outright.”

  “She doesn’t have many friends in Css D either. If you turn her down like that, she’ll be disappointed.”

  “I can’t go with her.”

  Uesugi shook his head, expining as they walked.

  “If I go with her, Ryūen will immediately realize that our two csses are sharing intelligence. He’d know we’ve started to piece together his pn.”

  “That would put him on high alert. He might even abandon his original pn altogether, which means we’d lose the chance to gather more intel.”

  “Moving separately benefits both of us. Horikita already sensed something was off about this situation, didn’t she?”

  Uesugi led Ichinose to a small observation area where they had pced a telescope.

  “So I told her to take her cssmates and investigate on their own. That way, we can mislead Ryūen a little while also using those shameless guys in her css to mess with his head. If he’s busy dealing with them, he won’t have time to think about our movements.”

  “As for now…”

  A sly grin spread across Uesugi’s face.

  He gestured for his group members to gather.

  “We’ll head to the beach and wait for Horikita. She can scout ahead for us while we observe from a distance. Let’s see exactly what Ryūen is plotting.”

  ---

  While Horikita led Css D in a standoff against Ryūen, Uesugi and his cssmates observed Css C’s camp from a hidden vantage point.

  “Wait, seriously?”

  Shibata Sō gawked through the telescope.

  “Did Css C… just surrender completely?”

  Tents with sunshades. Barbecue sets. Lounge chairs. Even snacks and drinks.

  The whole pce looked more like a resort than a survival test.

  “They must’ve spent at least 150 points on supplies,” Kanzaki noted, flipping through the inventory log.

  “…Are they pnning to burn through all their points and just head back to the ship?” Ichinose frowned, then turned to Uesugi.

  “Uesugi-kun, this doesn’t seem like something Ryūen would do.”

  Uesugi sneered.

  “With his personality? No way in hell he’d give up.”

  “There’s only one reason he called us over—he wants us to see something.”

  “And he wouldn’t stage something like this for long. Otherwise, he’d have invited the csses one by one instead of gathering us all at once.”

  “The only factor that could force him to limit the duration of this act… is supplies.”

  Uesugi turned to Kanzaki.

  “Kanzaki, count again. Only include the points they spent on recreational and luxury items. After that, leave two people here to watch how much they actually consume.”

  “…Seventy points!” Kanzaki reported excitedly.

  “Uesugi-kun, does that mean…?”

  Ichinose finally pieced it together.

  “What a coincidence.”

  “No matter their motives, both lower-ranked csses made the same choice—to hand over their resources to an upper-ranked css.”

  “Css B and Css D are here. That means Ryūen must’ve sent someone to Css A as well—because no matter how this exam pys out, Css A is everyone’s real enemy.”

  “The only logical expnation for all of this—”

  “Ryūen is working with Css A.”