Ryūen of Class C's Dictatorial Tactics / Since This Is an Apology, My Request Isn't Unreasonable, Is It?

"Since I've been so proactive, shouldn't you praise me? I don't really like being called crazy."

"Don't you think you're acting strange yourself?"

"I was just out of options. After all, when the class representative gives you orders, it's hard for anyone to refuse."

"I'm not just talking about hauling firewood. You searched for a campsite, pulled weeds, put up a hammock... You've been acting strange in all sorts of ways, haven't you?"

"I only chose to search for a campsite because I thought it would be the easiest job. As it turned out, we found one pretty quickly. As for the other things... weren't they just part of my duties?"

"...I still feel like something's off." Kanzaki furrowed his brow slightly, as though he was about to uncover the truth at any moment.

"You're looking down on me too much. I've just done a few extra things right under your nose. Even if you knew how much exercise I got every day at school, you wouldn't have to put me down like that."

"...If that's really the case, I might change my opinion of you."

"Exactly. You'd better keep an eye on me... Oh, by the way, could you do me a favor?"

"I just praised your enthusiasm, and now you're asking someone else to do something for you?"

"How is that a bother? Isn't this just classmates helping each other out?"

"Have you ever helped me with anything? You don't flirt with each other right in front of me every day, and you think that makes you merciful."

"You're getting more and more unreasonable..."

"So what is it?"

"Didn't you just refuse?"

"Maybe I can help after all. I've already finished today's tasks, at least. There's no point rushing the rest; I can only finish them tomorrow."

"Then I'll tell you. On the way back, I split my firewood into two loads to carry for certain reasons, and there's still a pile left. Could you go help me bring it over?"

"...Are you joking? Those 'certain reasons' wouldn't happen to be that you couldn't carry it, would they?"

"Ah, it's that way. Just keep going straight."

I spoke as if Kanzaki had already agreed, pretending that was the case.

"I never said I'd help you. No wonder you carried less firewood than Ichinose."

"Sorry, I'm almost at my limit for today."

"You... I take back what I said about raising my opinion of you." Kanzaki glared at me viciously.

"Then could you bring the firewood over as compensation?"

"...Fine. It's that way, right?"

"Yeah, just keep going straight."

After my 'kind advice,' Kanzaki finally set off. I tried adjusting my position in the hammock, but then a commotion broke out at the other end of the camp.

A student with brown mushroom-cut hair had entered our territory.

Rather than entering on his own, he'd been brought back by someone from our class.

Was this a surprise test? Or...

Chapter 59: Class C's Ryuen and His Dictatorial Ways

"Shiratori, what happened?"

Not long after I sent Kanzaki away, the food-search party led by Yasuda brought back a strange boy. If I remembered correctly, he was from Class C. His cheek was badly swollen. It was obvious at a glance that someone had hit him, and hard. The swelling showed just how painful it must have been. Damage to the local tissue had ruptured the surrounding blood vessels, and the affected area was quite large.

"Weren't you listening just now?"

"Sorry, I had to help with the firewood, so I couldn't pay attention. Who's that...?"

"He's a student from Class C."

"Class C... Are they here to cause trouble for us again?"

"No, this time it's different. It's an internal dispute in their class. And the Class C students who caused us trouble earlier didn't include him." Shiratori suddenly gave an angry snort.

"Has a conflict finally broken out inside their class?"

"Sorry, I'm a little worked up. Let me calm down first." He took a deep breath.

That was a strong reaction. Had the other side done something inhumane? After a moment of silence, Shiratori finally gathered himself and explained what had happened.

"More or less. His name is Kaneda Satoru, an ordinary student in Class C. After today's meeting, Ryuen decided to give up on earning points this time, enjoy the fun of being out here, then make up some excuse to withdraw from the test tomorrow night and return to the cruise ship."

"Do they still not understand how important points are?"

"Of course they do. Class C's students aren't stupid. But under Ryuen's threat of violence, they had no choice but to agree with his proposal. You can guess what happened next. Kaneda wasn't happy with how Ryuen was handling things, and they got into an argument. Ryuen beat him up and kicked him out of the class's camp."

"When we were searching for fruit, we found him sitting alone under a tree. Once we understood what was going on, we brought him back."

"So their leader really is a tyrant. He can be that cruel even to his own classmates."

"That's why I'm glad I'm not in the same class as him. If I were, I'd fight him to the death. Just thinking about it makes me angry, doesn't it? I thought people were joking when they said Class C was ruled by Ryuen's dictatorship, but it turns out the truth is even more extreme than they said. Doesn't that bastard worry he'll use up all his good karma?"

"It's not surprising he'd do something like that. He's treated us pretty badly, too... Was Kaneda the only student who argued with Ryuen?"

When the people beneath a ruler were dissatisfied with their emperor, they were bound to sound the call for revolution. One person alone could never be that courageous, especially under a regime that relied on violence as its ultimate weapon.

"He said there was a girl, too, but they got separated while running away, and he didn't know where she'd gone. We were wondering whether we should send someone to look for her."

"If we're going to look, it'll have to wait until tomorrow. It's already very late." I glanced at the sky, where the sun had disappeared from view.

"That's all we can do. It wouldn't be convenient to move around at night anyway... Speaking of which, have you finished your hammock?"

"Yeah, it's done, but I haven't put up the waterproof cover yet. Why?"

"Nothing, I was just asking. I'll be crammed into a tiny tent with a bunch of guys tonight, after all."

"Better than having nowhere to sleep."

"True, but I still want to turn my situation around as soon as possible."

"Just hang in there one more day."

"Everyone, come over for dinner. There's plenty of fruit!"

"Whoa, it's time to eat already?"

"I just caught three fish. If we prepare them, we can make fish soup, too."

"That's great! We can have fish soup? Please fill up a whole bowl for me!"

"Everyone, come over here and take a bottle of water. Remember, don't throw away the empty plastic bottles. Bring them over to me so I can collect them. We have other uses for them."

"Kaneda, come and have something to eat, too."

"Can I?"

"Of course. You'll make yourself sick if you don't eat."

"Everyone should eat something. We'll have lots to do tomorrow, so make sure you keep your strength up."

"Got it."

Dinner arrived without warning, and Shiratori and I had to cut our conversation short.

"Raku, let's hurry up and eat, too."

"Yeah... Oh, Shiratori, which direction did you find Kaneda in?"

"Why do you ask?" Shiratori looked at me in confusion, but didn't seem too concerned. "I can't give you the exact location. But if you just mean the direction, it was probably over there. Walk that way from here, and you'll come to a huge boulder. We found him under a tree on the right."

"Ah, thanks. Then let's hurry and eat. I'm almost out of energy."

"What was that about? You're so weird. Hehe~ Fish soup, here I come."

"..."

I hadn't asked Shiratori for no reason. I'd noticed something unusual about Kaneda. Judging from the faint, damp marks, he'd tried to clean himself up, but things that had happened always left traces behind.

I might not find where the thing was, but that was still better than doing nothing.

I chewed on some fruit as I washed it down with the pure mineral water in my plastic bottle.

"Shinomiya, you're finally back. Everyone's already eating."

"Dinner's started? Sorry, I got held up because I discovered something new."

Just then, Kanzaki returned to camp and immediately shot me a questioning look. I tilted my head, watching him in confusion.

"Something new?"

"Yeah. There's a place not far from here— Oh, who's this?"

"This is Kaneda from Class C. I'll explain the details later. For now, the people in his class kicked him out, so he's staying with us."

"...I understand. I found a patch of corn, and it's very close to our base."

"C-corn?"

"Yeah. I checked, and it's ripe. There's a lot, enough to feed us for three or four days."

"R-really? We can eat corn?!"

"We shouldn't waste any time. Let's go now."

"But it's dark already. It'll be hard to move around now. Let's go tomorrow morning."

"What if someone else gets there first?"

The class immediately grew noisy as everyone debated when to set out.

After a thorough discussion, we decided to wait until the next day.

Watching Kaneda Satoru gradually blend into our class, I remembered a famous line from Caigentan: "One must always be on guard against others."

Chapter 60: Since This Is an Apology, My Request Isn't Unreasonable, Is It?

Life was unpredictable, and the road ahead was long and difficult.

Everything in the world changed in an instant. Even if we had a clear understanding of the future, we couldn't accurately predict what would happen at any given moment.

That was what made the ability to adapt so important.

It wasn't something we were born with; it was something we developed through thought.

Everything had its own answer.

Precisely because no problem was unsolvable, thought was the foundation of adaptability.

1

The eight-person tents provided by the school didn't come as part of a package deal from an online retailer. In other words, the tents distributed by the school were just tents, without things like inflatable sleeping pads or sheets.

Have you ever slept in a tent with nothing but its shell? Do you know what that feels like?

It was no different from sleeping on the bare earth and kissing the soil. The girls tried to use their clothes to fend off the cold ground, but even then, they lacked the softness of a mattress. The hard floor made it difficult for them to sleep comfortably.

I once saw a doctor online recommend that young people sleep on firm mattresses, since they could prevent hunchbacks and benefit the bones, while also improving skin quality. Whether any of that was actually true aside, the hard surface we were dealing with would only worsen spinal pain, keeping the body under constant strain and preventing it from relaxing. As a result, the body might not be able to maintain its natural curves.

So even now, the girls were still complaining about how uncomfortable it was to sleep in the tents on the hard ground.

"If you really can't take it, you can sleep in the hammock."

Ahhh, after all that work, I was going to have to give up my hammock just like that?

"Let's not..."

"I don't think I can handle a hammock."

Maybe they didn't want anyone else to see how they slept. Most of the girls in the class chose to turn down that option.

Since most people felt that way, there was still room to turn things around.

I sat in my hammock, idly fiddling with the waterproof plastic sheeting the others had installed for me as I waited for them to reach a decision.

The waterproof covering was made from plastic bags. Since the school provided an unlimited supply, there was no need to worry about running out.

Since it was made from thin plastic, it naturally came with the sound that was characteristic of the material.

"Rustle, crinkle, crinkle~" A hoarse, coarse sound like a crow's caw echoed overhead.

It couldn't help but remind me of the noise effect.

A few people in our class were currently feeling irritable, so there was a chance they wouldn't be able to tolerate sounds they could usually ignore. The sound of plastic bags was especially annoying to them.

If you can't understand what I mean, try imagining that just as you're getting ready to sleep, your roommate or a family member is right beside you, fussing with and rummaging through plastic bags without stopping for a long time.