The Gap Between Classes A and D / The Interrogation Is Underway

"Hashimoto probably wouldn't say that."

Kitagawa Ryo and Ichinose Honami spoke at the same time, paused for a moment, and then smiled at each other.

"Hashimoto is... how should I put it, a very cautious person."

Ichinose Honami spoke first, expressing her thoughts:

"I've heard that Motodoi from Class A has a crush on him. Given Hashimoto's personality, it's impossible that he wouldn't notice, but he's never expressed his feelings, neither agreeing nor rejecting, and continues to maintain his daily contact with Motodoi."

"His style may seem frivolous, but he always manages to do things in a way that's not off-putting. He's always very good at interpersonal relationships, which is why he's quite popular in Class A."

"In this incident, regardless of who instructed Hashimoto to frame Ryuen, he actually knew in his heart that Ryuen Kakeru was not the real culprit."

Kitagawa Ryo nodded, and he continued Ichinose Honami's words:

"After waking up, Hashimoto only had three possible statements: one, he admitted that he accidentally fell; two, he insisted that Ryuen pushed him; three, he said that it seemed like someone pushed him, but he didn't see who it was, and his tone was vague."

"Class A is trying to frame Ryuen Kakeru, so the first statement is definitely not true."

"So, in reality, Hashimoto Masayoshi only had two choices."

Sakayanagi Arisu narrowed her eyes, and said thoughtfully:

"But he most likely won't choose the second option, and won't immediately accuse Ryuen of doing it."

"Why?"

A little out of touch with the conversation, Ibuki Mio asked a somewhat bewildered question.

"Because their nature is different."

Sakayanagi Arisu glanced at her, crossed her arms, and slightly moved her wrists.

"Because Hashimoto always leaves himself a way out; he will definitely consider the consequences if evidence is found and the frame-up is exposed."

"If he insists that Ryuen Kakeru pushed him down, and Ryuen Kakeru later proves his innocence, then he will go from being the victim to someone with malicious intent to frame a classmate, and he might be the one expelled from school."

Ibuki Mio finally understood their conversation and spoke thoughtfully:

"So he will definitely choose the third option, because even if Ryuen proves he is not the murderer, he will not suffer any loss. The school will still have to help investigate other possible suspects, or he can simply change his story and say that he may have made a mistake."

"Um."

Horikita Suzune wore a pleased expression, as if to say, "She's a promising student," and then added:

"Even if he deliberately spoke vaguely, Ryuen Kakeru has already been identified as the prime suspect, since he was the only person nearby at the time and his whereabouts were uncertain."

"So there's no need to worry about Ryuen for now."

"If Hashimoto doesn't directly accuse him, Ryuen will always be the prime suspect, not the murderer. The school will have to spend time finding relevant evidence, which takes time."

Kitagawa Ryo lightly turned the page on the topic:

"Let Ryuen stay with the school for a while to adjust. Maybe his food and accommodation will be better than before."

Chapter 215: The Difference Between A and D

"..."

Half of the morning of the ninth day of the Uninhabited Island Special Exam had passed, and the second round of questions had been updated for quite some time, but Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who was following the trio of Karuizawa Kei, noticed something was amiss.

The other party has been moving around the island at a leisurely and unhurried pace, as if they had no predetermined destination. Even though they have passed by many areas where research projects are being held, they have not signed up to participate in any of them so far.

So, as Karuizawa Kei and the other two sat down to rest once again, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka also stepped back slightly, creating a little more distance, and used his wristwatch to send a communication request to Katsuragi Kohei in his class.

Previously, people would contact Hashimoto Masayoshi for these kinds of things, but now that Hashimoto Masayoshi is lying in the school's medical camp, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had no choice but to call Katsuragi Kohei instead.

"Has Class D done anything unusual this morning?"

The moment the call connected, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka got straight to the point without hesitation.

Fortunately, Katsuragi Kohei was already used to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's style, and after a slight pause, he immediately replied, though his tone still carried a hint of doubt:

"Class D? Didn't we use the Ryuen incident this morning to target Class C? Now quite a few groups in our class are intentionally going against Class C groups. As for Class D... we haven't seen them much."

"Didn't you see much of it?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka lowered his eyes. Although Katsuragi Kohei himself didn't realize it, he keenly sensed something unusual. The fact that he didn't see many students from Class D was precisely the biggest anomaly.

He still remembered the potential that Class D students unleashed in the past two days after Kitagawa Ryo won over the hearts of the students and inspired their fighting spirit. They even managed to overtake Class C in the class rankings and rise to third place.

Whether it was Class D surpassing Class C, or Class B surpassing Class A, the fluctuations in class rankings undoubtedly intensified the atmosphere and competition of this battle for points. At such a time, however, they gave up participating in most of the projects—

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka quickly pulled up the elimination list that the school had sent to each student not long ago, which was the list of students eliminated after the first round of the project this morning.

There are still eight people, but unlike yesterday when all four classes had students eliminated, with only a slight difference in numbers, this morning, none of the eight eliminated were from Class D.

Two students were eliminated from Class A, two from Class B, and four from Class C.

Considering Class A's furious retaliation against Class C this morning because of Ryuen Kakeru's incident, it's understandable that Class C had the most eliminations.

However, the fact that no one in Class D was eliminated does not mean that their overall abilities improved dramatically overnight. Rather, it is likely similar to the situation of Karuizawa Kei's group that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka witnessed.

They intentionally chose not to participate in the research project.

Giving up participating in the project means receiving no credits, but the daily expenses for supplies still exist. From the perspective of credits and rankings, this is definitely a losing proposition.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka remained silent, leaning against a tree as he began to ponder.

Meanwhile, Katsuragi Kohei on the other end of the communication line did not interrupt or hang up, quietly waiting for Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's response.

When Chabashira Sae wanted to tip him off, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had already thought about this issue. And the somewhat strange actions of Class D led by Kitagawa Ryo made him even more certain of his previous guesses.

Class D' s move will undoubtedly have two obvious consequences: while eliminating students from other classes, it will retain more students from its own class, and it will incur extra credit expenditures to support these students who do not participate in the project but still live on the Uninhabited Island.

Kitagawa Ryo wasn't a fool. Even though he had a high-level Discount card, he would never do something so risky. This meant that, from his perspective, the value these students who stayed would create in the future would far outweigh the points they paid for living on the island.

However, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka did not obtain any information about BBs like Ryuen Kakeru, so he could only tentatively conclude that the number of people would play an important role in the subsequent exams.

"Could we also try to retain as many students as possible?"

A minute later, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka also made his suggestion to Katsuragi Kohei.

"... I'm afraid that won't work."

Although Katsuragi Kohei didn't understand why Ayanokoji Kiyotaka suddenly said such a thing, he still gave his thoughts with some difficulty after thinking for a while.

"Retaining more students means fewer projects, or only projects they are good at. But the class morale has finally been boosted because of Ryuen and Hashimoto's incident. Making them do this now would be like pouring cold water on it."

"Besides, Ayanokoji, as you know, half of our class's groups were badly screwed over by Class D on the seventh day. Many groups already had low scores, and they were hoping to gain more points during this period to improve their rankings. Asking them to stop... is unrealistic."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was somewhat helpless upon hearing this. The overall ability of Class 1-A was indeed not bad. It was quite good that Class B had only caught up after Kitagawa Ryo gained a lot of points on the seventh day. However, just as Katsuragi Kohei said, if he could not give a reason that could convince everyone, the other members of Class A would not stop participating in the project just because of a sentence from him and Katsuragi Kohei.

Unlike Class D, Class A groups had a higher chance of ranking in the top two and receiving bonus points when participating in projects, so their initiative and enthusiasm were naturally higher. On the other hand, Kitagawa Ryo covered all the material expenses for all the groups in Class D, but Class A obviously did not have this capability. Although Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's [Discount] card had been upgraded to level five, it was clearly impossible for him to bear the expenses of an entire class like Kitagawa Ryo's group. Moreover, the points he obtained individually were naturally fewer than those of a full group of four like Kitagawa Ryo's group.

"However, Ayanokoji, you don't need to worry too much. Our Class A group has the strongest overall ability, and we rarely fall to the bottom of the project. So far, the number of people who have stayed is about the same as Class D, and significantly more than Class B... and Class C."

After Ayanokoji Kiyotaka fell silent once again, Katsuragi Kohei took the initiative to speak up and offer words of comfort.

From his words, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka could clearly sense that the other party still did not take Class D seriously and was still focused on Class B, their most direct competitor.

But in reality, even though Class 1-D's Class Points were consistently a pitiful zero.

However, the gap between them and Class 1-A was only less than 600 points.

Ultimately, it was just a Special Exam.

Chapter 216: Interrogation in Progress

"Class 1-C, Grade 1, Ryuen Kakeru."

Inside a tent at the school's headquarters, school personnel were questioning Ryuen Kakeru, who had been brought back, with serious expressions.

"As far as we know, this is the seventh time you've broken your watch since you started the Uninhabited Island Exam. The entire Class C combined hasn't broken that many watches so far. This needs a reasonable explanation."

The four homeroom teachers of the First Year sat in the corner as observers. Class C's homeroom teacher, Sakagami Suma, nervously rubbed his hands, while Class A's Chabashira Sae, stared sharply at Ryuen Kakeru, looking like she was about to stand up and question every word Ryuen Kakeru said.

As for Hoshinomiya Chie and Mashima Tomonari, who were not involved in the incident, their expressions were obviously much more relaxed. However, since it involved an incident of intentionally harming students, their attention was still highly focused. All four of them turned their gaze to Ryuen Kakeru, quietly waiting for his answer.

"What's there to explain? It's simply for the exam."

Ryuen Kakeru showed no sign of nervousness. He shrugged and looked at the school staff sitting opposite him with an expression as if they were idiots. He crossed his hands behind his head, leaned back slightly, and barely managed to resist the urge to put his legs up on the table in front of him.

"You guys know best, right? Watches are just for scoring, but I've always got zero points, so I don't need this thing at all."

As he spoke, Ryuen Kakeru casually whistled.

"Ryuen, please be serious!"

The school staff member tapped the table somewhat displeasedly and spoke earnestly:

"The watch not only has the scoring and recording functions you mentioned, but more importantly, it has a location tracking function. This is to ensure the safety of your students, and all of this was explained at the pre-exam briefing."

"Regardless of your reasons for repeatedly damaging the watch, this behavior is not only disrespectful to the school but also irresponsible towards your own safety. Have you forgotten the time you were injured before?"

"So what? My incident that time was an accident, so couldn't Hashimoto's Hashimoto this time also be an accident?"

Ryuen Kakeru shrugged.

"Your unreasonable arguments won't work. Our school values evidence. If it wasn't you, Ryuen, who did it, we won't make things difficult for you."

The school staff member straightened up, crossed his hands on his chin, and began to speak:

"Thanks to the timely medical care provided by our school medical staff, Hashimoto regained consciousness ten minutes ago and officially woke up eight minutes ago. After waking up, he personally stated that it was Ryuen who pushed him down."

That's utter nonsense.

Ryuen Kakeru snorted dismissively, pointing to his head with disgust:

"Should you give Hashimoto another thorough check-up? He seems to have something wrong with his head."

"When I got there, he was already lying there dead. I pushed him off from dozens of meters away?"

The school staff were slightly taken aback. The message he had just given was entirely fabricated to test Ryuen Kakeru, but Ryuen Kakeru's immediate reaction was surprisingly flawless, and there was no sign of panic in his eyes.

However, considering Ryuen Kakeru's usual behavior, the school staff were still uneasy and frowned as they spoke again:

"Okay, Hashimoto- san didn't say those things."

"However, he has indeed woken up. Although his injuries are not serious, he will not be able to continue participating in this Uninhabited Island Exam."

"It wasn't me who pushed it, so it's none of my business. Just tell me what he said."

Ryuen Kakeru clicked his tongue impatiently, his gaze fierce, which was quite in line with the current status of the prime suspect.

He only said that he felt like someone pushed him.

The school staff carefully repeated Hashimoto Masayoshi's words, and then stated the current investigation results and findings.

"We have reviewed the GPS tracking data of all watches in the time and area surrounding the incident. At the time Hashimoto Masayoshi fell, he was the only person in the vicinity with a GPS signal."

His subtext was very clear: if Hashimoto Masayoshi didn't fall by accident, then Ryuen Kakeru, the only person nearby who wasn't wearing a watch and whose whereabouts were unknown, was undoubtedly the prime suspect.

"By the way, although there were two other students on the island besides you Ryuen, whose watches were damaged, they were both here getting their watches repaired, so they have solid alibis."

Seemingly to further pressure Ryuen Kakeru, the school staff added another sentence.

"So the situation is very clear. Now it's your turn to prove my guilt, not my own to prove my innocence. Otherwise, I'm just a suspect."

But even after all that, Ryuen Kakeru still shook his head.

The school staff member twitched his lips; if it weren't for the fact that he didn't want to be too harsh on Hashimoto Masayoshi, the victim, he himself would have wanted to yell at him.

If the other party could insist that it was Ryuen Kakeru who did it, this matter would have been resolved long ago.

But Hashimoto Masayoshi was even more cautious than him. After waking up, he stammered that it seemed like someone pushed him, and then pondered and recalled that he was not sure.

The result was that they just dumped him on Ryuen Kakeru, that stubborn bastard.

Although Ryuen Kakeru speaks rather bluntly, his meaning is not problematic.

Ultimately, the school must adhere to the principle of presumption of innocence. Just as Ryuen Kakeru said, they should investigate the matter thoroughly and use concrete evidence to prove whether Ryuen Kakeru committed the violation of intentional assault.

The homeroom teacher of Class 1-C, Sakagami Suma, is still closely monitoring the situation. If they can't produce sufficiently convincing evidence, the school can't directly conclude that Ryuen Kakeru was behind the incident.

Ultimately, it's Hashimoto Masayoshi's version of events as the victim is too vague.

"That's enough for now. You'll stay here until the matter is fully investigated."

"You will have three meals a day delivered by someone. If you need to take a shower or use the toilet, just call the teacher at the entrance, and he will take you there."

Feeling that they wouldn't be able to find out the truth anytime soon, the school staff sighed helplessly, got up, gave a few instructions, and left with the four homeroom teachers.

He planned to wait until the on-site investigation team returned, or until Hashimoto Masayoshi had recovered better, before asking him any questions.