Prelude to Taming: The Edge of the Blade of Intelligence

Morning on the Uninhabited Island arrived with damp mist.

Yet the atmosphere in Class D's camp was strangely unsettling.

Kushida Kikyo sat beside the fire, holding a cup of warm water as she stared blankly at the flickering flames.

She was still smiling.

But that smile was like a mask barely glued onto her face—stiff and fragile.

"Kikyo-chan, are you okay? You've been acting strange since yesterday," a girl asked worriedly.

Kushida's body jolted as though she had been pricked by a needle, and she immediately forced an even brighter smile onto her face.

"It's nothing. I might just be a little tired. Thanks for worrying about me."

Her voice was still sweet, but there was an unmistakable tremor at the end.

The surrounding students did not press further, but seeds of suspicion had already been planted.

The class idol who was always so full of energy seemed to have... broken.

Natsume Yu leaned against a tree, taking it all in.

He knew that the string called "fear" had already been plucked with perfect precision by Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

Now, all it would take was a gentle push to make it snap completely.

He stepped forward and slowly walked over to Kushida.

"Kushida, are you feeling unwell?"

His gentle voice rang out beside her.

Kushida Kikyo abruptly looked up. The moment she saw Natsume Yu's faintly smiling face, her pupils contracted sharply.

It was him.

That demon who had held up his phone and recorded every ugly side of her.

"I... I'm fine." She practically forced the words out through clenched teeth.

"Is that so?" Natsume Yu's tone was full of concern. "You look terrible, like you're sick."

As if by magic, he pulled an exquisitely wrapped piece of chocolate from his pocket and held it out to her.

"Some sugar might help. Don't force yourself. Everyone will worry."

Sunlight filtered through the gaps between the leaves, falling over him in scattered patches.

His smile was clean and warm, and his words were thoughtful and considerate.

But to Kushida Kikyo, all of it was more terrifying than the coldest venomous snake.

This was charity.

More than that, it was a silent warning.

A warning that everything about her was in his hands.

Kushida's hand trembled so badly that she could barely hold onto her cup.

She stared fixedly into Natsume Yu's eyes, trying to see his true intentions beneath that gentle, lake-like surface.

But there was nothing.

Those eyes were calm and unruffled, as though he were looking at nothing more than an ordinary classmate.

That uncertainty was more frightening than a direct threat.

She did not know how much Ayanokoji Kiyotaka knew, much less what this man before her wanted from her.

Compared to the expressionless Ayanokoji, who resembled a precision machine, Natsume Yu, with his ever-present gentle smile, gave her a twisted sense of dependence, like someone desperately clutching driftwood.

At least... he looked "human."

"Thank you..."

Her trembling hand accepted the chocolate.

The cold wrapper dug painfully into her palm.

Not far away, Sakura Airi watched the scene in silence.

Seeing Natsume Yu show such a gentle expression to another girl made a small pang of jealousy rise in her heart.

But she quickly suppressed it.

Natsume-kun was simply kind.

He was always so considerate.

Clutching the hem of her clothes, she walked behind Natsume Yu and watched the girl named Kushida Kikyo warily, like a small beast guarding its territory.

She wanted to protect Natsume-kun's "kindness."

At Class D's temporary meeting, Horikita Suzune was assigning the day's tasks.

"...So, the food-gathering team will need to explore another kilometer to the east today. According to the map..."

Halfway through her sentence, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka suddenly spoke softly, as if talking to himself.

"Come to think of it, I once heard something."

His voice was not loud, yet it reached everyone's ears clearly.

"Some schools, in order to raise their advancement rates, gather all the outstanding students into one class, then use every possible method to force students from the other classes to drop out. That's terrifying."

It was an utterly ordinary remark.

Most of the students paid it no attention, treating it as casual chatter.

Clatter.

The pen in Kushida Kikyo's hand fell to the ground.

Her face instantly turned as white as paper.

It felt as though her blood were flowing backward, leaving her limbs ice-cold.

That sentence had struck directly at the darkest memory of her middle school years.

To become the sole victor, she had incited the entire class, created bullying, and ultimately caused the class to collapse completely... It was a hell she had orchestrated with her own hands.

No outsider could possibly know that secret apart from those involved!

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka... he really knew everything!

He was not guessing. He was stating a fact!

In this way, he was reminding her again and again that an invisible rope was looped around her neck.

And the other end of that rope was in their hands.

Kushida Kikyo picked up her pen, her knuckles turning white from the force of her grip.

She did not dare raise her head. She did not dare look at Ayanokoji, and she especially did not dare look at Natsume Yu.

In that instant, every thought of resistance was crushed into dust.

Horikita Suzune's brow furrowed even more deeply.

She had noticed Kushida's abnormal behavior, and she had heard the implication behind Ayanokoji's words.

There was definitely something wrong with those two...

The waters of Class D were far murkier than she had imagined.

Her gaze moved back and forth between Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Natsume Yu.

One hid his depths completely, while the other seemed gentle and harmless.

Yet when the two were together, they gave her an unprecedented sense of pressure.

There was an understanding between them that she could not comprehend.

A power... capable of overturning everything.

Just as undercurrents stirred within Class D, an uninvited guest shattered the camp's peace.

Several students from Class C swaggered over under Ryuen Kakeru's lead.

"Yo, Class D. Enjoying your camping trip?"

Ryuen Kakeru had his hands in his pockets and his chin slightly raised, his eyes filled with undisguised contempt and malice.

The setback at the dock last time had continued to eat at him.

After lying low for two days, this evil dragon had finally bared its fangs again.

"Ryuen, what are you doing here?" Sudo Ken immediately stood up, his face full of vigilance.

"Relax. I'm just here to 'take a look around.'" Ryuen's gaze swept over Class D's shabby camp, and his lips curled into a mocking sneer. "And to inform you of something."

He paused, savoring the tense expressions on Class D's faces.

"I just reported you to the school."

"What?!"

"Reported us for what? We haven't broken any rules!"

Class D's students immediately erupted.

Ryuen laughed smugly.

"You haven't? As far as I know, your leader is unwell. That violates the rule stating that 'the leader must participate in all group activities throughout the entire exam.' Once it's confirmed, you'll lose a great number of points, won't you?"

His target was Horikita Suzune, who had been resting in the tent because of her fever.

This was a loophole in the rules.

An exceptionally vicious trap.

Horikita Suzune's expression darkened as well.

However, Natsume Yu merely yawned, looking utterly lazy.

"Ryuen, it seems your intelligence isn't very accurate."

"Hm?" Ryuen's smile froze on his face.

"Who told you Horikita was our leader?"

Natsume Yu spoke leisurely.

"Our Class D submitted an application to the school to change our leader long ago, in preparation for all kinds of unexpected situations. Our current leader is perfectly healthy."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka added expressionlessly, "Furthermore, we recorded in detail the exact times Horikita fell ill, as well as complete records showing that she participated in every group decision through written or verbal means. We have already submitted backups of those materials along with the receipt for the leadership change application. If you report us, the school will only see how strictly Class D has followed the rules."

Ryuen's expression changed completely.

He had imagined all sorts of responses from Class D, but never expected them to have predicted his move in advance and prepared a flawless countermeasure.

It was like a punch he had put all his strength into had landed on a ball of cotton—no, on a shield covered in thorny armor!

Not only had he failed to hurt them, but the impact had made his own hand ache.

"You... you bastards..." Ryuen gritted his teeth and glared fiercely at Natsume Yu and Ayanokoji.

What kind of monsters were these two?!

"Thanks for your concern, Ryuen." Natsume Yu smiled and waved. "If there's nothing else, could you please leave? Standing here is interfering with Class D's enjoyment of nature."

It was naked humiliation.

Ryuen Kakeru's face alternated between green and white. In the end, he snorted coldly and led his people away in disgrace.

His retreating figure was full of unwillingness and frustration.

Class D erupted into cheers.

Meanwhile, Horikita Suzune looked at Natsume Yu with an entirely new and complicated expression.

Once again, this man had moved ahead of everyone else.

That evening, by the stream.

Sakura Airi crouched by the water, wiping her face with a towel.

Natsume Yu wandered over and handed her a tube of toothpaste.

"Here, use this."

"Ah, thank you, Natsume-kun." Sakura Airi blushed and accepted it.

She squeezed out some toothpaste and put it into her mouth.

The next second—

"Ugh!"

An indescribably spicy flavor exploded in her mouth, shooting straight to the top of her head.

It was so overpowering that tears instantly burst from her eyes.

Covering her mouth, she coughed violently and looked at Natsume Yu with watery eyes.

Natsume Yu looked at her innocently, though he was clearly trying to hold back a smile.

"What's wrong? Is the toothpaste no good?"

Sakura Airi looked at his handsome face, then at the toothpaste in her hand, which carried a faint smell of mustard, and was too aggrieved to speak.

She knew he had done it on purpose.

But she did not dare lash out. All she could do was glare at him accusingly with those tear-filled eyes.

That adorable look of someone being bullied terribly yet not daring to resist delighted Natsume Yu to no end.

Enjoying this amusement that belonged to him alone was truly not bad.

Night deepened.

Kushida Kikyo lay in her tent with her eyes open, unable to sleep.

Everything that had happened during the day played through her mind again and again like a movie.

Ayanokoji's warning, Natsume Yu's chocolate, Ryuen's defeat...

She knew she had completely fallen into a carefully woven net.

She could not break free.

She did not even know what the person who had woven the net wanted.

Meanwhile, in another corner of the camp.

Natsume Yu lay in his sleeping bag. In the darkness, only the light from his phone screen illuminated his face.

On the screen played the video of Kushida Kikyo breaking down and begging for mercy.

He silently watched the despairing face on the screen, then lightly tapped it with his finger and pressed pause.

"It's time."

He murmured softly, a cold curve forming at the corner of his lips.

"It's time to let her know who the real master is."