Companions (Continued)

So for the past two days, Ayanokoji has been forced to act alongside Nanase Tsubasa, but Ayanokoji doesn't really trust Nanase Tsubasa, after all, the bounty on Ayanokoji's head is still there.

Upon hearing Shuichi Kanda's words, Shuichi Kanda remained unfazed, but Sudo, standing to the side, glared at him fiercely.

"Hey! Don't be ungrateful! With such a pretty junior classmate by your side, how can you still be so dissatisfied?"

To be fair, Nanase is indeed a very beautiful high school girl if you only look at her appearance, but for Ayanokoji, that doesn't matter, since they're all just pretty faces anyway.

"I have all sorts of situations too."

The news of the 20 million yen bounty placed on him by the Acting Chairman hadn't spread, so Sudo was unaware of it. Ayanokoji didn't seem to want to explain further, so he made up an excuse to cover it up.

As for Ayanokoji's request, Shuichi Kanda didn't really care. It was just another person, and Ayanokoji was sure to keep up with him in terms of physical strength, and could even participate in more projects.

So Kanda Shuichi nodded after thinking for a moment.

"If you're willing to grant me one request, I'm all for it."

"What are the conditions?"

"You need to follow my route, and you should try your best to participate in the research projects. If you agree, I'll team up with you."

Shuichi Kanda's conditions weren't particularly demanding, but Ayanokoji still found them strange.

"You probably don't intend to compete for the top three, right? And you probably wouldn't even consider the top 70% of Private Points rewards."

"Well, I need the points for another purpose. Just tell me if you agree or not."

Ayanokoji thought for a moment, then nodded.

"No problem, but if the two of us team up, the route will be randomly assigned to one of the two of us, which means I have a 50% chance of achieving my goal."

After hearing what Ayanokoji said, Shuichi Kanda took out his tablet, made some adjustments, and then extended his hand, which was wearing a watch.

Ayanokoji then extended his hand, which was wearing a watch, and the two watches touched. Ten seconds later, they successfully teamed up.

Then the two of them looked at the schedule at the same time, and Ayanokouji 'Ayanokoji eyebrows twitched twice, while Shuichi Kanda burst into laughter.

"Looks like luck isn't on your side, Ayanokoji."

After the two team up, the itinerary will be randomly selected from one of them, and Ayanokoji, naturally wanted to follow the route with the bounty on Shuichi Kanda.

Unfortunately, the route ultimately chosen was not the Ayanokoji had hoped for, but rather the route Ayanokoji himself had chosen.

In other words, the team was White Team, Ayanokoji was still unable to escape Nanase's entanglement.

Furthermore, Shuichi Kanda also shared some of the points, so the two of them now have a total of 68 points in their group, which is 12 points more than before. In other words, before they teamed up, Ayanokoji only had 24 more points than Shuichi Kanda.

So what was this guy doing all that hard work the other day?

Shuichi Kanda looked at him speechlessly.

"Let me see. The next location is G4, then H9 at 1 PM, and finally G9. It's pretty much the same as my previous locations. And since the next location is G4, it means that Ayanokoji, you came all the way from somewhere else to participate in this project."

"Huh? Kanda, are you predicting the next designated location?" Sudo looked completely bewildered and confused upon hearing Shuichi Kanda's words.

I know you're amazing, but can you even do something like this?

"There was no way to predict it; we just received the itinerary in advance," Shuichi Kanda said with a chuckle. "Let me think about your route today... wait, the final destination is H9? What a coincidence."

"Really?" Sudo scratched his head, somewhat incredulous.

"Your next location is random, J7, then J9, and the final location is H9."

Although Shuichi Kanda's tone was casual, Sudo felt that what he said was correct, so he vaguely memorized these locations.

"You'll find out when the next location appears."

Just then, the project on the other side also came to an end.

"It seems the match over there has already been decided. Let's go take a look."

Upon hearing Shuichi Kanda's suggestion, the two nodded in agreement.

As they walked over, Sotomura was high- Hondo, and the atmosphere was very harmonious. Meanwhile, others, such as Ayanokoji's companion and Nanase Tsubasa, seemed to be having some existential questions.

"It seems you've achieved a pretty good ranking."

After Sudo walked over, he immediately patted Sotomura and Hondo on the shoulder twice.

"It's only second place. For these kinds of questions, the Professor is a sure thing to get first place."

"That's all I'm good at, hahaha."

Upon hearing the compliment from a fellow otaku, the man from Sotomura laughed heartily without any hesitation.

Meanwhile, Ayanokoji approached his companion Nanase Tsubasa, and recounted what had just happened.

"That's how it is. I've teamed up with Kanda. Do you still want to travel with us?"

After hearing Ayanokoji's words, Nanase remained silent for a while, then looked up at Ayanokoji with a very serious expression.

"Is Ayanokoji- senpai tired of walking with me?"

"Uh, no, that's not it."

"Then why did you team up with Kanda? Isn't it because you want to get rid of me?"

"Well, that's not entirely untrue, but it seems luck isn't on my side, so I haven't changed my course."

Ayanokoji didn't hide his thoughts at all; in fact, he deliberately brought it up, hoping to make Nanase dislike him and leave on her own.

However...

"I see."

With that, Nanase walked towards Shuichi Kanda's location.

As for Nanase Tsubasa and Shuichi Kanda, Amasawa didn't care, because she really hadn't been involved in what happened before, so she wasn't treated the same way she was treated with Shuichi Kanda.

"What's wrong, Nanase- senpai?"

Seeing Nanase approaching, Shuichi Kanda greeted her.

"Um, I heard that Kanda- senpai and Ayanokoji- senpai teamed up."

"Yes, that's right. Ayanokoji wanted to get rid of you but couldn't say it outright, so when he heard I had a spot available, he immediately asked to team up with me."

Shuichi Kanda didn't hesitate to expose Ayanokoji's secrets. After all, they were classmates, and he wanted to help if he could, in case Nanase got angry and left.

"Really? I understand. So, Kanda, may I come along? I won't cause any trouble for you seniors."

Nanase looked at Shuichi Kanda with a serious expression.

"Even if I say no, so what? You have legs, you can follow me if you want, anyway my stamina is so-so I can't shake you off."

Shuichi Kanda was telling the truth. Nanase's physical fitness was rated B, which was no worse than Shuichi Kanda's. Coupled with Shuichi Kanda's leisurely and carefree attitude, as long as Nanase wanted to stay with him, Shuichi Kanda would have no way to shake her off.

So Nanase smiled after hearing Shuichi Kanda's answer.

Although Kanda- senpai is sharp-tongued, he's actually a very kind person.

In short, Shuichi Kanda and Ayanokoji formed a team, while Nanase continued to follow Kiyotaka Ayanokoji.

After all this commotion, it was already 9:00 AM, and the next designated location was given to all the students present.

"Um, the next location is... G4, which is quite far from here."

"Oh, let's skip G4 and head straight for H9."

Shuichi Kanda's decision surprised Nanase. H9? Isn't that incredibly far from G4? Why would they go there?

However, Ayanokoji had already slung his backpack over his shoulder and was ready to leave, and he had no objection to Shuichi Kanda's decision.

"Kanda, if it's really as you say, let's meet at the beach in G9 before six o'clock." At this moment, Sudo had also finished packing and was ready to set off, and the next destination was the same as Shuichi Kanda had said, J7.

"Yes, that's no problem. See you then."

After saying goodbye to Sudo and the others, Shuichi Kanda slung his backpack over his shoulder and headed straight for H9, abandoning the next destination.

On the way, Shuichi Kanda and his friends took the opportunity to challenge themselves with math and English tests in the G8 and G9 areas.

Of course, Shuichi Kanda didn't do the work himself; it was Ayanokoji who did it. Since this guy had come up to him, Shuichi Kanda naturally had to make good use of him.

As expected, Ayanokoji easily won first place, increasing her group's score by twenty points to 88.

"Let's stop here for now, it's almost lunchtime."

As they approached H9, Shuichi Kanda found a nice spot to stop.

Ayanokoji nodded, then refused, instead putting down her backpack and taking out her water and food.

Shuichi Kanda set up his tent by himself, intending to eat inside and then take a nap.

"Um, are you planning to eat inside the tent? It must be really hot inside in this heat, right?"

Ayanokoji was puzzled when he saw Shuichi Kanda set up the tent.

Because it was summer and the ventilation in the area was inconsistent, a lot of heat should have accumulated inside the tent in a short period of time.

Therefore, Ayanokoji was completely baffled by Shuichi Kanda's actions.

However, Shuichi Kanda had Reverse Cream this, so he wasn't bothered by the situation at all. Besides, he was completely out of food in his bag. Was he really going to pull out Gourmet Tablecloth in front of the two of them?

In less than ten minutes, Shuichi Kanda had set up the tent, then crawled inside and took out the Gourmet Tablecloth.

As for what to eat, cold noodles are the obvious choice this season, since it's so hot.

After his lunch break, Shuichi Kanda emerged from the tent, yawned contentedly, and stretched.

Good morning, you slept really well.

Looking at Shuichi Kanda like this, Ayanokoji and Nanase were both speechless. In this heat, and still in a tent, how could you possibly sleep?

Actually, after Shuichi Kanda went inside the tent, Ayanokoji and Nanase also tried setting up a tent there and resting.

As a result, the two of them came out of their respective tents after less than ten minutes, both of them drenched in sweat.

So when they saw Shuichi Kanda's energetic face and his forehead completely dry, both of them looked like they were questioning their existence.

Well, Ayanokoji's expression was somewhat thin.

However, Shuichi Kanda was rather curious: when did Ayanokoji develop such a rich range of facial expressions?

Although he's still far from being as good as the average person, he can already manage to show a variety of different expressions.

It's much better than my stiff face when I first enrolled.

Well, I guess that's a kind of progress.

Shuichi Kanda smiled with a hint of relief, as he did feel some sympathy for Ayanokoji's background.

Then, Shuichi Kanda checked the time; it was less than 1 p. m.

"Anyway, let me pack up the tent first, then I'll go to H9."

"Then I'll help."

"Me too!"

With the help of Ayanokoji and Nanase, Shuichi Kanda packed the tent back into his backpack in just a few minutes.

"In that case, let's set off again towards H9."

Ten minutes later, the three stopped just before reaching the edge of G9 and H9.

"Um, is H9 really going to be the next location?"

Nanase's face showed a look of suspicion.

"Well, we'll find out soon enough."

The three waited just a stone's throw from the H9 area, until 1 p. m., when they appeared at the designated location for the third time that day.

Drop.

After all three watches rang simultaneously, the next designated location appeared.

"Um, let me see, the next location is... is it really H9?"

Upon seeing the information displayed on the watch, Nanase couldn't help but blurt it out.

Shuichi Kanda, after waiting a few seconds, stepped into the H9 area and successfully received the first-place arrival reward.

The score increased by 12 points, reaching 100 points.

"Why... why did he predict the next location? Did Kanda cheat?"

Damn, you little junior student really have a sharp tongue.