Nanase: I'll Treasure It (Continued)

Among those who arrived were Tomoya Mashima and Chabashira Sae, Shuichi Kanda was familiar with, and Tsukishiro, the school's Acting Chairman, Tsukishiro.

And as soon as they came out, they immediately raised questions to Shuichi Kanda other two.

"What happened? Why is Yagami, a first-year student, lying here?"

"Because he tried to launch a sneak attack on us, just like he did on Komiya's group before," Shuichi Kanda said, glancing at Yagami lying on the ground.

"What evidence do you have to say that? After all, it's Yagami lying on the ground, and it was Yagami's watch that sounded the alarm."

Tsukishiro continued his routine questioning, because no matter how you looked at the scene, Yagami seemed like a victim, not a perpetrator.

"The reason for this situation is simple: Yagami's ambush failed, and we ended up killing him instead. I'm sure we were careful with our actions, so he's definitely not in any danger," Shuichi Kanda said, adding a little embellishment. "As for evidence, the three of us are on the same schedule, and our designated location was E2. As for Yagami, that's another story."

Tsukishiro slightly opened his eyes and gave Shuichi Kanda an approving look. Then he looked at Suma Norinori, the homeroom teacher of Class 1-D who had come with him.

Suma Norinori also took out his tablet, found Yagami's route map, compared it with his own, and nodded.

"Yagami pointed to H7, which means he's clearly deviated from the route. Besides, there are only three backpacks nearby."

The meaning is quite clear: it's Yagami who shouldn't be here, not those three people.

Tsukishiro nodded, then turned and walked towards Yagami.

At this moment, Yagami had already been lifted onto a stretcher. Although he still had the strength to move, he really didn't want to move.

After Tsukishiro left, Chabashira immediately came over and asked somewhat nervously.

Are you alright?

As he spoke, he looked Shuichi Kanda up and down to see if he was injured. If the occasion hadn't been inappropriate, he probably would have checked him directly.

"Yeah, it's alright. Thanks for your hard work, Sae- chan."

Shuichi Kanda chuckled lightly, then winked.

Looking at Shuichi Kanda, who was still fussing over the air conditioning, Chabashira Sae gave him an annoyed look.

"The exam has been suspended due to the heavy rain. You should set up camp and rest right here."

After saying that, he turned and left. After all, the exam was still in progress. He had only come over because there were students from his class nearby when Yagami's watch gave a signal, so he came to check.

Now that Shuichi Kanda is alright, Chabashira will naturally have to leave.

Afterwards, Suma Norinori also inquired about Nanase -being, and after confirming that Shuichi Kanda and the other two were alright, the staff hurriedly left again.

After the school staff left, the rain gradually intensified, and the fog became thicker.

"Looks like this rain isn't going to stop anytime soon. Let's find a place to camp. I'll go get my backpack."

The three then found a suitable spot and set up their tent. Afterward, they each crawled into their tents and began to tidy themselves up.

Shuichi Kanda took off his soaking wet clothes, dried himself off, changed into dry clothes, wrung out the clothes he had just taken off as much as possible, and then prepared to lie down and rest.

Although he seemed to take away Amasawa's tablet and deal with Nanase quite easily, he had actually expended a lot of energy.

However, since he had just woken up not long ago, Shuichi Kanda was a little tired but not sleepy, so he just lay in the tent listening to the rain outside and resting with his eyes closed.

Moreover, even if he wanted to rest, Shuichi Kanda planned to do so after lunch; it was too early now.

Shuichi Kanda still likes rain, but this time the rain was so heavy that rain would sweep in as soon as he opened the tent flap.

However, this did not stump Shuichi Kanda. The entrance to the single tent has a cover called a rain cover, which is like the flap of a baseball cap. Its purpose is to prevent rain from entering the tent, only it is not as long.

The three tents were set up in a triangular formation. By simply opening all three rain covers, placing an umbrella underneath, and burying the umbrella handle in the ground, a simple, tranquil space where they wouldn't get wet in the rain was created.

I thought this method would work...

However, Shuichi Kanda underestimated the terrifying wind force in that area.

Although the three tents were set up in a triangular formation, the wind seemed to be stronger, and the umbrellas couldn't be opened at all.

"Puff!"

Shuichi Kanda's foolish move was clearly seen by Nanase on the other side, and then that guy laughed out of malice.

However, Nanase's tent is in a good location, with the tent opening sheltered from the wind, so it's okay to leave the tent zipper open.

Shuichi Kanda's eyebrow twitched slightly.

"What are you doing instead of resting? Your stomach still hurts!"

Nanase paused for a moment, then shook her head.

"It doesn't hurt anymore, thank you for your concern Kanda- senpai."

"If it doesn't hurt anymore, dry your hair, then eat something and rest. We can talk about it after the rain stops."

When she fought with Ayanokoji before, Shuichi Kanda noticed that she was putting on a brave face, and now she looks exhausted.

"Has Kanda- senpai always been this gentle?"

Nanase's words left Shuichi Kanda speechless.

Gentle?

That is indeed true.

But have you forgotten that I just punched you hard?

I guess so.

After saying that, Shuichi Kanda closed the umbrella, shut the canopy, and crawled back into the tent.

The heavy rain continued, and Shuichi Kanda received a letter from the school via his tablet.

The gist of it is the information Sae just revealed to them: today's exams are suspended, and the exact time they will resume depends on the weather.

After several days of continuous travel, the students finally got a day of rest.

I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

Because Koenji doesn't need to rest, even if it continues until the last day, he can maintain his strongest level. But Nagumo truly gave him a chance to catch his breath.

On the other hand, Yagami's behavior undoubtedly violated the rules of the exam, since he couldn't explain why he deviated from the route and came to D3, so it can be basically assumed that what Shuichi Kanda said was true.

Therefore, Yagami was directly ordered to withdraw from the exam, and the final decision on his punishment will be made after review.

On the ship, Tsukishiro led a utterly dejected Yagami into an office.

"Tell me, what exactly happened?"

Tsukishiro sat down in a chair and looked at Yagami, who had completely lost his fighting spirit.

"What else could have happened? I was defeated by Ayanokoji," Yagami said weakly. "No, you can't say that. You should say I was defeated without any chance to fight back."

Although he launched a surprise attack on Ayanokoji halfway through, he did not consider it an evenly matched contest, because even after being ambushed, Ayanokoji was still able to dominate him.

"Did you do what happened before?"

"What happened before?"

"Those second-graders who fell off the cliff."

After Tsukishiro's prompting, Yagami remembered.

"Oh, yes, I did it."

Since the investigation has already failed, there's no need to hide what happened before. Besides, the school already has enough evidence, so there's no point in denying it now.

Looking at Yagami's expression, Tsukishiro sighed. This child was truly a waste of his potential.

Amasawa showed some remorse at the time, but Yagami didn't care at all.

Yagami's ability to survive in the White Room and even secure the top spot among the fifth generation students undoubtedly makes him a genius in the eyes of most, but...

"Yagami Takuya, due to your act of sneak attacking a student, you are expelled from school."

Yagami Takuya nodded, seemingly unconcerned.

"And because of your failure, you can no longer return to the White Room."

Upon hearing this, Yagami paused for a moment, then nodded.

"So, where are you planning to take me?"

Upon hearing Yagami's words, Tsukishiro didn't answer, but instead asked, "Where do you want to go?"

Yagami paused for a moment, then a look of confusion appeared in his eyes. He lowered his head, like an abandoned puppy. "I... I don't know."

The heavy rain continued into the night, and the intense downpour, lasting almost the entire day, temporarily lowered the temperature on the island.

"The rain seems to have stopped."

Shuichi Kanda unzipped the tent, hung a flashlight on it to illuminate a visible area in front of the tent, and then took out the braised beef he had prepared beforehand and began to eat.

Then, Ayanokoji and Nanase peeked out of their respective tents and saw Shuichi Kanda leisurely eating.

Because the rain had just stopped briefly, the surrounding air was very quiet, and even the chirping of insects that had been constant before could not be heard.

Therefore Ayanokoji's stomach rumbled particularly loudly.

"Um, sorry, I'm a little short on food."

That's true. For most students, besides the supplies they buy at the starting point, they can only obtain food through their projects. Unfortunately, it rained all day today, so it's normal that they didn't get any food.

"I... I have some more, Ayanokoji- senpai, do you want some...?"

Nanase pulled a packet of compressed biscuits from the tent and prepared to hand it to Ayanokoji.

"You guys... you haven't been eating this for the past few days, have you?"

Hearing Shuichi Kanda's words, Nanase felt inexplicably ashamed.

"Wait a moment."

Then, Shuichi Kanda turned towards the tent, took out two packets of beef jerky, and handed them over.

"Have this. We've finished the beef, so I can only offer you beef jerky. Do you have any water?"

Nanase was somewhat surprised to see the beef jerky that Shuichi Kanda handed her, because this kind of beef jerky was very expensive at Qidian, but according to Shuichi Kanda, he seemed to have been eating this for the past few days.

No, it should be the more expensive fresh braised beef. Does Kanda really have that many points?

Actually, no, Shuichi Kanda's items were stuffed into his backpack at the beginning of the game, and he never ate them.

Beef is also a product of the Gourmet Tablecloth, but we can't let them eat it, or we'd be suspicious.

Nanase hesitated as Shuichi Kanda handed her the beef jerky, Ayanokoji had already started eating, leaving Shuichi Kanda speechless.

This guy is really impolite, and he didn't even say thank you. Where did he learn that from?

Seeing Ayanokoji's actions, Nanase took the food from Shuichi Kanda's hands and said gratefully.

"Thank you, Kanda- senpai. I will cherish this opportunity."

Don't cherish it, eat it all!

After they had almost finished eating, Nanase looked up at Shuichi Kanda and asked, "Kanda- senpai, do you think Yagami was the one who attacked Komiya- senpai and the others?"

Although he didn't know why Nanase would ask that, Shuichi Kanda nodded nonetheless.

"Yes, it must be him."

It was him, rather than her, but Shuichi Kanda couldn't tell her the reason.

"But actually, didn't I discover that someone was watching us that day and then chase after them?"

Shuichi Kanda nodded; he still remembered that.

"Although I couldn't see the face of the person monitoring us clearly, I did see their very distinctive hair."

"Very distinctive hair?"

"That's right, I can confirm it, that person is Amasawa."

Shuichi Kanda and Ayanokoji both nodded, understanding.

"So you suspect that Amasawa is the culprit who attacked Komiya and the others?" Shuichi Kanda asked rhetorically, then shook his head. "It wasn't her. When Komiya and the others were attacked, the school checked the GPS location. Amasawa's GPS wasn't initially near Komiya and the others; it only went there later. Besides, there were no signs of damage to her watch."

Nanase was speechless for a moment, then her face turned bright red. So Kanda- senpai had already investigated everything?

"However, she is, after all, a member of the White Room, and her motives are unclear. Compared to Yagami, who is stubborn as a mule, Amasawa might be even more difficult to deal with."

Upon hearing Shuichi Kanda's words, Nanase nodded frantically, like a chick pecking at rice.

"That's right. To stop her from bothering my senior any longer, I plan to go find Amasawa after the rain stops. After all, I already know she's a student in the White Room, and I'm also concerned about her future activities."