Hearing Sakayanagi Arisu's reply, Shiraishi Makoto was momentarily at a loss for words.
"Why have you gone quiet? Are you scared?" Sakayanagi Arisu's clear, lilting laughter came from the other end of the phone.
"Not exactly, but are you planning to compete with me at this point?"
They had indeed agreed before to settle the score in a Special Exam, but they had never found a good opportunity from last semester until now.
Although this Uninhabited Island Exam appeared well suited to deciding the winner, the actual situation was also highly complicated. There was the first-years' bounty, the assassins sent by the White Room, and Tsukishiro Tokinari's interference.
Although Shiraishi Makoto held a Recruitment Card and could activate its effect to form a team the moment he landed on the island, he could also remain solo for a while first, assess the class's teams, and provide targeted support afterward.
That had originally been Shiraishi Makoto's plan. While adapting to circumstances, he could also lure Yagami Takuya and Amasawa Ichika into taking the initiative to attack him.
"Of course I know about the first-years, but you aren't their primary target." Sakayanagi Arisu did not seem concerned with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's fate. "Besides, you have a Recruitment Card. You're clearly the one with the advantage."
Sakayanagi Arisu's words sounded somewhat cold, but her logic was actually correct.
If one had to name the person in the entire school who understood Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's true strength best, it was undoubtedly Shiraishi Makoto. Though Ayanokoji had to face a first-year alliance drawn in by the twenty-million-point bounty, along with the White Room's many assassins, those circumstances that sounded so terrible were not actually fatal to him. Even if Shiraishi Makoto did not help Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, he could still deal with those troubles himself.
"Let me think