"Hey, these characters..."
Sudo had barely squeezed out those two words when Gu Heng pressed the swapped page back against the waterproof board.
"Don't say it."
The area around the fire fell silent.
Rain still pattered against the tarp outside.
But everyone's eyes had already shifted in the same direction because of Sudo's unfinished sentence.
Kushida stood at the edge of the group, still holding her terminal with both hands. There wasn't a single flaw in the concern in her eyes.
"What is it?"
She took half a step forward.
"Did something happen with the second supply group again?"
Gu Heng didn't look at her.
He put the fake page and the original folder into a waterproof bag, his movements steady.
"The second supply group has already stopped."
"Right now, we do two things first."
"First, no one is allowed to look through this sheet again tonight."
"Second, no one is allowed to ask who that unfinished sentence was about."
Ike Kanji froze.
"Huh?"
"Why?"
Horikita was the first to understand half of it.
She stared at the hand Gu Heng was using to hold down the waterproof bag.
"You noticed something."
"A little," Gu Heng said.
"But if we ask now, we'll be the ones who lose the most."
Sudo clenched his jaw tightly.
"We've come this far, and we're still not asking?"
"What would asking accomplish?" Gu Heng raised his eyes at him.
"Do you have proof?"
Sudo was momentarily stumped.
"But that stroke clearly..."
"Looking like it doesn't mean it is."
Gu Heng kept his voice low.
"Are we going to call people from the class over to the fire and question them one by one based on a single hook at the end of a stroke? If we accuse the wrong person, Class D will fall