Gray storm clouds covered the sky.
The evening had been sunny, but in an instant, the sunlight seemed to sink into a quagmire.
It was enveloped by thick, gray accumulated clouds.
The gentle sea breeze also changed its usual docile temperament, becoming boisterous and aggressive.
Students, knowing it was about to rain, ran one by one towards their tents. Although the tents provided by the school were of decent quality, given the current weather, it was very likely to be a torrential downpour soon.
In such weather, whether the small tents could withstand the onslaught of the downpour became a concern for the leaders of each class.
"Quick, everyone squeeze into the lighthouse first and pack up the tents. Hirata-san, please order dinner now. If we're lucky, everyone might even get a hot meal."
Horikita stood on the second floor of the lighthouse, directing Class D.
To expedite the transfer, Karuizawa-san and Hirata-san both stepped forward to mobilize everyone. Everyone cooperated fully, following Horikita's instructions and retreating into the lighthouse.
"It looks like everyone will be spending the night here today. There definitely aren't enough rooms, so how should we arrange it?"
Hirata-san had already prepared an accommodation plan, but he still intended to ask Horikita for her opinion.
The lighthouse had seven floors. Excluding the first and top floors which couldn't be inhabited, the other five floors could be. Each floor had two rooms.
However, the second and third floors only had two beds each. If everyone wanted to sleep on a bed, they would have to squeeze in.
The fourth and fifth floors each had four folding beds per room. While not as comfortable as large beds, they were better than sleeping in tents.
"There are more girls, so let Karuizawa-san mobilize the girls to move to the fourth and fifth floors. All the boys will stay on the second and third floors. If they squeeze, two people can barely sleep on one bed, which means four people per room and eight per floor. That should be enough."
Horikita stated her arrangement without a second thought.
Hirata-san nodded in satisfaction. This was similar to what he had in mind.
Horikita indeed had the ability to stand on her own. Perhaps all she lacked was experience.
After confidently entrusting the situation to Horikita, Hirata-san rushed to urgently order a batch of dinner. With insufficient blankets and other warming supplies, a hot meal would help everyone stay as warm as possible.
Rumble!!! — — —.
Distant thunder rumbled in the sky.
Horikita, seeing this, also planned to return to her room.
Although the rain wouldn't reach her here, she didn't want to freeze.
Just as she was about to go upstairs, she saw Ayanokoji staring blankly out the window.
"Ayanokoji, it's going to rain soon. Aren't you going back to your room to shelter?"
"Amane-san hasn't returned yet. When we split up, we agreed to meet at noon, but she didn't come back at noon. I'm wondering if she's run into some trouble."
Ayanokoji's words made Horikita stop.
Drip, drip.
Drop after drop of rain fell on the windowsill.
The two standing by the window watched in silence as the increasingly dense raindrops formed countless lines against the gray sky.
"I'll go look for Amane-san. I'm leaving this here to you."
Horikita turned and ran downstairs after saying that.
Ayanokoji calmly watched Horikita run into the forest, braving the rain.
Strictly speaking, such behavior was quite dangerous.
The forest would become very muddy when it rained.
And some paths would become slippery due to the rain.
Not to mention, if one encountered a returning wild beast at this time, it would probably be difficult to escape.
However, Ayanokoji never had any intention of stopping Horikita.
"It seems there's no problem... but with this personality, once Hirata-san cedes power, she might become someone who acts according to her own will, which wouldn't be good for Class D."
Ayanokoji watched Horikita's back slowly disappear with a cold gaze.
Since he promised Amane-san to do his best to help Class D rise to Class A, any factor that could be detrimental to Class D needed to be resolved in advance, even if it was Horikita.
Fortunately, Horikita's performance was still normal.
As for Amane-san... despite some unease, Ayanokoji still trusted Amane-san's judgment.
Since she chose to break the agreement, it meant she must have discovered some clues.
Hopefully, things would go smoothly for Amane-san.
In fact, what Amane-san was experiencing was pretty much what Ayanokoji had imagined.
Originally, when Amane-san planned to return at noon, she unexpectedly found traces of human activity.
This made Amane-san overjoyed, and she followed the traces all the way.
Unconsciously, she had tracked them deep into the forest.
Just then, it suddenly started to pour.
Amane-san, completely unprepared, was immediately drenched and, to make matters worse, the traces she was following were completely washed away by the sudden downpour.
"This is going to be difficult now."
Rainwater streamed incessantly down Amane-san's face.
The hazy mist also obscured her vision.
Wiping her face every few steps, Amane-san quickly determined that this pursuit could only end here.
Any further, and she would encounter rocky terrain.
Chasing through rocky terrain in the rain was not a wise choice.
Just as Amane-san was about to head back.
A faint trace of crimson drifted in the accumulated rainwater on the ground.
Amane-san recognized it as blood almost instantly.
With reactions honed by years of training, Amane-san immediately entered a combat state. She hadn't dared to chase this far alone without being prepared.
Amane-san, gripping a dinner knife in reverse, her gaze became sharp.
She had bought this knife when Class C was celebrating. After most of Class C boarded the cruise ship, Amane-san had kept it with her just in case.
Amane-san lightened her footsteps, focusing all her attention on her ears, trying to glean some valuable information from her surroundings.
The color of the blood was normal, indicating that the injured person was definitely not far from here, and the injury had occurred within minutes.
Judging by that, the person was nearby. With such caution, they should still make some noise...
Unfortunately, the noisy rain obscured all surrounding sounds, and the patter of raindrops on leaves made Amane-san somewhat irritated.
Just then, another trail of blood flowed out from behind a tree trunk to her front right, carried by the rainwater.
Amane-san cautiously approached the tree trunk, holding her breath.
The next second, she suddenly spun around the tree, her dinner knife flashing like lightning as she thrust it forward.
Because she couldn't determine whether someone was injured, or if someone had been preyed upon by a beast, or even if someone had killed another person... so striking first was never a bad idea.
The man, who was devouring his meal, was startled into a daze by the sudden attack.
He watched with wide eyes as the blade stopped mere centimeters from his nose.
"Miyako-san, why are you here?"
The other party looked at Amane-san, who had suddenly appeared, with some surprise, and couldn't help but ask.
"That's what I should be asking you, isn't it? Albert, why are you here? If I remember correctly, Class C announced a full evacuation."
Albert, a burly man like a black iron tower, looked at Amane-san with a mouth full of blood, still holding an unfinished piece of meat, and at the same time, a chilling smile appeared on his face.
The reason it was chilling was that his pristine white teeth were stained crimson.
Such a sight would have made a timid person die on the spot, wouldn't it!
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