Hoshinomiya-sensei arrived at Class B's camp punctually at eight o'clock to take attendance.
When she saw Amane, she was a bit surprised why Amane would be in Class B. After understanding the situation from Ichinose, Hoshinomiya's smile completely vanished.
There are some things that experienced people like them can see through at a glance, but due to the rules, they couldn't tell the students directly. They could only try to remind Class B in a more subtle way.
Hoshinomiya thought for a moment and then informed everyone in Class B about the fire that had burned down Class A's camp last night and the subsequent punishment for Class A.
At this, the entire Class B, except for Classmate Kanzaki and Shibata, was shocked.
Because according to the original plan, Class B had treated Class A as their imaginary enemy. After all, although Class A's internal stability wasn't great, their strength was undeniable.
But this sudden fire actually forced Class A to withdraw from the exam, meaning Class B's biggest enemy was so easily defeated.
If you also factor in Class C voluntarily withdrawing from the exam earlier, then only Class B and Class D remained on the island for the final struggle.
This made Amane's actions seem explainable. After all, with only Class B left as the final enemy, Class D probably had no other ideas, which is why they resorted to the most primitive method of surveillance, hoping to figure out who held the key card and who the infiltrators were.
Unfortunately, their Class B wouldn't be as careless as other classes.
Since only two classes remained for the final showdown, and their Class B had the upper hand, there was no need to risk conflict with Amane and expose any weaknesses to her.
"Hoshinomiya-sensei, I'd like to ask if there really was no other class involved in yesterday's fire?"
While everyone was excitedly discussing Class B's imminent final victory, Shibata raised a sharp question to Hoshinomiya.
Shibata had received the news that Class A was about to be attacked from Horikita yesterday, which was why he came back to persuade Classmate Kanzaki to seize Class A's base. In Shibata's opinion, members of Class D must have been involved in the arson.
Otherwise, Horikita absolutely couldn't have known about Class A being attacked several hours in advance.
But the question was how the school viewed this incident.
Shibata didn't believe the school couldn't find any clues.
If the school really wanted to investigate, they would definitely find a way to restore the truth, but the result was Class A withdrawing from the exam.
If the incident was still under investigation, Shibata wouldn't be so nervous. It would be normal for Class A to be punished for poor management to warn other classes about safety hazards.
But if Class A's withdrawal was a punishment for the fire, then the problem was big.
This meant that the investigation into the Class A camp fire incident was already concluded, and the school had not determined that such methods were non-compliant.
In other words… if the Class A camp fire was related to Amane, Amane could completely pull the same trick on Class B again.
Anyway, the school's attitude towards handling such incidents was very ambiguous.
Even if Class B was completely burned down, they would probably blame Class B for poor management. In that case, Amane's arrival might not necessarily be a good thing for Class B.
Hoshinomiya hesitated for a moment and then spoke.
"The school has classified this incident as Class A's mismanagement leading to a fire, so we also need to be vigilant about safety hazards. Ichinose, do you understand?"
Hoshinomiya gave Ichinose a meaningful look.
"Hoshinomiya-sensei, please don't worry, I will supervise everyone to use fire safely."
Not hearing the answer she wanted, Hoshinomiya-sensei just smiled and ruffled Ichinose's head.
"Then you all do your best."
"Yes, please rest assured, Hoshinomiya-sensei."
Hoshinomiya left Class B's camp somewhat dejectedly.
As a teacher, what she could do within the rules was limited to this; the rest she could only leave to the students to figure out themselves.
After Hoshinomiya-sensei left, Ichinose convened a discussion meeting for Class B.
"Now only we and Class D are left on the island. What actions should Class B take next?"
Ichinose's gaze fell on the few people she trusted most in the tent.
"I think being conservative would be better. If possible, I even hope we can give up occupying the base today to avoid showing any weaknesses. The exam will end tomorrow, and the points gained from occupying the base today are already insignificant to us. The most important thing right now is to protect the person in the class with special status."
As soon as Shibata spoke, he immediately received agreement from others.
Because such a mature and steady statement was very consistent with Class B's usual conservative strategy. If they planned to adopt a conservative strategy, they would execute it with ease.
"Shibata, what nonsense are you talking about? Since only two classes are left, I think Class B should directly confront Class D, and even reach a deal through dialogue. Maybe we can subdue them without a fight."
Compared to Shibata's gentle and conservative strategy, Classmate Kanzaki's strategy appeared quite aggressive.
However, Ichinose was also quite interested in his idea, because if there was a way to subdue them without a fight, she wouldn't have to confront Amane again, which would also be a good thing for Class B.
After all, confronting Amane was quite a tormenting experience for Ichinose.
"Classmate Kanzaki, I'd like to know what kind of deal could make Class D willing to let go of past grievances, and even achieve what you call subduing without a fight. How much profit can we gain when this exam ends? Rather than paying a huge price for a superficial victory, I'd rather be criticized as a coward but actually secure substantial benefits for the class."
Shibata's idea was the thought of most people in Class B.
Assuming Class B could gain two hundred class points from this exam, if Classmate Kanzaki exchanged one hundred eighty points for Class D to withdraw from the exam, Class D might very well agree to such terms at this point in time.
Once Class D chose to withdraw from the exam, victory would undoubtedly belong to Class B, but Class B, as the winner, would only gain twenty class points. Such a victory, in Shibata's opinion, was no different from a defeat.
And now Class B was only one step away from the end of the exam. They only needed to be slightly conservative to naturally avoid Amane's harassment, without needing to pay such a huge price.
If they were to give up most of their deserved profits at this time, it would be tantamount to negating their efforts of the past few days, and would even become the laughingstock of all first-year students.
Classmate Kanzaki had long known that Shibata would try to refute him and was already prepared.
"Shibata, I don't believe you didn't understand what you asked Hoshinomiya-sensei just now. Even for something like arson, the school is willing to suppress it. So who knows if that person outside won't do the same to us? We only need to make a sufficiently large concession to quell the conflict, or even make a profit. So why can't we choose the simplest and most effective method? If it succeeds, we won't have to spend the whole day cowering nervously in the tent!"
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/SolyuraMT
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"