26 Chapter 4: Deserted Island Exam (2) - Linguistic Jumbles

[Kurushima Pov]

The others have already returned and explained in detail their findings. Ayanokoji and Sakura discovered Class A's camp spot, which was also one of the best spots available on the island.

They were under the protection of a cave, which only has one access right in front of the cave. So there's no way to sabotage them at all, without them witnessing.

Ryūen surely does not like that, huh? I can already imagine his facial expression. Ah, I'm drifting away.

Ayanokoji and Sakura said there were a few spots nearby, but they didn't search for them thoroughly as it was reaching three o'clock, the time when every group should come back again.

Hirata here and there sometimes took the task of explaining to everyone the importance of unity, which I also agreed to, just to prevent any instances of drama from happening.

And once they had returned, it was now their turn to search in the areas for food. Hirata, Kushida, and I each formed a group consisting of three people to search for food.

And I once again had the worst group match...

It was Matsushita and Mori, who both took one of my arms while we were searching for food. It was quite bothersome...

But during that time of these two hours, I had been able to spot the location of three poisonous berries.

One of them was the Solanum nigrum, also known as the black nightshade plant. The berries of the plant can cause in large amounts symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

The leaves of the plants however contain toxic compounds such as solanine and solasonine, which can cause symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, dizziness, and in severe cases, seizures or coma when ingested in large amounts.

The toxicity of the leaves can vary depending on the age and maturity of the plant, but based from what I saw, they are more or less a few months old, cultivated by the school for this sole exam.

Although to say that they are completely poisonous isn't also accurate.

In traditional medicine, they have been used to treat various ailments such as cough, fever, and inflammation over the various centuries, even for the antic Greece and Rome.

In fact however, the plant was mentioned in the Chinese herbal book "Shennong Bencao Jing" from the Han dynasty "206 BCE–220 CE", which indicates that it was already in use in ancient China at that time.

Similarly, Solanum nigrum has been described in ancient Ayurvedic texts in India, such as the "Charaka Samhita" and the "Sushruta Samhita," which date back to around "200 BCE".

In Europe, however, the usage of the plant was said to be during the Middle Ages. It was believed that the plant could treat skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis.

It was also believed to have properties that could ward off evil spirits and was sometimes hung over doorways or worn as a talisman.

This plant wasn't what I was precisely after, but this island is probably checked by the school so that the students don't eat life-threatening fruits, leaves, and berries. So I can't expect too many fruits here to be more poisonous with strong after-effects.

But they should be sufficient enough, for what I intend to create. 

The other one was Holly berries. They contain theobromine, which is a stimulant that can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach pain when consumed in large amounts.

The last one were Buffalo-berries, which, on the other hand, contain alkaloids such as methylcytisine, which can cause symptoms such as dizziness, confusion, and potentially even seizures or respiratory depression when consumed in large amounts.

Combining the fluidity of these three berries with the some other components could cause quite a significant impact on a certain person.

Especially, when I mix it, with that, too.

My hands—they are trembling in excitement. It should work.

Expelling other's, it wasn't needed anymore, if I successfully get these four things out. Regardless of it, I'll test him, nonetheless, and... if I ever need Points, I can easily get them from you, or else, two people from your class, get expelled...

You'll benefit from it... and she, too... 

I'm not doing something bad... I'm just ensuring, I'll get Points, in case, I need it.

But anyhow, those were my essential findings. 

Of course, I made myself a basic layout of the Island, so I should mark where they're, currently. Not in form of a paper, naturally. I have them in my head.

Although, through the girls I couldn't see much, when we circled around, I had seen more than enough still. After all, we arrived at the Island, at 6. a.m, before the ship was circling around it, so I got myself through the time there, also an outlook of the Island.

In Ayanokoji's case, he'll think I was prevented from these girls, reason why, I couldn't take advantage of the cave, as he's sure, I noticed the hint.

That's the problem, of having myself look extremely capable. I cannot say, I didn't notice things like these, at all. And he'd doubt me, too. 

So I deliberately agreed to them, of course. I didn't like it, but it had its purpose. I'd excuse myself normally, but in that specific case, I didn't. 

The girls surrounded me, bothered me, distracted me, and used my good-natured kindness for their own desire, from observing the Island, that's what you'll think, right, Ayanokoji-kun? 

Just one of the precautions measures I took, in case, once the announcement was made. 

But it sure was slightly bothersome, actually. 

Minutes later, I arrived back at the camp with them. But there was quite the unique situation, suddenly...

Ibuki Mio, one of the students of Class D, was right next to Yamauchi, Sakura, and Ayanokoji, who coincidentally also had a bruise on her face. 

From the looks of it, she must have been kicked out by Class D's camp, or that's what Ryūen wants us to believe, perhaps.

It isn't far-fetched to say that Ryūen has either pressured her to come to our camp to identify our leader.

It's certainly something only he would do among the four classes.

Hmm, I wonder if he does the same thing in Class B.

If he does then it's already confirmed that his strategy is to let the two spies gather the information about the leader and perchance sabotage our camp, by sabotaging the food to increase the expenditure of food we need to spend on with S-Points.

It's a clever plan, but It's also risky. If Ryūen's spies are caught, it could backfire on him and his class. It's not like I care, though.

With this exam, I just want to estimate Ayanokoji's abilities to a better extent.

I want to see his analytical skills, observational skills, deduction ability, and most importantly, his ability to manipulate and deceive others.

If he can win the exams despite the hindrances I plan to set up, he might be more dangerous than I initially thought.

Right now, I don't think he could be a serious obstacle. Despite everything I observed until now, it isn't that far-impressive.

His scores, his ability to convince three idiots into retracting their complaint due to the special situation which had arrived, and his thinking out of the norm by asking upperclassmen for old midterm exams which could be used for the benefit of our class.

Normally, these kinds of qualities he displayed would be enough for anyone to see him as a dangerous individual.

But if that's only just that, I don't need to worry about anything.

I shrugged my sudden thoughts off and looked at Ibuki-san, Ayanokoji, Yamauchi, and Sakura.

I walked over in their direction. "What's going on?" I asked, trying to figure out why Ibuki-san is here.

"Ibuki was kicked out by Class D's camp. So we brought her back to our camp. We wanted to make sure she was safe," Ayanokoji explained.

"I see," I responded. "And the bruise?" I asked. "I don't know," he answered, slightly looking at Ibuki expectancy, expecting her to say how she had gotten the bruise.

"I had a fight with a boy from my class. He hit me and chased me away. That's all."

I raised an eyebrow at her response, not fully convinced. "Ibuki-san, are you sure that's all that happened? Did Ryūen have anything to do with this?" I prodded.

"Ryūen?" Ayanokoji asked.

"Don't you know him, Ayanokoji-kun? Ryūen is Class D's leader," I said.

"No, I never heard of him before."

"Aha, I see. Well, Ibuki-san, if you feel uncomfortable or unsafe, you can always talk to us. We are all here to support each other," I said, reassuringly.

"Thank you," she replied. "And...I don't really want to talk further about the fight," she added, looking down at her feet. I nodded understandingly.

"Of course, Ibuki-san. We won't force you to talk about it if you don't want to," I said kindly.

She just nodded, and the four of us began to approach our camp.

I asked Ayanokoji to stay with her in a distance, as I began to explain to my classmates that we should support Ibuki-san and offer her shelter here.

No one seemed to object. And if someone did, I could negate their arguments. The only thing I couldn't specifically decline was whether she might be a spy.

But even so, we've come to the unity to take her into our camp. Here and there, I explained things about Ryūen, giving a higher authenticity to Ibuki's story since Ryūen is quite famous for being a delinquent.

It did give them a better understanding of her situation.

And despite the suspicions some still have, we've come to one agreement. Well, the only thing that's bothering me is how I should create some hindrances for him.

I wonder...

--

[1 Day Later]

[2nd August]

Our plan to spend as least points as possible didn't go up yesterday. We had to buy two class units of food for twenty S-Points. Additionally, the toilet and shower are each one annually costing twenty S-Points, which results in forty S-Points.

Then, there is also the cost of some fishing rods for 10 S-Points and an additional tent for 10 S-Points.

To this moment, we have spent eighty S-Points. If we're able to catch some fish that are more than enough for forty-one people, we might be able to skip one class ration unit of food for the whole class.

I had to visit Sensei quite often because of that, but I also used this as my chance, to confirm something, regarding the Radar of the Teacher's. 

However if this continues, we've until the end of the exam to spend over a hundred-eighty S-Points.

That would leave us with hundred-twenty S-Points. That's with a high probability going to happen. Considering our findings, which are, in some cases, not eatable fruits and berries, according to Ike, we did not have much luck with finding food.

I would have wished that these fruits they found would be poisonous, but not everything can happen according to my wishes.

Right now, however, I am certainly lucky. Not only before the roll call started I saw Ayanokoji investigating Ibuki's bag in the morning, but also saw how he took a small digital camera out of her bag for a small second, before putting it away.

That certainly clarified every ounce of doubt I had.

In actuality, they didn't clarify any doubt since I never had any doubt in the beginning.

It's not like it matters, though. I still won't interfere in the exam so much. I'm certainly taking the lead for the class currently, just like Hirata, to do the necessary job of mine.

I also told them about potential strategies the others could use. I had left some aspects, however, out. For Class A, B, and D.

Class A, no more precisely, Sakayanagi won't let Katsuragi do as he pleases in this exam, which is why some of her henchmen are going to sabotage him with a high probability.

Perhaps by stealing the leader's card in the evening and claiming a spot or giving the identity of Class A's leader.

As for Class B and D, I currently don't feel motivated right now. Their strategy and this whole exam are irrelevant to me.

If it were after me, I would have done the same thing as Koenji. 

But not right now.

The moment of creating hindrances hasn't appeared yet. 

I'm actually not just creating hindrances for Ayanokoji, but also will be manipulating Ryūen and his class like the way I want, actually. They'll be useful for me, if I ever need large amount Points.

Someone like Ryūen, will definitely utilize his classmates Points, so he could give me, a couple of Millions of Points, if I ever request it, easily. 

I already have some plans in motion for their potential use, already. Today I'm starting with some of my actions and slowly planning my retirement.

Luckily, I also now know the camp spot of Class B, since Hirata had told it to me directly after the roll call the information. It's surprising that despite the small distance between our classes, Kanzaki still told us about their camp spot. 

Probably, upon Ichinose's request, to make sure our classes aren't really in a conflict. 

They certainly have, from what I know, a great camp spot, which does not require the expenditure of food, since in their area should be the most animals, due to the well biotope in their area.

I hadn't the chance to go there, but I still know the gist of the island structure. And if one clearly does think more than enough, it's certainly clear that around that area, the animals should be habituating.

I can understand his confidence. They should have only spent until now fifty S-Points, which might also only go up to a hundred at the highest. For one, the basic needs, such as a proper toilet and a proper grill for fishes or other animals.

From all the classes, it seems like they have the least problem with the expenditure of S-Points. But there is a small little problem.

It's their leaders' Pacific mindset and friendly nature with everyone, which is going to cause them to lose the exam.

I should figure out a way to get this wristwatch off or disrupt it, if possible.

I might have a way, since because of that, I visited Sensei so often, to observe if it would work. I won't destroy it, as a matter of fact, it's just simple physics, I'll be using. 

But who would've thought I would use this method, huh?

Well...

Before I'm beginning my plan to block the signal of the wristwatch, I need to figure out when Class B's camp spot is renewed.

Horikita, Ayanokoji, I, Hirata, and some other people went to Class B's spot later that following day, and I was able to see that at 15:53, they had five hours and twenty-six minutes remaining until their renewal.

It's better to be cooperative, than act like you are not allowed to enter, right? That's Ichinose's mindset, so they didn't prevent us, nor spies of Class A of entering their camp. 

It'll be hard, but I should be able to do this, huh?

Yeah, around one or two o'clock in the morning is the best time. 

I already had token me the time to memorize every layout, tents, and especially where Kaneda is sleeping.

Ryūen...

If you're not able to decipher these two leaf messages and the messages behind the messages...

Then I'm going to be extremely sad...

After all, I'm going into great lengths of trouble for you...

Well...

It's after your own interest to decipher my kind-hearted messages...

I: "Grace the hidden heel"

II: "Look at the layout here."

(A/N: I think the phrases "Grace the hidden heel" and "Look at the layout here" should be clear to what they are referring to.

However, to solve the messages behind these two phrases, you need to do a bit more. For the first message, which is listed as "I," you simply need to add the additional letter A. As for the second phrase, nothing in particular is needed. It simply remains the same.

I won't say how you can solve it, but small hint, it's something which some of you should be well-acquainted if you have read the Light Novel till Y2V7.)

--

A/N: If you have any ideas what the two hidden messages are, please comment them under the respective Paragraph "I" and "II."

Well, that's all. Have a good day.