Chapter 214 Trade Application from Year 1 Class B.
"Alright, Yamauchi-kun is probably just worried about points going to waste. However, I believe a private tent is indeed necessary—after all, Shimizu-kun's role is irreplaceable."
At this moment, Hirata Yosuke stepped forward with an apologetic air and gave a slight bow to Shimizu Akira.
"Shimizu-kun, we'll leave it to you then. Please try to bring back some food every day, though of course, there is no mandatory requirement. In hunting, it's common to occasionally return empty-handed; in those cases, just bringing back some wild fruit would be fine. Thank you for your hard work in this island exam."
To Shimizu Akira, Hirata Yosuke had always been a decent person, arguably the kindest person he knew in Class D. Thinking back on the people he had encountered over the past four months, it seemed only Ichinose Honami from Class B could rival his personality.
Thus, seeing Hirata's slightly bent back now, he was somewhat surprised—the man would actually bow to a classmate over something like this. Clearly, Hirata sincerely wanted everyone to eat well. The attitude of the other students just now was also acceptable, especially Sudo Ken and Ike Kanji, who left him with a good impression. They even said that if he couldn't find game, fruit would suffice, setting no hard quotas at all.
For him, there was truly no reason to refuse. However, a few requirements had to be made clear beforehand.
"I will provide a daily minimum of about ten pounds, roughly four or five wild animals," Shimizu said after a thought.
"But I will handle any surplus prey myself—whether I eat it, give it to others, or trade it, it's my decision. Furthermore, I need an allowance of 20 Special Exam Points."
These things had to be stated clearly.
"That much? Didn't you only catch two this afternoon? Shimizu, you're not going to be running through the mountains all day, are you?"
"Does this mean we're guaranteed meat every day? That's great! Of course you handle the surplus! That's only natural!"
"Wait! Trading with other classes? Yamauchi, you jerk! If you hadn't said that earlier, Shimizu wouldn't have brought this up!"
"A 20-point allowance? I'm fine with that!"
The students immediately began whispering among themselves, but there was no sign of rejection in their words. A 20-point allowance was actually a bargain in exchange for that much meat. Hearing about "trading with other classes," their first instinct wasn't to question Shimizu, but rather to look at Yamauchi Haruki with resentment.
'Wait, what? How does this have to do with me? My fault too? It's clearly because Shimizu Akira doesn't have a strong sense of belonging to Class D!'
Yamauchi Haruki felt a surge of grievance. Granting that his outburst earlier was problematic, the fact that Shimizu planned to trade with other classes shouldn't be pinned on him!
"Alright, since everyone is okay with it, I don't see a problem either," Hirata Yosuke said, nodding after observing the students' reactions. He never expected Shimizu to hand over his entire haul; frankly, four animals a day was plenty.
Ten pounds of meat was enough to guarantee a basic daily intake for everyone. Any surplus should naturally belong to Shimizu. A hunter needs his own share, and given Shimizu's physique, he might eat an entire pheasant or rabbit in one sitting.
As for "giving it to others" or "trading with other classes," Hirata didn't care much. In his view, it was already a major win that Shimizu was willing to contribute to the class at all, given his previous lack of interest in class affairs. He shared the same thought as the others: Yamauchi's comment must have annoyed Shimizu, leading him to emphasize those points—implying he didn't have to work with Class D and could just as easily cooperate with other classes.
After seeing the agreement, Shimizu's gaze swept over Yamauchi Haruki. Seeing the clear expression of defiance on the boy's face, he suddenly spoke: "Second condition—Yamauchi Haruki is not allowed to eat anything I bring back."
"No problem with me!"
"Completely acceptable, it's fair and reasonable! Since you like to object, then don't eat what Shimizu brings from now on!"
"That's one less person to share with, thanks a lot, Yamauchi!"
The girls had no objections. This didn't hurt their interests, and Yamauchi's reputation in class had been poor for the past two months anyway; they were long tired of the lewd glances he occasionally threw their way. On the boys' side, Sudo and more than half the group explicitly agreed. Based on the numbers, the majority had clearly consented.
"Shimizu-kun... this..." Hirata Yosuke looked at the situation with a troubled and conflicted expression.
"I'm not like you; I'm not some 'great guy'," Shimizu said calmly.
"I respect your character, but I cannot tolerate someone who rebuked me to my face enjoying the food I brought back with a clear conscience."
Hirata's brow knotted.
He opened his mouth as if to persuade him, but upon meeting Shimizu's calm eyes, he swallowed his words. Squatting by the firewood, Yamauchi Haruki snapped to his feet, his cheeks flushed with a mix of shame and indignation.
"Fine! If I don't eat it, I don't eat it! Even if I, Yamauchi Haruki, starve to death, I won't touch a thing you bring back!"
Shimizu didn't even spare him a glance.
Hirata Yosuke sighed helplessly. He knew Shimizu wasn't being malicious; anyone would feel unpleasant if they were questioned to their face and still expected to share their food with that person. It was just human nature. "I'm sorry, Shimizu-kun," Hirata apologized again. "It was my failure to coordinate."
"It has nothing to do with you; you're doing fine." Shimizu shook his head, looking at Yamauchi's retreating back as he left in a huff.
"It's Yamauchi Haruki's personal issue."
He suddenly recalled a thought he had months ago—if Yamauchi hadn't actively provoked him, he could have treated the guy as if he didn't exist. But now that the other party had jumped out with hostility, he had to think about how to strike back. As he'd said before: never tolerate a hostile person by your side. You never know when such a person might stab you in the back.
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After reaching the trade agreement with Class D, Shimizu took the guidebook from Hirata. Flipping through the pages, he saw a single tent was priced at 3 points. Although called a "single" tent, the actual space was large enough for two people. It was somewhat expensive, considering a large tent for eight people only cost 10 points.
Carefully reading the manual, he found it lacked things like bows, daggers, or small animal traps. The school clearly didn't intend to provide students with dangerous tools for safety reasons. Since the classes were in a competitive relationship, no one could take responsibility if a weapon caused a fatality.
While he knew how to make a bow from rope and wood, he decided stones were more convenient—there were no large animals around here anyway. Notably, other items were quite comprehensive: digital cameras, walkie-talkies, parasols, lifebuoys, BBQ sets, and fireworks.
He decided to exchange for: a single tent, a bottle of insect repellent, a portable water bottle, five large packs of BBQ seasoning, and a 10kg-capacity backpack. It totaled exactly his 20-point allowance.
The tent was for his own use; repellent was essential in the buggy woods; the bottle was for hydration; the seasoning was for the meat—raw roasted meat is tasteless and hard to swallow; the backpack was for his gear.
"Shimizu-kun, the hunting will be entirely under your free discretion from now on," Hirata added after a thought.
"However, I hope you can return periodically to show your face, especially for the morning and evening roll calls—8:00 AM and 8:00 PM. If you aren't there, the class loses Special Exam Points."
"Sure, check-ins are no problem. I'll bring the food back then," Shimizu agreed readily.
Generally speaking, if he followed the collective, he'd be assigned tedious tasks like scouting, finding water, or gathering wood. "Hunting" allowed him to act freely, which was much more relaxing. As for the check-ins, they were mandatory anyway. He had recently made a deal with Chabashira Sae to ensure the class hit a minimum of 250 points by the seventh day; he had to minimize avoidable deductions.
Afterward, because he needed to bring back four or five animals daily, Shimizu headed back into the forest. He returned to his marked spot and retrieved the prey he had stored earlier. Smelling them, he found they were still fine as only an hour had passed. He felt today's haul was a bit much; without a fridge, they would spoil overnight.
Just then, footsteps came from the brush. Shimizu looked back to see three male students walking together. They looked familiar—one was Kanzaki Ryuji from the surveillance footage he'd seen in the first month; the other two he didn't recognize.
On the other side, Kanzaki Ryuji, Shibata So, and Hamaguchi Tetsuya stopped in their tracks. Due to their strategy, more than half of Class B had been sent out in groups to find bases and food. Their group hadn't found anything useful yet but had run into someone from another class—and it was the Shimizu Akira mentioned in their meeting.
Except, what he was holding... wait, seven animals?
Kanzaki was the first to snap out of it, his eyes darting between the seven plump rabbits and pheasants, his Adam's apple bobbing.
"Hello, Shimizu-kun. I'm Kanzaki Ryuji from Year 1 Class B... Are you skilled at hunting? Did you catch all seven of these by yourself?"
He had eaten lunch, but that "meal" was just the bland basic package from the school. Beside him, Shibata and Hamaguchi weren't much better, unconsciously licking their lips. It would be a waste not to eat such fat prey. The fish they caught earlier were few and had all been given to the girls; the boys only had a bit of thin soup. Looking at the prey in Shimizu's hands, their eyes gleamed.
However, the three didn't think of trying to seize them by force. First, Class B people weren't like that, especially since Ichinose's policy was peaceful coexistence. Furthermore, the rules stated that stealing from other classes would result in losing all personal points and the class's disqualification. Second, there was the pure gap in martial power. This was Shimizu Akira; one of his punches would likely leave all three of them flat on the ground.
"Hello, I'm Shimizu Akira from Year 1 Class D," Shimizu replied. "Indeed, I caught these."
Shibata couldn't help but step forward half a pace, his eyes full of confusion.
"Shimizu-kun, the rabbits on this island seem very quick. How did you catch so many? And where did you find them? We've searched for half a day and haven't even seen many wild fruits."
They had encountered rabbits, but the little creatures were alert and bolted when they were still a hundred meters away. Without proper tools, they had given up on hunting. Encountering someone from another class who had successfully caught seven made them feel somewhat pathetic. What made it worse for Shibata was that it was the Boxing Club's Shimizu Akira. Recalling how his class rep Ichinose's expression changed just at the mention of this name, Shibata felt an involuntary, awkward jealousy.
"I can't answer your questions," Shimizu replied. He wasn't about to tell them the truth; these were hunting techniques, and they weren't in his class. What was this guy thinking?
Shibata froze, his face flushing with embarrassment. He realized he had misspoken. Why would the other party give him such critical information?
Seeing this, Kanzaki quickly tried to smooth things over.
"Shibata was just being too impatient; please don't take it to heart, Shimizu-kun. We're just at our wits' end, which is why we asked so abruptly."
Shimizu glanced at him, said nothing, and simply nodded. He didn't care about the interlude but thought the guy was a bit dim.
Kanzaki's eyes couldn't stop wandering back to the glossy prey, his tone becoming more earnest.
"Shimizu-kun, are you interested in a trade? If you're willing to share some prey with us, our class can pay in points, or we can trade other supplies for them."
In his view, meeting a hunter in the woods was a rare chance to get fresh meat—real protein. It was far better than the biscuits the school provided.
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