Chapter 215 To Pursue a Girl, One Must Always Coax and Pamper Her!
Shimizu Akira was slightly taken aback, but his expression remained impassive.
Internally, however, he felt his luck was quite good today—just as he was worrying about how to handle the extra prey, buyers had proactively delivered themselves to his door.
Since he had explicitly told everyone in Class D that he would handle any surplus prey himself, selling to Year 1 Class B was a fine idea. Still, he didn't respond immediately; in this kind of trade, the one who stays calm usually gains the upper hand.
Seeing Shimizu's unchanging expression, Kanzaki Ryuji was unable to read him for a moment, worrying that the other boy might still be angry about the previous interaction.
He spoke again: "I also understand your position; perhaps you're worried about being accused of betraying your class. But as you know, Class B and Class D have had a cooperative relationship over the past few months. I will explain this clearly to Ichinose Honami and have her explain it to Class D so that you won't be put in a difficult spot. We'll just say we happened to run into you hunting and begged you for some meat. In fact, that is the truth. Could you please conduct a trade with us?"
Listening to this, Shimizu's brow unconsciously relaxed. He felt Kanzaki Ryuji spoke with a good sense of propriety. At the very least, the other boy considered his class standing and even mentioned having Ichinose help explain—this was a necessary precaution. If he hadn't cleared the situation with Class D beforehand, his reputation might truly have suffered if the class found out about the deal.
Moreover, the other party used a requesting tone throughout; both his words and actions were quite sincere. As the saying goes, when asking for a favor, the most basic thing is to lower one's posture. In this regard, Kanzaki Ryuji did a very good job.
Shimizu thought for a moment, decided the other party was a rational person, and nodded: "As for a trade, no problem."
Kanzaki, Shibata, and Hamaguchi looked at each other and all breathed a secret sigh of relief. It was lucky Shimizu agreed; if they missed this chance to eat meat and Ichinose found out later, who knows what she would say.
However, Kanzaki quickly looked embarrassed and said, "Um, Shimizu-kun, could we trouble you to come with us? Regarding the payment, the three of us can't actually make the final decision. We have to go back and discuss it with Ichinose Honami."
After all, this required Ichinose's consent; otherwise, the three of them couldn't decide what supplies to use to exchange for the meat. Even though Kanzaki had contributed much to Class B over the months, he still didn't have the authority to unilaterally decide such matters.
Shimizu raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised—even Kanzaki Ryuji couldn't make a call on such a small thing? He had previously thought Class B was a fairly democratic class; it
seemed that wasn't quite the case. Or rather, these people cared so much about Ichinose Honami's feelings that they wanted her to personally decide even minor things.
In a sense, this made Ichinose Honami somewhat similar to Ryuen Kakeru of Class C—both were figures whose single word settled matters. Except one relied on force, while the other relied on charisma.
Shimizu asked directly, "Where is your camp?"
Kanzaki blinked and replied, "There's a massive snapped tree; walk a few hundred meters further in."
Shimizu went over the map in his head and said, "In that case, walking there from here would take about forty to fifty minutes."
Hamaguchi Tetsuya adjusted his glasses, a look of disbelief on his face.
This person actually knew the location of that snapped giant tree? Come to think of it, during the meeting, he had indeed used his phone to photograph the map. It seemed he had completely mastered the geography of this island.
The boy was clearly a student of Class D, but this thought process didn't look like Class D at all; he was more like someone from Class A!
Shimizu glanced at the watch on his wrist; it was already 6:00 PM. Going there would take forty or fifty minutes, and adding time for talk and the return trip, there was no telling how long it would drag on. He had to be back at camp by 8:00 PM—roll call was mandatory, and missing one would result in a 5 points deduction.
Shimizu thought for a moment, picked four animals from the haul—specifically selecting the pheasant with the thickest meat—and handed them over one by one: "No need. I trust Ichinose very much. This pheasant is a gift for her; the three of you can handle the rest. Oh, and give her a message for me—if she refuses to eat this chicken by herself, then the trade is off. Tomorrow after roll call, I will find you personally to discuss the rewards."
To him, there was no need to rush for a reward; going another day would be just as well. Among the first-years, based on first impressions alone, there were only two people whose character Shimizu trusted: one was Hirata Yosuke of Class D, and the other was Ichinose Honami. Besides, they were already friends.
Giving the prey away for free wasn't out of the question, but the prerequisite was that only Ichinose would eat it. Letting all of Class B share? Absolutely not. He wasn't that kind-hearted, especially since he didn't even know the guys standing in front of him.
His real concern was that, given Ichinose's nature, she would likely give the meat to other students and not eat a bite herself. That's why he left that specific remark, essentially forcing her to eat.
After saying this, Shimizu picked up the remaining three animals with one hand and turned to leave.
The three from Class B watched his back, stunned for a moment.
Just because Ichinose was mentioned, his attitude changed completely. Was this... trusting Class B's character that much? Or rather, trusting Ichinose Honami's character that much?
However, such a situation wasn't entirely strange—Ichinose always had a wide network of contacts. But from the sound of it, Shimizu seemed to have known her for a long time, and even sounded like he was "forcing" her to eat meat?
Shibata Souta, in particular, found it hard to understand.
'Shimizu Akira... he's actually thinking of forcing Ichinose to do something?'
Even he understood that to pursue a girl, one must always coax and pamper her. If he treated Ichinose like that, even the most soft-hearted person would think he was too forceful, let alone fall for him.
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By the time Shimizu returned to camp with two rabbits and a pheasant, it was nearly 6:40 PM. He looked up to see that Class D's camp was looking quite established—all four tents were pitched, with the locations clearly divided: the boys' tents on the east side and the girls' on the west, with everyone's luggage piled in front of their respective tents.
He had previously worried that the check-in device on the prominent large rock wasn't secure enough, but coming back now, he saw that several tents happened to block it; at least it couldn't be seen from this direction. However, it would still be easily discovered if viewed from the opposite bank of the river.
Additionally, Shimizu's sharp eyes noticed some female students filling mineral water bottles at the river and carrying them back. One student was using a water heater over there. It seemed Kushida Kikyo had already informed everyone that the water source was drinkable. Since Class D had ordered the basic package once before, the school had given the students 40 bottles of water, which could now be repurposed. Since he now had a canteen, he no longer needed the plastic bottles.
Hirata Yosuke saw him return and came forward to greet him, explaining that quite a few boys were missing as they had been sent to gather wood and search for other edible fruit, and would likely be back by 7:00 PM.
However, seeing the prey in his hand, Hirata immediately looked delighted and said, "With these three, that makes five. Shimizu-kun, we'll start eating around 7:30, and then we can enjoy the roasted meat." After saying that, he sent the prey over to the girls' side.
There, Kushida Kikyo and Karuizawa Kei had already rolled up their sleeves and were somewhat awkwardly preparing to process the rabbits and pheasant. Surprisingly, it was Horikita Suzune who appeared very adept at handling the prey; after getting some hot water, she quickly cleaned the animals' fur.
Japanese schools generally have cooking classes, so most of the class understood the basics of cooking and handling ingredients. However, Shimizu was momentarily stunned, recalling the time he went out for BBQ with Horikita—she had mentioned she specifically studied grilling, and it had indeed tasted exceptionally good. It seemed he could truly look forward to her skills tonight.
Noticing Shimizu's curious glance toward them, Hirata explained: "After you left, we in Class D decided to purchase a cooking utensil set, a water heater, five large bags of BBQ seasoning, and a pair of walkie-talkies. The water heater actually runs on batteries, and the school provided a few for free."
Shimizu nodded. He had seen that cooking set—for only 5 Special Exam Points, it included pots, pans, and all the tools needed for cooking, making it a very cost-effective bundle. Actually, items labeled "set" were discounted by the school; things like food and water sets were much cheaper than buying individual items, so other classes had likely bought them too. Otherwise, 5 points wouldn't buy much. As for the water heater, since it needed batteries, the school had anticipated this and provided some.
As for the seasoning, it seemed they had reached the same conclusion as him—how could one have roasted meat without seasoning? Buying salt and other spices individually was a hassle compared to just buying a pre-made BBQ seasoning pack.
Then, Hirata unhesitatingly handed a walkie-talkie to him and specifically urged: "If you encounter an accident while acting outside, contact us anytime with this, and I will immediately arrange for classmates to go and help." One could only say Hirata was truly thorough; he was beyond reproach in every aspect.
Hirata then told him that the school had already delivered the single tent, insect repellent, seasonings, portable water bottle, and backpack, and handed them over.
Shimizu thought about it and chose to pitch his tent about ten meters away from the Class D camp. This way, it was convenient for his classmates to keep an eye on his tent while he was out—preventing other classes from stealing his things—while still retaining some private space.
Having read many related books beforehand, he was already very familiar with pitching a single tent. Within a few minutes, he had it firmly set up in a clearing with a good view.
Shimizu let out a long breath, feeling his whole body relax. Regardless of how this island exam ended, at this moment, he felt a rare sense of comfort. Having his own small space, free from the constraints of collective class action, able to do as he pleased and just bring back a few animals as needed—this feeling was quite good.
He bent down to crawl into the tent and patted the canvas walls; the touch was very sturdy. Shimizu put his backpack in the corner and took out the canteen—it was lightweight but had a large capacity; once filled, it would last him half a day. The repellent was placed by his feet; it would be practical in the buggy woods. Finally, he picked up the walkie-talkie and pressed the side button, hearing a faint "bzz-bzz" from the speaker.
"Testing," he said softly into the mic. Hirata's response soon came from the camp: "Received, Shimizu-kun, signal is clear."
After confirming the equipment was fine, he clipped the walkie-talkie to his waist. Notably, the manual explained the range and function of the devices. The signal coverage was extremely wide—as long as a person was on the island, they could maintain communication. Furthermore, the batteries were specially reinforced, meaning they could last seven days without the trouble of exchanging them. Since phones were banned, remote communication relied entirely on these. Other classes wouldn't be stingy with this expense—when transmitting key info, this was clearly essential.
Just then, Hirata's voice came over the radio again: "Shimizu-kun, it's already 7:00. Please come over. Kushida-san and I plan to have a class meeting after dinner to decide on the Leader's identity."
Shimizu pressed the button and replied, "Okay, I understand."
He clipped the radio to his waist and headed toward the camp. Indeed, Class D had yet to settle on the most important role: the Leader.
The ten-meter distance was short. After a few steps, he saw a group already gathered. Sudo Ken, Ike Kanji, and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka had just returned from the forest. Sudo and Ayanokouji were each carrying a large bundle of firewood, while Ike had a plastic bag full of wild fruit. Shimizu scanned them and saw the berries were completely edible—Ike had mentioned his camping experience, and identifying wild fruit was second nature to him.
Seeing them, Hirata greeted them with concern: "Thank you for your hard work, Sudo-kun, Ike-kun, Ayanokouji-kun!"
Shimizu was curious about the plastic bag in Ike's hand and asked, "Ike, where did you get the plastic bag?"
The other boy triumphantly flourished the bag. "Because we had to build a temporary toilet, plastic bags are supplied unlimitedly. I saw it was convenient for fruit, so I took a few extra to use."
Shimizu thought Ike was quite clever. Since plastic bags were unlimited, he could use them to carry many things when he went out later.
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