Classroom of the Elite: Alter - Self-Test

Vol. 3: Chapter 4.2 - The Sun is Down

"Everyone, we're back!"

"Hey there~!"

Around 4:00 PM, we finally heard the returning voices of Mori and Satou. With them were the rest of the group members; Horikita, Matsushita, Makida, and Kikuchi.

"We have good news. It really was a spring. We should be able to drink this water," announced Matsushita.

"Oh yeah! I told you it was clean." Ike pumped his fist in the air.

"The terrain was pretty tough on some parts, but it should be pretty easy to go there again. Horikita-san said that a spot might be hidden somewhere," said Makida as he approached me. "We found some food on the way. We're not sure if all of them are edible, though."

They tried to hand me a bunch of fruits.

"Please give them to Ike. He can evaluate whether they're good or not," I replied.

From a short distance, I heard Makida and Kikuchi engage in a spirited conversation with Ike and the rest of his group. It's rare to see the mature Kikuchi look so enthusiastic.

"Oh, that's some good stuff you got there! Well, as a rule of thumb, we should avoid white and yellow berries..." Ike started picking out the appropriate fruits one by one. He really was knowledgeable about them.

"Ike-kun's been such a huge help, isn't he?"

"He hasn't been obnoxious for a while."

"To be honest, he's looked really cool ever since he took the lead in a lot of things."

The girls on the opposite side of the camp started murmuring about Ike in a very positive light.

"Ayanokouji-kun, can I have a moment with you?" asked Horikita.

"Sure," I replied before facing Hirata and the rest. "Can you fill in the rest about what we just talked about earlier?"

"Okay," nodded Hirata. "Mori-san, Matsushita-san, Satou-san, Kikuchi-kun, and Makida-kun, can you listen to us for a second?"

The other five were called out to the girls' area of the camp.

Horikita and I sat near the boys' tents. We didn't have any logs to sit on, but we found some large tree branches that can act as alternatives. After telling her about the things I'd laid out earlier, it was finally her turn to report their findings.

"You've heard it from Makida-kun earlier. The river shifts from northeast to straight north before going northwest. The main reason why water was running towards the south was due to the source's elevation. It's above a hill with a pretty tall cliff at the end. The northern beach can be seen beyond it. We've left marks as you've instructed. We can head there again tomorrow if you want," she narrated.

"I see... Good job on that." I took out a piece of paper that and a ballpoint pen as I listened to her descriptions.

"This is..."

"It's what I've noted so far. The only help that the map on the manual gave me was the island's general shape."

For now, the detailed parts were the areas around our base camp and a little bit of the central area.

"You departed around two in the afternoon, right? Just how long were you running to cover this much ground...?"

I chose to ignore Horikita's question so I can explain the more important things.

"From what I've observed, the terrain and tallgrass patches that are scattered around the island serve as clues as to where some key locations are."

"Tallgrass? I see... Then, I'm a bit curious about this. It's right next to a tallgrass according to your map." Horikita pointed at a marked location. "It's leaning near the west-side of the island. What did you find there?"