After leaving Class D's camp, Kure Ragna and the others headed toward Class C's base, where Ichinose was in charge.
Despite Ichinose's seemingly airheaded nature, he was actually quite strategic.
Earlier that morning, he had sent classmates to scout Class B's camp from a distance.
By comparing the available facilities with the price list in the guidebook, he roughly estimated their remaining points.
It wasn't the most aggressive strategy, but it provided useful insight.
When Kure Ragna and the others arrived, Ichinose welcomed them warmly, even offering a tour of their camp.
Well… it was just four tents with sanitary napkins spread all over the ground.
Since the school had announced on the first day that feminine hygiene products were unlimited, the girls had found a creative use for them—layering them as makeshift mattresses.
Kure Ragna wasn't sure how most guys would feel about sleeping on piles of sanitary napkins, but judging by the expressions on Kushida Kikyo and Karuizawa Kei's faces, it seemed like an appealing idea for girls.
They were probably planning to start using the method as soon as they returned.
As for Class A, Kure Ragna didn't bother visiting. The camp was too far, and frankly, no one wanted to deal with them.
By the time they returned to their own camp, it was nearly lunchtime.
However, an unexpected figure sat beneath a tree, arms wrapped around her knees.
She had short blue hair, a slender frame barely more developed than Sakayanagi Arisu's, and a stubborn cowlick that defied the wind.
Her face was swollen, likely from a punch, and her wary gaze flickered between them. Beside her was the school-issued supply bag, likely filled with spare clothes.
Even with her slightly altered appearance due to the injury, Kure Ragna recognized her instantly.
"Aren't you from Class D… uh, Ibuki?"
They had only met once before—back when he fought most of Class C at the hot pot restaurant. Mio Ibuki was the only girl who hadn't been beaten.
Kushida Kikyo, seemingly familiar with her, immediately rushed over.
"Ah, Ibuki-chan! Wait, what happened to your face?"
"None of your business," Ibuki muttered, turning away.
She wasn't trying to hide the bruise—she simply had no interest in talking to Kushida.
"You expect us to ignore you when you're sitting in our camp?"
Kure Ragna crouched in front of her, his presence looming.
Ibuki, however, merely smirked.
"Oh, that's funny coming from you. Weren't you the one who insisted on bringing me here?"
Kure Ragna paused. Before he could respond, a voice interrupted from behind.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing to Ibuki-chan?"
It was Yamauchi, stumbling out of his tent in a sudden fit of bravado. Without a second thought, he charged forward, ignoring the vast difference in strength between them.
Kure Ragna didn't even bother looking.
He simply reached out, grabbed Yamauchi's outstretched arm, and twisted, effortlessly redirecting him into the ground.
Boom!
Yamauchi crashed face-first into the dirt.
If the ground had been concrete instead of soft soil, he'd probably be bleeding by now.
"Kure… Ragna?"
Karuizawa Kei froze, instinctively raising a hand as if to stop him, but Kushida remained perfectly calm, as if expecting this outcome.
Kure Ragna turned his attention to the groaning Yamauchi, his tone indifferent.
"You were the one who brought her here, weren't you?"
"So what? What do you want to do about it…?" Yamauchi spat, gritting his teeth.
It was almost impressive. Despite being easily overpowered, he still had the nerve to act tough.
The kind of guy who would keep talking even if Thanos snapped his fingers.
Kure Ragna sighed. "You're hopeless, Yamauchi."
"You knew from day one that this school is all about competition, yet you still went out of your way to help someone from another class for no reason. Fine."
"But trying to fight me? What, do you think you're the hero of a light novel?" He scoffed.
"Wake up. You're just a dumb pig chasing girls in heat."
A faint chuckle escaped from somewhere.
Karuizawa glanced back instinctively, but Horikita Suzune had already left. Kushida Kikyo, on the other hand, still wore her usual concerned expression.
Did I imagine that?
Before she could dwell on it, a new voice cut in.
"What's going on?"
Ike Kanji emerged from his tent, looking between Yamauchi, still on the ground, and Kure Ragna standing over him.
A reluctant Ayanokōji Kiyotaka followed behind, hands in his pockets.
"Nothing major," Kure Ragna replied.
"Just found it strange that a girl from Class C was in our camp. I asked about it, and Yamauchi decided to attack me, so I put him down."
He released Yamauchi and stood up.
Ike hesitated, looking like he wanted to say something, but the moment he realized just how much taller Kure Ragna was, he gave up.
"Well… uh… yeah, we did bring her back," Ike admitted.
"Yamauchi and I found her when we were out gathering fruit with Ayanokōji this morning. She was alone, and her face was injured, so we couldn't just leave her there."
"I see."
Kure Ragna gave a glance to the two girls, silently telling them to handle things from here.
Then, he turned toward Ayanokōji, who was looking up at the sky as if he had nothing to do with any of this.
"Ayanokōji, come with me."
"Me?"
Ayanokōji's tone was reluctant, but he followed. If he refused, he might end up like Yamauchi.
As they walked, Kure Ragna didn't waste time.
"So? What really happened?"
"Like Ike said, we found Ibuki alone and injured, so Yamauchi insisted on bringing her back."
"You don't actually believe that yourself, do you, Kiyotaka?"
Silence.
Then, Ayanokōji nonchalantly responded,
"Class D is planning something. You can figure out the rest yourself. I doubt it'll be hard for someone like you."
Kure Ragna narrowed his eyes.
"So you just dumped more trouble on me, for free?"
"I wouldn't call it trouble. If anything, I'd say I helped our class."
"Huh."
The two continued walking through the forest.
Less than ten minutes later, they arrived at a clearing about two or three hundred meters from camp.
"This is the place, right?" Kure Ragna asked.
"Yeah. We found Ibuki here," Ayanokōji replied.
"Alright. Thanks. I'll take it from here. If you've got something else to do, feel free to go."
"Then I'll be going." Ayanokōji wasted no time. He really didn't like sticking around Kure Ragna longer than necessary.
Once alone, Kure Ragna knelt beside a tree, fingers brushing the soil. He tapped the ground lightly, feeling for something beneath.
Then, without hesitation, he plunged his hand into the dirt and pulled up a box.
Inside was a walkie-talkie.
--------------------------------------
Support me at patreon.com/Arthorain and read upto 100 Advanced Chapters and Exclusive R-18 Content!