Ever since Ayanokouji Kiyotaka had been a child, he played a lot of chess. From grandmasters to engines, he beat them all time and time again.
There was no person or program in the White Room or anywhere else that could hold a candle to him. Then so...
Kanzaki-kun and I left the camp after the morning roll call and our subsequent discussion with Matsushita-san and Hirata-kun. Just like yesterday, we wandered through the jungle for quite a while, until the two of us stepped out of the shrubbery, entering the beautiful yet desolate beach area that had once been Class C's base.
Our union with Class D held strong, at least for the people unaware about the procedures behind the scenes. We agreed to let our classmates know about Matsushita-san's betrayal after the island exam, since we couldn't risk this information spreading at the moment. It would be dangerous if too many people knew about her schemes, because even a subtle change in behavior might alarm her that we possessed knowledge we weren't supposed to.
I felt awful, hiding such important information from my friends, but Kanzaki-kun assured me that we were keeping this under wraps for the good of the class. A stinging, burning pain assaulted my heart every time I kept this secret from Mako-chan and the others, despite my acceptance and approval of Kanzaki-kun's arguments.
"So, here we are. But why exactly are we here?"
My classmate sheltered his eyes from the blazing sun, squeezing them shut. I didn't supply him with an immediate answer and moved towards the grill he had found hidden in the bushes when I noticed something peculiar.
"The footprints are gone..."
His eyes widened as he inspected the area for remnants to pick up the trail.
"Seems like someone noticed that they made a mistake."
We looked at each other and nodded in unison.
""Ryuuen-kun.""
"With this, we can assume that he's still on the island. But where?"
Kanzaki-kun heaved a deep sigh as he surveyed the forest.
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It was almost impossible to find a lone student on this island, especially if he didn't want to be found. One person would need little food and water. If he limited his movements over the upcoming days, he would need even fewer nourishments. Ryuuen-kun, or whoever this mystery person was, could have hidden inside any thicket, behind any tree...
I wiped over the grate and glanced at the residue on my finger.
"As I thought... it's not enough."
"Enough what?"
"Grease. Or any other persistent remnants. I don't have that much experience with barbecues, to be honest, but this grill was supposed to be used by around forty people, right? The amount of buns, patties and sausages they would have needed to feed all of their classmates should have been much more than the leftovers on this rack indicate."
I may not have been an expert in cooking related topics, but I knew my way around the kitchen and certain utensils. There was no way that a large amount of meat or other provisions were barbecued on this grill after considering all the different residues that should have been there from a logical standpoint.
