We found ourselves walking to F9 when we picked up a strange smell.
It was a rotten smell that came from a nearby tent.
I'd never smelled such an awful stench which is why I wanted to step back but my sense of curiosity did not let me.
I walked around to see where the stench came from until I came across a lone girl who was camping nearby.
I saw her covered in mud which made me think that she was the cause for the smell or she had something to do with it.
Hiyori walked behind us since I could no longer carry her, I had to carry Honami who said that her legs felt numb when we woke up.
We approached her without being unnoticed watching as she tied a rope on a tree.
A pure smile formed on her face as she covered herself with more mud.
I thought this was creepy and I decided to leave.
I looked at Hiyori to see what she thought of it and she seemed to be in a state of shock.
"Do you want to keep on going?"
"Yeah, we have to get going, I think I'll be able to keep up."
I nodded and we walked ahead ignoring the girl.
"Oh, there are friends nearby?"
Oh no!
We've been spotted.
I tried to play dumb by ignoring her but she immediately realized my plan and came running towards us.
"Could that be Ayanokouji-senpai?! I've been dying to see you!"
"And you are?"
I'm not sure if she was new since I haven't seen her on the OAA app.
"I'm sure you don't know about me but I'm a 1st year, my name is Jioral Flare Arlgrande, but call me Flare. Pleased to meet you!"
She held out her hand to me which I hesitated to shake since it was covered in mud but I had to do it.
"Likewise."
My hand was covered in mud which made me realize that the strange smell wasn't coming from the mud.
"May I ask why you're covered in mud?"
"That's a secret~" Her smile quickly faded once she said that and headed back to where she originally came from.
"Don't interfere."
I looked over at Honami who wasn't fazed by her sudden change.
Neither was Hiyori.
I knew exactly why.
They had already seen her true nature.
(I won't do a flashback since I'm lazy.)
Once we left our next designated area would be H7.
I wouldn't say it was the worst outcome, but it certainly wasn't ideal by any stretch of the imagination.
It wasn't clear whether we'd be able to make it there within the next two hours or not.
In which case, if the next area ended up being randomly designated and showed up somewhere off to the west of the mountain range, we'd be in a pinch.
"It would be quite troublesome if the randomly designated area were to happen at 9:00."
Under the assumption that everything went smoothly for these next two hours, we'd probably only reach I7 or I8 at the very most.
Of course, it's not like it would be impossible to reach H7 in two hours, but...
"We can always choose to conserve energy and miss the area for a second time."
The point reduction penalty only began once a group had missed three area designations in a row.
So in that sense, even if we didn't make it to H7, we should still be fine...
That being said, should the situation turn dire, we could very well be subject to the mercy of our destination, forever unable to find our way to the designated area in time.
"We'll make it Ayanokouji-kun, I told you already that you don't have to worry about me."
Hiyori saw right through me.
I was worried since Hiyori can barely keep up with me.
Honami wasn't that much of a problem since she had a lot more stamina than Hiyori and she could run way faster as well.
"Then let's pick up the pace a bit. If we don't, we might regret it."
I continued to carry Honami while Hiyori ran through the forest.
You could say that her speed was pretty decent but it looked like she could barely keep up.
-------------------------------------------------------
We made it to our designated area in less than 1 hour.
"I think it's time we take a break."
We sat down and got some water.
Just then I noticed someone snoring on my back.
I turned around to see a sleeping Honami who looked like she was submerged in a deep sleep.
"Not again," I whispered.
The last time she fell asleep was when we were in our first year in which she fell asleep on the floor.
That time I couldn't help but look at her gorgeous thighs which were now my property.
I shook her head to wake her up since it was time for me to rest as well.
"Let me sleep a little more~"
"Fine, don't blame me when I leave you here."
I don't think she heard me since she kept on sleeping.
"What a pain."
"Need help Ayanokouji-kun?"
"No thanks Hiyori, I can handle her for a little longer."
She offered help but I couldn't hand Honami over like some toy.
I know Hiyori is someone to be trusted but I have mixed feelings over doing these types of things.
-------------------------------------------------------
Once we took our 30-minute break we once again wandered off.
We successfully woke up Honami with a stick that Hiyori found.
Even though we could have formed a better strategy I wanted to test how mad she would get if her boyfriend did this.
She said she was okay if it was me and that sort of warmed my heart.
But back to what's important.
I no longer had to carry any of them since they both felt fine and could walk for a while longer.
It was nearly 9:00 AM, and we were currently in the southeast corner of area I8.
"For now, let's head over to J9."
"This is to lower the chances of being in the next designated area at nine o'clock, correct?"
"Yeah."
From our current location, we should be able to reach J9 in only a few minutes.
We pressed onward, arriving in J9 just three minutes short of 9:00 AM, our eyes glued to our tablets as we stepped foot into the area.
For the three short minutes we had, we sat down on the ground and took another break as we waited for the second designated area to be announced.
It was the second random designation of the exam, but it wasn't that far away at area J5. It would be a tricky journey if we went through the forest, so we could just head all the way east and travel north along the beach instead.
Even if there were students on our Table who had successfully made it to area H7, it would take them a lot of time to navigate through the forest.
We had more distance to cover, but there was a chance we could surpass our competition in one fell swoop.
When it came to random designations, the fact of the matter was that there was no way to tell where they would pop up.
In this case, we were lucky that it had turned up within a reasonable range.
We immediately resumed our journey without exchanging another word.
It had been tacitly understood that we would take a path straight to the beach.
Not even twenty minutes later, we stepped foot on the sand in the northeast corner of I8, and from there, we pushed north along the shore.
As we traveled, we passed through area J6, where we encountered several adults in the middle of setting something up.
I cast them a sidelong glance as we passed through, then opened up my tablet to find that a Task had just appeared here.
"Beach Flags Showdown, huh?"
Beach Flags is a sporting event that was originally designed for lifeguards to train various skills essential to their practice, such as running speed and reflexes. A perfect fit for the sandy coastline.
They were looking for eight boys and eight girls, who would be participating separately.
Since only one person would be allowed to participate per group, the Task needed a total of eight different groups per gender.
Only the first-place group would receive rewards, earning 6 points along with the ability to choose an additional reward out of several provided options.
Outside of that, every group would receive a 500ml water bottle as a prize just for participating.
This Task, however, had a registration deadline of one hour. If we registered for it now, we'd be stuck in the nearby area, effectively casting aside any chance we had of earning an Early Bird Bonus by reaching our designated area.
For that reason, I decided that we would look the other way for the time being and prioritize reaching our designated area instead.
Not too long after, just as I began to feel like we had arrived in area J5, a notification showed up on my watch.
We were met with something unexpected when we arrived back at the Task site, however. A long line of students, both boys, and girls, had already formed at the registration point. The area had been empty back when we passed by earlier, so just where did all of these people come from?
"If we're lucky, we might be able to take up the last spot?"
Perhaps. Maybe J6 is the designated area for another Table?"
"Perhaps..."
"Let's go check it out for the time being."
"Right!"
We entered area J6 and approached the Beach Flags Task site.
I simply approached the staff member myself and let them know I was looking to participate.
Unfortunately, I was told that the student just ahead of me had filled up the last spot in the boys' category, making it impossible for me to participate.
The girls, on the other hand, only had 6 entries, so there was still one more spot available.
Tsubaki and Hiyori were the first two to come out.
I couldn't take my eyes off of either of them.
I looked at their thighs, then their chest, then back to their thighs.
It was truly a wonderful sight.
"Don't stare too much, senpai, it makes me uncomfortable." Yelled Tsubaki.
Crap, I got caught way too soon.
Once I was unable to look at their swimsuits I stared at the deep blue sea.
"Aww~ Did you get caught by any chance?~"
Finally, the moment I've been waiting for.
Honami has finally arrived with her gorgeous swimsuit as well.
But when I turned to her I discovered something that broke my heart to pieces.
She had chosen the usual school regulation swimsuit.
(I would definitely count this on the top 10 anime betrayals.)
"Hmm? What's wrong?"
"I thought you'd be wearing something like Hiyori..."
I couldn't hide how sad I was at this sudden development for the worst.
"I don't want to show too much skin in front of other men~ Besides... you can do all you want at night~"
---------------------------------------------------
I believe that's it for this chapter and I gotta say that I'm shocked at how many stopped reading the story after Part 11 was it?
Not sure but the reads went from 500 to 300 real quick.
I'm not too happy about that but what can I do.
But anyway... those that have made it this far, thank you.
I hope to get the next chapter done in a week or so?
I haven't been in the mood to write these past few days, I might even stop writing this story.
If that does happen then that's that.
But it's not likely... I think.
(I really like Emilia but I think her character design would be much better this way.)