Artificial lights covered the entire area with massive enduring pillars of luminosity supporting the lamps on top. Our way back was rather silent as none of us really talked about anything, but I was constantly switching back and forth in terms of capturing glances with Shurit and he looked at everything he came across with a high degree of curiosity.

Although the entire student body was split inside their own artificial houses, the guards were nonetheless split into the vicinity and as such, the moment we walked right back into the area, a man in a black suit approached us. His height far towered us, as it stood per say.

"Did you find any of them? If so, report to lord Phoenix at this instant."

It shocked me a bit that the guard didn't care about our whereabouts but instead about our journey into the unknown.

"...."

Shurit didn't respond and analyzed the guard and the surroundings, which I found odd, so instead I answered back.

"No..."

"Is that so? I advice you to get a night of rest. Tomorrow, lord Phoenix will give an in-depth explanation about the additional rewards."

"Oh, I see... I didn't know that... What'd ya know, Shurit? Apparently, regardless of our search, tomorrow, it will be when everything begi---"

Despite the fact that I melancholically was speaking to Shurit in a kind manner, he didn't seem to care and began to solely interact with the guard on his own; firstly by closing his distance...

"Where is Phoenix?"

"I am afraid you are treating lord Phoenix with an unnecessary amount of disrespect. Refrain from doing such thing---"

"Where is Percy Phoenix? Is that better?"

Completely indifferent to the towering height of the black-suited guard midst this dark night, Shurit kept pursuating after being denied one time.

His voice although the same as usual had a completely different mood to it. It was calm and relaxed. Far too immune to the current circumstance.

However, the guard was not one to take lightly.

"I am not telling you. You are to return to your corresponded vicinity. No more words out of this!"

...But then Shurit decided to lie... Which was something I never saw him do it so openly...

He started by showing the bleeding hand overflowing with cold scarlet blood and spoke to the guard who was mildly shocked.

"I was attacked. I would like to report this to Perc---"

"S-Shurit?! What are you--- Sorry! He's not himself right now! We'll go now! Sorry for the interruption!"

Forcefully, I grabbed his left wrist, but he didn't budge before firing another question to the confused guard.

"I still haven't gotten my answer. Where is Percy Phoenix?"

"...? He's---"

"Yes?"

With more force, I pushed Shurit to my side and closed in on his ear while the guard watched though he could not hear our conversation.

"What are you doing?! Lying won't get you anywhere...! Your head is messed up!"

"No, I need to know where---"

"That's not important right now, Shurit! Come on, before we attract any more attention."

"......."

To this, he actually complied and I was able to clarify something to the guard who was standing there, waiting for a response.

"He needs to rest! We'll be off!"

"......"

Silently, he watched us return to the house and Shurit also didn't speak a single word back to me, which was infuriating since I could not understand what he was talking about.

"What is going on with you?"

"Hm? Nothing. Do you know where Phoenix is, Ann? It would help me tremendously if I knew where Percy Phoenix is."

"............"

Why is showing such an abnormal interest in his location? He knows that he's allocated in the golden jet, most likely.

"Think hard through your head, Shurit. You'll get there."

"......."

Once again, he took a silent stance while looking towards the other houses. There is a horizontal line right across the beach where multiple houses are incorporated within. They serve as houses for the groups that are here in this island. Each of them have two floors and are exactly like bungalows from camping sites. Except their size was fairly wider and bigger. Lights were implanted everywhere through an electric line of artificial lamps connected all the way from the first house to the last, so it was hard to get lost despite the dark weather.

Our house is one of the very last ones and there are about 200 or so of them. I don't know for certain, but there are a lot and since we are at the very beginning of the horizontal line, we are quite far from it. Which begs the question: How do we distinguish our own house? When Shurit first ran into the back of our jet which wasn't that far away from us at the time, during the time when he registered, our entire group was given an registration card so we are able to walk in and out of the house.

Without it, we cannot get it, but what's necessary to acknowledge here is that the card obviously only works in the house that we registered in. In other words, it makes no sense at all to attempt to utilize it on other houses.

Still, Shurit was doing exactly that, right in the first house.

"...What are you doing?"

"I need to talk to other people. Hey, there are people here inside this house, right?"

"...Yes, but they are asleep."

"I see."

He then put his card on his pocket and moved out of the vicinity's entrance which contained the key card's reception. Afterwards, he looked to see where the guards were and saw that they were all concentrated in the entrances of the jungle.

With a fast rhythm, he climbed the three degree staircase and knocked on the door with brute strength which made me rush into him out of anxiety.

"Shurit?!?! What are you doing?! You can't just knock into their doors into the middle of night! Come on, let's go back before we are caught!"

I was panicking as I could already tell that we would be in trouble should someone come in, but Shurit was not caring at all and decided to ignore me while standing in front of the house door.

"What do you need them for?!"

"I told you already. I need to know where Percy Phoenix is. So, if you're not going to tell me, then get lost, Ann."

His voice contained a glacial-tone to it unlike the usual Shurit, but still, despite being utterly hurt on the inside, I didn't want him to get in trouble so I told him the answer that he already should know...

"I----You are so stupid sometimes! No, all the time! God, look there!!"

I pointed forcefully to the golden jet where Percy Phoenix most likely is, all the way to our left, near the west edge of the beach.

"I already figured it was there due to the high concentration of guards, but he really is there. See, you can be useful when you want to."

"That's beyond the point! People are coming down! What are we going to---"

Without a shred of respect, he began to walk away from the vicinity and started to casually stride through the west. In specific, he was heading towards where the golden jet was, but I could not let him do that because it would be too dumb and I don't know what he's thinking lately!

Something happened to him back there, but I have no idea what!

"Shurit?! Let's get out---"

"Why are you still here? I thought I told you to get lost."

"Wh--- Wh... You're not making any damn sense, Shurit! Stop walking and face me!"

But he still didn't face me and continued onwards to the golden jet which made me nervous and paranoid as I was scared of being left alone in this night while having to explain why he knocked on the door, but he's not alright...

Plus, he's not going to be allowed to Percy Phoenix at this time of the night, so I have to stop him before he gets into more trouble.

"You stupid block-head!!! If you keep on ignoring me, I'll never love you again!"

The sea waves hit my feet, stone-cold as I shouted that with my eyes closed, out of desperation, because this current Shurit is someone beyond my understanding.

He looks and acts... different.

"...."

He stopped his tracks and the people that had came down noticed that we were having an argument and didn't bother to interfere much. I didn't want to continue this as it was already embarrassing enough, but what took me by surprise was how Shurit came back to me and began to take my two fragile hands up to his while saying confusing words.

"...You love me? Ann, you really, really, love me? You mean it?"

I had expected a degree of nervousness or emotion in his words, but he remained calm nonetheless, which frightened me deep down as I had trouble coming up with words. However, I couldn't deny it.

"...Don't you remember? Yes, I love you... So, let's stop this and go back already... People are coming out of their houses..."

"Alright. We'll make love tonight then."

"......?"

He didn't pay any heed to my confusion and took ahold of my right wrist with his injured hand. I could feel his cold blood on my yet warm hand.

But what did he mean by that? He couldn't be referring to---

"Which one is ours?"

With this many houses, it's a bit normal that he lost count and doesn't know where our house is in. After all, it's an endless row, however, I know for a fact that it's the second last one, because we were the penultimum ones to arrive.

"Uh... The last one before the last."

"Let's hurry up then. Get on my back, Ann."

He began to deform his posture to the point where I could put myself entirely on his back.

Before I went in, I had to ask him something.

"How's your hand doing? It must hurt a lot..."

"It doesn't hurt. Get on my back, Ann."

".....Alright..."

Afterwards, the moment I hopped onto his back, I felt a well-developed trapezium on his back and although I never looked at Shurit in a physical way, suddenly, he started to become slightly more attractive from a physical perspective.

Isn't it normal for a girl to like a guy's well-developed parts; I thought. Midway, as he sprinted into the last one of the houses, unconsciously, I began to warp my physical senses right into his right arms and contracted shoulder and felt a superb rigidness in them alongside a cohesive physical structure well-implanted.

Though in the past, Shurit had never been good when it comes to physical strength-related exercises except maybe running, I never noticed this. It was also then that I realized that I never saw Shurit as a man, but only by first-ever boyfriend and the only person who I had a "relationship" with in the past and thus, I never felt the need to compare him to anyone despite such a fact being present.

However... As our adolescence grew brimmer and brimmer by the minute, I couldn't help but wonder several unnecessary thoughts and therefore began to widely speculate what he meant earlier.

".....Shurit....? What did you mean by.... You know--- M-Making love tonight...?"

Unable to show a single trance of hesitation, Shurit quickly replied.

"It means what it means. You love me, right?"

".........Yes......."

"Good. Give me your card, Ann."

"..........Okay...."

He's probably being severely dense and only thinking that we are going to kiss and have a long talk, so there's no use in digging into this...

On his command, I passed him the card that was in my skirt and he passed both of our cards and moved into the house, so I no longer felt the necessity of being carried like this and besides, this would be my destination.

"...Hey, Shurit? You can put me down."

"No. Where is my room?"

"...It's up stairs...."

"Yes, but which one?"

"You're the one who knows that, Shurit!"

We were speaking severely low to the point where no one could wake up, so he continued to guide us upstairs.

But then I felt the need to ask why he said no earlier.

"Why did you say no? My room is downstairs..."

"What are you talking about? We are doing it in my room."

"...Do what...?"

What he said afterwards blew my expectations as I then did not know how to react properly and instead my eyes grew wider in surprise the moment we hit the top of the stairs.

"Sex."

"........"

Did he just...

"Which one is my room, Ann?"

".....I'm sorry, could you say what you said earlier?"

"Before my previous question?"

"Y-Yes... Also, your room is probably the one to the far end."

I pointed at the far end because although I knew not what room was Shurit's but since he is heavily anti-social, he would naturally pick the furthest room isolated on the end instead of the one's closer to the entrance, or so was my reasoning. And knowing Shurit, it was without a doubt his room.

On the other hand, my mind was fuelled with a new sensation of nervousness as I didn't know how to propereply react as this was the first he ever acted this bold and unafraid. Previously, he would not interact with me and avoid my glance at all costs, but now that we made up and began to understand each other again, it's... normal that this is happening?

This is... normal, right...?

"I said sex."

"You're kidding me..."

"I am not."

Mercilessly, he opened his own door and began to take his shoes off with his other shoe as support and toss it randomly. He emptied his pockets which contained his card and cellphone.

As for me, each second felt like a ticking bomb as I knew not how to react because this would be my first time ever and.... I am unsure whether or not I actually want this. Yes, I love him, but something about this feels wrong and rushed...?!

So, before Shurit could turn around and put me in his bed, I spoke in my defense.

"H-Hold on... I don't mean to upset you but this is just.... Too rushed! I don't like this..."

"What do you mean rushed? You earlier said you loved me. Plus, you didn't deny it back then. That's very manipulative of you, Ann..."

His arm strength faded and I could safely distance myself from him. But he's wrong here...

"I wasn't aware of what you were referring to...! I'm sorry, but I..."

I looked to Shurit, in front of me and his eyes were stone-cold in the middle of the night, but, although I expected him to argue back, he... didn't...

"Oh, I see. That's cool."

".........?"

He began to take his card and cellphone back from his bed's right desk by walking around the bed and ultimately also put his shoes on while I watched the whole thing, still nervous.

"...What are you doing...?"

"I am putting my accessories on. Strange wording---just my shoes on alongside with the rest of everything."

After he was done, he walked into the door and pushed it in his direction to open it. What didn't make the most sense out of this was that he was about to leave me in his room instead of telling me to go back to mine.

Strangled by a sudden anxiety, I reached out to him as I couldn't think of anything positive.

"W.....Wait! I am confused! I feel tricked for some reason...?! I understand what you want, but.... I also don't?!"

"Go to bed, Ann. I don't need you."

"....? What...? That's.... cold.... You're not---supposed to say that to someone you love---"

"I don't love you, Ann."

My heart burst into a thousand pieces once I heard that.

Subconsciously, my body began to retract as I could no longer understand anything about Shurit. Everything about him started to feel like something I was not aware of and that scared me immediately.

"Bye."

".....Shurit... This is your room..."

"Zero difference. You can have it."

"......That's not how it works... I will have to go back to my room and you'll stay here..."

Naturally, I was crying and expected some sort of consultation, but he was being extremely cold-hearted for some reason...

"...Shurit...? What did I... do to you...? Are you serious right now...? About what you said...? How you don't love me?"

"That is the gist of it. But you made a solid point. This is my room. Get out."

...................!!!!

"........"

My heartbeat was absurdly increasing and I was still unsure if what was happening was happening. My entire body felt like it could crumble at any given minute as Shurit walked right past me and flopped right into his bed with his shoes on.

I watched him grab one of his pillows as he began to close his eyes...

"Why are you still here? Get lost already."

"....I....!!"

I wanted to argue back and even at the worst case scenario cling, but I couldn't find the strength to do so and as such, I attempted to leave his room until I found a reason to stay here a little longer.

"...Your wound... You said you---"

"I don't need your assistance. I'll fix it!"

Enraged, he talked back in a louder tone than usual which stroke a void of fear onto me to the point where I was forced to evacuate back into my room. My rythmn was faster than usual and I didn't know what to do.

At the sight of my bed's pillow, I slowly swam into my bed while grabbing it and then I screamed inside the pillow which decreased all the noise of a normal shout.

"What is wrong with you?! I thought that we---"

However, in-between the intervals of my loud crying, I heard footsteps from down the hall and I thought that it would be one of my friends who would comfort me, but the figure just kept on striding down the stairs all the way to what I would assume would be the entrance.

"............."

Wipping my tears, I thought that just maybe that would be Shurit, that for some stupid reason, was lying to me earlier and once I found the strength to emerge from my bed, I snuck behind slowly out of the house and looked for Shurit.

"....Where...?"

The rear of the north jungle is blocked by the guards, so I followed my eyes to the back of the house. After trailing there, I saw Shurit heading towards the side of the jungle that was not guarded by any of Percy Phoenix's guards.

I thought of shouting in his direction, but I then noticed that he was walking completely relaxed. I also thought that if I kept my distance and followed him that I would find an opportunity to observe his current behavior and why he's acting like that.

The Shurit from before and the Shurit now are completely different and something happened. Despite my emotional fragile state right now, I am determined to seek out a reasonable explanation about this as this isn't making any sense at all.

That's why as soon as Shurit entered the east side of the jungle, I kept my distance for about twenty or so meters and trailed him for as long as I could.

Shurit always kept a fast-medium pace which was hard to keep a trace of, but through the night, I still managed to keep him under my eyes as I tried to think for as long as I could why Shurit was acting this way.

It was only for about thirty minutes afterward that Shurit drifted away to a different section instead of the long obscure jungle. There was a cave entrance in one of the furthest shores to the east side. In the middle of the beach lied such a peculiar location that someone would be undoubetely curious to know what was on the inside.

Unable to keep my fear in check, I brought my phone out of my skirt and attempted to contact Shurit, but I was met with a no-signal factor and couldn't perform my call.

".......Why is he going there....?!"

I slowly started to feel a cryptic sensation as I knew not what was ahead of me in that cave and thought to myself that going forward could very well not be safe. If I had to describe my feelings for that particular cave on the furthest east shore of the beach, it would be like walking alone in an abandoned mansion in the middle of nowhere. A mansion containing everything under the topic of "unknown" and something that nonetheless shouldn't exist under normal circumstances.

Not even the sea was gentle anymore, as the waves kept on clashing with fierce strength beyond my reckoning.

Furthermore, ignoring my own fear was one thing, but leaving Shurit in there, all alone, I--- couldn't bring myself to run away this time and so, I walked the linear path in the cold sand all the way towards the cave. My thought process revolved around bringing Shurit back from that place as the criminals could be there and exploring this island on our own was very foolish.

The fear of the unknown had begun to consume me very slowly with each fast stride I took in until I reached the cave. The entrance of the cave was mashed with rocky boulders of low dimension and the entrance's height was fairly small but not small to the point where someone couldn't just walk it while being met with a staggering opposing small entrance on the top. It was enough for someone as small as me to walk in.

"...Shurit....? Are you there...?"

As I spoke to the dark upbringing of this cave with nothing on sight, I called out to Shurit but to no satisfactory result since no positive answer came forth.

Out of reflex I then lit up the torch that I had in my other pocket and began to walk the shrouded path with a tremendous fear in my system.

"....I am scared and I don't know why you are acting the way you are...!"

I had to hold the lantern with my two hands despite the shakiness and tears in my eyes.

Each step felt hard as the strength in my legs was fading.

".....I don't know what happened to you but you're not acting like yourself...! Asking for--- What's wrong with you?"

I said countless words as I kept on walking the very straight-forward path adjoined with several minerals to them. Furthermore, I began to spot geoglyphs in them, to my surprise as the crystals in the walls in addition revealed themselves to be green all along.

But most importantly, I spotted a light source on the outside end of the cavern. The path was no longer linear and instead had a dead-end. While walking to that still faraway illuminated end, I spotted a iron-prison-like door on my left which was open, but I followed the path to the light instead because I knew Shurit would be there.

As I grew closer to that end, I could spot a bonfire and two individuals talking to each other casually. It actually made me question whether or not they were aware of my existence for a split second as I stood twenty meters away from them still able to hearing their loud conversation.

"He's going to betray us, isn't he?"

"No doubt he will. I am beyond positive Kawahara will sell us out in less than a day."

"What a fool. Does he fail to see the benefit of following the strategy?"

"That's not it, Sagasuga. He likes to hog on all the attention and so, it's only natural for him to not take our course of action. It's too linear---and so, we are going to be against two clashing forces."

"So it seems, Hyunda."

My body froze once I heard the names of "Sagasuga" and "Hyunda" as I recalled earlier back when Percy Phoenix was mentioning the bounties. The individual who is on the left side of the bonfire eating what seems to be an onion is Hajime Hyunda and the other individual mirroring him is Hiroyoshi Sagasuga.

They are standing on such a dead end, but in reality, they are on top of a cliff where a bottomless pit below lies. At any given moment, with just a small crack, they could very well crumble below it yet they are there as if that's completely not a possibility.

"What are we going to do about this though?"

"I wanted to see what he could do with it, but it appears that he lacks training so, naturally, someone followed him."

Sagasuga then sighed.

"For how long?"

"Be patient, Sagasuga. Also---it's not as if it was his mistake. It was more of a calculation. He's growing bolder. Don't you think so?"

But Sagasuga did not respond and instead, Hyunda looked in my direction alongside Sagasuga as if that question was meant towards me. However, my figure was permanently locked onto the scene and I couldn't deliver a single word except for one though very meekly and fragile.

"...S-Shurit....?"

For some reason, my question gave birth to a positive answer as Hiroyoshi Sagasuga answered it right away.

"Shurit is right on the back!"

"That's right. "Shurit" is by all means on the back, you must've missed him, Ann."

"Best of luck, Ann."

They both wished me luck and I was even more confused as to why two criminals gave me the answer to what I was seeking.

It was then, before I turned around to look for Shurit, who I missed, that I questioned how they knew my name, only to be met with the sight of Shurit extremely close to me, right in the front.

"S-Shurit! You're here!"

Unable to control my vivid emotions, I hugged him back and he didn't react at all. No doubt about it, this is Shurit. That height, that hair, everything about him is there, physically. This is Koji Shurit, the person that I am hugging.

I then, looked to Shurit's face, unknowingly, because he was not responding at all and I thought that something was wrong with this amount of silence.

In addition to that, I started to feel a sensation within my lower abdomen. A very staggering painful feeling that would not go away and further expanded as each second would go by.

"....Huh....? Why am I....?"

My eyes kept on switching back and forth constantly as I was indecisive on whether or not I should keep my vision in Shurit, who is reaching out for something deep inside his mouth, for unknown reasons, or in my lower abdomen, where a knife off great familiarity is firmly put in.

Shock and terror struck me not because I was evidently dying, but because what I believe all along was an illusion. Shurit took out from his mouth a device that had two to three wires on it alongside a small column of sound. It was basking in so much saliva that it was undoubetely gruesome.

"Blegh! This was a horrible experience..."

A voice that I had never heard before coming from Shurit tore my world apart as Shurit stuffed the device onto his right pocket whilst taking out the knife that I had picked up earlier from my abdomen.

Out of weakness, I clung to Shurit as much as I could, midst despair.

"...S-Shurit...?! Why did you--- No, who... are you...?!"

Shurit was brushing his hair in order to deform the way his hair would normally look like and what I saw was a completely different person who coincidentally matched his height and everything about him, physically.

"Since you're gonna die, I'll give you the general explanation---- Missy, that is not Shurit, but someone who has the same height, hair color, and uniform as him. The relevant factor to knowing who is who is their voice--- That's why the device is there. Through the right regulations and after studying Shurit's voice, by linking those wires to one's throat, that person can successfully mimic Shurit's voice. However, it was a risky gamble and it wouldn't work in the long run because their physical descriptions don't match. But, somehow, it worked."

"This could've gone so wrong, Hyunda... We only had his voice to work with--- his entire personality wasn't in our database."

"Exactly why this couldn't have gone for too long. In less than a day, he would've been exposed. So, picking someone with his identical physical traits such as height and hair color was the safer pick. Hey, Ann! Did the voice sound too robotic or was it naturally fine?"

It was at that moment that Ann could no longer focus on anything rational to think about. Everything in her surroundings were confusing her.

The fact that she was tricked into thinking that this figure who is someone she knows just by looking at his face and hair now was her most beloved person. Or the very fact that her abdomen is running low on blood as that fatal wound is spilling out of her gut.

Ann could only wonder one thing as she could only think about a single element that went through her mind at all times, despite being in mortal danger.

".....I...Is Shurit... alright.....?"

".........."

The figure who was looking down on Ann mercilessly despite his mortal action against her did not speak, as he began to feel a slight shred of guilt for what he had done to Shurit.

Sagasuga and Hyunda watched for a while in silence, but Hyunda could not bear what the figure was doing and spoke in a loud imperial tone to him in order to wake him up.

"Daniel! What is the first rule?"

A rule that Hiroyoshi Sagasuga and Hajime Hyunda both had that was utterly necessary and was the key principle to securing any goal or objective along the way.

Of course, upon hearing his proclamation, Daniel no longer had any doubts.

"Don't get attached."

In the exact same cold voice tone that Shurit, who was in reality Daniel Lead, possessed, he faced down the mortally wounded victim whose life was running out of time.

"Give her the truth."

"It's useless to run away from this as further delaying the truth will only embrace contagious weaknesses."

Ann didn't want to think about what could've possibly happened to Shurit in that time where he was gone, but as she gave more and more thought, it was strange all along how despite the fact that Shurit was the one who said that should they get lost that they would have to call out each other's names yet he did not do that once. Even though shouting out her name wasn't impressively hard at all, it meant that something incapacitated Shurit at that very exact moment.

In sequence to realizing what had potentially evidently happened to her beloved, Ann began to cry beyond her capacity as snot fueled down from her nose as well. Out of fear, she in addition wet herself from her body fluids as it was too much for her to handle.

Deep down, the truth was that at the moment she knew she was going to die, she was hoping that Shurit was still alive as she couldn't bear the thought out Shurit dying.

However, upon seeing the wicked smile on Daniel's lips as he showed an extraterrestrial willingness to explain in sheer detail what had happened to Shurit, in the end, Ann's body collapsed as the shock killed her.

"My first thought was that I could take the skin off his entire body and put it in some sort of mannequin, but I also then realized that would take way too much time and so, I took out the skin off his face. However, I have zero technique when it comes down to it, so what actually happened is that I scourged through his eyeballs, teeth, ears, hair and ultimately, only his skull was exposing. Surely, I attempted to put everything in my face, but it didn't work out! I had to then adjust to how he was. My hair is slightly spiky with three spikes in general, but he had plenty so it was hard work for me. I will admit that I was hungry all day long, so I ate his legs after I had snapped his neck from behind while you two were having your lover's quarrel! And---"

Hiroyoshi Sagasuga interrupted Daniel from afar when he saw that her body had collapsed on the ground with blood scattered everywhere.

"It appears that was her limit..."

Sagasuga showed a reasonable sigh and thought to himself how the other two were committed to extremes at times, as he saw Hyunda get up to meet up with Daniel.

"How was it? Did his legs taste good?"

"It fucking sucked, dude. But I always wanted to try it out. Also, I found out where he is. What now?"

Hyunda didn't answer his question immediately until Hiroyoshi Sagasuga erupted from his seat and went to meet with them on the exact same parameter where they are alongside a current dead body spilling so much blood to the point of dripping from the edges of the upward cliff where there is along a very lively bonfire, in contrast.

"We inform Kawahara about how we were successful in getting information about where Percy is."

"But Sagasuga, didn't we previously come to the conclusion that he will betray us? If so, aren't we giving him what he wants a little bit too much?"

Out of curiosity, Sagasuga didn't argue back to Daniel's point and allowed him to proceed.

"We informed him about how Percy was undoubtedly going to try his absolute hardest to destroy us. If Kawahara joins him, then their forces are doubled. Knowing Kawahara, he's going to be successful since Percy is gullibable to opportunities. Now, I'm not objecting that we tell Kawahara about this since he will work with Percy, but we should add an additional factor to this. Something for Kawahara to make Percy do what we can't do because we can't be near Percy."

Having understood what he was implying, Sagasuga clapped to Daniel, as a way to compliment him.

"Good point! Something to know about Kawahara is that he's going to betray our intentions, if I were to point out the depth of his core."

Hajime Hyunda interevened as he had a better sight on this than Sagasuga.

"Should you tell him something, he will most likely do the opposite. It's quite simple what has to be done."

"Yes, indeed. What else have you learned on your way there, Daniel?"

The entire point of Daniel pretending to be Shurit was so he could undoubetely infiltrate the area to gather intel, but as Sagasuga and Hyunda had deducted, the entire infiltration could only go on for a few hours and it had to be during the night where the majority of the student body would be asleep.

Daniel could've been easily exposed quickly as this is the first time he has done this type of operation.

However, Daniel did manage to extract information.

"There is a heavy security camera system all over the island, but it mainly just covers the more wide open areas. Furthermore, the area contains a variety of guards that easily exceed the number of fifty, so choosing to fight our way out isn't an option. My time was fairly limited and I couldn't explore what I wanted to explore because this bitch here was in the way. She was so dramatic that she wouldn't even allow me to focus on the mission. I attempted to silence her via other ways, but it didn't work out."

"Haha, maybe emotional manipulation isn't your thing, Daniel?"

"No, that's not it, Sagasuga. I'll get the hang of it. Anyways, Percy is located in the golden jet within the vicinity. In addition to that, as you can see, the guy I killed was carrying a weapon and so was this girl. In other words, it's very likely that we are being hunted down for real. One of the guards mentioned something as a reward so Phoenix is probably manipulating their wills into this by rewarding them with hips of money..."

"Not quite, Daniel. Something greater than money. You can't just buy someone's life for an absurd amount of money. Waving war against criminals is insane and no reward would be reasonable unless that reward is something for a lifetime. I'm not arguing money can't do that, but the reward goes beyond money for sure."

In silence, the three of them thought for a while until Sagasuga was the first one to speak.

"Percy can't be in charge, no matter how I look at it. If he is, then the plan will be ruined."

"It doesn't necessarily have to be that way, but it would be very optimal if instead of Phoenix, Kawahara was the one leading them. Percy is not aware of the hidden dungeons."

Daniel then spoke after Hyunda was done, establishing the core consensus of this conversation.

"We just have to give Kawahara reasons as to why he should not only betray us but also betray Phoenix. He is reckless and likes attention. Essentially, they are both of the same coin, aren't they? With that many people to his command, he will realize that not even we could face them head on..."

"The hidden dungeons is something that Percy doesn't know. That's the factor that's important to capitalize on. However, Kawahara doesn't know what they contain because his memory is refreshed. He, along with them, has no idea. With that said, we take advantage of this factor and fool them into thinking that they have the upper hand."

"Will it be that easy, Sagasuga? In the first place, why would Kawahara go to the hidden dungeons on his own? As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing benefitting them there."

"Unless there is."

Hyunda gained both of their attentions and so, he spoke succinctly.

"Kawahara's main concern is acing the exam, don't forget that. Furthermore, obtaining the components of the exam is something he will feel naturally obliged to do. However, their utilities are by far too random if they are put in the wrong place."

"Hyunda, will we have to place them in their places again...?"

Daniel sounded extremely bored as he would have to do something he wasn't really thinking about doing. However, that was not the case.

"Wrong. Remember, his top priority will always be the exam and we already know how to solve it. Essentially, by inputting the ten's individual's fingerprints, the door will open itself. He will have to go through lengths, whether he likes it or not. But, where is Phoenix in all this? He doesn't give a shit about the exam. Their only correspondent goal is essentially us. That's why their cooperation will be meek and ultimately, the massive number of students who are on this island won't also go through unnecessary lengths."

"What Hyunda is trying to say is that they both have to go through the same length of action, otherwise, our plan is very much screwed."

"Basically."

After thinking for a while, Daniel came up with a conclusion and offered therefore a solution afterwards.

"We have all the components with us, so they will serve as a trading interest for both Phoenix and Kawahara. I say we give them all."

"How?"

"It doesn't matter how, we will just put them in random places not too far from each other. Except, where we put them, we will tell Kawahara that Percy has acquired the possession of those components in the meantime. That's not true and Kawahara will feel the need to instigate further. We will also tell him that Percy is using these components as bait as he knows that we need them in order to pass the exam. Phoenix is not aware of our exam, so this is a lie, however, we will tell him that he does know even though that's not the true."

Sagasuga, in agreement, spoke afterwards.

"I am seeing the line of play here. Percy doesn't know about the exam and when Kawahara asks about the components he will either think we tricked him or something like that, but upon seeing that Percy does have them, he will know that we didn't trick him and will think that Percy is conspiring against him. This will cause Kawahara to do something drastic in order to strip Percy off his power."

"The conclusion to take here is that we will tell Kawahara how Percy is actually plotting against all of us and that his core plan is to screw us up by denying us the components. In reality, none of this is true and there will be a fight for power. Kawahara is bound to approach Percy because he will betray us, but he also will befriend Percy through logic and reasoning. Of course, he will share his knowledge about this island with Percy. But that's what we want, in the end."

Daniel and Sagasuga, in essence, agreed with what Hyunda had just said.

For their plan to work, Kawahara was beyond essential and this was a factor that was decided long ago, even before Percy arrived here in this island.

"Won't we need to draw their attention on our own though?"

"Not quite, Daniel. Because it's fairly obvious where we could only be---inside the sections. Kawahara already went inside three of them, so in his mind, they are perfectly stable environments and there is nothing wrong about them. Therefore, Kawahara won't go there on his own. The logical choice is to create groups that serve the purpose of exploration. Without us, the exam can't be completed."

"Although what Sagasuga just said sounds nice and all, not everything will go like this and we will need to adapt. Of course, we can't just play hide all the time. I've angered Percy and there are also rewards for us, Daniel. In other words, it won't just be Kawahara who will be against us, but all of them."

Acknowledging that, Daniel arrived at a conclusion.

"Shouldn't we go different ways then? Hyunda, you could be responsible for drawing their attentions. Furthermore, it's not just Kawahara and his lackeys; there are more students to this exam, so it would be important to capitalize on that. Sagasuga, you're good at manipulating others, so even in face of a tough crowd, you will be successful. As for me, I have something in mind. There's just something I am dying to try. With that said--- Ah."

Daniel had not realized that he was administring orders to Hyunda and Sagasuga who are ranks above him, so he already had realized that all of his words were inferior due to his ranking within.

However, Sagasuga and Hyunda looked at Daniel not with eyes of defiance but with eyes of faith as they did not object.

"Very well."

"Alright."

They both shrugged and lightly smiled as they both agreed with Daniel's proposition.

Hyunda spoke an additional line to conclude this conversation.

"The line of play will, in theory, be what we just discussed. However, the way we harness the goal is how we decide."

What Daniel would then say, would shock both Hyunda and Sagasuga.

"Isn't that allowing your subjectivism to take form?"

"........" x2.

They were aware of something that Daniel was not aware and deep down, they knew he was right.

Hyunda whistled out loud while kicking Ann's body off the cliff afterwards.

"Good one."

They then, exited the cave and followed their respective locations as the three of them had one goal in mind.