If it was arson, it involved a crime, so Katsuragi had to notify the school immediately to collect evidence and find the culprit. If Class A was busy putting out the fire and neglected to report the matter to the school, the arsonist might have time to destroy evidence.
After Katsuragi understood the seriousness of the problem, he immediately turned and ran towards the school staff's campsite without even having time to greet Totsuka.
But Katsuragi had not run far into the forest when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, and then he fell straight to the ground, unconscious.
"Albert, well done. Let me see if this guy has a key card... Tsk, the key card isn't on him."
The man frowned, his gaze flickering between Katsuragi and the flickering flames in the distance.
"Ryuuen, what should we do next? They still have more than three hours until their check-in refresh time."
Albert, stretching his wrists, clearly felt a bit unfulfilled.
He had originally expected a tough fight, but Katsuragi turned out to be so easily defeated.
He was knocked out in an instant.
"What about Class D's check-in time?"
"One hour and twenty-five minutes left."
Albert hadn't been aimlessly wandering these past few days; hiding in the shadows, he had memorized the check-in times for all class strongholds long before Amane discovered him.
These were naturally Ryuuen's instructions, but what Albert also didn't expect was to meet Amane again on the island, and Ryuuen, who had said he had withdrawn from the exam.
How exactly did Ryuuen deceive Amane?
This became the confusion deep in Albert's heart.
"Then let's go to Class D. Overconfidence leads to failure. Today, I, Ryuuen Kakeru, will teach that Miyako a good lesson. Let's go."
Saying that, Ryuuen took the lead and sped towards Class D's stronghold.
Albert glanced at Katsuragi lying on the ground, then closely followed Ryuuen's footsteps towards Class D.
Totsuka was directing everyone to put out the fire when he suddenly saw the tent area on fire again, and for a moment, he didn't know how to handle it at all.
"Katsuragi, Katsuragi, where are you?"
Totsuka loudly called Katsuragi's name, but no one responded to him.
His mind completely blank, he had no idea what to do next. Thinking that the fire might be related to the barbecue party he organized, Totsuka subconsciously wanted to escape.
As long as the fire could be put out, that's all that mattered.
As long as the fire could be put out, then nothing bad would have happened... Totsuka's mind was now focused on only one thing.
That was putting out the fire.
Totsuka numbly ran to the river, filled a bottle with water, and splashed it on the flames, repeating this action mechanically.
He tried to numb himself this way, to escape his unease and panic.
However, these actions were like trying to put out a forest fire with a cup of water, given the current blaze.
Unlike Totsuka.
Most people had sobered up by this point. Seeing that the fire was already uncontrollable and had even burned down the area where firewood and food were stored at the campsite, they began to shout in panic for evacuation.
If only one person had stood up to direct the firefighting, such a thing would not have happened.
But the only leader, Totsuka, chose to flee out of fear of responsibility, and the disorganized students immediately fell into chaos, scattering to save their lives.
"Let's go, Tsukaji, quickly follow me, the fire can't be put out anymore."
"Nin? Are you okay? Let's go quickly."
"Where can we run? Fire is everywhere..."
"The lakeside, if we go to a place with water by the lake, we should not get burned..."
...Similar scenes were everywhere.
The Class A students who had managed to escape the fire watched as their Class A campsite was engulfed in flames, their eyes somewhat vacant. They appeared so small and powerless in the face of the towering inferno.
They had no way to stop the spread of the flames.
Even the person who was organizing the firefighting had disappeared to who knows where.
They wanted to contact the school, but they found that they had no way to get in touch with the school at all.
In other words.
They were trapped in the fire.
The flames were already uncontrollably spreading to the forest, and once the forest caught fire, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Fortunately, a small river blocked the spread of the flames.
Watching their classmates, one by one, frantically jump into the small river and desperately swim to the other bank to escape.
A flicker of unbearable pain crossed Hashimoto's heart.
But he looked at Amane, who stood silently beside him.
He knew that Amane was waiting for him to complete the final transaction.
"Totsuka is over there, the key card must be on him, so... I don't need to tell you what to do, right?"
At the school staff's campsite.
Nagumo, who was bored, drinking a beverage, and taking a stroll on the gravel beach to aid digestion, was the first to spot the towering flames in the distance.
The glass bottle of beverage in his hand unconsciously slipped and fell onto the gravel ground at his feet, spilling the drink everywhere and even splashing onto him.
But at this moment, Nagumo Miyabi didn't have time to care about such things; his eyes were wide open, his gaze completely drawn to the distant scenery..
The dazzling flames almost lit up the distant sky.
"These newcomers... are playing this big? If I had known they were this crazy, I wouldn't have taken on this mess. Sigh, I hope no one got hurt. Never mind, I'll go contact the teachers to start a rescue."
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