Chapter 70: Elaris Island Exam 10
The moment they returned, every single person in Class-1C stopped what they were doing and looked at them.
Olivia frowned. "What?"
One of the students immediately stood up. "Nothing."
"Then why are you all acting weird?"
"Because we respect our Class Representative and would never spread rumors."
Olivia’s eyes twitched. "Who started it?" She figured it out already.
Several fingers pointed toward the same unfortunate student.
"TRAITORS!"
"Justice always prevails."
"You sold me out instantly!"
Cassien sat down beside the fire. "Must be rough having to deal with fake friends like those."
The student immediately folded. "It was Kevin."
"WHAT?"
"It was absolutely Kevin."
"I WASN’T EVEN HERE!"
The entire campsite exploded into arguments. Olivia sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
Meanwhile, Cassien began helping prepare breakfast. The fish Alex caught were surprisingly large. They weren’t bad, but they also weren’t the best.
...
After a little while, breakfast finally came together. Cooked fish and cheer-berries, along with a few edible plants Audrey and Olivia picked out.
Their preserved food from their remaining supplies wasn’t used except for the drinks.
For students stranded on an island during an academy survival exam, the food itself tasted well over a well-over-three-star gourmet dish. Everyone gathered around, conversations started, and the atmosphere felt significantly lighter than yesterday.
Though it didn’t last long.
Because Cassien began to speak.
"We should discuss strategy."
And immediately the mood died.
"Boooo."
"Can we not?"
"I was enjoying breakfast."
Cassien smiled. "The one I cooked for you? Yeah... at least show some common courtesy."
Collective suffering filled the campsite.
Olivia sat beside him. "Continue."
Cassien nodded. "Current situation. Class-1D knows our location approximately because of what happened yesterday. And from what I’ve gathered..." he looked at Audrey, "they definitely hate us."
"Class-1B also remains mostly unknown. We’ve briefly seen them once."
"How about 1A?"
"That’s the issue; we haven’t seen any traces of their existence yet."
Suddenly, the [Game-System] appeared once again.
[Special Event: Obsidian Peaks][Beginning Now][Participants may challenge designated territories for additional points.][Warning: Territory Guardians are not restricted to monsters.]
Everyone stared at the interfaces.
Then a second line appeared.
[The first territory has been claimed.][Owner: Class-1A]
The entire campsite exploded.
"What?!"
"Already?!"
"How?!"
"They found it before anyone else?"
The strongest class had made its move.
Far away, atop the highest cliff of the Obsidian Peaks, a young woman looked down at the world below.
Blonde hair danced in the wind as a massive flag bearing the symbol of Class-1A fluttered behind her. Beside her stood dozens of students, and at the center of them all was a throne made from black stone.
The princess smiled. "Let them come."
The second day of the exam had officially begun, and it wasn’t cutting any slack for anyone.
Panic spread throughout the camp. Each student finally clung to the pressure that slowly climbed onto their bodies.
Olivia quieted them, and the entire class immediately settled down.
"Complaining won’t change anything."
Cassien remained seated. His eyes never left the floating screen.
[Territory Guardians are not restricted to monsters.]
That line bothered him.
"I wonder what they mean," he thought out loud.
Cassien leaned forward. "Could that possibly mean some guardians may or may not be human? It would indeed be interesting, but it would make no sense to add it into an exam like today."
’I have proper rest now. I can defeat every one of those students in Class-1A, the only problem is those two...’
Cassien thought of only two specifically.
’Cid Forge and the princess.’
[Special Notice][The Obsidian Peaks contain Seven Territories.][Each Territory possesses unique rewards.][The Class controlling the most Territories at the end of Day Four will receive bonus points.][Territories may be stolen.]
Cassien smiled.
’Now we’re talking. Though they’ve probably gone the defensive route already, so attacking head-on would be stupid, even with my abilities.’
A sudden earthquake shook the earth.
[Second Territory Located.][But Not Claimed.]
Cassien got up. His movement was so abrupt that several students flinched.
Olivia looked over. "What?"
Cassien dusted off his clothes. "It’s time I reveal it."
"What?"
No one could’ve assumed something remotely close to what Cassien was thinking. They all gave him confused looks.
’As much as I wanted to have fun, I can’t let mysteries continue piling on, not when I’m present.’
Cassien dusted off his clothes a little more.
"Well, it’s nothing much really..." he laughed lightly. "It’s just that there’s a traitor in our class."
His classmates gave him shocked looks.
"Traitor?"
"Yeah."
The campsite instantly fell silent. Even the wind seemed to slow down as Ren nearly dropped his food. Alex froze halfway through a bite of some leftover fish, Audrey’s eyes narrowed, and Olivia stood up right away.
"How can you be so confident?" she asked.
Cassien smiled.
"Because the traitor already exposed themselves."
Alex slowly looked down at his fish.
"What?"
Ren looked terrified.
Cassien sat back down.
"Last night I couldn’t sleep. So I decided to perform a little experiment."
Several students exchanged confused looks.
"What experiment?"
Cassien’s smile widened.
"A fake secret."
He continued,
"Last night, after most of you went to sleep, I individually spoke to twelve different students."
The class looked confused. Alex and Ren slowly raised their hands.
"You did."
"Yeah, I remember."
Cassien nodded.
"And every single one of you received different information."
The atmosphere changed instantly as Cassien laughed.
"To one student, I said we’d move camps at sunrise."
"To another, I said we’d attack Class-1D."
"To another, I said we found a gorgeous territory."
"To another, I said I found Class-1A’s location."
Students slowly began staring at one another.
No one questioned one another because they were already in a state of shock.
Most students who weren’t told anything immediately assumed those statements were told to the buddies beside them, or some other people in their class.
"Why would you lie to your own class? For all we know, you could also be that ’traitor,’ trying to gain an alibi."
"Because I wanted to know which lie would spread."
Then the floating interface appeared again.
[Ding.][Territory Update.][Multiple parties detected approaching the Second Territory.]
"But... nothing spread, or at least nothing that I remember?" Olivia said, with an odd tone.
Cassien smiled, looking at the sky above, preparing himself to move so they could discover more territories.
"That’s the point... that’s how and why I figured out the ’traitor.’"
The individual hidden within the crowd of students automatically assumed Cassien was ’bluffing.’
There was no real evidence, but then again... Ren and Alex both nodded, along with a couple of other students, when he provided the "I told separate secrets" part of the discussion.
So... one question remained.
Has Cassien really caught the traitor this early?
Better question, was what Cassien said... every single thing, a lie?
