Practical Classroom: Kaoru Hanayama's Classroom of Merit

"Huff, huff... Teacher Chabashira, over here...!"

Yosuke Hirata ran breathlessly toward the location of the headquarters.

Following behind him was Chabashira Sae, dressed in a black suit with fine beads of sweat on her forehead.

She is usually cold and composed, but today her face was noticeably dark, and her displeasure was written all over her face.

Under the relentless, scorching summer sun, he was left all alone on the beach, only to be called back by a student's words, "I'm sorry, I forgot about you."

This is utterly disgraceful; where is the dignity of a teacher now?

"Honestly, you guys... I specifically waited for Kougenji on the beach, and not only did you not report it, you also... "

Just as Chabashira was about to put pressure on the whole class with accusatory words, his expression froze unnaturally.

Because her gaze caught sight of the strange object sitting in the center of the camp.

The carcass of a giant wild boar, measuring two meters in length and estimated to weigh three hundred kilograms.

And next to him, Kaoru Hanayama was expressionlessly preparing to light a cigarette.

"…………ha?"

From Chazhu's mouth came a silly voice that sounded completely unlike a teacher's.

(What's going on here? This island should be a school-managed security exam venue. Why is there such a huge, deadly beast here? No, before this... why was it dead?)

Just as her mind was unable to process the situation and stalled.

"Ah, Chabashira-sensei! You're so slow!"

Ike Kanji, completely oblivious to the atmosphere, ran over with a thick handbook in his hand.

"I'd like to buy the Survival Knife, Large Cutting Board, and Pretzels Set from the Points Redemption List. That's a total of 15 Special Points, right? Please deduct them!"

“…………”

Chazhu pressed his temples and sighed deeply.

"...Understood. Deduct 15 points from the special points."

Just as she was operating the processing terminal, a faint electronic sound came from the special walkie-talkie worn in Chashu's ear.

"Tea Pillar Teacher, can you hear me? This is an instruction from the Chairman."

On the other end of the walkie-talkie came Majima Tomoya's urgent voice.

"We are aware of the reports regarding the mismanagement of the island leading to the presence of wild animals. However, the special exam will continue. Currently, a heavily armed emergency security force is en route to your location by speedboat. They are ensuring the safety of the island discreetly without alerting the students. ...Please, please do not cause any further trouble."

"……learn."

After cutting off the communication, Chashu looked again at the boar's corpse and Hanayama, unsure of what to say.

(...This is insane. This school, and that guy too.)

She had even lost the strength to be sarcastic, and could only quietly retreat to the shade of the trees on the edge of the base camp.

Not long after, a simple set of knives and seasonings was delivered to the designated location via drone.

"This won't work! I can't cut it at all!"

Chi pressed his entire body weight onto the kitchen knife and pushed it down hard.

But the wild boar's thick skin easily deflected the household stainless steel kitchen knife.

"Give it to me."

Unable to bear it any longer, Huashan slowly exhaled a puff of smoke and stepped forward.

"A kitchen knife alone won't do, Hanayama. We need something like a saw or a machete..."

Before Chi could finish speaking, Huashan dug his thick fingers deep into the flesh of the wild boar's back.

"snort."

With a brief burst of force, the muscles in Huashan's arm bulged abnormally.

Crunch! Plop plop plop!

The chilling sound of flesh and skin being forcibly torn apart was deafening, making one want to cover their ears.

Huashan, relying solely on his grip and arm strength, tore open the tough wild boar hide as easily as peeling an orange.

Blood splattered, revealing red raw flesh and white fat.

"Ugh...so bloody...!"

Just as the boys were turning pale from this violent dissection assignment.

"...It's a bit of a darker taste, isn't it? But it feels very reliable."

"Hmm. Hanayama-kun looks really cool like this..."

Karuizawa Megumi, Sakura Airi, and the other girls were not afraid at all. Instead, they gained a real sense of security from that feeling of power and whispered among themselves with blushing faces.

"Alright! Once we peel off the skin, everything will be easy! Hirata, are the preparations for starting a fire ready!?"

"Yes, no problem."

As if to dispel the smell of blood, Ikehira and Hirata hurriedly set up a stove and placed the cut meat on the wire rack.

In the blink of an eye, the wild boar meat dripped with oil, and its juicy and enticing aroma enveloped Class C's base camp.

This was supposed to be a survival test, but the smiles on their faces were like those of people enjoying a barbecue party at a resort.

......

"Hmph, hmph, really, just stop this already...!"

In a dark cave where sunlight cannot reach.

Masumi Kamuro, panting heavily, braced her hands against the rock wall.

On her back was Sakayanagi Arisu, who was unable to walk on the mountain by herself.

"Chirp—, chirp chirp chirp!"

On the ceiling, several bats flapped their wings and flew in a crisscrossing pattern.

Kamuro frowned and roughly wiped the sweat dripping from his forehead.

"How could you make me crawl into such a disgusting cave? If we fail again this time, I will definitely leave you here and go back by myself."

Kamuroku's anxiety had reached its peak.

In order to lead Class A to victory, they scrambled across the island to capture even one more stronghold.

But no matter where they went, they found that the strongholds had already been occupied.

"Hehe... Don't worry, Masumi-kun. Even Hanayama-kun couldn't possibly find such a hidden depth in the cave..."

Sakayanagi's cool voice rang out just as the two finally arrived at the check-in terminal set up at the deepest part of the cave.

"Beep. This outpost is currently occupied by Class C."

The relentless electronic notification tone completely shattered Kamuro's psychological defenses.

"Aaaaaah!! Stop kidding me! Who is it?!"

Kamuro wanted to kick the terminal away, but he held back and slumped to the ground.

Sakayanagi, who had just climbed off her back, was also unusually speechless.

In her calculations, even Kaoru Hanayama couldn't cover such a large area by himself, since his physical test data showed that endurance was his weak point.

"...Masumi-san."

"What are you doing...? If you dare say you're heading to the next location right now, I'll really beat you up."

Kamuro cast a resentful glance at her, but Sakayanagi put away his usual confident smile and quietly lowered his eyes.

"It's my fault for not being able to do it properly... My physical limitations have held back Class A and you more than I expected. I'm very sorry."

"...Eh."

I never expected that Sakayanagi, who would never admit his mistakes, would apologize so frankly.

Kamuro couldn't muster any anger, so he sighed and scratched his head.

"...It's nothing. I knew you were a loser from the start anyway. Alright, go back. Leave the rest to the other guys."

Although Kamuro spoke rudely, he turned his back again.

The two remained silent, yet the distance between their hearts drew slightly closer as they walked out of the cave.

When they came out into the bright sunlight, they couldn't help but look up at the sky.

In the distance, from the other side of the forest, wisps of pure white smoke were rising.

A faint, smoky aroma, like that of roasted meat, wafted on the wind.