People at the practical education center only want to drop out.

However, I think those trivial matters they're talking about are meaningless. Since we're going to talk about them anyway, we might as well talk about something that will help us improve.

Since you are a Chinese student studying abroad, I imagine you have something I can learn from you about Chinese.

Of course, you can ask me anything you don't understand about your studies.

"Alright, alright, a 'hearing,' right? A 'hearing' is..."

Horikita repeated it several times.

Bai Lan nodded, confirming the other person's pronunciation, and couldn't help but say, "No, you only talk about studying when you see other people's good friends chatting?"

"Okay, since it's during a mission, my time is yours. So, if we're chatting as friends, what should we talk about if not studying?"

"I'm not really sure either. I haven't spent much time in school in a long time, and I don't really know what people my age are talking about."

"You don't know what people your age are talking about? Did you usually chat with people your age?"

"Roughly the same?"

"So what did you talk about?"

"Talking about the weather."

"The weather? Like when you greet those elderly folks, 'The weather is so nice today,' right?"

"What? I meant choosing the location and method of setting up camp by checking the weather, as well as the range of animal activity, and so on."

"What's the use of learning all this?" Horikita said dismissively.

Bai Lan felt very unhappy when her pride and joy were being belittled, and couldn't help but say:

Do you think you're very capable? Extremely outstanding?

"I believe that my efforts and achievements deserve the evaluation of 'excellent'."

"But you were assigned to Class D."

"But that's because the school's evaluation criteria are flawed!"

Even your brother doesn't think highly of you.

"Damn it!"

When Bai Lan brought up Horikita Manabu, Horikita's younger sister was immediately silenced.

"Did you ever say something like this: you don't need unnecessary and useless social interactions, and you can live well on your own?" Bai Lan suddenly asked.

When Kushida first asked Horikita to be his friend, Horikita said something similar to reject him.

Horikita replied, "Yes, I did say that. What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

Bai Lan: "Human history is a history of humankind's struggle against the great power of nature, and then its efforts to survive and reproduce!"

Therefore, as human beings, our most basic requirement is actually 'survival'.

"I am confident that I can survive on my own in this world using what I have learned," Horikita said confidently.

Bai Lan then asked, "If you were left alone on a remote, uninhabited island overseas, how long could you survive? Could you find your way home?"

"what?"

"You confidently say that you can survive on your own, but in reality, your survival is not the result of your 'solo efforts'. At most, you just avoid close contact with those who are involved in every aspect of your life."

What you are good at actually only involves a very small part of what humans need.

The food you eat, the clothes you wear, the tools you use—none of these are things you could have obtained 'single-handedly'.

"But that was earned through my own hard work, so I don't owe them anything."

"Who paid you?"

"If I work for someone else, my pay comes from the boss; if I run my own business, my pay comes from the customers."

"So whether you get paid depends on whether a boss is willing to hire you, or whether customers are willing to buy into your business. So, in the end, you still have to rely on others."

"I believe that as long as I have good enough abilities, there will naturally be jobs that bosses will want me and customers will want to hire me."

"Ha~ The premise is that you are so outstanding that you are irreplaceable and indispensable. Are you really that outstanding? If you are really so outstanding that 'we can't do without you,' why didn't even Class A want you? Oh~ even Class B and Class C didn't want you. So, obviously, you are not that outstanding."

I will continue to work hard!

"But you've already spent ten hours a day studying. After deducting necessary exercise and rest, you hardly have any free time left. How many hours can you squeeze out to 'work harder'?"

One hour? Two hours?

Will studying an extra hour or two each day really make you so outstanding that people will overlook your flaws and think you're indispensable?

Horikita fell silent.

After a while, Horikita asked, "Can you do that?"

"When you're stranded alone on a desert island, you can't even be mindful of other people's feelings; interpersonal relationships are completely useless."

In this situation, you truly have to rely on yourself.

Your food, your clothes, your shelter, your pots and pans—you have to obtain all of these from nature yourself.

You can't just use what you're good at to earn money and then use that money to buy everything you need.

Therefore, you must learn how to cope with all kinds of harsh conditions, survive, and even live a rich and happy life.

This is the only way to prove that you are truly capable of 'living independently without relying on others'.

And can you do that now?

Horikita was silent for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I haven't studied in depth how I would deal with being in that situation."

I always say that I don't want to rely on others and that I like to be independent, but in reality, I have unintentionally accepted so much help from 'others'.

It's like accepting help from someone, but then looking down on them?

Perhaps this is why my brother doesn't approve of me.

Perhaps he also felt that I... was too dependent on him, and that I was unable to repay him in any way, simply holding him back?

What you mentioned does have some use.

I really should study this, at least to ensure that I can survive to a minimum if I lose everyone I can rely on.

Seeing that Horikita had been persuaded by her, Bai Lan was smug.

"So, how should we choose a base in this kind of weather?" Horikita asked.

When asked about a topic she was interested in, Bai Lan instinctively replied, "First, we need to check the terrain..."

"What if it's about to rain?"

"Then it should be far away from hillsides and water sources..."

What if it's raining?

"Identify rock formations using geographical knowledge and soil samples..."

"That......."

and many more!

Bai Lan suddenly realized: How did it turn back into the scene where she was helping Horikita learn new knowledge?

At first, Bai Lan was quite eager to express herself when asked about topics that interested her.

But after the initial hype dies down...

In addition, Horikita's attitude in asking the questions was very serious.

The two of them simply asked and answered questions in a dry, uninteresting manner.

It's like a graduation defense.

In short, it was extremely boring.

Before long, Bai Lan began to feel mentally exhausted.

But considering that I was the one who started the topic of wilderness survival, it seems a bit unfair of me to take the initiative to suppress it, and it would give me the feeling of a scumbag who flirts and then runs away.

With that in mind, Bai Lan suppressed her impatience and continued to teach Horikita the survival skills he wanted to know.

Because they were talking as they walked, Bai Lan and Horikita walked slower than usual.

What usually takes five minutes to walk in Horikita took more than ten minutes to complete.

Even after entering the classroom, Horikita continued to follow Shirai around, asking her more questions while holding a notebook and taking notes.

Completely ignoring the strange looks from everyone in the class.

Seeing that Horikita was not intimidated, Bai Lan was also unwilling to admit defeat. Ignoring the gazes of others, she continued to ask and answer questions until she reached her seat.

Horikita only stopped, still reluctant to leave, when the morning meeting bell rang.

Seeing this, Bai Lan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally, I can say goodbye to this torment.

However, what he didn't know was that this was just the beginning.

Before the bell rang and Chazuki entered the classroom.

"Lend me a notebook, I've run out of mine," Horikita suddenly said, reaching out to Shirai.

After hearing this, Bai Lan looked at the notebook that the other person had just put away with a puzzled expression.

If he wasn't mistaken, that notebook was only less than a third used, right?

Is this what you call "used up"?

The next moment, Bai Lan felt her phone vibrate.

There is an email.

From: Class 1-B - Horikita Suzune

Content: My research shows that borrowing things from each other is an important stepping stone in the development of relationships between high school boys and girls; it's all just a pretext.

96. Oh my god! Horikita has gone astray!

"...It was all just a shield."