About 30 minutes after the bus left the ryokan at 9 am in the morning.
The bus stopped near Sapporo Station and arrived at the destination that will be the starting point today.
There is also a clock tower in Sapporo City, which is a famous spot for sightseeing.
We are moving as groups today too, but there is one different point compared to yesterday. A little test imposed by the school.
We will visit a total of 6 spots from 15 pre-determined destinations in any combination within a time limit (until 5 p.m.).
A group is considered to have toured one location when they reach the designated photo location for each spot and take a commemorative photo with the entire group.
We will simply repeat this.
The system is designed so that groups that intentionally break up their members to collect points in an underhanded manner, or groups with students who fail to act in solidarity and act selfishly, cannot succeed.
The only condition for disqualification is failure to complete six or more spots within the time limit.
In that case, the free conduct on the fourth day of the school trip will be taken away, and a study session will be held in the ryokan until 4 pm.
Each spot also has its own set score, and any group that can obtain a total of 20 points or more at six spots will be rewarded with 30,000 private points.
However, since the size of the score does not affect disqualification, it is up to each group to judge whether or not they should aim for the reward.
Also, if the photo is not clear and the person cannot be identified, etc., it will not be counted.
Aside from the question of whether to aim for a reward, if they want to enjoy tomorrow's free conduct, students need to go around the spots earnestly and cooperatively.
In addition, although there is no limit on the number of times public transportation can be used, it is prohibited to travel by taxi.
It's also necessary to keep a record of how you got around the spots.
I'm sure students would have preferred to move freely on this third day too, but, for me, it is not a bad idea to walk around Hokkaido based on the conditions given by the school in this way either.
If we're only given free movement, we'll end our school trip with a limited tour of sightseeing spots and skiing.
I am genuinely looking forward to seeing around Hokkadio, even if I am being compelled to do so.
We were given a brochure when we got off the bus.
It seems that the school's own brochure describes the places to visit around here.
The Sapporo City Clock Tower, the Sapporo TV Tower, and the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art are all 1 point.
Nakajima Park and the Hokkaido Imperial Shrine are 2 points.
Sapporo Maruyama Zoo, the Hokkaido Museum, and the Sapporo Central Wholesale Market Outside Market are 3 points.
Moerenuma Park and Shiroikoibito Park are 4 points.
Then, Lake Shikotsu and Lake Utonai are 8 points.
It's important to note that we're not finished when we get to the spot.
In the Maruyama Zoo in Sapporo City, a photograph with a polar bear or in the polar bear hall in the back is a prerequisite for completing a spotting tour.
"This is kind of surprising. I would expect it from this school, but..."
Kushida, who got off the bus, spoke out. For some reason, she was looking elsewhere.
"I'm over here."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I had no idea~"
It can't be, but no, she isn't even looking over here while saying that.
Perhaps she was keenly aware of how strange this was, and she turned her head around and smiled.
"It would really hurt to lose a whole day to a study session if we don't do this well. I guess the reason they let us have a whole day of free time yesterday without any restrictions had something to do with this spotting tour."
"That may be the case."
Now, the question is, what choice will our group 6 make?
The spot visit had been explained to us before the school trip, but we had just been told on the bus that it was a bit like a test, with free conduct at stake and private point rewards.
In other words, the group's policy has not been determined at this time.
Groups moving towards a private point reward may not be able to meet the time limit, and risks are inevitable.
While some groups seemed to stay on the spot and have discussions, most walked in the same direction.
"It looks like there are many groups headed to the Sapporo City Clock Tower after all, since it's just a stone's throw away from here."
There is also a strategy to aim for high-scoring lakes such as Shikotsu and Utonai, but the risk is high.
"It would be more efficient to have a discussion while walking."
As Kushida says, the first safe route would be to go from Sapporo Station to the clock tower, take pictures at the designated spot, and then head to the TV Tower after going to Oodoori Park.
In a short amount of time and with little money, we can tour two spots.
However, it is unclear at the moment whether it is ideal in the process of aiming for more than 20 points.
After that, all 8 members of our group 6 got off the bus.
"I just did a quick search on the map app, and even if we could use a taxi, it would take us a few hours to get around the 6 high-scoring locations."
The calculations made by Amikura must not have taken into account the time it takes to get to the location of the shooting.
Even if we make full use of public transportation, it is unlikely that we will be able to score high within time.
"Is anyone here familiar with Hokkaido?"
Watanabe asked the members of group 6, but there was no good response.
Like the other students, I have no knowledge of how to get around in Hokkaido or the most efficient means of getting around, so we have to do some research to figure out where to go and how to get around efficiently.
"Hmm~. Even if I want to make a route with the map app, I don't know what's where so the order gets all messed up."
It seemed that Amikura was fighting with the map app to get the right destination.
Since the spots are scattered east, west, south, north, from the current location, one would have to start by understanding their current location.
Moreover, there is no guarantee that public transportation will be available in the spots, and the list in the brochure does not necessarily indicate that the school has prepared reasonable spots.
"Even if we can receive private points, it's 30,000. Why don't we forget about the rewards and have some fun exploring around?"
Watanabe's suggestion is one of the right answers.
If we only focus on scoring 20 points within the time limit, our fun will be diminished.
We won't have time to relax and enjoy the local scenery.
"So, I think we shouldn't force ourselves too much."
"Me too, I think we should just go wherever we want. I want to go to the zoo."
Students who usually live in school don't have the opportunity to go to a zoo or an aquarium.
It is only natural that they do not want to waste this opportunity.
"Let's listen to everyone's wishes first, and build up from there."
Amikura proposed that we ignore the scores, and first ask everyone where they want to go.
Then, six of us, including me, agreed to ignore the scores and leisurely visit the minimum number of spots.
However, this needs to be discussed and decided by the whole group.
Ryuen and Kitou still had not agreed or told us their opinions.
"Kitou?"
Watanabe asked Kitou, who had remained silent until now.
"No disagreements here."
Because he responded favourably, Watanabe and the others were relieved for the time being.
That's seven people.
Ryuen, the last one, didn't reply.
"Ah...well..."
Watanabe hesitated to ask, so I decided to ask and confirm the answer.
"Everyone has agreed. Can I count your silence as consent?"
But it was Ryuen who had declared that he would accumulate 800,000,000 points.
I can see the answer myself.
"I'm going for the scores."
He gave us a simple response, that he will stand against the other 7.
Of course, it is up to the individual to think about this tour of the spots.
Some groups will prioritize the spots for private points.
However, additional discussions will inevitably occur when opinions break up in this way.
Watanabe was so frightened that I decided to ask Ryuen about it.
"Can I ask why?"
"It's obvious, right? I want the private points. I don't think of it as "just 30,000" points."
Each class can earn 60,000 points with two people in total.
It is only grains of dust compared to 800,000,000, but it is also a steady step.
"There's no reason not to pick up the money that's dropping in front of you. So just shut up and listen to me."
Although there is a risk of running out of time or not scoring enough points due to mismanagement, there are basically no disadvantages to this spot tour.
If you comply with the rules and achieve your goals, you will receive private points from the school.
In other words, there is only a positive element.
It is true that not getting what you could get is a loss.
But, of course, Kitou was not going to stay silent about Ryuen ignoring the other 7's opinions with his bullish attitude.
"You telling everyone to go along with what you want?"
"Yeah. Got a problem?"
"It's a disregard for democracy. In this case, I think it is a question to be decided by majority vote."
"Who gives a shit? When did this group become a democracy or whatever?"
"I'm not convinced that you're obsessed with a small sum of money in the first place. There's no way I can believe that."
"What the fuck do you think it is, then?"
I already lost count of how many times this has happened.
As Kitou and Ryuen collided, no one could speak out.
"You didn't like that the group agreed, so you spoke up in order to stir things up."
"I see, that may actually be true. It's not a bad thing to see your discontent expression."
If we let these two continue to talk, things will soon be heading in a dangerous direction.
"We need some private points to use public transport. If you subtract that, you won't end up with 30,000 private points per person, will you?"
I don't know the exact amount at this time, but we'll have to spend some money.
"Even then. Even if the reward drops to nearly 20,000, I'm not going to give up going for it." I noticed that only our group was left around the bus.
"In the meantime, your precious time is being wasted. You know that, don't you, Kitou?" Just agree and find the proper route. That's what Ryuen is pressuring us to do.
Of course, this comment, which seems to add fuel to the fire, is not going to make Kitou quiet.
"I refuse. If you're going to stick to your private points and ignore other opinions, I'm not going to help you around the spots. In other words, rather than gaining private points, it is tomorrow's deprivation of free time that is inevitable."
It seems that Kitou intends on fully striking back, and he assured Ryuen that he would not agree. So, he strongly protested again.
"Heh-heh, you're the one that'll be in the minority, Kitou. After all, over time, these people will have no choice but to obey me."
Does he intend to start a patience contest that will be of no benefit to any one?
The easiest way to move the unyielding Ryuen is to turn the rudder in the direction of collecting private points.
Even for the six of us, the 30,000 income is not a bad story, and has advantages too.
Besides, if we are guaranteed free time tomorrow, we can make up for the sightseeing we can't do today.
If the six members, excluding Kitou, lean toward Ryuen, that will be the majority opinion.
"Even if everyone is forced to obey you, I will not."
In that case, Kitou would be turned into a villain in a seven-to-one fashion.
"If you're saying that you'll destroy the group all by yourself, maybe that would be worth me giving up the money, huh?"
"I'd welcome that."
Kitou showed no signs of faltering, as if saying that he was used to being the villain.
"Hey, calm down, Kitou. If it's going to cost us our free time, then..!"
Watanabe, who had been timid up until now, had no choice but to interrupt them.
"Then you have to talk Ryuen out of it."
"Ugh..."
Watanabe is very troubled.
"That's right, Nishino. You're Ryuen's classmate, try to convince him."
"It's easy to talk to him, but that doesn't mean he'll change his mind, right? I won't do anything useless."
I'm sure Nishino, who has known him for a long time, will see the results ahead. She was already in the mood to give up because she knew there was nothing to do.
"...hey, listen for a second. What do you think I should do in this situation?" Kushida pulled my arm and asked so at after going a little distance away.
"I thought following Ryuen's lead would be the best choice, but now Kitou is making trouble too. Yet, if we go with Kitou, then Ryuen won't move. They're always trying to get their own way."
Showing their bad sides, both of them were being called out.
"It's not like there is no solution."
"...is that so?"
"But, I wouldn't recommend it if I don't have to."
"Can you at least tell me?"
"What Ryuen wants are private points, so sightseeing is not necessary. Meanwhile, what the seven of us want is to go wherever we want and enjoy sightseeing. Kitou has a similiar opinion, too."
"Mhm. It's a conflict, isn't it?"
"Then the seven of us can use our own money. Well, Kitou will oppose, so I guess it would be six of us in actuality. If we generate 5,000 private points per person and give them to Ryuen, he won't have any complaints, right?"
"Ah, I see, so there is such a solution..."
But, it's Ryuen. He might not be convinced just by us personally paying him 30,000. I kept listening to Kushida and talking about the risks.
When this group receives the reward, each class will receive 60,000 private points. In other words, he would demand to, at least collect 30,000 for Nishino from the same class too.
Even if Nishino declined, Ryuen would eventually demand it to put them into his own pocket.
That would cost 60,000 private points total for five people, with 12,000 private points per person.
There will also be a resistance to paying that much just to enjoy sightseeing.
"It's...definitely not cheap."
It's supposed to be a sightseeing tour where we would only win, but it's turning into a loss.
After that, I doubt we can earnestly enjoy the sightseeing.
Also, the majority's succumbing to the minority's imposing stance only creates a bad example as a group.
"And, worst of all, we have to think about the risk of him asking for more."
"Huh? That's so ridiculous...but he might..."
"That's what I'm talking about."
"I understand what you're trying to say, Ayanokoji-kun. That's why you don't recommend it."
"It's best to put it all together without any cheap tricks."
"It's not easy to have a peaceful conversation. Impossible, even, right?"
Indeed, it is hard to imagine Ryuen or Kitou breaking easily, and it is inevitable that we will be stranded.
"Yes. Why don't we just test their patience? We have to work hard to collect more than 20 points, right? If we wait here for 30 minutes, or an hour, it will be very difficult."
A strategy to let them use up the time they would need to score on the spots? However, this choice also contains various issues.
"Even if Ryuen decides that there is not enough time, there is no guarantee that we will enjoy sightseeing by visiting the spots quietly afterwards. In the end, it collapses. Tomorrow's free time will definitely be gone."
"Ah...right. It would be really obvious, too."
There are not many options available here. We have to be prepared to take a few risks and try to summarize the situation.
"I don't want to throw away my precious day either. We have to bear with some pain in order to move here."
"...What will you do?"
I drew one conclusion, but I noticed something important before that.
Even if it was to avoid being overheard by others, I've been close to Kushida for too long.
Clearly, the picture of only Kushida and I having a confidential conversation is blatantly highlighted.
"You... you're dating Karuizawa, right?"
Watanabe said so with a little squinting.
Amikura doesn't have a good face either.
"It's a strategy meeting. Isn't that right, Kushida?"
"Of course. I just came to an agreement with Ayanokoji-kun. Right?" After saying so, Kushida suddenly separated from me.
Looking like trying to get away from a disgusting person, it wasn't a very pleasant reaction.
However, it seems that Watanabe and the others were convinced by this, so it must be the right move.
She recovered her mind and approached Kitou, who was constantly glancing at us, and Ryuen, who was looking at his phone unwittingly.
Then, I turned my back to the two and faced the five other members.
"There was something I wanted to check again with all the members except for Ryuen and Kitou. I would like to take a recount of what the opinions are at this stage. Whether to prioritize sightseeing, or private points. I would like you to raise your hand if there is someone who has changed their opinion to the latter. You don't have to pay attention to the atmosphere, just show me what you want."
Watanabe and the others looked at each other, but no one raised their hands.
Looking at the attitudes, it's clear that no one is lying.
In other words, no one agrees with the policy of aiming for high scores instead of sightseeing.
"So what? No matter what you say, I won't change my mind, Ayanokoji." I know that you don't care, even if you don't have allies to help you.
"I'm sorry, but I want to talk to the other five now."
After looking back once, I immediately cut my gaze from Ryuen and continued talking to the five of them.
"Now that we're in this situation, I concluded that there was no way all eight of us could come together, and that it would be a waste of time to try to come to an agreement."
"So what are you going to do? Go along with Ryuen?"
As one of those who wants to go sightseeing, Nishino did not hide her discontent.
"No, that's not happening. Individual opinions should be respected to the greatest extent possible, but as a group, he is only one in eight. It must be that way. Kitou's opposition against Ryuen, that is also one in eight. Even without my input, the five people here have a say of five out of eight, more than half."
"I know that. But, the problem is that we can't come to an agreement, right? One out of eight or five out of eight, we all have to make the same choice to move forwards."
"That's right. However, it is undoubtedly the five people who have the right to decide what to do in this situation. If you cannot agree with Ryuen's methods and way of thinking, then you don't have to obey him. In other words, you can make him let go of his choice to earn private points. We can all drop the idea of visiting the spots right now and just do our own sightseeing at our leisure."
"...do you mean to throw away tomorrow's free conduct?"
"That's right. Even if you act as Ryuen has planned, I can't guarantee that tomorrow's free movement will get you where you want to go. If someone says that they won't leave the ryokan, at that point the group won't even be able to go outside. On the other hand, today's freedom is guaranteed."
"Only until 5 o'clock though, right?"
"That's not true. Until 5 pm, the group is going to go around the spots and think about free movement until tomorrow. We have a right to come back to the ryokan at any time we want until 9 pm. Moreover, you can act on your own free will. We can even split into groups of good friends. The school can't criticize us for that."
Abandoning Day 4 and turning Day 3 into complete freedom of movement that no one can imitate.
This is the absolute authority that only the five are allowed to exercise.
"It's not Ryuen or Kitou who will decide what to do, I want you to think well about that." "...that's right."
Kushida looks into the eyes of the members without unnecessary conversation and is convinced that their opinions are united as one.
"Ryuen, we are not after all aiming to earn private points. Today we want to talk about where we want to go, and have an enjoyable day. If you can't obey, then we'll probably end up dispersing from here. What happens after that is exactly as Ayanokoji said. Maybe we can all get along for a day of study tomorrow."
Nishino laughed at the words, and Amikura, Watanabe, and Yamamura nodded to prepare themselves. Kitou slightly raised the corner of his lips in response.
"That's good advice. I'll go along with that, too."
Kitou, who was simply opposing Ryuen until now, went to the side of the five. With everyone having come to a conclusion, the ball is effectively passed to Ryuen for the first time.
In accordance with the opinions of Kushida and the others, he will either give up his private points, or rebel and disperse.
Either way, he won't get the private points he wants.
In fact, he will even have to be in the study session tomorrow.
"Now you've done it, huh, Ayanokoji."
He expressed his dissatisfaction in words, but did not appear to be truly dissatisfied.
I'm sure the people around me just see this as a show of strength, though.
"Well, I'd hate to come all the way here on a trip just to study. I'll go along with you." I thought there might still be some resistance, but Ryuen backed down.
If he could get private points by dispersing, he would have done so without hesitation, but he avoided trouble when he knew that there was nothing to gain.
After that, we, group 6, followed the school's instructions and went on a fitting trip, visiting spots around the city centre and visiting the zoo that we wanted to go to.
As a result, the score collected was less than 20 points, but it was a meaningful and satisfying way to pass the time.