A Test of Capture the Flag

I sat next to the campfire, watching the chicken sizzle on the pan. From the way the sun floated in the sky above, it was about noon.

"Uhm…is this really necessary for the plan?" Airi asked, sprinkling the chicken with a nice seasoning.

She was a slim brown-haired girl, round glasses on her face. Earlier when I asked for a volunteer for something, she was the first to raise her hand. So, I assigned her the task of cooking some food for the camp.

"It's vital to the plan." I replied.

"Is it really?" Airi muttered, a sluggish expression, "'Kay. If you say so..." She continued on with her cooking. I could tell she was doubting me. She wasn't the only one, the others were giving me a side-eye. I kept my eyes closed, ignoring their glares. Until one of them walked up to me. A guy with short spiky hair, held in place by a slimy hair gel. A burning look of frustration was held on his face.

"We're getting nothing done! You're just sitting there doing nothing important! We should be out and shouting for the enemy's camp!"

I understood why it would appear that way, but he was wrong. By sitting here and waiting for the food to finish cooking, we were actually getting something done. Something important, at that.

"There's no need to scout." I said.

"Gah." he grunted in confused anger, "What do you mean?! How are we supposed to win if we don't even know where their camp is?"

"We'll know that soon."

The location of the camp-sites was the only thing not mentioned in the information. But this didn't pose an issue at all, I had the solution ready.

"Please Explain." said the student.

I gestured at the campfire. This was the key element in my plan.

"The fire. Do you think its whole purpose is just to cook food?"

"What else could it be used for?!" The student gritted his teeth.

Off from the side, a voice butted in on our conversation.

"I'll tell you what it's being used for." The figure of the white-haired student came to my side, a grin on his face. Based off his confident posture, I'd say he understood the reason, "The fire's purpose is to create smoke. That way, enemy scouts will be lured to our camp. Am I right?"

Correct. I was almost impressed he got it. It was a simple strategy, but even the other students didn't understand what I was doing. Me and this guy must have a similar mind. Seems like there was a smart student, unlike the rest the rest of the team. It's true, the majority of them looked to be defectives. And if I had to guess, I'd say they were barely able to get into the academy.

Fortunately, even defectives can be useful under the right guidance.

I looked at my white-haired teammate and replied.

"You're pretty perceptive."

It was honestly strange why he didn't oppose the role of leader. He could've easily got everyone's vote. That was just the kind of aura he had. From the way he stood and from the way he walked, it was obvious how capable he was.

I had to ask.

"Why didn't you try to become leader? I'm sure everyone would've chosen you over me."

Though, it was honestly a good thing. Things would've been a lot harder that way.

He answered, brushing his hair aside.

"Being a leader is hard. I don't have the patience for it." His eyes gleamed with confidence, " I have nothing to worry about, so I'd rather just hang back and chill. Even if our team loses, I'll still be passing either way."

His claim was an impressive one. In the case of failure, your overall exam score would drop by a lot. The fact he wasn't stressed only meant one thing. He aced all the exams.

Quite an achievement.

"Well, that's something." I said.

"When we win, I will be placed at the top of the student scoreboard. There, you will see my name. The name of Zander Lenai." A smirk formed on his face, his body turned with his back facing me, "Anyway. I look forward to seeing how you're plan works. I understand that your goal is to lure enemy scouts here. But why?" He chuckled, strolling off, "Looks like I'll have to wait and see. I'll be hanging out in a tree somewhere if you need me."

Zander's figure disappeared from sight, entering the forest.

I thought he would've been able to figure out what my goal was. But I was wrong. Maybe I had given him too much credit on his ability to perceive.

"Yeah, what is your goal." said the student with spiky hair, "Luring enemy scouts wouldn't do us any good. They'd learn the location of our base, then then they'll be able to plot an attack." He raised his voice, "How does this benefit us?!"

I don't know what I did to make him mad, but he seemed to be attempting to pick faults of my plan.

Glare....

I was going to answer his question, but I something else caught my attention. I could sense an intense gaze focused on the camp. It wasn't a friendly gaze either. It belonged to an enemy scout, hidden among the trees. They did a good job at staying undetected. I was the only one on my team who noticed them.

"Are you deaf??" said the student with spiky hair.

I looked him in the eye, talking while keeping my voice low. This way, I wouldn't alert the enemy scout who was watching us.

"If you want an answer, I'll give it to you. But I need you to do something first."

"What?" the student asked, clear confusion on his face, "What're you talking about."

"Don't ask questions. Just listen."

I whispered my request into his ear. Immediately after, he jolted back.

"W-what?! No way. I'm not doing that."

"You wanna win, don't you?" I asked.

"Yeah, I do. But what's the point of me doing that?"

"If you don't do it, I'm afraid the plan will fail."

"But how???"

His intense doubt was only natural. Afterall, the request I made was strange. He would have to embarrass himself in front of everyone. The least I could do was promise something in return.

"If you do wat I said, I'll by pay for your lunch this month."

My offer was generous. The lunches at this academy were well-prepared by professional chefs. The price of such a luxury was heavy. To pay for that every single day for a month was enough to hurt anyone's pockets. Of course, you could just buy a lunch from one of the restaurants back in the city. However, the it was a long distance to travel since we were on the country-side.

The student wore an expression like he was backed into a corner. He'd be missing out on a great offer if he declined.

In the end, he was able to swallow his pride as he sighed.

"Alright. Fine. I'll do it. But you better keep your word."

When he got to the center of the camp, he climbed on top of a crate. With a straightened stance, he grabbed everyone's attention.

"....So..um...everyone. There's something I need to tell you..."

His face was beginning to blush. He knew the amount of embarrassment he was about to bring on himself. From just watching, even I started to feel the second-hand embarrassment.

The student continued; his face was fully beet-red now.

"...I ummm..." He froze for a moment, fidgeting his fingers. I could see that he was already regretting it. But regardless of how he felt, he was able to muster up the courage. He finished, swiftly yelling.

"...I LIKE TO CROSSDRESS IN MY FREE-TIME! I LIKE TO WEAR SKIRTS!!"

After that.... It was complete silence. Nobody said a word. Everyone just stared at him. The confession was just so sudden and unexpected. The whole team was flabbergasted to another level.

'Good job.' I thought to myself.

This was exactly how I pictured it would happen. The whole camp was distracted, but this wasn't my focus. More importantly, the enemy scout was distracted. In fact, he was so distracted that he didn't notice me sneak around his line-of-sight. My presence was concealed. As of now, I stood directly behind him. And he wasn't even aware yet.

The scout continued to watch the camp, before muttering to himself.

"Weird. They don't look organized at all. They don't even look like they have a plan."

Holding a small notepad, he scribbled down a few notes, "That should do it. I better head back now."

As he turned around, his gaze met mine. This was when I finally decided to speak.

"That's a creepy thing to do. Spying on people." I looked at him from head to toe. His green hair hung below his ears, and he had a friendly face. Not the kind of person you'd expect to be sent out for scouting.

I asked, "From watching us all that time. Did you get all the information you needed?"

The way I presented myself was calm and collected. Not a single sign of emotion or hostility. This left the scout with a look of confusion. A sweat trickled down the side of his face.

"What does it matter?" He hid his hand behind his back.

But I was no fool, I could tell that he was casting a spell. A physical enhancement spell. He was planning to fight me hand-to-hand.

"I don't plan on fighting. So, there's no reason to cast magic." I said.

"...." He seemed to freeze up for a moment, "If you don't plan on fighting, why would you have confronted me?" his fist clenched, covered in an orange haze.

I could see the hesitation in his stance, but his mind was already made up. He was convinced that he had to fight.

Fwsh!

He lunged at me, throwing a punch at my torso. I already anticipated this attack, so it was no big deal. I leaned to the side and grabbed ahold of his wrist.

Clench.

"!!!" He gasped.

I'm sure he was wondering how I evaded his high-speed strike.

Tightening my grip on his wrist, I flipped him over my shoulder. With a hard thump, his back hit the dirt. The air was knocked from his lungs.

I kept a firm grip on his wrist, until I saw that he had given up. That was when I let go.

I kneeled, looking down at him.

"What's your name?" I asked.

".... why do you care?"

"I just figured it was a logical way to start a conversation."

"My name doesn't matter. I already lost. I'm a nobody." He sighed, "Your pretty skilled. You didn't even use magic and still beat me. I can tell, if you wanted to hurt me, you could've easily done so."

Yet, I left him pretty much unharmed, aside from his trip to the floor.

"I thought to would be better to talk like rational people. Rather than fight things out." Again, I asked, "So, What's your name?"

He sat upright, his clothes covered in dirt. He glared at me. I could see that he was weary of my intentions. If I was in his position, I'd be the same way.

"What are you after?" he asked, "The rules completely justify excessive force. But you're just trying to talk? It doesn't make any sense."

"I'm not really after anything. I'd just like to know you're name." I reassured him, "Unless that make you uncomfortable."

His green-haired figure sat still. A slight smirk formed on his face. It took some convincing, but I finally gained a small amount of his trust.

".....You're a strange one." he said, "If you really need to know, my name is Amilius."

"Well, Amilius, rise to your feet. I have some good news for you."

Amilius stood up. His expression was no longer suspicious, instead, it showed disarray.

"News?"

I nodded.

"I'm not going to keep you here. You're free to walk whenever you feel like it."

In other words, he could go back to his team, then leak the location of our camp.

"What???" His raised his eyebrow, "Is..that really alright? I know where your camp is now. You're not afraid that I'll tell my team??"

"Not really. The way I see it, that'll just make things interesting."

"...You're kind of crazy." He gave me one last look, "But if that's the way you want it, I'll make it happen."

After that, Amillius left. His figure steadily walked off, disappearing passed the trees.

Things were going smoothly.

I'm sorry Amilius. But I lied. I was after something.

I didn't let him walk for free. There was a catch. A catch that could possibly be fatal to his team. No— That was an understatement. Here's the reality: It was guaranteed to be.

Amy's voice spoke from behind me.

"That guy just now, he's not one of our teammates. Who is he?"

Though her voice caught me off guard, it didn't make me flinch.

How long had she been watching? I guess it didn't matter. Right now, she was waiting for a response. So, I gave one.

"You're right, he's not a teammate. He was an enemy scout."

"Oh." Amy tilted her head, "But, why did you let him get away??"

With joking tone, she squinted and pointed her finger at me, "Don't tell me you're trying to sabotage our team for some reason."

"Nothing like that." I replied with blank face.

Amy cleared her throat.

"In all seriousness, what was your reason of letting him go? Wouldn't it have been better to capture him and question him. We could've found out where their camp was."

A fair point. However, this would've forced us to be the aggressors, attacking the camp of red-team. We'd be at a disadvantage, who knows how they've prepared. My plan would've been thrown off this way. Being on the defensive side was a far better option for us.

"It was better for me to let the scout go." I answered.

"How so?"

"Since he knows where our camp his, he'll tell the rest of his team. And what do you think will happen after that?"

The light-bulb lit up inside Amy's head.

"Oh! They'll gather everyone and come attack."

How exactly did this benefit us? It was simple. When red-team comes to attack, they'll have the majority of their force with them. Meaning their own camp would be short on numbers. They'd be vulnerable.

Amy was able to grasp the concept.

"I see. I see. So, we'll just be waiting to counter-attack." But she saw an issue right away, "...Where exactly is their camp??"

Right. We didn't know the location of red-team camp-site. Fortunately, I already had a solution.

"The scout I let go. I placed a tracking spell on him."

Thus, I would only need to follow where the spell leads me.

Amy jumped up, baffled.

"Woah. You really thought this through, didn't you? You really are a good leader."

I set my gaze in the direction that Amilius had gone.

"Tell the team to get ready. Just like we planned." I spoke while straying off.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Amy asked.

"Nowhere special. I'll be in a while."