Yuusha-kei ni Shosu: Choubatsu Yuusha 9004-tai Keimu Kiroku [LN] Bahasa Indonesia

 

Chapter 1: It Looks Like We've Been Transferred to an Uninhabited Island

It wasn't a dream—it was reality, and we'd been transferred to an uninhabited island.

Being with Chiyu was a silver lining in this disaster, but what the heck were we supposed to do now?

"Sou-kun…"

Chiyu's expression hadn't changed, but as her childhood friend, I could tell. She had to be brimming with anxiety right now.

For your average high schooler to suddenly get whisked away to an unknown place, freaking out would be the most natural reaction in the world. Even I was barely holding it together, forcing myself to stay calm; without Chiyu here, I might've spiraled into full panic mode.

"It's okay, Chiyu. No matter what happens, I'll—"

"Is this a class transfer?"

It was the kind of line that would've had me face-planting in an over-the-top pratfall on some variety show, the tension deflating right out of me.

"Yeah, Chiyu is Chiyu, alright."

I couldn't even picture this childhood friend of mine in the throes of panic.

But then, the hand we'd been holding this whole time—she squeezed it tight.

"Liar. I'm scared too. I'm glad Sou-kun's here."

"…Yeah. Let's get through this together, somehow."

"Mm. For now, let's get a grip on the situation."

"Right."

First things first: inventory check. That wrapped up in seconds.

Just our school uniforms and indoor shoes. Pockets were empty, no bags, no smartphones.

Next, a rough scout of the surroundings. Venturing into the forest carried survival risks, so we steered clear.

We'd materialized on a beach, and within sight, there were no other islands.

One sun in the sky, blue overhead with white clouds drifting by.

If there'd been two suns, it'd scream "other world" or "alien planet," but as it stood, I couldn't say for sure.

We hadn't run into anyone else, but I figured the other classmates had probably been transferred too.

"For all we know, it might not even be an uninhabited island."

"It's good to stay hopeful. But yeah, probably is."

"Nah, I think so too, honestly."

That hadn't been a dream—we'd answered the question on the blackboard, and boom, shipped off to an uninhabited island. Accepting that straight-up made everything click into place way faster.

Sure, we could've gone through the standard motions: stubbornly insisting it was a dream, or suspecting a TV shoot, or even a kidnapping.

But Chiyu and I—we weren't buying into that "jaded modern kid" trope, or claiming it was because we binged isekai comics. No, we were accepting this on a deeper level.

The reason was simple: the abilities actually worked.

It happened while we were poking around the beach.

A pebble had snuck into my indoor shoe, and I'd stepped on it wrong, injuring my foot.

I took off the shoe and sock, and sure enough, there was a bit of blood seeping from the sole.

"'Healing Magic'—Beginner Heal."

The moment Chiyu uttered those words, a light enveloped my wound—and in a flash, it was gone, healed completely.

"Whoa!? Chiyu, that was…"

"Yeah. Looks like the Mysterious Blackboard really came through on the abilities."

"That's incredible…!"

"Stop, you're embarrassing me. How about you, Sou-kun? What's yours like?"

The entity that had flung us to this island—what Chiyu called the Mysterious Blackboard, so I'd go with that too—anyway, it seemed the ability grants had been executed properly.

It was hard to believe on the spot, but denying something that'd just happened right in front of my eyes wasn't gonna fly.

"Got it! Uh, so how does 'Crafting Ability' work?"

The instant I focused my mind on the ability, its usage instructions flooded into my head.

—Crafting Ability

—You can "item-ize" an "object" that has been severed from the "earth."

—"Items" can be stored in the "Inventory" and placed at any desired location.

—"Items" in the "Inventory" can be used for "crafting."

—Items that can be "crafted" are referenced via "recipes."

—How to expand your "recipes": You'll have to figure that out yourself.

"Man, it's this mishmash of all sorts of terms."

Just like those rapid-fire explanations in game tutorials, it was a lot to take in at once—I couldn't memorize it all right away.

So, game-style, I figured I'd learn by doing.

"Alright, I think I've got the gist."

Basically, you couldn't item-ize seawater straight from the "sea" because it was still connected to the earth. It was like scooping it by hand—it'd just leak right out, so it didn't count as properly severed.

I tried using a seashell as a container, and boom—"item-ization" was successful. Then, It vanished with a whoosh.

The "Inventory" was basically that classic storage space, like an item box.

When I willed it open, a game-like interface popped up in my field of view: Seashell (Small) ×1, Seawater (Very Small Amount) ×1.

Even though I'd put them in together, they registered as separate item slots.

Once item-ized, I could pull out just the Seawater (Very Small Amount) ×1 on its own.

Recipes seemed to display as a list of the created item and its required materials.

The ones unlocked so far weren't many: Stone Ash, Stone Soap, Salt, Spear, Stone Knife, Stone Axe, Wooden Vessel, Wooden Cutlery, and the like.

It seems that the recipes aren't determined solely by the items I've item-ized.

For instance, Stone Ash and Stone Soap must have unlocked once I acquired the seashell. Salt is probably from the seawater. Wood… well, I've been facing toward the forest plenty of times, so it's shown up in my field of view over and over. Same goes for stone.

As for the spear, when I peeked at its recipe, the materials listed were wood, stone, and vines.

In other words—.

"If I can get into a situation where I can item-ize something myself, does that increase the recipes?"

To put it more precisely, do I just need to discover it?

That said, it doesn't seem to be only that.

Maybe half of the items that make up a recipe require actual discovery, or there are some other conditions attached.

Or, in game terms, recipes might unlock based on levels or the number of crafts completed—or perhaps you can only obtain certain ones by clearing specific quests….

No, it's probably not great to lean too heavily on knowledge from games or isekai comics….

After all, there aren't any books out there written by people who've actually been transferred to an uninhabited island, so in reality, there's nothing to reference anyway.

For now, let's try generating some "Salt."

—Generated "Salt (Very Small Amount)."

—Additionally acquired "Water (Very Small Amount)."

That's what appeared in my field of view.

Ah, this is convenient.

One of the most crucial items in a survival scenario—drinkable water—had just become ridiculously easy to obtain.

Be that as it may.

I specified my palm and placed the "Salt (Very Small Amount)."

A few grains of salt appeared, resting there on my hand.

"…Did it work?"

It must have been hard to see, because Chiyu tilted her head quizzically.

"Yeah, it did. But it's kinda underwhelming."

"That's not true at all. If the 'Crafting Ability' is usable, it's incredibly handy."

"It was a convenient ability to begin with—that's why I picked it."

In survival games about making it through on an uninhabited island, this kind of ability is pretty much a staple; you can count on it being there.

Well, in games, it's often framed not as a literal "crafting ability" but as the protagonist's innate handiwork skills.

"For now, in situations like this, securing water comes first, right?"

"And this ability seems useful for that too."

"No way—you can separate 'Salt' and 'Water' from seawater?"

Her voice carried no inflection, but after all these years together, I could tell she was genuinely surprised.

"Yeah. Items come with detailed info, and it says this water is potable."

"…It even removes impurities? Now that's an impressive ability."

"Right?!"

"What about anything besides sodium chloride?"

"Hm?"

"…You know, the 'bittern.'"

"Oh! Yeah… But nah, nothing's showing up for that."

"Based on the user's perception? Or maybe it's something that's filtered out? …Or, game-style, it's been simplified."

"Who knows."

For example, in games, weapons you buy from a shop maintain their original performance forever.

But in reality, weapons wear down and degrade over time. Repairs would cost money, and even those have their limits—but games don't bother with any of that.

Still, no players rage-quit over it.

Weird hyper-realism like that could just kill your immersion.

Sure, there are games that incorporate elements like dulling blades and turn it into fun, but that's only because those features tie into the enjoyment factor; players accept them for that reason. Realism for its own sake isn't the priority.

This Crafting Ability is the same way—if it started displaying items with chemical formulas or whatever, my brain would short-circuit, and I wouldn't be able to use the ability effectively at all.

In other words, it's more accurately the "'Crafting Ability' premised on use by Sosuke Kudo."

For better or worse, it's an ability tailored to me.

Chiyu's "Healing Magic" is the same, and I suspect the other classmates' abilities are too.

"Well, we can think about that stuff when it becomes necessary."

"Crabby."

Chiyu said it with her signature deadpan double peace signs. It was probably a pun on "crab," given the timing.

If a guy pulled that off, it'd fall flat and lead nowhere good, but when a cute childhood friend does it, it's just endearing.

Cute is eternally justice, after all.

"I can make water, but like with the seashell earlier, I need a container for it."

"For starters, I'd like to know what all you can make."

"Yeah."

Chiyu and I shared all the info we had on our respective abilities.

If this were anyone else, I'd be way more cautious, but there's no way this childhood friend of mine would ever betray me or set me up, so I trusted her completely.

On Chiyu's end, she currently had access to two spells.

Beginner Heal and Purify.

The former was a healing spell effective only against minor injuries or ailments.

It could mend cuts, bruises, or scrapes, but something like a severed arm? No reconnecting that.

It could reduce a slight fever, but bringing down a high one would be tough.

That said, this varies by proficiency level—basically, the classic level-up system.

The latter was a spell that sterilized and cleansed a targeted area or a set radius. Whether it had a superior version was unclear.

Purify—is that even healing magic? There's a question there, but it's probably another quirk stemming from the "'Healing Magic' premised on use by Chiyu Iyama."

She'd been picturing a white mage when she chose it, so maybe that's what got reflected.

"My goal for the time being is to get to where I can heal something like a fracture in an instant."

That's what Chiyu declared. She was shaping up to be a reliable healer.

"Here's what I figure I can make right now."

I picked up a stick from the sand and started sketching out a rough list of what could be crafted on the beach.

"From the looks of this, Sou-kun, your recipes seem like they'll expand the more you explore."

"Oh? You think so too, Chiyu?"

"Yeah. Based on what we know now, that's the reasonable inference. And even if exploring doesn't actually unlock new recipes, it's not like we'd lose anything."

"True. In that case, we'd just learn our hypothesis was off-base. Exploration itself wouldn't be a waste anyway."

"What we need right now is stuff like 'water,' 'food,' and 'a place to sleep,' right?"

"Straight to the priorities. I'd love to figure out the Mysterious Blackboard's motives or how to get back to Japan, but we gotta stay alive first for any of that."

"Yeah. No point overthinking it endlessly."

We started by gathering stones, sticks, and driftwood, then generated a Stone Axe, Stone Knife, Wooden Spear, and the like.

Also, when Chiyu mentioned she wanted "a basket I can carry on my back," the moment I willed it, a new recipe for "Wooden Basket" popped up.

Looks like my own perceptions play into unlocking recipes too.

I crafted and placed it quickly, and what materialized was a basket woven from thinly shaved strips of wood in a lattice pattern.

"Whoa—amazing… Ah."

"What's up, Chiyu?"

Chiyu looked up at me with her usual blank expression, but there was a subtle smugness to it, like she was holding back a smirk.

"Sasuga, Sou-kun.'"

"Quit with the stock protagonist-praise lines from gacha games or isekai stories. For one thing, I'm not the protagonist here."

"But you looked a tiny bit happy."

W-Well, I mean, I kinda was.

"Next time I get one of your spells, I'll say it myself."

Sasuga Chiyu—abbreviated "Sasu-Chiyu"—once I receive that, she'll understand how I feel too.

"Looking forward to it."

(T/N: Sasuga [Name]" (さすが[名前])

A super-common trope in Japanese media (especially isekai, rom-coms, and gacha games) where a side character praises the protagonist with "Sasuga [Protagonist]-sama/dono/kun!” And A punny abbreviation of "Sasuga Chiyu" is "Sasu-Chiyu”) 

With that, Chiyu slung the basket over her back and started strolling along the beach to pick up items.

Meanwhile, I was swinging the stone axe to chop down a tree near the coast.

I decided on the fall direction, then swung the axe—diagonal, horizontal, diagonal, horizontal. Once the cut reached halfway through, I circled to the opposite side and repeated from a higher spot: diagonal, horizontal.

Eventually, the tree creaked, letting out a series of ominous mishimishi groans as it toppled in the direction I'd chosen. It crashed down with a thunderous boom, leaves scattering in a whirlwind, snapped branches flying every which way, the trunk bouncing on impact and kicking up a cloud of dirt and dust.

"Hah… hah… N-Nope, not something an amateur should just dive into right away."

Even while swinging, wood chips flew everywhere, posing a hazard; the axe broke a few times; the skin on my hands was scraped raw and bloody; and above all, it was exhaustingly abnormal.

I'd wanted a ton of "Lumber," but maybe I should've stuck to branches and driftwood to build it up.

Well, it's done now, so whatever.

In the end, I successfully acquired "Ordinary Lumber ×53."

"Yes!"

Plus, it was good news that I could item-ize an entire tree trunk whole.

The Inventory's capacity seemed pretty generous too—a relief there.

Now, as for why I needed so much lumber in the first place….

"Sou-kun, good work. That was cool."

"Oh? Really?"

"Yeah. At first, you weren't putting your hips into it, but you gradually got the knack. It had that gamer trial-and-error vibe—super cool."

"I-Is that so?"

Looks like she'd been watching pretty intently.

Chiyu had filled her basket to the brim with seashells too. She'd worked hard to gather a mountain of them—super helpful.

"I'll cast the spell now."

"Ooh~ Do it. Actually, I pushed myself pretty hard knowing your magic was there as backup."

"Hee hee hee. I hope you turn into a body that can't survive without me."

"That the right context for that line?"

Anyway, Beginner Heal it was.

Not only did the injury on my hand heal, but the pain and fatigue throughout my whole body seemed to ebb away.

“Sasu-Chiyu-sama.'"

"For you, Sou-kun, treatment's free."

"That’s a Blessing~"

I bowed in mock worship to the giggling Chiyu, and we turned back toward the sea.

"Generate a bunch of 'Wooden Barrels.' And—place them in the ocean…!"

A bubbling gobobobobo echoed as seawater poured into the submerged barrels.

Once they were full, I'd store them in the Inventory.

That meant a massive haul of "Seawater."

In turn, that meant a massive haul of "Drinkable Water" and "Salt."

We were set to stay away from the sea for a good while now.

I crafted "Wooden Canteens" too, placing them in our hands. Then I put water inside one and took a sip.

"Yeah. Tastes great. It soaks right into a body worn out from labor…"

Incidentally, these canteens were cylindrical types. The lid fit into a groove on the body to seal it shut.

Having the Crafting Ability handle the fine details was a godsend.

"…The others might be struggling."

"…Yeah, tell me about it."

I'd been trying not to dwell on it, but what about the ones who'd said stuff like "smartphone" or "potato chips"? Would they be okay?

If the Mysterious Blackboard generously gave them something like a "network-connected smartphone" or "Potato Chips (One Year's Supply)," that'd be one thing—but unless they'd specifically wished for it, better not to get hopes up.

In that vein, the gal who'd sparked the ability discussion in her chat with me—Shoko Kanna—might end up being a savior for a few people.

Thanks to her, a lot more students started thinking about abilities.

—Though depending on how things unfold from here, it could backfire in a bad way.

A staple in stories like this is conflict between people.

All I could do was pray it bucked that trend.

"Next up, a base?"

Once we'd caught our breath with some water, Chiyu asked.

"Yeah. That said, we don't need to go hunting for caves or anything."

"…Ah. So with your ability, Sou-kun, you can make a house?"

"Exactly! The barrels were part of it, but I wanted to use all this lumber to build a base too."

"Any recipes for that? Unlocked yet?"

I opened the recipe screen.

"Uh… yeah. 'Hut,' looks like…"

From what I could tell so far, recipe unlocks hinged on "discovering a certain amount of materials" and "imagining something you could make from those materials once you've found them."

Even when I pictured a log cabin or wooden house, nothing showed up—so something was missing.

If it were a log cabin, maybe it'd unlock once I had the required number of logs.

As I deflated a bit, Chiyu thrust her thumb up firmly.

"No need to be disappointed. On day one of being stranded on an uninhabited island, scoring a shelter from the rain and wind? That's way too impressive."

"R-Right. Yeah, it is. Everything's one step at a time, huh?"

"Yeah. If you chop down dozens of trees, you might be able to make a proper house. One a day, and in about a month, you'd have it."

"A m-month…?"

A month on an uninhabited island sounded like an eternity.

"Until then, we'll huddle together in the narrow hut and make do."

With that, Chiyu lightly bumped her shoulder against mine.

"…Y-Yeah. That, uh, Chiyu—you're not against it? I could chop another tree and—"

"No issue."

"Really?"

"…You dense blockhead."

"S-Sorry."

Hmm… Maybe my childhood friend's affection level was higher than I'd assumed.

If so, as a healthy high school guy, that'd make me thrilled.

At any rate, she didn't seem opposed to sharing the hut for sleep.

"Alright. As the classics say, the childhood-friend heroine has it rough."

Chiyu shrugged with an exasperated yare yare.

"Heroine? Come on… "

Another line that nearly had me misreading things.

"Not allowed?"

"…Not not allowed, I guess."

"So finally, Sou-kun's noticed my charms?"

If I could fire off some suave one-liner here, that'd be ideal, but this was about my limit.

"Yeah, yeah…! Anyway, time to scout for food soon."

"You're embarrassed."

"I could make a spear too, in theory, but for amateurs… diving into the sea for fish? Nah."

When I tried to forcibly change the subject, Chiyu thankfully played along.

"The water here looks crystal clear, but I'm against free-diving too. Breath-hold diving's dangerous."

"Yeah."

In a situation like this, risks were inevitable, but that meant we had to be extra careful about which ones we took.

"For now, we should explore the forest?"

"Yeah. I'll take point. If you spot anything, Chiyu, don't touch it—just let me know."

Some things might be hazardous even to touch. If I got hurt, Chiyu could heal me, but if she exhausted her magic to the point of fatigue or passed out? That'd be a disaster.

Plus, I was worried about her, plain and simple.

"Got it. As expected of Sou-kun— so reliable."

"Flatter me more, and guys just get cocky, you know."

I said it, but yeah, it made me a little happy anyway. Simple as I am.

"But I can't walk behind you."

With that, Chiyu reached out her small hand and gripped mine firmly.

"Ch-Chiyu?"

"To avoid getting separated. We'll walk side by side, so behind's no good, okay? "

"R-Rigt. It would be dangerous if we get separated too."

I tried to play it cool, but her small, smooth hand had my heart skipping a beat.

"Mm. Very important. Alright then, let's head out."

And with that, we entered the forest. To make sure we could find our way back to this beach—and not get lost—I used the stone knife to carve marks into tree trunks along the way.

"Ooh, classic move."

"I'm doing it to avoid getting lost, but… the downside is others could spot it too."

It'd give away our actions to anyone else.

"You want it just the two of us?"

"Even good guys from school might turn rotten in a setup like this. I don't wanna run into any of that."

"You want it just the two of us?"

"…Yeah, yeah. Being stuck here with you is lucky."

"That's my line."

"Ngh."

Chiyu could be so direct with stuff like this that it threw me off sometimes.

In truth, I got the urge to round up more people in a pinch like this.

But Chiyu and I? We could make it just the two of us—no real shortages.

Well, maybe that's overstating it, but the only real gap was a stable way to secure food.

After that… weapons, maybe? Gear like clothes, I could probably craft.

As I pondered that, we'd been walking for a bit when—.

"Chiyu. Doesn't something feel… off?"

"Yeah. We entered the forest, but Sou-kun isn't playing pretend-sword with a stick yet."

"Don't bring up elementary school stuff."

Childhood friends know each other too well. Meaning they know all the immature moments, the black history too.

"Kidding. What bothers me is… no bugs?"

"Ah. In Japan, I picture them as itchy bites at worst, but mosquitoes and such are dangerous, right?"

The little bastards carry diseases.

It wasn't like there were zero insects around…

"And this forest feels cool."

"More than that, it's ridiculously easy to walk through."

Untouched forests are full of obstacles for intruders: uneven beast paths, bulging tree roots, poor visibility. But this one? Incredibly navigable, comfortable even.

"Like… a created environment?"

The Mysterious Blackboard that transferred us might've placed us on an uninhabited island it designed itself.

An overly harsh setup, and high schoolers wouldn't stand a chance at surviving.

Even a normal forest is risky—twisted ankles from falls, injuries from branches or thickets.

"The Mysterious Blackboard's goals, the scale of its power… It's starting to bug me, so let's table that for now."

I'd just decided to put it on the back burner.

"Mm. Okay, Sou-kun—I found some mushrooms here. "

"Ooh! Nice eyes, Chiyu! Leave the picking to me."

She showed me the spot, and I harvested one.

According to the Inventory, it was edible.

"Looks safe to eat."

Since it checked out, I picked about half of the cluster.

I'm no mushroom expert, but I'd heard you shouldn't take them all when foraging.

If you strip a spot bare and nothing grows back, it'll be future folks who suffer.

Well, maybe not the time for such long-term thinking.

After that, we successfully spotted edible mushrooms, poisonous ones (for avoidance), edible wild herbs, medicinal herbs, and edible tree nuts. Nothing with real punch, but it was a boon.

After Chiyu hit my hands with Purify, we both munched on the nuts.

"Incredibly delicious. As the saying goes, ‘When you are hungry the food tastes more delicious.’"

Chiyu's ample breasts swayed tapun… tapun… as she walked.

"We can roast the mushrooms and eat soonish."

"How about fire?"

"We've got wood and vines, so I can craft fire-starting tools with the ability."

"Sou-kun, cheater."

"Haha, can't deny it."

◇

After that, we came upon a cliff.

We were at the base of it, looking up at the sheer face.

"Doesn't look climbable."

"Yeah."

The cliff wasn't perfectly vertical but slanted at an angle, and if we tucked ourselves into the space below, it would be impossible to spot us from above.

"Sou-kun?"

Chiyu called out to me when she noticed me staring intently.

"Ah, I was thinking this spot could be a candidate for our base."

Chiyu glanced around, taking in the full surroundings with a slow sweep of her gaze.

The area at the foot of the cliff was barren of trees, opening up into a somewhat spacious clearing.

It was the perfect place to set up a hut or build a campfire.

"Yeah, it seems like it'd be hard for anyone to find us here?"

"Exactly. You against it?"

She shook her head from side to side.

"Not against it at all. In that case, this is our candidate for a love nest."

"A love nest? Come on…"

My childhood friend could say things like that with a completely straight face, which left a healthy guy like me utterly at a loss for how to respond.

"If Sou-kun turns into a beast, there's nothing I could do to stop him…"

"There's no way I'd ever force myself on you if you were unwilling."

"As expected of Sou-kun—the perfect gentleman."

"Much obliged."

"…But what if I wasn't unwilling?"

My heart skipped a beat at that question.

"N-No, I mean… uh…"

I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks. Seeing that, Chiyu nodded with a look of evident satisfaction.

"You've got a pulse."

"I have no idea what face I'm supposed to make right now…"

I knew full well that when she got serious like this, there was no winning against my childhood friend.

Chiyu was my precious childhood friend, my best buddy, and an incredibly attractive girl.

If we could grow even closer than we already were, I'd be over the moon about it. That was the honest truth.

"For now—"

Chiyu's stomach let out a loud, unmistakable guu.

"I want you to roast the mushrooms."

Honestly, the sudden shift in atmosphere was a relief. I gave a wry smile and started on the preparations.

"Let's do that. Chiyu, can you give me a hand too."

"Of course."

Without delay, I used the Crafting Ability to generate a "Bow Drill Fire Starter."

The fire starter consisted of a rectangular piece of wood with a depression carved into it, a wooden rod that fit snugly into that depression, a sufficiently long cord made of vine, and a stone with a hollow that was perfect for pressing down on the top end of the rod to keep it steady.

On top of that, I'd been storing the stones and rocks we'd found along the way in the Inventory, so I used those to craft a massive stone pavement.

I placed down a stone pavement about the size of six tatami mats. Then I set the fire starter on top of it.

When working on something like this, you'd need to sit or kneel on the ground, but in a place like this, you'd end up covered in dirt.

That's why I'd wanted a clean, non-staining surface to work on.

Chiyu and I stepped up onto the stone pavement and lowered ourselves to the ground.

"Sou-kun, is this the fire starter?"

"Yeah. This one's designed for two people."

"Intriguing."

First, I placed the rectangular wood with the depression on the stone pavement. I aligned the rod's tip with the depression, then used the stone's hollow to hold down the opposite end of the rod.

Next, I wrapped the vine cord around the rod and pulled it back and forth from side to side to spin it. Meanwhile, the wood block needed to be held steady with feet or something similar.

Since the cord's ends were pulled by the left and right hands, it took an extra pair of hands to keep the stone pressing down on the rod.

"I'll give the cord a try for now."

"Please do."

Just as I'd instructed, Chiyu used her feet to anchor the wood block in place.

She was wearing a skirt, so the white fabric of her underwear was fully visible underneath, but she didn't seem to mind in the slightest.

I made a conscious effort not to focus on that as I pulled the cord, spinning the rod left and right.

At first, the cord slipped off or the rod came loose, but before long, I got the hang of the motion.

Eventually, smoke began to rise from the wood block, so I removed the rod and transferred the glowing ember to a bundle of fibrous wood fibers I'd generated as tinder.

I quickly crafted a thin wooden board and fanned it like a hand fan to blow air on it—and just like that, we had fire!

"Whoa!"

The kind of flame that would ignite in a split second on a home stove felt like an absolute miracle of gratitude here on this uninhabited island.

"As expected of Sou-kun…!"

Even Chiyu, rare as it was, had her energy visibly spiked.

I generated some firewood and carefully nurtured the fledgling flames. I thought we'd gotten it going pretty quickly, but oddly enough, it left me wiped out.

"Here's a Beginner Heal for your hard work."

A white light enveloped me, and the fatigue along with the pain in my hands melted away smoothly.

"As expected of Chiyu."

"I'm not letting Sou-kun have all the spotlight."

"Haha, I'm counting on you."

"But really, that was impressive. Worth letting you catch a glimpse of my panties."

"You noticed, huh…"

"Girls are sensitive to stares."

"Sorry."

"You are Forgiven."

I skewered the mushrooms on sticks I'd generated, sprinkled them with salt, and we began to eat. Maybe it was the hunger, but they tasted outrageously good.

◇

After the meal, we got back to foraging, gathering nuts, mushrooms, rocks, and the like.

In addition, when I item-ized a fallen tree, I ended up with a huge amount of "Lumber"—but it seemed to be treated as a lower-grade version of "Ordinary Lumber." The name registered as "Crude Lumber."

It could be used for firewood or wooden tools, but apparently not as material for the hut. Well, it wasn't like having extra was a problem. I could worry about categorizing things later, once the Inventory's capacity started feeling the strain.

And so, we returned to that spot at the base of the cliff.

"For dinner and breakfast, it'll be mushrooms again, I guess."

"Yeah… We did get some wild greens, but… no tempura yet…"

Incidentally, the Inventory had that incredibly convenient feature where time didn't pass inside it.

Thanks to that, we could eat freshly roasted mushrooms and crisp, fresh nuts anytime we wanted.

When I tried to item-ize the campfire's embers, it failed.

I did manage to get the "Ash" itself, so it seemed like "flame" specifically couldn't be item-ized.

Because flame wasn't an item so much as a phenomenon of combustion?

"We could make a salad, but we'd still need more ingredients for that."

"Some of it seems edible raw, at least."

"Let's do that for dinner. Nutrition's important."

"Sounds good."

We'd been transferred during the morning hours on this island, but dusk was already starting to creep in.

"Shall we put out the hut soon?"

"Yeah, let's give it a shot."

I used the Crafting Ability to generate the hut and placed it at the base of the cliff.

In an instant, a wooden structure appeared before us—something midway between a mountain cabin and a shed, exquisitely crafted from wood.

I'd chosen a relatively flat spot in advance, so it didn't tilt awkwardly or anything.

It might not be a proper, full-fledged hut, but a form that could be popped out and stored in the Inventory for easy transport was the way to go. Digging foundations and laying groundwork… well, that was beyond what the Crafting Ability could handle, and it wasn't practical to pour labor into that anyway.

"I always wanted a secret base like this."

Chiyu said it with the innocence of a child. But I nodded deeply, without a hint of laughter.

"I get it… If we'd found a hut like this as kids, we'd have been hanging out there every day."

Brimming with excitement, we stepped inside right away. The interior was a space about the size of six tatami mats.

There was one window, but it was wooden too—a sliding shutter type, naturally without any glass fitted in.

Wait a minute—couldn't I make glass with the Crafting Ability?

What were the materials again… sand and… lime? And then… well, whatever. I'd consult with Chiyu about it later.

"It's plenty for a secret base, but a bit cramped for two people to live in."

"No problem. We'll eat outside, and with the Inventory, we don't need shelves or dressers."

"Right. If furniture's off the table, this size works just fine."

Chiyu's optimism was a huge help.

"We could skip the bed too, but a futon might be nice, after all?"

"Hmm, I agree, but with what we gathered today… this is about the best I could manage."

I placed it down. What emerged was something like a mat—crafted from the massive amount of grass we'd collected.

It was the kind of thin, woven mat made by plaiting rushes, resembling a lightweight tatami.

"Hmm, hmm."

Chiyu promptly lay down on it.

"Besides the futon, we'd want spare clothes too, right? Fabric… thread… fibers… Linen or cotton from trees? Wonder if this island has any."

I wasn't knowledgeable about plants at all, so I had zero clue. If only I'd paid more serious attention back when I was reading those survival manga, picking up on the details the protagonists mentioned.

"For tonight, we'll just have to huddle together and sleep. What a clichéd setup."

Chiyu said it while lying there.

"Yeah… But to avoid catching colds, we should figure out the futon and clothes ASAP."

"There's always fur?"

"Ah, like wool from sheep?"

"Cashmere too."

My childhood friend's eyes seemed to sparkle faintly as she named those luxury materials.

"Wonder if there are cashmere goats around."

"We haven't seen any animals at all, come to think of it."

"Yeah. If only I had some knowledge to estimate the location based on the vegetation or climate…"

"Sou-kun, no high schooler can do that kind of thing, basically."

"True enough."

If the Mysterious Blackboard wanted to test the students' mettle, it probably wouldn't have granted us each one wish and transferred us.

It was likely all about what we chose to bring and how we used it to survive.

"By the way… Sou-kun, you gonna test the sleeping setup or what?"

"Urk."

She'd finally noticed me standing there like a stick while she lounged about. An optimist might've jumped in without prompting, saying something like "Guess I'll test the comfort too!"—but that was beyond me.

"N-Nah, I'm good for now. Still got stuff to do."

"Okay."

My childhood friend gave a small nod and sat up.

"Earlier we were talking about animals, so I figured I'd make some beast repellents just in case."

"Hmm, hmm."

"I'll go set them up right away."

As I started to move, Chiyu stood up and leaned in close to my ear, her lips brushing near it.

Her body heat and soft, gentle scent pressed in close, sending my heart pounding high in my chest.

"See you at night, then, Sou-kun."

Her voice was as flat as ever, but that breath of hers carried a warmth that seemed to reveal her inner thoughts.

And I knew it wasn't my imagination when I saw the flush of red on her cheeks as she pulled away.

But before I could muster a response, she slipped out of the hut with a smooth stride.

Left alone, I crumpled to the spot as if my strength had drained away, letting out a deep, ragged breath.

"Ahh… this is bad."

We'd shared a bed back when we were kindergarten age, but that was a distant memory.

To think that now, as high schoolers, we'd be sleeping together in a hut…

In a normal high school life, we'd never get this close, this fast. Amid the conflicting urges of hurry up and make it night and hold off on night a little longer, I stepped out of the hut too.

Once outside, I used the Crafting Ability to generate a stone wall. This was a barrier wall built by stacking stones.

One of the Crafting Ability's brilliant features was that it handled the actual assembly of the stones for you.

When generating it, you specified the scale, which determined how much "Stone Material" it consumed.

It wasn't just the hut—I enclosed a plot of land large enough for us to move around in comfortably, ringing the whole area.

We didn't need it behind the hut since the cliff was there, and I left one spot open for our comings and goings.

There, I installed a separately generated "Wooden Fence."

It was a single-gate style, lockable by sliding wooden boards into place as latches between the posts and the fence. The posts themselves needed to be embedded in the ground, but since I could now generate a "Stone Shovel," the work wasn't too tough.

"That'll do it."

When I finished, Chiyu clapped her hands with an "Ooh."

"As expected of Sou-kun. This should keep intruders out."

"The hut and the stone wall both go back into the Inventory, so they won't be wasted if we move."

The fence, however, was now connected to the earth because I'd buried the posts, so storing it would require yanking them out first. Depending on the situation, we could just leave something like this behind.

Incidentally, when generated items were stored, they didn't immediately break down; they registered as "Hut," "Stone Wall," and so on. If you wanted to disassemble them, that was an option too, and wonderfully, you got back the exact materials you'd used—no waste, no debris.

The one exception was if the generated item itself was damaged; in that case, the broken portions wouldn't revert to raw materials.

I'd discovered a few handy Inventory tricks while experimenting with all this…

"As expected of Sou-kun—Sasu—Sou for short."

"Much obliged."

"And so, Beginner Heal."

It wasn't much fatigue, but the white light made even that fade away effortlessly.

"As expected of Chiyu—Sasu—Chiyu for short."

Chiyu fell silent for a few seconds before speaking up.

"I think I'd be happier without the abbreviation."

"Me too."

Well, as long as the gratitude was there, I suppose turning "Thank you very much" into "Thx" wouldn't be the end of the world. Still, there's something about a more polite phrasing that just hits different—makes you feel warmer inside.

"By the way, Chiyu—does using your ability tire you out? Any restrictions or cooldowns?"

This kind of thing often came with the classics in the early stages: MP depletion or usage limits to wrestle with.

"Not yet. I'm glad you're worried."

"Nah, just checking—if you're fine, great. Having a cheat-code childhood friend is a lifesaver."

"Right back at you with the same line. How about you, Sou-kun? Holding up?"

"And that's the weird part—I'm totally fine."

I was using it to the point of anxiety, but the act of employing the ability itself brought no sense of fatigue.

The only thing that gave me a slight chill was the nagging fear that it might turn out to be "the ability borrows from your lifespan" or something. Well, no use fretting over hypotheticals.

"In that case, there's something I really want you to make."

"What is it?"

My childhood friend looked me straight in the eye, as if she were about to reveal something of grave importance.

"A bath."

"Ahh…"

I'd completely forgotten about that.

"Too hard?"

"Nah, a full-on home bathtub is out, but something like a drum-can bath? I can probably swing that."

"Ooh…!"

She must have been thrilled, because her eyes seemed to shine.

No drum cans around, but I had stone materials and the Crafting Ability.

I built a base, then set a cylindrical stone tub on top. I didn't forget to add a circular wooden board inside.

Using the placement function, I filled it with water, and then it was time for fire-starting again. I summoned the large stone pavement and fire starter once more, sneaking a glance at Chiyu's impressively bare midriff while getting the ember going. We boiled the water bit by bit.

"Chiyu, can you watch the bath until the water's hot?"

I placed firewood near the bath and called out to her.

"Leave it to me."

Handing the task over to my childhood friend—who gave a firm thumbs-up—I figured I might as well use the fire to start a campfire for dinner too.

I placed a generated log bench nearby, sat down, and focused on the Crafting Ability.

The recipe list had grown quite a bit.

What I wanted to make this time was stone soap.

Among the various plants we'd gathered, a recipe for "Oil" had unlocked, of all things.

Plant-based oil. But due to the plants we'd collected, the description noted it was "Not suitable for consumption."

The path to tempura was still a long way off. Still, getting even a small amount was helpful.

From there, adding "Ash," "Water," and "Lime" rounded out the materials for "Stone Soap."

The "Lime" came from processing "Seashells." Come to think of it, this Crafting Ability let you whip up things like pottery that required firing without a hitch.

On the flip side, it wouldn't automatically turn mushrooms into roasted ones, or water into hot water.

Maybe roasting mushrooms fell under "cooking," while boiling water wasn't "crafting" at all?

Where exactly was the line between what counted as crafting and what didn't?

That was another thing I'd want to explore going forward… Anyway, stone soap: complete.

One more thing. I took off my uniform jacket and dress shirt, storing my undershirt in the Inventory.

I shaped it into a face-towel form and placed it in my hand.

Absorbency wasn't up to a real towel's level, but it should work for wiping down the body.

I stored the uniform jacket and dress shirt in the Inventory too, then pulled them back out in their original form.

"This is an unexpected perk."

We'd sweated buckets exploring the forest, yet they emerged looking pristine, like they'd just come back from the cleaners.

The dirt had registered as a tiny amount of "Soil" material in the Inventory. As for the sweat, who knows.

It was probably the same phenomenon as when seawater yielded only "Salt" and "Water," with no "bittern" byproduct.

Whether the Crafting Ability simply couldn't recognize certain things, or whether it would gain the ability to do so in the future—that was a question that lingered.

At any rate, being able to skip the hassle of laundry with this ability was quietly, yet profoundly, useful.

"Sou-chan, it's getting warm."

"Oh—coming right up."

As I approached Chiyu, I used the Crafting Ability to generate a wooden privacy screen.

No sooner had I arrived than I began arranging it around the stone bath. It wasn't so much for preventing peeping as it was a basic courtesy, a small gesture of thoughtfulness.

"Sou-kun, you're so kind."

Chiyu, noticing what I'd done, spoke in her usual flat tone—yet there was an unmistakable softness woven into it, like a subtle undercurrent of warmth.

"It's just normal, isn't it?"

"It's special to me. You can peek if you want, you know."

"…I'll pass on that. Oh, and I made some stone soap—feel free to use it."

I also prepared a wooden bucket for scooping the bathwater and a earthenware dish for placing the soap on.

"Stone soap…! Sou-kun, I love you."

Chiyu took the soap from me and held it aloft like a priceless treasure.

"Well, thanks, I guess."

The flow of the conversation made it clear this was a joke, so I could brush it off with casual ease.

No, that was a lie—it did make my heart skip a beat, but I could at least pretend to stay composed.

"And then… a laundry basket?"

"Yeah. Oh, right—this can double as a towel. And don't worry about changes of clothes."

As I handed over what had once been my undershirt and was now serving as a towel, I explained the method for cleaning our garments using the ability.

Chiyu listened to the whole explanation, but there was no response. She stood there frozen, like a statue rooted to the spot.

After a few seconds of waiting, she suddenly lunged forward and threw her arms around me in a fierce embrace.

Her arms wrapped around my neck, pressing the generous swell of her breasts firmly against my chest.

A faint scent tickled my nostrils— the subtle aroma of sweat mingled with her own natural fragrance.

"Sou-kun, you're a genius."

"I-It's not that big a deal."

No, even I wouldn't want to slip back into sweat-soaked clothes right after a bath.

It was only natural for Chiyu, as a girl, to be overjoyed at avoiding that fate.

"Ah," Chiyu pulled away from me as if struck by a sudden realization, her cheeks flushing a delicate pink. "Having my clothes cleaned like that makes me happy. But… getting seen by Sou-kun like this, even just for a moment—it's a little embarrassing. Especially my underwear."

She had a point, absolutely. If Chiyu asked me to hand over my freshly worn underwear, I'd be mortified too.

"Uh, well, I'll try not to look, and I can store them without even touching them directly—so relax."

Chiyu glanced up at me with a shy, upward-tilted gaze.

"…You won't sniff them?"

"Like I'd sniff them!"

My reflexive retort drew a rare, soft fuh of laughter from Chiyu.

"…Or, like, put them on your head?"

"As if! If your childhood friend turned out to be that much of a pervert, even you'd be disgusted, Chiyu."

"If Sou-kun insisted on it, I'd be okay with that."

"…N-No, I won't sniff or wear them or anything."

This childhood friend of mine had such a broad tolerance for jokes—even the outrageous ones—that it often left me scrambling for how to reply. Her capacity for forgiveness was just too vast.

I set up the wooden laundry basket and, to make it easy to add more water, placed a wooden barrel along with its stand right next to the bath.

The barrel had a cork stopper; pulling it out would let the water flow freely.

"…Sou-kun, since when were you this good at all these thoughtful little details?"

Chiyu seemed faintly surprised.

"Nah, it's just that with this ability, I end up wanting to craft all sorts of things on a whim."

"…If word got out that you're this much of a gentleman, you'd be swarmed with admirers."

Her words carried the lilt of a joke, but beneath it lurked a trace of unease, like a shadow flickering in her voice.

"If we make it back to Japan, the ability probably vanishes, right? Then I'd just be my usual non-appealing self."

In stories about returning from another world to Earth, sometimes the powers stick around—so it wasn't impossible. But that wasn't something to dwell on right now, at least.

"Sou-kun's appeal isn't from the ability, you know."

"Haha, thanks."

I took that as encouragement, letting it buoy my spirits, and stepped out from behind the privacy screen.

"It might feel embarrassing under the open sky, but once you've undressed, just leave the basket outside."

"Roger that."

I confirmed her crisp salute, then lifted and positioned the screen. Now, from my side, there was no line of sight.

"…Might as well stock up on more roasted mushrooms while I can."

With no passage of time inside the Inventory, I could preserve them fresh from the grill—that was a major strength.

Chiyu's bath took quite a while, but thanks to the Crafting Ability, I didn't find myself bored in the slightest.

Partway through, she passed her clothes out through a gap in the screen for me to store in the Inventory and clean; I returned them to the basket pristine. But the whole process left me oddly tense. To banish any stray thoughts, I stared into the campfire and let my mind wander.

To craft a wider variety of things, it would probably be best to gather and collect absolutely everything in sight.

Beyond that, since recipe unlocks seemed influenced by my own imagination, having a companion who could fill in knowledge gaps would be incredibly helpful.

As for other necessities, perhaps combat capabilities or hunting skills?

We had basic weapons now, so they'd serve decently in fights against people… maybe.

Speaking of hunting, a bow… but that seemed tricky to handle, so perhaps a crossbow?

No recipe for it yet, so something must be missing.

What materials would work for the string in nature? What could I source naturally?

It was only day one, so impatience could wait, but the craving for meat would only grow stronger with each passing day.

That said, I couldn't just up and start hunting overnight, so for the immediate term… fish, maybe?

"Sou-kun, I'm all done."

Before I knew it, my childhood friend emerged from the bath, clad once more in her spotless uniform and shoes.

Her damp silver-white hair gleamed and sparkled under the firelight, while her freshly bathed skin carried a subtle air of elegance that made my heart jolt—supple and alluring in a way that caught me off guard.

"Ah, y-yeah, got it. Guess I'll hop in too, then."

"Mm. Here—this is the towel."

She handed me the towel she'd used to dry herself. I took it on instinct, only realizing afterward that I could've stored it directly in the Inventory without touching it. To head off any awkwardness, I tucked it away immediately.

Re-placing it would bring it back bone-dry, without a trace of moisture.

"Go ahead and eat dinner first if you want."

"You haven't yet, Sou-kun?"

"Nah, I was mulling over the ability."

"Then I'll wait."

"Alright. Won't take long."

"Enjoy the remnants of your childhood friend's bathwater."

"You just had to say something like that…"

Now she'd gone and made me hyper-aware of it.

I was always the one getting teased, so this time, I racked my brain for a comeback.

"If it were you, Chiyu, I'd give you special permission to peek."

"I know. I'll definitely peek."

"Hey."

"I want you to lend me your clothes too. So I can sniff them or wear them."

"Who said I'd lend them! And for the record, I haven't sniffed yours!"

There was probably no winning against this childhood friend. I beat a hasty retreat toward the bath.

She did show up to peek, just as declared, prompting a yelp from me in protest.

Once I was out of the bath, we shared dinner together. We dried the towel by repeatedly storing and re-placing it a few times, thoroughly removing the moisture from both my hair and Chiyu's, and with the campfire's help, we got everything fully dry.

"A first day of uninhabited island life this fulfilling—probably just us."

"I didn't hear everyone's answers, but yeah, I bet that's the case."

There had to be someone who'd picked the "Food Creation Ability," so they might have us beat on meals—but in terms of overall quality of life, we'd come out on top.

Come to think of it, what kind of aircraft had the one who'd requested an "airplane" ended up with?

It could probably double as a base, at least.

"It's all thanks to you, Sou-kun."

"I pushed myself in spots because I knew your magic had my back, so we're even."

"That's not it. Back then—you grabbed my hand."

"Oh, that."

I hadn't known for sure that physical contact would let us transfer together.

But you could say my split-second impulse had paid off.

"Even though you thought it was still a dream at that point. Sou-kun, you'd save me even in a dream."

"…"

Before I knew it, the sun had dipped below the horizon, and night had fallen.

"Shall we… turn in soon?"

Chiyu watched me with a tentative, probing gaze.

"Y-Yeah."

I swallowed hard, my throat bobbing dryly, and nodded.

◇

We were sleeping side by side on the straw mats inside the hut. To be more precise, we were sleeping in each other's arms.

I had, at least, generated one more straw mat and fashioned it into something like a quilt to drape over us, but it was only marginally better than having nothing at all.

With no lighting and the windows shut tight, the interior of the hut was pitch black.

The only things we could truly sense from each other were our body heat and the rhythm of our breathing.

Just the fact that I was sleeping alongside my adorable childhood friend was enough to make me tense, but on top of that, a dizzying scent was wafting from her, and even through our school uniforms, her soft twin mounds were pressed firmly against me, molding themselves to the contours of my chest. In a situation like this, it would have been impossible not to react.

I was desperately praying that Chiyu wouldn't notice it.

"Sou-kun."

"……!"

Chiyu called my name in a whisper.

"You've already had dinner, so why are you bringing out the mushrooms?"

It was a crude joke. The kind of off-color remark that a man might make and have a woman recoil from in disgust.

No, perhaps this was Chiyu's way of showing mercy—acknowledging it but brushing it off with humor now that she'd noticed.

"……Sorry about that. Well, if I just leave it alone, it'll fit into the Inventory."

I tried to play along with the joke in return, figuring that would put the matter to rest. That was what I thought, at least.

But then the arm Chiyu had wrapped around my back loosened, and—what's more—she directed it straight toward my crotch.

Rub, rub…… rub, rub……

"Ch-Chiyu……!?"

"I hear it hurts if you hold back."

"Uh, well, yeah, that's true, but……"

I hadn't for a moment imagined that Chiyu would initiate something like this, and I couldn't hide my agitation. Leaving me in that state, Chiyu's hand kept moving, unfastening the hook on my pants, pulling down the zipper, and exposing it to the air.

"Sou-kun,"

Chiyu's hand, pale and slender like a white fish, gently coiled around the shaft as if wrapping it in silk, then began to slide slowly up and down.

"It's obvious that you like me."

Her movements were clumsy and hesitant, conveying clearly that my childhood friend was by no means experienced at this.

"But Sou-kun is kind, after all."

From earlier on, her breath had been brushing against my neck, creating a strange sensation that was both ticklish and thrilling in a way that stirred my excitement.

"So I can tell you're thinking it would be unfair to confess right now, and that's why you're trying to keep things going as just childhood friends."

As expected from someone I'd known since kindergarten, she had me completely figured out—my personality, that is.

And it seemed my feelings had long since been laid bare to her as well.

……In other words, this act was her way of responding, wasn't it?

"You don't have to confess or anything. We can do that once we're back on Earth……"

The soft, warm touch of Chiyu's fingers, sliding with a shh…… shh……, grew smoother as they became slick with the viscous fluid leaking from the tip.

"I just wanted to let you know that I don't mind doing this kind of thing with you, Sou-kun."

In the enveloping darkness, I relied on the sound of her breathing to locate her face, then drew my own closer to it.

Seeming to understand my intent, Chiyu tilted her head.

The first try missed slightly, landing on her cheek instead. Even that cheek felt feverish, as if radiating heat—perhaps because she was excited herself. Or maybe it was nerves. It could have been both.

On the second try, our lips met.

Her lips were unbelievably soft and fresh, like touching a cloud.

From there, we exchanged several more chaste kisses, nothing more than the brief brushing of lips, before our movements gradually shifted to something more like pecking at each other.

In the end, it became as if we were each trying to capture the other's lips, our motions growing more intense.

Without any prior coordination, our rhythms synced perfectly, flowing without the slightest hesitation.

All the while, Chiyu never stopped the motion of her hand, continuing that steady shh…… shh…… up and down.

"Mm…… ha…… Sou-kun's is so hot……"

Her technique wasn't particularly skilled by any means, but that didn't matter in the least. The mere fact that it was Chiyu doing this for me pushed my arousal to its peak, giving birth to an indescribable pleasure.

Was it because this was our first time, or would it always feel this way from here on out?

That bliss was so sweetly exquisite that I wanted to savor it forever, yet so intensely stimulating that I couldn't endure it for long.

Before long, the limit arrived.

"Chiyu…… I can't…… hold on……"

I could tell from the soft fufu chuckle that Chiyu let out. It was a voice brimming with delight.

"It's okay, Sou-kun. Go ahead and—byuu—right into the hand of your beloved childhood friend."

Her voice, whispering directly into my ear like a gust against my eardrum, raced down my spine like a bolt of lightning.

That shock manifested itself fully, as a spurt of thick, white fluid erupted onto Chiyu's hand.

"I already know all about my childhood friend's sexual quirks. Byuu, byuu, byuu."

As she spoke, Chiyu moved her hand in time with each word, as if squeezing out every last drop. Her hand, her wrist, and probably even her abdomen were splattered with the white fluid, but she showed no sign of caring about the mess.

I lay there dazed for a while, lost in the afterglow that had left my hips feeling boneless, but eventually, my mind cleared enough to reflect.

—Ah, right. I can just store the mats or clothes in the Inventory to clean off any stains.

—And for Chiyu's hand, she can wipe it with a damp towel or wash it with soap.

When it came to the mess, it probably wasn't a big deal at all.

As I mulled over such things, I heard a wet, squelching sound—Chiyu opening and closing her hand, no doubt.

"So this is what it's like. It's all sticky…… and warm, with this weird smell. And there's so much of it."

"Sorry, Chiyu."

When I apologized, she leaned in to press her lips to mine. In the darkness, she must have misjudged, because they landed on my nose instead. But she didn't seem bothered, repeating the motion until they found their mark.

Finally, with a soft chuu, they connected, and then she spoke.

"Shouldn't it be 'thank you'?"

"……Thank you."

"Or maybe 'Well done, Chiyu-sama'?"

At last, our usual atmosphere was returning.

"Even for a first time, that was impressive, Chiyu-sama."

"It's the fruit of my mental rehearsals."

"You were practicing in your head?"

"Just as many times as you've fantasized about us getting together, Sou-kun."

"That's…… quite a lot, then."

When I replied like that, I could sense Chiyu nodding in satisfaction.

And so, we spent a little while bantering back and forth like that.

"Hey, Sou-kun."

"Hm?"

"……Next time, can it be my turn?"

The way she said it, laced with a shy embarrassment, made me suddenly realize that I'd been the only one feeling good this whole time.

"Ah, y-yeah, of course."

I hurried to answer, but inside, my mind was in a full-blown panic, with no clear idea of the ideal next steps.

"It's fine. Just touch me, that's all."

"Ah, yeah."

"But first, I want to wipe my hand."

"R-Right……! I'll get a towel. Oh, should I bring out water and a bucket too?"

"For now, just the towel. We can do the rest later."

I placed the towel within reach and handed it to her.

Once she'd finished wiping, she took hold of my hand and guided it under her skirt.

"I know you want to smell it, but…… next time, okay?"

"Why does the version of me in your head have such a stubborn scent fetish?"

And then, my fingers brushed against her underwear—that very moment.

A sudden gust of wind blew through, rustling the trees and sending the sound of shaking leaves echoing around us.

"Mashiro, we're here!? Wait, what is this, a stone wall? Whoa……"

"Shōko-chan, save the surprise for later and check if Kudō-kun is around first, okay?"

"Oh, right. Kūdō~! You there~? It's me!"

"Yeah, at least introduce yourself properly, Shōko-chan."

"No, he and I are close enough that he'll recognize my voice."

"But in that dream, Kudō-kun, even though Shōko-chan was right there next to you, you ended up grabbing Iyama-san's hand, right?"

"……Well, Iyama-cchi is the childhood friend type, after all. A-And besides, she was closer."

Thanks to their conversation carrying clearly on the wind, I could identify the voices.

One was undoubtedly the communications powerhouse gyaru, Kanna Shōko.

The other didn't ring an immediate bell, but she was probably one of the female students close to Kanna.

And Mashiro…… from the context, I could guess it had something to do with Kanna's ability.

I had no idea how a gyaru who'd acquired the "Fluffy Summoning Ability" had ended up coming here or for what purpose, but I couldn't very well ignore them.

"Uh, Chiyu……?"

"Soap, water, bucket."

"Got it."

My childhood friend's voice, rattling off the list of items in clipped tones, echoed with an unusually icy chill.

This interruption was an unwelcome intruder from Chiyu's perspective, but they were valuable fellow transferees—and friends, to boot.

I hurriedly pulled my pants back up, set everything out, opened a window to let some moonlight filter into the hut for Chiyu's sake, and then quietly stepped outside.

◇

When I emerged, the two of them were already inside the stone walls. Or rather, the two of them and one beast.

Bathed in the moonlight was a massive wolf with fur as white as silver.

To be honest, it startled me so badly that my heart felt like it had frozen solid, but I managed to recover quickly—probably because one of the riders was Kanna. The being standing before me, an impossibility among Earth's creatures, was none other than a mythical beast.

"Ah…… Fenrir, huh?"

I could infer it was something she'd summoned with her "Fluffy Summoning Ability."

If I hadn't heard about her chosen power, I might have fainted on the spot. It had that much presence.

"That's right! I named him Mashiro! He's super fluffy! Super cute! Super obedient!"

Praised by Kanna, the Fenrir narrowed his eyes in pleasure and wagged his tail.

"Mashiro, let us down~"

At his master's command, the Fenrir sat down neatly. Then, from his broad back, sliding down his side like it was a playground slide, Kanna and the other girl dismounted.

"I have a ton of questions, but…… for now, I'm just glad you're safe, Kanna."

"Ahaha."

She laughed lightly at my words, but……

Gradually, her expression crumbled, tears welling up at the corners of her eyes.

And then Kanna came running straight at me, throwing her arms around me in a hug.

"Whoa!"

I managed to catch her, averting a tumble to the ground.

"It's true……! I was seriously so lost and confused! I woke up in the middle of a forest! Like, where the heck is this!? No one around, and I kept wandering forever, and I was like, this is impossible! But then midway through, I remembered that dream, and I thought, wait, could this be one of those isekai reincarnation things? So I figured I'd give it a shot and tried summoning something fluffy, and Mashiro showed up! He was such a good boy, showing me where to find fruits and stuff—total lifesaver! But I had no clue what to do next, and I was getting so anxious……!"

She must have been through a lot herself. Mingled faintly with her sweet, natural scent was the smell of sweat.

That was tolerable enough. But the destructive force of the enormous breasts being pressed insistently against me was something else entirely.

Still, getting aroused by a crying girl would make me the worst sort of person, so I gently patted her back.

"Th-That sounds rough."

After a little while like that, she seemed to calm down.

Just when I thought so, she suddenly pulled away from me.

It was hard to tell in the dim night, but her face was flushed a soft crimson.

"Ah, ahaha! Yeah, yeah! So, Kūdō, you're handling this kinda thing well too, huh? Turns out the guys who look totally average at school are the ones who shine in setups like this!"

It seemed she was pretty well-versed in stories herself. Not just isekai, but the classic trope where an unremarkable boy gets thrown into an unfamiliar environment and reveals his extraordinary adaptability—that was straight out of the playbook.

Whether I was adapting quite as well as all that, I couldn't say.

"Hey, Shōko-chan, isn't that kinda rude?"

The long black-haired girl tugged at Kanna's sleeve, issuing a gentle reprimand.

She must have thought that phrase—"ordinary-looking guy"—might offend me.

"Huh, is it? Kūdō, you mad?"

Kanna's face turned anxious.

I could tell there was no malice behind it, and besides, she wasn't wrong.

I was just your average high school boy, after all.

"Nah, it's fine. More importantly, uh…… Yomi'umi-san, you're here too, huh."

"Ahaha, thanks for bringing it up yourself, Kūdō-kun. Shōko-chan wasn't introducing me at all, so I'd been waiting for an opening to jump in."

With a wry smile, Yomi'umi Shion stepped up beside Kanna.

Even standing next to Kanna, her own ample bosom showed no signs of being outshone. Her waist was slender, yet her thighs had just the right amount of soft flesh, and to top it all off, she was a bona fide beauty—so naturally, she stood out in class and was wildly popular.

And yet, there had never even been a rumor of her having a boyfriend; all that circulated were tales of guys who confessed to her striking out one after another.

—In class, she belonged to the group centered around Kanna, and in that dream, she'd been hovering close by as well.

That was how the scramble for desirable abilities had kicked off, with Kanna latching onto me.

As a result, the number of special ability holders in the class had increased, no doubt about it.

Without that, it might have ended up just me and Chiyu as the only ones with powers.

But even looking back, I had no memory of Yomi'umi voicing any desire for a particular ability.

"Eh~? But Kūdō and Shī-chan are just normal classmates, so we can chat however, right?"

"Not everyone can be as forward as you, Shōko-chan."

"Really?"

"Really."

Yomi'umi nodded solemnly, though with a joking lilt.

"Okay then~ This pure-and-innocent black-haired beauty here is Yomi'umi Shion. And this black-haired savior boy is Kudō Sōsuke. There, handshake for both of you—now you're friends~"

"Fufu, Shōko-chan, you're so casual about everything. But really, nice to meet you, Kūdō-kun."

I reflexively grasped the hand she extended. It was smooth and delightfully soft.

"Ah, y-yeah, nice to meet you too, Yomi'umi-san."

"You can call me Shion."

"Uh, okay. Then, Shion."

Back in elementary school, it hadn't been a big deal, but sometime around starting middle school, I'd developed this resistance to calling a girl I wasn't especially close to by her first name.

The outgoing types probably breezed through it without a second thought, but for me, it brought on a bit of tension.

"Can I call you Sōsuke-kun, then?"

Who could refuse when she looked up at me like that, with those upward-tilted eyes?

"Sure, of course."

"Whoa whoa! Shī-chan? Isn't that way too aggressive? You're going full throttle here!"

For some reason, Kanna wedged herself between us with a voice that sounded flustered.

"What's wrong, Shōko-chan?"

"What's wrong is……"

At that point, Shion deliberately clapped her hands with an exaggerated "Ah……!"

"Sōsuke-kun. You've known Shōko-chan longer than me, right? So it wouldn't be fair if you only called me by my first name. How about we all use first names from now on, as a fresh start?"

"I'm fine with it if Kanna is."

"Uh, m-me too, if Kūdō's cool with it."

"See? No last names for either of you starting now."

"Uh…… Shōko?"

"Y-Yeah? What is it, Sōsuke?"

Confirming that we'd call each other by first names felt strangely embarrassing, like it was too intimate.

Shion watched us with a beaming smile.

"Well then, shall we get down to business?"

I nodded at Shion's words.

"Neither Shōko-chan nor I have any intention of being enemies with you, Sōsuke-kun."

"No duh, Shī-chan, that's obvious."

Shōko said that, but I still valued hearing it from Shion's lips. I'd warmed up to Shōko quickly because she was a friend, but the "Fluffy Summoning Ability" was an absurdly powerful one. Being able to command a mythical beast that covered military might, mobility, scouting, and exploration capabilities was a massive cheat.

It was hard to imagine, but if Shōko ever turned Fenrir on me, it'd spell serious trouble.

From Shion's position, affirming a lack of hostility was only natural.

"I don't want to be enemies with you two, either."

"Thank you. So, the reason we're barging in so late at night is…… we want you to make us—your allies, Sōsuke-kun."

It was more or less what I'd half-expected, but hearing it confirmed still brought a sense of inevitability.

I had no idea what was going through Shōko's head, but anyone who'd heard my declaration about the "Crafting Ability" would realize its value once they arrived here and grasped that this was real.

"For now, how about we share information with each other? It's late, so we could wait until morning……"

"No, if it's not a bother to you, Sōsuke-kun, I'd like to do it now. Right, Shōko-chan?"

"Eh? Oh, yeah. Sure, tell us about your side too, Sōsuke."

"Yeah. Also, this isn't just my base, so let's talk with everyone."

As I glanced back at the hut, the door creaked open with a gii, and the face of my childhood friend—glaring with half-lidded eyes—peeked out.

"Whoa! It's Chiyu-cchi! Glad you're safe~!"

But seeing Shōko bounce with joy over her own safety seemed to deflate Chiyu's prickliness.

"You too…… Shōko-chan."

"Ooh, I like that nickname! Shōko-chan it is~! Ahaha."

"……So, you've teamed up with Iyama-san already. Wait, could it be…… that at that moment, since Sōsuke-kun grabbed her hand, the two of you were transported together or something like that?"

Shion was pondering something, piecing it together in her mind.

"I think that's probably the case, yeah."

"That's amazing…… Sōsuke-kun, did you know that would happen?"

"Nah, it was just a coincidence."

"I see. But still, that coincidence must have made Iyama-san incredibly happy, I'm sure."

Chiyu had said something along those lines herself, hadn't she?

I replied with just "You think so?" to Shion, who murmured it in a tone that carried a hint of dazzled admiration somewhere in her voice.

"Sou-kun, come here for a sec."

Chiyu beckoned me from the doorway, so I approached her.

"What's up?"

I called out to her once I reached the front of the door.

"What's up? You expect me to go out there in front of those two with my uniform sleeves, stomach, and skirt all stiff and crusty like this?"

Chiyu was looking at me with an expression that carried a subtle note of reproach.

"—Ah."

That was when I realized why my childhood friend hadn't stepped outside the door yet, and I mentally kicked myself for it.

"If that's the kind of fetish you have, Sou-kun, then as your most beloved childhood friend, I'd do my utmost to accommodate you in every possible way. It's unavoidable, I suppose. I've heard there are men out there in the world who enjoy that particular play where they tie a used condom into a girl's panties and make her walk around outside like that. I get it if you're into that sort of category too. Very well, then—crusty childhood friend, deploying for duty."

"Sorry, that was my bad……! I'll put it right into the Inventory, so just hold on."

The soap, water, and bucket I'd set out earlier could clean up the stains on her skin just fine, but clothes were a different story altogether.

Even if she tried washing them with soap, they'd end up soaked and looking out of place in their own way.

I should have realized she was waiting on my Inventory to handle it.

That said, what was up with Chiyu and her knowledge of such niche fetishes……?

"Halt deployment?"

"Halt, halt."

"Mm, all right, then—here."

It seemed she had already taken off her uniform by that point.

I quickly itemized it into the Inventory and redeployed it in its clean state.

"I'm really sorry about that, Chiyu."

Chiyu let out a small sigh.

"I know. You're not to blame, Sou-kun. I was just feeling a bit jealous, so I decided to play a little prank."

"No, I should have noticed. I'll be more careful from now on."

Chiyu, having swiftly changed back into her uniform, tilted her head slightly at my words.

"So, you're saying you plan on getting me dirty again in the future?"

Her eyes narrowed in a way that was somehow bewitchingly sly.

"Urk."

"I'm kidding. Let's head out already."

"Y-Yeah."

"Chiyu-cchi~? Sōsuke~? What are you two whispering about over there~?"

"Shōko-chan, just wait quietly like a good girl, okay?"

After itemizing all the items I'd left inside the hut as well, I joined Chiyu—who had finished her preparations—and headed over to the two of them.

"Sorry about that; we had a little something to discuss. You probably already know this, but this is Iyama Chiyu. She's been my childhood friend since kindergarten, and we got transferred here together."

I wanted to save the proper confession for when we were back on Earth, in the right setting, and it seemed Chiyu was on board with that too.

As such, introducing her as my girlfriend at this stage would feel off somehow.

"Mm, nice to meet you. You can just call me Chiyu."

Chiyu was subtly conveying that she'd overheard the bit about us all using first names.

Seeming to pick up on that, Shion gave a wry, awkward smile.

"Ahaha…… Nice to meet you too, Chiyu-chan."

Shion and Chiyu exchanged a handshake, but as I watched Chiyu's hand, I couldn't help but recall what had happened just moments ago.

Until so very recently, Chiyu's small hand had been wrapped around my…… No, no—stop that, I shook my head and forced myself to refocus.

"What are you doing, Sōsuke?"

"N-Nothing. Anyway, it's pretty dark out here, and a bit chilly too—mind if I light a fire?"

"Eh? Sōsuke, you can start a fire?"

"Yeah, well. I crafted a fire-starting tool with my ability, so using that."

"Whoa……! Do it, do it!"

I made my way over to the large stone pavement I'd left set out.

"Chiyu, mind giving me a hand?"

The campfire we'd used for the bath and dinner earlier had been extinguished, and the ashes packed into a earthenware pot and itemized. That was another quirk of the ability: tiny particles like sand or soil that were touching the ground couldn't be stored as-is. Probably because the boundary between them and the earth itself was too ambiguous.

"I think it'd be good for the others to handle this themselves, for future reference."

"If it's not too complicated, I'd love to help out."

It was Shion who raised her hand modestly to volunteer.

"Yeah, sure—I'll leave it to you, then."

"Got it; you can count on me."

Shion climbed up onto the stone pavement with a gentle, warm smile.

The two of us sat down and began setting up the fire-starting tool I'd deployed via the ability.

"Whoa. Tools just appearing out of thin air like that…… That's part of the ability too, huh?"

I didn't plan on spilling every detail about the ability before we'd officially become allies…….

Well, they'd already shown me Fenrir, so this much was probably within acceptable bounds.

"Yeah. Shion, if you could hold down this stone with the depression in it, and keep both ends of this wooden board pressed with your feet."

"Got it—so I'm basically fixing the tools in place. And then you pull on the cord to create friction and get a spark, right?"

"Exactly."

Shion spread her legs to press down on the board with both feet. On my end, having gotten the hang of it, I had the ember going in less than ten seconds.

It had been hard to see clearly in just the moonlight, but Shion's panties…… they were black, I think…….

I immediately banished that stray thought from my mind and got to preparing the campfire.

"It's an actual campfire! And you did it so fast, like a pro!"

I arranged log benches around the fire in a circle, and everyone took a seat on their own.

"These chairs are something you made too, Sōsuke?"

"With the ability, yeah."

"Whoa, that's way too convenient. In a situation like this, it's basically the ultimate power, right?"

"It's been a huge help, yeah. But being able to command Fenrir is a pretty massive cheat too."

"Ahaha, I get that…… It's not funny, but there are kids who ended up with stuff like a single bag of potato chips, you know."

"Thanks to Sōsuke-kun, a lot of students got abilities they wanted, so I'm sure they're grateful for that."

"Yeah! If I hadn't had Mashiro, I'd have starved to death by now, so I seriously owe you big time, Sōsuke~."

By the way, the Fenrir had moved behind Shōko and was now lying down there.

I kind of wanted to touch him or something, but that could wait until we'd finished talking.

"Well, there were some who picked weird abilities, so the number of people who are grateful might be pretty low anyway."

"That's not on you, Sou-kun."

"Right, right. What matters is that there are people like me who got saved, yeah?"

"Yeah, you're right…… And if answers could be changed later on, maybe more people would have ended up with  useful abilities."

"Nah, that's not a thing."

Shion spoke up at that. Hearing her, Shōko took over the explanation.

"Shī-chan apparently gave two answers, but she only got the first one."

"Huh."

If that was true, then it locked in whether most people had their possessions or their abilities confirmed.

No, there were still things I needed to think about.

But that could wait for now.

I was just about to open my mouth to suggest we start sharing information—when Shōko's stomach let out a loud gurgle.

"Ah, ahaha~. Mashiro, you pick now to make that super cute sound, seriously~."

Shōko's attempt at playing it off was so transparently clumsy. The Fenrir, dragged into covering for his master's fib, loyally tried to mimic the stomach growl with a kuun of his own, as if to back her up.

What a devoted Fenrir.

For the time being, it looked like I should prepare something to eat before diving into the main topic.

"You mentioned earlier that you ate some fruits, Shōko—but what about the two of you otherwise?"

At my question, the two of them weakly shook their heads.

"We don't have a ton of variety in ingredients either, but we can at least offer some grilled mushrooms."

"Mushrooms! Yes, please—I'll eat!"

Shōko's eyes lit up.

"I'd be happy to have some too, if that's okay."

Shion replied while gently rubbing her own stomach.

"It's fine. Mushrooms are the last thing I want right now—I'm stuffed."

Chiyu said it while directing a meaningfully pointed gaze my way, my childhood friend that she was.

She was no doubt referring to what had happened inside the hut. She'd always had a habit of tossing out risqué jokes from the start, but after today's events, that tendency might ramp up even more. Bracing myself for that possibility, I opened the Inventory.

I could have pulled out the pre-grilled mushrooms from stock, but that would reveal the fact that they stayed at the exact same temperature inside, so I held off for now. Instead, I took out raw mushrooms and skewers, sprinkled some salt on them, and handed them over to the two.

"Grill them over the fire and eat."

"Yay~! Thanks, Sōsuke!"

She was so straightforwardly delighted that I decided to tease her a little.

"You sure that's okay? They might be poisonous mushrooms."

"Ahaha! Sōsuke wouldn't do something like that."

The way Shōko said it, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, left me momentarily at a loss for words.

"Besides, Mashiro-kun can sniff out poison."

As she held the mushrooms over the flames, Shion added that supplemental note.

"Oh, right—that too."

So, it seemed Mashiro the Fenrir was quite the capable fellow.

Before long, the two of them were eating the grilled mushrooms that had finished cooking.

Shōko devoured hers with gusto, while Shion nibbled hers daintily bit by bit, each eventually polishing off their portions completely.

"Yum yum."

"Want seconds?"

"Really? What's the charge?"

Shōko cracked that joke.

"Sou-kun has already received payment."

Chiyu muttered flatly.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Sou-kun was peeking at Shōko-chan's panties earlier. These grilled mushrooms are the panty tax."

Hey, hey, Chiyu-san—what the heck are you going on about? I had no idea she'd even noticed that…….

Apparently, even in the low light of just the moonlight before we'd started the fire, she'd spotted it.

"Ahaha, but well, that position didn't really leave much choice. It's fine on my end—don't worry about it."

It seemed Shion had noticed too, but she forgave it with an embarrassed little laugh.

"Sōsuke, you're such a perv~."

As she said it, Shōko pinched the collar of her uniform between her fingers and flapped it lightly to fan some air in.

If she hadn't been sneaking those glances my way, I might have let it pass as an innocuous gesture.

But as it was an utter force of nature beyond my control, a glimpse of Shōko's bra—illuminated by the firelight—ended up visible for a split second.

"Gh."

"Gotcha—caught you looking. Earn your own keep……! Ahaha."

Shōko said it while her face turned red.

"No, Shion, Shōko—that was just Chiyu's joke, so……"

Well, it had been a feast for the eyes regardless, so I was more than happy to provide refills.

And just like that, the conversation kept veering wildly off track in the most lively fashion.

"But let's push forward with the information sharing while we eat."

"Yeah, yeah."

Both Shōko and Shion had woken up standing in the middle of a forest. As Shōko summoned Fenrir and made her way through the woods, Mashiro reacted to the presence of another person nearby. That turned out to be Shion, and that's how the two of them had reunited.

"I'm really glad Shōko-chan found me like that."

"No, no—I was the one who was super lonely thinking I might be all alone in the worst case!"

After that, the two of them had ridden Mashiro all the way to my base.

"But how did you find me, exactly?"

Before I could ask, Chiyu beat me to it with the question. Yeah, that was the key point nagging at me.

"Uh, well, that was…… ahaha~."

Shōko scratched at her cheek, her expression tinged with a shy embarrassment.

"What did you two have on you when you woke up?"

Shion spoke up. From the flow of things so far, it didn't seem like an evasion tactic but something connected, so I decided to answer.

"Just our uniforms and indoor shoes. Lucky for us, our school's indoor shoes double as gym shoes, so that worked out."

They weren't all that different from regular running shoes, so there hadn't been any real issues using them in this environment.

"You too, Chiyu-chan?"

"Mm, as for that……?"

"Um, see—look at this."

Shion unfastened something from her left wrist. It was utterly unremarkable: a hair tie.

"I always wear it on my left wrist when I go to school, since I use it to tie my hair up and stuff."

"—Ah."

That was when it clicked for me too.

We'd been transferred in our school uniforms, but I hadn't given much deep thought to exactly what counted as our initial equipment.

I'd assumed that since we had no belongings with us, everything except our clothes had been confiscated.

That seemed the fairest approach, and I'd figured that was just how it worked.

But hadn't I myself brought something beyond the uniform?

My undershirt, which I'd broken down with the ability and turned into a towel.

Not everyone wore one, so even just that one piece meant I was coming out ahead. If there was some kind of setting for initial equipment, then it would make more sense for underwear to either be standardized to the same material for everyone or not present at all.

Transferred in the "outfit we usually wear to school"……? No, defining "usual" was tricky.

"You know, Sōsuke-kun. I think you're trying to figure out the criteria for belongings right now, but actually, we've already got it pinned down."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Um, so—it seems like we were transferred here in the outfit we were wearing when we got home from school the day before that dream."

"……I see. But how did you figure that out?"

Shion wiggled her lips a little, gazing off diagonally downward as she murmured in a voice that grew faintly hoarse.

"Well, um…… it was the underwear, you see. Not just me, but Shōko-chan too, apparently."

"Ah, ah—……."

I hadn't even registered the pattern on the underwear I'd worn the previous day, but it seemed girls paid more attention to that sort of thing.

"Oh, but that's not all. Shōko-chan had something else too—something she 'got her hands on the day before and put in her uniform pocket on the way home.'"

If it was an item she didn't normally carry, then yeah—that would definitively confirm the "yesterday's outfit" theory.

"Huh. ……Wait, hold on—that connects to how you found me? If it does, then……"

Shōko pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket.

"This is the one I borrowed from you yesterday, Sōsuke."

I remembered now. Shōko had spilled water on her uniform, so as a friend, I'd naturally and oh-so-subtly offered her my handkerchief with the utmost casualness before gracefully making my exit.

It absolutely wasn't because I'd accidentally glimpsed through her wet uniform and used that as a cover to hand it over.

"Oh yeah, I did lend it to you~."

Damn, that came out way too wooden.

"No, I totally meant to wash it properly and give it back, okay!?"

For some reason, Shōko was turning red-faced and making excuses.

It wasn't like I'd be disappointed over something as minor as her forgetting to return a handkerchief.

"Did you have Fenrir sniff it for Sou-kun's scent and then stalk him down?"

There was a thorny edge of youthful jealousy in Chiyu's words.

"Urk. I-I mean, I figured you might hate it, but it was an emergency!"

So, that was it: the transfer mechanics, a stroke of yesterday's luck, and Shōko's ability had miraculously meshed together to make linking up with me possible.

"Nah, it's fine. I was worried about you too, Shōko—so don't sweat it."

"Sōsuke……!"

Shōko's eyes welled up with emotion, deeply touched.

"……Guys are such a sucker for the 'gal who's unexpectedly kind to otakus' trope. Nothing beats the childhood friend."

Chiyu was grumbling under her breath, but I knew she wasn't the type to abandon someone over something this small. After that, we kept the conversation going for a bit longer, and I pretty much heard everything I wanted to ask about.

"'I have the 'Crafting Ability,' Chiyu has 'Healing Magic,' Shōko has the 'Fluffy Summoning Ability'—so what about you, Shion?'"

"Um…… please don't think of me as a bad person, okay?"

Though she hesitated somewhat, Shion did end up telling us.

"What I wanted was…… the 'Lie-Detecting Ability.'"

It was certainly a convenient power. If you could see through people's lies, you could pick up on it ahead of time even if you were on the verge of being deceived.

You could spot if someone who seemed kindly on the surface had ulterior motives lurking beneath.

It would be incredibly useful in everyday life, though it was the sort of ability that might also lead to developing a distrust of humanity as a side effect.

What caught my attention, though, was whether you'd actually want to bring something like that to an uninhabited island.

But after giving it a moment's thought, I arrived at a certain possibility.

—Shion might have chosen her ability under the assumption that the entire class would be sent to the uninhabited island together.

With no teacher around to act as a coordinator, forty high school students suddenly set loose on an uninhabited island. It would be difficult to expect all of them to adhere to the laws and morals they'd been bound by back in Japan. Having an ability that let you discern the truth or falsehood in what others said would make it easier to navigate group dynamics and detect crises within the collective. But if that was the case—then.

"Shion, were you already assuming a class transfer back at that point?"

At my words, Shion smiled brightly.

"That's giving me too much credit. If anything, it's thanks to you, Sōsuke-kun."

"Me?"

"In real life, reading the room or going for laughs isn't a bad thing, right? That's part of social skills, after all. But at that moment, everyone initially thought it was just a dream."

"Yeah, that's true."

"In other words, it's a situation where you don't need 'social skills' at all—you should just think as your true self. But a good number of students were giving silly answers or settling for ordinary items. They weren't thinking deeply about it. They were just going along with the flow. I think that's dangerous."

If you could consciously wield social skills when the situation called for it, that would be wonderful. But if conforming to those around you becomes so ingrained that you can't make your own judgments even when you should, that's the kind of thing she was getting at, I suppose.

"Sou-kun didn't read the room back then."

At Chiyu's words, Shion's face lit up with delight as she said, "Exactly!"

"Since it's a dream, you should be able to answer seriously without worrying about the atmosphere. But you were the only one who could take the lead and do that, Sōsuke-kun. And on top of that, you even voiced it out loud, giving the other kids a chance to think about their own abilities—that's what I thought was so impressive."

"It wasn't anything that grand…… Besides, the one who got the ball rolling on everyone starting to think about abilities was Shōko."

"Oh, come on, it wasn't that big a deal~."

Shōko looked bashful but pleased all the same.

"You're right. Sōsuke-kun was the one who 'took the first step,' and Shōko-chan was the one who 'kept the momentum going afterward'—so both of you are amazing. And then there's Chiyu-chan, who drew out Sōsuke-kun's ability in words."

"Yeah, if Chiyu hadn't talked to me, I probably would've just kept it all in my head."

"Childhood friend combo play."

Chiyu emphasized the "childhood friend" part as she said it.

"Now, when you just said Sōsuke-kun 'kept it in his head,' that actually turns out to be effective in real life."

Shion's words carried a tone of firm conviction.

"So that means you really didn't voice out loud what you wanted to bring, huh, Shion?"

"As expected of you, Sōsuke-kun—you'd figured that much out."

Shion pressed her hands together in front of her chest, looking genuinely impressed as she said it.

"What's that mean? What's going on? Explain it so I can get it too, please!"

Shōko was looking thoroughly confused.

"Uh, well, in that dream, a lot of people were voicing out loud what they wanted, right?"

"Yeah. Wasn't everyone doing that?"

"Nah, not quite. I couldn't confirm it with absolutely everyone, but there were some who never opened their mouths until the very end."

"Eh? Really?"

"Yeah. And on the blackboard, it just said 'If you could bring one thing to an uninhabited island, what would it be?'—there weren't any instructions on how to answer, right? So we can assume there are no restrictions on the method of response."

"You two…… were thinking that deeply about it in a situation like that?"

Shōko looked a little taken aback by my words and Shion's.

"Well, I started thinking things were off partway through, and I don't hate those kinds of 'what if' hypotheticals anyway. I just kinda got into it."

"I see? So, if not saying it out loud was an option, what happens then?"

"You remember how Shion said earlier that if you wished for two things, only the first one got granted? That changes to the answer weren't accepted."

"Yeah."

"So, if you decide on the ability you really want first and then just casually answer something like 'a knife' in the dream—what happens?"

"Hmm? ……Ah! So then, when you reunite with someone who heard that on the island, you can trick them about what your ability actually is?"

Shōko seemed to catch on after a bit of thought.

"That's right, Shōko-chan. With a knife, you could just say you 'lost it' or something as an excuse. Or if you go with a consumable item to begin with, you could claim you'd 'used it all up' and be done with it."

"Whoa, so it's assuming you'll deceive your classmates from the get-go? Well, sure, there are bad people in the world and all……."

Even after realizing there might've been people scheming that far ahead from the moment of the dream, Shōko didn't seem to quite grasp it.

"Ahaha…… Well, I didn't go so far as deceiving anyone, but since I kept my answer hidden from everyone, that stings a little to hear."

"Nah, Shī-chan, you're not bad for that. You have the right to not say things you don't want to say."

"Thanks, Shōko-chan."

"……More importantly, Shio-chan."

"What is it, Chiyu-chan?"

"I don't mean to criticize the timing of when you revealed your ability. But ever since we all met face-to-face, you've been using your ability on Sou-kun the whole time. Isn't that right?"

At Chiyu's words, Shion's face took on an apologetic cast, and she bowed her head toward me.

"Yeah, that's true, actually. Shōko-chan seems to trust you, but I wasn't all that close with you myself, so I was anxious. I'm sorry for testing you like that."

"Nah, it's fine. If it'd just been you alone, I would've been way more on guard too. Trying to adapt to the current situation using your own ability is just common sense. No need to apologize for it."

For that matter, I hadn't revealed the full extent of what my ability could do, either.

"……Thank you. You're kind, Sōsuke-kun."

She might even be using her ability on me right now, for all I knew.

Perhaps because she could tell I wasn't seriously angry, her eyes widened just a fraction.

"I don't have any secrets or anything, so I wasn't worried about that, but Shī-chan said that if people found out you could detect lies, they'd normally hate you for it—so that's why I kept quiet. Sorry about that, Sōsuke."

"That's why I said I'm not mad. But yeah, now that that's cleared up, no hard feelings, right? What about you, Chiyu?"

"It's fine by me, but I do have one concern."

"What is it?"

With her expression as impassive as ever, Chiyu brought a hand to her mouth in that way people do when they're holding back tears.

"From here on out, thinking that all of Sou-kun's transparent lies are going to get found out—it just makes me feel so sorry for you, it's heartbreaking."

"Hey, what do you mean by 'transparent lies'?"

"Like when you look at someone's chest and then say 'I wasn't looking.'"

"Alright, no comment."

At my exchange with Chiyu, Shōko burst into bright laughter, while Shion let out a soft, giggling chuckle, and the mood lightened considerably.

But she did have a point, Chiyu.

From now on, I'd have to keep it in mind that Shion could spot lies and choose my words accordingly.

"So, Sōsuke-kun, Chiyu-chan. Will you make us your allies?"

"Sōsuke! Let us join your group! And right now, that comes with Mashiro too! He's fluffy!"

Chiyu and I exchanged a glance and nodded to each other. Then we turned back to the two of them and said,

"Of course—we welcome you."

"Yay~!"

"Thank you. I'll do my best not to be a burden."

Shōko leaped to her feet in a display of unbridled joy, while Shion's face took on a look of visible relief.

"Oh, right, Sōsuke-kun."

"Hm?"

"You two look so remarkably clean…… Is there some method to it?"

Shion's voice was calm, but it carried a subtle undercurrent of envy.

Now that she mentioned it, there were signs of dirt on both of their clothes and skin.

Considering they'd appeared in the middle of a forest and wandered around alone for a while, that was only to be expected.

"Hmm? Whoa, you're right! Your clothes are all clean, and your hair and skin are so shiny and smooth~!?"

Well, they were allies now, so there was no real need to hide it anymore.

"We'll talk about the clothes thing later. For now, the reason your bodies can get clean is…… because we made a bath."

"Eh!? A bath!? For real!?"

"Wow. Your ability really is incredible, Sōsuke-kun."

Perhaps because they were girls, both of them latched onto the idea with tremendous enthusiasm.

Incidentally, the bath setup had been stored away, so it wasn't visible anywhere at the moment.

"It's like a drum barrel bath, so it'll have to be one at a time, but you two should go ahead and use it. I'll get it ready."

Actually, now that there were more girls, maybe I should generate a second stone bath?

We still had a massive amount of water left, and we could borrow fire from the campfire right in front of us, so it wouldn't be much extra work.

"Whoa. I might end up falling for you, Sōsuke."

"If that happens, then I'd be a romantic rival to Chiyu-chan."

"I'll make the childhood friend the winning heroine."

Chiyu declared it in a tone of absolute resolve.

Preparing the bath wasn't an issue. I was a little sleepy, but it was for my friends. Plus, I had a small objective in mind as well.

"It's not exactly in exchange or anything, but there's something I'd like to ask of you, Shōko."

"Hmm. If it's just peeking a little while I'm in the bath, I'll make a special exception and allow it."

Shōko said it while pressing her index finger to her mouth.

"Why are you assuming I'd want to peek in the first place?"

It was the same with Chiyu earlier—was this how they imagined all guys, or just me specifically?

"Ahaha, just kidding, kidding."

"Is that so. Anyway, what I wanted to ask is, with your 'Fluffy Summoning Ability'—can you summon sheep?"

"Sheep? Like, the ones that go 'meee'?"

"Yeah, that's the idea."

Seeming to grasp what I was getting at, Chiyu immediately chimed in with, "Cashmere goats would work too."

"Hmm, hold on a sec. Sheep…… fluffy…… super fluffy…… Yeah, I think that'd work!"

"Oh! Now we're talking—this means we can get wool!"

"What about cashmere goats?"

Chiyu pressed the point.

"I get what cashmere is, but I don't really know what a cashmere goat looks like, so that one's probably a no-go……."

It seemed Shōko's ability hinged heavily on her mental image.

She'd probably been able to summon Fenrir because it was a being from isekai comics that she loved so much she desperately wanted to call forth. Sheep shouldn't be too hard to visualize, either.

"By the way, are there any limits on how many you can summon?"

"Hmm. Depends on the size? I can't summon another Fenrir right now, it feels like. For sheep, probably two? Two heads, I mean?"

"Summoning implies you're calling them from somewhere else, right? So, for example, if you sent Mashiro back to wherever he came from and then summoned him again—could you do that?"

"Nope, can't. If I send them back, I won't be able to meet them again, and…… I don't even want to think about it, but if they die, they just vanish."

"I see. Thanks for telling me. Mashiro's an important partner for you, after all—I wouldn't dream of telling you to send him back. But what if you summoned two sheep, sent those ones back, and then summoned two more…… something like that—could you pull that off?"

"Hmm, it'd be kinda sad, but if it's necessary, I'll do it."

"Sou-kun. What about the meat from those sheep……?"

Chiyu's question was a perfectly reasonable one, but…… well, I'd been holding back on saying it out of consideration for Shōko.

"Nah, you don't have to give me that look—it's fine. I thought about it myself when my hunger hit its limit. But in the ability description, it says 'Cannot be repurposed for meat' or whatever. That means you can't turn them into food, right?"

"I see—so it gets judged as a use outside the intended scope of the ability."

It was the opposite, in a way, from how Chiyu had envisioned herself as a white mage and thus obtained 'Purification.' Shōko had probably pictured the summoned creatures as partners or companions.

That's why the ability's limitations were set along those lines, most likely.

"But in that case, we should be able to get the wool, right?" 

"Probably, yeah. They shed fur just from being fluffy sometimes anyway, and if you're treating them like companions, brushing them would have to fall under expected behavior. In other words, getting some of the animal's hair in the course of interacting with it wouldn't go against Shōko's understanding. The one potential issue would be—"

"When you send the summoned creature back, whether the wool you've already sheared disappears or not," Shion picked up right where she had left off.

"Any idea on that front?"

"Huh? Oh, it's fine—it doesn't disappear."

"Yes……!" I clenched my fist.

This meant we could get wool. Now we could craft warm items like cold-weather gear, pajamas, rugs, and the like to make our time more comfortable. There were wool comforters out there too, but those had wool filling inside a separate cover material.

Actually, wool sweaters existed as well, so if I scaled one of those up to comforter size, wouldn't that be plenty to keep us warm for the time being? Even if there were drawbacks like it getting dirty easily or prone to holes, as long as it wasn't irreparably damaged, I could just store it in the Inventory and redeploy it good as new.

"Oh, looks like I get to make an offering right away—I'm kinda happy about that."

"For now, I'll set up the bath. Chiyu, Shion—handle boiling the water, would you?"

"Leave it to me."

"Shōko, summon the sheep."

"Roger!"

I swiftly deployed a full new set of stone bath equipment, along with the bath kit we'd used earlier.

All that was left was for Chiyu to light the fire and get the water heating.

With two baths now, I'd have Shion help out too.

Shōko closed her eyes in concentration, then snapped them open wide—and just like that, two sheep appeared right in front of us.

"Oh."

Maybe because she could only summon fluffy things, they came with a generous coat of wool.

I pulled out a stone knife and carefully sheared the wool without nicking the sheep.

"Sōsuke, let me help too."

"Yeah, sure—thanks."

I made another knife and handed it over, and the two of us got to work clipping away diligently. On my end, I could just store the wool as I went, but doing that for Shōko's share as well would be a hassle, so I set out a wooden box for her to put hers in.

"These sheep are just taking it all without a fuss."

"They listen to what I say."

"I see. So you're a tamer, Shōko."

"White mage Chiyu, tamer me, and Sōsuke…… an alchemist?"

"Ahaha, depending on the story, Shion's ability might get called 'Appraisal' or something like that."

"Huh~."

Thanks to the sheep's compliance, the work progressed smoothly. But it was still pretty laborious.

"And that's where the childhood friend's 'Minor Heal' comes shining through."

Chiyu had appeared out of nowhere at some point and cast her magic on me.

"Thanks, Chiyu."

"Childhood friend telepathy at work."

"Chiyu-cchi, does that take away fatigue? Do me too~."

"Very well."

A white light enveloped Shōko.

"Whoa! Whoa, that's nuts—I'm suddenly full of energy!"

Once the water was boiling, Shōko and Chiyu switched off. After sending the sheep back, we had her summon two more, and the childhood friend duo took over the shearing. The new members were in bath time.

"Sorry, Sōsuke-kun. Could you handle taking the towel in and out for me?"

It was Shion's voice. She'd wiped herself down first and was asking me from behind the privacy screen, with the towel draped over it.

Just like with Chiyu, I'd told her to put her clothes in the undressing basket so I could clean them too—and in the process, I'd explained the Inventory's handy features to her.

"Got it."

I stored the towel in the Inventory and redeployed it. That removed the moisture from it, leaving it in a dry state.

"The 'Crafting Ability' is way too amazing, isn't it!?"

It was just one more in a string of astonished reactions from Shōko.

"It's probably because Sōsuke-kun envisioned it with a certain level of versatility," Shion said.

In exploration-type games on uninhabited islands, those were standard features, so it had been easy enough to picture.

Before long, the two post-bath girls emerged. Shōko with her side ponytail let down looked refreshingly different from usual, and Shion with her damp, raven-black hair framing her firelit face was the picture of refined beauty.

"For some reason, seeing your face right after getting out of the bath feels kinda weird."

Shōko smiled in that shy, embarrassed way of hers.

"Thanks for cleaning our uniforms."

"Yeah! Thanks, Sōsuke—this is seriously a huge help~."

"You're welcome."

"What now? Summon more sheep?"

We'd finished shearing four sheep in total and secured a good amount of wool. As I glanced over the recipes, I shook my head.

"We're good for tonight. You two dry your hair by the fire—I'll head to the hut and try generating and setting some stuff out."

"Hey, Sou-kun."

"Hm?"

When Chiyu called out to me and I turned her way, she said this:

"There's one hut. We have four members. How are we sleeping?"

"……Right, the sleeping arrangements……"

Building a second hut would require more 'ordinary timber' than we had.

"Sou-kun, I get that you have harem fantasies, but……"

"I didn't say anything like that."

I gave a wry smile as I thought it over.

"Here's the plan: I can make warm clothes out of the wool, so I'll wear those and sleep outside."

Fortunately, the night's chill felt about like autumn in Japan. I wouldn't freeze to death or anything, and worst case, there was the campfire. And if push came to shove, I could always rely on Chiyu's 'Minor Heal'—so I felt pretty relaxed about it.

"No way—that's not happening."

But Chiyu shot it down.

"Y-Yeah, I oppose that too! I trust you, Sōsuke, so it's fine if we're all together. Besides, we're the ones joining your group, so kicking out the homeowner is totally out of the question."

"She's right. If anyone's sleeping outside the hut, it should be on a rotating watch schedule or something fair like that—rotating roles, you know."

Shōko and Shion chimed in after her.

"I-I see……"

I'd never imagined the girls would be the ones to okay all of us sleeping in the same room.

That kindness and trust of theirs felt warm, but also a little embarrassing.

"Fenrir could probably knock down a tree or two, right?"

"Ah, yeah—that makes sense. I don't really want to make a ton of noise at night, but…… that could work."

Chiyu and I turned our gazes toward Shōko.

"Sorry, Mashiro's already asleep, so I kinda don't want to wake him up."

Sure enough, there was Fenrir, dozing peacefully. Yeah, rousing a companion who'd spent the whole day busting his hump to make his own bed just to have him chop down trees—it'd be hard to ask that of him.

"Mm," Chiyu murmured, and with that, she didn't press the matter any further, as if she couldn't bring herself to argue too strongly against it.

"Fufu, it's fine, Chiyu-chan. If we put Sōsuke-kun at the edge, then Chiyu-chan right next to him, and then us on the other side of her, nothing worrisome should happen at all."

"……I don't really mind if Sou-kun builds himself a harem on this uninhabited island, anyway."

"H-Harem? Chiyu-cchi……"

Shōko's face flushed bright red. That said, Chiyu's statement was unexpectedly bold coming from her.

"Right now, Sou-kun is the only guy we can rely on. But there are three girls. If one of us tries to monopolize him, and he ends up unconsciously showing favoritism—even if it's just a little—then the atmosphere among our group would turn absolutely toxic."

"Well, I can't say I don't get what you're trying to say."

In fact, if I set aside any concerns about whether I was popular or not, it was an extremely understandable point.

Romantic entanglements leading to tragedy wasn't something you needed to look to history for examples of; it was plain enough from the daily news or even anecdotes from acquaintances. Back in Japan, you could still lean on other adults or the police in those situations, but here? This was an uninhabited island with nothing but students.

It was an environment where you had to be all the more careful about matters like that.

"As expected of you, Chiyu-chan. Yeah, if Sōsuke-kun started dating just one of us, it would definitely make things awkward for the others. At school, you could always hang out with different groups or go about your daily routines to escape it, but here, everything's fixed—we're stuck together."

She had a point. After all, we were literally going to be sleeping in the same space, and in the mornings, we'd naturally be together too.

There wouldn't be any opportunities to drop by other groups or anything like that for the foreseeable future.

"Eh, ehh~? Are you two seriously saying that?"

Shōko looked utterly perplexed. No, I got it—I totally understood. Shōko, your reaction is the most natural one here.

Chiyu and Shion were just being rational about it.

"Well, why don't we girls hash out the details among ourselves a bit? Sōsuke-kun, sorry for leaning on you so much already, but could I ask you to handle things inside the hut?"

"Uh, ah, yeah."

Either way, I'd planned on having Shōko and Shion stay by the campfire to dry their hair.

That said, I couldn't help but be overwhelmingly curious about what kind of conversation the girls would have—and what conclusion they'd reach.

Still, I had no intention of eavesdropping and losing their trust over it, so I headed into the hut and focused on the task at hand.

First up: the bedding. I'd make a rug. Since I was at it, I figured I'd go big and cover the entire floor of the hut with it.

Generate 'Wool Rug'—deploy.

It was too dark to see clearly, but a pure white rug materialized in the room. I crouched down and touched it.

"Ooh~ it's so fluffy."

And there wasn't any weird smell, either. The processing of the sheared wool must have been handled automatically somehow.

Once again, I found myself deeply grateful for the sheer versatility of the 'Crafting Ability.'

Next, I generated four 'Wool Blankets.' They weren't full-on comforters, but they should be plenty warm enough.

I tried wrapping one around myself experimentally.

"Yeah, yeah—this feels really nice. It's like my quality of life is jumping up a notch."

Huddling close to Chiyu on the straw mats had been a truly wonderful memory, no doubt about that.

But all the same, having proper bedding lined up like this was a delightful turn of events.

"And besides, even without the straw mats, we could still…… do that sort of thing……"

I caught myself before my imagination could start running wild in my head and moved on to the next task.

First: 'Wool Underwear'—in other words, inner layers.

I hesitated for a moment over how to specify the sizes, but it turned out I could just go with standards like 'S,' 'M,' 'L,' and so on.

For a test, I generated an 'M' size. The feel against the skin was great, and it seemed perfectly wearable for everyday use.

Riding that momentum, I created top-and-bottom pajama sets as well. For the top, something like a sweater; for the bottom, sweatpants-style.

I changed into mine first, swapping out of my uniform into the pajamas.

"This'll work."

Wool had high insulation and moisture retention, right? That's what it was.

If I was wearing full wool from head to toe, with woolen bedding on top of that, wouldn't it end up too warm and make it hard to sleep……?

Well, if that happened, I could just take off the sweater.

"The synergy between the 'Crafting Ability' and the 'Fluffy Summoning Ability' is insane."

It was a relief that combining them unlocked these new strengths.

Thanks to Chiyu's 'Minor Heal,' we'd been able to dive straight into logging on the very first day, too. It wasn't just the abilities we'd gained on this island that were helping us—we were getting massive support from our companions as well.

Going forward, if we ran into other transferees, Shion's ability would really show its true worth.

Having four ability users band together on day one was an enormous stroke of luck.

—As those kinds of thoughts were running through my mind, the three of them came back.

"Sou-kun, sorry to keep you waiting."

"Mm, yeah—welcome back."

"Whoa. Sōsuke-kun, you've changed clothes. Did you make that from the wool just now? Can I touch it?"

Chiyu and Shion looked just as they always did—or rather, no different from before.

But Shōko was keeping her gaze downcast, fidgeting and toying with the tips of her golden hair.

—Wh-What on earth did they talk about to reach whatever conclusion they came to?

As Shion patted at my pajamas curiously, I found myself unable to stop wondering about it.

"Th-There's a rug and blankets too~! S-Sōsuke, you're seriously amazing! Ah, ahaha."

Shōko was trying to act like her usual self, but she was failing spectacularly in the process.

"Hey, Shōko. I don't know what you all talked about, but don't be so on guard around me. Not just you—any of you. I would never force anyone into something they didn't want, absolutely."

I made sure to declare that much outright.

Shion might be using her ability right now, but that was for the best. This wasn't a lie, after all.

"No, I know you're a kind guy, Sōsuke, so I'm fine. It's not that—it's just, um……"

"Even if she trusts you, embarrassing things are still embarrassing, Sōsuke-kun."

"Yeah, that's definitely true. To be honest, I'm pretty nervous myself."

An indescribably awkward air settled over us.

"Sou-kun, I want pajamas too."

"Ah, yeah—I'll make some."

"……Make sure the chest area has some extra room. Otherwise, the fabric will stretch too tight……"

"You can do that kind of thing? In that case, Sōsuke-kun, I'd like mine that way too. With stuff like Y-shirts, if I pick a size that accounts for my chest, the sleeves and length end up too long, and it doesn't look cute."

"……M-Me too, if you could."

"O-Okay……"

Having them confide these kinds of everyday worries they wouldn't normally share with me, I got to work generating the pajamas.

The existing ones wouldn't cut it, apparently, so like with the stone walls, I decided to specify placement points and generate them directly on them.

"Sorry, but to get the sizes right, I'll have to look pretty closely."

"You can look at every last inch."

Chiyu shrugged off her uniform jacket.

"Ah, no—just take off the jacket, and that should be enough."

"Ahaha, Sōsuke-kun's such a gentleman. You could've said something like 'I need you in your underwear to measure properly' and gotten away with it."

"My lies don't work on you, Shion."

"Oh, right."

Shion let out a mischievous little laugh.

And so, with my heart pounding just a bit, I generated inner layers and pajamas for all three of them.

I handed them over to the delighted trio, and since they were going to change, I stepped outside.

In the meantime, I approached the extinguished campfire and stored away the ashes, then did the same for the bath setup.

Fen—Mashiro was sleeping soundly too. 

A lesser beast or two wouldn't be able to get past the stone walls, and if something did manage to scale them, Fenrir would handle it.

He'd make for a reliable guard dog.

As I mulled over such things, I looked up at the moon. Like the sun, there was only one of it, and its color was perfectly ordinary.

It was mysterious that we could use abilities, and the transfer itself was an enigma, but that didn't rule out the possibility that we were still on Earth.

If goblins or something showed up—monsters like that—or subhumans like elves, then it'd be a lot clearer.

Well, there wasn't much point in pondering the unknown.

"Sou-kun, we're good now."

Hearing my childhood friend's voice, I returned to the hut, where the three of them—now changed—stood waiting as beautiful young women.

In the dim room, the faint moonlight filtering through the window illuminated them softly.

"As expected of you, Sou-kun—it's perfect."

"It's really warm. It was getting pretty chilly once we moved away from the campfire, so this is a relief."

"Yeah, this fluffy texture is amazing. I'm glad I summoned the sheep like you asked, Sōsuke."

If we're talking outfits, their uniforms were cuter, sure.

But there was something appealing in its own right about the sight of these three beautiful girls wrapped up in white, fluffy fabric.

The fact that they were happily wearing something I'd made for them filled me with a quiet joy, too.

"Good to hear. I can adjust the sizes anytime, so don't hold back if you need tweaks."

"Yawn. Sou-kun, it's about time we slept."

"Ah, yeah. You're right."

Chiyu took my hand and led me to the edge of the room.

"It's still too early for harem privileges today."

So we'd be sleeping in this order, starting from the edge: me, then Chiyu, then Shōko, then Shion.

"Just so we're clear, that's not what I'm aiming for."

Though I couldn't deny it was the stuff of men's dreams.

Incidentally, since we'd laid down the rug, I'd made it a no-outside-shoes policy. So everyone had taken theirs off.

I couldn't imagine an intruder sneaking in just to steal shoes, but even so, I'd stored them in my 'Inventory' for safekeeping.

From tomorrow onward, we'd probably need to expand the base.

Having me handle all the storing and deploying every time would actually be inconvenient in the long run, so we'd want storage spaces and the like too.

No—above all else, food was the priority.

"……I was worried how things would turn out, but I'm really glad we linked up with you, Sōsuke. Getting a bath, food, a house, pajamas, and blankets—none of that was even imaginable while I was stumbling around in the forest. Thanks, seriously."

It was Shōko's voice that spoke up.

"Shōko, the sheep—thanks for that."

"And me?"

"Chiyu-sama's healing magic is, as always, beyond reproach."

"Mm. Sou-kun's 'Crafting Ability' is impressive too."

As she said it, my childhood friend reached out from under her blanket and took hold of my hand.

I wordlessly clasped it gently in return.

"……I'd better step up and make myself useful too."

I thought I heard Shion's voice, soft and whispering like that…….

Even with healing magic, our bodies still needed sleep, it seemed, and we'd reached our limit.

With no energy left for idle chit-chat like on a school trip, we drifted off into slumber one by one.

Thus, day one on the uninhabited island drew to a close.

◇

A vast expanse of pure white nothingness stretched out before us, in which a blackboard floated suspended in midair. It bore an uncanny resemblance to the dream we'd all witnessed just recently.

The difference this time lay in the seating: there were only four chairs arranged there. One each for me, Chiyu, Shōko, and Shion.

"Sou-kun……"

Chiyu, seated in the chair right next to mine, reached out her hand toward me, so I took it gently in my own.

She must have been reminded of that sudden, inexplicable transfer and grown frightened all over again. I could understand how she felt completely. But right now, what we needed most was to keep our heads clear and think things through rationally.

"Whether this is just a dream or not, we can figure that out by talking it over with everyone once we wake up."

"Yeah, Sōsuke-kun's right about that. Maybe the four of us were called here because we've been sticking together as a group."

"But what happened to everyone else, then?"

Shōko sounded anxious too, her voice carrying that unmistakable edge of worry.

"If I had to guess, it's probably because if they summoned the whole class at once, everyone would end up sharing information freely."

"I think that's it too. Back when the entire class was gathered at the start, it felt like we were being tested on how we'd react and prepare with all that info in play, you know? I remember wondering if maybe the whole class would end up on the uninhabited island together, and Sōsuke-kun here even reached out for Chiyu-chan's hand right before the transfer hit."

In that abrupt moment when the enigmatic blackboard had hurled its question at us out of nowhere, the way we'd each think it over, prepare ourselves, and ultimately respond—that had been the essence of the first dream.

"……And then, after that, it wants each of us to carve out our own paths to survival on the uninhabited island, so it doesn't let us all gather in a dream like this again?"

I nodded in agreement at Chiyu's summation of it all.

"Probably something like that. We still don't have a full grasp on what the island even looks like yet, but with forty people scattered around, you'd think a ton of information would start piling up. And once the dream ends, we could even make plans to link up with each other afterward."

The fact that we'd been transferred separately in the first place suggested there was some kind of expectation riding on our individual actions.

Even if that expectation amounted to nothing more than idle amusement on its part, the decision to scatter us like this had to carry some deliberate intent behind it.

And I had no intention of letting us unravel that intent on our own.

"……Man, you and Shī-chan are on another level as always, Sōsuke."

"If there are other kids out there who've formed their own groups besides us, I wonder if those groups are getting pulled in as units too."

"Yeah, I figure that's the case. The real issue is figuring out what the Mysterious Blackboard's goal is here."

All four of us turned our gazes toward the blackboard in unison. The instant we did, letters began materializing across its surface.

'Day One has concluded.'

'Question: Between meat and fish, which is essential for your future survival?'

'Meat / Fish'

—Another question!

It was infuriating, but at the same time, this gave us a few clues we could piece together. For one thing, it explained why we hadn't spotted so much as a single beast or small animal all day today—practically speaking, none at all.

If we assumed the same mechanics as with the abilities—that whatever we answered would be granted to us—then it stood to reason that neither existed on the island right now.

Even if someone had tried their hand at hunting, fishing, or gathering seafood today, they probably wouldn't have come away with a single result to show for it.

"……Hey, this…… It doesn't mean it's gonna just hand us meat or fish as some kinda present, right?"

Shōko's face twitched with unease as she spoke.

"Yeah. I think what happens is that whichever one we pick will spawn on the uninhabited island—something like 'beasts carrying meat suitable for consumption' or 'fish with flesh suitable for eating.'"

Even as I said it aloud, it sounded utterly ridiculous to my own ears, but that was likely how it would play out.

At this point, I was starting to think we might as well abandon any theories about this being some remote corner of Earth.

"……Ah, yeah—so it looks like the other kids' answers are getting factored in too."

Just as Shion said, the kanji for "vote" began forming beside each option: one next to "Meat," another next to "Fish."

When it came to food sources a bunch of amateurs like us could realistically obtain, fish still seemed like the more promising bet…….

But there was something irresistibly alluring about the word "meat" that people just couldn't shake off, apparently. The vote tally was already tipping in its favor.

"So, what do we do?"

"Shōko, if you ask Mashiro. Would he hunt for you?"

"Huh? Yeah. Honestly, he seemed kinda bored today since nothing really went down."

So he could pick up on that sort of thing too. As expected of a tamer.

"In that case, for us, the meat option might actually fit better. We know where the ocean is, but we haven't located any rivers yet. Though depending on what kind of beasts show up, tracking them down could turn into a real hassle……"

I'd been mulling it over like that, but before our group of four could even settle on a decision, the votes for "Meat" had already surpassed twenty.

'A majority has been reached, so voting is now closed.'

'Starting on Day Two, "Meat" will be added to the environment.'

"Ah, right…… Of course it would end up like this."

We couldn't control how quickly the others voted, after all—so we had to make our calls fast if we wanted any say in it.

That said, this was way too quick. By my sense of time, not even three minutes had passed.

Maybe a bunch of the students were too hungry or frustrated by now to think straight.

But come on—if you weren't expecting to get handed a slab of meat on a platter or anything, shouldn't you at least approach this with a little more caution?

"Wait, hold on just a second! What exactly is your purpose here? How do we get back to Japan? And for that matter, is everyone else okay!?"

Based on how the last one had gone, the dream would end once we'd finished whatever it wanted from us.

That was probably why Shion raised her voice in such a frantic rush.

I'd half-expected it to ignore her outright, but to my surprise—the letters began dancing across the blackboard once more.

'I have no purpose. If I must phrase it in terms you can grasp, then it would be amusement, or perhaps a way to stave off boredom.'

It was about what I'd figured, but this was the worst possible pattern.

It might've been better if it had been something like "Slay the demon king, and I'll send you back to Earth."

As things stood, this was no different from being spirited away to some other world in a classic folktale.

Was I being too optimistic in thinking that at least it beat being forced into some death game?

'There is a method to return your situation to the state it was in before this all began. However, you have not yet been granted release at this time. Please await future updates.'

Updates, huh.

It was fine when I drew the game analogy myself, but hearing it use that kind of terminology for real left a weird taste in my mouth. It was heartening to know there was some path back home, sure—but who knew what other elements it might tack on before then.

With something like "Meat / Fish," that was one thing, but what if the next question turned out to be "Goblins / Kobolds" or whatever, definitively adding monsters to the mix?

'I cannot provide information on the status of survivors.'

From the voting setup alone, it was possible to tally the number of survivors.

We'd started with forty people, so reaching a decisive majority on a two-option vote required twenty-one tallies.

Since that's what had happened today, we could infer everyone was still alive. But if it had only hit sixteen, say, that would mean the total survivor count had dropped to thirty-two—which would tell us eight people had died.

Even knowing the numbers didn't do much to reassure us about whether the rest were staying healthy and safe, though.

I glanced over at Shion. I wanted to know if her "Lie-Detecting Ability" had picked up on anything.

She shook her head. In other words, it hadn't worked.

Well, that tracked. I couldn't activate my "Crafting Ability" here either.

This dream space simply didn't allow us to use our abilities.

'Day Two is now commencing.'

"Wait! Not yet—"

Shion's cry fell on deaf ears, and with that, our vision was enveloped in blinding white—expelling us from the dream.

And then, when we awoke.

—Wh-What…… is this……?

My face was pressed against something soft.

It was Chiyu's chest.

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