For the time being, we had successfully secured Ms. Tanbi.

We had her ride on Mashiro, then headed back to the base.

“S-so... all of you were sent to this deserted island before me, and you’ve already spent eight whole days here...?”

After I gave her a brief explanation of everything that had happened so far, Ms. Tanbi said that in obvious confusion.

“It’s complicated, isn’t it?”

We also listened to her side of things, and sure enough, she seemed to have been called from the same day as us.

Being summoned from the exact same timeline, but arriving in another world at a different point in time... it was the kind of phenomenon that popped up in fiction now and then, but it might be hard to understand on an instinctive level.

“And this enormous white wolf was summoned by Kanna’s ability...”

“Yep! His name is Mashiro!”

“Something like this can really... No, but I did shoot beams of light earlier...”

Ms. Tanbi muttered to herself.

“Mm. Choosing an ability means Luminuss is competent.”

Chiyu praised her.

“...No. It wasn’t me, really. The advance explanation included ‘examples of student answers.’ It said that besides students who chose objects, there were students who had chosen things like ‘charisma,’ ‘transformation ability,’ ‘Crafting Ability,’ and ‘Healing Magic.’”

Unexpectedly, we learned about other ability users.

“Charisma” and “transformation ability” were new to me.

They must have been people like Shion and Minori, who had answered by thinking it silently instead of saying it aloud.

“...I see. Additional personnel are at a disadvantage in terms of experience, so perhaps the prior explanation is meant to compensate for that.”

Minori murmured it almost to herself.

She had a point. Knowing from the start that abilities were an option might be an advantage for latecomers.

In our case, multiple ability users had only come about because of the coincidence where I ignored the mood and said what I wanted, then Shouko picked up on that. Later additions would not have to rely on that kind of chance.

“So, in the end, it all comes back to So-kun. As expected of So-kun.”

“As expected of Sousuke, as expected of Sousuke~. You were the first one who mentioned abilities, after all.”

Chiyu and Shouko immediately delivered the familiar line.

“...Is that so? In a situation where you were suddenly caught up in a strange dream, calmly thinking of a power necessary for life on a deserted island is very admirable, Kuno. The flexibility to think, ‘Maybe abilities can be brought too,’ without any hint is also impressive.”

“...Uh, well, haha.”

Since it had ended up being useful, I did not think I had any need to deny it, but at the time, I had really just said what I wanted without reading the room.

“By the way, Ms. Tanbi, is your ability that light-and-heat attack? Is that correct?”

Minori asked.

There was a pause before Ms. Tanbi answered.

“N-no... Um, your teacher is afraid of dark places, so I thought I absolutely needed light. I did hesitate between fire and light, but I [N O V E L I G H T] thought fire could be obtained by starting one in the worst case, so I chose the ability to freely create and manipulate light... but...”

Maybe because she had ended up revealing that she was afraid of the dark, Ms. Tanbi’s voice grew small.

But I understood. She had chosen an ability that could serve both as illumination and as an attack.

“Huh? Then if we have Lumi’s power, we can make things bright at night like when we were in Japan?”

“Y-yes. I think I can cooperate in that way too.”

“I see... Lantern light isn’t bad, but improving our lighting situation would be a huge help.”

Lanterns and bonfires had the kind of warmth you felt when camping, but when it came to lighting an area, actual light was more dependable.

“B-by the way, Kuno.”

“What is it, Ms. Luminous? Or would you prefer Ms. Tanbi?” 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

I had ended up using the same form of address as before.

“Oh, no... Given the situation, as long as you don’t mean it mockingly, you can call me whatever you like.”

“Then I’ll go with Ms. Luminous.”

“Y-yes... So, there is something I would like to ask.”

“What is it?”

“Are all the students acting together right now?”

“No, they’re scattered. Some students have formed groups, though.”

“I-I see... So there are still many students out there without abilities, even with those dangerous creatures around...”

“Ah...”

What would we do if Ms. Luminous declared something like, “As a teacher, I must save every student”?

Considering how difficult Rights to Return were to obtain, how adding more companions would prolong life on the deserted island, and above all, how carefully we had to choose members in order to preserve our unity as a group, we had not been actively gathering companions.

To put it bluntly, the only reason we had decided to rescue Ms. Luminous this time was because there were benefits.

“No, Kuno, it’s all right. Burdening other students in order to save students would defeat the purpose.”

Apparently, she had sensed my concern, because she said that to reassure me.

I felt relieved inside.

“However, as a teacher, I cannot go back to Japan while leaving my students behind.”

“I see...”

I respected her resolve, but that would clash with our party policy.

We were aiming to return with all our companions.

It would be possible to leave only Ms. Luminous behind and go back, but if she became one of our companions first, that would leave a bad taste.

That said, I could not exactly tell her to give up either...

Well, this was a problem we would need to discuss more carefully going forward. For now, we could set it aside.

It would be rarer for everyone’s views to line up perfectly from the start.

As we talked, the base came into view.

“...A grassland?”

From outside the barrier, it looked as if ordinary scenery simply continued.

Apparently, Yumekai could adjust this sort of thing too.

I had known the function itself existed because there had been times when I could not see Yumekai on the other side of the barrier, but the fact that she could apply it even to something as large as the house was impressive.

“Yumekai, we brought the teacher.”

I called out first, then had Mashiro continue forward.

“Huh? Something just went sploosh—A house!?”

Right after Ms. Luminous was startled by the sensation of passing through the barrier, she was startled all over again by the base that appeared in her field of vision.

“Amazing, right? Sousuke made all of it.”

Some of the solar panels and other things we had brought back from the bonus area were visible too, but Shouko was mostly correct.

“Minori helped me gather materials, though. And everyone gathers food and things together.”

“You were the one who realized my ability could be used for gathering, Sousuke.”

Minori said that with a shy smile.

“Crafting Ability... I see, even things like this. Kuno, you really are amazing...”

Ms. Luminous let out an impressed sigh, like someone visiting a famous tourist spot.

“I’m sure you still have plenty of questions, but let’s talk over breakfast.”

Mashiro crouched for us, so we climbed down one by one.

First, Ms. Luminous was shocked when Micron zipped over to us.

“A dragon!?”

Then she was shocked when Roa gave an elegant bow and said, “Welcome back.”

“A maid!? Wait, Hozuki!?”

Then we entered the house, and Shion’s voice called, “Welcome back. Breakfast is ready.”

Ms. Luminous busily found new things to be shocked by again and again.

“Sniff, sniff... The smell of bread on a deserted island!?”

To be fair, if someone was brought to this base immediately after being transferred to a deserted island, it was only natural that they would be this surprised.

Even if she had seen Afancs, the river, the forest, and the grassland, this place might not feel much like a deserted island.

After we talked, it might be worth taking her exploring around the island until she was satisfied.

In any case, before anyone else could find her, we had managed to bring the additional transfer participant—the assistant homeroom teacher—to our base.