That morning’s breakfast was a cup of sheep’s milk, wild boar belly cooked crisp like bacon, mushroom soup, a salad of wild greens, and—fried eggs.

“Ughhh...”

Chiyu was visibly depressed.

If they made tamagoyaki with only one egg per person, each serving would end up tiny.

She had realized that in the kitchen, and through tearful reluctance had given up on tamagoyaki and made fried eggs instead.

Apparently, presentation mattered in cooking too, and that was one point she simply could not compromise on.

“Ahaha... I did say she could use my share for Sousuke-kun, though.”

“That’s no good. If the food distribution gets uneven, it could cause discord.”

We weren’t short on food, and seconds were allowed in practice, but I understood that she meant the amount initially served.

“Fried eggs are good too. Your cooking really is comforting, Chiyu.”

Today I was eating mine with salt, though I liked them with soy sauce too.

“Mm. I’ve been feeding you ever since I first started learning to cook, so your tongue has been trained by my food.”

Chiyu instantly perked back up.

If you counted from kindergarten, when my childhood friend had started helping her mother cook, that meant I’d been eating Chiyu’s food for over ten years.

Our families were close, so there had also been times when we ate dinner at each other’s houses.

“...F-fufu. You’ll be eating a lot of my cooking from now on too, so it’ll become a ‘comforting taste’ in no time.”

Shion said that with a bright smile.

“I’m entering the fight with egg dishes now, so the gap won’t close.”

The two of them shot sparks at each other, but there was no ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) hostility in the atmosphere at all, so I decided not to intervene.

“The sheep’s milk is rich...!”

“It is. It has a real heaviness to it. I couldn’t drink a lot of it, but it’s delicious.”

Shouko and Minori were focused on their food too.

“This bacon-style stuff is good too.”

When I had the time, it might be worth trying to make actual bacon.

I should casually ask Minori about it.

She was our knowledge specialist, after all.

That morning’s meal was satisfying too.

Even the meal from the first day—just mushrooms roasted and sprinkled with salt—had been excellent considering we had only just been transferred to a deserted island.

Still, proper cooking really did hit differently.

After breakfast, we decided to talk about the event.

“For now, I want us all on the same page. Is everyone planning to participate?”

“Mm.” “Of course.” “Yeah.” “Yes.”

All four of them nodded.

“Good. Me too. I don’t think anyone here would make a selfish move, and even if someone did, I don’t think that would be a problem. If one of our companions can return home, that’s a good thing.”

“There’s no way I’d go home and leave you behind, So-kun.”

At Chiyu’s dissatisfied tone, I gave a wry smile.

“I know. What I mean is, it’s fine no matter which one of us secures a sphere of light.”

“So first we all move around riding on Mashiro’s back?”

I nodded at Shouko’s question.

“That’ll probably be best at first. After that, we can change our approach depending on how fast the spheres move.”

“If people can keep up with them on foot, it’d be better to surround them, and if they’re too fast, it’d be better to go after them from Mashiro-kun’s back.”

Shion’s addition was exactly right.

“Exactly. And like the blackboard said in the dream, if it looks like any of us can secure one with our own abilities, then I’ll leave the timing up to each person.”

“Then I want to do magic practice today using moving targets.”

That was exactly the sort of thing Minori would say.

“Yeah. Since Mashiro’s going to be responsible for moving all of us around, let’s all go hunting together and use that as practice too.”

When we had first met Minori, the five of us had ridden together on the way back, but only for a short time.

Today I wanted to find out Mashiro’s limits, and how mobile he was with five people on his back.

It would put him through a bit of trouble, but with the asses of four beautiful girls riding him, he’d probably consider it worth it.

And with Chiyu there to provide support with Basic Heal, the fatigue wouldn’t carry over into tomorrow either.

“Um.”

Shion raised her hand.

“I’m not trying to slack off, but... won’t I just be dead weight?”

With her Lie-Detection Ability, she wouldn’t be able to secure a sphere by using her ability directly.

“There are a few reasons. First, there might be situations where sheer numbers work in our favor. Second, I’d worry about leaving anyone behind, so I think it’s better if everyone stays together. And last—there might be something besides securing a sphere where I’ll be counting on you.”

“Huh?”

“We don’t know when or where the spheres will appear, but before someone secures one, there’s a chance we’ll run into other classmates. Those people might become companions we can work with on this island from here on out—or they might not.”

“Ah... would my ability help us judge that?”

“Yeah. If somebody offered to cooperate and they were lying, you’d know right away that we couldn’t trust them.”

“Yeah...! Right, of course, we might run into other transfer participants. If we meet people, then maybe my power can help too...!”

Joy lit up Shion’s whole face.

Everyone softened a little at that, and then the discussion returned to securing the spheres.

“I was thinking about whether we could use your Storage & Replacement to drop a giant net over one...”

“I thought of that too, but Storage & Replacement only works up to a certain range.”

If it was a space about the size of a classroom, I could reach from one end to the other.

But something the size of a gymnasium was too much.

My current limit was somewhere in between.

“Then the plan is to ride Mashiro, get close, and then go for it?”

“Yeah. That’s what I’m aiming for. Anybody else got anything?”

“I do.”

Chiyu spoke up.

“Let’s hear it.”

“I learned new magic.”

“—Ah, right! Your usable spells can increase as your proficiency goes up!”

“Mm. New spells: Advanced Heal and Strength Up.”

An upgraded healing spell, and a strengthening spell.

That was a very white-mage-like set of additions. Nice.

“And... Energy Up.”

Silence fell over the table, and a moment later the girls all swallowed hard.

Then they glanced over at me.

They had probably each remembered their own experiences with me and imagined what would happen if Energy Up got added on top of that.

“I think I learned it because I cast Basic Heal too many times trying to restore So-kun’s ‘So-kun’... Somehow, that’s embarrassing.”

Chiyu stayed expressionless, but pressed both hands to her cheeks.

“I’m embarrassed too...”

Still, it was a good thing that she had learned three new spells.

The first two especially would definitely come in handy at some point.

...Though at this rate, I had a bad feeling the last one would end up getting used the most.

“If we’re doing reports, then I think the size I can summon has gone up too? Before, besides Mashiro, I could only do two sheep, but now I feel like I can manage up to four!”

“That’s good too! Maybe someday you’ll be able to summon a second Fenrir?”

“That could be nice! Like Mashiro’s wife or something?”

What would happen if summoned creatures had children?

That was a mystery...

“I’m sorry. It doesn’t seem like I’ve gained any new magic.”

Minori reported that with a face that looked a little awkward about it.

“There’s no need to apologize. Chiyu’s been casting Basic Heal and Purify on everyone all the time, and Shouko keeps Mashiro summoned constantly. Maybe it’s not just proficiency—usage count and activation time might matter too.”

“R-right, that makes sense. I’ll keep using magic as much as I can and work hard to learn new spells.” 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

“Yeah. I’m counting on you.”

The discussion finished, and everyone started getting ready to head out.

“Sorry, everyone. Before we go, would it be okay if I washed off a little?”

Apparently everyone understood what Shion was really saying, because nobody objected.

Shouko and Minori were both blushing a little.

“...Sousuke-kun, do you want to wash up a little too? We could just take care of it together, nice and quick.”

It was hard to call it a completely natural flow, but I had gone into the bath with Chiyu yesterday morning too, and by now everyone probably understood.

“All right. Shouko-chan, I want to increase the number of chickens before we go hunting. Help with Mashiro.”

“Okaaay. The egg dishes were great, and if we can make it two eggs a day, I’m happy to help.”

“Th-then I’ll wait outside and practice magic.”

We split up with the others, and only Shion and I headed to the bath area.

“It wasn’t exactly a lie, but I did hide something, didn’t I?”

As soon as we entered the changing room, Shion knelt in front of me and put her hands on my pants.

“Before we leave, why don’t we get out what this morning didn’t quite take care of?”

I couldn’t keep everyone waiting too long, but it was also true that the desire that had flared up that morning hadn’t completely gone away.

“...Please.”

“Hehe, leave it to me.”

After Shion took care of me with careful devotion, the explicit rest of it passed in a blur.

Then we hurried out into the bath area, cleaned ourselves off, and rejoined the others.