When we finished getting ready and stepped outside, the residents of the chicken coop had increased from five to ten.

The five eggs Chiyu had secured went into my Inventory.

“...Oh. If we’ve got eggs now, then—doesn’t that mean we can make mayonnaise?”

At my words, everyone reacted with a little jolt.

“This is starting to feel like one of those other-world stories.”

I gave a wry smile at Chiyu’s comment.

She was right. It really was one of the classics.

“The main ingredients are oil, vinegar, and eggs, so yes, it does sound possible. After that, I suppose you’d need salt and spices too.”

I nodded along to Minori’s explanation.

I’d leave actually making it for later and ask her for more details before then.

“Now I’m craving tuna-mayo rice balls... and takoyaki, and okonomiyaki too.”

“So gals eat stuff like that too, huh.”

When I looked surprised, Shouko puffed out her cheeks.

“Of course we do! What do you think gals are?”

“I figured you lived off nothing but sparkly things that would get good reactions on social media.”

“Most of life isn’t stuff you post on social media, you know.”

Well, that was true.

“Back on Earth, I couldn’t imagine being without my phone, but once it’s actually gone, I’m kind of fine.”

Maybe social media had made her think of it, because Shion said that.

“Totally, totally. I mean, there are people I’d want to get in touch with, though.”

Shouko had a lot of friends, so there were probably plenty of people whose safety she was worried about.

“...I’m not especially troubled either. If anything, I just want study materials.”

“Ahaha, that does sound like you, Minori. Hmm... I can make paper, and for pens... maybe I could make feather pens? And as for ink, as long as it’s black, couldn’t I make something out of soot or the like?”

Minori’s eyes lit up.

“C-could I ask you to...? I’ll explain how to make them later...!”

Seeing her lean toward me so eagerly, I had to admire just how badly she wanted to study.

“Of course. I can’t exactly make you textbooks or reference books, though.”

“That’s more than enough. Thank you, Sousuke-san.”

But thinking about it, studying might actually be a good idea.

We had been told that when we returned, we would be sent back to the timeline from before the transfer.

We had been summoned in a dream while sleeping, so would we return by waking up the next morning?

In any case, no time would pass, while we would still gain experience.

There were conditions for taking our memories back with us, but we were aiming for that too.

Which meant that, if you thought about entrance exams and things like that, the longer we survived on this island, the more studying we could do. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Even if it wasn’t exactly schoolwork, the knowledge we gained here might still be useful in the future.

Getting thrown onto a deserted island out of nowhere had definitely been shocking, but once daily life stabilized, it wasn’t all bad.

Of course, that was assuming the mystery blackboard really would send us home.

“Should we get going soon? Oh, and Chiyu, I wanted to ask you for a buff.”

“Energy Up?”

“Strength Up, obviously...! You asked that on purpose, didn’t you?”

“Childhood-friend joke.”

Well, that was very Chiyu.

“I want to test how much it actually boosts me, so I was thinking the girls could ride Mashiro while I run after you.”

“Such devotion, volunteering yourself as the test subject. Truly worthy of So-kun.”

Once the girls had climbed onto Mashiro, Chiyu cast the buff on me.

A white light wrapped around me, but unlike when she used Basic Heal, it covered my body like a membrane and remained there instead of disappearing.

“...Does that mean I’m buffed as long as I’m glowing? I see. That’s easy to understand.”

So far, I didn’t feel any dramatic change in my condition...

“All right, Mashiro, let’s gooo!”

At Shouko’s command, Mashiro took off running.

I followed after him.

The moment I started running, I realized how incredible the buff magic was.

I was keeping pace with Mashiro.

I was so fast that even I was startled.

“Eh!? Sousuke-kun, you’re fast...!”

“I-it’s amazing. To be able to move at the same speed as Mashiro-san, a phantasmal beast...”

“It’s amazing, but I’m not about to lose! Mashiro, go even faster!”

I didn’t mind, since I wanted to find my limit too...

But once Mashiro really went all out, I couldn’t keep up anymore.

And there was one more problem.

“...So-kun, are you okay? Advanced Heal.”

Mashiro doubled back to where I had stopped.

Chiyu immediately cast her healing magic on me.

As expected from a higher-tier spell, the speed at which my fatigue faded felt faster than with the basic version.

Its recovery amount probably increased too.

“Haa, haa... whew. Testing really is important. This is one of those things that seems obvious once you think about it—my stamina itself doesn’t increase.”

Everyone made an “ahhh” sort of face.

The kind that said, now that you mention it, yeah.

“In that case, we should probably assume it doesn’t enhance endurance or toughness either.”

Minori was probably right.

“So it boosts your ‘attack power’ and ‘speed,’ but your ‘HP’ and ‘defense’ stay the same?”

Shouko’s game-style comparison felt pretty accurate.

“So it’s useless?”

Chiyu sounded a little apologetic.

“No, it’s useful. It just means we need to think about when to use it. I don’t like thinking about it, but if one of the girls got attacked by some other guy, this would let you break free and get away, right? Thinking about what may happen later, it’s a power we can rely on.”

“Yeah. Someone like me doesn’t really have the ability to fight, and honestly, meeting boys other than you is a little scary, Sousuke-kun. If Chiyu-chan were nearby, I’d feel safe.”

“The light still hasn’t gone out... ah, now it’s gone. Then I guess the duration is about five minutes?”

In game terms, it was like a buff spell that lasted for several turns.

Just having it opened up more options in a fight.

“You probably can’t master how to move in a strengthened state overnight, but it’s a wonderful spell.”

That was true. It would take time to get used to it.

“Yeah. I don’t know if it’ll be usable tomorrow, but I want to get at least a little more accustomed to it. Chiyu, can you alternate healing and buffing me to keep the enhancement going?”

“Mm, got it.”

“Let’s have Mashiro look for prey while we’re at it. This’ll be magic practice for Minori. And I want meat other than boar too.”

“I’m counting on you, Mashiro~”

“I’ll do my best to show you the results of the magic training I’ve done with you, Sousuke-san.”

After that, we managed to bring down two deer and one bear.

A lot of that was thanks to the sense of security Mashiro gave us, but Minori’s magic was a huge help too.

She coolly leveled the staff I had given her, carefully watched the prey’s movements, and focused entirely ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ on landing her spells—firing ahead of where they were likely to move, or aiming for moments when they slowed down during turns or abrupt stops.

Just what you’d expect from a serious hard worker.

She learned from past failures, made use of her training, and devised exactly the kind of adjustments needed to achieve her goal.

“That’s amazing! You’re already a solid fighter.”

When I praised her honestly, Minori smiled like a child being complimented for getting a perfect score.

“Thank you...! It’s thanks to you practicing with me, Sousuke-san.”

That smile was so charming that I found myself staring at her.

“You really look like a mage, Minorin. Hmm... I wonder what would happen if you fought Mashiro.”

“I-I think that would be too much for me. Even setting aside the fact that I wouldn’t want to attack Mashiro-san, I don’t even know whether basic magic would work on him.”

“Hm? What is it, Mashiro? He says, ‘Sorry, Minorin, but it wouldn’t hit me in the first place.’”

It seemed Mashiro had his own pride as a Fenrir.

“I see... Well, it’s fine since Mashiro-san is on our side, but if we think about hostile phantasmal beasts appearing in the future, then I’ll need not only greater proficiency but greater spell power too...”

Minori had started thinking seriously already.

“Now that we’ve got venison... maybe I could make a sort of mock wine sauce with wild grape wine and pour it over a roast... What should I do for a side dish? Mmm, I really want potatoes and wheat...”

Head cook Shion seemed to be planning the menu.

With my ability, the meat we hunted wouldn’t spoil, so even if we hunted a lot in one day, none of it would go to waste.

“Let’s test a little more, then head back to base and have lunch.”

The plan to secure a sphere of light using Storage & Replacement seemed like it could work pretty well if combined with Chiyu’s buff.

And Storage & Replacement had possible uses other than just securing a sphere.

I’d prefer not to have to use it that way, if possible...