“Fwaaah. Chiyu... morning... huh?”

When I woke up, Chiyu wasn’t beside me where she should have been.

And yet I could still feel her warmth.

My half-asleep mind snapped awake all at once.

When I threw back the covers, my silver-haired childhood friend was there between my knees, looking up at me with perfect calm.

“Mm. Morning.”

“Gh... Chiyu, you even went this far...”

The moment I fully understood what was happening, pleasure hit me all at once.

At this point, I had no choice but to assume she’d thoroughly absorbed every kind of fantasy I’d ever enjoyed.

Even the classic male dream of being woken up by a beautiful girl in a way like this had apparently been filed away and faithfully reproduced.

Thanks to Chiyu’s devoted efforts, I hit my limit almost immediately.

“Chiyu, I’m about to—”

“Mm. Go ahead.”

She urged me on without the slightest hesitation, and I ended up starting the morning in an extremely intimate way with my childhood friend.

Afterward, she swallowed, then carefully cleaned me up with her tongue as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Every one of those motions threatened to set me off all over again.

“...Even after everything we did yesterday, this is still too much. The So-kun stamina enhancement plan is progressing nicely.”

Chiyu said that with the faintest little grimace.

“Cancel that plan.”

What was I supposed to do if I eventually ended up thinking about nothing but dirty things all day?

Even after she was done, Chiyu kept at it with almost ridiculous thoroughness.

“Wasn’t it good?”

“No... it was incredible. ...Thanks.”

“Mm. Honest is best. ...By the way, So-kun. What would you do if I said I wanted more too?”

At that, there seemed to be a distinctly suggestive glint in the eyes of my usually expressionless childhood friend.

“...If we hurry, we can still make breakfast. Are the chickens okay?”

“Mm. I told Roa yesterday that on my day, she should handle them.”

“You really did prepare for everything.”

Chiyu lay back on the bed.

I leaned over her.

◇

So yeah, we got a little carried away first thing in the morning, but we still made it to breakfast by the skin of our teeth.

More accurately, we were summoned downstairs and ended up rushing to the table together.

Shion was smiling wryly, Shouko was trying to act normal while blushing bright red, Minori had her head lowered but her ears were red, and Roa wore a warm, knowing smile.

“Today I tried making those banana pancakes we talked about yesterday.”

As we enjoyed Shion’s homemade banana pancakes, scrambled eggs, and sheep’s milk chilled in the refrigerator, the conversation turned to last night’s dream.

“We don’t know what kind of monsters are coming, but I think fortifying the base is going to matter more and ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ more. Worst case, exploring might get harder after they’re added, so I want to finish gathering materials before that happens.”

“That’s true. If those monsters turn out to be nocturnal, it could even change our entire way of life. We have Mashiro and Micron, of course, but it would be cruel to dump everything on them.”

“Thanks, Minorin. Mashiro and Micron are super reliable, but that doesn’t mean it’s fair to expect them to work nonstop for us twenty-four hours a day.”

“Yeah. So this morning we’ll split into two groups and explore. Then in the afternoon, I’m going to reinforce the base’s defenses.”

“Roger that, boss.”

“Don’t call me boss.”

Even after our relationship had progressed, Chiyu was still Chiyu.

That made me a little happy.

“If we all work hard during the day, let’s watch that drama together tonight!”

That was possible now because one of the things we’d selected yesterday was a TV and video software.

I’d left the title choice to Shouko, and apparently she’d found a complete box set of a foreign drama with all six seasons included, so we’d be able to kill time with that for quite a while.

Eventually, I wanted to bring back complete box sets of classic anime too.

And to enjoy any of that, we needed to be ready for the monsters.

“Yeah. We’ll work hard in the daytime, then enjoy ourselves at night.”

Once that was settled, it was time to divide into teams.

“For now, let’s split into two groups centered around Mashiro and Micron. It makes more sense for Shouko to go with Mashiro, and for me to go with Micron, so can we lock that part in?”

“Works for me. Micron seriously likes you a lot, Sousuke. She’ll probably be thrilled.”

“Haha, I’m grateful for that.”

“I won’t lose to Micron when it comes to liking So-kun.”

Chiyu challenged Micron in her usual expressionless way.

“...Ahaha. Thanks.”

That kind of thing still made me blush without fail.

After Chiyu said that, the other girls looked like they wanted to add something too, their lips moving a little before they swallowed their words.

I could only make out a few of the whispers.

“This isn’t the place to say it...”

“It should be more... atmospheric...”

“It would probably be better one-on-one...”

That much, at least, I caught.

“Lady Minori seems to dislike high places, so perhaps it would be better if she went with Lord Mashiro.”

Roa, who had been watching the girls with an amused smile, finally spoke up.

She shouldn’t have actually seen Minori freeze up around heights, so maybe she’d learned about it while I wasn’t around.

“Y-yes. I think that would help.”

“I’ll go with the Mashiro group too. It wouldn’t be good to monopolize So-kun too much.”

“Then that means Roa and I will be in the Micron group.”

“Understood. I will do everything I can to be of use.”

Mashiro group: Shouko, Minori, and Chiyu.

Micron group: me, Shion, and Roa.

That was how the teams ended up for today.

“We’ll use the map, and the Micron group can handle anything bulky. I’ve got Inventory, after all.”

“This only holds true based on everything we’ve seen so far,” Minori said, “but additions from the two-choice votes have not overwritten other additions from the two-choice votes. If we’re looking for soybeans, that may help.”

“Uh...? So you mean if something was placed by one two-choice vote, a later two-choice addition won’t overwrite it?”

Apparently Shion had interpreted it correctly, because Minori nodded.

“Yes, exactly. So if we’re looking for something newly placed, it should be in an area that had no connection to earlier two-choice additions.”

So in other words, if apple trees had already appeared in one place, then even if something else was added later, the apple trees would probably remain there.

That was only the pattern so far, so it might change later, but it was still useful information.

“Minorin, that’s amazing. How’d you even notice that?”

“No. It’s only because everyone remembered where we found things.”

“If we’re looking for soybeans, then unexplored areas or places unrelated to previous two-choice additions. Got it.”

Minori had drawn another copy of the map for us too, so both teams would be able to reference one after splitting up.

“Thanks, Minori. That really helps.”

“...It-it’s nothing. I’m just happy if I can be useful to everyone.”

Minori blushed modestly.

“Alright! I’m not letting Minorin show me up. Let’s gather a ton again today!”

“And I’ll make whatever we collect taste delicious.”

“I will do my utmost to support all of you.”

“Mm. So-kun Harem, moving out.”

“Don’t give it a weird name.”

Throwing that retort at my childhood friend, I headed outside with the others.

Day 7 was beginning.