A navy-haired, low-energy, large-breasted beauty.

The name of the girl in front of me, who seemed to possess the barrier ability, was—if I remembered right—Yumekai Serina.

“Yumekai... You’re safe.”

“You know nobody’s dead from the daily votes, don’t you?”

The vote ended once it reached a majority.

With forty classmates, the majority threshold had stayed at twenty-one votes, so it was obvious nobody had died.

That was true, but being alive and being safe were slightly different things.

I looked over her appearance.

Her school uniform was somewhat dirty and frayed, but maybe she had washed it with water, because it wasn’t as bad as Roa’s had been when we found her.

Instead, it was wrinkled, but without an iron or anything, that was probably from wringing it out to get the water out.

Her complexion wasn’t bad either, but she was just so thin.

Maybe she had always been that way, but like this, I couldn’t tell whether she had been eating properly or not.

“What are you staring at?”

“Ah, no, sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize... Just tell me about Shouko.”

Her attitude was extremely curt, but this was probably the distance between a boy and a girl who weren’t close.

The girls I had encountered so far had simply been kind.

I glanced outside the wall for a moment.

From the outside, you couldn’t see Yumekai.

But from the inside, it seemed you could see everything outside.

I could see Micron frantically headbutting the wall over and over, Shion teary-eyed, and Roa pale-faced.

I could hear their voices too, and apparently I had made them worry a lot.

“I don’t mind talking, but first I want to let my companions outside know I’m safe.”

“...Fine. I don’t want to make classmates cry either.”

Once I had permission, I tried sticking just my face outside the barrier.

From the inside, it felt like a thin film had been stretched there.

It was like the feeling of putting only one part of your body into a bath.

“Don’t worry. I’m safe.”

“Eek! S-Sousuke!?”

“M-Master, are you truly unharmed? Y-you appear to be nothing but a head.”

“Ah, that’s how it looks, huh. Yeah, of course. It’s fine, I’m still in one piece. I’m just going to talk with Yumekai for a bit.”

“What!? Sousuke!?”

Then I returned inside the barrier.

“...Why aren’t you running?”

“Do you want me to run?”

“That’s not an answer.”

Yumekai glared sharply at me.

It would have been helpful to have Shion here at a time like this so she could detect lies, but there was no way Yumekai would allow that.

“You pulled me in because I looked like the leader, right? And the topic is Shouko. In other words, you aren’t an enemy. You’re just worried about your friend. I don’t have a reason to run.”

If she had been considering the possibility of hostility, she should have pulled in one of the girls instead of a boy.

The fact that she hadn’t done that meant she wanted to talk to me because I seemed to have decision-making authority.

“...Whatever. So where’s Shouko?”

“She’s acting together with us right now.”

“What’s that dragon outside? Monsters haven’t shown up yet.”

“You should have heard Shouko’s ability in the first dream, right?”

“Huh? ...Oh, is that why the dragon has fur? Because she can summon fluffy things? ...That’s so like her.”

Yumekai smiled for just an instant.

“Can I ask you something now?”

“Sure. That’s fair.”

“Your ability is the ability to put up barriers, right?”

“Yeah.”

She didn’t seem surprised that I knew.

She must have assumed patterns like me remembering it myself, or Shouko having told me.

“If my memory is right, this barrier can keep out insects, beasts, and people. And considering I was able to enter, you can also let other people in depending on the conditions.”

“...And?”

“I want to make a deal.”

“...Let’s hear it.”

“I want you to surround our base with your barrier.”

“What do I get out of it?”

“Do you remember anything about my ability?”

“...I didn’t hear it in the first place, much less remember it. I only said my ability because I reacted to Shouko.”

“Ah, I see. Then I’ll explain. My ability is a crafting-type ability. If I have the materials, I can skip the process and obtain the finished product.”

“Huh? Isn’t that way too convenient?”

Thankfully, the people I had met on this island immediately understood how useful this ability was, so the conversation went quickly.

“I think a barrier ability is pretty ridiculous too...”

“Wait, then what are you, Kuno? You can make clothes from fiber, and huts from lumber?”

“Yeah, that kind of thing.”

“...If you chose your ability while thinking that far ahead, that’s pretty impressive.”

Her gaze was as harsh as ever, but her words sounded genuinely impressed.

“Thanks. So that’s the situation. I’ll prepare as much of what you want as I can, and in exchange, I’d like you to protect our base.”

“...Specifically, what would you give me?”

“Hmm. If you don’t have a base, I can build a house. Then furniture, spare clothes, towels, soap, that sort of thing. Shion, outside, is a great cook, so I think she could make meals too.”

Yumekai froze at my words.

But only for a few seconds. Then she snapped back to herself.

“...It kind of looks like Houzuki is wearing a maid outfit. Was that you too?”

“Yeah. I’ll say this just in case, but I’m not the one making her wear it, okay?”

“............I have two conditions.”

“Tell me.”

“First, bring Shouko here. Sorry, but I can’t just believe everything right away. Not about your ability. About you.”

“That’s only natural.”

In fact, it would be more troubling if she suddenly trusted me completely.

Chiyu and I had been childhood friends from before the transfer, and Shouko had already been my friend. Shion trusted me because of her ability, and Minori had something happen before the transfer that made her think well of me.

Roa treated us favorably because she owed us for helping her when she had collapsed.

Trust was something built.

Instead, Yumekai wanted to speak to Shouko, someone she had already built a relationship with.

She probably intended to determine whether she could trust me through Shouko.

“The other one is—give me the reward little by little.”

“Huh? Is that really all right with you?”

“I mean, are you okay with it? If you give me everything at once, I won’t have a reason to keep putting a barrier around your base.”

That way of thinking did make sense.

Yumekai was suggesting that the reward should be paid out gradually so it could serve as a guarantee that she wouldn’t betray us.

Her attitude was prickly, but she was a kind girl.

“I’m not too worried about that part.”

“Why?”

“Because if you betrayed us and our base got attacked by monsters, your friend Shouko might get hurt.”

“...Maybe I wouldn’t care about something like that.”

“You were worried about Shouko, so you brought me inside the barrier, didn’t you? You should have been safe if you did nothing, but you took a risk. The possibility of me attacking you isn’t zero, but you still cared enough about Shouko to do it.”

“............Enough. I get it.”

She looked away from me.

Her expression seemed frustrated, but her cheeks were faintly red.

“For now, I’ll come back again in the afternoon. Oh, do you have food?”

“Huh? ...I’ve been eating mushrooms and fruit and stuff.”

This meant revealing my Inventory, but... well, if she was Shouko’s friend, it was probably fine.

On a tray, I placed things that looked easy to eat, like a canteen filled with warm soup, unleavened bread, a meat dish, boiled eggs, salt, and several fruits, then handed it over.

“Eat this if you want.”

“Huh? Kuno, how did you just...”

“It’s an application of my ability. I can store things I’ve made and take them back out.”

I definitely wanted the deal with Yumekai to succeed, so I also had the intention of showing her how useful I could be.

“...That’s way too convenient.”

“There’s no poison or anything in it.”

“I’m not worried about that. If you want my ability, there’s no point killing me.”

“That’s true.”

“...Bring Shouko to this same spot. If there’s too much distance, our voices might not reach.”

“Got it.”

“—Kuno.”

Just before I left the barrier, Yumekai called out to me.

When I turned back, she looked conflicted and hesitant, but even so, she forced out the words.

“Thank you for this. I’ll repay the debt.”

“Then consider the deal positively.”

“That depends on Shouko.”

“Ahaha. Then I’ll see you this afternoon.”

“Okay.”

I stepped outside the barrier.

“Sousuke!”

“Mmph...!?”

The next instant, Shion threw herself against my chest.

I was startled by both the impact and the feel of her.

“Honestly, you didn’t explain nearly enough! I was reeeeeally worried!”

When she said that in a tearful voice, I couldn’t argue back.

“Sorry...”

I patted her back.

“...I’m glad you’re safe, but I want you to talk things over properly next time.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll do that next time. Apparently, Yumekai wants to see Shouko.”

“I see. That makes sense. It’s always nice to be reunited with a close friend.”

“...I, too, have friends whose safety weighs on my mind.”

Shion and Roa nodded in sympathy.

“For now, let’s head back.”

If we could obtain the best possible result, we might be ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) able to prepare the strongest defense imaginable.

And Shouko would be happy to confirm that her friend was safe too.

I stroked Micron all over to soothe her as she clung to me, then climbed onto her back.