“Next, a base?”
After finishing their water break, Chiiru said.
She wiped her glossy, damp lips with her finger.
“Ah yes. But there’s no need to search for caves.”
”…Ah. Can your ability make a house too?”
“Exactly! Like the casks, I wanted to gather massive amounts of timber to build a base as well.” “What about the recipes?
Are they unlocked?”
I opened the recipe screen.
“Hmm… yeah. It says ‘Shed’…”
For now, it seems the conditions for unlocking a recipe are “discovering materials to a certain extent” and “visualizing something that can be made from those discovered materials while in their presence.”
Even when I visualized a log cabin or other wooden structures, they didn’t show up, so something must be missing.
If I were to make a log cabin, would it unlock once I’ve gathered enough logs?
While I was feeling deflated, Chiiru gave me a firm thumbs-up.
“No need to feel down. Getting a shelter that can withstand the rain and wind on the first day of being stranded on a desert island is amazing.”
«S-Sorry. Right. It’s true. We should take it one step at a time.»
It was both encouragement and a fact.
“Yeah. If we chop down dozens of trees, we might be able to build a decent house. One tree a day… it should be done in about a month.”
“O-One month…”
A month on a desert island is quite a long time to wait.
When I was little, there was that TV show where…
“Until then, let’s just huddle together in the small shed and live like that.”
Saying that, Chiiyu lightly bumped her shoulder against mine.
“…Yeah, I guess so. Um, Chiiyu, you don’t mind, right?
If anything, I can just cut down another tree—” “It’s fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“…You clueless guy.”
“S-Sorry.”
Hmm… Could it be that my childhood friend’s affection for me is higher than I thought?
If that’s the case, as a healthy high school boy, I should be thrilled.
For now, she seems to have no objection to sleeping together in the shed.
Right. It goes without saying, east or west, past or present—childhood friend heroines are always put through hardships.
“Ugh,” my childhood friend sighed, shrugging her shoulders.
“You really are something, you ‘heroine’…”
Another phrase that made me start to get the wrong idea.
“Is it no good?”
“It’s not bad, but…”
“So, finally realized my charm, too, huh?”
It would have been perfect if I could throw out a witty comeback right now, but my social battery was already dead.
“Aaah, yeah, sure…! Anyway, we should probably go find some food.”
“You’re blushing.”
“I can make harpoons if I have to, but I’m just an amateur… Diving into the ocean for a catch seems risky.”
I forcefully changed the subject, and Chiyu eventually agreed with me.
“The sea here looks clear, but I’m against free-diving fishing, too. It’s dangerous without gear.”
“Yeah.”
In a situation like this, risks are unavoidable, which makes choosing them carefully even more important.
“How about exploring the forest for now?”
“Yeah. I’ll take the lead. If you find anything, don’t touch it—just let me know.”
Some things could be dangerous just to touch.
It would be fine if I were the one getting hurt; Chiyu could just heal me. But if she exhausted herself to the point where she couldn’t use magic, or even lost consciousness, that would be a disaster.
Besides, it’s not like I wouldn’t worry about it otherwise.
“Got it. You really are someone I can rely on, Sou.”
“Just because you praise me so much doesn’t mean I’ll take it to my head.”
Still, it did make me a little happy. I guess I’m just simple-minded like that.
And with that, we entered the forest.
Just in case we needed to return to this shore or avoid getting lost, I started making marks on tree trunks with the stone knife.
“Oh wow, standard stuff.”
“I’m doing it so I don’t get lost, but having other people see it is a bit of a…”
It also ends up revealing our movements.
“Do you prefer being alone?”
“People who are good at school can turn out to be bad guys in situations like this. You wouldn’t want to run into someone like that, would you?”
“And then your beastly side awakens, Sou?”
”…What am I supposed to do if that happens?”
“I’m weak, so I’d just have to be eaten. Too bad. Really, really too bad.”
The way she said something so utterly lacking in remorse was enough to leave me speechless.
Anyway, it’s the other classmates.
Of course, I get why you’d want to gather a larger group in times like these.
But for Sou and Chiyu, our current setup is enough to survive.
Well, that might be an exaggeration, but the only thing we’re lacking is a stable method for securing food.
Besides that… firepower?
As for clothing and gear, we can craft those using our Crafting ability.
I had been walking in silence while thinking about this.
“Chiyu. Do you feel a bit… off?”
“Mm-hmm. We’ve entered the forest, but Sou isn’t out there playing holy sword games with tree branches.”
Don’t bring up stuff from elementary school.
Childhood friends are people who know each other inside and out.
In other words, they know about our immature phases and black history.
“Kidding. What bugs me is… there are no insects?”
“Ah, I figured the worst in Japan was just a little itch. So are mosquitoes actually dangerous here?
They carry diseases.”
It didn’t seem like there were no insects at all, but…
“And this forest is cool.”
“To put it more bluntly, it’s incredibly easy to walk through.”
In a forest untouched by human hands, uneven terrain, protruding tree roots, and poor visibility are just a few of the many factors that hinder an intruder.
But this forest was very easy to navigate and pleasant to be in.
“Feels like a constructed environment?”
It was a classic trope in stories.
The mysterious blackboard that had transferred us might have placed us on a desert island it created itself.
In an excessively harsh environment, it would be difficult for high schoolers to survive.
Even in just a regular forest, there were dangers like tripping and spraining an ankle or getting injured by tree branches and thickets.
“I keep getting curious about the blackboard’s purpose and the scale of its power, so I’ll stop thinking about it here.”
I had just decided to put that on hold a moment ago.
“Hm. Well then, Sou-kun, I found mushrooms.”
“Oh! As expected from Chiyu! Leave picking them to me.”
I was told where the mushrooms grew, so I picked one.
According to my Inventory, it’s safe to eat.
“Looks like this is edible.”
Since I knew they were edible, I harvested about half of the patch.
I’m no expert on fungi, but I’ve heard you shouldn’t take them all when foraging.
If you pick them all and they don’t grow back, that leaves future generations out of luck.
That said, we probably can’t afford to be so considerate right now.
After that, I successfully located edible mushrooms, toxic mushrooms, edible wild plants, medicinal herbs, and edible nuts.
It’s nothing extravagant, but it is a relief to have something to eat.
After getting our hands purified, the two of us sat down and ate the nuts with ravenous, crunching bites.
“Unbelievably delicious. Hunger really is the best seasoning.”
Chiyu walked along, her massive breasts jiggling… jiggle… jiggle…
“We should roast some of those mushrooms in a bit.”
“What do we do about fire?”
“With trees and ivy here, we can use our crafting skills to make tools for starting a fire.”
“Dude, that’s a cheat code.”
“Hahaha, I guess you can’t deny it.”
Even if I’d been mistaken and thinking this was all a dream, I’m glad I didn’t read the room before answering. “Hm? That’s…”
Continuing our exploration, what we found was—.
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