We came to a cliff.
We were at the base of the cliff, looking up.
“I don’t see how we’re going to climb that.”
Chia murmured.
“Yeah.”
The cliff wasn’t perfectly vertical; it sloped, meaning if we got down into the recess below, we wouldn’t be visible from above.
“Right?”
As I stared blankly at it, Chiyu spoke up.
“I’m thinking of making this spot our base,” I said.
Chiyu glanced around the surroundings.
There were no trees growing around the base of the cliff; instead, it opened up into a clear space.
It was the perfect place to set up a hut or light a campfire.
“Really? It does seem hard for people to find.” “Exactly.
Do you mind?”
She shook her head.
“No, I don’t mind. So this is our candidate location for a nest of love.”
“A nest of love, huh…”
It’s troublesome that this childhood friend says things like that with a straight face.
“Against Soukku transformed into a beast… I had no recourse…”
Chiyu hugged her own shoulders and swayed her body from side to side.
「There’s no way I’d assault you just because you were acting coy, would I?» “As expected from Saoki.
Quite the gentleman.”
“You’re welcome.”
Chia looked up at me with a speculative gaze and spoke.
”…So what if I hadn’t been acting coy?”
At that question, my heart did a sudden, violent leap.
“I—no, I mean… that is…”
I could feel my cheeks burning hot.
Watching this, Chia nodded with a look of satisfaction.
“That means yes.”
“I don’t even know what kind of face to make right now…”
It was perfectly clear that I couldn’t win against my childhood friend when she was serious.
Chia is a crucial part of my life as a childhood friend, a best friend, and an incredibly attractive girl.
If we could become closer than we already are, I would be very happy.
This is my true feeling.
“For now——” Chia’s stomach gave a loud rumble.
“I’d like some grilled mushrooms.”
Honestly, it was a relief that the atmosphere had shifted.
I forced a bitter smile and started getting ready.
“Let’s do that. Chia, help me out, will you?”
“Of course.”
Immediately, I used my Craft ability to generate a ‘Friction Fire Starter’.
Also, I had been storing the stones and rocks I found along the way in my 『Inventory』. Using those materials, I crafted a large flagstone tile.
I placed down a stone slab roughly six tatami mats in size.
I set up the fire starter on top of it.
When doing this kind of work, you need to sit on the ground, but in a place like this, you end up covered in dirt.
That’s why I wanted a clean floor.
Chiiya and I stepped onto the flagstones.
“Sou-kun, is this a fire starter?”
“Yes. This one requires two people to operate.”
The components consisted of a piece of wood with a hollowed depression, a wooden stick, a rope, and a stone with a hollowed depression.
“Interesting.”
The two of us sat down.
The stone was cool and refreshing against my skin; I could probably generate a mat woven from grass or something similar as well.
But for now, let’s focus on starting the fire.
I propped up the wood with the depression against the ground, placed the stick into it, and supported the upper part with the stone that had a hollowed-out section.
Then, I wound the rope made of vines around the stick and pulled on both ends to rotate it.
At this point, the base wood needs to be secured by feet or similar means.
“I’ll try being the one who pulls the rope for now.”
“Please go ahead.”
Following my instructions, Chiiya secured the wood in place with her foot.
She’s wearing a skirt, so not only is her pleasantly padded thigh on full display, but the white underwear beneath it is just as visible. Yet she shows no sign of caring.
Trying hard to keep my eyes where they belonged, I pulled the string and began twisting the stick back and forth.
At first, the cord slipped and the rod came loose, but before long, I started to get a feel for it.
Eventually, smoke rose from the wood. I removed the spindle and dropped an ember into the fibrous mass of dry cotton that had formed.
I summoned a thin piece of flat wood to use as a makeshift fan and fanned the air—and then it caught!
“Oh!”
On your home stove, this fire would have lit in a second. Here on this desert island, the fact that it burned at all felt like a miraculous relief.
“I knew you could do it, Sou-kun…”
For once, Chiyu’s excitement was hard to hide.
I generated some kindling and carefully tended the flame as it grew.
It took surprisingly little time to get going, but I was strangely exhausted.
“Beginner Cure.”
White light enveloped me, washing away the fatigue and the pain in my hands.
“As expected of you, Chiyu.”
“I’m not going to let you have all the glory to yourself.”
Chiyu spoke in an expressionless tone, though there was a certain crispness to it.
“Hahaha, I’m counting on you.”
Honestly, Chiyu is a pretty serious cheat.
“But seriously, it’s amazing. It was worth showing you my underwear.”
Saying that while her cheeks were tinged with just a hint of blush, she—my childhood friend.
I choked on my words, stunned.
“So you knew…?”
“Girls are sensitive to the direction of someone’s gaze.”
“My bad.”
“I forgive you.”
I skewered the mushrooms onto freshly conjured sticks, sprinkled them with salt, and began to sear them over the heat.
Moisture beaded up on the surface and evaporated, spreading an aroma that really got the appetite going.
We waited, almost impatiently, for the mushrooms to finish cooking.
And when it was just about ready, we quickly brought them to our mouths.
“Haaah… haaah…”
It seemed a bit too hot for Chiyu.
“Whoa. I had no idea mushrooms could be this delicious.”
“Salt is the greatest. So-kun, let’s eat more.”
“You’re right.”
Nuts and mushrooms.
In modern-day Japan, this wouldn’t even scratch the surface of a proper meal.
On this desert island, though, it was a solid supply of food.
To fill our bellies, we proceeded to roast another batch of mushrooms.
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