After spending our first night with Fukaho, I fell asleep again before I knew it.
As if it were only natural, we awoke in the bonus area.
The match started with the ten of us standing in the atrium of a shopping mall.
I had briefed the three new members—Professor Luminus, Shoube, and Genchu—in advance, but they still couldn’t hide their shock.
”…Is this really…”
“Wait? It’s just that same mall, but we haven’t actually returned to it…?”
“It’s kind of scary… It’s bright and looks like it’s open for business, but there’s no one here…”
After waiting for the three of them to compose themselves, I briefly went over how things work in the bonus area again.
We can stay here for a duration equivalent to three hours of real time.
Each person gets ‘one point.’ You choose an item from those being sold within the mall and bring it back to the desert island.
After consulting with your teammates beforehand on what to pick, you must bring the chosen item back to the start point—the atrium—before time runs out.
Even after you’ve made your selection, you don’t have to finish immediately; you can continue deliberating over your next choice or hunt for materials to see if they can be created using your ‘Crafting ability.’
“I… I have something on my mind, sensei.”
“What is it?”
“The items we selected and took with us aren’t the same as those lined up in the actual mall, right?”
“――Ah.”
I had completely forgotten about it.
To be honest, I hadn’t even considered that this mall and the real-world mall were linked.
But was it truly impossible?
Seeking an answer, I turned my gaze to the monitor.
『The items arranged in the Bonus Area are provided by us and have no impact on reality.』
Seeing those words scroll across the screen, Sensei breathed a sigh of relief.
“That’s a relief…”
With their concerns resolved, each of us set out to walk around the mall.
“But still, Mr. Tanbi Sensei. Are you really quite alright with this?”
“Yes indeed. After hearing Shouji-san’s thoughts, I was moved. Let’s gather textbooks and reference books for all subjects as soon as possible and make time to study. If it’s mathematics, I can teach that too.”
It seemed that math classes would be held soon enough.
And so, Fukaho and Lumina Sensei took one textbook each per subject.
“Atashi and Myaa want that shower over there.”
“Yeah. It was super convenient. I never thought I’d be able to take a shower on a desert island.”
With nine female members but only three portable showers, they had to take turns in groups of three.
If there were five units, it could be done in two rounds—five people and four—so she decided to bring one home as a new addition.
“I’ll take the hair dryer with Luchi.”
“Yes. It might be necessary since you could catch a cold if you leave your hair wet.”
For the same reason as the shower, Shouko and Roa decided to bring two new hair dryers home.
“I’m getting rice.
I’ll pick something tasty with a large quantity,” Shion said, clenching both fists tightly.
Rice hadn’t been chosen over wheat in the previous round, so even if it were added later, it might be quite a while away.
Given that rice was often desired at this point, she finally decided to bring it home.
With this, she had reached “7 points.”
The remaining “3 points” became free-choice slots.
It meant I, Chiyu, and Mugai could choose whatever we needed.
“I’ve already decided. I’m going with Mino and Luminasun.”
Chiyu seemed to want something from the bookstore.
Perhaps she’d pick out some manga.
I should have him let me read it later too.
“It might sound a bit much to say it every time, but I’m out. Pick the things Inugami wants.”
A very characteristic answer from Yume-gai.
“Got it. Then, Yume-gai, could you come with me for a second? There’s something I want, and I’d like to hear your opinion on it. Think of it as helping me out.”
”……Fine.”
I thought she wouldn’t refuse if I framed it as an opportunity for her to repay the debt, and sure enough, it worked.
Everyone left the hall and headed toward their respective destinations.
Even though no one was around besides us, the escalators and elevators were still running, so getting to our destination wasn’t much different from just moving through a normal mall.
“――This place is…”
As soon as we arrived, she let out a small sound.
We had reached a CD shop.
“I don’t come here that often anymore since I can listen to almost everything on subscription services these days, but what about you, Yume-gai?”
”……Well, occasionally.”
The automatic doors slid open, and we stepped inside the store.
Music played throughout the interior, while commercials and music videos aired on the monitors scattered around.
“I see. I’d like to listen to my favorite songs on that desert island too, but I don’t have a smartphone or internet access.”
”……Wait a minute.”
Yume-gai stopped in her tracks.
“Hm?”
“That’s… I didn’t think you’d actually plan for this starting from the night of the seventh day, right?”
At her skeptical gaze, I shrugged.
”……You’re sharp.”
“Buy a laptop with a CD drive, then a tablet PC the very next day, and now we’re at a CD shop today… What? Were you planning to load songs onto the tablet and hand it over to me?”
“You can listen to music on the laptop alone, sure, but that’s also used for creating documents.” “Well, yeah, something like that.”
”…”
I didn’t ask for that.”
Mumei said with a complicated look on her face.
She wasn’t trying to complain about a good deed, but her expression suggested she couldn’t accept the favor either.
“That’s… true, but…”
The maid, Loah, has the ability to know what people desire.
Mumei seemed to love music, and even on the desert island, it appeared she had wanted to listen to her favorite songs.
However, given the current state where I owe her a debt, she wouldn’t seek it out on her own.
So, I thought that if I selected items useful for the entire party first and then bought the CD as a final step, maybe she’d go along with it.
It felt forced to pick multiple items just to listen to music, but perhaps she’d accept it if it was just a CD.
“Takano, why are you doing stuff like this? I already owe you enough, and while I’ll properly handle my own work…”
It seemed Mumei didn’t understand why I was doing something like this.
“No, I just want to use my ‘Craft Ability’ to make what my companions need as much as possible, but I can’t do that for CDs. But if you leave it be, you probably wouldn’t even choose it in the bonus area. So I thought of a way to let you choose it naturally.”
”…So because we’re teammates, you help me out with various things?”
“Sounds about right, I guess. Since we’ve got some time to spend together for a while, I just want us to get along.”
”…”
Yume-kyou probably didn’t want to create any more obligations or debts.
But as far as I’m concerned, when there’s an opportunity to get what I want, I don’t want my companions to go out of their way to hold back.
There’s no telling how long our life on this desert island will last.
I’ve already taken a game console back with me, and everyone’s daily lives are gradually becoming more comfortable.
I just wanted Yume-kyou to do the same for us.
That said, I wasn’t about to force the issue.
“Ah, well, I won’t push it, of course. If you say you don’t need anything, then I’ll just use my own taste to pick out two items. But just a heads-up: starting tomorrow, there’s going to be anime songs blasting at full volume in the living room. Try to deal with it.”
To make sure she knew she was under no obligation to accept, I made an effort to sound as bright and casual as possible.
”… Haaah. Anime songs are all well and good, but wouldn’t it be better to have a few different genres? Wouldn’t the rest of us appreciate that more?”
Yume-kyou let out a sigh before starting to walk around the store.
”… Haha, fair enough. What are your recommendations, Yume-kyou?”
“I had this idea, like, buy books as complete sets. Same goes for music; I think it’s better to buy albums.”
“Yeah, makes sense. You get more bang for your buck when there’s a lot on one disc.”
If it’s an anime, there are albums released that include all the opening and ending themes.
“…Is it okay if I pick one and Kuno picks one?” “Ah, yeah, let’s do that.”
“Got it….
Hey, Kuno.”
“What’s up?”
“…Thanks.”
Yumei kept facing forward as she said this in a small voice.
I couldn’t see her face, but I could see her ears from behind were red, so she must have been flustered.
“You’re welcome.”
Relieved that he had managed to accept my suggestion, I continued browsing the store with Yumei.
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