The third match has concluded.
Party A vs. Party D — Winner: Party A.
The fourth match has concluded.
Party B vs. Party C — Winner: Party C.
After securing our second win, we were flung into the white void.
It seemed it wasn’t just my Party A that had won two in a row; the girls’ Team C had also racked up a two-game streak.
In other words, whoever wins the next match will maintain their perfect record and secure five ‘Right of Return.’
“Jii”
“Jii~”
While base-defense specialists Fukaho and Genchu celebrated the victory, Chi-iyu and Meko were shooting me sharp glares.
“A-alright! If we win the next one, we get the reward! Let’s stay focused!”
“Sure thing. You’ve got four girlfriends, so why’d you waver when Ryouka invited you?”
“Sousuke, do you plan to make every girl in your class your girlfriend?”
It seemed I couldn’t wave this off with a burst of energy.
”…As I said before, I have no intention of leaving important comrades behind to join another party. If I have to choose one side, it’s naturally this one.”
「Mm. Expanding the harem is fine, but I won’t forgive you for abandoning the principal wife」
Sena clung tightly to my arm.
“Well, seeing Sou-suke on this island… it’s not hard to understand why the other girls would take a liking to him…”
Mikosho tugged at my sleeve with a pitifully timid motion.
Watching that scene, Genchuu was blushing.
Sena, the harem-advocacy type, was angry strictly about the choice to discard them.
Mikosho, who had harbored feelings for me since we were on Earth, seemed unsettled by those who only started caring for him after arriving on the island.
“Setting aside matters of love or liking… if we say that, then Shion would be disqualified too, wouldn’t she?”
Shion was someone I had hardly any interaction with in class.
However, after coming to the desert island, she became my lover, second only to Sena.
“Ugh. Y-Yeah, that’s right. So, I can’t exactly say ‘no,’ either… but it’s okay to be a little annoyed, right…!”
“Y-Yes…”
I didn’t say it, lest it make her mood worse, but honestly, the sulking Mikosho was adorable.
”…Got a rough grasp of the situation. Your opponent was trying to steal Sōsuke away, right?”
“Huh? W-wait, during the event?”
Fukuhō and Genchū chimed in on the conversation.
“Mm. It’ll probably turn into Sou-kun’s harem island soon enough.”
“No, no, no… Let’s focus on the finals first.”
”…Yeah. I’m curious, too, but let’s ask after the event is over.”
Thanks to Fukuhō giving me an out, I was able to wrap up that topic.
Or so I thought it was just being postponed for now.
Anyway, I relayed the encounter with the Seihō team to the two of us assigned to base defense.
“I see, so Miss Seihō’s side split their entry into main and sub teams. If that’s the case, our next opponent would be from Miss Seihō party’s main team…”
“You think you can guess who’s participating? The girls are already divided into Kuno’s or Ryōka’s parties, right? They have more people than us, so it’s hard to narrow it down, don’t you think…?”
“No, actually not really. We recorded what everyone chose in the first dream. Four of the girls on their side brought in ‘smartphones,’ ‘insect repellent,’ ‘sunscreen,’ and ‘swimsuits.’”
“Mm. Those two Sojun locked in the cage earlier were Chumekikachan and Smahtuphan.”
Chi-ju added this detail.
The Seihō party consisted of fifteen members in total.
Given that they had deployed sub-members with useful abilities like ‘Undead’ and ‘Cloning,’ it was reasonable to assume that their main lineup comprised members more suited for victory.
“With Aori having the ability ‘Hair Doesn’t Get Static from Seawater,’ Tōka having ‘Can Eat Without Gaining Weight,’ and Non-chan having ‘Ability to Create Food,’ those three probably won’t be showing up either, right?”
Shōko seemed to remember her classmates’ remarks as well.
They were the girls who had chosen their abilities in a chain reaction, triggered by her comment about her ‘Fluffy Summoning Ability.’
“Yes. That leaves the students who didn’t make any statements regarding their abilities. Just identifying them is already valuable information.”
The four members with item carry-ins, the three ability users we just fought, and the three ability users unsuited for this event made a total of ten.
The remaining five were our next opponents.
‘Charisma’ was an ability whose holder was unknown, but I suspected it belonged to Seihō.
“Now then, let’s try to recall and share as much as we can about the personalities, club affiliations, and strengths of the remaining five. It will give us material to speculate on what abilities they chose.”
“W-We’re all amazing…
I didn’t really remember the details of my first dream that clearly,” Gen-chū remarked with admiration.
“It’s no wonder you forgot. We just had everyone talk about it early on and recorded the information in files.”
“Also, thanks to Sojun, we had some mental headroom to spare.”
「Ah, that’s true! I was so cold, scared, and lonely at first that I couldn’t have taken in any information at all, you know!»
“Yeah. I only started being able to think clearly about things after Sokusuke and the others helped me out.”
”……I’ve had everyone helping me out with various things too, so we’re even.”
It was a bit awkward, but it turned into a flow of everyone praising one another.
The atmosphere lightened for a moment.
”……That’s good.
I’m going to work hard so I can properly contribute to everyone,” Genchu said, clenching both fists tightly.
Perhaps he had been feeling a bit left out.
“You’re already contributing. Because Shinpou and you hold down the base for us, we’re able to push forward aggressively.” “Mm. Defense is important too.”
“Exactly right! Mea is already one of us!”
“Yes. Let’s work hard together in the final battle as well.”
“U-uh huh!”
Whether out of joy or not, Genchu nodded firmly while tears welled up in his eyes.
“We have two wins and our opponents have two wins too. The next one to win will secure five ‘return rights.’ Let’s win and go back to the comrades waiting for us at home.”
“Oh-oh!”
“Mm. For the victory party, we’ll eat some freshly caught river fish.”
“Yes, let’s bring some good news back to everyone.”
“We’ll give it our all until the very end!”
“Preparations for the final battle are complete.”
Words floated up onto the blackboard, and we faced our final battle for the “Right of Return.”
We stayed in third place for the year.
Thanks to all of you, the gap with second place has been gradually shrinking.
Gratitude……!!！！！！！
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