I used my 『Crafting』 skill to conjure a wooden practice sword, gripped it tightly, and charged at the girl from the Kendo Club.
“Fast…! —But it seems you don’t know how to hold a blade.”
Eyes widening slightly in surprise, the girl swung her bokken.
The moment our swords connected, my weapon snapped clean in half.
The sharpness was indeed terrifying.
Expecting this outcome, I immediately discarded the remaining stump and lunged, extending my arm toward her.
“Gh…”
Reacting with a fraction of a second’s delay, the girl created some distance between us and swung her sword again.
Steeling myself, I used my arm as a shield.
A dull thud echoed, but my arm didn’t get cut off.
Due to the mechanics of this event, physical bodies don’t take actual damage.
Instead, I felt an immediate, crushing weight settle over my body.
The damage that would have severed my arm was being converted into fatigue.
But for now, even that downside had vanished.
My body began to glow with a faint light.
Chiyu cast a healing spell on me.
The fatigue vanished, and I charged straight at her.
“Wha…!”
A second slash came in.
I deflected the strike by using my left hand as a shield, then struck her wooden sword with my right.
Her bokken snapped in two.
And once again, Chiyu’s magic restored me.
“Tch… Charging in like that without minding the damage…”
“Why do you look so disappointed? Are you useless without a sword?”
”……”
She wore a pained expression.
It was a bait-and-switch, but I managed to get the answer I was looking for.
In that case, let’s ask Mikron to be our decoy.
Only participants are immune from taking damage.
If he got bisected and lost his head, it would be a permanent goodbye to Mikron.
For that reason, it was necessary to confirm this.
“Tsuwa…! If we defeat Keano, won’t the phantom beast disappear too!”
A girl from the kendo club shouted.
”……No way! The impact of the fall has wrecked my arm; I can’t move it!”
“Inbashiro!”
“I, I can’t! It’s impossible! I don’t have enough power left to stop a dragon!”
Inbashiro from the library committee shook her head, tears welling in her eyes.
Just like the others, it seemed her “Shadow Manipulation” ability would grow stronger with continued use.
For now, however, all she could do was extend her shadows to cover and protect their base.
That left just one person with an unknown ability……
“Looks like Kunou-kun’s group wins this round. The moment the opponent got cautious and took to the air, I lost any chance to make a difference.”
She seemed to have no intention of using her ability.
“You just stand there with your arms crossed?”
“If you can’t give up, then Icchi-chan will just have to do her best.”
“Grr, don’t tell me……!”
The girl known as Icchi sprinted toward the remaining half of the wooden sword I had broken earlier, grabbed it, and assumed a combat stance.
――So that’s how it was. As long as the tip remained intact, it could still be recognized as a knife or short blade!
I know firsthand how profoundly one’s perception can affect their ability.
It’s not even impossible for a wooden sword shattered by the impact to split in half, leaving one end as a mere stick while the other functions as a short blade.
And yet, she intended to stop the black dragon diving at her with nothing but that single short sword.
I couldn’t just stand there and watch, so I lunged at the girl known as Issaku.
“Guh…! To throw yourself against enemies time and again for your companions’ sake—you’re a man of honor indeed. But we, too, have no choice but to win—hmm?”
If it weren’t for Chiyu’s ‘Mid-Grade Heal,’ I would have already been knocked down by the fatigue from the damage.
“Even if it’s thanks to Iyama’s ‘Healing Magic,’ that resolve to face a swordsman time and again… truly admirable…”
“My pleasure!”
Ignoring my damage, I tackled her and pinned her to the ground.
“Go, Micon!”
Micon accelerated rapidly with its head down, then flared its mouth wide and bit into the enemy’s base.
The sheer impact unleashed a gale that sent dust swirling.
“Ghh…”
Caught in the shockwave, I and the kendo club girl ended up tumbled over each other on the ground.
Overlapping with that was the sound of several girls screaming.
“Cough, cough. Chi-ri-chan, are you okay?” “Mm. Never mind that, Sou-kun.”
”…! That’s it! Sou-suke!”
Shoushi and Chiyu’s voices reached me muffled.
My vision was dark. The sandstorm must have been incredibly thick.
”…I found you.”
“Huh? …Ah, really?”
I tried to wipe my eyes, only to be startled by a soft, squishy sensation.
“Mm. Hold on, Kuuno. I’m going to move now, so stay still…”
As my vision cleared, I was faced with a pair of giant breasts.
It seemed I had been put into a mount pin by a girl from the kendo club.
Her face, as she pushed herself up, was dyed red with shame.
“I-I’m sorry…”
“No, it’s not your fault. Besides… you’ve got me completely beat.”
“So in the end, Sou-kun has awakened to his pervert gene?”
“Oh, I know that one.
The guy who keeps having hanky-panky mishaps with girls,” the two of them said in low voices.
Before I could even open my mouth to defend myself, our vision was engulfed in white.
◇
“The final battle has ended.”
“Party A versus Party C. The winner is… ‘Party A’!”
Summoned into the stark white void, we are once again informed of our victory. “Whoa.
We did it!”
“You guys really pulled through, huh.”
Genshū and Shinpō grinned with joy.
Genshū actually hopped around like a jack-in-the-box.
“That plan came together perfectly, didn’t it?”
I nodded along, um-humming with deliberate airiness.
“Hm. You really went all lucky-boy on us there.”
“Sōsuke, you’re such a perv as always~”
The conversation was dragged right back to that point.
“Yeah, but, look…”
Seeing my troubled expression, the two of them burst into laughter.
“We’re just joking. We know how hard you tried.”
“Right, right. Even knowing you weren’t actually getting hurt, we were so worried.”
It seemed they weren’t actually angry at me after all.
“Well, we can’t just charge into the micron world without a clear understanding of the enemy’s abilities.”
A cordial atmosphere flowed among the five of them.
‘Party A has met the acquisition conditions; granting the “Right to Return.”’
‘Do you, “Kunou Sōsuke,” “Iyama Chiyu,” “Kan’a Shōko,” “Yonbo Shinpō,” and “Genshū Miyū,” wish to exercise your “Right to Return”? Note: There are no bonuses for choosing not to exercise it.’
It must be because I was the first person granted a bonus area, and I chose to stay in a situation where I didn’t know whether there were any perks.
We looked at each other and nodded.
“We won’t exercise it.” “Mm. Let’s stay a bit longer.” “I want everyone to go home together!” “Ah, well, that question was meaningless then.” “W-Well, I’m part of the Kunou group too, so—”
Everyone unanimously declared they would not exercise their rights.
‘Confirming hold on exercising “Right to Return.” Participant “Kunou Sōsuke” now possesses a count of “2” for “Right to Return.”
Ending event.’
And then my vision was flooded with white once more—
◇
“Welcome home.”
I had returned right before our home on the desert island.
Outside the entrance, Roa, the maid, greeted us; one couldn’t tell how long she had been waiting.
“Home now. We won the event.”
“As expected of you.”
Loa smiles warmly, though she shows no sign of surprise.
She must have really believed in our victory, nothing more and nothing less.
“I’m starving! I want to eat Shii-chan’s breakfast.”
“If you’re making it now, I can help out.”
Let me compile the information from this event before I forget it.
Um, is there anything I can do to help, too?
As we all head inside the house, we engage in casual banter.
With this one, our party has secured a total of six ‘Right to Return’.
Since our party consists of ten members, if we don’t gain any more companions, we still need four more.
Aside from that, we need to find a way to carry over the memories and abilities from the desert island.
Gathering the ‘Right to Return’ is going smoothly, but it doesn’t look like we’ll be able to go back home right away.
But we have reliable allies, and we’ve been gathering intel on the people on the island, so I’m sure we’ll manage just fine.
It seems like life on the desert island is going to go on for a while yet.
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