Before long, Shoyo returned with the laundry basket.

They packed the basket along with its contents for storage and reorganization, cleaning up Yumekai's attire.

When Shoyo took it to the changing room and brought it back, everyone gathered together except for Yumekai.

“So, what’s the plan for today?”

Shoyo asked.

“First, once Yumekai is back, we need to discuss something as a group. Specifically, whether or not to officially accept Yumekai and Roha into the party.”

“Huh? I thought they were already part of the team.”

Shoyo’s personality was straightforward and easy to get along with.

Still, I felt that this was a point where we needed to clearly unify our opinions within the party.

“I’m in favor of adding the two of them as members too. But haven’t we all agreed on ‘everyone returning safely’ and ‘waiting until everyone has acquired what they want to take back’?”

“Right.

I don’t want to forget my memories from the desert island,” Shion said, her expression serious.

“Mm.

I want to keep my ‘Healing Magic’ even after returning to Japan,” Chiyu added.

Yes. Although the conditions are still unclear, it seems we can retain the memories and abilities gained on this desert island when we return to Japan.

「So, there's validity to Sōsuke's concerns as well. Adding members means extending the number of days until we can return. We need to consider that carefully before proceeding.»

"Mmm... Right. It does feel unsettling when someone makes a decision on their own or decides without hearing our opinions. I guess we just have to make sure everyone is on board so it doesn't come up like that later."

Momoko showed she understood, too.

Loa remained silent, likely because of the nature of the agenda.

Actually, before I knew it, she had moved into the kitchen and was preparing tea.

"Once that discussion is done, we'll have free time until evening. You're welcome to go exploring, train your abilities, or stay in the house. I intend to head toward the border between the Dream Realm and the barrier. I'll place some stone walls there so it's easier for everyone to see."

"I'm coming with you! After we finish that, I need to show Yona around the house."

"As for me, I'll probably practice magic. I can mark today's findings on the map later..."

"I'll start preparing food. I want to use the materials we gathered during today's exploration to make dishes for Yona-chan's welcome party."

At that point, Loa had finished brewing tea for everyone.

"That's right, Loa."

"May I help you, Master?"

"Did you see what the Dream Realm desires?"

At my words, she smiled.

"Yes, I did. But I believe we'll need Lady Shiin's assistance to provide it."

"Me?"

It seemed to be a cooking-related matter.

Roa explained the details to me, and the other women perked up in response. Honestly, so did I.

It was something we all adored.

"Yeah, yeah, I think we can pull it off."

We chatted enthusiastically for a while.

"……What are you guys talking about?"

Just then, Yumeai returned.

Perhaps sensing the surprise element, everyone abruptly fell silent, but that only made things look more suspicious.

"……Well, if you don't want to tell me, I guess it's fine."

Yumeai seemed to have taken it as a secret they were hiding from her.

"N-Nots that! Rather, Serina! You look absolutely radiant and shiny!"

"……I don't know about that, but you do look fresh. Kujira, we can't keep this up if we're just going to borrow stuff without giving it back. I need to retrieve the item soon. We need to check the boundary of the barrier, right? Let's go."

"Ah, yes, but before that, there's something we need to discuss together. Yumeai, please sit down."

"……Alright."

Roa prepared a cup of tea for Yumeai as well.

After that, I had Roa sit down and explained the matter we had been discussing once more.

"Huh? You're serious about going back together? That's impossible. The moment anyone gets the 'Right to Return,' the whole plan collapses. No matter how much our abilities make life a bit more convenient, I don't want to stay in this place."

The other women smiled wryly at Yumeai's words.

Chiga remained expressionless, however.

"Ah. Menoko, didn't you explain the dryer to her when you showed it to her?"

"Eh, yeah. I just told her there was a way to get one."

I see. If we hadn't discussed the Bonus Area, it was natural she wouldn't know.

"Kunio, what's going on?"

"I'll explain the details later, but we possess one 'Right of Return'."

"Huh?"

"The one holding it is you, Menoko."

"……So does that mean Kunio could have gone home, but chose not to?"

Mumakai looked at me with a face full of disbelief.

"But then again, compared to the other classmates, we've probably been able to lead a better life."

"Even so……no, forget that. Which means, if I join you, it's only natural I'd get the same conditions, right?"

"Aye. Mumakai and Roha, yes. By the way, everyone has already agreed to welcome you as a comrade."

"Of course, I will accompany you until the very end."

Roha answered immediately.

"……Even if I agree here, I might still go home when the time comes, you know?"

"If that happens, then we simply had a poor eye for judging people. But I doubt it will come to that."

"...Why would you say something like that?"

Yumegai sounded a bit disgruntled.

"Because you were worried about Shouko, weren't you? If Yumegai pulled a fast one and returned alone, we'd lose the barrier. And if that happened, Shouko might end up in danger.

You couldn't just look the other way."

"...Annoying," Yumegai muttered, averting her gaze and hanging her head.

"Wah, thank you, Serina~! I'm sorry I didn't come looking for you sooner~"

"Stop hugging me! ...I haven't exactly been actively searching for you either, so don't apologize."

Yumegai tried to pry Shouko off her, but she clearly didn't have the strength, and it was a failure.

Eventually giving up, Yumegai looked at us with an exasperated expression.

"...Fine. Setting aside the term 'comrade,' I'll accept your terms for the deal."

"Good. Then consider Yumegai and Roa official members from now on. Take care."

The living room was enveloped in a welcoming atmosphere.

"Well, nice to meet you properly... though this is awfully easy trust to place."

"Aah. No worries, I have someone with the ability to see through lies."

In response to my words, Shiune raised her hand modestly.

"...I see, it's Shiune."

"Sorry, did I upset you?"

"Nah, I'm impressed. It sounds like you only side with those who speak the truth when it matters, right? That's a pretty key skill for building this kind of group."

"Oh, thanks, Seryo-chan."

Shion seemed pleased that her ability had been acknowledged.

"Now then, Takano, let's get moving."

"Ah, right. So everyone, you're free to do as you please."

The three of us—me, Yume, and Shouko—headed out of the house.

We got back on Mikron and headed for the boundary line of the barrier.

"Slow down a bit... we're almost there... Stop. We'll get off here."

On Yume's command, Mikron moved us to one section of the boundary.

"That's quite a distance."

"It might be longer than our school's courtyard?"

"I can still expand it to cover an area large enough to contain our high school, so I do that. No unauthorized beasts or humans can intrude into the barrier."

Riding on Mikron, she showed me the distance from one end to the other, and we placed a 'Stone Wall' there.

"...Wow, it really is amazing. Could you do this defense even without a barrier?"

"At this rate, we're screwed. Depending on what monsters show up next, who knows what could happen."

"...Yeah, that's probably true."

"So, I'm counting on the power of the Yumekai."

"Hmm... Well, if it holds any value to you, then sure, thank you. That way we won't be left with a lingering debt."

Mikuron moved us to another plane, and we began placing stone walls there as well.

"Seriously, Serina really has a strong obsession with settling debts, doesn't she?"

"It feels wrong if things aren't settled. In that sense, I'm the one who owes more at the moment, so I'd like to fix that."

"Soju. Even though Serina's saying all this, don't look at her chest or peek under her skirt, okay?"

"Man, come on. If you want to pay your debt, just offer up your chest for me to look at? There's no way I'd say something like that."

"Sorry, sorry, just kidding."

"...If that's what would actually hold value for you, Kudo, then whatever."

"Huh? W-Why are you saying that? If Soju gets a chance, he'll definitely stare hard. He's always perverted like that."

It's sad that I can't deny it.

Of course, I have no intention of doing such a thing to someone who dislikes it.

"It feels worse to be left in debt than anything. Besides, being surrounded by such cute girls... I don't think there's any real point to looking at me."

"Please don't say such things! Hey, Sōsuke!"

"Aaah. I wasn't saying show it to me or anything, but I do think the Yume-Kai is appealing."

"Right, right, and they're cute too!"

"And caring about friends makes them nice."

"Plus, their voice when they're surprised is adorable too!"

"And they know how to express gratitude properly."

"And also——"

"S-Stop it already! Hah? What?! You two are such pain in the a—!"

She was on Micron, so it was hard to see clearly, but Yume-Kai was surely blushing red by now.

And our base point was covered by a barrier and stone walls.

"Oh~. Sure is easy to understand. This area is what's protected by Tserina."

The stone walls had sufficiently wide gaps to allow entry and exit.

"Since the leader here is Kunō, this range is Kunō's territory."

"It's our territory, right?"

"Ahhh, I knew you'd say that, Sōsuke. Whoo!

It's our country—" Day seven of life on the desert island.

We had secured our own domain, a space where others could not casually intrude.

Thank you so much for reading this year……!!!!!!

Please continue to support me next year as well!!!!!!

A Request to Our Readers

If reading this work has brought you even the slightest...

If you found it "fun!", if you're left wondering about the "continuation", and if you feel like shouting "WRITING IT!!!"—

· Adding to bookmarks

・Adding this story to your bookmarks.

・Using the ☆☆☆☆☆ buttons under the "Support the author with points" section at the bottom of the page, changing them to ★★★★★.

Your support would be a huge motivation for future updates!!!!!!

Please do!!!!!!

Soon, a maid returned with a laundry basket.

She rearranged the storage and cleaned the dream world's clothes.

When she brought the basket back to the changing room, everyone gathered except for those in the dream world.

"Hey, what are we doing after this?" the maid asked.

"First, when Dream World returns, I want to talk about something with everyone. We need to decide whether to officially make Dream World and Loa part of our team."

"Huh? I thought they were already part of the team."

The maid's personality was straightforward and easy to like.

Still, it was important to unify the team's intentions clearly.

"I'm fine with making them part of the team. But, we agreed to 'return together' and 'wait until everyone can bring back what they want,' right?"

"That's true. I don't want to forget my memories of the desert island," Shion said seriously.

"Mm. I want to keep my 'healing magic' even when I go back to Japan," Chiyu added.

That's right. Even though the conditions were still unclear, we could apparently bring back the memories and abilities we gained on this desert island to Japan.

「Sōsuke, your concerns are valid. Increasing our team means it will take longer to return. We need to understand this and carefully consider it.」

「Hmm... Yeah, it can be frustrating when someone makes a decision without consulting others or when your opinion isn't heard. It's important that everyone agrees to avoid that, right?」 Shokushu also seemed to understand.

Loa remained quiet, given the nature of the discussion.

Actually, she had already started preparing tea in the kitchen.

「Once we finish this discussion, we'll have free time until evening. You can go explore, train your abilities, or stay at home. I plan to head toward the boundary between the dream world and the barrier. I'll set up some stone markers so everyone can see where I'm going.」

「I'll go with you! After that, I need to show Seiriame around the house.」

「I think I'll practice magic. I can always add the information we learned today to the map later...」

「I'll prepare the food. I want to make something special for Seiriame's welcome party, and I'll also look at the ingredients we gathered during the exploration today.」

Loa had just finished making tea for everyone. 「Loa?」

「Yes, Master?」

「Did you see what we need from the dream world?」 She smiled at my question.

「Yes, but it seems we'll need Shi-on's help to get it.」 「Me?」 It had something to do with cooking.

Roar explained in detail, and the other women reacted slightly. Even I did.

Because we all loved it. "Yeah, yeah, I think I can make it." We all got excited for a bit. "…What are you talking about?" And then Yumika came back.

Everyone stopped talking suddenly, probably because of the surprise, but that made it seem even more suspicious.

"…Well, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine."

Yumika seemed to take that as a secret.

"S-So, Seirina! Your skin is so shiny and smooth now!"

"…I don't know about that, but I feel refreshed. Kouno, if I keep this, I'll be in debt. We need to check the boundary of the barrier, right? Shall we go?"

"Yeah, but before that, there's something I want to talk about, so Yumika, sit down." "…Okay."

Roar prepared tea for Yumika as well.

After that, Roar sat down and explained again what we had been talking about.

"Huh? You mean everyone's going back? Seriously? That won't work if even one person gets their 'return right.' Even if our abilities make life a little easier, no one wants to stay here."

The other women smiled wryly at Yumika's words. Chiyu remained expressionless.

「Ah. Shouko, didn’t you explain how to use the hair dryer?」

「Oh, yeah. I only told her how to get it.」

I see, if you didn’t mention the bonus area, it’s understandable she wouldn’t know. 「Kouya, what’s going on?」

「I’ll explain later, but we have one ‘return right’. It’s actually Soh-kun who has it.」

「...So Kouya could have returned, but didn’t?」

Dream World looks at me with an expression of disbelief.

「But you’re living a better life compared to your classmates, right?」

「Still...no, never mind. So if I’m joining, it means I’ll be under the same conditions.」

「Yeah. Dream World and Roa. By the way, everyone agrees to welcome you as a member.」

「Of course, I will accompany you until the very end.」 Roa immediately replies.

「...Even if I agree now, I might still return when I can.」

「If that happens, there’s nothing we can do about it. But I doubt it will.」

「......why can't you say that?」 Musuhai looks a little sulky.

「Because you were worried about Shouko, weren't you? If Musuhai had returned without us, we would have lost the barrier. Then Shouko would have been in danger. You definitely wouldn't have been able to overlook that.」 「......annoying.」 Musuhai looks away and lowers her head.

「Thank you, Seirina! Actually, I'm sorry I couldn't go look for you earlier.」

「Don't hug me!......I didn't actively look for you either, so don't apologize.」

Musuhai tries to pull Shouko away, but seems to lack the strength to do so.

Eventually giving up, she looks at us with a weary expression.

「......I understand. I'll make a deal with you under your conditions, even if I don't agree with calling you a friend.」

「Alright. Then Musuhai and Loa, you're official members now.」

The living room is enveloped in a welcoming atmosphere.

「Well, nice to meet you.......I mean, is it really okay to trust you so easily?」

「Yeah. We have someone who can tell if you're lying.」

In response to my words, Shion modestly raises her hand. 「......I see, Shion.」 「I'm sorry, did I make you angry?」

「No, I’m impressed. You only side with those who tell the truth at crucial moments, right? That’s an important ability when forming a group like this, isn’t it?」

「Ah, thank you, Seirina-chan.」

Shion looks happy to have her ability recognized.

「By the way, Kouno, let’s hurry up and go.」

「Yeah. So everyone, consider this free time.」

The three of us—me, Yumika, and Shouko—leave the house.

We get back into the Micron and head toward the boundary of the barrier.

「Slow down, we’re almost there… Stop. Let’s get out here.」

Following Yumika’s instructions, the Micron moves, and we head to the boundary line. 「It’s quite a distance.」 「It might be longer than the school’s playground?」

「The high school I went to could fit inside the barrier, so I can still expand it to that size. No unauthorized animals or people can enter the barrier.」

We ride the Micron to show the distance from one end to the other and place the ‘stone wall’ there.

「…It’s really amazing. Even without the barrier, wouldn’t you be able to defend yourself?」

「That's the current situation, though. Depending on the monsters that come next, anything could happen.」 「...Yeah, maybe.」

「So, I'm counting on the power of the dream world.」

「Hmm... Well, if it's valuable, I guess it's nice. At least I won't have to keep borrowing.」

I had Mikuron move to another side and set up stone walls there.

「Really, Setsunagi is pretty strict about lending and borrowing.」

「It's uncomfortable if I don't settle up. In that sense, I owe more right now, so I want to fix that.」

「Kou, Setsunagi says she doesn't want you to look at her chest or her panties.」

「Hey, I wouldn't say something like 'show me your chest if you want to pay me back.'」 「Sorry, sorry, I was just joking.」

「...If it's valuable to Kou, then it's fine with me.」

「Eh?! W-well, if you say that, Kou, you'll just stare at them, right?」 I can't deny it, and that's sad.

Of course, I have no intention of doing such a thing to someone who doesn't want it.

「I feel uncomfortable if I owe more. Well, I don't think there's any reason to look at me when there are such cute girls around.」

"That's not true! Hey, Sōsuke!"

"Oh, well, I don't mean to show it off, but I think the dream world is pretty cool." "Yeah, yeah, it's cute!" "And she's so caring!"

"And her voice when she's surprised is cute too!"

"And she can express her gratitude properly." "And, and--"

"Stop it already! Huh? What? Both of you, you're so...!"

I couldn't see her face clearly from the Micron, but I was sure she was blushing.

And then, our base was surrounded by a barrier and stone walls.

"Wow. It's really clear. This area is protected by Seirin."

The stone walls were spaced out enough to allow people to enter and exit.

"The leader here is Kono, so this area is Kono's territory." "It's ours."

"Ahaha, that's Sōsuke for you. Yay, it's our country!"

On the seventh day of our life on the desert island, we had secured an area that others wouldn't easily enter.

Thank you very much for this year……！！！！！

I look forward to your support next year as well！！！！！

-------A request to our readers------- If you enjoyed this book, even just a little bit, and felt like saying "This was fun!" or "I want to know what happens next!" or "Keep writing!!" please:

• Add it to your bookmarks

• Change the ☆☆☆☆☆ button at the bottom of the page under the "Give the author some points to support them" section to ★★★★★

This will be a great encouragement for future updates！！！！！

Thank you very much！！！！！