I had not planned to go out of my way to search for people in trouble just so I could help them, but circumstances had changed a little.

Ms. Luminous had joined us and volunteered to act as a mediator. On top of that, through our interaction with Suou’s team, we had learned in detail about how some of the male students were going out of control.

Once that happened, I started worrying about the three unidentified female students too.

I did, and while the other women did not show it on their faces, I was sure they felt the same way.

So we decided to search for them and deliver them to Suou’s team.

After lunch, once we finished cleaning up, I called Mashiro and Micron over.

As usual, Micron wrapped herself around me.

The ones riding the Fenrir Mashiro to search for the girls would be Shouko, Ms. Luminous, Shion, and Minori.

Shouko because she was a communication powerhouse. Ms. Luminous because she could persuade and reassure students. Shion because she could see through any lies. Minori in case it turned into a fight against monsters, boys who had gone out of control, or anything like that.

The ones riding the fluffy black dragon Micron to go gather materials would be me, Chiyu, Roa, Yumekai, and Shoubu.

In our case, we planned to search within the range where Yumekai’s barrier would not come undone, looking for plants and similar things that might be usable for producing makeup colors.

“Am I okay on this side?”

My childhood friend looked at me as if confirming it.

“Considering the condition of the three we’re rescuing, it definitely would be better to have Chiyu’s magic with them, but...”

Even Mashiro probably could not carry eight people if that included the rescued girls.

“Hey, Kuno.”

Yumekai called to me in a quiet voice.

“Yeah?”

“I’m guessing you split the phantasmal beasts between the two teams because you were thinking about emergency combat power. But if you send the dragon along with Shouko too, then their transportation capacity won’t be a problem, right?”

“...Right.”

She was absolutely right, but in that case, the exploration team would be me, Roa, Yumekai, and Shoubu.

In other words, we would have no combat-specialized people.

Until now, we had been distributing combat power in case something happened.

This would break that balance.

“—All right, I get it. Shouko, take Chiyu and Micron with your team too.”

“Huh? Are you sure?”

Shouko blinked.

“Yeah. Exploration is fine on foot anyway. We’ll look at the map and avoid water sources, and if anything happens, we’ll ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) have Yumekai make a small barrier so we can take shelter. Oh, of course, that’s assuming the other three are okay with it.”

If we had an absolute defensive space, we could also attack enemies from the inside.

Even if all I did was drop things from my Inventory onto them from overhead, that would be enough to neutralize most living creatures.

“I’m the one who suggested it, so I’ve got no problem.”

“I have no objection either.”

“Helping people is obviously more important. Besides, seeing Serina’s kindness made my heart skip a beat.”

“...Huh? What are you talking about?”

Yumekai’s eyes twisted at Shoubu’s words.

“I mean, that’s what it was, right? You handed Chiyu over to Shouko’s team because you thought they’d need her magic if the three girls they’re about to search for were injured, right? So kiiind.”

“I just said it as one idea because Kuno looked like he was having trouble deciding...”

“Yeah, it helped, Yumekai. I’m in the position of this party’s leader, so I tend to prioritize our members’ safety no matter what, but for the rescue, I think your idea is the right one.”

“............Oh. Yeah. If I was at least a little useful, then fine.”

Yumekai glared at Shoubu while faintly blushing at my words.

There was also the option of all of us going together, but if I was the only guy among eight girls, the girls we met for the first time would probably be shaken.

I was still a boy too, so for this job, things would go faster if I was not there.

“I-I’ll work hard too...!”

The one who pushed into the conversation was Shion. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Since she worried more than anyone about whether she could be useful to the party, maybe the conversation between Yumekai and me had caught her attention.

“I’m counting on you. We’ll have more interpersonal contact from now on because of the trades, so I think there will be more chances for your ability to shine too.”

“O-okay...!”

She seemed to have assumed her ability was not useful, so I could only hope that as it actually got more chances to shine, that feeling would fade.

“Thanks to Shouko’s phantasmal beasts, you can move quickly around the island. With Chiyu there, you can push yourselves a little if you have to. With Minori there, I can feel safe even if we split the teams. And if Ms. Luminous is there, I think the students will open up to you.”

Before any more flat stares could come flying my way, I told everyone on the other team that I was counting on them too.

“Mm. With me there, you’ll have perfect health and safety.”

“I’ll protect everyone so I can live up to that trust.”

“Thank you for properly taking in the opinion of a teacher who only just arrived on this deserted island. I’ll do my best.”

“I’m happy when Mashiro and Micron get praised, but wasn’t I not praised at all?”

Shouko looked conflicted.

“Ahaha, that’s not true. Because you’re so cheerful, we didn’t sink into gloom even after being thrown onto a deserted island. You’ve helped me in all kinds of ways.”

“O-oh yeah? Well, then that’s fine.”

Shouko answered as if it were nothing, but her expression looked happy.

“And thanks to Yumekai’s barrier, we can live with peace of mind. Roa helps us by moving like several people all by herself. And Shoubu is... full of energy, which is nice.”

I praised my own team too.

“Hey! Don’t use me as the punch line!”

Shoubu’s retort softened the atmosphere.

“It’s not so much a punch line as that, from Kuno’s perspective, there isn’t anything to praise yet, right? Your ability probably doesn’t really click for him either.”

“Urk.”

At Yumekai’s words, Shoubu clutched her chest.

“Please rest assured, Miss Urume. Master is not the sort of person who judges people by their abilities.”

“R-right, Roa-chii. Then what are my good points?”

“............How very lovely and vivacious you are, perhaps?”

“Meaning?”

“That you are cute and full of energy...”

“That’s the same thing! I’m happy about the ‘cute’ part, though! Uwoooh! In that case, I’ve got no choice but to work hard gathering materials!”

She had an ability that seemed useless on this deserted island—finishing makeup instantly—and yet the fact that she had not rotted away and had kept her spirits up was itself proof of a genuinely excellent mentality, in my opinion.

But when someone praised your own nature, maybe it felt so obvious to you that it did not really click.

Besides, Shoubu did not get jealous of other people. She was honestly impressed by their abilities, and yet she did not change how she treated them from before the transfer.

No, she had started talking a lot to me too, even though we had almost no connection before the transfer.

Even so, it did not feel like she was obviously currying favor. It came across as her interacting naturally.

Even aside from the fact that her ability was popular with the women, she was the type of person I would want as a companion.

“I’m counting on you, Urume. I’m looking forward to it too.”

“Totally! Let’s gather a ton of colors and all have fun with makeup!”

With that conversation between the gals as the last word, we split up by team and left the base.