A black-haired, black-eyed, anywhere-you’ll-find-him male high schooler—me.

Owner of Crafting Ability, imagined after the functions you see in deserted-island exploration games.

My childhood friend, the platinum-haired, blue-eyed beautiful girl—Chiyu.

Owner of Healing Magic, imagined after a white mage.

A blonde, side-ponytail beautiful-girl gyaru—Shouko.

Owner of Fluffy Summoning Ability, chosen because she wanted to summon a Fenrir like in isekai comics.

A neat, pure-looking beauty with long straight black hair—Shion.

Owner of Lie-Detection Ability, chosen with a class transfer to a deserted island in mind.

And now, added to that group, there was Shijo—the serious, long black ponytail beauty.

“Th-the one I chose was a power like a mage you’d see in stories, b-but maybe because of the mage I had in mind, my ability ended up being Attribute Magic...!”

That was while we were riding Mashiro back to base.

It went Shouko, Shion, Chiyu, me—and Shijo was riding at the very back.

So I was holding my childhood friend’s waist, while the class rep was holding my waist.

From the front, Chiyu’s nice smell drifted back, and Shijo’s chest was pressed against my back.

Unlike me and Chiyu, who’d already experienced riding on the way out, this was Shijo’s first time on a Fenrir.

We decided to ask her about things on the way, but maybe from nerves, her voice kept bouncing and going shrill.

“Attribute Magic, huh. Sounds like you can split roles with Chiyu.”

“Yeah. Now I don’t have to worry about an upgraded replacement showing up and tossing me aside.”

“No way I’d do that.”

When I said it with a little edge, Chiyu murmured “I know,” sounding happy.

Even if I say “sounding happy,” her voice had no inflection, so a normal person might not notice.

“The four I can use right now are Fireball, Stone Bullet, Wind Cutter, and Water Wall—and anything made by magic doesn’t seem to last long...!”

It was extremely °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° game-like, and for someone used to games, it was easy to picture the effects.

Seems like she could only use beginner-level spells for now.

“Ahh, got it. Maybe it’s set up so you can’t secure drinking water or light fires using magic itself... whoa—”

The stone wall we’d left behind at base came into view, and the instant Mashiro jumped over it—

Shijo’s chest rubbed up my back with a swoosh from the bounce, then with the drop, it slid down with a boing.

“Eep.”

And with her making that noise, of course I ended up making a sound too.

“Good work, Mashirooo.”

Shouko praised Mashiro.

“Minorin, if you don’t move your hands, So-kun can’t get down.”

At Chiyu’s words, Shijo went, “R-right!” and let go of me, then got down from Mashiro along with everyone else.

“Sorry, Kuno-kun. I thought I might fall, so I grabbed on too tightly.”

Shijo’s face was red. She seemed embarrassed about that last close contact.

“No, it’s fine. Mashiro runs carefully for us, so you can relax.”

“Y-yes. But, um... I’ve been dressed like this since yesterday, so... I’m dirty, right? Your clothes are clean like you washed them, so I felt awful thinking I might get them dirty.”

She lowered her head like she was ashamed of how she looked.

I didn’t care, but Shijo didn’t know my ability in detail yet.

We’d been listening to her so much that we hadn’t explained our side.

“Sousuke, Sousuke! Let’s eat! Minorin, you’re hungry too, right?”

Shouko cut in.

“May I partake? In an environment like this, food is precious, isn’t it?”

She really was a serious kid.

“Then become an ally.”

“Yeah. Right now, our combat power is basically all Mashiro, so if Shijo joins us, that might really help. What do you think, Sousuke?”

At Chiyu and Shion’s words, I nodded.

“Yeah. Shijo’s trustworthy, and if she’s willing to join, she’ll be dependable. Of course, I’m not forcing you, and even if you say no, you can still eat with us.”

Right now, we were basically moving as a group at all times.

Like Shion said, that was because Mashiro was carrying our fighting power.

But if we added someone with Attribute Magic, we could split up and act in two teams.

That meant our exploration and day-to-day range would expand.

“Refuse...? N-no... I’ll accept. I... thank you. For letting me join such a warm group...”

It sounded like those vulgar stares from the two boys yesterday had left her with some kind of trauma.

“Sousuke’s pervy, but he’s a good guy, so you can relax, Minoriiin!”

Shouko hugged Shijo in welcome.

“Eek. Kanna-san...! Come on... my clothes will get dirty...”

Shijo wore a troubled, ticklish-looking soft smile.

“Who cares. We’ve got a Sousuke-brand bath.”

“A bath...?”

Shijo’s eyes lit up.

“Ah... okay. For now, let’s split into two teams. Cooking team and bath team.”

“I’m cooking team.”

“Ah, I can help a little too.”

Chiyu and Shion volunteered.

“Then me and Minorin are bath team. I’ll heat it up for you.”

“Th-there really is a bath...? And you said ‘Sousuke-brand,’ so... did you make it with your ability, Kuno-kun?”

“I’ll explain properly at mealtime. For now, I’ll set it up roughly.”

I deployed the full set of bath gear.

A stone bath, changing basket, folding screen, firewood—everything appeared in front of us.

“...Amazing. I see—your ability includes storing and placing tools related to Crafting. Because you imagined an ‘ability that can craft anywhere,’ it must have been built in a way that realizes that...”

“Yeah. That’s about it.”

A little farther away, I also placed the giant stone slab and the fire-starting tool.

“Right—Shijo. I’ll explain how to use the tools.”

“Yeah. And if you put your clothes in the changing basket, take it outside the folding screen. I’m skipping the explanation, but So-kun will make them clean.”

Shion and Chiyu pushed Shijo from behind and led her off to the bath area.

What was left behind was me—and Shouko, with her face red.

—What’s this? It’s like they’re trying to leave me and Shouko alone...

“S-so... today I’m the one on fire-starting duty.”

Right. We’d said that this morning.

“Y-yeah. I’m counting on you.”

Like with the two earlier, I had her hold down the stone and board.

I focused on the cord and pulled it alternately with both hands, but—

“Hey, Sousuke. Um... you might be thinking about what we talked about earlier, but... you’re different, okay?”

The talk about guys’ stares.

“Yeah, I know. You backed me up, didn’t you?”

“A-and... if I say I don’t like it, I want you to stop, but when I say it’s okay... it’s okay.”

That made me remember the continuation of this morning’s conversation.

When Chiyu started saying stuff like Panties Encyclopedia.

—“...W-well, Sousuke does take really good care of me, and if it’s just that much... I guess it’s fine...”

Shouko had said that.

If that and what she just said were connected...

I swallowed, then slowly lifted my gaze.

Her healthy-colored legs were spread, and at the very back of that, her pink panties with lace sat there.

“Aha. See? Sousuke really is pervy.”

Even as she teased me, Shouko’s cheeks were red.

Her face was so cute my heart jumped.

“Smoke’s coming out.”

“A-ah. Right.”

I hurriedly got the ember.

I set up the campfire, and had her move some over to the bath too.

Shouko went to stoke the bath fire while saying, “Ah, it’s hot. I’m kinda sweating. After we eat, I’ll take a bath too.”

Chiyu and Shion came back, and the cooking team was formed.

And right away, it was time to cook boar meat.

But even though we finally had the meat we’d been longing for, Shouko’s face from earlier wouldn’t leave my head for a while.