The hot pot was a hit with everyone.

If this were Earth, we might’ve felt like it was bland, but after even a single day of deserted island life, the gratitude you feel for a proper meal seeps straight into you.

After all, up until this morning, our staple food had been mushrooms and nuts.

And the portion we’d prepared went neatly and completely into everyone’s stomachs.

“That was delicious.”

Shouko patted her belly in satisfaction.

“Thank you for the meal. And for the bath, and the delicious food... truly, thank you.”

Shijo bowed politely.

Her uniform was clean again, and her skin and hair had regained their beauty.

She seemed satisfied with the meal, but her eyelids looked a little heavy.

“Shijo, why don’t you sleep a bit?”

“Oh, no. It’s precious daylight. I should gather things, do what I can. I have to repay you at least a little.”

“But you look like you didn’t sleep properly yesterday, right? Luckily, we aren’t struggling for today’s and tomorrow’s food. Rest for now, and you can work hard after you’ve recovered.” 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

The other three agreed with me.

Shijo still hesitated a little, but maybe she decided it would be more of a bother to keep pushing—she gave a small nod.

“...Thank you. Then I suppose I’ll take you up on that.”

“Then go rest in the Hut.”

I took out the Hut I’d had stored away and placed it back in its usual spot.

“...!? B-buildings are also within the scope of the Crafting Ability? I mean, I suppose with a Hut, there are people who build them on their own, yes. But then... if you take it that far, even a log cabin could—ugh...”

Shijo was rattled.

I went inside, placed the carpet, then brought out a blanket and handed it to Shijo.

“Take your shoes off in the Hut. And here—blanket.”

“It’s so fluffy... Thank you, for everything.”

“It’s fine.”

“Kuno-kun, you’re amazing. Not some easy ideal—at a deserted island, you chose an ability that solves the bottlenecks all at once: ‘lack of tools,’ ‘lack of skills,’ and ‘time management.’”

Somehow Shijo was looking at me with eyes full of respect, but...

“A-ahaha...”

All I could do was give a wry smile.

The truth is, this is an ability I’d always wanted in games...

It’s insanely useful, but I picked it with a pretty easy ideal in mind.

It wasn’t the kind of atmosphere where I could say that.

“I’ll be grateful, and I’ll use it with care.”

“Yeah. Good night.”

“Yes... g-good night.”

Shijo said it shyly and went into the Hut.

I went back to the others.

“So what do we do? We can’t leave Minorin alone.”

At Shouko’s words, I nodded.

“Let’s split into two groups like earlier. One to explore, one to stay behind. For combat power distribution... sorry, but Shouko and Mashiro should go explore.”

“Okay, okay!”

Mashiro was our muscle, but Mashiro was also a phantasmal beast Shouko had summoned.

He seemed to like our group, but for split-second instructions and all that, it was better to have Shouko with him.

“Then I’ll go explore too.”

“Chiyu, are you sure?”

“Leave it to me. I’m going to catch a chicken to grab So-kun’s ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) stomach again.”

My childhood friend was fired up.

Seeing Shion’s cooking skills must’ve lit a competitive flame in her.

“Um... if you can’t find any, cut it off at a reasonable point, okay?”

“Got it.”

“Then that means I’ll stay behind with Sousuke-kun.”

“Yeah. And Shijo probably won’t be able to relax if she’s alone with a guy, so... can I count on you?”

“Of course.”

Shion smiled brightly, and the teams were set.

Before they left, I asked Shouko to summon sheep.

“You mean the sheep milk you mentioned earlier? It’s fine.”

So apparently, it really was okay to take milk.

“So-kun, can you make cheese too?”

“Can you make cheese with just milk?”

“I think you need rennet, right?”

Shion touched a finger to her chin, searching her memory.

“Ah—yeah, I’ve heard that. It’s a cow’s stomach, right?”

“Catching a cow, understood.”

“No—don’t push yourself.”

Having motivation is good, but it’s only day two.

There was no need to overreach and try to grab everything at once.

For now, I handed the two of them gathering baskets.

“Ooh, nice. Alright, Chiyu. Wanna compete to see who gathers more?”

“I’d love to.”

While Shouko was calling Mashiro over, Chiyu walked up toward me.

Then she rose onto her toes and pressed her lips to mine with a quick little kiss.

“C-Chiyu?”

I flushed from the sudden kiss.

“So-kun. In this situation, a harem is also a man’s responsibility.”

In this situation, saying that meant...

“...Chiyu, you’re not against it?”

“No problem. As long as in the end, you’re next to me.”

S-so cool...

“And it’s not bad... if other people can understand the charm of the person I like.”

Leaving that behind, Chiyu left the base with Shouko.

What remained was Shijo sleeping inside the Hut—

And the sheep, me, and Shion.

“Ah... w-well, for now, let’s start with milking.”

“Yeah.”

I brought out a wooden bucket, and the two of us split up and tried milking.

After a bit, once we got the hang of it, the milk started coming out with force.

“Kyaa. Wow... it comes out this strongly...?”

Just hearing Shion’s voice made my mind start running in a bad direction, but I managed to shake it off.

“Hey, Sousuke-kun. Can you listen to me for a bit?”

“Yeah, of course.”

There’s no reason we had to milk in silence.

“What kind of impression did you have of me in class?”

“Impression...? You fit in, and you seemed popular.”

“Ahaha, thanks. If that’s how it looked, then I’m glad. But for that, I couldn’t let my guard down for even a day. I was always checking chat apps, and even if I wasn’t interested, I’d research things or watch them so I could keep up with the latest topics. I’d memorize what my friends said so I wouldn’t forget, and make sure I could respond with the right reactions.”

Back in elementary school, even without doing that kind of work, I’d just naturally shared hobbies with friends.

Superhero shows, popular comics and anime, big-selling games—if you kept up with things you were interested in too, you could get excited about them together.

But by middle school and high school, interests scatter, and even just artists people like can be all over the place.

It gets pretty hard to find a friend whose tastes match yours perfectly.

You can still become close, but it’s true that building friendships gets more complicated than when you’re little.

“If you look sloppy, your evaluation drops, but if you try too hard, there are people who get put off by that too, so I’d search for the perfect balance. Even then, I can’t maneuver perfectly. If I turn down a confession from a boy, sometimes girls who liked that boy start hating me. But I can’t accept it either, so I was always suffocating.”

Boys have their good points and their annoying points.

Girls probably have that too.

Back in middle school, because of how cute and cool Chiyu was, there was a period where she drew jealousy and got targeted by some girls.

She didn’t care, but I remember how frustrated I felt, because I understood that if I interfered, it would just make things even messier—so I couldn’t do anything.

“So when I became close with Shouko-chan in second year, I was surprised. She’s such a straightforward girl, and she doesn’t have two faces, so I didn’t have to overthink anything.”

“Yeah. There are people where you can tell what they say and what they really feel are different.”

“Right? So I wanted the Lie-Detection Ability. Even on a deserted island, I thought I’d still be trapped inside the ‘class’ frame. So at least within that, I wanted to be able to get by.”

Even if you have few friends, even if you aren’t at the top of the class pecking order, you can still live a fun life.

But it’s also true that lots of people care about that kind of thing, and I could understand the feeling.

Shion probably had her own reasons for becoming obsessed with “getting by.”

“Wasn’t there also the option of picking an ability to live alone?”

“Ahaha. You’re strong, Sousuke-kun. But being alone is lonely, right?”

“Yeah... maybe.”

From the start, I’d had Chiyu.

That’s why I could keep going without pointless spiraling, and my heart never broke.

But the guys who got sent alone probably felt anxious and scared.

“And also... I didn’t want an ability that helps everyone.”

Shion said it softly.

“Because... it would definitely turn into something bad.”

Getting treated like a gofer.

People taking it for granted that you’ll use your ability.

Because you can heal, they tell you to heal every tiny wound with everything you have.

Because you can make useful things, they tell you to make this, that, and that too.

Because you can command a phantasmal beast, they tell you to order it around and hunt.

We’re working with a spirit of helping each other, but that healthy balance is fragile—there’s no guarantee it won’t collapse.

If we reunite with the entire class, the comfortable atmosphere we have now would probably disappear.

Right now, my companions thank me for my ability, and I’m grateful to them too.

But there will definitely be people without gratitude, and people who treat us like tools will also appear.

Shion might have been afraid of that, and chosen an ability that would let her maneuver well inside a group.

Well, her plan was slightly off, since we all transferred separately.

“So, Sousuke-kun... I really think you’re amazing.”

“Back then, I was only thinking about myself.”

I thought it was a dream and just didn’t read the room.

“But you grabbed Chiyu-chan’s hand in the moment and transferred together. You didn’t just help each other as childhood friends—you accepted Shouko-chan and me too. And Shijo-san as well.”

“Maybe I’m just putting on a good face because everyone’s a beautiful girl.”

“That’s a lie. Don’t do that, Sousuke-kun. Lies don’t work on me.”

Shion gave a small laugh, looking happy.

“Right.”

“And Sousuke-kun... in your kindness, there was no lie. Of course, except for jokes like just now.”

“What’s gotten into you? You’re making me embarrassed.”

“Sousuke-kun might be a little perverted, but... when you show kindness to someone, you aren’t doing it with ulterior motives. I think that’s wonderful.”

I kind of understood what she was getting at.

When someone drops something, it’s not rare for a guy to pick it up if it’s a beautiful girl from class, but ignore it if it’s not.

It’s not kindness by itself—it’s acting out kindness after the ulterior motive comes first.

“That’s not me being great. That’s just how my parents raised me.”

It’s just... if someone’s in trouble right in front of you, you help them. That’s all.

“Then both your kind parents, and Sousuke-kun who properly keeps their teaching... are wonderful.”

What is this atmosphere?

It’s weirdly ticklish.

“U-um. The milking seems about good. I’ll Itemize it for now. Ah—want to keep it secret from everyone and drink it ourselves first?”

I stored my portion and Shion’s portion too, trying to change the mood, but—

“No. We can do that later.”

Shion stood and came closer, taking my hand.

“S-Shion?”

“The bath area is still set up, so... wanna go over by the folding screen?”

Still holding my hand, she led me to the bath area.

“What is it? If you’re going to bathe, I’ll heat it up, but...”

“Hehe. So, Sousuke-kun... I think you understand now, after listening to me. I want to do well in this group too. A space with only good people who don’t tell ugly lies. Doing well means... I have to feel like it’s okay for me to be here. If I can’t, I’ll get so anxious I can’t stand it.”

“...If it’s about the difference in our abilities, you don’t need to worry. There’ll be times we rely on you later.”

“Yeah. But right now, I think my contribution isn’t enough. If things stay like this, I’m getting too much. So I have to give back.”

Shion pressed herself to me and wrapped her arms around my back.

“You got Chiyu-chan’s permission, right? It’s okay. The girls talked it out already. Shijo-san is still not in the loop, so we have to make sure she doesn’t find out, though.”

So Chiyu’s comment earlier...

Was that because she’d already seen this coming?

Shion looked up at me with moist eyes.

“Sousuke-kun... let me be useful to you.”