Chapter 35 – Gal and Lemongrass
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Today we split up into two teams to explore. The gal Shouko, the fenrir Mashiro, and I would head out far away to search for spices and such. Meanwhile, my childhood-friend Chiyu, the prim and neat cook Shion, and the overly serious magician Minori would explore the area around our base.
“Then let’s go, Sousuke.”
“Sure thing. See you guys around at lunchtime.”
“Take care, Sousuke-kun, Shouko-chan, Mashiro-kun.”
“Make sure to come to me right away, if you get injured.”
“Yes. Just don’t overdo it, okay? Your safety comes first and foremost.”
We departed while being seen off by our friends. I should have ridden him yesterday, but Mashiro’s back felt strangely nostalgic. I put my arms around Shouko’s waist, holding onto her to not fall down.
“Nngh… O-Okay, Mashiro, I leave it in your hands today as well.”
Mashiro cheerfully barked in response to Shouko’s words and started to dash. The speed of the scenery passing by wasn’t anywhere close to walking.
“As expected, Mashiro sure is fast. He’s been helping us in all sorts of ways, so I gotta build his kennel today for sure.”
“Oki, I’m sure he’ll be happy.”
“Also, sorry for kind of forcing you into always being part of the exploration team, Shouko. Please tell me if you want to take a break from it, okay?”
“No problem. I like going out to begin with. But, I’ll tell you whenever I feel like lazing around for a day.”
“Hahaha, go for it.”
“But, the same can be said about you as well, Sousuke. You don’t have to try crafting everything, you know? Even now, our lives are more than satisfying. Aren’t you somehow only making stuff for us girls and Mashiro? It wouldn’t be a problem at all, if you crafted something for yourself.”
“That’s not quite correct. The things I want simply overlap with what everyone else wants. I crafted our home and so on while being super excited about it.”
“Really? Then it’s fine. Actually, our home is really cool. We’re the only ones who can live in such a great place on this island.”
Seeing Shouko being so excited about it convinced me that she had really taken a liking to our new home. In the end, I’m happy if I can give others pleasure with the things I create.
“It sure grew in size compared to the hut from the first day.”
“I liked that hut since sleeping with everyone kinda felt like being on a school trip.”
“There’s no school trip where boys and girls sleep together, right?”
“True,” answered Shouko while smiling brightly.
“If there’s something I’d like to get next…it’d be glass, I suppose.”
“Huh? You can make glass as well?”
“I discussed it for a bit with Minori, and it looks like I’ll somehow be able to manage if I get my hand on some silica.”
The other ingredients are readily available since I already discovered shells and seaweed.
“Seriously? If there’s glass, it feels like we’ve almost gotten back to modern times. But, silica would mean we could have had luck with the mines if those would have been added yesterday, don’t you think?”
The choice between water places and mines immediately finished with water places winning. But sure, if mines would have been added, it might have changed our plans for today.
“You’re right. However, I think it’s good that water places has been chosen. Students other than us have been transferred to this place as well. It should be a necessity for everyone.”
“…Ah, that makes sense. As expected of you, Sousuke!”
“No, no, I haven’t been actively looking for the others from our class while saying something like that, so I’m a hypocrite, right?”
With Mashiro’s nose, which can accurately find a boar, it would be possible to find other humans as well. Right now we’re using that nose to search for citrus-type fruits. The idea of searching for our classmates hasn’t been even brought up once.
I suspect that everyone is deliberately staying quiet about it.
“Why? You don’t have any duty to save everyone, do you? Saving someone who’s in trouble in front of you and saving someone after going as far as searching them all over the place is almost the same, isn’t it?”
“Well, yeah. Though the latter is more like something a hero would do.”
“Right, right. And I don’t think you have to become a hero. Even without doing that, we can tell that you’re a good guy, Sousuke.”
To be honest, everyone thinks about stuff like that differently. In the eyes of someone who requires help right now, they’ll likely expect you to help, if you have the power to do so. Still, I’m happy that I could win Shouko, my friend, as part of our group.
“Thanks, Shouko. You took a bit of a load off my mind,” I mumbled under my breath while pressing my forehead against her back.
“Hahaha, you bet! Or so I say, but I ran over to you on the first day.”
Shouko and Shion had arrived at our hut, riding a fenrir at night.
“Yeah, that was a surprise. But, I was glad that I could reunite with you.”
“So was I. I’m really grateful to you, Sousuke.”
It’s nice that we’ve become comrades because she’s that sort of friend. Those are my real feelings, too.
“Somehow our talk became so serious all of a sudden and now I feel embarrassed.”
“I-I can totally relate to that. My face has become kinda hot…”
Both of us felt bashful.
At that point, Mashiro slowed down and whimpered after coming to a halt.
“Eh? Is this the place, Mashiro? But――I can only see grass over here.”
Just as Shouko says, grass is growing in front of us. Long grasses are growing in huge numbers, their stalks extending as if trying to draw a curve.
“Let me try to Itemize them.”
I had Mashiro lower me and cut some of the plants with a stone hatchet. When I sniffed at them, they smelled like citrus. And once I itemized them, my ability identified them as 『Lemongrass』.
“It says it’s lemongrass.”
“Ah! That’s the one that smells like lemons!”
“Guess so. It should be in herb teas and such. For the time being, this should cover the citrus aroma.”
“Sorry, Mashiro. You found it perfectly and yet I belittled it by saying that it’s just grass,” Shouko apologized to Mashiro while hugging him.
Since he had Shouko’s boobs pressed against him, he’s probably willing to forgive everything.
Afterwards we continued to explore and gather while trusting Mashiro’s nose.
“As I thought, the 『Summon Fluff Ability』 is awesome. With my ability alone, I wouldn’t have been able to craft half as much as I have thanks to you and Mashiro.”
“Rather, wouldn’t you say that our compatibility is perfect?”
“No kidding.”
“Ah, wait. That sounded wrong. I-I meant our abilities are compatible…!”
Shouko’s voice sounded somewhat shrill.
“I know.”
“T-Though I think our compatibility as friends i-isn’t b-bad either…”
“Our positions in the class are completely different, however.”
“That doesn’t matter whatsoever…!”
“…You’re right. Sorry. We’re friends, regardless of such matters.”
Given that Shouko’s anger was justified, I apologized honestly.
“Yes! …I mean I noticed your charm much earlier than Shio-chan and Minorin, so…”
As the latter part of her statement apparently wasn’t intended for my ears, her voice became so quiet that I couldn’t hear it.
“Shouko?”
“It’s nothing! Rather than that, is there anything else you want to look for, Sousuke?”
“Yeah. I’d like some water…so the ocean or something like that?”
Shouko’s body trembled as soon as she heard the word ocean.
“That’s nice. The ocean! Yep, let’s go to the ocean!”
She clearly reacted to this as an extrovert. We won’t be going to swim in the ocean, but… No.
“You’re absolutely right. It’d be boring to just fetch water at the beach. It might be a nice idea to play for a bit too.”
“Sousuke, you totally get it!”
Since exploring together with her also served as an apology to Shouko, I won’t get punished for listening to her requests.
“Ah, but I have no swimsuit with me. I suppose we’ll just hang out at the beach for a bit then,” Shouko said while looking disappointed.
It won’t be the same as the one you had on Earth, but I could make you a swimsuit out of line, if you like. The top and bottom parts will be tied together with strings though.”
“Sousuke, you’re a genius!”
“Hahaha, sounds like it’s decided then.”
“You’re going to wear a swimsuit as well, right? It’s going to be too embarrassing for me to be the only one after all!”
“Y-Yeah, gotcha.”
“Yaaay! Off the ocean we goooo!”
We’ve been talking in the same way as usual, but…I wonder whether this counts as something like a beach date.
As soon as I thought about that, I ended up becoming fidgety.
“Mashiro, go at full speed! Let’s get to the sea faster than the wind!”
“Wait, wait, just what the heck do you mean with full spee――――aaaaaaaaahhhh!”
I clung to Shouko so as to not get blown away. Unfortunately I didn’t have the leeway to think about stuff like the softness of a girl’s body.
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Translation Notes: