Chapter 21 – A Class President Joins and Fire-Starter Gal
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I, a male high school student with black hair and eyes as you can find anywhere, possess a Crafting Ability which had the same functions as I knew from Uninhabited Island Exploration games.
Chiyu, a pretty girl with blue eyes and platinum hair while also being my childhood-friend, possesses Healing Magic based on the image of a White Mage.
Shouko, a beautiful gal with blond hair tied into a side tail, possesses the Fluff Summoning Ability which she chose because she wanted to summon the Fenrir she knows from an isekai manga.
Shion, a neat and prim beauty with long, straight black hair, possesses a Lie Detection Ability which she chose because she assumed that the class would be transferred to an uninhabited island.
And right now, Shijiyo, an overly serious beauty with black hair tied into a long ponytail, has joined our little group.
“W-What I chose was a power like the magicians appearing in stories always possess, but maybe influenced by my image of a magician, the ability turned into 『Elemental Magic』.”
At present we were riding Mashiro on our way back to our base. Shouko was sitting in front, followed by Shion, Chiyu, me, and Shijiyo. As such, the class president was holding onto my waist and I was grabbing Chiyu’s.
Chiyu’s nice scent was tickling my nose from the front while Shijiyo’s breasts were pressed against my back.
Unlike Chiyu and I, who had experienced riding Mashiro before, it was the first time for Shijiyo. I had decided to listen to her story on the way back, but her voice constantly remained shrill and bouncy, probably because of her nervousness.
“Elemental magic, huh? It sounds like you can clearly differentiate that from Chiyu’s ability.”
“Mmh, my worries of being discarded because someone with an ability outranking mine had appeared is gone now.”
“There’s no way we’d have done that anyway,” I scolded Chiyu in a fit of slight anger.
Chiyu happily muttered, “I know.”
Well, although I call it happy, her voice had no intonation, so it might also be her usual voice.
“The spells I can currently use are Fireball, Pellet, Wind Blade, Water Wall. But, the things created by magic appear to only last for a short time.”
As it’s very game-like, it’s easy to imagine their effects for anyone familiar with gaming. And as expected, she can only use elementary spells at the moment.
“Ah, I see. It might be a specification so that you cannot simply secure water and fire with magic…uooh!”
At that moment the wall surrounding our base came into sight and Mashiro jumped over it. Shijiyo was pushed up along my back and as we landed, it slid down my back again.
“Hyaaa!”
Because she screamed on top of that, I ended up raising my voice as well.
“Good job, Mashiro,” praised Shouko.
“Mino-chan, if you don’t remove your hands, Sou-kun won’t be able to get off.”
Thanks to Chiyu’s comment, Shijiyo came back to her senses, pulled her hands back, and climbed off Mashiro’s back together with everyone else.
“Forgive me, Kuno-kun. I thought I might fall off, so I hold on to you firmly.”
Shijiyo’s face was red. She apparently felt embarrassed about clinging to me at the end.
“No, it’s fine. Mashiro is running while keeping us in mind, so you don’t need to worry.”
“O-Okay. But, umm, I have been wearing these clothes since yesterday, so…err, they are dirty, aren’t they? Your clothes were clean as if they had been washed, so I feel sorry if I actually dirtied them.”
She was looking down, seemingly embarrassed about her current appearance.
It’s not like she needs to worry about it so much, but Shijiyo doesn’t know about my ability yet. I didn’t have the chance to tell her since I was listening to her story for the most part.
“Sousuke, Sousuke! Let’s have a meal! Mino-rin, you’re hungry as well, arencha’?”
Shouko suddenly interrupted.
“Would it be alright to allow me to partake in that? Food is precious in an environment like this, right?”
She’s a truly serious girl.
“It’ll be okay if you become our friend.”
“True. Right now we’re heavily relying on Mashiro as our sole combat force, so I think it’d be very welcome if Shijiyo-san could become our ally. What do you think, Sousuke-kun?”
I nodded at Chiyu and Shion’s comments.
“You’re right. We can trust Shijiyo, so it’d be a big asset if she becomes our friend. Of course, we won’t force you, Shijiyo. Even if you plan to decline, please have a meal with us.”
It’s become a common trope for us to always act together. And this is owed to Mashiro shouldering the combat side of things for us, just like Shion said.
But, if we add an Elemental Magic user to our roster, it’ll also become possible for us to split up in two groups when taking action. And that would mean an increase in our options when it comes to exploration and livelihood.
“Something like declining… I should be the one asking you to let me join instead. Umm…I appreciate being allowed to join a group with such a nice atmosphere. Thank you.”
It looks like the indecent stares by the two boys yesterday turned into a trauma for her.
“Sousuke is a pervert, but he’s still a good guy deep down, so you can feel safe. Mino-rin!”
Shouko hugged Shijiyo as if to welcome her.
“Kyaa! Kanna-san…! Sheesh…your clothes will get dirty, you know?”
Shijiyo revealed a troubled, yet gentle smile.
“No need to worry. We’ve got a bath accredited by Sousuke!”
“Eh? A bath…?”
Shijiyo’s eyes started to glitter.
“Yeah…alright, let’s split up in two groups. A cooking team and a bath team.”
“I’m going to be with the cooking team.”
“Ah, I can help you a bit, too.”
Shion and Chiyu volunteered to cook for us.
“Great. Mino-rin and I will take care of the bath then. We’re going to heat up the bath.”
“Y-You really have a bath…? You said it’s accredited by Sousuke. Does that mean it was created with Kuno-kun’s ability?”
“I’ll leave the full explanation for later when we’re eating. For now I’ll just quickly get everything ready.”
I materialized the full set of bathing tools. A stone bath, baskets for the clothes, partitioning screens, and firewood appeared in front of me.
“…Wow. I see. The storage and deployment of tools related to crafting is included in the ability, right? Kuno-kun, you imagined 『an ability allowing you to craft everywhere』 and that’s why the ability was created while implementing this feature, correct?”
“Well, you’re correct for the most part.”
I also took out a huge stone plate and the fire-starter tool in a place slightly away from the other stuff.
“Ah right, Shijiyo-san, I’m going to explain the way how to use the tools.”
“Mmh. Later you’ll put your clothes into the basket and pass it outside the partitioning screen. I’m going to omit the details here, but Sou-kun will clean them for you.”
Shion and Chiyu pushed Shijiyo’s back, taking her away to the bathing place. The only ones left were me and a bright red Shouko.
――What’s going on? It’s almost as if they tried to give Shouko and me some time alone…
“A-Alrighty. Today is my turn to start the fire.”
Oh right. We talked about that this morning.
I had her hold down the stone and plate, just like the other two did before. I focused on the string, pulling on it alternatively with both hands.
“Listen, Sousuke. Umm, you might feel bothered by what I said earlier. But, you’re different, okay?”
Ah, she’s talking about the pervy looks, huh?
“Yeah, I know. You just said this to make things easier for Shijiyo, didn’t you?”
“A-Also, I’d like you to stop if I tell you off, but when I tell you it’s fine…you can go ahead.”
At that point, I recalled the continuation of the conversation in the morning. Chiyu had started to talk about a mental memory book for panties or some such.
――『…W-Well, Sousuke has taken very good care of me, so that much…should be okay, I guess…』, Shouko had said before.
And if that was connected to her comment just now…
I swallowed hard and slowly raised my eyes. Her legs with the healthy skin were spread and beyond I could catch a clear glimpse of her pink, lace panties she was wearing.
“Ahaha, just as I thought. You’re a perv, Sousuke.”
Even though she was teasing me, her cheeks were blushing. She looked really cute right now, making my heart leap.
“Smoke is coming out.”
“Y-Yeah, you’re right.”
I quickly secured the live coal. I had Shouko prepare the firewood and shift it to the bath.
While saying, “I-It’s hot. For some reason I’ve gotten all sweaty too. I’ll take a bath as well after we’ve eaten, she headed over to heat the bathwater.
Meanwhile Shion and Chiyu came back to carry out their role as cooking team. They immediately went about preparing the boar meat.
However, although it was my dearly desired meat, I couldn’t stop thinking about Shouko’s earlier expression for quite some time.
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