Chapter 48 – Tamagoyaki and Strategy Meeting
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Today’s breakfast consisted of a full cup of sheep’s milk, pseudo-bacon made out of chopped and grilled boar meat, mushroom soup, wild vegetables salad, and―― sunny-side-up fried eggs.
“Gnaaaaah.”
Chiyu was feeling down. Making tamagoyaki with one egg per person results in a small portion for everyone. Noticing that fact in the kitchen, she tearfully gave up on making tamagoyaki and went with sunny-side-up fried eggs instead.
It’s said you eat with your eyes, and so she apparently couldn’t compromise on that part.
“Ahahaha…I told you that you could have used my share for Sousuke-kun’s tamagoyaki, didn’t I?”
“That’s out of the question. If we start playing favorites in the food distribution, it can potentially lead to friction in the group.”
We’re not hard-pressed for food, and it’s actually even okay to get a second serving, but I could understand putting emphasis on the amount of food initially allocated to you.
“The sunny-side-up eggs are great too. As always, I gotta say, your cooking is so calming.”
Today I ate the egg with salt, but I also like to apply soy sauce on it.
“Nn, Sou-kun’s tongue has been domesticated by my cooking ever since I started to make you eat my food as soon as I began to learn how to cook.”
Chiyu had fully recovered her cheerfulness. If you include the time at kindergarten when she started helping her mother with cooking, I’ve been eating her homemade food for more than ten years. Because our families were closely tied together, we often ate dinner at each other’s homes, too.
“…H-Hehe, I’m going to have you eat plenty of my cooking from now on as well, so you’ll immediately learn to like my cooking’s taste,” said Shion while grinning.
“I’m now going to join the competition with my tamagoyaki, so you won’t be able to close the gap.”
Sparks flew between those two, but since it didn’t feel like they were actually fighting, I decided not to interfere.
“The milk…is thick…!”
“True. It does feel rather rich. You can’t drink a lot of it, but it’s delicious.”
Shouko and Minori have been concentrating on the food.
“The pseudo-bacon is great as well, isn’t it?”
If I get some time, it might be a nice idea to try making real bacon. I’ll try to consult Minori about this later. After all, she’s in charge of providing us with the knowledge.
This morning’s meal was very satisfying. Even the grilled mushrooms, which had been spiced with salt alone, were quite decent for something obtained on an uninhabited island, though. But in the end, the satisfaction you get from properly made dishes is in a different league.
After breakfast, we discussed the event.
“For starters, I’d like all of us to get on the same page. Are all of you willing to participate in the event?”
“Mmh.”
“Of course.”
“Yep.”
“Yes.”
The four agreed.
“Nice. Me too. I don’t think that anyone is going to steal a march on the others, but even if it does happen, I wouldn’t mind. If one of our friends can make it back home safely, that’s already a win, I’d say.”
“There’s no way that I’d leave you behind and go back home by myself, Sou-kun.”
I smiled wryly at Chiyu’s disapproving tone.
“I know. What I wanted to say with this is that it’s fine for any of us to secure the light sphere.”
“For the time being, it feels like we’ll move together while riding on Mashiro, right?”
I nodded in response to Shouko’s question.
“I think that will be a good idea in the beginning. We’ll change our approach depending on the movement speed of the light sphere.”
“If you can chase it on foot, it’d be best to surround it, and if it’s too fast for that, it’d be better to aim for it while sitting on Mashiro-kun’s back.”
Shion’s addition was correct.
“That’s how it is. If we can secure it with everyone’s abilities, I’ll leave the timing of when you use them to you.”
“In that case, I’d like to use today to practice my magic against moving targets.”
A statement very fitting for a hard worker like Minori.
“Sure. Since Mashiro will take care of transporting us, let’s hunt with everyone while also using it as an opportunity to train.”
We did ride with five people on Mashiro back home after finding Minori, but it was a short trip. Today I’d like to learn about Mashiro’s mobility and limits when carrying five people. It’ll put a bit of a strain on him, but having the butts of four beauties pressed against his back should fully satisfy his desires. As long as we also take care of him with Chiyu’s Heal, the exhaustion shouldn’t carry over to tomorrow’s event.
“Umm,” Shion raised a hand. “It’s not that I plan to skip out, but won’t I be just a burden to you guys?”
She probably refers to her inability to secure the light sphere with her ability to detect lies.
“There are several reasons. First off, it might be a setting where larger numbers work to our advantage. Second, I’d be worried about you staying behind here alone, so it’s better for you to stick with us. And lastly, there might be situations where we have to rely on you outside of catching the light sphere.”
“Eh?”
“It’s unclear when and where the light sphere is going to appear, but we might encounter our other classmates until someone secures it. Seeing that they’ll be active on this island in the future, they might become our friends or foes.”
“Ah…and my ability is useful for judging that, huh?”
“Yes. Assuming someone asks us to team up, we’ll be able to immediately know if we can trust them.”
“Oki…! I see. That makes sense. We might encounter other transferees, and when it comes to meeting other people, my power might come in handy…!”
Shion’s face beamed with joy. While everyone was happy for her, the conversation turned to securing the light sphere again.
“How about dropping a huge net over it with Sousuke-san’s Discharge…?”
“I considered that as well, but I can only use Discharge within a set range.”
If it’s the size of a classroom, my Discharge can be employed everywhere. But when it comes to the size of a gymnasium, it’d be tough. My current limit is somewhere between those two.
“So the plan would be to do it after getting close to it on Mashiro?”
“Yes. I’m going to aim for that. Do you guys have any other ideas?”
“I do,” Chiyu spoke up.
“Please tell us.”
“I learned new spells.”
“――Oh, true! The spells you can use increase alongside your skill level, didn’t they!?”
“Mmh, my new spells are 『Intermediate Heal 』 and 『Physical Enhancement』.”
A higher version of her healing spell and a strengthening spell, huh? It does feel kind of like the addition of spells is very fitting for a White Mage.
“Also…『Vitality Enhancement』.”
Silence engulfed the dining table. All you could hear was the quiet gulping of the girls. And them casting glances at me.
Very likely, they’re imagining what would have happened to their experiences with me if 『Energy Up』 were to be cast on me.
“I apparently learned it because I cast too much Heal on Sou-kun in order to recover the other Sou-kun… Somehow, it’s embarrassing.”
Chiyu covered her expressionless face with both hands.
“I feel embarrassed too…”
Anyway, it’s great that her repertoire of spells has grown by three. The first two sound like they could be quite useful in various situations.
…Having said that, I feel like the third one will be ironically used the most out of all three.
“If we’re talking about things to report, it’s kinda like the size of what I can summon has increased, I guess. Previously, it was two sheep in addition to Mashiro, but currently, I have a hunch that I can keep going, even if I summon four sheep!”
“That’s awesome! Maybe you’ll be able to summon a second Fenrir one day?”
“Possibly! Mashiro’s wife or something like that.”
I wonder what happens if her summons make children with each other. Quite a mystery…
“Sorry, it seems like my spells haven’t increased,” Minori admitted hesitantly.
“There’s no reason for you to apologize. Chiyu has cast a lot of 『Heal』 and 『Purify』 on everyone. And Shouko is basically keeping Mashiro around all the time. Maybe the activation time and number of uses also play a role, in addition to your level of proficiency.”
“R-Right. I will work hard to use my magic a lot and learn new spells.”
“Yeah, we’re counting on you.”
Since we were done talking, everyone got ready to head out.
“Sorry, everyone. Is it okay for me to wash off my sweat before we head out?”
Apparently, understanding what Shion was trying to say, no one opposed it. Rather, Shouko and Minori blushed somewhat.
“…Sousuke-kun, are you going to lightly wash your body as well? Let’s get it done quickly together.”
It’d be tough to call it a natural development, but all of them probably guessed by now that I entered the bath with Chiyu yesterday morning.
“I don’t mind. Shouko-chan, I’d like to increase the number of chickens before the hunt. Help me together with Mashiro.”
“Aye, aye. The egg dish was delicious, so I’ll help you so that we can have two eggs per day.”
“O-Okay, I’ll wait outside while practicing my magic then.”
After leaving the others, Shion and I entered the bath.
“We didn’t lie, but simply kept it a secret, right?”
As soon as we entered the dressing room, Shion knelt down in front of me and placed a hand on my pants.
“Want to fix what we missed earlier this morning before leaving?”
We couldn’t afford to make the others wait too long, but it was also true that my horniness from this morning didn’t completely disappear.
“…Please.”
“Hehe, leave it to me.”
After Shion took care of my needs, we quickly left the bath, washed up, and joined the others.
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