Chapter 97

That girl was so afraid of going alone into the forest, she just stood there in front of it for a considerable amount of time.

And she kept looking back at me.

I knew she wanted to ask me if I could go with her, but I also knew that much worse things would happen if I were to go with her.

Eventually, Harriet went alone into the jungle.

“…….”

“…….”

Harriet, who was prone to blushing, returned with a staggering complexion after she finished.

She also quietly went to the beach, washed the pot thoroughly, and, seeming as if she had given up on everything, put the pot back in its place.

This pot.

Shall never be used.

“…I-If you tease me with this… If you make fun of me, I’ll… I’ll really, really die.”

I didn’t say anything to her, but Harriet, who felt like she had stepped into a trap, just looked at me.

Tears pooled in the corner of her eyes, while her face was completely white. She seemed exhausted. I could clearly feel her sense of shame just by Harriet saying that she’d die if I were to tease her, rather than that she would kill me.

If you tease me with this, I’ll die. Do you really want to see me die? Do you hate me that much?

That was the type of expression Harriet showed me.

I had no intention of teasing her with this. If I were to tease her, I might hurt her for real.

I mean, I am a bastard, but I’m not that much of a bastard.

“Huh? Did something happen? If you have no business here anymore, you should go to sleep.”

As she saw me pretending as if nothing had happened, Harriet eventually shed some tears.

“Thank you…”

Harriet wiped her eyes with her hands.

No, you…

That hand.

Well.

I shouldn’t make fun of her, even if it was just in my mind.

* * *

When people were subjected to extreme stress in an environment they were completely unfamiliar with, there were usually two things that would happen.

They would either get an upset stomach, or get constipated.

In general, these things happen a lot in military training centers. It wasn’t all that uncommon for said constipation to last for more than a week.

Some guys, who were lactose intolerant, just got an upset stomach because of all the milk they had to drink in the morning. Of course, there were also some that just got stomach aches.

So, at this point, it was inevitable that some of the students got some very bad stomach aches, because of this very unfamiliar and shocking situation. Their stomachs would hurt even more, after they ate things they weren’t used to as well. I’m grateful that I only ended up with constipation.

I was prone to it after all. Strangely enough, that fact hadn’t changed, even after my body changed so much. Of course, I never described any of this, while I was writing this novel.

However, as soon as this became reality, I came to a realization.

The hardest thing in this group mission wasn’t actually survival, but pooping.

How gracious it was to have toilet paper.

What a blessing it was to have fresh underwear to change into.

That morning.

Those, who had been shamed by having to do their business like that, seemed to be mentally exhausted in a different way from yesterday. Their expressions were ash white, as if they were completely burned out.

The female students seemed to feel particularly embarrassed.

Of course, there was also the desperate wish to wash up etched into their faces. It was the same for me.

“What? Did something happen last night?”

Bertus looked at Liana and Harriet, whose expressions were the worst, and asked if they were sick.

“Huh? Ah, no… Sleeping was just uncomfortable. That’s all…”

“Nothing happened.”

As they turned around, they didn’t look at Bertus, but at me.

Harriet looked at me, as if she was pleading, ‘Please! Please don’t tell anyone!’.

Liana wore a determined expression, as if she was trying to tell me, that if rumors about this would start to float around, either me or her would have to give up their lives.

It was true that I was a bad guy, but I wasn’t that bad.

I think, by the time I acknowledged that I was a bad guy, I had already screwed up.

“Should we eat the leftover meat from yesterday for breakfast today? Although, I don’t think we can just eat it. It’s probably too hard.”

Kono Lint said as such, while holding the medium-sized pot.

“No!” “No!” “No!”

Me, Liana and Harriet.

The three of us shouted towards him at the same time.

* * *

Ellen, who swam out into the sea last night and caught three lobsters, and I, who was able to swim, were in charge of catching fish. Liana’s style of catching fish, by waiting for them to come by and electrocuting them, took much too long. 

“Are you going out into the sea?”

Harriet called out to me and Ellen when we were about to go into the sea.

“Yeah, we need to get some food for breakfast.”

“……Are you good at swimming?”

“I don’t know if I’m particularly good at it, but I know how to do it.”

Harriet had a slightly reddened face. Apparently, during this group mission, her perception of me was changing rapidly.

“Do… Do you maybe need something like… erm”

Harriet looked at me and Ellen alternately as she spoke.

“Like underwater breathing magic.”

Oh.

You should’ve told me sooner that you could do that.

* * *

Harriet put an underwater breathing spell on me and Ellen. She said it would last about 30 to 40 minutes.

It felt strange, being able to breathe underwater. It didn’t feel like water was flowing into my lungs. It was hard to describe the feeling.

However, if the magic were to suddenly wear off at an inconvenient moment, wouldn’t I swallow all the water and drown?

Let’s plan in some time to resurface.

It wasn’t too difficult for me to open my eyes underwater.

Both me and Ellen knew how to swim, and we had the underwater breathing magic cast on us, so we could dive in a little deeper.

Then, this spectacular underwater scenery filled with coral reefs unfolded before us. For a moment, I felt like I wanted to stop to take in this scene.

Ellen gently swam under the sea, letting her limbs and waist run idle, and began to pick up the abalones attached to the rocks.

Ellen looked like a mermaid as she moved through the water.

It was pretty, but she was also able to move through the water just as freely as one.

She really was good at everything, no matter what she did.

Her swimming prowess went beyond only good; it even felt elegant.

-?

Ellen looked at me with her head tilted when she noticed that I wasn’t picking up any clams.

I shook my head, trying to tell her that it was nothing. I mean, I would just stand around, staring blankly sometimes.

I picked up some abalone and clams, and then put them into a net Adelia had woven out of vines yesterday. I didn’t bother picking up the ones that were too small, because they obviously would slip out.

I hoped we would catch some lobsters as the other kids ate them without complaining, but we didn’t see any at all.

Wandering through the jungle required a lot of stamina, but moving underwater wasn’t easy either.

If it weren’t for the underwater breathing magic, it would have taken me twice as much stamina. I could feel again that Harriet’s talent, which enabled her to use any type of magic skillfully, no matter from which field, was truly amazing.

I continued to collect abalone and clams. If I came across a big fish, I’d try to stab it, but there didn’t seem to be any in this area.

And.

I saw Ellen fumbling around a ledge, when suddenly a camouflaged octopus appeared.

It tried to get away by shooting out jets of water, but Ellen reflexively stabbed it with her javelin.

-?

Ellen tilted her head as she looked at the octopus she had unwittingly hunted.

She showed me the end of her javelin, from which it was hanging.

-Caught a monster.

She mouthed to me underwater. Apparently, that was the first time in her life seeing an octopus.

* * *

It was only natural that everyone else was shocked by the giant octopus’ appearance.

“Hi-Hiiiiiiik!”

“I feel like throwing up…”

Harriet, her expression completely pale, couldn’t even look at it, and Liana just staggered into the jungle feeling nauseous after seeing it.

“……I know it’s edible, but seeing it now, I don’t feel like I can eat that.”

Bertus had eaten octopus before, but seeing a live one made him a bit reluctant to eat it.

“If you don’t want to eat it, suit yourself. I’ll just eat it on my own.”

Additionally, we caught a lot of clams, including abalone, so they could just grill those to eat.

I picked up the octopus by the head, removed its intestines, and rubbed salt on it. Since we had quite a bit of salt, there was no problem with me using it for something like this.

Ellen was watching me wash the octopus with sea-water.

“Is that delicious?”

“Well… I think it is.”

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It seemed like Ellen didn’t really care about its appearance. All she needed to know was whether it was tasty or not.

After cleaning the octopus, I returned to the camp. At my request, Adelia and Harriet cut a large stone into a plate shape using their processing magic. It was a stone grill. After fixing it in a suitable position, Heinrich collected some firewood and set fire under the rock.

When the clean stone grill gradually dried up due to the heat, I placed the clams, abalone, and octopus on top of it.

-Sizzle!

“Urg! It’s gross!”

Everyone watched the octopus twisting on the grill with terrified expressions on their faces.

In the end, it was just me and Ellen who helped themselves to the octopus.

* * *

We set up a camp, and finding food wasn’t that difficult using underwater breathing magic.

However, we were still busy.

Because humans, when their most basic needs are satisfied, crave to reach the next level.

-Craack!

“Sigh… We barely made one…”

The camp was completed, but we were now trying to upgrade it. After spending a day here, they all came to the same conclusion. That they felt extremely uncomfortable, because of the floor’s moisture.

So, our current goal was to cut some logs in half and stick them together to make flooring and put the tents on top of them. Most of the trees were cut down with magic by our two magic officials Harriet and Adelia, but the others were also busy picking up vines and palm leaves, just like yesterday.

I entered the jungle together with Ellen.

“Is there really water here?”

Ellen seemed unsure whether there was any drinking water on this deserted island. She came with me on my search for a water source on Bertus’ behalf.

“The fact that there are wild animals on this island means that they have some place where they hydrate themselves. There must be something like a creek with drinkable water, or a place where rainwater gathers.”

“Right.”

Ellen seemed convinced by my words, assuring that there should definitely be a water source somewhere on this island. Ellen and I slowly made our way through the jungle, although not as slow as with Delphine Izadra yesterday, cutting down bushes in our way.

I was armed with three javelins and a machete, while Ellen had a short bow and a machete. I even packed a water canteen, so we should be able to push forward for quite some time.

We didn’t really have to look for a water source just to get drinking water, though.

If my predictions were correct, there would be rain tomorrow. According to the original novel, all of Class B’s poorly built tents would be blown away, leaving their bodies soaked and making their body temperature drop. 

So if we made enough rainwater collectors, we wouldn’t have to worry about drinking water soon enough.

However, what I was looking for now was water for use, not drinking water. One could see that everyone was rather stressed out because they couldn’t change their clothes. But if we knew of a location with fresh water, they could go there to wash themselves or their clothes, even if we didn’t move our camp there.

At this rate, it was highly likely that the others would voluntarily give up one by one because they couldn’t endure not being able to wash their clothes. Although I seriously disliked their whining, I did need some of their abilities, so it would be good for me to hang on to them.

Although this uninhabited island was mostly covered in jungle terrain, it had something in the form of a mountain rising up in its middle.

Although it was difficult to see due to the overgrown trees, there was a chance that there were pools of water in the mountain’s valley and folds. We determined the valley’s location by climbing up a tree.

“I feel terribly tired.”

I wondered if it was because of this terrible heat. It felt all around unpleasant just wearing these sweat-soaked clothes on my body, to the point where I wondered if my whole body had become liquid.

“Huff… Huff…”

Ellen was exhausted as well. Her breathing became labored.

“Should we go back?”

She might become even more exhausted if we were to go in even further, so I asked Ellen that, but Ellen just shook her head, although it seemed to be really tough for her.

“I think I can hear the sound of water.”

“……Aren’t you just hallucinating?”

Of course, I did think she had a much better hearing than me. However, wasn’t it just that thing? You know, that thing that would make one mistake, seeing an oasis in the middle of a desert. Something similar to a mirage.

“No… I really think I can hear it.”

Ellen just spoke to me as such with a blank expression on her face.

No, come to think of it, I could also strengthen my hearing, right?

I have super hearing.

That was what I was self-suggesting myself with.

Certainly, as I focused completely on my hearing, I felt like I could pick up sounds more precisely. I wonder since when I was able to use these kinds of reinforcements.

I could hear the sound of leaves rustling in the wind, the cries of some unknown insects, and the chirping of birds.

In the midst of all these sounds.

Something like splaaash or gurgle.

I could clearly hear something similar to the sounds water made.

“I can hear it. Over there.“

“Let’s go.”

When I finished checking, Ellen took the lead, as if there was nothing else to do anymore.

* * *

According to my settings, there was supposed to be a stream flowing through the valley. The stream, that I presumed to have its source at the top of that mountain, was flowing down as if descending.

It was quite large.

Some places of the stream were quite wide, and, looking into the deep-blue water, quite deep as well.

The flowing water was clear. Not muddy at all.

Originally, drinking this kind of water would kill you. It would be infested with parasites and germs.

However, this wasn’t an authentic jungle. We could drink this water with unknown origins, because it was under strict quality control. They probably used purification magic or whatever.

There were no dangerous beasts around as well.

Ellen carefully approached the pool of water and cautiously scooped up some of it with her hands to moisten her throat.

It must have been incredibly hard on her. This was my first time seeing this kid act so actively. After she drank some of the cold water, even her body trembled as if she had just come back to life.

Of course, I was the same.

“I’m going in.”

-Splash!

I didn’t need anything else and just threw myself into the water.

* * *

Since it was a pretty deep stream, there were places where the water was just as stagnant as the water found in a swimming pool. In a fairly wide part of the stream with a maximum depth of about 3 meters, I was sitting in a somewhat shallow area.

Ellen swam through the water like a seal, diving from time to time.

It didn’t show on her face, but she seemed like she was excited. Because of the clear, blue water, I could see all of Ellen’s enthusiastic swimming movements while she was submerged.

It was like watching a real seal swim at a zoo. Although she was more like a mermaid than that.

Normally, one had to check first if the water was drinkable, but as I already knew that it was, I just filled the empty canteen and drank as much as I could.

“Phew…”

However, would the kids want to come here, even if they knew there was a stream here?

Even if they came here to wash themselves or do their laundry, they would get sweaty again on their way back. 

That said, I think they’d get upset as well if we were to move our camp to this place, because it would just be a repeat of yesterday’s hard labor.

Hmm.

Let’s leave the decision to Bertus.

Ellen came out of the water after she swam for a while.

She squeezed her hair, looked at me, and pointed down the stream.

“Go over there.”

“……Why?”

“I’m going to take all my clothes off.”

……Ah.

You’re that excited, huh?

Of course, she probably did this, not because she wanted to swim naked, but because she wanted to wash her clothes. I also went down the stream and rubbed my clothes under the running water, shook them out, and placed them on some rocks on which the sun was shining.

The sunlight was strong, so they would be bone dry pretty soon. No, they might not dry well because of the moisture, right?

I didn’t know what it would be.

-Splash, splash!

I couldn’t see her, but I could hear Ellen swimming upstream. It looked like she took turns washing her clothes and herself again. Well, it wouldn’t hurt to wash myself once.

Originally, Delphine was supposed to find this stream. Probably not today, though. Of course, the variable Charlotte got thrown into the mix, so I didn’t know what would happen.

-Reinhardt!

And suddenly, Ellen called me in a loud voice.

* * *

“Let’s go back.”

Ellen, wearing some clothes that weren’t fully dried yet, had a stiff expression on her face. She felt nervous.

“Why? Did something happen?”

“This place is kind of weird. I don’t think we should stay here.”

Ellen began to point at certain places up- and downstream.

“There are animal bones all over the place.”

“……You’re right.”

If Charlotte is considered a variable that started to stir the original development into a different direction, me bringing Ellen here would also be considered a variable. Ellen didn’t just enjoy the stream; she also noticed some suspicious things and got some clues.

“And over there.”

Ellen pointed to the other side.

There were animal bones as well as traces that were a little different from the others.

“Someone made a fire over there. They shouldn’t be traces left by the teachers. I think this is related to those special conditions…”

Ellen carefully concluded something.

“I don’t think this is a deserted island.”

Someone other than us was living here.

Ellen just took one step closer to the secret hidden on this island.

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