Chapter 146: The Rest of the Morning

We returned to the base without incident.

As always, Roa greeted us outside the entrance with, “Welcome home.”

Micron noticed me and came flying over, so I gave her a good fluffing.

“I’m back. By the way, that pile over there...”

I pointed toward one corner of the grounds.

“Yes. Master instructed us to stay behind, but I wondered whether we could make better use of our time, so I went gathering with everyone. Was that a nuisance?”

Apparently, they had gone exploring on their own initiative.

“No, that’s no problem. Thank you.”

I went over and stored the gathered materials piled in several baskets.

Most of it was fruit, but there seemed to be mushrooms and herbs too.

There was no such thing as too much food, so I was grateful.

After I finished collecting everything, I went inside the house with the others.

“By the way, how did the deals...?”

Roa glanced at me, as if trying to read my expression.

“For today, we found nine boys and finalized deals with all of them.”

“As expected of you.”

She looked happy when she heard my answer.

“Mm. We also stopped by Ryouka’s place and made lots of huts. So-kun did.”

Chiyu added that explanation.

“Oh my. As expected of Master. You truly possess a merciful heart worthy of the island’s lord.”

Roa looked even happier than before.

There should be friends of Roa’s in Suou’s party, so she was probably glad that her friends now had proper places to sleep.

Suou’s party was a large group, so giving them a big house like ours would have been an option, but after discussing it with everyone, we decided to hold off for now.

If we treated this strictly as a deal, Suou’s party could not immediately pay the price for a large house.

Also, by making huts the starting point, it would likely give them motivation to work toward a better life.

Since we were expecting them to gather maps and materials for us too, there was nothing wrong with encouraging their motivation.

There was also the fact that if we did not draw at least that much of a line, there would be no distinction between them and our actual companions.

“Yeah! I stuck Kaiser Monnashi onto Serina!”

“...I will absolutely pay you back for this.”

“S-Serina, you’re giving off killing intent. It’s just a game, so let’s have fun, okay?”

When we reached the living room, Shoubu, Yumekai, and Mamonaka were absorbed in a video game.

It was a party game styled like a board game set in Japan.

Apparently, thanks to Shoubu, some kind of nuisance character had attached itself to Yumekai.

“Oh, everyone’s back.”

“...Welcome back.”

“W-Welcome back.”

Shoubu greeted us with a smile, Yumekai with a slightly awkward look, and Mamonaka with a shy one.

Yumekai probably looked awkward because she felt guilty about playing games while we were out working.

I was the one who had asked them to stay behind, and they had even gone gathering on top of that, so I had no complaints at all.

“Yeah, go ahead and keep playing.”

“Roa-chii, I was wondering when you disappeared. You went to greet them? You should’ve said something.”

“My apologies. Everyone seemed absorbed in the game.”

“...No, you were playing with us until just now.”

“Yeah, it’s Roa’s turn next...”

Since this game allowed up to four people to play, it seemed the four stay-behind members had been enjoying it together.

Among the stay-behind group, Roa was the only one from a different class group, but it looked like she had fit in, which was a relief.

“Hehe. It’s nice that you’re having fun.”

“Oh? Shion, you wanna play too?”

“No. I was thinking I should start making dinner soon.”

Shion declined Shoubu’s invitation.

“I shall assist you.”

“Then I’ll take Roa-chii’s place.”

Shouko sat down in front of the TV and picked up a controller.

“Sousuke, there are some things I’d like you to bring out. Is that all right?”

“Yeah, of course.”

I headed to the kitchen and placed the things Shion asked for.

After hearing what was on tonight’s menu, I was already looking forward to eating.

That aside, there was still something left to do.

“Minori, before dinner is ready, could you come with me to gather a few materials?”

It was a somewhat sloppy excuse, but Minori reacted with a twitch.

“Y-Yes. We can never have too much Wood or Stone Material, after all.”

“Right. With your magic, we’ll be able to gather them quickly.”

“Leave it to me.”

“I cannot let only the students work... Shall I accompany you too?”

“No. Please place the lighting again today, Ms. Luminous. Once that’s done, go ahead and have these.”

I lined wine bottles up on the table.

“――――S-So many...!”

Ms. Luminous’s eyes shone.

“Chiyu’s here too, so please feel free to drink as much as you like.”

“N-No. I will wait until you and the others return.”

Apparently, she could not bring herself to drink while students were out working.

That was very like Ms. Luminous.

Before we left, for some reason, Chiyu came all the way to the entrance to see us off.

“...Energy Up.”

My childhood friend had seen straight through everything.

My stamina surged, and the effect was embarrassingly obvious.

“Ch-Chiyu, this is...”

Minori’s face turned red.

“I know. Mino was the only one who didn’t get her morning time. Go enjoy yourself as much as you want.”

Because of the event, Minori was the only one who had not been able to spend the morning after her first night the way the others had.

I had promised to make time for her later, but after going to the river and persuading the boys, we had gotten so busy [N O V E L I G H T] that I ended up making her wait until this late in the day.

“I-I suppose I should say thank you?”

“Uh... Well, we’ll be going.”

“Mm.”

I went outside with Minori.

The phantasmal beasts reacted to us, but I told them, “We’ll be fine with just the two of us,” and went beyond the barrier.

After confirming there was no water source nearby and no sign of any beasts, Minori and I faced each other.

Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were damp with a bewitching shine.

“...I’m glad you didn’t forget.”

“There’s no way I’d forget.”

No adolescent boy could be said to be an adolescent boy if he forgot a promise with a girl as attractive as Minori.

“I’m happy...”

In the forest, with the setting sun slanting through the trees, Minori and I exchanged a kiss.