Clearing Up Misunderstandings
Resolving the misunderstandings with Canya about everything that had happened so far didn't take long. Naturally, she accepted my explanation, likely because of the way I'd been acting until now.
“Phew. Well, it's not like someone like you would actually do something like that.”
'Uh, umm. Is that supposed to be a compliment?'
“It depends on how you look at it.”
No matter how I thought about it, that definitely sounded like an insult.
“Anyway, that's that. Canya, have you seen any of the others? It would probably be best if we all worked together.”
“Actually, you're the first two I've come across...”
“I see...”
At that moment, an enormous explosion suddenly thundered in our ears.
What the hell? What's going on?
The exam had only just begun. There shouldn't be any situation serious enough to cause a fight this big yet. Wondering what on earth was happening, we quickly headed toward the source of the noise.
And there it was.
“Drop out already!”
“You drop out!”
“I'm taking him for myself!”
“Get out of my way.”
The female party members were engaged in a fierce battle, as if they were at war! Wait, why are you all fighting each other?!
Every time they attacked, the surroundings were getting demolished. The next moment, Sherry's flames came flying straight toward us.
I clicked my tongue inwardly at the sight.
'Tsk.'
They must have been so focused that they hadn't noticed us watching. With no other choice, I scooped Canya up in my arms and threw myself to the ground.
“Kyaaaaa?!”
Apparently startled beyond measure, a very feminine scream escaped Canya's lips. At the same time, the gazes of the women who had been catfighting shifted in our direction.
“Huh?”
“Ah.”
“Baran?”
“......”
The four of them looked flustered for a moment, then immediately glared at Canya, who was still wrapped in my arms, with clear killing intent. As if asking why the two of us were embracing right now. Seeing their reaction, Canya patted my shoulder with a pitying look in her eyes.
“You really do live a hard life, don't you?”
I couldn't come up with any particular rebuttal to that statement.
And so the four of them bowed their heads in apology. It seemed they at least realized they had gone too far.
-That's right. Hurry up and apologize to my disciple!
No, why are you the one making the biggest fuss? The ones receiving the apology are me and Canya, yet there's someone else acting like she's the victim here. Feeling dumbfounded, I asked a question.
“More importantly, why were you all fighting like that? Isn't the goal of this exam simply to survive against the student council?”
“Ah, well, that is...”
“Umm...”
“There are circumstances we can't really talk about.”
At my words, they all stared off into the distance. What? Why are they acting like this?
As I tilted my head in confusion, a lightbulb seemed to pop up above Risa's head beside me. Then she clapped her hands together as if she'd realized something.
“Ah! When you said you were going to take him for yourself earlier, you were talking about Baran, weren't you... mmph!”
The female party members quickly covered her mouth. Judging by their reaction, it seemed Risa's guess was spot on.
I let out a small sigh as I looked at them.
“Haa. Even so, I don't think this is the time or place for that sort of thing.”
At my words, they all put on gloomy expressions. Hey, if you make faces like that, it makes it look like I'm the one who did something wrong.
Not wanting the mood to turn any more depressing, I quickly changed the subject.
“Anyway, let's drop that topic. More importantly, we should decide what we're going to do.”
“?”
At those words, everyone except Lillia tilted their heads in confusion. Don't these people have any intention of trying to pass the trial?
“It's because of the student council upperclassmen, right?”
As expected, Lillia immediately caught on to my intention, unlike the others. I nodded at her question.
“That's correct. Since the student council upperclassmen said they would be stepping in.”
“Hmm. But do we really need to come up with a plan? Honestly, with this lineup, it feels like any of us could win.”
Risa looked us over from head to toe with an expression full of confidence. Well, with a party composition like this, it wasn't unreasonable for her to think that way. Objectively speaking, it was almost impossible for the upperclassmen to defeat us.
'It's almost impossible for a single student council member to defeat us.'
But that was only when talking about an ordinary council member. While we could easily handle anyone else...
'The student council president, Elza, is different.'
If we faced her without any plan? No matter who we were, we'd all get knocked out without being able to do anything. Therefore, we needed to come up with a proper strategy.
And it seemed I wasn't the only one who thought so, as Lillia refuted Risa's words.
“Anyone else might be fine, but the student council president is different. If we go in without a plan, even we would just end up failing.”
“Is she that strong?”
“Yes. She's not called the strongest student council president in history for nothing.”
“I suppose that's true.”
Sherry nodded in agreement with Lillia's words. It seemed she also had some idea of Elza's power.
“Anyway, let's start by creating a base first. No matter what, we still have to survive for three days.”
“You're right. Then let's get started right away.”
With those words, the party members began to move.
Of course, we weren't ordinary people. We were practically superhumans. Was that why?
-Clack! Clack!
Creating the base didn't take very long. The party members wiped away cold sweat as they looked at the completed base in front of them.
-Hmm. It's quite decent.
Miroel gave that evaluation while looking at the base. Well, the base we'd built was just a log cabin. In a way, it was merely a space to stay for a short while, but considering we'd made it in such a short time, it wasn't bad at all.
“The base is finished for now. Baran, did you manage to get any?”
“Yes. Here they are.”
While the others were building the base, Risa and I had been catching fish by the seaside. Lillia smiled with satisfaction as she looked at the fish skewered on arrows. She then examined them closely.
“Hmm. Fortunately, there aren't any poisonous ones.”
As expected of a merchant, she could tell at a glance just by looking over them a few times. After Sherry lit a fire with the firewood, we quietly began roasting the fish over it.
-Whoosh.
A delicious aroma wafted up from the fish. Risa swallowed hard as she watched.
-Gulp!
“Risa, are you very hungry?”
“Ahahaha. It's just that I haven't eaten anything all day.”
“What? You haven't eaten at all?”
I knew that after our previous two-on-two spar, people had started investing in her. So she shouldn't have been short on money. Then why hadn't she eaten anything?
“Is it because you don't have any money...?”
“N-no! It's not that!”
“Then why?”
“Ah, um, well...”
At my question, she hung her head low. Just what was the reason that made her so flustered? The girl who always showed only a bright demeanor was now blushing furiously. It seemed like quite a serious matter.
When we all stared at her intently, Risa muttered quietly.
“I've gained too much weight lately...”
“Pardon?”
“So, I'm on a diet!”
“......”
I never would have imagined that was the reason. It seemed the others felt the same, as they all wore expressions of mild surprise.
“I didn't expect you to care about something like that, Risa.”
“Right?”
“I honestly thought you wouldn't care at all.”
“That's surprising.”
“Agreed.”
“Ugh...! Even I get hurt when you say things like that!”
Her face flushed red as she shouted. Then she grabbed her own chest and continued.
“Look at this! It feels like I've gained even more weight here lately!”
“......”
Upon hearing that, the eyes of the female party members narrowed. So that's why they were reacting like that. It was all because of her chest. They were all confident that their own sizes weren't lacking compared to others. But compared to Risa's, theirs were on a completely different level.
-Disciple, you know that with those lumps of fat, size isn't what matters, right?
Miroel subtly tried to stir up some politics, but I pretended not to hear anything.
And so, that day, the female party members supposedly didn't give Risa even a single fish. All in the name of supporting her diet.
After finishing our meal, night fell and we quickly decided on the night watch order. As a result, I ended up with the last shift and used Mind's Eye to scan the surroundings.
'Everyone's asleep except for the one on watch.'
Well, getting proper rest was important to prepare for what was to come.
'Still, it's a relief they made separate rooms.'
I had been worried they might only build one room, but fortunately that didn't happen. Thanks to that, it was much easier to move around alone at night like this.
I used high-speed movement while concealing my presence as much as possible. Luckily, since Risa was on first watch, there was no chance of getting caught.
'Time to move properly now.'
With that thought, I quickly set off to obtain the hidden piece.