Back at Excellia.
"Fuck the pacts and all. I will turn you into dust just like this cup."
"Oh, I would love to see you try, Storm Weaver."
Éclairsat down, exhaled, and finally took a sip of the tea that had been served to her.
"So that's your plan, Paimon. Well, given your status as a prince candidate, you can't even touch a single hair on any of us."
"Exactly. Yet that does not mean none of us can participate on the stage."
Paimon took a sip of his tea, then calmly held out his cup as it was refilled.
"You know the saying, right? For new leaves to grow, old leaves must fall."
"I don't," Éclair replied.
"Well, I heard it from a neighboring country that once tried to form a contract with me. Do you know what I did?"
"Not interested."
"I killed him on the spot. You see, we Aberrents are not like you humans who reproduce. We are born from sins and wishes alike. He kept bragging that forming a contract with me would bring prosperity to future generations. It rubbed me the wrong way."
Paimon leaned back slightly in his chair.
"We Aberrents are beings of the present. We live to do what we must. There is no past. There is no future. There is only now."
"Where are you going with this?"
"I'm simply sharing my previous thoughts. That's all."
He gestured with his hand.
The female Aberrent behind him stepped forward and approached the portal.
Heather and Zmey immediately moved to block her path, their weapons clashing against hers.
"Your underling is going to die," Éclair scoffed.
"Touching a human while being a pureblood Aberrent will activate the pact. Her existence will be erased by the Worldline System."
Paimon ignored her completely and continued sipping his tea.
"Kindly perform a proper play for our guests, Abalam."
Abalam, who had been about to behead Zmey, suddenly stopped.
Instead, she grabbed Zmey by the throat, choking her before throwing her aside.
Éclair stood up abruptly.
"Impossible…"
_________________________________
Unknown Island
Waffel's gaze swept across all of us.
"Any suggestions?"
"I'll take care of the magical beasts," Tasora said. "With their natural body composition that naturally draws Thrum into them, I can detect them from over 300 meters away before they can even get close. Though I'll need to remain stationary while doing so."
Waffel nodded. "Then we might not need to venture too deep."
"Kindly scan the area around us for now and see if there are any nearby."
Tasora sat down on the sand in a meditative pose and closed her eyes.
"While she's doing that, we need to assign teams for different tasks. The first team will be the beach team. Their responsibility will be to frequently observe the portal and gather resources along the beach. Who among you knows how to swim?"
Kenth, Emma, me, Azalea, and Solaris raised our hands.
Something felt off. In the original scenario, Solaris never mentioned knowing how to swim.
"Wait, Solaris, you know how to swim?" I asked.
"Of course. Do you think of me as a sheltered princess? After all, I am."
"Yeah, yeah. You're perfect. My bad for ever doubting you."
"What about you, though, Nagi?"
"Haha, my hometown is located in the middle of hills. I rarely see ponds, much less an ocean to practice swimming in."
Oh. A new backstory for my favorite heroine. What a catch.
"Alright then. Among those of you who raised your hands, who is confident in their mobility?"
Kenth, Emma, me, and Solaris kept our hands raised. Azalea was the only one who lowered hers.
I squinted at Solaris.
She released a sigh and lowered her hand as well.
Seriously. What a troublesome princess.
"Alright. Let's go with Kenth and Matthew for the beach team."
"Hey, what about me? I also raised my hand!" Emma protested.
"Oh hoho, don't worry dear. I never counted you for that team in the first place," Waffel said while giggling.
"Huh? Are you mocking me?"
"I would never. What I meant is that I need you as part of the shelter team. From what I saw during Capture the Point, you were using earth shockwaves as an attack. That likely means you have the Stability ability and a yellow core."
"Whoa! You're like one of those detective books I've read, Waffel," Finster said.
Azalea tapped Emma on the shoulder. "Told you so."
Emma slumped. "Can you at least tell me what we'll be doing?"
"Just like the name suggests, we'll take care of the shelter. That includes building the structure, reinforcing it with earth, organizing our supplies, preparing resting spaces, and handling general housekeeping duties. We'll also make sure the shelter stays stable in case of strong winds or attacks."
"Alright."
"Before we proceed to the next team, I need to ask first if anybody sneaked food or water into their storage."
Everyone looked at each other.
"I guessed as much," Waffel continued. "So the next team will be in charge of solving that problem."
"Who here can transmute their Thrum into ice?"
Solaris was the only one who raised her hand.
Waffel nodded. "Tasora can also transmute her Thrum into ice, and most likely water as well. However, we'll mostly use it as a human air conditioner. As we all know, Thrum is not a physical object, and anything created with it cannot be consumed as a nutritional source. It also dissipates over time. Even so, it still affects temperature."
"We'll use the ice generated as a condensation machine to attract moisture from the air. We'll collect the water produced from it as our secondary water source. Its main function will be to ease the tropical heat."
"Our main water supply will come from distilling seawater."
"Nagi, Fanna, can you handle this?"
Nagi nodded. "Yes, I'm confident I can do this."
Fanna, standing beside her, looked confident as well.
"Next is our food problem," Waffel continued. "Azalea and Finster, both of you are from the Blume family. The family responsible for eighty percent of the country's agriculture and livestock. I assume you know a thing or two about fixing our food situation?"
"Actually, no. I've just been adopted, so I didn't lear—"
Azalea, standing behind him, pulled back her hand.
SMAK!
"Hey! What was that for?"
"Didn't you tell me you used to forage in the forest of Salem before you became a member of the Blume family?"
"But that was because it was the forest of Salem. I knew what to do there. I don't even know what those thin trees with balls on top are. And those giant armored spiders in the sand."
"That's perfect then. Every member of the Blume family is drilled to learn and love plants since childhood."
Azalea looked back at Waffel.
"Consider it done, Waffel."
She then ripped her dress up slightly to free her knees and dragged Finster along.
"Come. Let me teach you. Those thin trees are called coconuts. And those armored spiders are called crabs."
"You mean like pine nuts? Then they're useless."
"Not at all."
She pulled out her loom and cut into the tree. After plucking a coconut, she sliced the top part off. She sniffed it and nodded.
She handed it to Finster, spilling some of the water.
"Try it."
Finster nervously took it and smelled it.
"It smells like very light vinegar."
He took a sip and his eyes widened.
"It's mildly sweet… and very refreshing."
Azalea plucked another coconut and drank its water in one go.
"You can also peel off the thin white layer inside and eat it. The dried husk of this makes good fire fuel too."
Maku then pointed at himself.
"What about me? What should I do?"
"Oh, you're our main manpower. With your body double ability, you can double, triple, or even quadruple our manpower. First, I need you to come with me and help Emma build the shelter."
Waffel then looked at Tasora.
"Tasora, what about it? Found anything?"
"No. Nothing at all. Even the magical beasts in the area are gone."
"Then I'll need you to come with me. We need to find a promising place for shelter."
She then turned toward us.
"I'll leave you two to it, Matthew and Kenth. Remember to run toward us if anything changes with the portal. And stay safe."
I waved as they headed deeper into the forest.
"Yeah. You take care as well."
Kenth, standing beside me, mumbled while covering his eyes with his arm.
"Can we find some shade? It's so hot."
Right. These guys grew up in Salem, a place with constant cold. It wouldn't be strange if even a dragon descendant struggled with this heat.
"Sure. Let's go toward that tree over there."
We walked over and slowly sat down on a nearby rock.
Kenth untied his tie and placed it into his storage. I matched his pace.
I stripped down until I was only wearing my boxers.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing?" Kenth complained.
"Oh, shut up. We're all men here. I recommend changing into something more comfortable too."
I stuffed my suit and pants into storage and pulled out swimming shorts and sunscreen, pouring it all over my body.
I handed the bottle to him.
"Not going to change?"
"I don't have a change of clothes."
I nodded. I expected that.
I pulled out another pair of swimming shorts and handed them to him.
"…What the hell is this?"
"Relax. I just bought it recently. I haven't even worn it."
"No, I meant this ridiculous design."
The shorts were covered in bright flowers with pink patterns. A painfully loud aloha style design.
"What? It looks cute."
"Give me another one!"
"Hehe. I don't have another one."
"Motherf—"
"What? Don't want it?"
He stayed silent, then started stripping as well before putting on the shorts.
His face turned red with fury and embarrassment.
"You look beau—"
"NOT. A. WORD."
He growled and snatched the sunscreen from my hand.
"Pwehehehehe… hehehehe."
"You're dead after this."