We finished breakfast and it was time to set out.
"Alright then, we're taking the shortcut through the forest, so make sure you're properly armed."
"""Oooooohhh—!"""
Everyone was super hyped up from the morning. What continent were they planning to conquer? I only know about crossing them horizontally.
"Everyone~ Do you want to go to town~?"
""""Uwoooooohhh—!""""
Did some weird mushrooms get mixed in? That's why I kept telling them to stick with fish…
Inside the forest it was mostly goblins, plus some kobolds. No orcs. At this rate we should make good progress.
Everyone's level had gone up and their legs were faster, so even while fighting we were advancing nicely. Maybe they'd built up more stamina?
Come to think of it, back in the cave they'd been showing off their stomachs—some getting slimmer, some getting more defined, some getting tighter. I wish they'd show a little more consideration for us high school boys.
Before noon we passed the point where we'd turned back yesterday. We should be able to cover quite a distance by nightfall.
Lunch was portable dried mushrooms eaten while walking. It was bland, but we still had a long way to go. I wondered if the otaku guys had managed to make it through. If they were living in one of the forests along the way, I might end up hunting them by accident.
I was using Appraisal to check the food, but there was nothing but medicinal herbs. Just antidotes everywhere. Was this a flag? I collected them anyway.
It would be weird if there were antidotes but no poison. If this wasn't a flag, then they were just regular weeds.
Even with Far Sight, it was nothing but forest in every direction. The presences were all kobolds, and all I could gather were antidotes… The morning hype had completely died down. Time for a break.
"Break time~ I've got juice~ Cheap, cheap~"
"One juice please, big brother. I'll pay with my body~"
"It's free."
"The juice… is apparently… not even worth… one… body…"
The nudist girl started drawing circles on the ground. I wanted to do that too. I never got around to building that basement…
"Haruka-kun, stop cornering Fukunaga-san any further. She's already lost a lot."
Huh? Why do I always end up getting scolded in the end? I was just handing out juice. Is this psychological abuse? Or mental abuse?
"We've made pretty good progress, but camping tonight is pretty much set. By the river? It's pretty far, but there's a sandbar too?"
With Far Sight I could barely make it out, so it was quite a distance. Still, if the monsters really avoided water, it would be a safe spot.
Should I go scout? There were some things I wanted to test anyway.
"The forest looks fine too, so maybe I'll go scout ahead?"
"If you didn't phrase it as a question, I might actually believe you… Want me to come too?"
"Nah, class rep, you stay with the group. I'm just taking a look, so one person is enough."
With that, I left the vanguard group. I lightly broke into a run while wrapping my body in magic power to strengthen it. That part was the usual routine. Then I added Weight Magic to make my body lighter… Whoa… this actually worked pretty well.
Lighter… faster… even more…
I raced downstream along the riverbank. I'd been speeding through the forest at high velocity, but this was impossible. At this speed the trees felt like they were charging straight at me in a barrage. No way.
On the riverbank there were fewer obstacles. The footing was bad, but with my body so light I could bounce forward like a skipping stone.
Could I fly with this? I was so light and fast. If I got a running start and jumped, maybe it would work? Probably needed a straight line though… Oh, the path ahead is straight!
"I'm definitely gonna fly~ I… can… fliiight… Uwoooooohhhhh!!!"
I didn't exactly fly. It was more like ultra-high-speed long-distance air walking? I never thought the day would come when I'd experience ballistic trajectory in real life. This had to be rarer than getting summoned to another world.
The riverbank and forest shrank beneath me… I could see the exit… the forest was ending… I tried to look beyond the forest with Far Sight, and that was probably my mistake…
I was launched high into the sky at ultra-high speed, with intense air resistance… and when I lost my balance… I crashed. The end.
"Gyaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!" (Bonk!! Crack! You fool!)
I fell. My HP was below half. Apparently the sky was more dangerous than monsters. Looking away was even more dangerous. Also, what was that last sound? Did the ground just call me an idiot?
I rose in a ballistic arc, then spun like a drill as I slammed into the forest. It hurt quite a bit, but it was fun. Good thing I had Magic Wrap on.
Looking down from above gave me a clear view of the terrain. The river kept curving right in a long detour. Cutting further to the right would be better. Time to head back and report.
"I'm back~ If we push hard we might make it out of the forest by midnight."
"Eh, you went that far?"
"Nah, I got launched into the air and looked down from above?"
"Haruka-kun, your special skill 'Proper Communication' is definitely not functioning! You went scouting and came back launched into the air?! Do you have a reconnaissance satellite skill?! Why are you all beat up from scouting?!"
Well, I'm a loner, so I don't have anyone to report to, contact, or consult with, and my level doesn't go up either.
"I was thinking maybe I could fly, but instead of flying I got launched… and then fell? Or rather, crashed?"
Even so, my cloak didn't tear, and neither did my cloth clothes. They were so tough I was starting to wonder what "cloth" even meant anymore. They hadn't ripped even when the kobold used them as a scratching post. No matter how dirty they got or how much blood they were soaked in, a wash with water brought them back to normal. Just what exactly had Villager A been doing in the village?
We pushed through the forest on a course shifted hard to the right. It took us deeper into the woods, so it was a shortcut but we'd need to stay alert. There might still be unseen monsters.
We took turns sending parties ahead to hunt monsters. When one caught up, the next took the lead. As a result, our speed didn't drop.
As expected, the class rep's planning ability, command ability, and analytical ability were all high. Maybe her Sexual Tyrant and Endless Stamina abilities were too… No, I wasn't thinking anything. Just wondering if the weather was okay… Really!
It was already night, almost midnight. The forest had opened up quite a bit, and we'd probably be out soon. But once we left the trees there'd be no cover… We should camp around here. The river was close too.
"Let's stay the night. Something like that?"
""""Haaaah— Agreed—!""""
Everyone looked pretty tired. Time to pitch the tents. Alright, set up.
For some reason I was being glared at. They didn't seem to like how the tent—or rather, the air dome—suddenly appeared. I also didn't like getting glared at every single time I did something.
"I mean, you just open it when I say open, and look, it's plenty spacious even for twenty people."
I made a simple bath by the river and set up screens around it. Once the water was hot I immediately fled. Because if the nudist girl stripped, I'd definitely be the one who got yelled at. Had I somehow earned the "Hated Person" title?
All we gathered today were antidotes. They wouldn't make good ingredients. We'd have to make do with a mushroom salad buffet, though everything would be salty.
The girls took turns bathing, eating, and rolling around in the tent.
If I worked too obviously the class rep and the others would feel bad, so I sat there pretending to rest while secretly placing my hand on the ground and channeling magic to create fences and a moat. Come to think of it, the otaku guys had done the same at their base.
What else was there? Oh right, pitfalls. I should dig some. Could I make magic traps or something?
We didn't need night watch. The tents had monster-repelling effects, and I could detect enemies and presences even while sleeping. I'd properly noticed the otaku guys, goblins, and idiots every time so far.
Still, it would be good practice for the girls. They'd need it from now on.
I was thinking of rotating between four girl groups plus my own for five groups total, but somehow it became four shifts with me placed into one of the girl groups.
Tents were a hassle. The weather was nice, so sleeping bags would be fine. The shut-in effect would protect me anyway.
Come to think of it, we'd only had a few light sprinkles at night and no real rain. Was this the dry season?
There was night watch, so time to sleep… How did everyone even tell time anyway?
・
・
・
"Haruka-kun, wake up. It's your night shift~"
I'd already woken up from Presence Detection, but it was probably better to keep that secret to keep the tension up.
"Yeah, I'm up… Also, please?"
"How much do you plan on sleeping?! Isn't this lifetime enough?!"
While spouting nonsense I crawled out of the tent and found the four muscle-brained athletic girls waiting. I wondered who the weakest was. Probably the nudist girl.
"Morning~ Let's do our best on night watch~"
"Fwaah~ Is it okay if I'm just awake and looking around?"
"You can't sleep. I'll sleep next to you."
"Sleepy… sleepy? …Sleep?"
"No, if I sleep next to you then that person would be sleeping too, and finally—don't sleep!"
The athletic girls were celebrities. They only appeared in small newspaper articles sometimes, but they had high name recognition.
Since they were well-known, maybe they actually had names. I didn't know them, though?
Thinking about it, they were probably struggling back in the original world too.
Just among the girls there was the nudist girl, an Olympic swimming hopeful.
The rhythmic gymnastics girl who always looked ready to sleep was probably the same. Both had apparently competed in international tournaments.
The other two were popular first-years who appeared on TV. They'd done well at the inter-high and taken runner-up.
"Um? I think… Ah! The twin utility poles from some high school!?"
Yeah, yeah, there were banners at school. Hmm, I feel like I've seen them. Good, if I put it through my gray brain cells…
""Who are you calling twin utility poles?! Are you saying our legs are thick?! And 'some high school'—you forgot the name of your own school?!""
"Huh? Wasn't there a banner like that hanging somewhere?"
"It's twin towers! Utility poles don't usually come up!"
"If you take down the twin utility poles banner I'll burn it, definitely!"
Apparently I was wrong. My gray brain cells didn't seem to care either way.
"Wow, doing night watch surrounded by celebrities. I'm getting nervous~"
"""You don't even remember our names!! Even though we're classmates!!"""
"I'm… the nudist… nudist girl… nudist…"
The nudist girl's wound seemed deep. Probably trauma from when the boys attacked her?
"No, look, I saw the nudist girl on TV too… You know… that one… the swimming world's… Mamma Mia… Pudding??"
"…Mamma Mia… Pudding? Sounds delicious… Pudding."
Huh, the wound got deeper. Maybe trauma from fighting monsters every day?
"How do you hear 'Mermaid Princess' as 'Mamma Mia Pudding'?!"
Ah, a mishearing. One of those mondegreen things.
"Ugh, I bet mine is wrong too."
"It's fine. The rhythmic gymnastics girl had a flyer up at school, on the upper part of the hallway… Febreze? I saw it in the morning."
"Who the hell put up a Febreze flyer on the hallway ceiling?!"
"""It said 'Fairy Dance on the upper floor'!! Who was Febreze-ing in the hallway?!"""
What troublesome girls. It's night watch, so we should be quiet or we'll bother people. When I pointed that out, for some reason I was the one who got yelled at. So this is what reverse anger looks like.
We checked the surroundings while tending the bonfire. Nothing was approaching according to Presence Detection or Search. The four muscle-brained athletic girls still seemed upset.
That's right—muscle-brains shouldn't have intelligence whether they're girls or boys.
"Want some juice~?"
""""Yay!!""""
In the end they were the same species as the idiots and goblins. So easy.
"You said the fruit juice barely has any fruit in it. Is that okay?"
"Yeah, I just soaked some fruit in water and it kept getting stronger. No matter how much I dilute it, it gets concentrated again. It's a mysterious drink."
"Oooh, all-you-can-drink otherworld drink service!"
"I'll share it with everyone when we part ways, so each group can get one bag."
"Haruka-kun, are you really going home?"
Even if it was logically correct, there were things people couldn't accept emotionally.
I'd noticed that several of the girls weren't fully convinced.
But these girls would understand. They knew exactly what that meant.
"When everyone wants to compete in the world championships as a team, would you add someone unskilled just because they trained with you? That would be unfortunate for both sides, right?"
No matter how they felt emotionally, anyone who competed at the top of sports would understand that all too well.
In the original world, they were probably the only ones who could truly understand the difference in levels.
・
・
The night shift finally ended, and it was time to hand over to the class rep and vice rep squad. I still didn't know who the real vice rep was.
Time to sleep.
**Day 17 – Midnight – Campsite – Inside the Tent – Girls' Meeting**
After the shift change, we listened to the athletic group's report.
They said they hadn't had many chances to talk, so they wanted to thank him, which was why they'd put him on night watch with Haruka-kun, but…
"Sorry, it didn't work. He ended up convincing us instead."
"When he says it like that… you can't argue back."
"In the end, he completely took control of the pace."
"I couldn't say anything… I had so much I wanted to say…"
It really had been impossible.
Whenever Haruka-kun sensed someone was about to thank him seriously, he would stir the conversation into complete chaos. It was beyond centrifugal separation—ultra-high-speed mixing that made you lose track of what you were even talking about, like a free-fall bungee jump. Before you knew it, you thought you were thanking him but ended up angry instead!?
"I guess we'll have to find Oda-kun and the others in town and talk it over."
Persuasion seemed difficult. He wouldn't even let them say thank you.
Everyone was waiting their turn to properly thank Haruka-kun… He really was the ultimate tsundere.