We sit by the spring and gaze at the waterâs surface. Itâs emitting a faint light, but how exactly does it work? Calling it a spring of luminous paint, it would feel like a pollutant⌠Rather, isnât the inside of the spring also illuminated somehow? Itâs shining somehow, although⌠it seems different.
Meguru: âThinking about it, weâve been through quite a bit.â
Our class was transported to another world, mamono attacked⌠and were crushed by Taniizumi and the others. Afterwards, I returned home by confirming my ability. From then on, I voiced various opinions to Taniizumi and the others while also acting on my own. However, I was seen as a small fry and my words fell upon deaf ears. Furthermore, the forest was deemed dangerous and we were forcibly kept away from it.
I donât mean that I didnât do anything. Shigenobu shared the same opinions as me. Still, there were still no signs of them listening at all. Then, after the teacher got burned, the base group could only cower. I think that was the moment we decided on the survival leader.
I had already been hit by Otsuka by that time and could only watch as a bystander⌠From that point on, Taniizumiâs control continued to snowball. I was honestly optimistic at the start.
No way⌠Taniizumi and those guys were even worse than I expected. The division between the base group and the battle group⌠I thought that since I was familiar with games, manga, and light novels, that I would be able to train the base group. Just at Lv 5, thereâs already an insurmountable difference in strength compared to Lv 1⌠but by that point, it was already too late.
Two days⌠three days. Back when we were building our first homes, every time we went to chop down trees at the edge of the village for wood, mamono would appear. I heard that the base group was enthusiastic about fighting mamono at first. A lot of people got injured because they did something dangerous like fighting without the help of the battle group.
And then, two weeks as we know it passed. Now, in our own way, weâve raised our Lvs up to a fighting chance⌠weâve come farther than I thought we could.
Meguru: âYukinari-kun.â
From tomorrow, weâll have to fight again. Just a little more. Then, weâll be able to end the violence of Taniizumi and the others. Even if we donât find a village, weâll manage.
Meguru: âThat⌠why is Yukinari-kun so kind to others?â
Yukinari: ââŚIâm not particularly kind or anything.â
Meguru: âLiar. Arenât you always concerned about everyone in the base group?â
Yukinari: âIâve got the leeway to do so, and healthy people need to worry.â
Meguru: âYou distribute your meager rations to everyone else.â
Yukinari: âIâm actually ordering food to eat so itâs fine. Rather, itâs pretty contemptible behavior on my part.â
Meguru: âI saw you giving away some candies and chocolate.â
Yukinari: âYou saw thatâŚâ
Isnât my secretly distributing those pretty much a well known fact? Meguru-san even saw me at it too. I was trying to be inconspicuous though.
Yukinari: âThat was because I already had those on hand. I did say that I donât like sweet things.â
Meguru: âBut in this kind of situation, being able to distribute those without hesitation isnât normal.â
âŚThatâs true. But I⌠have an ability which allows me leeway in situations where it wouldnât be though possible. Thatâs why I can give so much to others.
Meguru: âYou know⌠I, that part of Yukinari-kun, itâs, I think itâs really amazing.â
Meguru-san means to praise me with her words, but they end up piercing straight through me. Her voice as she praises me, her expression⌠once she knows the truth, itâll change into her telling me off in contempt⌠itâs painful.
Meguru: âThatâs not all, but⌠That,â
Meguru: âPlease go out with me!â
Meguru-san declares such as she deeply bows her head at me. Getting asked out by the cute Meguru-san⌠a reversal of the usual situation where a boy confesses to the girl he likes. Itâs not that Iâm unhappy. ButâŚ
This isnât something I can accept. My charity is nothing more than a small bit of self-satisfaction. I donât want to abandon everyone, but itâs not like I can do anything either. Nor am I risking my safety by objecting to Taniizumi and the others.
Thatâs why⌠I donât have the right to accept Meguru-sanâs feelings. Meguru-san when she raises her head looks like sheâs about to break into tears. Iâm speechless, but I manage to squeeze out a response.
Yukinari: âRight now⌠I canât think about this, to respond to Meguru-sanâs feelings⌠I, donât have the right.â
Having failed to tell the truth, I fall into self loathing. I waver between feeling safe enough to tell the truth and trembling over being exposed to my classmates. Itâd be fine if it only ended up with me getting kicked out of the class, but Iâm afraid of someone who knows my secret getting caught up in itâŚ
If Meguru-san were to end up being discovered as an accomplice, what would happen to her who has no method of escape? She could transfer into the forest, but who knows how long sheâd survive in such a place? The mamono might not approach this spot, but itâs not an absolute fact.
Meguru: âThe rightâŚâ
Yukinari: âIf Meguru-san knew, youâd scorn me. Iâm that much of a despicable guy.â
My self loathing begins to overflow. I realize it. Even though everyone else is desperately surviving, I have the arrogance of wanting to help while living in a safe place. I know, instead of escaping to Japan, it would be better to work with everyone.
But those meager rations⌠what would happen if I give my portion away while all my classmates enviously stare at each otherâs meals? I canât send them back. I realize these sorts of thoughts are luxuries.
Yukinari: âThatâs why⌠until everyone is safely back in Japan⌠I wonât have the right to consider it.â
Meguru: âThen⌠supposing, everyone returns to Japan, and I find out what Yukinari-kun is hiding⌠once more, would you listen to me?â
Yukinari: ââŚIf you hear about it, and still feel the same way⌠mm. In any case, only once everyone has returned to Japan⌠Iâll think about it.â
Iâm just a coward. Still, Iâm not the type of scum to think about taking advantage of this situation to get closer to a girl. Even if I hadnât explicitly decided so, I wouldnât have done it anyway.
Meguru: âWell, Iâll do my best so I can date Yukinari-kun.â
Meguru-san raises her arms and stretches, while smiling at me. That smile, combined with the brightening sky, is utterly⌠radiant.
Here is a report of the next two days. This is the result of using the gloves.
Kangaroo Punch Gloves +10
Effect : Dynamic Vision Up | Wind Punch | Wild Sense
Instant Expansion Ability : Kangaroo Step | Boxer
It has already surpassed the kitchen knife as a weapon. Fortunately, ten seems to be the limit, and it only has about a third of the attack power of the base metal turtle sword. Meguruâs metal turtle sword costs a ridiculous amount of points to strengthen, so using another for battle isnât possible right now.
Oh, and during that time, Minori-san also rose to Lv 10.
Minori: âI Lvâd up, it seems to be repair.â
Yukinari: âRepair? Does it repair the wear and tear of equipment?â
The equipment made from Shigenobuâs ability was already sturdy from the start, but he also regularly polishes and mends them. As such, weâve been using them without any problems until nowâŚ
Minori: âYeah. Let me try it out for a bit.â
Saying that, Minori-san uses her ability on the dulling kitchen knife.
Minori: âHm⌠seems like itâll take time.â
Yukinari: âWell, Iâll leave it with you for a bit then. Iâm a boxer anyway.â
Shigenobu: âDonât be petty, donât be petty.â
Shigenobu consoles me. Werenât you the one that told me to use the exclusive equipment to fight?
Minori: âAh⌠but thanks to Yukinari-kun, our battles are really easy though?â
Shigenobu: âThatâs right. The gloves are effective against flying mamono.â
Well⌠due to the dynamic vision boost, itâs easy to hit them, not to mention that the gloves have unlimited usage. Itâs made our battles against flying mamono comfortable. It seems that by using this, flying mamono can be dealt with relatively easily. We donât need bows and crossbows anymore. The battle group has abilities, but I wonder how they make use of them?