Yukinari: “I don’t know what’s up with that… but I don’t really care about what’s going on with Otsuka.”

To this day, she still hasn’t apologized for hitting me, nor has she shown any regret. If she had done that two weeks after this survival had begun, it would have been somewhat defensible, but she did it right after we were transferred here. Rather, what the hell are you doing, hitting your classmates? At least vent your stress on mamono. Otsuka’s punch could probably take down a wallaby. 

Hagisawa: “She blew Hanebashi away with all her strength. If she were to learn about Hanebashi’s true nature, she’ll probably stab him to death.”
Yukinari: “Ugh…stop. I don’t want to hear that, even as a joke.”
Shigenobu: “Well… I’m sure of it. Otsuka would probably torture Yukinari while saying something like, ‘You’re not ordering anything! You’re hiding the way home, aren’t you!’ She is absolutely the one person who cannot learn about this.”

Those two, even if it’s a joke, discuss a horrifying topic. If it does end up like that, I’ll have no choice but to escape. Well, except for returning to Japan¹. That said… it’s true that I’m hiding the way back. My guilt which has been fading away swells up. 

“Then, will Minori-san also have to associate with them unwillingly?”
“Rather, what is Taniizumi planning to do about maintaining the barrier?”
Shigenobu: “That’s why he’s looking for a way to recover mana.”

Ah, I see. So that’s the plan. If tools and supplies are concentrated on those responsible for the barrier, there will be more time for hunting. Then, do they plan on continuing to fight as soon as Minori-san replenishes their mana? Various thoughts like those run through my head. 

“Refusing… it would have been difficult.”
“Umu…”

I’m worried.

Minori: “We’ve returned.”
Meguru: “We’re back—”

At that point, Minori-san and Meguru-san return together.

“Welcome back, I was just talking to Shigenobu here…”
Minori: “Yeah… It seems like I have to go with the battle group.”
“Then… we can’t hunt anymore?”

Minori-san shakes her head.

“Didn’t you say that we can make progress by hunting at night? Are you having doubts now?”
Minori: “Yeah. Everyone, let’s battle at night.”

Saying, “let’s”… Minori-san. Aren’t you aware that you’re saying something unreasonable? Well, we were all recently considering hunting at night.

Minori: “By the way, Yukinari, what happened to ordering a crossbow?”
Yukinari: “Ah, I’ll be able to order it soon.”

I searched online and ordered it upon discovering that I could. Receiving it while keeping it secret from my parents will be difficult, so I made sure to select a delivery time when my parents aren’t around.

Crossbows aren’t something ordinary high school students have use for. It’d be another thing if I hunted as a hobby, but doesn’t that require a license? Regardless, there really aren’t any ordinary high school students who would buy crossbows. Well, even buying things like kitchen knives and crowbars at a home improvement center is a bit strange. 

Yukinari: “Minori-san, are you serious?”
Minori: “I’m absolutely serious!”
Yukinari: “So? Minori-san, did you raise your Lv?”

Meguru-san shakes her head in displeasure at my question. 

Meguru: “To keep her Lv-raising to a minimum, he kicked her out of the party and only had her replenish as needed.”
Yukinari: “Wow… just how thorough is he?”

Is Taniizumi planning to completely squeeze the base group dry? Isn’t that a bit too troublesome? Does he not understand the concept of strengthening the base? Like seriously, there are games where the base NPCs who get stronger will sell better weapons, armor, and offer more types of items. 

Meguru: “He said it’s a complete waste to have Minori-san Lv up.”
Yukinari: “…Is he an idiot?”
Meguru: “Well, I suppose there’ll be someone in the battle group who’s fond of Minori and will help her Lv up.”

Is that the only option? She is polite, takes care of herself, and is somewhat of a natural airhead, so there might be someone who’ll help her. That said, I really can’t imagine Minori-san going around flattering others.

Minori: “Yeah, I thought if I could raise my Lv even a little, I’d be able to help everyone.”
Yukinari: “But if you collapse from overwork, it’ll all end up pointless.”

Everyone agrees with my comment. It’s too much work to go along with Taniizumi during the day and to fight with us at night. No matter how much her Lv rises and her physical strength increases, it will be tough.

Minori: “It’s fine. If it doesn’t work out, you can always just come back every time something comes up.”
Yukinari: “Ah- are you possibly suggesting we should return to the base whenever we feel the need to recover after a battle?”
Minori: “Yeah.”

So we can do something like that too? It’s kind of feels like we’re being forced to treat her like an inn in an RPG. It bothers me somewhat.

Shigenobu: “But is that fine for you, Minori-san?”

Minori nods in response to Shigenobu’s words.

Minori: “If you think about it, I can heal even without raising my Lv.”
“Wait… if they’re doing that to you, won’t they use Meguru-san the same way as well?”
Meguru: “I don’t think so. Because I’m not friends with the battle group and I refused them. They rely on Ono-kun for transportation, and I can keep watch over the base with my clairvoyance so it’s okay.”

Ah-… like Shigenobu, Meguru-san clearly voices her opinions. Recently Taniizumi has become more aware of Meguru-san’s threat. On the other hand, I’ve heard that he has his eye on Minori-san, but as far as his treatment of her is concerned, it doesn’t seem like it. I heard that he invited her for a night a bit back, but maybe he gave up? If he really likes someone, that person will probably get favorable treatment.

Hagisawa: “At night … I’m afraid of sudden ambushes.”

Hagisawa gives his analyzes with a displeased look. He brings up a good point.

Yukinari: “We’ll have to be much more vigilant than during the day. By traveling far enough so that the light can’t be seen from here… We’ll be fine.”

After moving through the forest for a week, we should be pretty far from the base. Not to mention, even if a light is seen shining far off in the forest, the time needed to get to rush over would be enough to fool them. In that timespan, Meguru-san can use her transfer.

Shigenobu: “Now that you mention it, there was talk of battling a mamono called Will O’ Wisp.”

Shigenobu shows us the corpse of a mamono. What is this coal-like thing?

Shigenobu: “This seems to be material from the mamono. This mamono floats in the air and emits light.” 
Yukinari: “I see, the battle group will likely mistake us for this mamono if they see us fighting at night.”

Shigenobu gives my response a thumbs up.

“If it’s like that, battling at night might be possible.”
“Ah, next is to earn points and improve our equipment.”

Recently we’ve been getting better at fighting, it’s a good trend.

“By the way, do Taniizumi and the others not fight at night?”
Hagisawa: “You don’t want to be sleepy during a battle in the daytime, right?”

Hagisawa gives a plausible answer. Well, that’s the most likely reason.

“It seems that the three armies of the battle group rarely get to fight anymore due to an order by Taniizumi. They’re focused on gathering materials.”

Ah, I do remember seeing Taniizumi say something like that. It went something like, “Since I’m going to sleep, you should go gather materials.” Well, if that’s the case, everything should be fine as long as we’re vigilant.

Yukinari: “I should reach Lv 10 tonight. I’m looking forward to my next expansion ability.”

Yep, as a result of fighting mamono at a steady rate, our Lvs are rising at a good rate. Well, the biggest problem is that we can only fight 4-6 hours a day. Maybe we’ll be able to extend our battle time a little longer by battling at night? Next time, I’ll have to think about how to disguise my expansion ability. It depends on the ability I end up getting… well, it’ll work out?

Meguru: “I’m looking forward to it too.”
Yukinari: “Did Meguru-san already reach Lv 10?”
Meguru: “Yeah…”

Meguru-san’s ability has expanded further as a result of these last three days of effort. It’s called material transfer… it’s very similar to my transfer ability.

Meguru: “S-Sorry, Yukinari-kun.”
Yukinari: “Don’t worry about it.”

Different from the usual transfer, she can send items to anywhere she wants. The colors of the pillars of light are different, so figuring out how to use it can be done with a glance. Still, its nature is different from that of my transfer. She can’t send items into the bodies of a mamono, and the items have to be put into the pillars of light. It also won’t send if the destination is inside a wall. If it did all that, it would have been a complete upgrade compared to mine.

Recently, she has succeeded in using it as a trap by throwing a blade into the light and hitting a mamono drawn out by scattered leftovers. Hagisawa can use it too. The problem is the stance of waiting for mamono to come. Also… we don’t know why, but she can sense when it’s used. The success rate is about 20%. In that sense, you can say that there’s a big difference in meaning between our abilities, but Meguru-san is once again worried about me.

******

Cheat sheet

Yukinari Hanebashi:
1) Teleport objects /Self to Earth
2) Point/yen conversion. (Tells others it’s a shopping catalogue)
Kitchen knife, boxing gloves, wallaby coin

Meguru Hayama:
1) Teleportation
2) Clairvoyance
3) Material transfer (uses pillars of light)
Metal turtle sword

Minori Himeno: Has a polite/formal way of speaking
1) Healing/recover man
2) Charge with mana
Crowbar??

Shigenobu Sakaede
1) Black smith
2) Mining Correction
Hammer??

Dai Hagisawa
1) Craft things
2) Identify
Hammer??

---

E/N: Thanks for all your help with the cheat sheet~ Also, I tried adding the names of the people who are talking to make things easier to follow. If you didn’t see a name, it’s cause I had no idea who said what. What do you think, should I continue doing it or not?

<Chapter 29
Chapter 31>

1. それこそ日本に帰る以外なくなる。