I enter the auditorium during the middle of the award ceremony and ranking announcement for the Survival Recreation. Apparently, I collapsed in front of the bathroom due to anemia. Thus, with the teachers worrying about me, I hurry to line up with my group.

“Oh, looks like our group leader has revived.”
“Are you alright to be moving?”
“No worries, I’m back to perfect health.”
Upon rejoining my group, Aihara-san and Ishida are delighted to see my well-being.

“Yuuki-kun, etto… thank you.”
“Really, thank you so much.”
“Thank you, desu.”
The class representative, Uruna-chan, and Owl-chan mutter nothing more than words of gratitude towards me. There must be more they want to say. All 3 of them are fidgeting, but as it isn’t a topic that can be discussed here, there is nothing more they can say.

“Hm?”

Feeling a hot gaze, I glance to the side and find Souji staring at me with envy. It’s not something I’m interested in, so I pretend not to notice.

“Ahre, where’s Takigawa?”
“As Yuuki-kun wasn’t here, he went up onto the stage as a substitute representative for our group.”

I look forward at the class representative’s words and find Takigawa on the auditorium stage. If I recall correctly, only representatives from the top 3 teams would be called up. In other words, our team made the top 3.

“Ah…”

Then again, the one standing next to Takigawa is the fan club alliance team’s representative. When I last saw them, their collaboration was letting them rack up a ton of points through construction and tool making. More than that, during the second half my team had to continue the Survival Recreation while I was in bed.

“We… lost?”

As the fan club alliance is composed of various teams working together, our losing couldn’t be helped either. As our opponents, they were a bit underhanded, so I’m going to complain about this and that and make our wager null and void. Yeah, I’ll do just that.

“Finally, in first place, group E. Congratulations.”
“Thank you very much!”

Takigawa cheerfully expresses his gratitude and receives the award.

According to the ranking announcement, 3rd place is an unknown group, 2nd place is the fan club alliance, and 1st place is our group, team E.

Just how!?

“Speaking of which, Yuuki-kun didn’t hear. Takigawa dragged in a wild boar at the last minute.”
“A wild boar!?”

From what I am told, while Takigawa was collecting river fish and edible wild plants, he fashioned some simple animal traps out of ivy. Then, when he was going around dismantling the traps just before the Survival Recreation ended, he discovered a wild boar had been caught. The unprecedented situation left the teachers bewildered, all the students dumbfounded, and the hunters who volunteered to help out astonished.

In the end, the boar had been caught outside of hunting season and without permission, so the hunters had to release it. Takigawa was also given a sermon by the teachers for having gone too far. Regardless, such ability merited being evaluated so special points were conferred for it, decisively elevating our team into 1st place.

“Boy scouts… are seriously incredible.”

Or, no, isn’t Takigawa the amazing one? I would have never dreamed of catching a boar with ivy.

“‘There were also traces of something on another trap. If I had gone around just a bit sooner, I might have been able to bring in a second boar,’ or that’s what he said.”

Upon hearing that from Ishida, a memory comes up in my mind.

“What did that trap look like?”
“Hm? If I’m not mistaken, it should’ve be something like this.”

Ishida draws a simple sketch of the trap on a printout for me.

There’s no mistaking it. That ivy the black dress tripped on was one of Takigawa’s traps!

“Oh, Kousuke, you’ve revived? Yay, we’re the champions, ze!”
Takiagawa returns… no, Takigawa-san returns while hoisting the 1st place certificate overhead.

“Takigawa-san, truly, thank you very much. This victory was because of you.”
“Eh, ye- yeah. Please revere me to your heart’s content.”

I start addressing Takigawa with honorifics after that, but it just feels wrong, so I stop right away.

Right, Takigawa likes occult stuff. As a token of my appreciation, I can teach him a few things if I come across any. Hm? Wait, I’m a walking bundle of occult material. Alright, I’ll forget that then. I’ll return the favor some other way.

“Takigawa, if you’re ever in any trouble, let me know right away. I’ll help you with anything, ze.”
“Eh, ye- yeah. Are you alright? Maybe you should get a bit more rest?”

I give an honest appeal with a thumbs up, but he honestly begins to worry about me.

The next day, we all set about cleaning up the Survival Recreation and peacefully conclude our accommodation recreation. While cleaning, I go to check out the damage caused by yesterday’s battle, but I can’t find a single trace left from it. The Mizukami Household’s practitioners covered up everything. What incredible skill.

“We’ll be visiting a hot spring after this, sa!”
“A hot spring?”
“Apparently, a famous local hot spring has been booked and we’re all going.”

Aihara-san and the class representative inform us of such.

I get the feeling something like that wasn’t scheduled in the pamphlet though…

“According to the teachers, it’s a considerate gesture by the owner of the office building in front of the station. It’s a special offer for this year, but since turning it down would have been rude, everyone agreed that we should accept.”
“I wonder what the partition for the open air bath will be like? Maybe there will be mixed bathing?” (Takigawa)
“Disgusting.” (Uruna)
“Disgusting, desu.” (Owl)
“Guhaa!”  (Takigawa)

The goodwill Takigawa got from capturing that wild boar is steadily dropping.

At any rate, having a hot spring reserved for us is incredible. I need to express my gratitude to the office building owner-san.

[Hot spring! Hot spring!]
[Sorry, but Urd can’t enter, zo.]
[Eeeh!?]
[Not happening, that’s just how it is.]

Urd helped a great deal this time, so I guess I should get a room at a hot spring for everyone next time. Although, just how much would a room at a hot spring cost? I’ll need to check my wallet later.

“So spacious! Incredible!”
“What a splendid hot spring.”

Takigawa and Ishida, naked, are deeply moved by the place. This hot spring is that incredible of a place. It’s also a famous place among the locals, and the price is reasonable enough for the average person to enter.

Souji comes up to wash my back with a smile on his face, but I politely decline. I’m not interested in an event like that. Naturally, the open air bath also has a reliable partition.

After leaving the hot spring, which put us 2 hours behind schedule, the fatigue from the Recreation Lodging caught up to us and everyone crashed on the bus. The class representative and the others must be exhausted.

“Hm?”

Just as we leave Ashikawa City, a strange sensation hits me. I oddly feel as if a piece of me is being left behind.

“It must be my imagination.”

I was healed quickly, so it has to be my imagination. I’m probably just exhausted.

Along with everyone else, I too shut my eyes for some sleep.

---

T/N: Just in case for those who might have misunderstood, to crash means to fall asleep from being overwhelmed by exhaustion.

~Lyfe

<56. An Unknown Ceiling

58. A Legit Spirit>