Survival on a tropical island.
The most important thing to secure first was water; afterwards came food. One could end up in a pretty dangerous situation because of dehydration. So coconuts were the perfect food for survival as they covered both aspects.
I twisted off one coconut after the other. It was my first time ever climbing a tree, but I was able to climb them surprisingly easily because of my increased physical abilities. I felt like I could climb even better than monkeys.
Ellen also climbed up a different tree and easily picked some coconuts. I mean, I also climbed up the trees without any hesitation, but just who is so good at climbing trees?
After picking some coconuts, I climbed back down and landed on the ground. While carrying five coconuts each in our arms, we returned to the beach.
“Wha… What?”
-Clack, clack, clack.
When we put down the coconuts we were carrying, the others were still looking at us in a daze, but they did seem glad to see us. Even Class B further away from us seemed to do something, while our Class A still seemed undecided.
“No… Why did you bring all of this here?”
Bertus looked astonished at my behavior.
“Once we run out of water, we can drink from those.”
There were eleven canisters, but after we ran out of that water, we could drink as much as we wanted from these coconuts. Everyone already held a canteen and an artifact in their hands, making it seem as if the distribution of the supplies had already finished.
Everyone was sitting idly in the shade, seeming like they didn’t know what else to do. Even Bertus was like that.
Well, it would be even weirder if this Prince actually managed to set up a camp in this situation.
First, the most urgent matter of securing a source of drinking water could be put off for a bit. And it didn’t seem like anyone had given up.
“Reinhardt, let’s talk for a second.”
“Ah, sure.”
Bertus led me to a place slightly farther away from our classmates.
“Have you done something like this before?”
“It’s not that I’ve done something like this before, It’s just that I’d rather do something instead of just sitting on my ass. One has to rest to preserve one’s stamina, but before that, certain things have to be done.”
“Huh…”
It seemed to him like I was familiar or very experienced with situations like this. However, although I had a lot of indirect experience with these things, this was actually the first time I landed in a situation like that myself. I was just like Bertus, who ended up losing his cool in our current situation.
It looked like I had to give him some advice.
“First, we need a place to sleep, no matter how crude it is. A place to avoid the heat of the sun as well as to protect us from rain.”
We needed something like a hut, even if it was just something crude. Bertus nodded his head, seeming to have understood what I meant.
“But how do we make something like that in this situation?”
He had to make something he had never made before. There also weren’t any famous shows depicting the eternal battle between humans and nature in this world. It was only natural that Bertus was stumped.
“There are trees, vines, and palm leaves all over the place. I think we’ll be able to make something that would help by roughly intertwining them.”
“Hmm… Can we really make something helpful with only leaves?”
Even before the survival mission started, I was already thinking about what we should do. I kind of knew how to make a hut, but I wasn’t really confident that it would turn out good. I mean, if I had no other choice, I probably would have tried at least.
“Neither you nor I need to think about that too much. There are others much better at these kinds of things.”
However, there was no need for me to actually do it when there was someone much better at these kinds of things than me.
“Number 7 Adelia. If we leave it to her, she’ll be able to do a good job.”
Her ability was magic tool crafting. Of course, I didn’t really know how related the crafting of magic tools and the building of a hut was, but she was very talented at designing and making things compared to a normal person.
If it was her, she’d at least be able to come up with a plausible blueprint. Better than anything I could come up with.
It kind of felt like how the military made students paint fences.
“Hmm… Is that so?”
Bertus didn’t seem to have any clue about all this.
* * *
Bertus returned to the shady area where most of Class A, who were severely mentally exhausted, had gathered, and called Adelia.
Then he said to her that he was of the opinion that we should make a hut, and asked if she had any idea how to go about that.
“That… If you asked me to make something so suddenly… I don’t even have any equipment or tools here…”
She was someone specialized in magic tool crafting and summoning magic. However, if she was asked to suddenly make a hut like this, it seemed that she was evidently flustered.
“The pillars can be made of wood, and the roof could be tiled with something like palm leaves. Do you have any good ideas?”
At Bertus’ words, Adelia, who was quite cowardly, murmured in a timid, crawling voice.
“Ermm… I think, we could structure it like a tripod… Do we really have to sleep here?”
“If you don’t want to give up, we have to, right?”
Bertus was smiling, and there was no one around that would go and say “I really can’t do this.” directly to his face. Of course, after spending a night here, they’d probably want to give up even more than they do now.
Harriet didn’t say a thing, her face buried in her legs.
She might end up crying. I mean, it was a situation that made one cry, after all.
“Hmm… If I were to make this, I’d need… wood and vines. Really big ones. I think we’d need a lot of leaves as well…”
Adelia murmured as if she was already drawing up blueprints in her head.
“Great. Then let’s do it like that.”
Bertus didn’t feel that great about this situation either, but losing to Class B was even worse. So he forced himself to raise the tension.
“Okay! Let’s try doing something, at least. If we really can’t go on, we can always give up, but don’t you think we should try at least? It’s kind of weird just giving up before we even did anything, right?”
Bertus pointed at Cayer, Erich, and Kono Lint, who were silent.
“You three are in charge of getting us vines and leaves from inside the jungle. As many as possible.”
Everyone had their assigned duties. All of them looked a little reluctant, but they didn’t have the guts to refuse Bertus’ instructions. After Bertus decided on actually giving this a try, his thoughts seemed to flow smoothly.
“Saint-Owan. Can you use magic right now?”
At Bertus’ call, Harriet raised her head with her eyes wide open. Her expression showed bewilderment.
“Ah… Huh? Well… I can’t do anything of a high level yet…”
“That’s fine. It just has to be something of a level that can cut some trees about that size. How is it?”
What Bertus pointed to was a regular-sized tree.
“Uhm… I think I can do that…“
Harriet nodded, a little depressed, but it didn’t seem like something she was completely adverse to.
“Great. Cut down as many trees as possible, but it’s pretty dangerous, so be careful not to get hurt.”
“Yes…”
Harriet got up from where she sat. It seemed like she would do what was asked of her, even while she felt rather depressed.
“Ellen and Cliffman. Could you help set up the camp as Adelia requested?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
Ellen and Cliffman were the strongest in this class in terms of physical strength. So it was only right for those two to be in charge of the physical labor.
There seemed to be a bigger picture gradually coming together in Bertus’ mind. Was he the type that, if told one thing, would realize two? Or maybe it was just his mentality slowly recovering, leading to his sudden motivation. He was someone that would become active as soon as he got someone to order around. Villain or not, he was a born leader.
The only ones that were not given a role for now were me, Liana de Grantz, and Heinrich von Schwarz.
“Bertus, could you leave me in charge of those two?”
At my words, Bertus tilted his head. Additionally, when they heard me ask if I could be in charge of them, both of them had some sullen expressions on their faces. Heinrich hated me, and I haven’t even spoken to Liana yet, so they obviously didn’t have any good reactions to my words.
“Hmm… Do you have any plans?”
“Well… I think the two of them are actually the most important out of all of us.”
“……Really?”
Their expressions became quite strange after they were subjected to my sudden, uncharacteristic compliment.
* * *
Heinrich von Schwarz, Pyrokinesis.
Liana de Grantz, Electrokinesis.
These two supernatural powers were key to survival in this jungle, in my opinion.
“……What?”
Heinrich’s eyes were filled with distrust, as if he only ever got lied to.
“Till when are you going to stay mad at me? We’re in the same boat here, so let’s cooperate.”
Heinrich quickly turned his head, saying that he didn’t want to deal with private things right now, even though we literally had to work together to keep our heads above water.
“……Tch.”
“…Why me?”
“Just wait. I’ll tell you everything.”
It seemed clear that Liana was just as wary of me. I didn’t want to explain everything to them just yet, while they were like this. I didn’t want to get closer to them, either.
Since the situation was the way it was, I would make as much use of them as I could. If they didn’t like it, I would make them listen, even if I had to crush them.
“From now on, we’ll be able to light fires whenever we want to. So, for now, we’ll start making some fresh drinking water.”
“…Fresh drinking water?”
“Yes, we’ll need water. You’re the only one here except Harriet who can light fires whenever he wants.”
Although, I once said that he wasn’t even as good as a flint, of course he was much better to maintain than one, though. As long as he kept his mouth shut.
“I asked Adelia to make a vapor condensing device. After that, we can keep making water.”
“…A-Are you treating me like a flint? And do you seriously think that you can order me around?”
Heinrich frowned as if he had been insulted just now, then I sighed.
I’m so fucking annoyed. Should I just hit him?
No.
Let’s not make the situation worse.
“Phew…. Whether you hear it from my mouth or Bertus’, it doesn’t matter, mate. Do you want to get us into trouble? If you don’t do this, the water will run out within two days or so.”
In this tropical environment, dehydration would be a serious threat. I mean, I was indeed treating him like a flint, but if we didn’t do this, we would have to keep hydrate using coconuts only. After we had something like a vapor condensation machine, we could make drinking water from seawater continuously. It was a simple but important role.
Even if he told me that he didn’t want to follow my orders, he’d just end up hearing the same order from Bertus shortly after.
“…….I’m doing this for everyone, got it?”
“Yeah, yeah, got it. Work hard.”
After having understood what I was telling him, Heinrich just disappeared as if he didn’t want to speak with me any longer. Heinrich was gone, leaving only Liana de Grantz, who seemed a bit reluctant, behind.
“You have to hunt.”
“Hunt?”
“Yeah.”
I pointed towards the beach.
“Fishing might be the more correct term, though.”
I was going for something similar to stunning fish by electrifying water with a car battery.
* * *
If I were to introduce a car battery to a pool of water or a river, all the fish within it would be stunned, floating to the surface. Of course, that was highly illegal.
However, there were no such laws in this world, and even if there were, we had to survive on this deserted island no matter what and through any means.
I took Liana to the beach.
-Shwaaaaa…
“You won’t get electrocuted or something, right?”
“That’s right.”
Liana, who was full of surprises, was basically immune to electricity. Liana still seemed quite reluctant.
“Try using your supernatural power on the water.”
“……I doubt it’ll work.”
She hesitated for a bit, but then began to concentrate. I then backed away, fearing that I might get electrocuted.
-Brzzzt! Brrrrzzzzt!
Blue electric currents flew from Liana’s hands, and were soon raging among the waves. This girl certainly had excellent control over her supernatural power.
-Shwaaa….
And, nothing really happened.
Liana clicked her tongue slightly.
“…I don’t want to get wet.”
Saying so, she slowly walked down to the water, immersing her arms into it this time.
Well, she seemed rather picky, but she did what I asked of her.
This time, she activated her ability after her hands were fully submerged in the water. Although I couldn’t really see it.
Of course, there was nothing different from before. The sea was quite, and there were no stunned fish floating up. Liana looked back at me.
“I told you. It won’t work.”
“……Right.”
I’ve only ever heard of car battery fishing, but I never actually tried it myself. I didn’t know if it was because Liana’s abilities were still lacking, or if there was some other problem. Liana came out of the water and frowned, seeing her wet shoes.
It seemed that she was royally pissed, that the only thing my request did, was get her shoes wet.
“I know what you’re trying to do, but for that to happen, I would have to get close to the fish, whether by diving or swimming. My range isn’t that wide. And I can’t swim.”
She seemed feisty, but she still seemed to properly explain things to me. How very strange.
Anyway, I thought with electricity alone, I would be able to cover a fairly wide area, even if it wouldn’t affect the whole ocean. That wasn’t the case.
The Korean Department of Education should make a public apology because of this.
“You can’t swim… So what if I were to carry you on my back while we go in there and you electrocute… Oh, right, I’d get electrocuted as well.”
“……Weren’t you first ranked in the exams?”
Liana looked at me with a rather strange look. It seemed like she was doubting how someone like me could take first place. It sure was a waste, but if I couldn’t use her, I wouldn’t be able to catch any fish.
“What’s the range of your ability?”
“5 meters.”
Her output wasn’t that strong at the moment. Looks like I had to struggle some more. Liana just sighed and started to tie her hair up.
“It’s fine. I can just walk around the place and electrocute a fish if it gets close enough.”
Liana headed towards the sea again, saying that I should go out of her way because I’d just bother her.
Liana de Grantz.
She only ever said slightly harsh and chilly things, so in the beginning, she was seen as a somewhat harsh person with a bad temper by the class.
However, later, after the separation between Class A and B got resolved, it was revealed that she wasn’t actually bad-tempered. It was just the way she spoke, and since the kids from Class B didn’t cross ways with Class A very often, they didn’t know what kind of person she was.
That was how I set her up, but it was still strange seeing her act like that right before my eyes.
It was a subtle feeling, she being kind of nice, while still speaking pretty harshly.
As she entered the water, Liana suddenly turned back and looked at me.
“Come to think of it, I can’t even touch fish.”
Another absurd characteristic I gave her was that she was clumsy.
