国产午夜亚洲精品AⅤ

Chapter 98

“It must be related.”

As we made our way back, Ellen was more vigilant than before. It should have occurred to her that, as long as we were here on a mission, it was unlikely for us to encounter a life-threatening situation.

However, that didn’t preclude something unexpected from occurring. Ellen led the way with heightened caution, and I followed her.

Thanks to her intelligence, she’d pieced together the clues.

Nonetheless, we returned to camp drenched in sweat, not only because of the weather, but because of how tense we were.

It was an important discovery. As soon as we reported it to Vertus, he immediately halted all activities and gathered everyone together.

The kids’ faces lit up when they heard we’d found water, but their expressions turned to disbelief when they learned there was someone else on the island besides us.

Connor Lint’s face turned white with fear.

“W-What should we do? Are they cannibals?”

“Wh-What are you talking about?!”

His fear started to spread amongst the group, and everyone else grew pale as well.

Of course, Vertus remained calm.

“The fact that this isn’t an uninhabited island must relate to our mission, too. I’m sure the higher-ups in the Temple had this all planned out. There’s no need to be too afraid. The specific condition that was mentioned must have something to do with this something, or someone.”

He concluded that, since this was all part of the mission, the situation was under control.

“So does that mean that, if we find this other person, the mission will immediately come to an end?”

“It would be nice if that was the case, but we can’t be certain of that.”

“Indeed...”

The condition that we had to fulfill could be related to the presence of this other survivor besides us. If so, the mission would end the moment we found that survivor. Vertus’s words caused the atmosphere to change drastically.

Harriet’s eyes suddenly lit up. “S-So, all we have to do is find that person?”

The kids were all hoping for a quick way to escape this environment. Vertus nodded at her.

“We can’t know for sure. But finding this person will definitely contribute to us being able to finish this mission more quickly, one way or another.”

“Then let’s search the whole island! If we find that person first, we’ll be able to leave.”

That was Kaier’s suggestion, and everyone else seemed to agree. Rather than idling around, it made sense to find this other survivor who was on the island and bring the mission to a close.

“Hmm... That seems to be the right choice, but...” Vertus seemed thoughtful as he looked at me. “Reinhart, what do you think?”

All eyes turned to focus on me.

I could tell that their evaluation of me had changed. These guys, who had been treating me indifferently until now, had begun to see how my actions usually led to quick results. Now, they seemed to think of me as some kind of solution machine.

Even those who disliked me felt that, for the moment, it was right to follow my lead.

Honestly, though, I wasn’t in the mood to give out any more hints. While it was true that I wanted to lead Class A in a different direction as compared to the original storyline, if I gave them more hints, it would result in a victory for Class A.

Frankly, I wanted Class B to emerge victorious in this mission so that Charlotte would gain more influence.

“Umm... I’m not really sure. How about we all head to the ravine first?” I suggested.

In essence, I was proposing that we enjoy the refreshing water without giving the situation too much weight. Given the situation we were all in, it ended up being the best suggestion.

***

Ellen expressed her concern about potential danger, but everyone else, enticed by the thought of cold, refreshing water, failed to be persuaded by her.

It took approximately thirty minutes for our group of eleven to reach the ravine, following the route that Ellen and I had cleared.

Despite being drenched in sweat and tired, the promise of being able to wash up at the end made everyone continue to follow Ellen and me, who were leading the way.

“Wow...”

As soon as we arrived at the ravine, the kids’ eyes widened in amazement at the sight of the vast expanse of water, which was larger than they had imagined.

After a brief silence, everyone dove into the water.

“Whoa! It’s so cold!”

“Be careful, there are some deep areas as well.”

However, it seemed like my words fell on deaf ears as everyone jumped into the water joyously. Ellen plunged into the water as well and began to splash around.

Although she had advised against this course of action because of the potential danger, seeing the water again seemed to silence her objections.

—Woohoo!

The water provided the sweat-soaked kids solace in the midst of the exhausting heat. They finally began to play and giggle like children their age. Even Vertus leaped into the water without hesitation, sporting a genuine smile.

‘That’s right. This is the way kids should be.’

***

Since the ravine was rather deep, some of the kids slipped and ended up swallowing water. Of course, Ellen, Vertus, and I, who knew how to swim, pulled them out.

There were some bizarre situations as well...

“Nguh!”

Connor Lint had fallen into a deep part of the pool, but just as suddenly, he appeared on the bank.

“Ahh!”

“Cr-Crazy! He must be crazy!”

“Hey, come on dude!”

Connor Lint had managed to teleport himself out, but only his body, leaving his clothes behind. The female students screamed at the sight, while the male students burst into laughter at the spectacle.

“Ah! Ahh! Don’t, don’t look!”

“Clothes! Someone bring him his clothes!” Harriet yelled irritably while covering her eyes, and Vertus chuckled as he fished Connor Lint’s clothes out of the water and handed them to him.

Teleporting out in the face of danger was understandable, but that idiot could have waited.

All the students had been playing around in one large pool of water, but then the girls huddled together and whispered among themselves.

Harriet, acting as their representative, called out to Vertus, who was sitting in the water, almost in a daze.

“Hey, Vertus.”

“Yeah, Saint-Ouen? What is it?”

“We’re going to go up there... to, um, clean ourselves...”

Harriet’s face turned red with embarrassment as she stumbled over her words. Vertus seemed to get the gist of what she was saying and nodded in understanding, even without hearing the full explanation.

“Oh, ohh. I see. Are you sure that’s okay, though? We don’t know what might be around here...”

It seemed Vertus had fully grasped the fact that they wanted to wash not just themselves, but their clothes as well. However, he was unsure whether it was safe to strip down and bathe, given the uncertain surroundings.

“Ellen said she would keep watch to see if anyone approaches.”

“Ah okay. That’s fine, then. I’ll make sure none of the guys go over there.”

Harriet and the other female students began to ascend to a higher part of the ravine which was out of sight.

“I don’t have to tell you guys what not to do, do I?” Vertus asked, and the boys, with sheepish expressions, nodded timidly.

It seemed like the guys were already getting worked up just by the thought of the female students undressing up there.

It was blindingly obvious that they were imagining things that they shouldn’t have. It was written on their faces—these guys looked downright possessed by lustful thoughts.

Connor Lint stared at the female students who were climbing up the slope, his expression twitching.

It seemed like he was considering using teleportation to sneak a peek.

“Don’t even think about doing anything. I’ve got my eye on you,” I warned.

“Wh-What do you mean?! Who’s thinking of doing what?!” Connor Lint retorted, shaking his head vigorously.

Of course, the boys eventually forgot about it, and began washing their own clothes and spreading them out on the rocks to dry, after which they continued to play in the water again.

Since this lower area couldn’t be seen from above, and vice versa, it didn’t really matter.

The biggest troublemaker was Connor Lint.

“Watch this!”

Pop!

Now that it was just the boys, he began to use his teleportation skill liberally. He performed extravagant stunts such as teleporting himself high above the water’s surface and diving in.

“I’m water-walking!”

Pop pop pop!

Aside from the one drawback of him losing his clothes each time he teleported, Lint was able to teleport multiple times in quick succession. His power activation speed and the level of the power itself were truly top-notch. However, he was a pitiful guy whose performance only manifested at the expense of human dignity.

Vertus, too, had completely stripped, just like the others. Since we used communal showers during physical education classes, seeing each other naked wasn’t exactly a new experience.

“There are definitely signs that something or someone was here,” he said with a sigh.

He’d noticed the scattered animal bones and the remnants of meals, and seemed to have grown certain that the island was not uninhabited. He looked over at me, sitting there blankly, and asked, “Would it be a risky choice to move camp here?”

“There are pros and cons. It would be good if we found the other survivor, but there’s also the chance that we might encounter wild beasts.”

Vertus nodded. Since this place had access to water, it was a good place to set up camp. The other inhabitant—whom we presumed to be a survivor—would likely come here to fetch water as well, which meant that it would be easier to discover them.

However, there was no telling what threats we might face at night. Plus, it meant abandoning the camp that we’d established so far.

Vertus decided to postpone the decision.

“Let’s gather together later and talk it over.”

Sometime later, after finishing with the laundry and drying our clothes, we all regrouped. The female students definitely looked much more refreshed, and even Harriet was smiling for the first time since our arrival on the island.

Seeing the improvement in their expressions was a relief.

“You all understand that this is a good place to set up camp, right?” asked Vertus, and the others nodded.

“Let’s consider whether to build a new camp here or return to the original one,” Vertus continued.

“That doesn’t seem like a good idea.”

Unexpectedly, Riana, who had seemed sure to advocate for staying, shook her head. The other female students nodded in agreement. All of them except Ellen seemed to go slightly pale.

“Just now, over there... a snake appeared.”

“This thing.”

Ellen held up a fairly large snake—dead, with a javelin stuck in its head.

The word “snake” alone was enough to make us come to the unanimous decision to leave.

***

When we eventually returned to camp, everyone was drenched in sweat once again, heaving sighs of exhaustion. However, the effort wasn’t exactly in vain, since we had fully replenished our supply of water.

While we had drunk from the water bottles we’d refilled on our trek back, we had still brought back a big pot full of water, which meant that we didn’t have to worry about being short on water for a while.

The sun was beginning to set.

“Should we rest for the day?” Vertus suggested. Any more sweating would render our earlier baths useless.

“How about we complete the work on the camp before resting?” I said, offering an opposing opinion. We had yet to install the wooden flooring in our huts.

At my words, everyone glared daggers at me. They were accusatory looks, as if saying, “Why must we be made to work when all we want to do is rest?”

“Well... I mean, since we’ve come this far, shouldn’t we finish what we started at least?” I continued.

‘These kids... Prepare to thank me tomorrow.’

***

We proceeded to complete the work on our camp, and after Harriet cast an underwater breathing spell on us, Ellen and I set out to hunt for dinner.

Even if our objective was not to hunt, walking under the sea while under the influence of underwater breathing magic was a fascinating experience.

Ellen seemed to share my sentiment, occasionally stopping to stare intently at the small fish making their way through the coral reefs.

When Ellen extended her finger towards them, a small yellow fish nibbled on it, while she watched it quietly. As I observed this scene in silence, our eyes met.

—...

—...

Although we couldn’t talk underwater, we could understand each other’s feelings just by the look in our eyes.

The way Ellen’s black hair swayed in the current was quite striking.

Our catch consisted of three large lobsters and two fish resembling red snappers—a large enough haul to feed eleven people with some to spare.

After emerging from the sea, completely soaked once again, we stood on the beach as the sun was setting.

Noticing that Ellen wasn’t following me back to camp, I turned back. She was standing there quietly, gazing at the burning sunset.

“What are you doing? Let’s go! Hurry up!”

“Okay.”

At my urging, Ellen stopped admiring the scenery and walked towards me, her back to the sunset. The strong backlight hid her expression, and I couldn’t tell what she was feeling.

“I think this is fun.”

She was probably smiling.