Chillin' on an Uninhabited Island in Another World

Ms. Luminous seemed willing to join our party.

And she was more than motivated enough to make use of her ability for her companions’ sake.

But on top of that, she had offered to become our party’s negotiation representative and handle deals with other parties.

“...You’re saying it’ll work if you mediate, Ms. Luminous? Will things really go that smoothly?”

Yumekai was skeptical.

“Would it not depend on the terms of the deal?”

Roa seemed to think it was worth considering.

“Luminuss. So-kun’s Crafting Ability is an unmatched cheat on this island. If people find out about it, students all over the island will swarm in to get the benefits. I don’t want that.”

Chiyu said it in a firm tone.

“Yeah... I think I’d hate that too. I mean, we’re on the side being helped by him too, but I still want to at least be someone who can be properly grateful. I don’t really want to deal with people who ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) can’t do that.”

Shion agreed with Chiyu too.

“That is where I would stand between both sides. I imagine we would have to reveal that the Crafting Ability itself exists, but I would not touch on who possesses it. And to prevent it from becoming one-sided exploitation, any trade would only take place when both sides agree to the terms.”

We would have to trust Ms. Luminous, but it might actually function as mediation.

Say I offered generated products in exchange for gathered materials. Even then, there would probably be people who got angry and said to forget that and just help them.

But if a teacher stood in the middle and explained that the arrangement was necessary for both sides’ benefit, there might be less pushback.

The importance of having someone act as an intermediary was not something to underestimate.

Even when the content was exactly the same, people took words differently depending on whether they came from someone they disliked or someone they trusted.

The question was whether we had enough reason to go that far to trade with them, but...

“I believe time has tremendous value on this island. Exploration for securing food and surveying the terrain is important, but the fact that no time passes in reality no matter how long we spend on the island is also part of its appeal.”

Activities necessary to survive on the island mattered, but using that time to improve ourselves would become an asset once we returned to Earth.

We had realized that too.

“That’s true. Minori is actually studying here, for example.”

Physical condition also carried over after returning, so training and dieting were useful too.

“There are countless things this party can provide to other students. Broadly speaking, clothing, tools, food, and housing, perhaps. In exchange, I would ask the other students for gathered materials and information.” 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

“—If it’s a deal where we have other people handle the labor around gathering, then give them generated products in exchange, then it’s definitely worth doing.”

Of course, when we wanted to go gather something ourselves, we could do that too.

But the farther away the location was, the more time it took to go there and come back. And if you asked whether we had gathered every material available right now, the answer was no.

If students scattered across the island gathered things obtainable in each of their environments, that would cut down on exploration time by a lot.

“By information, you mean maps, answers other parties independently collected from the mystery blackboard, and things of that nature, correct?”

Ms. Luminous nodded at Minori’s confirmation.

“Exactly. It may not go as far as proper maps, but don’t you think even information like what can be gathered in which location has enough value?”

“Mm. And all that information gets centralized with us. If this party is the only one that can grasp the island’s terrain and know where everything is, then trading is viable.”

Even if information was shared among parties other than ours, they probably would not reach the same volume of information we could.

Without a means of transportation like Mashiro or Micron, coordinating with multiple other parties would be difficult.

In other words, not only would both sides benefit, our party alone could pull ahead when it came to information.

“...That might work. Besides, information isn’t something you hand over once and then it’s done. That means the other side doesn’t lose out either. Every time something new gets added, information on where it was placed gains value.”

Yumekai seemed convinced too.

Exactly. Given this island’s environment, new bargaining chips would keep appearing.

We could get the latest island information without moving, and the other side could get generated products.

And the more different things gathered here, the more things my Crafting Ability would be able to generate.

“It would be as if Master were both the island’s lord and its merchant. I think that is wonderful...!”

Roa, who had thrown herself even deeper into her maid role than when we had first met, clapped her hands in delight.

It seemed she was happy to see the development and rising status of this household, this party, and me, the master she had decided to serve.

“...If this goes well, we might be able to spend our time on this island however we like without much need to leave the barrier.”

Shion said it as if imagining the future.

To put it simply, the other parties would do part-time work gathering materials and making maps.

Then I would give them what they wanted as payment.

With that arrangement, my power would not be exploited one-sidedly. Both sides could enjoy the benefits after agreeing to the terms.

If someone did not even want to do that, or just found it unpleasant, then we simply would not trade with that person.

Sticking to your pride was one choice too.

Now that fruit had been added, there was at least no need to worry about starving to death.

“Honestly, I think it’s viable.”

At the positive response, joy spread across Ms. Luminous’s face.

“I’m glad.”

“But... considering the effort it’ll take to find everyone, I think we’ll need them to accept that this is going to take time.”

“Yes. Even if we borrow Mashiro and Micron’s strength, making them run around all day would place a burden on this party. I was thinking that meeting one team, perhaps two teams, per day would be ideal.”

I was relieved that Ms. Luminous was the kind of person who considered our circumstances and burden.

“Oh, I told Kuno and Shouko about this already, but Suou had made a team, so wouldn’t it be easy if we could trade with them?”

Yumekai said it as if she had just remembered.

“Oh, yeah, you did mention that. You said Ryouka was trying to talk to the girls and make a party. I wonder how many she’s gathered.”

Suou Ryouka was one of the central figures in our class, standing on the same level as Shouko.

“Probably most of the girls other than the ones here have been pulled in by Suou.”

There were twenty-four girls, including Ms. Luminous.

Seven of them were here: Chiyu, Shouko, Shion, Minori, Roa, Yumekai, and Ms. Luminous.

I wondered how many of the remaining seventeen were with Suou.

If even ten of them were there, finding that many people at once would be a huge help.

“I see. So Suou is leading a team as well. You mentioned girls, but... are there no boys?”

“Who knows? You haven’t seen them, Ms. Luminous, so you wouldn’t know, but the boys other than Kuno are all pretty dangerous. Everyone’s desperate, with bloodshot eyes.”

For people who had not chosen useful abilities, or who could not adapt to life on a deserted island, there were some ways that was understandable, but...

“I-Is that so?”

“I would find it difficult to trust any boy other than Sousuke.”

Before Minori joined up with us, she had been targeted by two boys, so she probably had some distrust.

“During the last event, one guy even shot at us!”

At Shouko’s indignant words, Ms. Luminous’s eyes widened.

“Wh...! S-Something like that happened?”

I could understand, with an awful lot of generosity, someone panicking at the sight of Mashiro. But even if he was desperate, firing without regard for his classmates had been going too far.

We had confiscated the gun, so at least we did not have to worry about that happening again.

“Given those circumstances, I’ll go with you whenever you head out to negotiate, Ms. Luminous.”

“I’m going too.”

“If we’re riding Mashiro, I’ll go too.”

“Thank you.”

With a phantasmal beast, a healer, and a light-and-heat mage, rough boys would not be much of a problem, and even if someone got hurt, we could heal them.

“Then I guess we’ll spend the morning looking for Suou’s team.”