READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 25
When our vision cleared, what lay before us was…
“It’s sunnyyyyy!” The rain had stopped, and the world outside was now calm.
“You’re quite energetic in the morning, aren’t you… Wait, it’s sunny!” Iori exclaimed, jumping up.
“Peace has returned!”
“Hooray!”
We ran outside, still completely naked, and started jumping around. In our excitement, we didn’t realize that the ground was still muddy from the rain.
“I was worried about what would happen yesterday, but now we can get back to work!” I said.
“Yeah!”
We resumed our efforts to escape the island by resuming our daily life.
◇
First, we focused on securing food. We went to the southern forest and gathered as many fruits as we could. Today, like every day, it was scorching hot, and I couldn’t help but wish for some sunscreen.
I noticed that I was only wearing my underwear again. The habit of partially undressing had grown on me, although I kept it a secret.
“Screech!”
A greedy monkey was trying to intimidate us, but we were used to its antics.
“Shut up! We humans are big eaters!” I yelled, even though I didn’t think it could understand. It responded with more screeching.
“Sorry, but we’ll just take a little,” I said, offering a few fruits to the monkey.
“Screee!”
When Iori joined in, the monkey settled down quickly. The monkeys here seemed to have quite different attitudes towards Iori and me. It was probably because it was mostly males approaching us. The school’s number one beauty could charm not only humans but also monkeys.
“Also, there seem to be a lot of animals today,” I remarked.
“It seems we weren’t the only ones waiting for the rain to stop,” Iori replied.
“Seems that way.”
The southern forest was more lively than usual. Small animals were everywhere, enjoying their meals.
“Look, Iori, the chipmunks are replenishing their fluids,” I pointed to a nearby tree. A cute chipmunk was delicately licking the water droplets on the leaves.
“Kawaii!” Iori was also excited.
“Hmm?”
When I looked down, there was a badger. It was poking the ground with its face, wandering around, likely searching for food.
“Jurlri…!”
Seeing the badger made my mouth water. I remembered the delicious meal we had on this island, especially the one the wolf gave us.
“Nothing tasted better than what we had on this island, right?” Iori’s mouth was watering at the thought too.
“Alright, let’s catch it.”
“What?! Catch a badger!?”
“But there’s a feast right there!”
“But, Masato, can you really kill such a cute animal?”
I glanced at the badger again. It was scratching its back, doing a somersault, displaying an adorable demeanor reminiscent of puppy.
“…”
I stared at it without saying a word and then replied, “No problem! I can handle it without hesitation!”
After all, there are some feasts you can’t replace. This world is survival of the fittest.
“You’re ruthless.”
Iori frowned.
In the end, we didn’t capture the badger. It wasn’t because Iori protested, saying it was inhumane. In fact, she seemed interested in eating it herself, saying something self-centered like, “I won’t help you catch it, but I’ll eat it.”
However, the reason we didn’t catch it was that it escaped. When we tried to catch it, the badger swiftly darted into a nearby hole, which appeared to be its stronghold, located near the roots of a tree.
“Aw man, because of you, Masato, we missed out on a feast!”
“You’re criticizing me for not doing the dirty work, yet you’re making harsh comments.”
Back at our shelter, we were busy working on making paddles for our escape. We had only crafted one paddle so far, and we needed at least three more. We would use two, but having a couple of spares in case we lost them during our voyage was essential.
“But anyway, things are going pretty smoothly today.”
“Yeah! I’ve already finished the second paddle! Just two more to go!”
Within about two hours, we had completed the first paddle of the day. Our efficiency in crafting had noticeably improved since the previous day.
A full day of rest had clearly restored our energy, and we were also becoming more accustomed to working with the carpentry tools.
As the day went on, our efficiency improved even further. We completed the third paddle in about 1 hour and 45 minutes, and the fourth one took approximately 1 and a half hours. These times were our rough estimates, but they seemed to align with our perceived passage of time.
“Paddle production, finished!”
“Great job!”
With that, we wrapped up our work for the day and exchanged a high-five in front of our shelter.
“We have a bit of extra time now.”
“It’s probably around 4 PM.”
“Yeah, I think so.”
Our internal clocks had become surprisingly accurate during our time on the island. We seemed to subconsciously judge the time based on the sun’s position and the intensity of its rays. For example, we could tell that the sun was no longer at its peak because the sunlight had noticeably weakened. It was one of those things we didn’t need to make a sundial for; we just knew.
“What should we do with this free time?”
“Maybe start building the boat?”
“Nah, let’s save that for tomorrow or later. We’re tired from making the paddles, and I’d prefer to build the boat closer to the sea.”
“Yeah, it would be tough to transport it from here.”
“And we’ll have to carry a lot of other things too.”
When we set sail, we would need a significant amount of supplies, especially drinking water.
“So, do you want to play Tic-Tac-Toe again like yesterday?”
I chuckled at Iori’s sly grin and immediately responded, “No, thanks.”
“Okay, we can rest in the shelter, but I really want to escape from this island as soon as possible. Let’s put in a bit more work. There’s a light task that we can do.”
“What kind of ‘light task’ are you talking about?”
“That thing.”
I pointed towards the bamboo grove visible to the west of our shelter.