Stranded on a Deserted Island with the School’s Number One Beauty, So I’ll Give It My Best Shot.

“Iori, try holding one of those clay pots with just one hand.”

“Okay, but…?”

Iori hugged the clay pot filled with water bottles with both hands. Since the water bottles were empty, it was easy for her to lift.

“No, try holding it with just one hand.”

“Like this?”

Iori released her left hand, keeping the clay pot pressed against her chest with her right hand to maintain her balance.

“Now, try holding another one with your free left hand.”

“I can’t do that!”

“That’s the point.”

“No, I still don’t get it! How does this relate to what we’re making?”

“Seriously? After all the explanation, it’s still not clear to you?”

“Hahaha,” I chuckled mockingly.

“Oh, come on! Don’t be condescending just because you’re a bit smarter!” Iori protested.

“Haha, sorry, sorry. Let’s stop teasing you. I’ll explain.”

I raised my right index finger.

“We’re going to make a cart.”

“A cart!?”

“Yes. We need a way to transport the supplies we’ll load onto the raft, but there’s no way we can carry everything ourselves. However, making a round trip on our sailing days is out of the question. So, we’ll use a cart to transport all the goods in one go.”

“Wow! That sounds amazing! But can we even make a cart?”

“That’s the question.”

“What do you mean?”

I smirked.

“Actually, I don’t know how to make one either.”

“Whoa!” Iori exclaimed, rolling over.

“But well, we’ll figure it out somehow. Like I mentioned before, old things have simple structures. Carts are no exception. We just need wheels, a shaft, and then make the cargo bed and assemble it all together. It should be fine,” I explained.

“A shaft? What’s that?” Iori asked.

“It’s the rod that connects the wheels. You can also call it an axle,” I replied.

“Oh, I see!” Iori chuckled.

With that settled, we decided to start by cutting down some trees to make the cart.

“Alright, let’s go and cut some wood for the cart!” I exclaimed.

“Yeah!” Iori agreed.

◇

We planned to make the cart from a single tree, so we used a saw to cut down a thick and large tree. From there, we cut it into a size that we could transport and brought it back. By this point, it was already past noon.

“Ugh, seriously! Cutting down trees is unbelievably tough!” I exclaimed.

“Look, look! Sweat is pooling in my cleavage!” Iori teased.

“Seriously… Hey, have some shame! You’re not even wearing a bra today!” I retorted.

“Hahaha.”

As we took a break that was a bit late for lunch, we enjoyed our conversation. We sat by the well, replenishing our fluids as if we were bathing in it. The sweat that had poured out from our upper bodies had soaked through the waistbands of our pants. Iori’s skirt was similarly soaked.

“You know, I feel like I’ve definitely gotten stronger since coming to this island, physically,” I said.

“I’ve gained strength too, and I’ve got a nice tan!” Iori chimed in.

“Yeah, we’ve even fought lions. I don’t think we’d lose to regular people now,” I added.

“In that case, when we get back to Japan, try picking a fight with someone intimidating!” Iori suggested.

“No way! I’ll keep it to just showing off a bit at school!” I replied.

“Smart!”

I stood up and said, “Well, let’s get the rest of the work done.”

“We’ll do our best!” Iori agreed.

Now it was time to process the wood we had cut down. First, we started with the easy part: making the wheels. Making wheels was quite straightforward.

“Is this width okay, or do you think it should be a bit wider?” I asked.

“I’m not sure, but isn’t it a bit too narrow at that size?” Iori replied.

“Now that you mention it, it does seem a bit thin. Let’s make it a bit wider,” I suggested.

We decided on a suitable width and continued cutting the wood into wheel-shaped slices. Since the tree trunk was already round, this was all we needed to do to create the wheels.

“Now we just need to make three more of the same size,” I said.

“Three? Isn’t one enough?” Iori asked.

“I’m thinking of making it a four-wheeled cart for better stability during transportation,” I explained.

“Ah, I see!”

So, we ended up with a total of four wheels.

“Next, we need to make the shafts,” I continued.

With four wheels, we needed two shafts: one for the front wheels and one for the rear wheels.

“Do you think square shafts would work?”

“If it fits perfectly, I think it’ll be fine!” Iori exclaimed.

“If you say so, let’s go with that. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll blame it on Iori,” I joked.

“That’s not fair!”

“I’m kidding. If it doesn’t work, we can always chamfer the edges,” I explained.

“Chamfer? What’s that?”

“It’s cutting off the corners. You just keep cutting the corners until it becomes round,” I said.

Iori seemed impressed. “Using professional terms makes you sound like a craftsman!”

“Maybe I’ll become a carpenter when I grow up!” I joked.

“You better not! You’re definitely not cut out for it,” she laughed.

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, carpenters have to work as a team, right? You always want to do everything by yourself, so they’d get mad at you for doing your own thing!” she teased.

“Yeah, that’s possible,” I replied.

I could easily imagine getting scolded, throwing a tantrum, and quitting right away.

“I guess this will do for the shafts,” I continued.

I had roughly cut the original wood into pieces and shaped them into shafts.

Iori asked, “Is it okay that the shafts have different thicknesses?”

“That shouldn’t be a problem. We can adjust the wheel holes to fit the shafts,” I explained.

“I see!”

“We’ll leave the cargo bed for later. For now, let’s drill holes in the wheels and pass the shafts through,” I suggested.

“Got it!”

We placed the wheels flat on the ground and stood the shafts upright in their centers, marking them with pencils. Then, we used an awl to make a small hole and drilled through it with a hand drill. Iori helped me hold the wheel steady while I drilled.

“Alright, we’ve got a hole!”

“Well done!” I exclaimed.

“Now we just need to enlarge the holes to match the size of the shafts,” Iori said.

“I’ll do that part! You can go ahead and drill holes in the other wheels,” I replied.

“Alright!”

We divided the tasks to work efficiently. Iori took care of widening the holes, being careful not to slip.

“We did it!” we cheered together.

We had successfully drilled holes in all the wheels and connected them to the shafts.

“Let’s see if we need to round off the edges,” I suggested.

We pushed the shafts, and to our delight, the wheels spun smoothly.

“It’s moving!” we exclaimed.

We both felt a sense of accomplishment, similar to what the inventor of the wheel might have experienced.

“Now all that’s left is to make the cargo bed and attach it,” I said.

“Understood, Captain!” Iori playfully saluted.

“It’s been a while since I heard ‘Understood, Captain!’” I chuckled.

The cargo bed was made by aligning several wooden boards. We arranged the boards vertically, placed thinner horizontal boards underneath, and secured them with nails. On these thin boards, we stacked the shafts and fixed them with U-shaped wooden pieces.

“Now it’s almost complete,” I remarked.

“That’s true, but…” Iori’s face looked troubled.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Why are both the front and rear wheels located towards the back of the cargo bed?” she inquired.

I understood her concern. “The front wheel is not part of the cargo bed; it’s for pushing,” I explained.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“We’ll cut a portion of the boards from the front of the cargo bed, leaving some space. Then, I’ll get inside and push with all my strength, like a rickshaw puller, you know, the person who operates a rickshaw.”

“I see! That makes sense,” she said, now understanding.

With her approval, I proceeded to perform the task I had just described. It was a bit challenging due to the prior attachment of the shafts, but we managed to complete it.

“There you have it, our cargo bed is finished!” I announced.

“It looks quite professional!” Iori applauded.

“The leftover wood can be placed upright on the edges of the cargo bed to create walls,” I suggested.

“That’s a great idea! It would be troublesome if something fell during transportation,” Iori agreed.

We made a few minor adjustments, and this time, our cargo bed was truly complete.

“There’s nothing more to add; it looks perfect!” I exclaimed.

The finished cargo bed was of remarkable quality, reminiscent of the traditional Japanese hand-pulled cart known as a “daihachiguruma” that was active during the Edo period.

“Let’s give it a try!” I suggested.

“Agreed,” Iori replied.

We placed some random clay pots on the cargo bed and started pushing. It wasn’t the smoothest ride, but the wheels were moving steadily.

“Amazing! Our cargo bed is working!” Iori cheered.

“It feels like we’ve time-traveled back to the Edo period!” I added.

“I want to push it too!” Iori said.

“Sure, go ahead, push away!” I encouraged her.

She grabbed the handles, raised them to chest height, and with determination, began pushing the cargo bed.

Using all her strength, Iori moved the cargo bed.

“This is amazing! It’s much lighter than carrying things by hand!” she exclaimed.

“It’s no wonder it’s considered one of humanity’s greatest inventions. Wheels are truly remarkable!” I replied.

With the cargo bed now complete, we could transport the prepared supplies without any problems.

“Tomorrow, we’ll start building the raft!” I said.

“And once it’s done, we’ll make our escape from this island!” Iori added.

As the sun began to set, and night was approaching, we had been working tirelessly since morning. Despite our exhaustion, we were full of energy and smiles.

We were on the verge of regaining our normal lives, and that thought fueled our boundless enthusiasm.