"Now that we've finally arrived at the river, but…"
"What should we do?"
Kaede and I arrived at the river, but we were at a loss as to what to do. Since it's school-owned land, the path to the river is correctly marked on the map, so it feels like a very big campground.
I looked at the fishing rod in my hand and looked for a place where I could fish, but…
"…It's so crowded."
"…Yeah, that's true."
Since everyone comes to the river for fish, it can be a bit tough. I don't know much about it, but it looks like the fishing line might get tangled up or something.
While I was looking around, Kaede asked me.
"What should we do? At this rate it's going to be hard to fish now, should we just help Rin-chan and Akira-kun?"
"Well…"
I casually… or rather, almost unconsciously activated my [Presence Detection] skill and searched for a less popular place.
"Hmm?"
I could sense the presence of people, but apart from that, I could also sense the presence of fish. Of course, there were fish in the area where everyone was fishing, but there was another area where many fish were found as well.
I immediately turned my gaze in that direction and saw that the water was rather shallow and not a good place to fish. Hmm… there are so many fish, but it's hard to catch them… No, wait. I think I can grab it with my hands, can't I? Yeah, I think that's it.
I suddenly thought about that, and suddenly wanted to try it out, so I had a word with Kaede.
"There's something I want to try out, so can we meet up with Rin and Akira afterwards?"
"Eh? I don't mind that, but what are you going to do?"
"Watch this."
I pulled up my trouser's cuffs and walked into the river.
"Y-Yuuya-kun! What are you doing?"
Kaede shouted in surprise at my actions. In response to her voice, the surrounding students also turn their gazes towards us.
…Ooh, I didn't expect to get so many gazes, but… w-well, that's okay, I'll just concentrate on the fish for now. I turn my attention to the fish in front of me, or rather, around me.
…Yeah, As I thought, I can grab them with my hands.
Even if I'm considering the resistance of the water, if I think about the movement of the S-class monsters and the like, it will be perfectly fine. If I understand that, it's easy to put it into action.
Although the moment I entered the river and Kaede's words drew attention and made the fish wary of me, I activated the skill [Assimilation]. Normally, it shouldn't be effective if the opponent has found me, but this isn't another world, it's Earth.
Because the monsters of the other world are more sensitive to presence than the creatures of this Earth, once they find me, my skills will not work, but the creatures of this Earth are less vigilant than the monsters in the other world. No, it's not just vigilance but… a sixth sense? The monsters in the different world probably have that.
Anyway, the moment I activated the skill [Assimilation], Kaede and the others, who had been watching me until now screamed in surprise.
"H-huh? Where's Yuuya-kun?"
"W-wasn't he in there just now?"
"Where did he go?"
It's not just Kaede and the others who are surprised, but the fishes as well, and the fishes panicked for a moment as my presence disappeared, but eventually, they began to calm down as they could no longer sense my presence.
I didn't miss the opportunity to take advantage of that calmness and set my sights on a fish.
"──Fuuh!"
I plunged my right arm into the water and grabbed a fish that was swimming near me in one fluid motion. The water was quiet at the moment I plunged my arm into the water and pulled it out, and it was only for a moment.
I looked at the fish and nodded to myself.
"Yep, I knew it was going to be okay."
"Whooaaaaa!"
"Eeehh!?"
I was surprised by the sudden cheers that rose up. And when I turned my gaze in the voices' direction, the other students who had been looking at me earlier were making a lot of noise.
"Did you see that! He caught a fish with his hand!"
"No, I know he caught it, but I didn't see his hand because it was too fleeting!"
"Or rather, didn't he just disappear before…?"
"It's like he really just showed up with a fish in his hand when I realized…"
"That's no longer a human's work… what's going on…?"
I break out in a cold sweat at the unexpected reaction.
…Was it such an out-of-human move? I thought I caught the fish quickly, but… well, it seems the fact that I've disappeared seems to be more of a surprise than the movement when I caught the fish.
As I was thinking about that, Kaede came running up to me excitedly.
"T-that's awesome, Yuuya-kun! I can't believe you caught a fish with your hand…"
"Ah-ahahaha I just wondered if I could do it somehow, and I did."
"…Just like at the previous P.E. class, Yuuya-kun has high specs in general."
"I-I wonder?"
Well, if they remember what I did in the P.E class, I'm sure they'll understand that my physical abilities are unusually high.
"For now, it seems like I can secure the fish, so I'll just catch them all at once. I'm sorry, but I'm going to put the caught fish in a bucket, so Kaede, can you watch over it?"
"Yeah, I understand!"
Once I got Kaede's approval, I headed to the river to catch fish again. By the way, I have confirmed that the fish can be eaten with the [Appraisal] skill, so there should be no problem.
…Ah, once we meet up with Rin and Akira-kun, I guess I'll check everything with [Appraisal] before showing it to the teacher. That way, we could be sure that we can eat them safely.
While I was thinking this and that, many students came to the shallows to try to catch fish with their bare hands, just like me, but they were struggling. I caught more and more fish while they were struggling, and finally, I succeeded in catching eight.
＊＊＊
"Welcome back! So how'd it go over there?"
When we return to the tent location, we find Rin greeting us cheerfully and Akira collapsing down with his butt sticking out. But… What happened to Akira?
"I managed to catch the fish somehow."
"Listen, Rin-chan! Yuuya-kun is incredible, you know? He caught all these fish with his hands!"
"With hands? Sigh~… just like in the P.E class the other day, you're more active than you look, huh…"
"Hmm?"
Well, I already loved exercise even when I was fat! And I wouldn't have looked like someone who loved that no matter how hard I tried. I don't know now for sure.
"Anyway, what's going on with Akira?"
"Huh? Aah… you can leave that guy alone."
"So cruel! You have worked me around so hard!"
"Ah, you're still alive."
Akira, who got up vigorously, began to talk about what the situation was like while feeling dizzy.
"…it was fine at first. We were gathering mushrooms and wild plants and stuff like that, even though we weren't used to it. But you know what? Before long, I found myself being forced to look at wild plants growing on steep cliffs, or foretaste the mushrooms I wasn't familiar with. I could be a bear bait as well…!"
"Foretaste it? The teacher told us not to eat it before showing it to her! And there's a bear in here? This place is dangerous!"
You did the survival thing more than I expected, dude! I was surprised, and Akira gave me a thumbs up with a powerless smile.
"D-don't worry about it. If it makes you guys smile… it's not a problem."
"It's a big problem, you know!"
Especially about the bear! What are we going to do about it? I briefly examined the condition of Akira's body with [Appraisal], but no poison was detected, so it seemed to be fine. Seriously, it's a relief…
"Well then, can you show me what you picked, too?"
"Yeah, of course, I don't mind."
With Rin's approval, I used [Appraisal] of what Akira and Rin had risked their lives to pick.
Black Truffle *[1]
Truffle? Did you get a truffle? This mountain! How far out of bounds is this school? There are a lot more outrageous ingredients that came out of nowhere.
Japanese Yam *[2]
Japanese yam! Awesome, it's the real thing! I heard they also grow in some places, but it's in this mountain, too!
Tonbi Maitake *[3]
This is the first time I've seen this mushroom. As the name implies, it looks similar to a maitake mushroom, but the size of the umbrella is completely different. It's not poisonous, so there is no problem.
This is how I went about confirming it, but there were poisonous things mixed in as well.
…Thank goodness. If Akira had to foretaste this, it would have been irreversible. I mean, that's really dangerous! Well, I'm assuming the teacher will confirm that. More importantly, there's mushrooms and some kind of potatoes, but honestly, I've never cooked them before.
"Hey, how many people can cook in here?"
"….."
"That's a lie, isn't it?"
The three of them looked away at my question. Apparently, I'm the only one who can cook. Seriously? I have something to say, but for now, let's just go together to show the teacher what we picked.
When I went to the place where the teachers were waiting, there were already other students ahead of us, and Kaori was among them.
"Kaori!"
"Eh? Ah, Yuuya-san! How's your group doing?"
"Hmm… well I guess it's good? …If it wasn't survival, I think I would have enjoyed it more genuinely…"
When I let out my true feelings, Kaori gave a bitter smile.
"I'm sure you're right. But it's fun too, right?"
"…Well, yes."
Sure, it's dangerous, but it's just generally fun. That was the unmistakable truth of the matter. Then it seemed that Kaori's group had finished sorting, and a member of the group called out to Kaori.
"Kaori, we're done… Eh, Tenjou-kun?"
"Yes, I understand… Then Yuuya-san, see you again…"
Kaori went to her group members who were surprised to see me in some way and left with a lively look on their faces.
"Yu-Yuuya-kun. Are you an acquaintance of that Kaori-sama?" Akira asked me.
"Heh? K-Kaori-sama? W-well… the reason I came to this school was also Kaori…"
Ah, Akira wasn't there when we hung out the other day, was he? So he doesn't know then. There was no need to hide it, so I told the truth as it was, and Akira came close to me while biting his handkerchief.
"I'm jealous! I'm jealous of you! I can't believe you're acquainted with "Princess" Kaori…!"
"P-Princess?"
When I was unable to follow the flow of the conversation, Rin told me while I was dumbfounded.
"Aside from that idiot, Kaori-san is the daughter of the headmaster of this school, and they call her "Princess" because of her elegant appearance and kindness of character."
"Hee~…"
There's definitely a sense of elegance about her. And yet, she's friendly and… when I think about it again; she's really an amazing person. While we were thinking about this, we asked the teacher to sort out the wild plants and other things we had picked.