Deserted Island.
The secret of the island I’m on turned out to be a deserted island.
Of course, I didn’t do much searching after waking up.
Still, I could tell this place was indeed a deserted island.
“…Ken? Where the heck is this?”
“Eek! What the heck! I definitely fell asleep in the dormitory!”
“The ocean…? Is this a dream?”
“What’s going on! Why am I wearing a swimsuit?”
I wasn’t the only one who woke up on the island.
Emily approached me with a puzzled expression, followed by others starting to get up behind her.
They were my classmates.
However, it wasn’t the entire class.
Only some of the female students from my class had woken up with me on this island.
“Hmm? Something weird is floating in front of me? Hey, do you guys see this?”
“Oh, Enzo!”
And among the few male students here with me, there was Enzo Rotirix.
He stood up on the sandy beach, calmly gazing into the air and speaking to our classmates.
‘So it’s not just me who can see it.’
The familiar message window appeared in front of me, and everyone else started muttering as they stared at the air.
“W-wait, a week?”
“What’s this, an illusion spell?”
“More importantly, survive? Who brought us here?”
The reason I could tell this was a deserted island was because of this message window.
I opened my eyes to the sound of crashing waves on the beach.
And my classmates, who had also just opened their eyes.
This was the event that happens when you use an item like the Monkey Tablet in a game to boost the affection of a target character.
‘So, one of them must have used it.’
When the Monkey Tablet is used, the desired character arrives on this island along with the one using it.
And you survive on this island to raise affection points.
The problem is that in the original game, you would travel to the island alone with the target character.
But now, a way larger group has arrived on the island.
‘No matter how I think about it, it has to be that guy.’
I relaxed and smiled as I watched Enzo comforting the girls.
‘He’s been causing trouble since the start of the first year…’
Definitely someone who tried to trap Adrian out of jealousy, only to end up expelled himself.
No matter how I think about it, if he’s involved in this situation, he’s the culprit.
“Hey, shall we move to the shade of that tree? The sun is pretty hot.”
“Oh, right! I was worried about getting sunburned.”
Despite the chaotic situation, under Enzo’s lead, everyone moved toward the shade of the nearby forest.
Seeing him calm in this situation, it’s definitely his doing.
“Just like I thought, it’s Enzo. He’s reliable.”
“What, I just wanted to help you all calm down.”
Seizing the opportunity, he worked hard to appeal to the girls.
To be honest, it was hard to keep a straight face watching him.
Mainly because of the twist.
“Ugh…”
Emily, walking beside me, also wore a disgusted expression.
“…What’s wrong?”
After briefly glancing at Emily and making eye contact, she released her grimace and quietly asked me.
“Hey, aren’t you going to the shade?”
“Right, it’s really hot in the sun.”
Currently, Emily and I were the only ones not following Enzo into the tree’s shade.
“That area looks spacious. Come on, let’s go.”
And Emily naturally attached herself to my arm.
Then she led us into another spacious shade, not the one where Enzo and the girls were gathered.
“Emily! Don’t stay over there, how about coming here?”
Seeing Emily not join their group, Enzo shouted out to her.
At that, Emily clicked her tongue just loud enough for me to hear and coldly replied,
“No thanks, I’m good here.”
Even from a distance, I could see Enzo’s face stiffening.
‘…Could it be he’s interested in Emily?’
Thinking back, the reason Adrian and he didn’t get along seemed to be that Adrian was close with Emily.
He had strangely engaged her first, being the main character.
“Oh, I wanna go over there too!”
“Me too, me too!”
“Doesn’t that place look spacious?”
As Emily and I sought shade from the sun, the girls from Enzo’s side flocked over here.
Now it left Enzo alone under the other shade.
“Hey, wait! You guys made it cramped over here!”
“What’s wrong with that? Emily~ It feels comforting to be together.”
“Ken~ I’m scared~”
“Whoa, Ken’s muscles are amazing…”
“I know! He trains with the senior every morning, right?”
In contrast, it became quite a ruckus over here.
With everyone gathering in the hot and deserted island, the atmosphere felt ten times hotter.
‘Looks like they’re having their own flaming hot situation over there.’
I caught sight of Enzo glaring at me with fiery eyes.
Ah, I think I understand how this is going.
Right now, my situation is quite similar to Adrian’s during the first semester of freshman year.
Enzo became jealous of the attention I received from the girls because of my looks.
To gain that attention for himself, he must’ve used the Monkey Tablet.
He probably bought it with wishes granted from the dark shop.
‘To be honest, I wouldn’t mind if the girls’ attention went all to him.’
I needed to sort things out and come up with a plan for surviving the week, but the girls kept distracting me.
And before I knew it, Enzo had also joined us in the shade.
‘He really is an open book.’
Just a necessary story of an extra character.
…Ah, I’m also an extra, huh?
Now that I think about it, calling myself a supporting character might be just as bad.
‘That said, let’s move quickly.’
“Hey, if everyone’s resting, I think I’ll take a stroll through the forest for a bit.”
I raised my hand, looking at the noisy girls and Enzo.
Suddenly, Enzo’s face brightened.
“Oh, then I’ll leave it to you! Take your time!”
He really seems simple-minded.
He must’ve summoned this event to earn the girls’ affections and diminish my reputation.
But he also probably hoped that they would leave him space, given that so many girls were gathered around him.
Thanks to that, I could leave the spot without further interrogation.
“Well, I’ll go too!”
Just as I was getting up, Emily grabbed my arm and followed me.
‘I didn’t expect her to tag along.’
The other students refused to move, insisting it was too hot and sunny.
But only Emily was the one who chose to follow me.
‘She didn’t seem to like me much at the moment.’
She had lost the memories she built with me.
Therefore, all she had left were the memories of when she used to bully me.
“Just resting would’ve been fine.”
“What are you saying! Who knows what dangerous things are out there! I’ll help too.”
She nagged me, reminding me of the time we set off for the Tower.
Emily often did this, trying to steer me away from risky ventures.
And being the party’s healer, she was always the one most concerned about safety.
‘Though those memories are gone, emotions remain, I suppose.’
Just like with Raphne.
Even if the memories were wiped away, the feelings from that time still lingered.
Perhaps that’s why she treated me warmly, despite only recalling the times she bullied me.
Feeling slightly awkward about it, but…
“Firewood?”
“Yup, we need to last a week. It’s going to get cold at night.”
“Is it really going to be cold…?”
“Islands like this have extreme temperature shifts. It’ll get pretty cold at night. And we’ll need light too.”
My goal was to find enough firewood to last us through tonight.
However, it wasn’t just any wood; I wanted a weird blue sap tree.
“…Somehow, that color seems dangerous to burn.”
“Exactly, that’s why we’re collecting it.”
There’s a reason.
After gathering enough firewood, I returned to the group.
‘Having no Subspace Pocket really is inconvenient.’
Normally, I could just toss the firewood into the Subspace Pocket and skip the hassle of carrying it.
But now, with only our swimsuits on, we didn’t have any Subspace Pockets.
“…Why are you staring like that?”
“Ah, s-sorry.”
Suddenly reminded that we were in swimsuits, I glanced at Emily’s attire.
She was in a white bikini.
With less fabric, most of her body was exposed.
I couldn’t help but let my gaze wander to her well-defined figure.
‘Not exactly easy to find a place to look.’
My face heated up slightly from embarrassment.
I didn’t notice before because of her school uniform, but Emily’s figure was quite impressive for a main character.
She could totally pull off a swimsuit model, with no flab and all the right curves.
“I suppose I can let you look a little since there’s no other choice…”
While carrying the firewood and walking, Emily teasingly said that.
“……Huh?”
Stunned by her unexpected statement, I almost dropped the firewood.
How does she even know about this?!
“I heard it directly from Mary.”
“You guys are close…”
“Pfft, doesn’t seem like a match, huh? Even I find it weird to call Mary a friend.”
It seems they’d become closer before I knew it.
Just a few days ago, when the exam talk came up, they were glaring at each other.
But thinking about it, lately, they seemed to greet each other and chat whenever they arrived in class.
“…So, what are you going to do?”
“What, what about?”
“About her confession. Your answer.”
“…….”
I guess she was quite curious about that part.
Or maybe she didn’t have anything better to talk about.
Girls tend to enjoy these kinds of conversations.
“…I’m not so sure.”
I turned my head aside and answered quietly.
I really didn’t know.
That was my true feeling.
‘Well, Raphne likes me too…’
Raphne had confessed to me.
Even though it was erased when the past changed, that didn’t change the fact that Raphne has her memories back now.
In the past, I had heard I was liked, much earlier than Mary.
I thought Raphne was the only one in the world who liked me.
Of course, regardless, Raphne was still special to me.
…That doesn’t mean my feelings for Mary aren’t special as well.
So it’s been confusing lately.
What exactly should I do?
“Well then, let me change the question. How many people are you planning to marry?”
“……What?”
“I mean marrying. It’s not like dating means you have to be with everyone… Do you have anyone in mind?”
“Uh, no, not really.”
Marrying.
How many people would I marry?
The topic clashed with my common sense, and for a moment I couldn’t follow her flow.
I pondered whether she had a hidden agenda with this question, but…
“It’s not common, but there are quite a few, you know? Men who marry multiple people.”
I realized from Emily’s flush that her question was literal without any ulterior motive.
‘Is polygamy accepted in this world…?’
In a fantasy setting, it wouldn’t be too strange, but it never crossed my mind.
“Of course, if multiple people are involved, people will say you’re a thief… But as long as the parties agree, I think it’s perfectly fine.”
Apparently, it felt like the norm to have multiple marriages at that level.
Just a rumor that you’d be called a thief.
How happy that must feel.
“So? Ken, how many?”
A quick glance revealed Emily watching me curiously.
“Honestly, I’ve never thought about that. I just assumed it would be one.”
“That’s right, usually.”
After that, we quietly walked through the forest again.
The atmosphere felt even more awkward than before our conversation.
Then, suddenly, Emily broke the silence again.
“…But still, think about it.”
“Think about marriage?”
“Yeah. You never know what could happen.”
Dada dada dada.
Emily quickly ran ahead, spun around, and faced me with a shy expression.
“Who knows, several girls might show up saying they want to live with you.”
As I stared blankly at her, Emily mischievously smiled and spun around again, running ahead.
Having almost reached the edge of the forest, she immediately joined the other group and began chatting.
‘…Marriage.’
Multiple partners are possible.
‘……But that doesn’t seem right, does it?’
It felt like a pretty shabby choice through the lens of modern common sense.
But then.
I could picture the smiling faces of Raphne and Mary.
And also one of them finding out and getting all teary-eyed.
‘Should I live like a scumbag…’
Just then, my gaze shifted.
To Emily, who was chatting and smiling with her friends.
