Chapter 269

The scenario waiting for us at the rendezvous point was one of the exhausted students.

It seems even the fruits which looked good at first turned out to be poisonous after an appraisal using magic.

And even when they tried to hunt wild animals, it was another hardship as they had no access to any good equipment.

It seems one of the groups had created a pitfall and kept waiting for their pray to fall in but ultimately ended the day without a single hit.

Another group had used appraisal magic on all the plants and were about to completely run out of mana but still managed to gather only a small amount of food.

Another group seemed to have encountered a low level monster and gathering food had become the least of their worries as they desperately fought.

All the groups' achievements were poor and they had only earned a few points, making them feel even more depressed.

And without a doubt, our group had produced the best results.

"What is this?! How is Mondo being so useful?!"

"Shut up, Billy! I was there as the group leader so it's only natural!"

One of the exhausted students was jealous of Mondo's results and was trying to flare up at him but was put down by George.

Even after that, everyone was surprised by our group's high points and kept asking questions on what kind of activities we did.

The other groups had no other choice but to remain silent in front of my 41 points.

Although the highest point was earned by Marsha.

It seems Marsha's magic helped her earn some points—ultimately giving her 39 points for the fish and 5 for her magic.

I don't really care about losing in points but I can't accept losing to a beginner who started fishing just today.

I mean, sure, I was making fishing rods for the most part later on but... even still, it seems like there is a need to show her the awesomeness of an expert next time.

Well, leaving that aside.

George, Mondo, Aina and Marsha explained in detail about our activities today.

And after this and that, when we had reached the base, there were 15 tents completed.

It seems they were simple tents and building them was simpler than I had thought.

All of them only earned about 1-3 points so you can tell how much they really worked from that.

"Make sure to store stuff which should not get wet, inside the tent!"

I heard an instructor say.

They are probably going to use a big tent for a shared storage space.

There was also a tent for meetings and a particularly extravagant one for the nobles.

Are you kidding me? That's unfair! — it was luxurious enough to make me want to say that out loud.

Well, I guess it's fine. I don't really want to sleep outdoors either so it was fortunate that someone had tents.

The thought of blowing it away by a sudden gust did cross my mind but that would lead to my points being decreased.

I should think of something to make my tent's interior better.

While I was looking at the complete tents, the students started preparing for dinner after taking a small break.

Our group also started working, so I decided to help out.

"Are our groups preparing the exploration group's portion as well?"

When I asked, Marsha replied,

"Right... I do want to but I am not really good at cooking..."

"Eh, not really good? You're nowhere near—"

"Do you have something you would like to say, Mondo-kun?"

Mondo tried to say something there but stopped after being overwhelmed by Marsha.

Even George was pretending as if he didn't hear anything and was preparing the stones for the stove. It seems it would be wise for me to pretend I didn't hear anything either.

"Aina—"

"What is it~ Satoru-kun~?"

This is bad.

I feel like I might step on a landmine.

I could spot George on the other side shaking his head so I understood that these two are out of the equation.

"No, just that I would like to ask you and Marsha to gather some branches to burn for the fire, is that okay?"

"That's completely alright!"

"That would be easy~if we combine our magic, huh?"

George told them to be careful and not get out of sight.

This place is surrounded by hills but the entrance to the forest can be seen clearly.

The other groups also seemed like they were going to gather some branches so these two girls should be fine.

Normally, our roles would be opposite but since we have magic here, we do not decide on anything with just physical abilities.

As such, we didn't pursue the topic any further and started our work.

After driving away the two girls, I started dealing with the fish.

As there was no kitchen knife, I prepared it with the small survival knife.

I could tell that there were no parasite or poison in the fish with my Appraisal Study but for what it matters, I feigned ignorance and asked them to check it again.

"Yep, it's fine! There doesn't seem to be any problem!"

Mondo told me with a lively voice.

He is probably excited about being able to eat something other than the rations. I have been hearing his stomach roaring for a while now so I could tell how much he was looking forward to it.

"Alright, then all that's left is to grill it."

When I raised my face, I saw that the students from other groups coming to watch.

The students studying at the academies probably have experienced camping but they don't have survival training. As such, even if you hand them fish or grass, they won't know how to cook it.

I guess I have no choice.