「 What do you mean by Isekai? 」
Mana asks with a violent tone.
「 It’s just my opinion, don’t be so harsh. It’s just that everything is too strange. The ecosystem is, and the events that led to this. That’s all out of ordinary 」
「 That doesn’t mean that we’re in a place that’s not Earth. That’s just weird 」
「 And that’s why I’m saying it’s my opinion. Just an opinion. We have no scientific grounds for it, and I’m not saying that I’m right either. It’s just the answer I came up from sorting out the situation 」
Maybe it’s too early to express my conclusion.
No, the timing will always be bad, even if it’s early or late.
It would be bad if they started screaming here and the tiger notices us.
I don’t think I can win against the tiger with my survival knife.
「 Let’s withdraw from here for now. Let’s talk after that 」
I backed off while keeping an eye on the tiger.
The girls moved together with me.
◇
It’s chilling but we managed to withdraw.
We rested on the river I found after leaving the cave.
「 Drinking directly from the river has the risk of diarrhea. That’s why you should drink from this bottle that has a purifier 」
I demonstrate with the bottle from my bag.
My bottle already has water but I tossed it away since it’s a special case.
「 Like this 」
Then, I show that there’s no problem drinking from it.
「 And I have two more, so use those when you need a drink 」
I handed the bottles to Eri and Arisa.
「 Ninja, you’re too prepared for this! But, won’t it be an indirect kiss with Ninja if we use this bottle? We’re not in that relationship, are we? 」
Arisa jokes about indirect kissing with a bit of displeasure.
She’s that kind of cheery person and she expresses her thoughts that way.
And for a gloomy guy like me, it’s more displeasure.
「 Don’t worry. I haven’t used those yet. I mean, it’s my first time using this bottle I used 」
「 Then that’s great 」
Arisa is the one who chimes the group.
I guess that’s why she’s bright with it.
Eri and Karin are sure of their thoughts.
Both of them are calm on the surface.
The two shared the bottled water.
Then, they show no interest and stay silent.
On the other hand, Mana’s the only one visibly confused.
Arisa handed her the bottle but she lagged before reacting.
「 D-Does this mean that we can’t go home? 」
Mana asked as she takes the bottle from Arisa.
Then, after drinking water in one gulp, she handed the bottle back to Arisa.
Arisa laughed at her saying “You’re a heavy drinker,” and supplied the bottle with water.
She readily chimes with others but Mana’s facial expressions show worry.
「 I don’t know. If my guess is right, we might be able to return. Although, I don’t know how to do it, and there’s a high likelihood that it won’t happen. Besides, even I know that the idea of going to a parallel world is stupid 」
「 Do we have a way to see if we’re in Isekai or not? 」
「 Hmmm 」
I think for a moment.
「 I won’t know if we’re in another world or not but if I can see the outside of the forest then I might find something. For example, if there’s a nearby settlement, then we won’t need to do a survival lifestyle, right? 」
「 Yeah. Then let’s hurry up and escape the forest. I want to go back home 」
「 I do soo, but, we don’t know which direction we should go. In a sense, I would like to find the sea if possible. Although, I have a different method 」
「 What do you mean? 」
Mana tilts her head.
The other three make the same face.
「 Our reception’s down but we can still use cameras on our phones. Therefore, all we have to do is climb a tree and take photos of the surroundings 」
「 There’s no way we can climb a tree 」
「 I can do tree climbing 」
Arisa retorts with “you’re a real ninja!”
Eri and Karin are also surprised.
「 Well, that’s just a suggestion. Does anyone have a selfie stick and smartphone? Mine’s an old model, and I don’t think I can use the selfie stick with it. And in that regard, everyone has the latest smartphone, right? 」
I know. These girls have selfie sticks.
In this age, a selfie stick is a common equipment for women.
I don’t know how to use it but it should be simple.
「 If that’s the case, use mine. Mine is the longest, and you can operate the camera using the stick itself 」
Karin says while taking out her selfie stick.
At that moment, I saw the inside of her bag but there are more textbooks than I expected.
I think she’s more diligent than me.
「 You know how to use this? 」
Karen sets the smartphone to the selfie stick and handed it to me
「 Nope, not at all 」
It’s my first time holding a selfie stick.
As I hold it, I touch the controller and buttons that you can operate with your thumb.
「 This is the button when you want to take a photo. When you want to switch from photo to video recording, then press this. Also, you can use this controller to change the orientation of the camera 」
Handling it is simple.
「 Got it 」
I tried it on the spot.
It’s easy to use, I can handle this.
「 I’ll be borrowing this to take photos 」
「 Both the smartphone and the selfie stick are expensive so try not to break it 」
「 I’ll be careful 」
I placed the selfie stick in my back pocket.
I take out a cord from my bag and bind it to a trunk.
I can’t be sure that I have the stick secured while tree climbing.
「 Wow, you’re climbing like a ninja! 」
Arisa said as she watches me climb the tree quickly.
「 You’re like a monkey 」
Eri said.
After that, Mana said something.
I didn’t hear it but it seems to be a joke.
Since the girls started laughing out loudly after Mana said that.
「 It’s great that Mana’s not getting hysterical 」
I mutter to myself while climbing the tree.
I’d say that women are more pragmatic than men but it sure is.
「 There we go 」
Finally, I reached the limit of where I can climb.
However, I can’t see anything but foliage everywhere.
「 And I’m glad I borrowed this selfie stick 」
If I use this selfie stick, I can take photos above the leaves.
I hold the tree with my left arm and legs and push the selfie stick with my right hand.
First is to take photographs, getting the peripheral view of the area.
Also, let’s use video mode just to make sure.
If I take this much material, I should be able to gather some information.
「 What’s left is to get down. Wait! Hey! 」
When I’m about to put the selfie stick back to my pocket…
「 Ukikiki!!! 」
A monkey stole it at an extreme speed.
「 Hey, wait! Give that back! 」
「 Ukikikiki?! Ukikiki!! 」
The monkey laughed at me and then gets off the tree.
「 Hey, the monkey took the selfie stick! Take it back! 」
I shout at the girls in a hurry.
「 Ninja?! What are you doing?! 」
I hear Mana’s angry shout.
That said, I don’t feel that much anger.
「 I guess ninjas can’t win against monkeys! Lol! 」
Arisa joked and laughed.
「 It’s not time to joke around! 」
I get down the tree in a hurry.
Then, down there are the girls…and the monkey.
It’s the monkey who took the selfie stick from me.
「 Ukikiki!! 」
The monkey clings to Mana’s body and buried his face on her breasts.
He returned the selfie stick and smartphone to Karin’s hand.
「 What’s going on? 」
I’m the one surprised this time.
「 Actually, I have this special skill where I get along with animals 」
Mana grins saying “isn’t that amazing?’
「 Sure is, but I think that this guy opened up to you too fast 」
「 And that’s why it’s a special skill 」
「 But, I never thought that the monkey would do what you say 」
Edie is impressed.
「 W-Well, I’m glad that it wasn’t stolen 」
Oh geez. I sighed.
Then, I returned to the issue at hand.
「 Okay, let’s check the results 」