"Urgh… I've been walking for ages… Or 15 minutes! But it feels like an eternity… I wanna explore with Master! Not theye weirdos…"
"What's the matter, Yuki? We can take a break if you are exhausted."
"I'm fine. Let's just keep walking!"
Yuki had met a couple of class 3 students as well. Though in her case, they lacked any usefulness which they had with Yamato. They were quite irritating. Like a hive mind, she thought. She wondered how people like that would react if she suddenly killed one of them. Maybe they would just die too because they are connected and not normal! But Yamato would never approve for her to test that out. What a shame. As she finally reached the mountain, followed by those nuisances, her heart filled with bliss as she spotted Yamato talking to more hive mind people. Which was the only way she would refer to the entirety of their class from now on, regardless of if it turned out to be true of remained a mystery forever. She quickly ran over to him, leaving the hive mind people following her behind, though they would continue to follow.
"Yamato!"
"Yuki?"
He had just turned around, and already felt the overwhelming force of her jumping onto him, making him fall over onto the ground.
"I was so worried! I was hoping to find you here! I saw a spider! Then I killed it. Then a worm thingy came and tried to eat the dead spider. Then I killed the worm thingy! Then a bunch of bugs came and I got grossed out and left!"
"That's… Great?"
"Isn't it? Then I met a bunch of class 3 students! …I think they are a hive mind! And we got here in hopes of at least finding clues to the resort and your location! I also already found the resort!"
She whispered the hive mind part, getting awfully close as she remained on top of him after pushing him onto the ground.
"You did? How so?"
"I created a massive pillar out of ice beneath me, which put me super high into the sky and I was able to spot it at the beach to the north!"
"That's… Pretty clever. Good work. I assumed it was more central, but I guess not…Luckily, I have you."
"He has me? He has me! He said I'm his, ahhhh!"
Her mind was flooded with pictures of their wedding.
"Hehe, thank you! But it's on the opposite side of the island… We won't make it today. We will need to sleep under a tree again!"
"Well, that should be fine. We should get through the day without food or water, and if we reach it tomorrow, there shouldn't be a problem."
"It's also very hot!"
"…Yes?"
"So… Y'know…"
"Ah. You're right. We shouldn't be too careless with dehydration. We should hurry tomorrow, but now we can already try to find a place that is not owned by a million bugs."
"Yeah… That's what I meant… But you're right. No bugs while we sleep!"
It was already getting dark, since Yamato's mountain climbing took longer than expected since he had to do it twice, or at least only wait the second time which took even longer since they were not as fast as he would have been. When Yuki released him and they stood up again, the hive mind people were gone. Leaving only a note behind that read:
"Dear Yamato and Yuki,
We just met yet we are so grateful for your help in reuniting us. We see you are close, and realize we would only bother you. Please take care, we wish you the best
Your Class 3!"
As Yuki read it, she got weirded out by how personal it read. So after Yamato gave her permission, she burned the note. They then got to a tree at the border of the mountain and deep jungle, where Yuki drew a magic circle which prevented living things to pass through. Though it was not very strong, since it would have to be held up all night long, it would be sufficient to hold back insects. That way she could safe mana and energy just in case. This concluded their day, as she even used a weak ice spell to use as air conditioniner, making it actually quite comfortable. Though it did not last long as in the middle of the night, a loud explosion could be heard across the entire island. Both Yamato and Yuki woke up instantly, Yuki was not sleeping in the first place, and looked around to locate the sounds origins. Which turned out to be not that difficult since a giant cloud of fire was in the air, pretty far away but extremely visible because it was pitch black at this hour.
"Maybe we should hurry, Master?"
"That… Would be better, I think… I'm not tried at all either, oddly. Do you know anyone who could do that?"
"Elara maybe? Or some class 1 students. They seemed pretty destructive last time. Or… The hive mind people!"
"So it could be anyone basically… Well, we shouldn't waste time. That's kind of in the direction of the resort, right?"
"Not exactly… But they are closer than we are."
"In that case, let's go."
"Let's go~!"
Yuki lit a fame on her finger tip and used it as a torch, guiding them through the jungle. She insisted on holding hands, for safety purposes. Yamato agreed without any pushback, since he would prefer to not get separated again. They walked until the sun rose, the mountain was already small in the distance. They avoided the area where the explosion was, and instead went directly for the resort.
"Is it important that we win, Master? Professor Reed's speech didn't seem as though there would be a substantial reward."
"It's not. I just want to win for fun."
"Oh. Okay! I thought you would prioritize getting the twins to win, so they look good…"
"They should win ojt of their own strength. This is as much a test for them from professor Reed as it is from me. Even though we tested them before, that was just for initial value they could have. If they reach that value or not is up to them."
"Ooh, that sounds heartless, Master! What is my value~?"
"What do you mean? You're priceless, obviously."
"Ah!"
"…!"
The best moment of her entire eternal life, after meeting him of course. Words could not describe the ecstasy which flooded her mind. If all of humanity's happiness came together in singular moment, it would not equal one percent of the bliss she experienced. She would absolutely kill just to relive this moment over and over again. Luckily for all life's sake, she could do that for free. She was too flustered to give him a teasing response and just kept walking. Though she would forever cherish this moment in her perfect memory castle built around him. They walked a bit more, before finding a river, where they took a small break. Yuki filtered some water for them with magic, and even catched a fish.
"Look, Master! It's an… Exotic… Fish-Fish!"
"Exotic Fish-Fish…?"
"That's right!"
"What an embarrassing name. I hope I will never have to meet whoever came up with that name."
"Y-yeah…"
Her lips started quivering as her eyes teared up.
"I'm just messing with you, Yuki… I know you made that name up just now."
"Ah! You cared!"
"I… Didn't want you to cry over that?"
"Because you cared~!"
He sighed and just ate the fish.
"At least it tastes good…"
"Of course it does~ My cooking is only second to my beauty and charm!"
"And your ego…"
"What was that?"
"I said… Your chest size?"
"…That's right! It is one of my most prominent features~ But where does your mind wander off to, Master~?"
"I don't know… Where does it wander off to? Let's keep walking…"
"Aww! Okay~"
They continued walking in a relatively straight line. Yuki had memorized most of the jungle from above when she spotted the resort and their path was about as perfect as it could get. Though it would still take them a couple of hours, since they still had to walk 13 km and they sometimes had to stop and get cut through plants in their way, which slowed them down substantially. But to their surprise, they did not meet a single other student on their way. Even though it was odd, neither of them complained.
"Master? You remember that thing I did where I asked you about preferences you might have? Like, if you want me to be a pirate, spy or whatever?"
"Yes, what about it?"
"Let's keep doing that until I find something!"
He sighed as he poured water on a piece of cloth thag he used to cool himself down since he was sweating so much.
"You know… I like you the way you are most…"
"You… Do?"
"You're pretty clingy and obnoxious at times, but I wouldn't want a single thing changed about you, if I had the chance."
"Nothing at all? What about my body and looks? Don't you have preferences?"
"Maybe you fulfill my preferences perfectly."
"…!"
She did not believe anything could top her previous high on the same day, but as so often, Yamato proved her wrong. This very day would be forever marked in her mind as their unofficial marriage day! She could feel her heart racing, exploding out of her chest. Even though there were other students in this jungle, it really felt like it was just the two of them. What could ruin such a day? Nothing! She was probably blushing like crazy, for some reason she tried to hide that. Even though she would usually openly express herself in situations such as these, Yamato's offense made her defenses crumble like there were none at all. Maybe there actually were none? What point would she have to have defense for Yamato? Though the next time she would be prepared and shoot back. She was sure that way she could make him go even further. Maybe to finally end in official marriage. She wondered if he would mind…