Beach Treasure Hunt (3)

The way to alleviate the guilt Antonio felt towards me was surprisingly simple. Just as I had helped Antonio find the treasure, I would make Antonio help me find the treasure.

Since I roughly remembered where the treasure points were hidden on Pliana Beach, there was no particular problem in staging a situation where it seemed like I had found the treasure with Antonio’s help.

“There was a restaurant like this nearby?”

“It’s one of the restaurants Professor-nim mentioned on the first day of class. They said it would be good to eat here at least once if you came to Pliana Beach.”

“Is that so? I don’t recall hearing that.”

“That’s because Natalie was so out of it from the heat that she didn’t hear it, and Lady Lillith-nim is right.”

“By the way, for a restaurant recommended by Professor-nim, it doesn’t seem to have many customers. Everyone must be busy with the treasure hunt on the beach.”

…That’s right. They’re probably wondering if they can find even one more treasure during mealtime to affect their score, even a little.

“Since there are many types of dishes, how about we each order something we like and try a variety of things, everyone?”

“Ah, I think that’s a good idea too! We rarely get to come all the way out to a beach restaurant like this!”

“Alright, let’s do that. I’ll pay for today’s meal, so don’t worry about the price.”

“Thank you, Prince Antonio-nim!”

The professor of this Marine Biology Exploration Class only wanted the group members to increase their intimacy through the treasure hunt on the beach, and did not want them to lose the essence of their summer vacation by being buried in their class grades.

“You’re students from Luminor Academy, aren’t you?”

“Ah, yes.”

“That’s right.”

“This menu item is on the house.”

“……Huh?”

So, giving a Magic Bead to a student who ate the dish recommended by the professor at this beach restaurant, also recommended by the professor, was all part of the professor’s plan.

“Professor Lucieta-nim asked us to give this to any student who comes into this restaurant and orders the ‘Pliana Beach Shrimp Curry’. Your group is the second one today.”

“Ah, yes….”

“Thank you.”

I took the Magic Bead the waiter gave me with a bewildered expression.

Seeing that we were the second group, Gyeotmwa’s party must have already been here. That’s to be expected, since he’s playing based on my walkthrough.

…Even if that weren’t the case, Seraphine is included in Gyeotmwa’s group, so she would have surely picked up on Professor Lucieta’s hint.

“This menu item, Lillith was the one who suggested we order it, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then I think it’s fair to say this Magic Bead was found by Lillith. Lillith was the one who suggested we eat at this restaurant, and Lillith was also the one who ordered the menu item recommended by Professor-nim.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Ah, I agree!”

“I think that’s a good idea too.”

It seemed the other party members were quite concerned that I was the only one who hadn’t found a treasure, so they hastily agreed with Ethan’s words.

Prince Antonio-nim, who had been uncomfortable holding the treasure I found as if he had found it himself, was also among them.

“Th-that’s right. It certainly seems like the bead Lady Rosewood found.”

“Are you alright, Prince Antonio-nim? Since you decided to pay for this meal, isn’t it Prince Antonio-nim’s treasure?”

“It’s fine. After all, it’s a treasure we wouldn’t have obtained if Lady Rosewood hadn’t ordered the Pliana Beach Shrimp Curry.

In the first place, I’m not even taking the same class as you all, and I’m just following Lady Agnes-nim… ah, no, I-I just happened to have my vacation overlap, so I’m just wandering around with you all, so don’t mind it.”

“Understood. Then I will gratefully accept Prince Antonio-nim’s generosity.”

“…Yes, thank you for accepting.”

As a result, the second day of the Marine Biology Exploration Class ended with everyone having found at least one treasure.

Perhaps because they had spent the entire day pursuing a single goal, it felt like an even more enjoyable day.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

On the third day, and on the fourth day as well. The Marine Biology Exploration Class was still focused more on vacation than on lessons. It couldn’t help but be leisurely, as Professor Lucieta had established the class from the beginning for the students’ vacation, not for survival training or monster subjugation.

Since Marine Biology Exploration was the only class among others that squeezed students’ limits daily and was evaluated as a healing class, the only person who would dislike such an easygoing class was probably Agnes.

“……How many hours are left until class ends?”

“The official end time for Marine Biology Exploration is 6 PM tomorrow, so there are about 30 hours left.”

“Haa, I want to go back quickly. Why do I have to waste so much time here?”

“Can’t you just think of it as an early summer vacation? It’s hard to schedule a time for all of us to meet up like this during summer break anyway, so you should be grateful that you can rest during class time like this.”

“…I don’t know. If there’s a class like this next time, I’ll just bring a magic book.”

Perhaps because she came from a branch family of the Elizabeth Family, which was built on endless competition, it seemed difficult for her to tolerate having time to play like this.

Of course, the last day of class wouldn’t end without anything happening, as she thought. After all, encountering monsters while on summer vacation is common sense in a fantasy-based world like this.

Meanwhile, Natalie, who had been diligently playing in the sand with Thomas on the beach, was calling out to me and Agnes with an extremely excited expression.

“Look at this, Lady Lillith-nim, Lady Agnes-nim! Don’t you think our group will be first place with this?!”

“…You made it well, Natalie-yang. Is it a giant squid?”

“It’s a whale, Lady Lillith-nim!”

“Ah, a whale…. N-now that you mention it, this tail fin part certainly does look like a whale’s.”

“That part is the pectoral fin, Lady Lillith-nim!”

“…You’re right. The pectoral fin looks so lifelike that I almost mistook it for a tail fin.”

I gave what wasn’t quite a compliment while admiring Natalie’s artistic creation, whose standards I couldn’t quite grasp.

It might just look like playing in the sand on the beach, but this was the assignment for the fourth day. It was to create a structure out of sand on the beach, record it with a Video Recording Magic Tool, and submit it.

All assignments in Marine Biology Exploration were like this. They were designed to give students just enough tasks to prevent them from doing absolutely nothing and lounging around, without disturbing their rest.

By the way, during the treasure hunt on the second day, a group appeared that was so engrossed they collected nearly 20 treasures, but they received the same score as our group, which collected about one per person.

Students who understood the professor’s words, which implied that it was good to focus on the assignments but not necessary to get too engrossed, were seen performing only the amount of tasks she mentioned from the third day onwards, enjoying a vacation-like vacation once again.

The reason Agnes and I were resting in the shade of a parasol instead of deliberately interrupting Thomas and Natalie’s date was precisely for that reason.

Rather than us unnecessarily intervening and disturbing their good time, it was better to just let them submit a suitable assignment they made and raise their intimacy.

“Thomas, that’s collapsing, quickly grab it! Quickly!”

“Uh, where? Honestly, isn’t everything about to collapse anyway?!”

-Grab!

“Here, I mean here! Press down firmly here!”

“…Ah, u-uh. Ah, alright, Natalie….”

‘…Those were the good old days.’

Come to think of it, Ethan and I had times like that too. Times when our hearts pounded and our faces flushed just from holding hands.

…No, did we? Now that I think about it, it feels like we skipped quite a lot of the intermediate steps.

It’s certainly true that we started with touching breasts before holding hands, but anyway, was kissing next? …Or did we do handjobs even before that? I’m a bit confused….

‘The order is all messed up, I can’t tell. How did we end up in a relationship like this?’

Well, as a result, perhaps precisely because we skipped the intermediate steps, Ethan and I can still sometimes feel our hearts pound just by looking at each other’s faces.

As I was thinking that and about to get up, leaving Agnes, who had fallen asleep in the shade, I felt something cold touch my left cheek.

“Here, Lillith.”

-Tap.

“Ugh?!”

Someone handed me a cold wooden cup, slightly damp.

When I turned my head in the direction of the voice, Ethan was standing there, looking at me, holding a slushie-the first one I’d seen since reincarnating into this world.

“Cool, isn’t it? They were selling it over there, so I bought it on my way.”

“…Thank you, Young Master Ethan-nim.”

“This class is already over tomorrow. It was quite enjoyable, all things considered.”

“But our vacation still has two more days after that, Young Master Ethan-nim.”

“That’s true, of course. But tomorrow is the last day we can spend time with those kids.”

Ethan looked towards Natalie and Thomas, who were building a half-collapsed whale… no, a pile of dirt on the beach, and then pointed to Gyeotmwa’s harem, who were building a fairly complete sandcastle a little further away, and spoke.

I could feel that his cautious personality from the first semester of first year had become quite relaxed during the process of taking various exploration classes this semester.

“There’s next semester, and next year too, Young Master Ethan-nim.”

“Yes, I know.”

…If Ethan, back in his first year, hadn’t been so overly cautious of Gyeotmwa, would there still be a place for me and Ethan in his Hero Party by now?

As I thought about that, the sunset of the fourth day was already flowing beyond the horizon.

“Aah, Thomas! That’s collapsing! I told you to hold onto it!”

“I only have two hands, how am I supposed to hold onto more….”

…Along with Natalie’s pile of dirt, which ‘was’ our group’s assignment.

I figured this would happen, so I took a picture before it collapsed. It was a relaxed and leisurely class, so this should probably be enough.