Stealing Spree

After separating from Shio, I put off sneaking into the girls’ side for half an hour. Instead, I wandered around the hill and the neighboring one without a proper goal other than to kill time.

I remembered that the girls’ activity should be ending around that time and like us, they’d get their free time before their next activity.

It’s a lot better than showing up there audaciously without a good plan on how to sneak in at all, right? Although those were wasted time, it was regrettable that the opportunity eluded me.

Besides, I remembered what Shiina said earlier. There should be supervisors there. I kinda forgot when the girl offered to sneak me in. How would she do that, I wonder? Ignore them?

Well, that’s that. Better safe than sorry, I guess? I did get a lot of free time thanks to Shiina’s scheme of having me deliver the pouch. I got rewarded by Sawano with an activity skip. However, it’s just impossible to keep miraculously getting away with breaking the rules.

I shouldn’t be overconfident just because it worked out once or twice. Besides, I wasn’t just endangering myself if I got caught. Shiina or my girls could also be punished for letting me in there.

My previous cautiousness seemed to be slowly waning with this trip... I should regain some of it first. And spending time just by myself got me the right headspace to review everything that happened and readjust my mindset.

I should put more caution in my plans. Although I wouldn’t stop breaking the rule to look for them, I had to ensure that there would be close to zero chance of being caught while pulling these stunts.

Thinking back, even what happened on the bus was too risky. It could be bad for Mio’s reputation if someone else saw her giving me a blowjob...

“Excuse me, are we on the correct path? This pamphlet said we should see the peak soon but it’s all woods out here.”

On my way back to that open area that split into four paths, someone called out to me from behind. It’s a middle-aged man who should be in his fifties – his hairline was already so high that anyone could spy the crown of his head.

In any case, he’s sweating as though he already toured this hill ten times over. Or maybe his stamina was just not that great.

He’s holding a small pamphlet in his hand which he referred to as the guide. That’s the one being handed at the foot by the employees of this hill which serves as a map that should make it easy for their guests to explore the place.

But given his question, it looks like it’s not useful for them. They still got lost on this small hill.

Looking past his shoulder, he was with a woman around the same age as him and two teenage girls who were possibly older than me. Or not? I don’t know. They’re both frowning that it was hard to properly gauge their ages. Their attire was not something one would wear on this kind of trip. They’re a little skimpy on the side and show a lot of skin. Naturally, those are so thin that it’s easy to notice how they’re trembling from the cold, biting wind from up here.

Just from that alone, they’re probably got dragged by their parents and if they could, they’d already stomp away.

Anyway, the man’s wife warmly stared at me, perhaps hoping that I would be kind enough to answer her husband.

There’s no reason not to do so... I first asked for the pamphlet he was holding before carefully telling him how to read it and pointing him to their destination.

“If your destination is the peak and this cabin area here, then you’re still on the correct path that can lead to those places. Further ahead of us, there’s a four-way split in an open area. You just have to take the one on the left and continue from there.”

Upon saying that, I showed our current location on the map printed on the pamphlet.

“Oh. I see... Thank you, young man. You’re a lifesaver for this old man. How can I miss the guided path and continue on this? I scratched my head when I found a bridge back there.” With genuine gratitude, the old man awkwardly laughed before turning to his family, “Come on, let’s say our gratitude to him.”

“Psh. Stinky old man. You should’ve brought your glasses. If you’re not so stubborn as to act like a father today, we won’t be in this situation.”

“Don’t be rude to your father! You two skipped school today to slack off. We brought you here to unwind. Stop complaining.”

One of them the girls unhappily muttered while the other just clicked her tongue. Their mother immediately scolded them and they seemingly folded right away.

They sounded disrespectful but well, I don’t know them that much to even have an opinion about how they treat their old man.

In any case, as soon as they caught a glimpse of my face which was previously blocked by their father’s, their mouths opened wide in shock.

They then scrambled in front of me, perhaps racing on who could introduce themselves first.

Like I previously thought, they’re at least older than me. One and two years apart. Which means, they’re also high school girls. That doesn’t matter to me though.

I acted the same as I do to others, humbly rejecting their gratitude and sending them off. Their father introduced himself to me and only his name or his surname stuck to my head.

By the time they disappeared to the path I pointed them to, I had already forgotten about them.

However, before that happened, those two girls kept on glancing back at me, both of them trying to show off their appeal by blinking their eyes or smiling cutely.

I might be wrong but I think I heard them saying they’re going to look for me later.

I guess I should hide from them and avoid being alone again later. They’re nothing but trouble for me. I’m busy enough as it is.

After that short encounter, I also soon arrived at my destination. Before continuing to my original plan, I first checked the path towards our cabin area, checking out if any idiots were around before switching to the next one.

The boys should also be having their free time at the moment. If I get spotted by any of them, I would definitely be hindered even if I ignored them or shook them off.

As I went in further into the path in the middle, I mindfully stuck to the side so I could quickly hide in case someone popped out from the curve. Then upon passing through it, I silenced my footsteps and carefully tread the few dozens of steps to reach the entrance.

The same as earlier, I hid myself at an obscure spot to check out the place.

I instantly spotted Sara sitting nearby. She’s with another college girl. I didn’t have that much impression of that one since I truly only interacted with Shiina earlier. The others were just there to observe and keep the place in order.

Further inside, I scanned for any teachers or professors. And sure enough, I could spot two of them also taking a break.

The ropes that the girls used to practice the knotting skills they learned were displayed in the middle. Most of them were still gathered around it while one camp manager, the one that disagreed with Shiina earlier, was conversing with the enthusiastic girls at the front.

Since I didn’t have my phone with me, I could only estimate the time. There should be at most ten to fifteen minutes left before they also finish this activity.

Whether they’d be allowed to leave or not, that’s still up in the air.

Most importantly, it’s still impossible for me to stick around because of the supervising teachers and professors. Once they spotted me lurking around then... it’s over for me.

What should I do then? Should I return or...?

As I was halfway through that thought, my ears picked up some noise from the side, or specifically inside the woods near the girls’ tents.

I squinted my eyes to zoom in and locate the sources of the noise.

And surprisingly, or not? I came eye-to-eye with someone.

“Eh? O-onoda-kun?!”

There, hiding behind the trunk of a tree as if she was trying to evade vision, Sachi noiselessly exclaimed as soon as she recognized me.

What the hell is she doing there? She can’t be looking for trouble, right?