Translator: Tori
I stuff the life jackets into a bag and go back and forth to my classmates’ rooms as much as possible.
I usually don’t get a good response: some people snicker, some feel bad, and some give me a hard time.
But I don’t care. This is not the time to be concerned.
But despite my impatience, my classmates are chatting, playing cards, and playing games in their rooms.
They were not aware that their lives were in danger.
And the teachers are also saying, “What’s going on! What is going on⁉︎” and there were no adults who could take concrete actions.
Perhaps they are panicking because of the pressure of having so many children’s lives in their hands.
……This is not good. This is not good. We don’t have enough people at all.
It’s no use if they can’t even distribute life jackets.
It’s times like this that I really wish I had friends.
There is only so much one person can do.
It was the cooperation of many people working together toward a single goal that made it possible to accomplish great feats such as landing a man on the moon.
I don’t need friends.
The evils of being in a shell have become more pronounced here.
As I’m being overcome by the cruel reality of my situation.
“Tamura-kun……? What are you doing?”
“Murama-sensei!?”
While handing out life jackets, I run into Murama Kayo, a trainee teacher.
Yabai, yabai, yabai. ……!
She has just graduated from college.
And if a student is out in the hallway when she has been instructed to go back to her room, then of course she’s going to be in the hallway.
“Oh, no, you can’t leave your room. Didn’t you hear the crew’s announcement?”
I heard it. I heard it, and I knew it was a bad situation, and that’s why I’m handing out life jackets like this.
Damn. They’re all …….
Take a deep breath, Hajime. Anger lowers your intelligence quotient.
Focus.
The best I can do in this situation…
The best I can do in this situation is to drag Murama-sensei to our side.
“Listen to me calmly, sensei. This ship will be sinking soon.”
“What? You’re lying, aren’t you?”
“It’s not a lie. Actually, I overheard the crew’s conversation. I didn’t realize it was a restricted area.”
“No, you can’t. You can’t go into a place you’re not allowed to go into.”
“From what I’ve heard, this ship is overloaded. And they’ve drained the ballast water to raise the center of gravity.””
“Ballast water……?”
“Ballast water is seawater that large vessels store on board to maintain balance. It was probably drained to hide the fact that the ship was overloaded.”
“Uh……?”
Of course, these are all hogwash. I don’t care about the real reason why the ship is about to sink.
What is important now is to have a sense of crisis. That is all.
“So please, please, sensei. Please help distribute life jackets with me.”
“What?”
The teacher was puzzled by my request.
She is also a new teacher.
I understand that she cannot act selfishly.
But right now, we are fighting for every second.
“All I have to do is hand out life jackets! If they don’t sink, they will only become unnecessary. You will only be laughed at later. If you don’t want to cooperate with me and be scolded later by another teacher, you can have my name mentioned. You can make me the bad guy for lying about Tamura sinking the ship!”
“But……”
I finally raised my voice to Murama-sensei, who was still not satisfied with the situation.
“Just do what I tell you to do, please!”
“I understand.”
“The teachers should then call out to the students who seem to have a good grasp of things. And please ask the students who seem to know what they are doing to hand out life jackets with you!”
With the help of Murama-sensei, I managed to finish handing out the life jackets.
Soon after, the ship really started to sink and the rescue team rushed to the scene.
But here is where I realize something I don’t want to realize.
“Hey, hey, hey……where are Uemura and the others⁉︎”
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