“Hey, what’s wrong Siphon?”
“I was just thinking that you never know what turns life will take.”
“That’s true. We met in Elesya, took part in the beast kingdom’s tournament, and now we’re out in a remote area like this.”
Argo smiles awkwardly.
It really is like that. When we’re around Sora’s party, there’s not a moment to rest.
Jin and the others used to think about striking it rich in a dungeon and taking it easy, but they’re still adventuring.
“Are you ready, Siphon?”
“Yes, it’s okay. We’re just maintaining equipment anyway.”
Sora and the others are off learning real smiting, and since that leaves us with nothing to do, Leight and the others invited us to go investigate the forest.
There’s us Goblin’s Grief, Argo’s party, and also people from Naoto’s and Rurika’s.
“The problem’s food…”
We’re going deep into the forest for a few days, so we’re going to have to camp.
We’ll have to cook while we’re out, but I’m worried because good cooks like Sora aren’t coming.
Sora’s Storage Magic really is just too good. It can preserve anything like it was when he stored it.
Our magic bags can preserve things too to some extent, but there are problems like capacity.
“Well, it’ll be fine. Rurika says she can cook too, and Yuno’s been learning, right?”
Argo’s right, it’s not like none of us can cook. Well, I can’t, and apparently Argo’s party is all terrible at it too.
Preserved food would’ve been fine before we met Sora’s party, but now it just doesn’t seem like enough.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
There’s no point in racking our brains now.
Ah, but Sora did tell us not to let Hikari cook on her own. I remember Fred telling me something that happened in a dungeon too.
◇ ◇ ◇
Turns out I was worried for nothing when it comes to food.
“I’ve been traveling with Chris, so I know how to cook too, you know?”
Says Rurika while puffing her cheeks.
I was just complimenting you…
And Hikari is really good at roasting meat. She knows just how to roast it to perfection.
“Leave the meat to me.”
She says proudly when I tell her how good she is.
Considering how good this is, that sounds like a good idea.
“Let’s camp here today.”
Says Leight when the sun is going down.
We’ve been in the forest for two days, but we haven’t fought a single monster. Or seen one for that matter.
Orga tells me there’s not even any sign of them.
The ones who can’t cook go set up tents and traps. I say traps, but they’re the types that just warn us if there are monsters nearby.
Also, I don’t know if this will work, but I set up ropes between trees. This is to buy us time before they get close.
It’s hot in the forest during the day, but cold at night, so if we’re in the tents and we’re attacked, it will take us a bit of time to get out and be ready.
We have people keeping watch, but we have to be ready for anything. There’s always a high risk of someone losing their life when we’re attacked by monsters or other threats.
And when we’re done setting things up, we eat.
Hikari’s roasted meat is the most popular item on the menu, especially among beast people like Leight.
As I look at them, I think about how the picture I had in my mind about beast people has changed a lot since I came to the beast kingdom.
The beast people adventurers I met in Eldo, Frieren, and Elesya were mostly people who relied on their natural physical abilities, and didn’t have much in the way of skill.
But I saw a lot of skilled people in the tournament, and met a lot too.
Of course, there are still people that just go with brute strength, but they’re the ones who got out of the tournament first.
I have some soup, and see Rurika chatting with Sera.
When I first met Sera, I never thought I’d see so many beast people with different fighting styles.
Apparently she was made to fight in the dark forest as a combat slave, and fought desperately to survive, so her fighting style evolved to one where she did whatever it took to kill.
But the second time I met her, it had changed into something more refined, rather than just using overwhelming power. I’m sure that’s because she’s traveling with the others.
She tends to do mock battles when she has the time.
I didn’t have this image of her back in Elesya, but… Well, ever since we started hanging out with Sora, I’ve been seeing her go with him to training areas a lot. That’s at least part of the reason why she’s become a lot stronger at fighting people.
Still, there’s a difference in experience, so Rurika and Hikari are still better at that.
Those two make up some clever tactics, and attack where it hurts. They’ve grown into people you have to really watch out for.
Geitz praised them too.
And so, we decide who’s going to keep watch when, and we’re going even deeper into the forest tomorrow.
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