Reina is done cooking again, and I grab some bread so I can actually eat this time.
It’s hard, because it’s supposed to be preserved food, but once soaked in the tomato soup, the bread quickly softens and becomes easy to bite into.
I take a bite, and the bread soaked with soup stock that’s not just made of tomato, and even includes some spices enters my empty stomach.
“It’s good!”
“It’s good!”
Luna and I look at each other while we eat, and smiles naturally form on our faces. We keep soaking bread in soup and bringing it to our mouths, and grabbing more when we finish the ones in our hands.
“Mister, that’s Luna’s!”
“Ah, sorry sorry.”
“Geez!”
I stop my outstretched hand after hearing Luna’s complaint, but then hear a thud as another pot is placed on the table.
“Yes yes, don’t fight you two. At least for today, we’ll have a lavish meal. Tomorrow is another story though.”
“Ooh…”
“Yay.”
This soup is different. It’s clear, and looks to be chicken bone soup.
Is she using some sort of special tool? I’m pretty sure normally it would take longer for the soup stock to be ready.
This transparent soup with a faint golden shine really does look tasty. I soak some bread in it, take a bite, and the taste of chicken comes crashing and spreads all over my mouth.
“Hn… It’s thick!”
“T-a-s-t-y!”
“…Seeing you so happy about it makes me kind of happy too.”
Reina is embarrassed as she finally sits down to eat too.
That’s right, she hasn’t eaten anything yet. After I notice this, I pour tomato soup on her plate and hand it to her.
Luna has the same idea, except she does it with chicken bone soup.
“…You two are like brother and sister.”
Says Luna with a gentle smile after seeing us do the same thing unintentionally.
Seeing her like that feels right. I’m about to say she’s our mother then, but hold it back.
I’m sure hearing a guy that looks like he’s her age say she’s like his mother isn’t going to sit well with her. I was screwing up with what I was saying before, but at least I’m learning.
“Miss Reina’s like a mom! She’s pretty! And nice!”
“…Thank you.”
But coming from an honest child, the same words come across as a compliment. Reina looks a little happy as her cheeks turn red.
She hesitantly pats her head and her hears, and Luna smiles. What a charming sight this has turned into.
Luna has to leave before it gets dark, so she finishes her meal and disappears into the forest.
This girl came and went like a storm. We told her we’d be living here for the time being, so I’m sure this won’t be the last time we see her.
After she leaves, we start preparing to camp. That said, all my camping experience comes from watching videos. I’ve never actually done it, and I don’t get many chances to help either.
Basically all I do is follow Reina’s instructions to set up her tent.
But once I actually start working on it, I realize it doesn’t have the useful features you’d expect from a tent on Earth, and it takes a while to set up.
We’re setting up the tent on level ground a little far away from the river, just in case it overflows, and I take so long doing everything that I start wondering if I’m not just getting in her way.
“It’s handy how strong you are, Arata.”
“No, I’m just following your instructions.”
“It’s your first time camping, isn’t it? I think it’s a lot better to do as you’re told than to try to do things you don’t understand. And everyone can do this sort of thing, so just take your time and learn.”
What a nice girl. What a difference from my former bosses who did nothing but pick apart people’s faults.
Once it’s set up, the tent is clearly too big for one person. It looks like it was originally made for a group of soldiers.
She used wind magic, but this is normally a job for a group of people.
This means that it has plenty of room even with both of us inside. Reina then starts taking out furniture for us to use the tent as our base.
“Well then, it feels like things have calmed down for now, so it’s time to talk about what we are going to do next.”
“Yes.”
That said, I don’t know anything about this world other than that it’s a fantasy, sword and sorcery world. And that we’re on an island with many different races, but no humans.
“We touched on this before, but I was headed to a place called Faraway Island as one of the seven great mages. It’s said that an elixir of eternal life lies there, and our goal was to find it.”
“Our?”
“A chivalric order accompanied me by order of the king. But apparently I was the only survivor.”
A cloud hangs over her face as she says this. Did she have friends among those people? I feel like I shouldn’t ask any more about that, and it feels like she doesn’t want to talk about it either.
“Anyway, if what Luna said is true, this is likely the Faraway Island.”
“Yes…”
While we ate, Luna said humans don’t live here. Instead, this is an island populated by legendary races.
“But Luna is a normal girl.”
“Hum, Arata, you might not realize it because you’re not a mage, but she has many times more magic energy than me.”
Reina is among the best mages in the continent, meaning she stands on top in terms of volume of magic energy too. And yet she fears Luna despite her being a kid, because she has an overwhelming amount of magic energy inside her.
So that’s why she looked so stiff when Luna first appeared.
“I don’t really want to word it like this, but basically, she is like a rare monster. The type that would go down in history as a great catastrophe if she showed up in the kingdom.”
“Hm… She really doesn’t look it…”
“I can’t imagine her doing anything like that either, but she has the magic energy to do it.”
And if Luna is to be believed, there are many beings on this island that surpass even her.
“Races like divine beasts and demon gods are all seen as myths. Beings that are talked about in legends from before humans lived on the continent. Ancient dragons are said to have come to the continent many times, and destroyed many countries. And true ancestral vampires? That is just a fantasy… Is what I want to believe.”
“In any case, what we do know is that this island isn’t normal.”
“Yes… And we don’t know if they will be friendly like Luna, so we should try to avoid contact if we can.”
Reina is pretty good, to not ignore what Luna said as just some kid’s fantasies and actually explore every possibility.
I think that’s all pretty hard to believe without any evidence, if you’re not someone like me who was sent to this island by god.
“Anyway, no matter how strong we are, we are both just human. If those monsters really are out there, we won’t be able to lay a finger on them, so let’s try not to provoke them and leave this island.”
“Oh? What about that medicine?”
“Forget it. We were doubtful that it existed in the first place, and the original team has been wiped out. And we need a proper investigation team to learn the real situation here on this island.”
If a top of the class mage and former top class adventurer like Reina says so, it must be true.
Although I don’t really want people to come here, since I decided to live on this island…
And from what I’ve heard, won’t coming here and provoking the natives of this island cause that continent to be destroyed?
“We need to investigate that too. It would be a disaster if these beings suddenly appeared on the continent, but we can prevent that by preparing countermeasures or building friendly relations, right? We can’t prevent natural disasters, but we should work to prevent things that can be prevented by humans.”
“I see…”
I’m impressed that she’s thinking about that too. Sure, treating them as enemies isn’t the only option, and even if they decide to leave this island alone, there’s a big difference between knowing about the people here and being ignorant.
“We are talking about mythical and legendary beings. We can’t be sure that they won’t lay a hand on the continent just because that hasn’t happened yet. There are many stories about countries falling to ruin because of god’s whim. Thankfully, we have in Luna someone we can talk to and serve as an intermediary. I’m sure we will be fine.”
“I really can’t picture that girl going crazy and destroying countries.”
I think back to her eating with me, and her becoming violent is the furthest thing from my mind.
“In any case, you need a boat to leave this island, so we have to do something about that.”
“Yes. I will need you at your best, Arata.”
Reina says with a smile. She’s a very charming girl, but I caught the hidden meaning that she’s planning to make me work hard.
I need her help to set up the groundwork for my life on this island too, so I was planning to cooperate with her in any way possible, but it’s still a bit scary.
Thankfully, this body given to me by god is strong and has a lot of stamina. I won’t get sick either, and I should be able to learn magic pretty easily if Reina teaches me.
I don’t know how to make a boat, but I should be able to get through just about anything with these cheats given to me by god. And so, I decide to stay with Reina until she leaves the island.
I spend that night in a tent with a girl for the first time.
I proposed that I could sleep outside, but Reina wasn’t having it, so we settled on this.
The tent is pretty wide, but my nerves are still not going to let me fall into a very deep sleep with a beautiful girl sleeping in the same place as me.
The next morning, I step outside and see Luna standing there with a smile on her face.
But next to her is a best person I haven’t seen before, who is glaring at me.
“Are you the one intruding on this island?”
That doesn’t sound very friendly, and I get a little anxious thinking something troubling might have happened.
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