Episode 34: Adventurer’s Camp
Well, we set out on a little expedition to Lake Purlan.
Considering it’s an expedition that takes a full day of travel each way, we’re currently camping out.
We’ve set up camp by one of the tributaries of the Promelos River, and we’ll be spending the night here…
“Alright, let’s set up camp. Roa, I’ll start the fire, so go gather some firewood.”
“Okay!”
“Shio, can you go with Roa? It’s not good to wander off alone.”
“Okay.”
“We’ll use the wagon as a tent. For the rest… well, the weather’s good today, so we can sleep outside. I’ll put up a simple awning, just in case.”
“I can do that, aru yo?”
“Then Xiaolin, I’ll leave it to you. Hanako…”
“I can’t do any of this stuff, be…”
“Yeah… well, just keep an eye on the surroundings, or something.”
“What about me?”
“Margot, can you cook?”
“I can… but not as well as you.”
“I see. Well, just help out a little. I’ll prepare the food and… oh, should I do some fishing?”
“Fishing…? I’ll do it.”
With the assignments done, everyone gets to work.
To be blunt, I’ve slept with everyone here except Roa, but that doesn’t mean they slack off or get overly enthusiastic about their work.
They’re professionals.
…Besides, a Strider woman’s chastity isn’t worth that much.
Margot was a virgin, but Xiaolin had quite a bit of experience, and even the country bumpkin Hanako had some…
Shio, well, I didn’t ask, but she didn’t have a hymen. Maybe it broke from too much exercise? I’ve heard that happens sometimes.
Margot is royalty, after all, so maybe that’s why?
Anyway, I’m not such a virgin that I’d make a fuss about a missing hymen.
That’s why we all do our jobs properly. Our lives are on the line…
“Wow, the fish around here aren’t used to being caught, so they bite like crazy.”
“Used to…? Is that a thing?”
“Yeah, it is. In famous fishing spots, the fish learn, and it’s hard to catch them.”
“Huh… I see.”
“Dru! Look, look! I hunted a boar!”
“Oh, that’s a big help. I’ll make it for dinner, so go butcher it.”
“Okay!”
Dusk.
People often say the sky is dyed crimson, but today’s sunset is a bit more yellowish, looking like gold.
And here we are, about to boil soup in front of the campfire…
We boil water from the river, add diced boar meat that’s been seared in a frying pan.
And then, we add the bottled stuff I brought…
Huh?
“…Eh? Hari?!”
Xiaolin squinted her fox-like eyes, surprised.
Hari… oh, glass.
“What’s wrong with the glass?”
“You shouldn’t be carrying around such elaborately made Hari!!!”
Huh?
“Well… there’s glass in this world, right?”
“Hmm… Glass is an imported item from the Southern Islands, across the Inland Sea. It’s very high-class.”
“But… when the Lord’s daughter and her escort came to our place, they didn’t say anything when we used glassware…”
“They’re nobles; they’re used to seeing imported goods.”
Ah…
“Why did you bring such a big Hari bottle, aru ka? Showing off? Showing off, aru ka? If you flaunt your wealth that much, I might want to marry you, so please stop it, aru yo.”
“N-no, this is bottled food.”
“…?”
Huh?
Bottled food… doesn’t exist either?
“Look, if you put food in an airtight bottle and heat it up, it becomes preserved food, right? You know that, right?”
“”””What’s that…?””””
Ah, it doesn’t exist.
“Um, is that carrot inside? Isn’t it not harvest season yet, be?”
“I told you, it’s preserved food. This is from last year.”
“Ehh! You can eat vegetables from last year?”
“Here, hold out your hand.”
“Munch… ah, it’s actually edible…”
“…Um, Dru Dage? Aren’t we being shown something we shouldn’t be seeing, aru ka?”
Ah… yeah.
I guess that’s how it is?
“Well… yeah. If this technology doesn’t exist in this world yet, we could sell it to the military or something, and it would be pretty…”
I’m putting the curry vegetable stew from the bottle into a big pot to boil… but I stop the fire for now and take out the Curry Roux.
“…What’s that?”
Curry Roux… well, you can make that with current technology, so it’s safe.
“It’s like a soup stock? Salt and spices kneaded with butter and flour, then dried. When you dissolve it in hot water, you get soup.”
“Well… even if it’s coriander and cumin, cardamom is a high-class product from Tenjiku…”
Ah, that’s right.
Spices are high-class…
“No, um, I didn’t use anything that high-class. You must be mistaken?”
“…You haven’t been talking about it until now, aru ne. I was born in the Eastern Continent ‘Dahfa’, in the northern province, Yangjia. My family is a concubine of the Hu Lai family, merchants serving Lord Xia Ming of Yangjia. I shouldn’t mistake the appraisal of luxury goods, aru.”
Hmm…
“If you’re a merchant, there are things you shouldn’t say even if you notice them, right?”
“Offering advice while knowing the danger is an act of kindness to the man I like, aru. …You should hide the contents of your wallet a little more, aru yo.”
Hmm.
That’s certainly true.
I want to hide my abnormality as much as possible…
But I hate enduring an inconvenient and difficult life even more.
Besides…
“Don’t worry, I have the Lord on my side.”
I’m protected by the Lord, so it should be fine.
“…If it looks bad, let’s escape to ‘Dahfa’ together, aru. I can’t rely on my family anymore, but I have connections, aru ne.”
“Hmm… want to come to the Elf forest country?”
“You can come to our tribe too!”
“I don’t have any connections to ‘Azuma Country’, but I can till the fields. If you run away, I’ll follow you, bro!”
Hmm, everyone’s so kind!
From the outside, it looks like they’re just pitiful girls who fell for a dangerous guy.
…Now that I think about it, I understand why Katrina, the leader of the ‘Blue Comet’, hates me? From the side, it looks like I’m 100% in the wrong.