Chapter 359: Ivan’s Cooking
As the sun began to dip below the horizon, it was time to prepare for the evening. We took out the Camping House and started setting up camp. The location was a clearing along a path cutting through the forest, devoid of any other campers. It could be said that we deliberately chose such a secluded spot.
“Alright, today I’m the one cooking.”
“Huh?”
“What are you making?”
Ivan suddenly declared this while preparing the stove, causing both Rio and me to tilt our heads in confusion.
“I mean dinner, of course. Even when I was taking on requests alone, I cooked for myself.”
“O-Oh.”
“If Ivan’s okay with it, then I’m fine with that.”
“Ivan-nii’s cooking!?”
“Woof?”
El was tucked away inside the Camping House, busy gathering information. Thanks to the power supply and internet connection we brought from Japan, everything was ready to use right away. Since we were camping, I thought it would be better to cook outside rather than in the kitchen of the Camping House. I realized I had never tasted Ivan’s cooking before, but Phonia seemed to be excited about it.
“Do we have the ingredients?”
“Of course! I’ve got all sorts of seasonings ready, so we’re good to go.”
As Ivan pulled out various ingredients, seasonings, and cooking utensils from the Storage Bag, he moved with a practiced ease. It was reassuring to see him making good use of the bag.
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
“Leave it to me!”
With that, Ivan eagerly set to work on the meal. This left Rio and me with little to do. We could keep watch, but there were only three people monitoring us and two others watching from a distance.
After a while of having nothing to do, I was taking pictures of Ivan cooking and Phonia helping him when I noticed some movement.
“Hm?”
“Oh?”
It seemed Rio had noticed it too. The three watchers who had been keeping an eye on us began to spread out, changing their formation to encircle us. They were inching closer, but they hadn’t made any aggressive moves yet. It appeared they were using stealth skills, but they didn’t realize we could easily detect them.
“Looks like they’re finally making a move.”
“Maybe.”
“I’ll keep an eye on the two coming around from the side, so Rio, you take care of the front.”
“Got it.”
We casually positioned ourselves without alerting the watchers. They were still just inching closer without taking any action. I conjured a chair using Earth Magic and sat down, pulling out my beloved Gauntlet from the Dimensional Box to clean it. As I observed the situation, I noticed the two watchers in the distance also began to move. They were trying to flank us while inching closer to the ones surrounding us.
“Oh?”
I wondered what they were up to when one of their presences suddenly vanished. The two moved closer to the remaining watcher, and it seemed they attacked, as another presence disappeared. I had thought the distant watchers were allies, but perhaps that wasn’t the case.
The duo continued to split up and circled around our campsite, shifting their focus toward the watcher that Rio was responsible for.
“Alright, it’s done!”
“Dinner!”
“Woof!”
Just then, dinner was ready. Phonia and Nil were at their peak excitement, rushing over to Ivan.
“Dinner’s served!”
“Okay, okay!”
Since I had my back to Ivan, I turned around after he called out to me, putting away my Gauntlet. The watcher on our side had been dealt with, so there was no need for further caution.
As I looked at Ivan finishing up the meal, I noticed he was drizzling a sauce from a familiar package over the grilled meat.
“Ah, yeah. Well, that sauce is delicious.”
It was probably the same barbecue sauce sold in Japan, so it was bound to be good. I couldn’t help but think that for someone who said he would cook, he was being a bit too casual about it, but perhaps this was just how adventurers cooked.
Next to him was a pot over the fire, and it seemed he was making soup as well. A delightful aroma wafted from it, proclaiming that a meal had indeed been prepared.
“It smells delicious.”
While Rio kept an eye on the front, she came over and used Earth Magic to create a table near the stove.
“Huh?”
Ivan, who was pulling out plates from the Storage Bag, suddenly tilted his head while still rummaging through the bag.
“Oh, right.”
He seemed to come to a realization and turned to me.
“Shu, could you hand me some plates? I just remembered I only took out mine.”
“Haha, what’s that about? Sure, no problem.”
With that little exchange, dinner preparations were finally complete.
“Let’s eat!”
As everyone took their seats at the table, Phonia’s cheer led us to begin our meal. I thought I’d join in and stabbed the meat with my left fork while bringing my right knife down, but just then, the person stationed at the front made their move.
With a sudden burst of energy, they lunged into our campsite, reaching for the throwing knife at their waist and preparing to throw it.
At that moment, Rio had already cast a Transparent Spatial Isolation Barrier in front of us, intercepting the attacker before they could throw their knife.
“W-What the?!”
As Ivan noticed and turned toward the commotion, the attacker, unable to throw their knife, retreated diagonally while preparing to throw again. But before they could act, they were swiftly decapitated by a figure that had appeared from behind.
“What the hell?!”
Ivan seemed to forget about dinner entirely as he stood up, pointing the fork he had been holding at the man who had just arrived. I had planned to stop him with a Spatial Isolation Barrier if he came closer, but it didn’t seem necessary for now.
“Phew, looks like we were in a dangerous spot, but it seems we made it in time.”
The man who had intervened said this cheerfully as I moved the knife still embedded in the meat back and forth to cut it, then speared a piece with my left fork and brought it to my mouth.
“Wow, this is delicious. Ivan, you’ve really improved your cooking skills!”
“Why are you eating normally right now?!”
I had just complimented him, and for some reason, he shot back at me.