Episode 180: A Day Trip Adventure
The time was past noon.
The group quickly ate the sandwich bread prepared at the forward base and walked towards their next destination.
“That sandwich bread is delicious. It’s a far cry from hardtack and dried meat.”
“It doesn’t look like it’ll keep for long, though. I wonder how it is?”
The sandwich bread was very well received.
For the most part, what adventurers eat in the forest is hardtack, dried meat, and nuts that keep well. After that, wild grasses and fruits gathered from around the area, and small animals that have been butchered.
Being able to eat properly seasoned sandwich bread even on the first day seems to be revolutionary.
“Hmm.”
Searching.
“Due to the high moisture content of the ingredients, it is not suitable for preservation. It would be different if it could be refrigerated.”
“Refrigerated?”
“Keeping it cold.”
“Ah…”
By the way, the concept of refrigeration is almost non-existent in the Afrasia United Kingdom.
It is a region with high temperatures throughout the year, and it rarely snows, so there is no icehouse culture.
Spring water is cold, so it seems that cooling things in it is sometimes done.
If the culture had developed a little more, refrigerators using spring water might have been developed.
Since ＜Paraiso＞ is fully intending to culturally contaminate the area, such regional cultures will likely not develop much in the future.
It’s a sad thing.
“But it’s good to be able to load luggage on that backpacker. The burden is completely different.”
“Really. It’s so easy. It’s just a shame we can’t take it to the inner depths…”
The group is walking on relatively flat land with few trees.
The backpacker is a small multi-legged machine, but it is about the height of an adult’s chest, and about 3 meters in width and length. It would be able to traverse minor uneven terrain without any problems, but it probably wouldn’t be able to keep up in places where the trees are so dense that there is no gap for the machine to pass through.
“Is the backpacker not very useful?”
This temporary party is a touchstone for ＜Paraiso＞ to explore the Demon Forest on its own.
If the backpacker, or a similar machine, cannot go to the inner depths, then the original plan needs to be reconsidered.
“No. If we go to the inner depths, we will proceed while creating a base camp. If we have that backpacker, we can drastically increase the amount of luggage we can carry. It’s worth taking it even if we have to cut down trees.”
“I see. Luggage transport for the base camp, huh? If it’s a long-term exploration, will you be active mainly around the base camp?”
“That’s right. Every few days, we’ll decide whether to return or move forward. Alliances with a large number of people do that while creating a path to the inner depths. We haven’t done that far, though.”
Reidus’s party mainly conducts solo explorations.
They rarely cooperate with other parties. Apparently, they had a very rough time with the distribution of profits when they formed an alliance in the past, and since then, they have basically been acting as a solo party.
It seems that they can secure enough income to live modestly.
“If you’re going to do a large-scale exploration, you can consider that method. However, the common theory is that making too much noise will attract monsters. We don’t know what we can do and to what extent. That’s why we try to act as quietly as possible.”
“Understood. However, first of all, it’s about how to walk in the forest. Your guidance is very helpful.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that. But even though you say that, I feel like you’re walking properly. Do you have any experience?”
“We are training. …Reidus is coming back.”
“Huh?”
Reidus, who had been leading the way as a scout, came running from the front.
Sulfa has a leopard base, so her hearing is good.
“Stop here for now. There were traces of monsters.”
“Since he came back, is it a Slime?”
If there is a monster that actively attacks them, Reidus is supposed to call everyone.
Monsters have a high ability to sense presence, and if they find them, they almost certainly know of their existence.
Therefore, since there is a high possibility of being attacked as soon as they turn their backs, it is best to call in the attackers.
“Yeah, it’s a Slime breeding ground. It’s like a low-concentration hotspot. It wasn’t here last time, so it must have been newly created.”
And among the monsters that appear in this area, the most harmless and the least profitable is the Slime.
The existence of Slimes is known on the ＜Paraiso＞’s intelligence network.
However, not much information beyond the name has been collected.
There are many monsters in areas with many Slimes. You need to be very careful.
“Do hotspots increase?”
“Hmm. I wonder. Sometimes they increase, and sometimes they disappear. It seems that places that have been around for a long time don’t disappear.”
New hotspots seem to appear and disappear frequently.
Therefore, Reidus, as a scout, seems to be constantly checking the Maso Meter.
“This is the first time we’ve seen a monster today. That’s a Slime.”
Looking in the direction Reidus is pointing, you can see something like an amorphous jelly moving slowly.
The size is about 5 liters by estimation. It’s easier to understand as about a bucketful.
“There are a lot of those things all over this area. They’re harmless, but it seems that monsters gather when there are a lot of Slimes. Normally, we would exterminate them or avoid getting close to them in the first place. But since I’m a guide, I thought this would be a good place since there aren’t any strong monsters around here.”
“Is extermination possible?”
“Yeah. They don’t die even if you cut or hit them, but they disappear on their own if you make them smaller. Well, it’s good if you can make them about the size of a handful with both hands. If they’re small, you can step on them. Then they’ll burst and disappear on their own. Even if they get on your hands, they’ll disappear eventually, so don’t worry about it.”
While explaining this, Nadira actually stepped on the Slime at her feet with great force.
The Slime burst with a splat, scattering around.
“…The volume is decreasing.”
Chris, who had been watching the scene intently, muttered.
The scattered Slime gradually became smaller. In fact, small fragments disappeared as if they were evaporating.
“What you have to be careful about is Slimes that have taken something in. These guys are omnivores and take anything into their bodies. If you crush one that has a corpse or something inside like that, it’ll be a disaster, so be careful.”
It seems that even if the Slime’s body itself disappears, the things that were taken in will remain as they are. Surely that would be a disaster.
“I’ll try it.”
Sulfa hit the Slime at her feet with a fallen tree branch.
There are also striking weapons such as batons, but they are too short to hit the ground.
The Slime, hit by the makeshift club, split in two. This individual was a little large, and was still active even after being split in two.
By hitting the club again, the Slime stopped moving and gradually became smaller.
“Interesting.”
“Well, it’s mysterious.”
“Slimes are the most incomprehensible monsters. Other famous ones have proper bodies. Slimes disappear. They don’t leave anything behind even if you defeat them, but they attract monsters. They’re a troublesome existence.”
“If you use them well, they can attract monsters. But usually, they attract more than you need, so I recommend exterminating them or avoiding them.”
They exterminated the surrounding Slimes and confirmed that there were no Slimes in sight.
“There were quite a few. But at this rate, it’s been about a week since they appeared. Medicinal herbs… well, there’s almost none.”
“Even if they’ve been growing for a week, it’s negligible.”
“In another two weeks or so, it will be a good collection spot.”
Medicinal herbs mutate when wild grasses grow in hotspots.
If so, it is only natural that there are almost no medicinal herbs in newly appeared hotspots.
“Alright. It’s about the limit we can do in a day trip. Is this good enough for today?”
“That’s enough. It was very educational. I look forward to working with you tomorrow and beyond.”
“Yeah. Well, that depends on whether we get back safely. I know your strength now, so I don’t mind going deeper into the mountains on an overnight trip next time.”
“I’ll consider it.”
And so, the group finished their day trip adventure.