The path to the location of the Witch of Lust, discovered through the Holy Sword of Truth, was quite a distance even if we could fly. As we flew, the sun began to set.
I turned my head to check the faces of the people riding the flight spell and shouted at them.
“I’ll have us land shortly to camp for the night! We’ll rest and leave early tomorrow morning. Sylvia, you must be tired from maintaining the flight spell all day, right? We don’t know what tomorrow will bring, so please get plenty of rest tonight.”
“I can handle this much, but I’m not completely unexhausted, so let’s go with that. Everyone, please get your camping gear ready.”
If we kept flying at the same speed, we could probably reach our destination by dawn tomorrow. However, based on our judgment, Sylvia and I decided to camp for the night.
When we arrive at the Witch of Lust’s lair, we would likely jump straight into battle, and we wanted to enter as prepared as possible. Especially for Sylvia, who had been protecting everyone from miasma all day while also casting the flight spell, I wanted to give her some time to rest.
Even though she insisted she was fine, if something were to happen and her power—the most vital part of our hunting party—were to falter, it would truly be a disaster.
Anyway, having decided to camp, we found a suitable terrain and began setting up.
“Wow, it’s my first time sleeping outside!”
“Right? I never thought I’d experience something like this in my life…”
However, there was a small problem.
Most of the hunting party had hardly ever camped in their lives, so very few had experience setting up tents.
So what happened then?
We had brought along a large tent in preparation for camping, but…
“…Um, is there anyone who knows how to set this up?”
“Haha… I’ve never had to do anything like this in my life…”
Nobody among us had set up a tent before, and everyone was just sitting there with parts sprawled on the ground, wearing expressions as if saying, ‘…So, what do we do now?’
It was amusing to see people who were like heroes on the battlefield struggling to handle a single tent.
Ah, I wasn’t mocking them.
It was more like how seasoned veterans find new recruits endearing.
It’s only natural to feel overwhelmed the first time you see tent parts if you have no experience setting them up.
It couldn’t be helped. Was it my time to step in, considering I’d been through rigorous training during my service?
As I pondered that thought and prepared to demonstrate my tent-setting skills, suddenly,
“Ah! I want to do it! I want to set up the tent! How do we do this? Like this? Like this?”
“Um…? Yeah… this is how you do it…”
I had to stop as Florene eagerly dashed over wanting to try setting up the tent herself.
But just for a little while, I thought I’d be able to show off my skills soon.
No matter how much I explained, setting up a big tent was rather complex and labor-intensive, even for grown men.
Especially for someone who had never done it before.
Moreover, people tend to lose interest quickly when things don’t go their way.
If Florene struggled to set up the tent, she’d quickly lose interest and say, “This is boring! I’m done!” and then I’d have no choice but to set it up myself.
So, I imagined everyone watching me set up the tent and saying, “Whoa! This guy is amazing! Hey!”
I was telling Florene how to set up the tent when suddenly,
“Uh…? Wait, Florene…! If you do it like that—”
“Hmm? Isn’t it like this?”
“Uh… no, you’re doing well…”
“Really? Hehe, this is fun!”
What I imagined didn’t happen.
Florene exceeded my expectations.
It wasn’t her dexterity, but her strength.
Anyone who has set up a tent knows.
Ultimately, this task is more about strength than brains.
Once you become proficient, you can learn to apply your strength more skillfully, but still…
“Is this where it goes? Ah! I accidentally bent it! I’ll fix it!”
“Um, um…”
“Is this how I pound it into the ground? Wham! Huh? Why are you holding the hammer? What’s it for?”
“…No, that’s not needed now.”
She was bending the metal pole from abjectly ignoring its tension and then restoring it with pure strength.
For a girl who hammered stakes into the hard soil like it was clay without even using a hammer, what finesse was necessary?
Overwhelming strength nullifies the need for knowledge…
While I was momentarily forgetting Florene’s immense strength, I heard Dwight’s voice from behind as he was watching the tent setup.
“I get it now. Scarlet, I roughly understand the structure of the tent, so I’ll take over from here. You go rest somewhere else.”
Well, who needs a genius mage when you can perfectly understand something just by watching how it’s done for a bit?
Dwight said that and then began to instruct Florene on how to set up the tent instead of me.
“What? Dwight is helping? Dwight, Dwight! Where does this go? Here?”
“Honestly, looking at the size, isn’t it obvious that it goes there?”
“Really! Oh, I see!”
Before I knew it, I had lost my place to the capable kids.
The perfect plan of demonstrating my tent-setting skills to receive everyone’s praise…
Quickly led me to a feeling of being empty because I had become unemployed.
However, it could not be that I would do nothing at all.
I resolved my mindset and looked around for my place.
“Wow, it’s nice that Marin is here, so we don’t have to worry about water.”
“Haha, but the moisture gathered here can’t be used unless you purify it, Sylvia.”
While I was scanning my surroundings, I caught sight of Sylvia and Marin chatting quietly by what looked like a pot.
As I stared at the two of them, Sylvia noticed my gaze and waved at me with a smile.
“Ah, Scarlet! If you have nothing to do, could you come here and help us for a moment?”
As I approached where the two of them were, I realized what they were planning to do.
“What? You two are going to cook?”
“Yes. Everyone brought their rations, but wouldn’t some warm food be nice? So we wanted the help of the good cook, Scarlet. I’m not good at cooking. Marin isn’t either.”
As she said that, Sylvia gave an awkward smile.
Well, it’s true that if you don’t practice cooking, it’s easy to rust. They had no reason to feel embarrassed.
But it felt a bit strange.
“…So why did you volunteer to cook if you’re not confident? There are plenty of other people.”
“Oh, that’s because…”
Listening to the two of them, I couldn’t help but chuckle in disbelief.
They were supposed to appoint someone to cook, but apparently, someone had earnestly begged them to cook for him.
When the two of them said they weren’t confident and refused, the person actually kneeled, saying he wanted to eat something they made even if it might be bad.
Honestly, it sounded like a bit of a rude request, and at first, others had tried to talk him out of it. But he said to everyone,
“If I don’t ask now… If I don’t ask now, I might never have the chance to eat food made by beautiful women…”
It was truly a ridiculous reason, yet the way he earnestly said it invoked a strange sympathy.
So, the people moved by that sympathy and others intrigued by his words created an awkward mood where it was hard to deny the request.
Well, I could somewhat understand their feelings.
After all, it’s natural to be drawn in by the idea of a meal made by a beauty like Sylvia and Marin.
Moreover, the two also wore expressions of being troubled yet weren’t entirely opposed, which made me feel like it was just how it should be.
Perhaps they liked being called beautiful women.
If they really disliked it, they would have refused regardless of the circumstances.
Well, having been asked to help, I wondered what would happen to the person who asked those two.
He wanted to eat food made by beautiful women, but would it be all right if I helped…?
“Scarlet…? You will help, right?”
“You’ll help, won’t you?”
.
.
.
“Of course, leave it to me.”
But seeing the earnest look in their eyes, I didn’t care about that.
If I’m cooking, what are they going to do about it? What can they do besides eat my food?
I’ll showcase the cooking skills I honed during the cooking club with Mei and senior Leonor.
Having decided to help with the cooking, I glanced at the ingredients that were somewhat arranged.
With this… if I throw in some stuff and boil it, it should work out somehow.
“Is there anything to adjust the flavor?”
“Um… I heard we brought salt, sugar, and maybe pepper.”
Then that stuff in those containers must be it.
The problem was, there were no labels on the containers, making it impossible to tell salt from sugar.
In moments like these, there is a traditional method to distinguish the two.
“Hey, Sylvia, can you show me your palms for a second?”
“Huh? Here.”
Despite her surprise, Sylvia obediently held out her palms.
I flipped the two containers with white powder over her hands and gave them a good tap.
Then, I winked slyly at Sylvia, who was looking uneasy, and said,
“Since I don’t know which is salt, can you taste it for me? I did ask you, so this much should be okay, right?”
“Ugh… I have no choice…”
Sylvia, with a reluctant expression, stuck out her tongue and nervously dipped it into what I had poured in her hand.
“…!!!”
And immediately, she made a silent scream, her face scrunching up.
I nodded in agreement with her expression.
“I see, this is salt. The other must be sugar.”
“Ugh, it’s salty… you should do it instead of me…”
As Sylvia complained as if it were unfair, she immediately licked the sugar from her left hand as if to neutralize the salty taste.
True to her love for sweet things, her expression brightened instantly, and it was so cute that I couldn’t help but grab a different jar and give it a little sprinkle on her upper hand.
“Okay, then can you tell me what this one is?”
“Huh? Is this… Yikes! This is pepper! It’s different in color!”
“Ahaha…! Just kidding, just kidding!”
“Ugh, seriously…!”
Anyway, after calming Sylvia down from my prank, we started cooking seriously with the others.
The special soup we made was met with quite smacking lips from everyone.
“Mmm… this warms up my insides, it’s amazing.”
“Mmm, wow, this is delicious!”
I smiled contentedly as I watched people enjoying the soup.
It’s bound to taste good.
After all, hot soup eaten outside is something special.
I cried a bit while eating the cup ramen the officer gave me during training…
By the way, watching everyone eat, I could easily figure out who had asked the two to cook.
“Ah… I could die happy right now…”
Among the crowd, someone said while sipping the soup, looking as if they might ascend to the heavens at any moment.
I hope that kind of ominous statement is held off while we go fight the witch tomorrow.
More so, what would that person say if they learned that our soup was made through very defined roles (Marin: getting the water, Sylvia: tasting, and me: all the rest)?
While pondering such thoughts while observing everyone, I suddenly noticed Florene rushing over with a bowl of soup.
“Here! Scarlet hasn’t eaten this yet! This soup you made is super delicious! I already had a bowl, but it was so good I wanted a bit more!”
It seemed I stood out since everyone was enjoying the soup while I wasn’t eating.
Chuckling slightly, I shook my head at Florene offering the bowl to me, then I showcased my current battle rations from Astra, which I was eating instead.
“I’m good. I’m eating this instead. If you want more, you can have my serving.”
“Really?! Thank you!”
At my words, Florene happily devoured the bowl of soup she brought almost instantly.
Watching her delight as she smiled widely, suddenly Florene looked concerned and asked with a worried expression.
“…By the way, how delicious is that you’re eating that instead of the amazing soup?”
“…Are you curious? Want one of these?”
“Huh? You’ll give me one? I want to try it!”
Since I had enough to spare, I handed her a rice dumpling-shaped battle ration, and Florene eagerly accepted it.
Then she collapsed.
“Um…?! Florene, are you okay?!”
“It’s… poison… Scarlet is trying to poison me…”
As I panicked and shouted to her, she writhed on the ground muttering that.
Upon hearing her, people suddenly grew anxious, wondering if I had really given her something poisonous, and I had to clarify.
Luckily, Sylvia promptly said, “She’s probably just exaggerating because it tastes terrible…” and managed to cover for me, so I got away with it.
However, some people grew curious about just how bad it tasted, resulting in a few additional incidents where others fainted in shock, but nothing serious came of it.
We had the demonic beasts on watch, so we could afford to pass out until tomorrow morning without worry.
And so, under the light of the Fury Beasts instead of a campfire, we spent a peaceful night.
*
The next morning, we were flying quietly in the early morning sky.
“…”
Everyone was silent, keeping their mouths shut. Perhaps they had grown accustomed to the view above, but it was likely that I had just mentioned we were not far from our destination.
This silence was a way to abandon the tranquility from yesterday as we prepared to raise our tension to face the battle soon.
That silence was broken by a small sigh from Marin.
“Ah…”
We all understood why she sighed without needing an explanation.
In the distant sky, we could see a sea dyed black.
The black sea was devoid of beauty or grandeur.
It only brought a sense of fear, as if one were staring into an abyss.
What a disappointing sight it must be for Marin, who was expecting the blue sea she had read about in books.
But, there was no time to pity her.
Amongst the waves rolling in with the sea,
With a disturbing sound of flapping wings, something soared toward us from above.
Seeing this, I muttered.
“Everyone, prepare for battle.”
Everyone readied their weapons.
The days of peace were over.
Now, it was time for war.
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