It had been quite a while since they left the Church Region, and now it was time for darkness to settle in.
Now that winter was here, dry straw was incredibly easy to come by, so Yona scoured the ground with her feet, gathering a pile and plopping down right in front of it.
Meanwhile, Alex and Kaiyak flattened the ground with their feet, gathered well-dried twigs, and used their weapons to snap some of the branches, collecting firewood.
“Ha, ha—huff, huff—”
After striking the portable flint a few times, sparks jumped to the straw, sending smoke into the air.
Yona shoved a handful of straw at the flame while puffing air into it, hoping it wouldn’t go out.
“Ah, got it.”
Flames danced upward from the clump of straw.
Even in winter, with no rain for a while, the dry twigs caused the burning straw to billow smoke as the flames began to rise.
The orange flames were already munching away at the twigs, starting to blaze vigorously.
It burned so well that as soon as they pushed more firewood twigs into the mix, it began to burn even stronger.
“Is this about enough?”
Kaiyak appeared, his arms full of firewood.
The two axes strapped to his back glinted in the moonlight, revealing a rather sinister shine.
“This should do, right? It’s a shame my first swing with the axe is for firewood, huh?”
Yona giggled and half-teased Kaiyak.
The Cathedral’s armory didn’t offer many two-handed weapons.
The standard equipment for Cathedral knights included shields and maces, or morning stars, so they didn’t have two-handed weapons available because they couldn’t use them with their shields equipped.
However, there were axes, so Kaiyak received two one-handed axes instead of a two-handed axe or hammer.
“What, the original purpose of the axe is this, isn’t it? What’s to be disappointed about?”
Kaiyak unceremoniously dumped the wood he brought and stacked it up to a decent height.
Then he plopped himself down on top and started warming himself by the campfire.
“I couldn’t find anywhere to fetch some water.”
Just then, Alex emerged from the bushes after scouring the area.
He was out looking for water to prepare dinner, but no matter how much he searched, he couldn’t find a river or even a pond.
“Hey, just eat something decent. We’ve got a canteen, so we can manage with drinking water.”
“Just eat it. We’ve got a water bottle, so hydration’s sorted.”
At Yona’s words, Alex scratched his head and walked over to the campfire, glancing around at their now slightly awkward trio since James had left.
Yona had already settled right in front of the campfire, using a fallen log from the campsite as a makeshift chair, and Kaiyak had also sat down, piling some firewood around him.
Alex, however, just plopped down right on the floor.
“Ah, this is… um…”
Yona pulled out a bundle from her backpack and unfolded it.
This was supposed to be military rations she bought from the convenience store before their morning departure, but upon opening it, all she found were a few hard pieces of bread, beef jerky, and what looked like a couple of dried fruits they probably tossed in as an afterthought.
“Um…”
“Hmm.”
Alex and Kaiyak, peeking into the bundle, could hardly say a word and just kept quiet.
“Wasn’t this stuff we used to eat pretty well? Why does it look so unappetizing now?”
Yona’s voice was thick with reluctance, and Kaiyak and Alex shared the same vibe.
They had eaten military rations while adventuring before, so this was nothing new.
Besides, judging by the light brown hue of the bread, it was clear they had put some effort into making it.
The jerky was well-dried and didn’t smell bad, perhaps thanks to some decent sauce.
“At least the jerky seems better than that garbage we had in Evian,” Alex remarked.
Just as Alex said, it was definitely better than the rations from Evian, yet somehow, nobody felt like eating it.
“We’ve been eating too well lately. Our tastes have probably gotten way too sophisticated,” Kaiyak hit the nail on the head.
In Evian, the usual fare was something like eternal stew, so rations and that really weren’t too different, and they ate just fine.
But after indulging in all sorts of delicacies between Kapatia Port and the Cathedral, it was no surprise their palates had become picky.
“Let’s just eat it, whatever. We just need to fill our stomachs.”
And thus, their meal began.
They dampened the bread with water from the bottle, tore off bits, and chewed on the jerky in between, which tasted pleasantly salty enough to be decent.
Nibbling at the dried fruits with their front teeth yielded a good amount of sweetness, making it a passable meal all in all.
It was quite a meal.
“How far do we have to go?”
“Hmm, let me see.”
Kaiyak pulled out the map from his backpack.
The very same map he had when they left Evian.
He had received it this morning from James when he departed the Cathedral.
“Well, since we’re crossing the Medial Plain, we should just keep going straight. There shouldn’t be any monsters along the way.”
“No monsters?”
Yona cut in on Kaiyak’s assertion.
It was a world overflowing with monsters. Even on their way from Evian to Kapatia Port, they had encountered so many creatures.
So, hearing Kaiyak confidently claim there wouldn’t be any monsters piqued Yona’s curiosity.
“The Medial Plain is the breadbasket of this northern continent, surpassing even the Emporus Prairies. It’s precisely why the Empire of Kapatia could be established here. There’s no way monsters could roam freely in such a place. Even wild orcs are rare to find. The moment they showed up, adventurers and military troops from the nearby Empire would sweep them away.”
“Uh… really?”
It’s hard to tell just by talking.
Yona had only just left Evian for the first time, so she didn’t have much knowledge compared to what she didn’t know.
“Take this opportunity to broaden your horizons, Yona. Is it really only in Evian that adventurers live knowing the world?”
Kaiyak chuckled as he teased Yona.
His words weren’t exactly wrong, so Yona couldn’t really counter them.
After all, she had only been in this world for three years, and it would soon be four.
In that time, just managing to survive and adapt in Evian was an achievement.
That seemed fine, but still, Kaiyak’s words weren’t incorrect either.
“…I guess I’m broadening my horizons this time, so that’s that…”
Yona quickly sulked and deflated.
Alex quietly watched her.
What a colorful girl she was.
Not good at hiding her emotions and more accustomed to showing them.
To be honest, his pursuit of her had started because of her looks, but now it was her personality that he found even more appealing.
Of course, he didn’t actually believe the talk about being a guy or anything, but who cares?
If he just went along with her and made some good memories, maybe someday Yona would accept him.
So he didn’t want to see her looking so down.
“So how far do we really have to go?”
“If there are no unnecessary delays, and if we move quickly, we can make it in about ten days. Distance-wise, it’s a straight shot, and there shouldn’t be anything major along the way.”
“Well, if we go quickly, we should get there in about ten days. I mean, it’s a straight shot with no major hiccups along the way.”
“That’s a gamble though. You know, Anankaya? The priest was worried because there have been a lot of monsters raiding villages lately.”
“True, you never really know what people will do. I’m not a fortune teller, so I can’t comment on that.”
Kaiyak shrugged.
While Yona was busy buzzing around the cathedral, Kaiyak and Alex weren’t just slacking off either.
They were hustling, chatting up the priests, trying to get the lowdown on how things in the continent were shaking out.
Apparently, the monsters were causing quite a ruckus.
The fact that Semek had turned upside down was already widely known, with voices in the air questioning whether the Celestial God had abandoned them again or if the era of silence was upon them once more, filled with anxiety.
On top of that, there were whispers about the sudden approval of Celestial Church missions by the nations of the Ain, who were usually at odds with the Empire—it raised some eyebrows, but there was no actual evidence to back it up.
Just one thing was certain: monsters were making ruckus way above what everyone expected.
*
Yona crawled into her sleeping bag and suddenly felt it was way too spacious.
The sleeping bag she had always shared with Rubina now felt emptier than ever without her.
Even though it was supposed to cover her face, Yona pulled it down just enough to peek out at the night sky.
I wonder if Rubina is sleeping right now.
It’s only been two days since entering the orphanage, so she probably hasn’t settled in enough to sleep properly yet.
Yona suddenly flipped over.
Even so, that emptiness didn’t seem to fade away.
This emptiness felt like it would stick around for a while, Yona mused.
“Hey, lizard.”
“What’s up?”
She heard Alex’s voice from nearby, who had thrown a sleeping bag over himself.
Kaiyak’s dull voice chimed in, taking the first watch.
“Is the campfire okay?”
“No problems here.”
“Strange, though. I think I smell something funny.”
Now that he mentioned it, there was a slight odor.
It was a weird scent, kinda burnt.
Like the smell of sulfur.
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