Published at 20th of November 2020 10:34:26 PM
Chapter 51
“I’ll enter the cave with Elna . ”
“Huh!? I’ll also enter!” Cleria declared .
“Since the cave is narrow, going in with many people isn’t advisable . We might even get in each other’s way . The three of you keep watch outside . ”
“”Understood . ””
Cleria grumbled in protest for a bit, but agreed in the end .
“Let’s go, Elna . ”
“Yes . ”
Elna replied as she drew her sword . I managed to catch the location of the rest of the bandits through my magic sensor .
“The bandits are located in the deepest area . There are seven of them . I plan to take care of all of them using magic, but if something unexpected comes up, please move to assist . ”
“Understood . ”
As expected of a professional knight . Elna’s response was quick and simple . It was quite dark inside the cave . It was the right call to bring some light magic tools .
When we came to the deeper levels, the surroundings gradually began to brighten up . I began hearing some vulgar-sounding laughter in the distance . The worrying thing is that they had hostages with them . I’ll need to finish them off quick .
I muffled the sound of my footsteps and finally saw the situation ahead . There were two women on the ground . Their appearance was immodest as two bandits leaned themselves on top of them . Another woman had her arms and legs tied up with ropes and placed in a corner of the cave .
Alright . I’ve managed to target all the bandits inside . I locked on to the right shoulders of every bandit present and launched Flame Arrows .
“Elna! Secure the women!”
I disarmed the bandits who have fallen miserably on the ground . I then threw the bandits to the deepest corner of the cave . It looks like Elna managed to secure the women as well .
I gathered all of the bandit’s weapons and finally managed to check the state of the three kidnapped women . Elna has already helped them to put on their clothes properly .
“Are you perhaps adventurers?”
The woman who had her limbs bound earlier, a young lady who looked to be eighteen, asked about us .
“That’s right . We’re the C rank party, Shining Star . My name is Alan . We managed to hear about you from the bandits we came across earlier, so we came to your rescue . ”
“Thank you very much, good sir! I will definitely repay you for your help . ”
“No, it’s nothing much . In any case, shall we get out of here first?”
“Yes . ”
The women who were assaulted by the bandits earlier were probably close to my age . They seemed to have not lost their composure and did not have any problems walking by themselves .
“Can I leave the rest to you, Elna?”
“Please leave it to me . ”
I left the young women to Elna’s care and had her lead them out of the cave . I, on the other hand, checked the loot inside the cave .
“Hey! If you guys so much as twitch, I’m gonna burn you to death with magic . You got that?”
After the bandits realized their situation, they nodded their heads incredibly fast .
Several boxes were littered around the cave in a disorganized manner, so I proceeded to open all of them up .
This contains salt . This also contains salt . And here, we have tableware . Here are some clothes . There doesn’t seem to be anything that’s decently valuable . Oh, there’s a locked box here . This may have something valuable in it . I cut the lock open with my bladeknife and found that it contained gold . I counted all the coins and determined them to be worth about eighty thousand Guineas . I dumped all the coins inside my money bag . I proceeded to open the rest of the boxes, but found nothing else worthy of note . How unfortunate .
How about the bandit’s weapons then? I checked the assorted swords and spears piled up on one side of the cave but only found two swords that looked decent . I guess that’s about it for the loot .
“Hey, you guys . Stay put over there . Take one step out of this cave and I’ll roast you all alive . ”
I casted a Fire spell to intimidate them and singed them a bit .
“”We understand!””
I put all the weapons of the bandits inside a bag and went out of the cave . I found everyone consoling the captured young women outside .
“Alan, please heal Natalie-san!” Cleria called out worriedly .
So they’ve already introduced themselves to each other huh .
When I checked the state of the woman, I confirmed that she got a bruise through being punched . I might as well heal the two of them together while I’m at it . Oops . Since we just met these people, it would be better if I didn’t cast magic like I usually did .
Elna warned me about it while we were traveling . She pointed out that my magic was quite unique and told me not to openly show it to other people if possible . She nagged at me several times during the journey .
I put my arm up toward the young woman and casted Heal after about ten seconds . The bruise disappeared without a trace . I didn’t just aim to treat the bruise, but her entire body instead, so all the other injuries she had taken should be healed up as well .
“Healing magic!? Amazing!”
The three young women seemed really surprised about my magic . Were ten seconds still too short? I proceeded to cast Heal on the other young woman as well .
“How about you? Are you okay?”
I asked the young woman who was tied up earlier .
“I’m alright . Forgive our late introduction . My name is Arista . These two are Karina and Natalie . ”
“I’m Karina . ”
“I’m Natalie . ”
“We are really grateful for your rescue . We owe all of you our lives . ”
“No, we just did what should be done, so you don’t really have to mind . I’ll need to confirm though . Are the ten adventurers who served as your guards and the three of you the only members of your retinue?”
“That is correct . Um, how are the adventurers we hired as guards?”
“Unfortunately, none of them survived . ”
“I see… That truly is unfortunate . ”
“Now then, what do you propose we do with the bandits?”
I turned toward the rest of the party and asked for their opinions .
“Um! Would it be alright if you handed over custody of the bandits to us?”
Uh, did I hear wrong? I seemed to have heard one of the victims asking for the custody of the bandits .
“What do you mean?”
“If I left things as they are, I cannot regain the honor of these two women with me . I heard that the reward money for capturing a bandit is five thousand Guineas for each head . I am willing to pay double that and give you ten thousand Guineas for each of them . ”
“”Aristsama!””
So this Aristsan is of a high enough social standing to be addressed with ‘sama’ huh . But what do they want to do with them anyway? Let’s say I agreed . Will they proceed to kill them here or something?
“Would that not be fine, Alan?” Cleria spoke out . We’re in front of other people, but her tone sounded a little bit more dignified than usual .
“I also think it is fine,” Elna added .
They might have noticed the hesitation on my face, so both of them spoke out in support .
“I leave the decision to Alan,” Sharon nodded .
“I’ll do so as well,” Selena agreed .
Well, since all of them don’t seem to particularly disagree with handing the bandits over, I guess I’ll make the decision then . It should be fine to hand them over .
“I understand . But you don’t need to double the price though . I’ll give them to you for the normal amount . This saves us the trouble as well anyway . ”
“Thank you very much, everyone . ” Arista sincerely thanked us while bowing her head .
“So what do you plan to do?”
“Will you be handing the five bandits over there to us as well?”
“Alright, I don’t mind . ”
The bandits started trembling in fear .
“Well then, please bring those five bandits and take them inside the cave . Can we borrow swords as well?” Natalie-san, who kept quiet all this time, suddenly requested .
I handed over the bag with the weapons I retrieved from the bandit lair earlier .
“Of course . ”
Natalie and Karina began choosing swords for themselves .
“Hey, you lot . Get inside the cave!”
“N-Nooo, please let us go, boss! No, master! Please have some mercy!”
What the heck is the use of begging me? I’m the only guy in our group, you know . And you still expect me to utter any complaints?
I launched a Fire spell at the bandits to shut them up .
“Okay, you lot . Do you want to burn to death here, or obediently head inside the cave . Choose . ”
The five bandits muttered in frustration as they walked inside the cave .
I guess the three young women planned to follow after them next .
“Please wait here with everyone else, Aristsama,” Karina implored .
“But–!”
“We will not be able to vent as much as we want with you present, Aristsama,” Karina insisted .
“…I understand . Well then, Alan-san . Please take care of the two of them . ”
Hmm . I don’t know what exactly I should help them with though .
“Understood . ”
Judging from the flow of the conversation, what will take place later will most likely be the two women’s revenge . If so, I guess my job here is to ensure they’ll be able to take their revenge without any problems . It’s unfortunate for the bandits, but this is just the consequence of their actions .
When we arrived back at the cave, we found the bandits staying put quietly in the deepest corner, doing their best to obey my earlier command . There was a bundle of rope in a corner, so I cut an appropriate length with a knife . So there were twenty of them all in all .
I threw the rope I cut toward the huddled bandits .
“Hey, you lot! Bind your own feet with that rope . I’ll take it that the ones who bind their feet the tightest are the ones who are truly regretful about their actions, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll plead with the ladies on your behalf . ”
The ones who were left inside the cave were still acting confused, but the five who were outside earlier scrambled to get the rope and proceeded to hurriedly tie their feet . They finished tying themselves up in a flash .
I checked the state of their bindings while going around with my sword drawn . Every one of them scrambled to show the result of their work to me and lifted their tied-up legs with their hands . It looks like all of them were properly tied up .
“Oh, right . Take out everything valuable you have on you . If I’m satisfied with the amount…”
I didn’t even manage to finish my words . All of the bandits started rummaging their pockets and took out all the spare change they had on them . I had them put all the money inside my money pouch . Hey, there’s someone who actually has some gold coins . It was worth doing something like this, even if it was a bit lowly .
I closed my money pouch with a snap after collecting the bandit’s money .
“Is this fine, you two?”
“Fufu, that was the best, Alan-sama . Thank you very much . Can you wait for us to finish?” Karina requested .
“But… Are you two really going to be okay?”
“Oh, I’m sorry . We forgot to mention this . Even if we showed you such a sorry sight earlier, we are actually assigned to serve as Aristsama’s personal guards . Since you’ve already done this much for us, we should have no trouble with the rest . ”
“I see… Understood . Just call out to us if you need something, okay?”
“No way!? Boss! What about pleading for us!?”
“W-We handed you our money, right!?”
“Just give up . ”
I heard the miserable screams of the bandits as I was leaving the cave .
And after about twenty minutes, the screams of the bandits finally stopped ringing out of the cave . It definitely wasn’t something pleasant to hear . The faces of everyone else were contorted uncomfortably .
Natalie and Karina finally came out of the cave . I guess everything’s over .
“Thank you for waiting everyone . With this, my and Natalie’s honor has been regained . We are deeply thankful,” Karina spoke in gratitude .
I see . So this is how the women of this planet think about matters like these .
“Thank you very much for lending us some swords . ”
Natalie and Karina then handed back the swords they borrowed earlier to me . However, they looked reluctant to part with the swords . It turns out that the two swords they took earlier were the ones I judged to be decent looking among the pile .
“By any chance, are these swords actually yours?”
“They have indeed served us well in the past, but they are yours now . ”
“If that’s the case, then I’ll return these swords to you two . ”
“However–!”
“It’s okay . I was having trouble deciding if we should take the weapons with us or not earlier anyway . Well then, do you want to come along with us on our carriage?”
“We will be in your care then . I promise to definitely repay you for your grace,” Arista said as she bowed in gratitude .
“No, you don’t have to mind, really . ”
In the end, we decided to leave the rest of the weapons taken from the bandit lair behind . They don’t seem all that valuable anyway, and it’ll just be troublesome to lug them back .
We began heading back to the carriage .
t took us about an hour to walk back to the place where we left our carriage .
“Thank goodness . Tarth and Syrah are both fine,” Cleria exclaimed and sighed in relief .
“Yeah . What about your carriage, Aristsan?”
“Since our horses already ran off somewhere, we’ll just leave it here . My only worry is that it’ll hinder other travelers . Please allow us some time to try and move it as well as recover some of our belongings .
“Oh, right, I forgot to ask you something important . We’re actually in the middle of traveling to Gantz . Since you will be coming along with us later, I should have confirmed it with you earlier . So would you be fine with coming along with us to Gantz?”
“Of course . We were actually heading for Gantz before we got attacked as well . ”
I assumed as much judging from the direction the fallen carriage was facing, but I had to make sure .
Now let’s get to taking care of the bodies of the deceased adventurers and bandits . If I remember correctly, there was a rule that said one needed to retrieve the guild identification card from the corpse whenever one discovers a deceased adventurer and present it to the Guild for verification . Most likely, it was a rule implemented to prevent others from taking advantage of an adventurer’s identity . And we also needed to retrieve things that would serve as mementos of sorts for the bereaved families . Let’s get to work then .
“Everyone, excuse me for asking, but would you collect the guild identification cards of the deceased adventurers as well as some of their possessions that can serve as mementos . We’ll need to return them to their families later on . ”
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I actually anticipated something like this happening to a certain extent, and bought a lot of hemp bags, so we didn’t have any problems storing the collected mementos .
We also found that the deceased adventurers still had their money with them, so it looks like the bandits didn’t manage to loot their corpses yet when we arrived at the scene .
We tossed the bandit corpses on the side of the road . I should handle the adventurer’s corpses with more care though, and at least give them a simple burial .
I faced a spot on the side of the road and started forming an image in my head . The ground started trembling and began vibrating strongly . The scope of the vibrations gradually expanded out . Once it reached a certain size, the ground started to move apart . Soil began to steadily pile up until a rectangular hole measuring about 2 meters in length and 7 meters in width was formed . It had a depth of about 1 meter .
“Amazing! Is that Earth magic!?” Karina exclaimed in surprise .
“Yes, that’s right . Isn’t it quite convenient?”
I had everyone help and arranged the adventurer’s corpses neatly inside the newly created grave . After making sure we took care of every last one, I used Earth magic once more and filled the grave with soil again .
Earth magic really is quite handy, isn’t it? When I first did something like this from the time I first met Cleria, it took me hours to bury the bodies . But with Earth magic, I managed to finish all the work within just several minutes .
It looks like it’s worth continuing to practice this magic element during our journey .
Ah, damn! Talk about bad timing . The drone notified me that there were Gray Hounds closing in on the area we were at . But it looks like they haven’t noticed us yet . I hope we can head out of this place without alerting them .
I tied Tarth and Syrah to the carriage once more, and loaded all of the adventurer’s belongings as well as Arista and company’s things inside . Ugh . Looks like they noticed us after all .
“Prepare for battle! Gray Hounds incoming!”
All of my party members stood on alert and looked towards me .
I indicated the direction the monsters will be appearing from, their number, as well as the current distance from the carriage with the hand signs I had them learn beforehand . Everyone nodded in understanding and went into position .
“Gray Hounds are coming, Aristsan . You should go back into the carriage, just in case . ”
“…Understood . I’ll have Natalie and Karina help you all in fending them off as well . ”
“No, that will not be necessary . We can handle it . ”
“Alright . Please be careful then . ”
Since the road was narrow, it’ll be a little hard to fight in the middle of it . If the Gray Hounds launched their ambush from both sides of the road, it’ll be quite a bit troublesome .
But, luckily, the Gray Hounds weren’t all that smart . They appeared about 50 meters away from where the carriage was and immediately went to attack us in a mob .
Since they were given ample time for casting, Cleria, Serena, and Sharon launched three flame arrows each at the incoming Gray Hounds; quickly killing them . The last one got its head lopped off by Elna with a well-timed Wind Cutter spell .
Man . They aren’t even giving me a chance to do anything lately . Oh well . Let’s just collect the magic stones and depart from here .
We quickly collected the magic stones from the Gray Hound corpses . We each use electromagnetic bladeknives to split the Gray Hound corpses cleanly in two and remove the magic stones from the bodies with our swords . Since the corpses were split in two, they became easier to dispose of because of the decrease in weight . Well, the only demerit was all the messy blood splatter though . Oh well . Not everything can be perfect anyway .
“Thanks for waiting . Let’s depart then . ”
“That was amazing! To think you all would be able to finish off that many Gray Hounds easily . And it was practically in an instant too!” Karina exclaimed .
“Well, we’re quite used to it, you see . ”
Just like always, Elna sat beside me on the driver’s seat . The others made themselves comfortable inside the carriage . The carriage had in-built seats on each side that could seat three persons each . You can squeeze in four persons, but it’ll be more comfortable with just three each .
Since I could now handle driving the carriage by myself, Elna could have rested inside the carriage as well, but she insisted on staying out front to watch out for threats . And so, the driver’s seat became her regular spot of sorts .
We’ve wasted enough time as it is . From the looks of it, we won’t be able to make it to the next camping spot before it gets dark . I searched for other places suitable for camping nearby through my virtual HUD .
Hmm, this one looks good . The carriage can be parked nearby, and we can wash ourselves in the river as well . I’m sure Aristsan and the others would appreciate being able to clean up after themselves after what they went through . And there weren’t any other suitable camping spots nearby that we could reach before dusk .
It’s currently past three in the afternoon already . We should be able to reach the spot I found at four o’clock . Since we’ll have some time before it gets dark, I’ll cook some rice later . And we’ll catch some fish in the river and make some sushi . Yeah, that’s right, I’ll make some salmon sushi! Even if we don’t catch any fish, I can still use the Big Boar meat we got last time to make some pork bowls .
“Hey Elna, I’m thinking of setting up camp over there? How about it?”
“Yes, it looks like a good spot . There’s a river nearby too . ”
It looks like Elna’s also concerned about Aristsan and the others . I moved the carriage as close to the riverbed as possible . I guess it can only go this far . I’ll go ahead and tie it down here then .
“Are we going to set up camp here, Alan?”
“Yeah . that’s right . There’s a pretty good spot over there . ”
“You have a good eye . And it’s true that we can’t reach the roadside camping spot before it gets dark,” Karina acknowledged .
“So it’s decided then . Let’s set up camp here . ”
“Um…… Can we wash ourselves in the river first? We’ll help with setting up camp after we finish . ” Natalie requested .
“Of course . Go right ahead . Actually, there’s no need for you guys to help . We can manage it just fine, so just relax and rest up . ”
“Alright then . I’ll stand guard just in case,” Elna offered .
“We’ll make sure Alan doesn’t get the opportunity to peek,” Cleria added .
“Hey! How rude! I’m a proper gentleman y’know . ”
“Fufu, thank you very much everyone . Well then, if you’ll excuse us,” Karina chuckled in amusement as the three of them headed for a secluded spot on the river .
Guess I’ll go ahead with setting up camp then .
I’ll take this opportunity to practice some Earth magic as well . I first thought that Earth magic consisted of only moving soil and rocks around, but I recently found that it can also compress and harden them .
In other words, even if I shaped the earth into cubes, they’ll easily break up with a little pressure if I don’t purposely compress them . However, if I apply a strong image of the ground being packed and compressed, I’ll end up with earth cubes that are sufficiently hard to be used as building material .
That means I can actually make hardened earth huts using Earth magic . However, just moving the earth around wouldn’t cost that much magicles, but it’ll cost much more if I apply compression .
Even two simple earth huts with a length of 3 meters, width of 2 meters, height of 3 meters, and walls with a thickness of 5 centimeters cost one fully charged Gray Hound magic stone . If I made them with my magicle reserves alone, I probably wouldn’t be able to finish even one of them .
I still need to work on the design of the huts though . They looked quite shabby . I made it so the entrance of the huts would be big enough to allow a person to enter while bending over a bit . In order to facilitate air circulation, I made five centimeter long window slits on opposite sides of the huts .
I also made groves on the entrances to allow for sliding doors . It’ll be more convenient this way since you can easily lock the door from the inside by sliding it shut . Afterward, we’ll just need to place a stopper so it can’t be opened easily while we’re resting up inside .
The walls are tough enough to withstand a good standing kick, but it’ll probably break if one hits it with a jump kick with one’s full bodyweight behind it . Even if I hardened it, soil is soil after all . In order to make it more stable, I made the structures with relatively low heights .
But these huts are still more secure compared to simple tents, so I decided I’d go with making these every time we needed to camp out from now on . It’s a good thing I learned and practiced Earth magic .
Since we have other companions, I made a total of three huts . With this, I fully used up two Gray Hound magic stones . The Guild buys Gray Hound magic stones for a rate of 400 Guineas each, so it’s like I used up 800 Guineas by making the huts .
Well, it’s a necessary expense anyway, and we did get an additional eight magic stones earlier apart from the eighteen I originally had on me, so we still had more than enough to last for a while .
Now then, I’ll need to make some toilets next . In a sense, that’s more important than the huts . I made a toilet enclosed with three earthen walls with a length and width of 150 cms, and a height of 200 cms . The entrance would be covered with cloth . In the center was a U-shaped toilet seat with a fairly deep hole beneath it .
If one needed to go to the toilet, they’d just need to drop the blanket that would be hung at the entrance and go do their thing in privacy . The blanket would be thick enough to completely block the view from outside . Once one finishes doing his or her business, they’d just need to fill out the hole a little with the clumps of soil I’ll be leaving just beside the toilet seat, and then raise the blanket back up . In other words, when the blanket is down, it means someone is using the toilet, so another can avoid entering it by mistake .
When I showed it to the girls, they were very happy about it . The toilet was very well received . And since I’m the only guy in the group, I needed to build two toilets . One is for my exclusive use, and the other is for the girls . I also had to make them a certain distance apart .
“Hey, Selena! What are you doing!?”
After I finished making the toilets, I heard Cleria call out in a loud voice .
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s a Bug (insect) . It looked like a beetle that was 20 centimeters big,” Selena replied .
“Well, that’s not good . Did you kill it?”
“Of course . ”
“Great . You did well . ”
“Great? …Alan! Selena just crushed a big bug underneath her foot you know!”
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“Yeah, it looks like she did . What’s wrong? Why did you raise your voice anyway?”
“Eh? But she just crushed a passing bug for no reason at all, you know?”
“Isn’t that normal? If you see one Bug, you’ll have to kill it, right? That’s just common sense . ”
“Eeh!? Common sense?”
Cleria looked to Sharon for help .
“They’re right . If one sees an insect (Bug), you’ll have to kill it right away . There’s no other choice but to kill it . If not, it may prove dangerous,” Sharon explained .
“Eh? I-Is that really the case?”
“Yeah, of course . What’s wrong with you, Cleria?”
“……It’s nothing . I’m sorry . I was just a little surprised, that’s all . Yes…”
There are cases when letting even just on Bug escape resulted in incidents with massive casualties in the empire after all .
In order to protect this planet, we have no choice but to exterminate all those we encounter .
Before long, Arista and the others came back from bathing . They were quite surprised by the campsite that was made .
“U-Um, what are these?” Arista asked .
“These are the huts we’ll sleep in for tonight . They look a bit shabby, but they’re at least better than flimsy tents, right?”
“……Y-Yes, I guess…”
“……Is this also an application of Earth magic?” Karina inquired .
“That’s right . Like I said, Earth magic is quite convenient . Go ahead and check out the interior . I’m sure you’re all tired from today’s events . I’ll prepare our food in the meantime, so please relax until it’s time for dinner . ”
I then showed them the magic hair dryers and taught them their usage . It would be best if they dried their hair to avoid catching colds . Oops . Now’s not the time to be preoccupied with anything else . If I don’t hurry, I won’t be able to make sushi . Oh, but the other girls may not like eating raw fish . What should I do? Oh well . I’ll be making pork bowls anyway, so I guess there’s no problem . But it’ll be pretty tight if I need to make both dishes before dark .
I’ll do it anyway . If I let this pass, I don’t know if there’ll be another chance for me to make sushi . Kuh . Guess I’ll just have to do my best then .
“If anyone’s free, can you please go and catch some fish for dinner?”
The girl’s eyes sparkled in excitement and rushed over to the bags with fishing equipment inside . They then ran to the river . Dangit! I would have wanted to join them too .
The girls are already familiar with handling the fishing rods and using lures . That’s because, even if there weren’t really any instances where we could go fishing again lately, they kept fiddling with equipment during the journey . It looks like they really took a shine to fishing .
“Um, where are the others going?” Arista asked .
“They’re going to catch ingredients for tonight’s dinner . I’m going to put on some tea, so please relax around that table if you want . ”
“No, can you please allow us to help out with something as well?”
“It’s fine . You all are our guests after all . And I’m always the one who makes the meals for this party anyway . That’s why you don’t need to mind me and just make yourselves comfortable . ”
I produced some drinking water using Water magic, poured it inside a kettle, and started boiling it after lighting a fire with Fire magic . I then went to the riverside to wash the rice grains . Since there’s a chance the girls may catch a good number of fish, I took a spare bucket as well .
“They sure are a curious group of people . Don’t you both think so too?”
“That’s right . Judging from the way they cast spells earlier, they’re all at least at a level of a veteran mage . And from the way I see it, they’re all pretty skilled with a sword as well . They aren’t at the level of a C rank party . They’re on par with most veteran A rank parties I’m familiar with,” Karina replied .
“I’m quite curious about Risan and Elnsan’s circumstances as well . Those two are most likely of noble birth . Their attitude and gestures have a certain refinement and grace to them . At the very least, they’ve received education on par with that of nobles . It’s a lot more pronounced on Risan . I would definitely believe it if someone said she was a highborn noble daughter without a doubt,” Arista added .
“But is that really possible? How can noble ladies like them work and risk their lives as adventurers like this?” Natalie exclaimed as she posed her doubts .
“That’s why I’m puzzled . It really is perplexing . ”
“I’m most curious about the party leader, Alan, though . From what we’ve seen, he can freely use Fire, Light, Earth, and Water magic . And the spells are all cast in practically an instant . He should be quite famous with such skills, but why have we not heard of his name until now?” Karina observed .
“Things are getting even more perplexing, aren’t they?”
After I finished washing the rice, I called out to everyone fishing upstream .
“It’s fine even if you catch only one fish . ”
“”Oka〜y!””
Dammit! They sound like they’re really having fun .
“I got one!” Elna excitedly exclaimed .
They just started fishing and she’s already got a bite!? That’s honestly very impressive . Looks like I’ll have enough fish to prepare after all . Elna may have some talent for fishing .
“Okay girls . Elna’s already caught one, so it’s okay to stop fishing after a bit . ”
“”Ye〜s!””
Oh shoot! I nearly forgot the water I was boiling! I called out to Sharon, who wasn’t busy fishing .
“Can you check out the water kettle I put on top of the campfire, Sharon? It should have started boiling already, so can you make some tea for our three guests?”
“Understood . I’ll get to it right away . ”
“Oh, right! Take this rice pot and put it over the flame next . Make the fire stronger as well . And make sure not to spill the contents, okay . ”
“Yes!”
The salmon Elna fished up was a big one . It was probably about 80 centimeters in length . This was a standard size for this type of fish .
I chopped the salmon into three parts, put it inside the bucket, and went back to the center of the camp together with the rest of the girls . The girls sat down around the table and enjoyed some tea while exchanging stories .
Since the rice won’t be fully cooked for a while more, I should prepare the sushi first . I first cut the salmon from earlier into large slices . It was very rich in fat, and can be made into some splendid toro salmon sushi .
They caught just one salmon, but it looks like it was more than enough for all of us . I ended up having plenty of salmon slices for sushi . Well, it’s alright . I’ll just make some aburi (partially grilled) and shioyaki (salt grilled) salmon with the rest .
Okay . Looks like the rice is finally cooked now . I tried a spoonful and found it to be perfectly cooked .
I can finally start making sushi now . I already prepared some sushi vinegar earlier . Aside from a portion I would use for making pork bowls later, I’ll make the rest of the rice into sushi rice . I put the cooked rice inside a large bowl, sprinkled it with sushi vinegar little by little, conjured hot air using Wind magic and let it seep into the rice, and finally, mixed it vigorously . Alright, that should do, I think . Let’s let it cool for a bit .
I’ll prepare the pork bowl ingredients now . The main ingredient is simply the Big Boar ribs we had in store . There’s quite a few varieties of pork bowl, but I don’t have much time today, so I’ll just go with the salty-sweet variant .
First, I’ll grill the Big Boar ribs over the fire . Once they were nicely grilled, I put them on a plate and set them aside . I took out some soy sauce, sugar, and sake next . I poured each ingredient inside the pot and stirred the mixture over the fire until it gained a thick and rich consistency . I then put the meat portions back inside the pot and let the sauce mixture seep into them thoroughly . This should be fine . I finally completed cooking the pork bowl meat with salty-sweet sauce .
Translator: SFBaka
Editor: Thor’s Stone
Looks like the sushi rice has also cooled down enough, so let’s get to making sushi . Oh, it looks like everyone has noticed me busily cooking and gathered nearby . I guess they’re curious about what I’m making .
Man, it’s been a long time since I’ve made sushi . And now I have a live audience as well . Just to make sure I won’t disappoint them, I retrieved the ‘How to Make Sushi Like a Pro’ e-book from my personal database and updated Nanom using it .
I briskly washed my hands, grabbed some sushi rice, and started shaping it . I then put a salmon slice on top and finished making the first sushi piece . But it’s a shame that there’s no wasabi . I’ll certainly find it one of these days . I swear . I’ll pick up the pace now .
Oh boy . I got too into it and made quite a lot . I’ve finished making eighty pieces altogether . I better not make more since having too much of the same stuff could make one bored of the taste even if the food’s delicious .
Oh, right! I almost forgot . I did say I was going to make partially grilled salmon too, didn’t I? Hmm . I’ll need a burner for that . I wonder if I can substitute the burner with a fire spell?
I constructed an image of air and magicles mixing into a gaseous substance in my head . I’ll use the Fire spell first, and then adjust the output gradually .
The Fire spell was successfully cast, and a column of flames appeared in mid-air on top of my palm . The girls shouted in surprise . They were all watching behind me and were surprised when I suddenly conjured a five to six meter column of flames with my spell .
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I’ll adjust the flame quality by gradually decreasing the magicle concentration and add in some more air .
「Please support me, Nanom . 」
The flames gradually changed in composition . The girls made a racket once more . Good, the flame’s color has changed . It’s coming along well . It’s finally looking similar to a gas burner’s flames .
There we go! A more than five meter blue column of flames rose into the air along with a loud roaring noise . Man, that’s some intense heat . It’s also burning through my magicle reserves at a really fast rate . I’ll adjust the output until it’s manageable . There we go . I can now make aburi salmon with this . I’ll go make a portion of the sushi into aburi sushi as well .
“Alright! It’s finally finished!”
I finally finished making the sushi . This is probably the first time sushi has appeared in the history of this planet .
Oops . I also need to finish making the pork bowls . Since there’s a lot of sushi, I’ll just put in the rice and pork into bowls of a smaller size so everybody can finish their meals . I’ll just need to reheat this a bit, and the pork bowls would be done . We’ll use spoons to eat these .
I carried the pork bowls and a large plate full of toro aburi salmon slices, toro aburi salmon sushi, and regular toro salmon sushi onto the table . Oops . Nearly forgot about the shioyaki . I then put some soy sauce onto a small plate . There . Tonight’s meal is finished .
“Thank you for waiting, everyone . This meal is called sushi . It’s a recipe from my home town . And this is called pork bowls . This is also a recipe from back home . If you’re not partial to them, there’s also some salt grilled salmon slices and rice over here . Okay then . Dig in everyone . ”
“…Alan, just what was that blue-colored flame earlier?” Cleria suddenly asked .
“Oh, that . I needed that in order to make a portion of the sushi . I need a high temperature flame to sear the salmon slices in order to complete the dish . ”
“Um, I don’t think that’s what Ria is getting at, Alan,” Elna quipped .
“So this is sushi! This will be my first time trying it,” Sharon exclaimed .
“Sushi… But isn’t it simply raw fish slices put on top of balled up rice?” Cleria inquired .
“Well, it does look like that at first glance, but some rather detailed steps are actually needed in order to make these . That’s why I could only make just this much for tonight’s dinner . C’mon . Try some . Back in my hometown, this dish is extremely popular . If it’s alright with you all, try eating them with your hands . It’ll be a more authentic experience that way . ”
I didn’t manage to make any chopsticks yet, so we’ll have to make do with eating by hand .
It looks like everyone’s curious about the dish, so I prepared a bowl of clean water so we can rinse our hands before eating .
“Okay then . I’ll try one first in order to show you the proper way to eat sushi . You pick up one piece like so and then dip it lightly into this small plate of soy sauce . Try not to dip the rice in and only dip the fish meat on top . And then you eat it . Just like this . ”
I finished off one piece in one big bite . Ah! Delicious! This is it, man! It’s unfortunate that there’s no wasabi, but it’s still delicious! The rich taste of the fatty salmon meat just melts in your mouth . The pairing with the vinegar rice is the best! Sushi really is one of my favorite Japanese dishes .
Cleria and the others were used to eating raw fish by now, so they didn’t hesitate to eat up .
“Delicious! So sushi is something this tasty!” Selena gushed happily .
“It really is delicious! I wonder why? It’s just some fish meat put on top of rice, but why is it so delicious? The flavor of the fish and the sauce has seeped into the rice, creating a harmony of flavors!” Cleria seconded .
All the members of our party were apparently enjoying the meal, while our three guests were still on the fence about it .
“Eating raw fish meat… I’ll try one piece first, Aristsama,” Karina offered with a resolute tone .
She picked up a regular toro salmon sushi slice and dipped it into the sauce . She then brought it to her mouth . Karina turned wide-eyed afterward .
“How is it!?” Arista inquired nervously .
Karina slowly gulped and swallowed the sushi . She took a piece of aburi toro salmon sushi next . She dipped it into the sauce, brought it to her mouth, and chewed the sushi with a serious-looking expression . She gulped down the piece again and quietly reached out for more .
“Hey! I’m asking you about how it is, Karina!”
“Ah!? I-It’s too delicious, Aristsama! I didn’t imagine it would be this tasty!”
After hearing that, Arista and Natalie also hurriedly took some sushi pieces for themselves .
“It’s true! How amazing! To think raw fish can actually be this tasty!” Arista squealed in delight .
“It’s delicious…” mumbled an almost-teary eyed Natalie .
“This pork bowl is also really tasty, Alan!” Cleria exclaimed .
After hearing her, the rest of the girls also reached out for their own portions . The pork bowls were also rather well received .
Well, I do agree that they’re delicious . I used the bladeknife to process the meat, so the cuts were quite clean and raised the quality of the meat . The rich flavors of pork ribs, sweet-salty sauce, and fluffy rice were a perfect combo .
Since the salmon was quite rich in fat, I thought it would be a heavy meal and that we would be unable to finish it all . But it turned out to be the opposite . The entire meal disappeared in a flash . It looks like sushi was a resounding hit . The pork bowls got rave reviews as well .
“Thank you very much for the meal, Alan-san . It’s the first time I ever ate such delicious food . ” Arista said as she bowed in gratitude .
“I’m glad they suited your taste . ”
“Uu, I overate again,” Sharon groaned dejectedly .
“Do you all eat this kind of meal every time?” Karina curiously asked .
“…That’s right . At the very least, all the dishes that Alan makes are really delicious,” Elna replied .
“”That’s right . ””
“Fufu . How enviable,” Arista elegantly laughed in amusement .
It’s getting dark already . Let’s have some after-meal tea first before resting up .
“We apologize for not disclosing our circumstances and identities until now, everyone,” Karina began .
“No, it’s alright . A lot has happened and I’m sure it’s been tough for the three of you . ”
“Actually, I am the daughter of the Gantz Commerce Guild’s chief, Silas . ”
“Aristsama! Are you sure it’s alright!?”
“It’s fine . We can trust these people . There’s no problem with telling them . ”
“I see . So you’re the daughter of the local Commerce Guild branch’s chief huh . So Natalie-san and Karinsan are your private guards, I presume . ”
“That’s right . ”
I see . The only other guild branch chief I knew was Carsan from Gotania’s Magic Guild branch . So I guess the Commerce Guild really is thriving compared to the Magic Guild huh . Aristsan seemed to be just like a rich heiress after all .
An awkward silence then followed .
“Um, are you not familiar with Silas-sama, Alan-san?” Karina asked .
“Uh, is he a famous individual?”
“……He’s the Gantz Commerce Guild branch’s leader, Silas-sama, you know?” Karina reiterated .
I turned to the rest of my party members, and I saw everyone had blank expressions on their faces . Looks like everyone’s unfamiliar with the man as well .
“I’m sorry . The truth is, we just recently got to this country, so there are many things we’re still unfamiliar with . ”
“…I see . If so, then it can’t be helped . It seems the bandits were very familiar with our chief though… Like I said earlier, Silas-sama is the chief of the Gantz Commerce Guild branch . He’s also the president of Silas Company, which is said to be the largest business firm in this kingdom,” Karina explained .
“I presume the reason I was targeted by bandits was primarily because of my identity as his daughter,” Arista elaborated further .
“I see . So that’s the case . ”
“That’s why I would be able to give you a suitable reward for your help once we reach Gantz . Please look forward to it,” Arista offered .
Mm . It’s not like we helped while expecting a reward, but it is true that it took quite a bit of effort . It’s fine with me even if we didn’t get paid for our efforts, but I need to keep in mind the welfare of the rest of the party members as the leader, so I better accept .
“Thank you very much for your kind offer . We will certainly be looking forward to it then . Well then, now that we’ve finished tea, why don’t we all turn in for the day? I’ll take care of the night watch, so please have a good rest, Aristsan . You too, Karinsan and Natalie-san . ”
“Thank you . We’ll take you up on that then . Please excuse us,” Arista agreed and bid good night .
Of course there’s no need to keep watch at night because of the escort drone and Nanom, so after cleaning up the table, I went to sleep as well .