Ossan Saikyō Chapter 8 Part 04
That evening, the travelers' lodge in a nearby farming village was completely full, leaving us with no choice but to camp a short distance off the main road.
Fortunately, I'd anticipated situations like this and had purchased a tent to store inside my【Item Box】.
Compared to the camping tents from my previous life, it was heavier and more troublesome to assemble, but when it came to camping, the difference between having a tent and not having one was like heaven and earth.
As she looked at the completed tent, Miss Sphenia murmured quietly.
“An【Item Box】really is indispensable for high-rank parties. Just possessing that skill alone greatly increases the value of your party, Soushi-san.”
“I only acquired it recently myself, but it's an incredibly useful skill. Incidentally, I've also prepared cooking supplies.”
I took out a cutting board, knives, pots, vegetables, meat, and other ingredients.
They had been expensive, but I'd even bought a magical tool similar to a gas stove.
Since I expected such items to be essential for conquering deeper dungeons beyond the tenth floor, I'd gone ahead and purchased everything at once.
“This is wonderful. Being able to eat hot meals while traveling is something I truly appreciate.”
“Oh my, Soushi-san, if it's cooking, would you mind letting me handle it? At least allow me to be useful in that much.”
Seeing the full set of cooking utensils, Miss Hofena spoke with a bright smile.
Camp cooking really was its own sort of attraction.
“Then could I trouble you with it? I have seasonings prepared as well.”
“My~, my~, with all of this, I should be able to make something delicious.”
(E/N: Ara, Ara~!)
“If water is needed, I can provide it with magic.”
Miss Sphenia naturally joined in to help.
Come to think of it, being able to produce water with magic was surprisingly valuable while camping.
I'd stored a fair amount of water in my【Item Box】, but having an unlimited supply available was incredibly convenient.
While I was thinking that, Rani sidled up beside me and whispered,
“We definitely want Sphenia-san in the party, don't we?”
The smug grin had returned, making it difficult to respond.
Meanwhile, Freynil had gone over to Miss Hofena and was watching her prepare the ingredients.
“Um, is there anything I can help with? I'd like to learn how to cook...”
“Oh, Fray-chan, of course. Let's do it together.”
It looked like a cooking class was about to begin in the middle of our journey.
“Oh right, Fray. Could you use your barrier magic to cover this area? The fire keeps getting blown around by the wind.”
“Yes, Soushi-sama.”
We had already confirmed that people wouldn't suffocate inside Freynil's【Barrier Magic】.
Apparently it allowed air through while blocking wind, which was rather mysterious.
Perhaps it only repelled things possessing a certain amount of momentum.
When Freynil erected the barrier, Miss Sphenia spoke with admiration.
“You can use【Barrier Magic】, Fray-san? In that case, your party likely never has any trouble while camping. I can understand why Hofena-san chose you.”
“Hehe, I didn't know any of that when I hired them. I guess I got lucky.”
The soup Miss Hofena prepared turned out to be absolutely delicious.
Thanks to Miss Sphenia's water magic, we could use water freely, allowing us to boil water and clean ourselves as well.
It was an exceptionally comfortable campsite.
Furthermore, Freynil's【Barrier Magic】meant we didn't even need to post a night watch.
It became clear that our party was blessed in far more ways than simple combat strength.
According to Rani, Miss Sphenia's value as a potential party member had skyrocketed because of that.
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The following day was supposed to be another simple day of traveling along the road.
At least, that had been the plan.
Around noon, however, Miss Hofena's stamina finally gave out.
We'd been taking breaks along the way, but her walking pace suddenly dropped dramatically.
To be fair, we'd probably been walking somewhat faster than normal.
For an ordinary person who hadn't undergone Awakening, it may have been too much.
Miss Hofena also seemed more like the indoor type to begin with.
Since there was no helping it, I pulled the carrying frame from my【Item Box】and decided to carry her.
Honestly, I'd been expecting this possibility all along.
“Thank you very much, Soushi-san. I never imagined I'd become unable to walk this much.”
Miss Hofena's voice sounded apologetic from my back.
“Not at all. Keeping up with adventurers is difficult. Please don't worry about it and focus on resting. Though I suppose this isn't the most restful position.”
“That's not true. It's comfortable enough that I almost feel guilty. But... am I not too heavy?”
“Not at all. To be honest, you're about as heavy as a feather. I'm someone with strength to spare. Carrying you feels no different than carrying nothing at all.”
In truth, I genuinely felt almost no weight.
If I went all out now, I could probably lift a ton without much trouble.
Ever since becoming an adventurer, the feeling that I'd stopped being human had only grown stronger by the day.
Putting actual numbers to it somehow made that realization even more obvious.
“Soushi-san had already prepared for a situation like this. Furthermore, being able to naturally support the client like this is exactly the kind of quality high-ranking adventurers need.”
When Miss Sphenia offered that assessment, Rani gave me a thumbs-up where no one else could see.
For some reason, Freynil was holding my hand.
Is it because she has feelings about me carrying Miss Hofena?
The whole situation was starting to feel oddly like a parent and child.
In any case, our journey was becoming increasingly relaxed and leisurely.
However, the area near the mountain pass ahead was apparently considered dangerous territory.
Monsters sometimes descended from the mountains, and bandits were also known to appear there.
Considering my【Bad Luck】skill, it felt like we were overdue for our first battle against human opponents.
Normally, bandits wouldn't target a group accompanied by adventurers.
However, some bandits were former adventurers themselves.
More importantly, our group consisted almost entirely of beautiful women and girls.
Anyone with ill intentions wasn't likely to overlook us simply because one somewhat large middle-aged man happened to be present.
Miss Sphenia had almost certainly experienced combat against people before.
Apparently, defeating bandits and similar criminals was one of the requirements for reaching C-rank.
Freynil and I, however, had no such experience.
“Rani, have you ever fought other people?”
“Huh? Not since becoming an adventurer, but before that, sure. I've fought slave hunters.”
“Slave hunters?”
The unexpected answer caught me completely off guard.
Even Freynil looked wide-eyed, suggesting this wasn't exactly a normal topic.
“Yep. We wolf beastfolk have naturally high physical abilities, so illegal slave traders often target us. Some of them even attack villages directly. Whenever that happens, we wipe every last one of them out.”
“So things like that actually happen... That's horrible.”
“You've never heard stories like that before, Soushi-san?”
Miss Sphenia looked puzzled.
I suppose it was strange for someone my age to be unfamiliar with such matters.
“I'm originally from another country. I only came to this kingdom after becoming an adventurer. It's only been a few months, so to be honest, I still don't know much about this country or the surrounding regions.”
“A few months? I assumed you were a veteran by your age... Wait, then does that mean you reached D-rank in only that short period?”
“Yes, that's correct. Fortunately, I seem to have good luck, and I've been blessed with excellent party members.”
Though honestly, that alone probably didn't explain it.
Apparently reaching D-rank usually took at least a year.
My promotion speed was unquestionably abnormal.
While we continued chatting, the mountain range containing the pass we needed to cross gradually drew closer.
At this rate, we'd reach the foothills before evening.
However, there was something else.
For some time now, multiple presences had been drifting in and out at the very edge of my【Presence Detection】range.
A forest stretched away from the road, and it seemed that someone was hiding within it.
If they were monsters, they wouldn't be observing us like this.
That meant they were almost certainly bandits.
As expected, my【Bad Luck】skill was doing overtime thoroughly in this regard as well.
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E/N:
Just imagining those poor bas*ards about to get slaughtered, no, more precisely, become mincemeat… All their sins would be washed away, in death that is 😬!
Stay tuned!
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