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And now it’s the next day.

I was a little refreshed after sleeping for a long time. After all, releasing accumulated stress with hobbies was the best, right?

Eh? What’s my hobby?

I enjoy making things as I like, eating delicious food, sleeping a lot, and doing my daily routine. This time I slept a lot.

Well, it would be nice if I could do my daily routine. It’s been a long while too. But you know? I can’t get excited when I was irritated, plus I want to concentrate without thinking about unnecessary things… don’t make me say it. It’s embarrassing.

Leaving aside the details, Triela’s team will come today. So I can’t be too leisurely either.

Let’s prepare food to kill time today. I’m tired of forging swords.

Hm? Yesterday’s ‘that’? Ah, the dragon’s alula… I tried to [Appraise] it a little while ago, but the level was too crazy that I didn’t even know what to do with it. I would only waste it with my current skill. So for the time being, I pass.

I mean, that’s the alula of an Elder Dragon. ‘Elder’, you know?

Dragon would get stronger as they got older, right? Elder was the highest peak in growth.

From the bottom, the order was: dragonette, lesser, major, greater, and elder. Do you know how many hundred years it takes to be an elder? I couldn’t even count it anymore.

Yeah. To tell you the truth, I’m not confident in handling this outrageous material. At the very least, I had a feeling that I shouldn’t treat it as something similar to the low-ranked sub-dragon species.

That’s why I stored it in my [Storage] for a while.

I need to practice how to use Adamantite for three days to finally master it; you know. It’s ‌impossible for me to make something with no preparation! Please give me some time to study it! Seriously!

Anyway, while I was cooking food and sweets, the noon passed. Then Triela’s team came over.

By the way, the members who came were Triela, Arle, and Ryuu. Next time, a different team of three people would come.

The combination was one boy and two girls. However, Cain and Boman weren’t included. The reason? I didn’t want to let them enter my house. You understand, right?

“Didn’t you say you’re going to camp in the depths of the forest?”
“Yes. I’m sleeping in the forest, so it’s camping, right?”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“Just forget about it… We’re talking about Ren here…”

Huh? Why? By the way, Triela’s team got lost in the middle of the forest, so I asked Norn to pick them up.

Then, I received the information Triela and the others collected in the town. They were looking at me with a distant look‌.

The subjugation team’s main unit and Knights’ Order had already left the town and moved to the base in the frontline. Only a few reserve adventurers and Knights’ Order stayed in the town right now.

Scouts regularly brought information back from the frontline to the town, and part of them would be publicized. The reason was that the townspeople could judge whether they should evacuate.

Besides Triela’s team, some orphans that used to live in the orphanage also returned to see the situation. They were also planning to support the orphans if they had to evacuate in an emergency.

Hmm. Seems like we all had the same intention.

The people who came back to the orphanage were all adventurers. They brought a lot of food, just like Triela’s team. How could I say this… Listening to this made my eyes somewhat teary.

Among the members who came back, there was Bob who bullied Cain before. Cain had a hilarious look… serves him right.

And they only told me about my survival to the orphanage’s director. They couldn’t be sure that any of the staff had connections with that merchant, and they couldn’t deny the possibility that the little kids might unconsciously leak it out.

Everyone who gathered at the orphanage was sleeping in the vacant room of the institution, which didn’t charge a lodging fee. However, everyone forcefully handed the director some money to some extent. Listening to that, I couldn’t help but smile. Everyone really thought of the same thing, eh.

And then, all of those people went to the nearby hunting grounds during the day to collect herbs and edible wild plants that could be harvested in the winter, and hunt goblins to earn money so they could give it to the director… Everyone was a nice kid.

“I will also prepare various things later, so please take it back.”
“Sure, but are you sure about this?”
“Yes.”

But it would be bad if I gave them too many things without controlling myself. Let’s do it moderately.

Presently, there were over forty orphans in the orphanage and more than twenty children had returned, so the institution wouldn’t have enough funds to feed everyone. They got by with the foodstuffs everyone brought with them and the edibles they collected on the first day, but they might have to think about some plan if they were going to stay for a long time in this town… There were also possibilities that they would come this far to collect herbs and find out about my house, so I might have to move further into the forest sometimes.

As I listened to their stories, I noticed the sun had set. It should be dangerous for them to go home now, so I told Triela and the others to stay overnight. To be honest, I had that intention since the beginning. This is an order, okay? You shouldn’t refuse.

The town of O’Neill was ‌far from this forest, and my house location was ‌deep in this forest. It would take quite a while to reach this place. The proof was that Triela’s team ‌arrived at my house in the afternoon, even after Norn picked them up.

And they would have to go through the pitch-black forest, walking for a considerably long time, even after leaving the demon repellent lantern barrier I set up.

Moving in a dark forest naturally increased the risk of being attacked by demons. I had no intention of letting them do such a dangerous thing. Therefore, I forced them to say.

By the way, no one objected. Which was not a surprise for me.

That’s why I was making dinner too. Even so, I wouldn’t ‌cook seafood dishes now.

I made cream stew. On this cold day, this dish was perfect! Well, beef stew was also okay, though… I just wanted to eat this. Plus, I got plenty of milk in my [Storage].

“What is this? What is this! What is this!?”
“This is so delicious…”
“Ren… No, there’s nothing I can say anymore…”

Those were Arle, Ryuu, and Triela’s reaction in order. Seems like they liked it, huh? That being said, I also think it’s delicious. The thigh meat of cockatrice was delicious! Ah, it would be nice to have gratin in a dish that used cream sauce, huh… Let’s make it in the future.