| Author: Sasaki Ichiro | Original Source: Syosetu |
| Translator: Mab | English Source: Re:Library |
| Editor(s): Silva | |
We walked along the street for about half a day and found nothing unusual. Of course, the fact that we’ve yet to run into anyone despite walking along the street for half a day is an anomaly, but this was within the scope of our initial expectations.
According to the account of the Adventurers’ Guild, the first confirmed missing case was a three-car merchant’s caravan that left the neighboring town about a week prior.
It was supposed to be a three-day journey at most, but when the caravan did not arrive even a few days after the scheduled date, the merchant on the receiving end decided to send a Turneye1 bird. When the bird returned, they found that the caravan had left a week before. Naturally, all hell broke loose.
The cargo was perishable food frozen by magic, so there was no way that the caravan was just wasting time for one whole week (it would only last about three days even if kept cool with straw and other measures). Therefore, the merchant thought that they might have encountered some kind of accident or monster along the way, so they made an urgent request to the guild to check the area.
At this stage, the guild did not pay much importance to the situation, as it was within the scope of routine work, and sent two E-class adventurers riding a fast emu to check the site.
However, even after two or three days had passed, neither of these two men had returned. On the contrary, those coming from the road leading to the next town and those who had departed from here disappeared without a trace as well, as if spirited away.
The guild and the town’s leaders, driven by a sense of urgency, formed and dispatched a search party with the strict order that if they found anything, they would immediately contact the guild via Turneye Bird or return to the town by the next day even if they did not find anything. That was the day before yesterday. The result was as most expected…and nothing has been heard from them since then.
It sounded like something straight out of a mystery novel, but when I walked along the road, I found it to be nothing more than a quiet country road. The beautiful spring sunshine is neither too hot nor too cold, and a light breeze gently passes along the road. Upon careful listening, I can hear birds chirping and pigs squealing from deep within the woods.
“…?”
Wait, what was that at the end? My Search Art detected nothing unusual, but it sure sounded like a pig. Well, it has to be the squeal of some other creature. They do say that frogs and bears sound more like pigs than you might think, after all…
“What’s wrong?”
“No, it was nothing. …come to think of it, it’s past noon already. All this walking must’ve been tiring. What do you say we take a break for lunch?”
Since I had Vier by my side and the townspeople would need the horses and emus in case something went south, we traversed the road by foot —while in truth I simply wasn’t trained in horse riding, so being shoved one to me would only be troublesome. However, because of that, we couldn’t cover as much distance as expected because we had to be alert to our surroundings every step of the way.
So, on the latter half of our trek, we decided to simply cover as much distance as we could, passing by rest stops scattered along the road. We ended up having lunch in some random spot.
Obviously, we shouldn’t skip lunch to keep on walking, and being impatient wouldn’t do anyone good anyway. When I told Priest Cestlavie that, he immediately agreed and we both decided to take a break on the meadow that had a good look of the road.
With a dagger in one hand, Priest Cestlavie spoke to me; “Please prepare some fire, I’ll catch something for us,” and entered the forest. I had Vier on the lookout while I collected firewood, dug a hole in the ground, and assembled a stove’s base with a circle of stones before I lit the fire.
Once the fire was lit, I put the pot I had stored in my Close Art on top of the fire and poured freshwater from a ceramic pot jar that I had stored as well. That was when Priest Cestlavie came back with two horned rabbits.
“What are you doing?” asked Priest Cestlavie, holding the rabbits by the ear.
“Why, I’m cooking. How else are we supposed to eat them, Priest Cestlavie?”
“Just Cestlavie is fine. —I planned to skin and grill them, simple as that.”
Mandom, I see. I can’t say I dislike that style. However!
“Better the taste, better the food. Would you mind leaving it in my hands?”
“…can you do it?”
“To some degree. Although, it won’t be as sophisticated as a full-blown kitchen.”
Receiving the horned rabbits from Cestlavie, who still looked a bit doubtful, I took out my dragon fang dagger and quickly bloodlet them, skinned them, and gutted them before dismembering them. Incidentally, Vier ate the entrails in a single bite.
When I put the beans and herbs I had on hand and the dried seaweed I obtained in the southern port town —where the Teleporter and Shift Portal were set— into the pot, they immediately absorbed water and regained their original form.
Then, I seasoned the horned rabbit meat with salt, pepper, ginger, and such for preparation, tossed it into the pot, and using an improvised wooden ladle made from a suitable tree branch, I carefully skimmed off the scum while stirring.
“That’s surprising. I didn’t expect you’d be so experienced,” Cestlavie expressed his impression as he curiously peered into the pot. “I had pegged noble ladies as sensitive creatures who’d pass out at the sight of blood.”
That wasn’t an exaggeration. According to what I’ve heard, let alone blood, many young ladies would faint at the mere mention of a vulgar word. For that reason, they usually kept a remedy on hand. Their resistance to something ‘vulgar’ was not zero, but minus.
“Well, long story short, I am in no position to stay being a weak damsel in distress…this much work is a given.” —although, I might hesitate to kill another human being, even if the person in question is evil, and the same could be said for humanoid creatures. In that regard, I can’t speak highly of myself.
I simply shrugged lightly at that, but Cestlavie had something else to say.
“That is just human nature. Anyone who can kill another human being, or a creature close to one, with impunity is not a decent person.”
Spoke Cestlavie, unenthusiastically, without admonishing me. If anything, he spoke so lightly it could be mistaken as everyday banter, and that loosened the tension in my shoulders somehow.
Soon the fragrance drifted from the pot. Satisfied with the finished stew, I pulled out some loaves of bread and cheese, cut them into an appropriate size, and placed them beside the bonfire.
“Whoa…looks amazing.”
Hiding the smile that crept up as I saw Cestlavie make an expression appropriate for his age, I stopped stirring the stew and turned to him and Vier.
“Now that it’s done, let’s eat it while it’s warm.”
