376 - - Episode 374

I completely forgot the closing time of the gate of the labyrinth city, and we suddenly decided to camp in the forest near the labyrinth city. I know that I was late in leaving due to a number of things, but I decided to turn things around and have some fun.

"Well then, Flare, Shiva, light the firewood. Gently so it doesn't fall apart."

The meat will be ready soon, so we decide to watch the campfire and chat over dinner. For a moment, I thought about asking Meral to light the fire since it is so unstable, but I don't want to tell you that I was defeated by the sparkling gazes of Flair and Sheba.

"I'll take care of it!" Wahoo!"

Flare and Sheba create a small fire and gently throw it into the huge pile of firewood. The fire is sucked into the firewood and burns without extinguishing, slowly growing larger and larger.

"hoooh, moetto", "cue", "takibi", "kukoo", "hi is great!"" ......"""ho"""fugu""wahoo""......""

"Yay, I got one!"

"You're so good!"

The little ones, except for me, Gina, Sarah and Mel, who are managing the skewers on the grill, are excited and excited around the campfire. I understand their feelings, but I'm afraid to be too close to the fire because of its instability.

"All right, the meat over here is cooked, so let's have dinner!　I have oak meat and rough bird meat. Gina's is Giant Deer. Sara's got assault dragon meat, Mel's got wyvern meat. Come and get the meat you want!"

At my call, an army of little kids gather in front of the grill. Yeah, I feel safer this far away from the fire.

"Yuta, meat!"

Floating in front of me with a big smile on his face. My eyes are glued to the meat.

"Which do you want, oak or rough bird?"

"Either one."

Belle chooses both without hesitation. It's refreshingly honest in its desire. Holding the skewers of orc meat and the skewer of ruffbird meat in both hands, Belle looks incredibly happy. How adorable!

The little ones are lined up with Gina and the others, and they seem to be passing the skewers smoothly. Even though I can't see them, I feel that they have grown up as a spiritualist when they can pass the kushiyaki without hesitation.

"Oh, I'm going to fall down!

A rattling sound is heard at the same time as the bell. I turn around to see the bonfire has fallen, and a lit bonfire is strewn around the center of the plaza.

It's a good thing we kept the little ones to the meat. The Bells look disappointed, but there's no way that precarious tower of kindling is going to last that long.

"Everyone stay away from the fallen campfires!"

If it was this scattered, Tamamo had moved the plants and Tulu had cleared the ground, so there should be no fire.

The little ones, who had been looking at the scattered bonfire with disappointment, seemed to have regained their composure and started to concentrate on the spit-roasting. I told Gina and the others to eat the skewers, and then I started to eat the skewers too.

......I'm in charge of the orc and rough bird meat skewers, but I'm in the mood for an assault dragon skewer for the first shot. I'm also in the mood for a pint of ale, so I think I'll just have a light one. I'll share some with Sylphy, Gina, Mel, and Meral and make them my accomplices.

**

"It's time to go to bed. Make sure you put a cleaning spell on your body and mouth."

After we had thoroughly enjoyed the grilled skewers and the scattered campfires were settled, we ate dessert around the campfire while adding more wood that had not been stacked.

I would have preferred to be around the fire while eating the skewers, but it was nice to be able to eat dessert around the fire.

"Good night, master." "Good night, master." "Good night! Good night. - Good night. - Good night, master.

"Yeah, good night."

Gina and Fukuchan and the others, plus Merle and Meral, enter the magic tent after washing. The little ones are excited to stay in the magic tent for the first time, but will they sleep well?　I'm a little worried.

After seeing Gina and the others off, I take Belle and the others, who are still full of energy, to their beds at the mobile base and tuck them in. As usual, the belles are sleeping in a dumpling in one bed, which is adorable. I'm also a little envious of the Belles who can fall asleep in an instant, even though they don't need to sleep.

I thought about going to bed too, but something came to my mind, so I go outside.

"Oh Yuta, aren't you going to sleep?"

Sylphy, who had been melting in the wind, appeared. I thought ...... something like a game.

"Yeah, I thought about going to bed, but then I thought of something I wanted to try, so I came out.

"What?　Something interesting?"

Sylphy has taken an interest in me.

"Yuta, what's wrong?"

"No, it's a funny thing for me, but for Shilfi it's a very silly thing, so I'm not sure what to say."

Sylphy tilts her head as if she doesn't understand. I'm sorry, but that's all I can say. I'm completely self-satisfied.

"Should I stay with you?"

"Hmm, I'd rather be alone this time."

It's not that I don't want Sylphy to be there, but I don't want to keep her company.

"Yes. I don't know, but good luck, okay?"

With that, Sylphy melted into the wind. But maybe she's watching what I do. Well, from Sylphy's point of view, it's so boring that she'll lose interest in it soon.

First, I roll a log next to the fire to put out the light ball. Then, he takes a cup of hot coffee from his magic bag and sits on the log. Now you are ready to go. It's that easy.

You sit on the log in the dark forest, looking at the fire and sipping your coffee. Well, now I feel like I'm in a scene from a movie.

Drinking coffee before going to bed is a subtle thing, but for the sake of romance, I'll take it. A little pity that it's a hot continent, so a bonfire and a hot cup of coffee is not so subtle.

In my image of the movie, it would have been perfect if it were a bit colder and you could keep warm with spirits. Well, if I drank spirits, Sylphy wouldn't be silent and it would be a banquet.

A feast around a fire in the woods is not a bad idea, but this time I'm going to be hard-boiled and have coffee by myself.

............Good, I'm going to bed.

He pours sand on the fire to extinguish it and returns to the mobile base.

Hey Yuta! You just drank coffee in front of the fire and grinned. Is that all you did?

As I was about to enter the mobile base, Sylphy appeared with a panicked look on his face. I knew you were watching me.

"Yeah, I've had enough of this.

"......You certainly have a satisfied look on your face, but what was so fun about it?"

The cool expressionless face of Sylphie is broken, and she looks really curious. That's pretty rare. But unfortunately, my vocabulary doesn't allow me to explain this self-satisfied behavior.

"Well, in the world I used to live in, there was a scene like this in an austere play, and I was just happy to imitate it."

It's not a play, it's a movie. ...... Oh, Sylphy is looking very blank. I thought that was probably going to happen, but it's a little sad when it does.

"Well, that's good to hear."

"......Uh,yeah,that's good. Good night."

The atmosphere has become delicate, so we quickly enter the mobile base. It's okay, I did what I wanted to do. I've come to another world, so I'm free to live in it. Good night.

Good night.

"All right, let's get going."

"Master, are you sure you want to go dressed like that?　It's pretty shiny, isn't it?"

I'm fully equipped with light dragon armor, including my helmet. Gina is right. I thought about riding up to the gate with a magic carpet in addition to this, but I decided against it because it would be too conspicuous and would break my heart.

It is said that the existence of flying magic tools themselves is recognized, though they are few in number, so it is not absolutely necessary to keep them secret. It might be a good idea to let Gina and the others use them when their search in the labyrinth is over.

The magic carpet may be a little difficult to use in the cave layer, but otherwise it is useful enough to save a lot of time.

"Yes, it's a little shiny, but I'm a grade-A adventurer myself, so I can live with that.

Don't tell anyone that I relied on the power of my equipment so that I wouldn't be seen as a high-ranked adventurer.

"Is that so?　No, my master was a grade-A adventurer. Then is it normal ...... to have that much armor?　I think it was more normal equipment, like Valkyrie."

Valkyrie...... come to think of it, those guys were A-rated adventurers, too. ......They don't need fancy equipment because they are so conspicuous from the outside. And Gina. Don't forget the adventurer rank of the master.

...... I feel like I'm going to get my heart broken if I keep talking about this, so let's get out of here.

****

Hmmm...as Gina told me, this equipment really stands out. People I passed on the way to the labyrinth city were also paying attention to me, and even at the gate, I had all their eyes on me.

It's early in the morning, but there are quite a few people around, and that equipment is worth a lot of money! Some merchants are trying to guess the materials by looking at the equipment that is naturally shining. I thought I wasn't a show-off by nature, but it might be a little pleasant. I'm afraid it will become a habit.

"Yuta, you are being followed. There are two of them.

After the formalities at the gate, I was pondering what I would do if I started to feel pleasure in being conspicuous, when Sylphy told me something disturbing.

（I wondered if it might be because of this armor.)

It looks like an expensive armor, and they might be thinking of following us and stealing it somehow.

"No, the armor has nothing to do with it. He's been watching the gate from the beginning, and he obviously saw Yuta's face and started moving."

Hmmm, if it wasn't because of the armor, why are they following us now?　I'm pretty much the feared one in the labyrinth city, and the pressure from the guilds and kingdoms should make it hard for me to get my hands on them.

(Do you think they'll attack me soon?)

"I doubt it.　He seems more like a scout than an assassin, and considering that he knows Yuta, he wouldn't attack us both, would he?"

It doesn't sound like he's going to be attacked anytime soon. Then, we should either catch the tail and interrogate him, or we should watch him and ask Sylphy to find out what he knows. I don't think they'll talk much during my interrogation, and I don't think I can torture them. It's best to let Sylphy find out what's going on. I hope it won't be too much trouble. .......