Chapter 373 We Must Prepare For What’s To Come

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I had made some sandwiches back at home for this occasion, as I quickly gave everyone one to eat to recover their exhaustion. As I had mentioned before, I also shared an apple for each one, alongside some herbal tea I had prepared using herbs that Usagi gathered for me each day with the help of Huginn's dexterous claws.

The sandwich in specific was made out of dried meat with gravy sauce I prepared out of the meat of wild boar, mostly the juice left by the stew my mother made yesterday. I had also prepared baked potatoes because some couldn't really be satiated with that alone, and began eating several baked potatoes with butter on top.

"Nom… Nom…! Ah, even this simple baked potato is delicious!" Chris pointed out.

"The butter is so creamy…" Elizabeth sighed dreamily.

"I've never liked potatoes by how plain they are but this is different!" Eric added.

"Ah, I feel like this is a déjà vu…" I sighed.

Will this scene repeat every time I give them food?

Well, nonetheless, this is not bad.

It kind of makes me happy to see them all energetic.

This battle was really something that pushed us all to our limits. I was able to see everybody's growth the most. Our fighting wasn't the most synchronized, but it was surely something that only high ranked adventurers would had been able to pull out.

It feels like all my hard work has been paying off at long last… well, all our hard work. Everyone was fighting together in here. For a moment, as we fought that giant Basilisk, it felt like I was in my previous life, leading my servants into battle.

"I want to congratulate all of you for your amazing performance." I said without hiding my pride for their growth. "It seems that all the time I've invested on all of you is paying off, you've grown very strong, and you're certainly, and finally, friends I can trust in battle. Your strength, everyone, is genuine."

"Oohh…" Eric gasped.

"B-Blake…" Chris muttered.

"Woah…" Erdrich seemed surprised.

"I never thought you would say that like that…" Elizabeth was quite flabbergasted.

"Same! He's always saving up everything so it's hard to get him to open up sometimes…" And Erika was surprised I had opened a bit to them.

"Hmph, don't get the wrong idea!" I added. "This doesn't mean you're the strongest out there. This world is filled with dangers. You have simply… reached a level of strength that can be barely recognized. But from now on, we'll continue fighting even more dangerous enemies, and we'll continue growing stronger. There'll be times when you'll feel like despairing, and there will be times when you won't really know what to do anymore… You have to reinforce your wills, and prepare for the worst."

I quickly made my mind clear to all of them, our road was still ahead of us. This was just the beginning of our lives, we were all young after all, we have reached a lot, but this was clearly not the pinnacle, nor the end.

"Yeah, you're right…!" Chris said. "I've grown pretty strong but this is obviously not enough, right? Hahaha…! My dream might be the simplest of all of us but I really want to go to a Demonic Tower one day and challenge it. Ah well, I've always admired my father for being a hunter… I want to honor my family and be someone strong enough to be able to go through even more terrifying challenges and, at the same time, protect my family and this village we have all grown up into! Ah, I said it all…" Chris seemed surprised with himself.

"Chris…" Eric felt moved. "I-I am not really a battle junkie like you guys but… I've always wondered what's at the other side of the horizon, of the Gray Mountains… I've always wanted to explore new places and find new herbs, plants, mushrooms, and even monsters. I want to document the world as much as I can and discover its wondrousness. I know I can't just let you guys do everything for me so… I'll try to get stronger as well."

These two seem to have a clear path ahead, it seems. Although they're still young and prone to change their dreams and perspectives of the world as they experience more, I am sure they're stubborn enough to not change their dreams that much.

"I also want to explore the world and… meet my mother and the rest of my family! Also I want to go to the Academy! And… and… I want to stay at Blake's side. So I gotta get stronger, that's a given!" Erika's dream was not as simple as the other two, as it involved political drama with her family. But I'll try to aid her in such a dream, not only because she's my friend, but because I am rather intrigued about everything myself. I believe there's something I need to find out.

"Haha, you guys really got everything decided at this point…" Sighed Erdrich. "I… I don't really know what I want. The entire problem with my family… or my mother and my father and… my siblings too… I… I honestly wish I could go back in time sometimes. But… Every time I am with all of you guys, I feel like I am happy, and that I can… bear with everything horrible that has happened to me, even if a bit. I want to stick with you guys as long as I can!"

"Erdrich… I hope your family can accept you one day." Said Erika. "I am sure that as long as you do good deeds and show the world you're not a demon but a good person, they'll eventually learn and accept you again!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Elizabeth nodded. "I also want to stick with everybody here! Although papa says I'll one day become a Saintess, I feel like I don't want to be confined in a church for all my life… I want to go in more adventures!"

Everybody shared their own dreams and thoughts. They were so young yet so ambitious, I couldn't help but feel rather excited about the future that awaited us… but alas, it isn't as if our first adventure here had yet to end.

"Everyone, save what else you have to say for later. Our first adventure has yet to end, isn't it? And from now on… I feel like you'll have to take a decision." I said. "Are you… willing to take the life of another person?" I asked everyone, as their cheerful smiles and expressions changed.

This was a question I had to ask them before we stepped forward.

Our enemies might not only be just demons anymore.

Even if they're still kids, the sooner they get used to this, the better.

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