CH 195

The sun is setting by the time we see the lake.

It’s time for the undead to rise.

“By the way, I have a question on my mind. I saw a silver sword for sale in a weapon’s shop. Don’t you use those?”

“Ah, those. They’re difficult to handle, and more expensive than holy water. It’s different for people that are really good with swords, but…”

Is their durability low because of the coating on their surface?

Apparently, yes. And if the job isn’t done well, it will peel off when the sword strikes something, and halve its effect.

Those are probably just fakes. And apparently when a holy water effect is added to them, they gain a special suicide effect against undead monsters. Some people use them against particularly strong monsters.

Of course, there are also swords that are actually made of silver, but they’re really expensive.

Some people buy them when they decide they’re going to keep hunting undead monsters, but in those cases people also turn to magic, and that’s why those swords with coating were created.

And if it comes to that, people can use holy water, so a lot of those swords end up unsold in weapon shops.

“Now here’s the real issue. Is it easier to fight during the day or during the night?”

“We have a lot of mages, starting with Mia, so it might be easier to fight during the night. The problem is… The strength and nature of orc zombies.”

Orcs are territorial and have settlements, but not orc zombies.

That means that if fights go on for too long, they keep coming in droves and adventurers risk getting surrounded.

That’s probably not a problem if people have the power to push them back and exterminate them, but the danger is still there.

We’ve also been told that we shouldn’t go near the lake at night. We don’t know why, and even the reference materials in the guild didn’t say, but our predecessors say we shouldn’t do it, so we probably shouldn’t.

“So I guess it’s safer during the day?”

“Probably. It’s also better to use the lake as a reference instead of walking through the forest and risk getting lost.”

“Then let’s camp here. Should we alternate between the two parties so one can keep watch at a time?”

“…Maybe it’s better if each group is composed of half the members of each party. I think your party has a higher rank than ours, so we’d feel safer that way. Ah, not that I’m thinking of slacking off or anything like that.”

It makes sense. Not counting the mages, we have four people capable of exploring (I’m including myself), so if they have only two, it’s safer that way.

He’s a good leader. He takes the time to really think about things and how to deal with them. Part of me wants to learn to be like that, but part of me also thinks that would be really tiring.

Although that’s probably what a leader should be like in the first place.

One thing doesn’t change, and that’s who’s in charge of cooking. At least it’s not all that bad because Mia and Chris offer to help.

“It’s really unbelievable that we get to eat all this in the dungeon.”

Says Joshua, and his fellow party members all nod.

At first I think he’s exaggerating, but then I realize that I don’t actually know what other parties eat.

So I try asking, and apparently they eat bars of preserved food, dried meat, and when they feel like having something a little extravagant, they make a simple soup.

This is mostly done to reduce the amount of things they have to carry. And since they have a dining hall in the school dormitory, most of the students can’t cook for themselves.

So that’s why almost no one cooks.

And why I’m made to cook… Speaking of which, have I ever seen Leila and the others cook… I don’t think I have.

“So if you had an item bag and could carry more things, you would practice and try to improve your cooking?”

Why are you looking away?

Even Hikari has a surprised look on her face, like she can’t believe it.

But Hikari has actually told me that she used to eat things way worse than preserved foods, although you wouldn’t believe it looking at her now.

Actually, that’s probably why she can react like that now.

We end up splitting into three groups to keep watch. The one in the middle is going to be burdened more than the other two, but we can rotate who’s in that position every day.

I’m in the third group, so I rest first, and manage to sleep well until it’s my turn to keep watch, without any attacks or anything.

We brought tents this time, and sleep in them. Of course, these are especially made so that they blend in, and have two entrances so we can quickly jump out.

But from what I’ve heard, the monsters’ defenses get more severe the closer we get to the staircase, so we’re still in a relatively safe zone.

I should emphasize the word relatively, because we still can’t let our guard down here.

I catch a few reactions on Map from time to time, but it doesn’t look like any of them are heading this way.

Actually, our biggest enemy might be the cold. I have a robe wrapped around me to protect myself from it.

It’s the same when I cook, but I try to keep the flame as inconspicuous as possible. I dig some dirt and cook inside a hole.

Fire stands out a lot. It becomes a signal, and something that might draw orc zombies to us. There’s also the smoke, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem.

Leila told me before, and made sure to really emphasize it, that the light from the fire in particular is what I should watch out for.

Wind blows, carrying with it the cold air of the lake. The trees protect us from it a little, but not completely.

I rub my hands together, trying not to lose feeling in them as I continue keeping watch.

The others are bearing with it too, so I should be able to as well. Well, I don’t really have a choice.

Can I use magic to protect this area against the cold? Well, depends on how much MP I need to spend…

I have the blessing of faster natural recovery, but if I waste MP needlessly, I’m going to have to drink mana potions if I need to use it in a fight.

I don’t think I’ve ever looked forward to the sunrise so much since I came to this world.