CH 44

“This place? Well, you know…… I’ve heard it’s been like this since my grandfather’s time, and it’s been used as a good encampment.” (Gilm)

Gilm-san said, and continued, “Well, maybe the lord has some old documents about it.”

After all, he wasn’t sure.

However, from the time of Gilm-san’s grandfather, it has been the same for quite some time. In other words, it may be said that this is some kind of archaeological site.

The sun had completely set and the area was enveloped in darkness.

Only the crackling sound of the burning wood, the simmering sound from the pot, and the chirping of some kind of insect echoes in the surrounding.

Gilm-san took off the lid of the pot on top of the hearth, which was made of collapsed wall stones, and stirred the pot.

We sat around the hearth, using similar stones as chairs.

The wall stones around here are nice, square, and uniform in size, so they’re easy to use no matter what you’re doing. It’s easy to sit on, and it’s stable when you put a pot on it.

“Okay, It’s done.” (Gilm)

Gilm-san who said that scooped soup into everyone’s cup.

Dinner is soup and black bread.

The soup contains smoked salted meat, some vegetables, and some kind of herbs. Perhaps it was because the base of the soup was only the flavor and saltiness of the smoked salted meat, I felt it was lacking in flavor.

But I guess that’s what you get when you’re camping.

I soaked the black bread in the soup and stuffed it into my stomach.

I felt satisfied as the thick black bread soaked up the soup and filled my stomach.

“Recently, there are rumors that the number of monsters has increased, have you heard?”

Gilm-san said cutting the silence.

We all look at each other.

And Dan replied.

“It’s a rumor among adventurers. The Wild Boar and ElSheep we saw when we went to the southern village aren’t usually seen in that area, and we were attacked by a pack of Forest Wolves twice today. There’s something different about this place than before.” (Dan)

The area around Rankfurt has a small population of monsters. There are few strong monsters. Elsheeps seems to be a monster that is originally found north of this place, and Wild Boar is a monster that is found deeper in the forest. However, it has been spotted near the city.

“What happened is just a coincidence… I hope. If there is any cause, it might mean we’re in quite the trouble.” (Gilm)

While saying that, Gilm-san poured more soup into his cup.

“Rook, get up. Time to change shifts.” (Dan)

I was shaken and woken up.

Gradually my head started to clear, my eyes were in focus, and I knew that Dan was the one shaking me.

After a while, I remembered my situation.

That’s it. After having dinner, we had to take turns sleeping while watching through the night.

After getting up and checking the surroundings, I say “Good morning” to Dan.

“Ah. Don’t let the fire go out. Wake me up when the sun goes up.” (Dan)

With that said, Dan returned to his place and wrapped himself in a cloak.

I wasn’t completely sleepy, but I was only gradually reaching full consciousness.

“…”

I had just woken up, but I wondered if it would be wrong to say good morning to someone who was about to go to sleep… I sat down on the stone block next to the fire, wrapped in my cloak.

I looked ahead and saw Mel rubbing his eyes sleepily on the other side of the fire.

“Good morning.”

When I said that, Mel looked at me and said, “Good morning.”

She seems to also be still quite sleepy.

I grab firewood next to me and throw it into the bonfire.

Then I look around.

Everyone was around the bonfire, the carriage was parked in the back, and next to it the horse was chomping on its fodder. It was somewhat cute.

Gilm-san should be sleeping in the carriage.

There are things like tents in this world as well.

However, it seems that it is rarely used.

First of all, it is inconvenient to carry.

There is no such thing as a lightweight tent with an aluminum frame and tarpaulin made with modern technology in this world, so tents in this world are quite a bit of a burden. First of all, the average adventurer doesn’t want to carry such a thing.

Besides, if you are in a tent, you may not be able to respond to a sudden night attack.

In the end, tents are only used when you have a simple base outside and a certain number of people staying there.

That’s why most people sleep wrapped in a cloak. Like the people sleeping around me right now.

I looked towards the gate.

The pillars of the gate flickered red in the heat and flames of the fire. Behind it, outside the gate, was a world of darkness, and I felt as if something were about to jump out of it.

If I were on Earth, I might have imagined ghosts or monsters, but in this world, there are monsters that exist very close to us. Something can really pop out of the darkness and attack you. That’s why I’m standing guard like this.

I was thinking about this as I looked at the forest, which looked blue in the moonlight.

“…”

…moonlight. Moon?

I was really worried and looked up at the sky.

The moon was there. And another moon.

There were two moons and a starry sky that could not be seen in Japan.

I was surprised and stood up unintentionally.

By the way, I shouldn’t have gone out at night since I came to this world. I had nothing to do outside at night, so I went back to my inn before the sun went down.

No, before that, I don’t know if I’ve ever looked at the sky since I came to this world. There was always something to do, and I was always so busy that I never had time to relax like this.

Thinking about this, I continued to look up at the sky.

Just looking at this night sky might have been the meaning of my coming to this world.

That’s what I thought.

In the end, I kept looking at the starry sky until Mel told me, “… If you have to go to the bathroom, hurry up.”

The next morning, we left after the sun had risen, and although we were attacked once by a Forest Wolf on the way, we arrived safely at the Forest Village.

The Forest Village is located at the foot of a mountain and is surrounded by a forest. Yet, there are no walls, and the village is clearly different from Rankfurt and the Southern Village. Even the Southern Village, which was said to be free of monsters, had walls, but the lack of them seemed unusual.

The carriage proceeded through the village.

The buildings in this village were mostly made of wood, similar to those in the Southern Village. The lack of walls surrounding the village made it feel more like Japanese countryside.

And the atmosphere here is clearly different from the ruins in the encampment. I was reminded of the uniqueness of that encampment.

The carriage stopped in front of a building.

“Okay, this is the inn. I’ll contact you as soon as I’m done with here. Please feel free until then. I’ll be unloading the products, see you later.” (Gilm)

After saying that, Gilm-san rides in his carriage and leaves us.

After seeing him off, Dan said, “Let’s get a room, for now, okay?” And we entered the inn.