Chapter 12 ~ One More Time!After we pa.s.sed through the forest, we are having lunch at the meadow.
If we keep on walking through the meadow, then we might reach the fortress by sunset even if we walk slowly.
“Is the snake delicious?”
I ask Tilika who is biting the freshly grilled snake.
“……Yes.”
Quite a vague answer. Well, I know how she is feeling. It is certainly not bad, but it is not that good either.
“No need to catch snakes anymore. I’m sure that Tilika has it enough.”
Eli said while eating the grilled Orc meat.
“Yes. Thank you, Masaru.”
“You’re welcome.”
As for myself I’m more concerned about the Wild Rabbit than the snake. I got some reaction which I think is them a while ago.
“Are you perhaps want to eat some rabbit meat?”
“Isn’t there still lots of them inside the Item Box?”
“That’s true…”
While we were moving just now, I thought about going sideways and hunt for a bit. But then the Golem speed is reduced. I thought that I have the complete control, but actually even the principle of Golem creation is unknown to me. For me, magic is exactly like programming. We don’t know what’s wrong with it, and we don’t know how it is suddenly fixed.
Ellie might have taught me, but I still don’t know its exact mechanism.
“It would be great if there is more option to tweak the Golem.”
If I can make it fully autonomous, then it will be easier to hunt the Wild Rabbit.
“Golem is quite useful.”
Tilika said with serious face.
Most of the time we are dependent on Tilika’s Drago, which I’m thankful for. But that is burdening to her. The Golem might be of no use sometimes, but overall it is still pretty useful.
“Surely. But don’t you think you are depending on it too much?”
“That’s right. Don’t get distracted by the Wild Rabbit, concentrate more on your Golem operating please. I want to reach the fortress as soon as possible.”
s.h.i.t. So, it’s decided then. I have not been hunting for one week now. I don’t mind living in the forest or the bas.e.m.e.nt, but if I detected some Wild Rabbits nearby me, then there is no way my blood won’t boil.
“I feel bad somehow. I can walk, if you want.”
We are totally absorbed with our conversion. I totally forgot that Alvin is here.
“No, no. Alvin still need to rest, no need to walk, just get at the back of the Golem.”
“That’s right. I’m responsible for your injuries. I’m sure right now you’re not completely healed yet, right? To be honest, it’s better if you didn’t join us yesterday night also.”
“I won’t feel good if I just simply rest only. Plus the watch duty is easy.”
“You still need to rest about a week or so. Understood?”
“Yes, Angela san.”
“Then, let’s get moving now. I want to reach the fortress fast!”
Ellie shout to urges us moving. Suddenly, I notice that my Item Box is already full. Like this, isn’t it better if I went hunting while everyone was taking breaks just now!?
“Actually, I like to hunt the Wild Rabbit……maybe they are still sleeping now. But that doesn’t mean that this area is safe. Please be wary, everyone.”
When we are taking a rest next time I’ll ask Ellie if I’m allowed to hunt some Wild Rabbit.
We just take a short break afterwards, and hasten our pace. Everyone want to reach Gorbas Fortress as
soon as possible before the sun is set.
I return the Golem back to earth and entered the main gate with Alvin. Since it’s the front gate there are lots of another pa.s.ser-by too. Alvin seems to be acquainted with the gatekeeper and the other people. As for us, we show our cards and get inside without any difficulties.
For the time being, both me and Alvin go to the Guild and sells our loots. Both of us were out of breath since the amount that we receive is amazingly high. I have lots of loots inside my Item Box, and the number recorded in our cards are ma.s.sive.
If we are to report at the guild here, then it is no doubt that it would become a fuss. I’ve decided to make the report directly to the Vice Guild Leader after I return to the Siory town instead of normal procedure here.
“What’s your plan after this?”
After waiting for Alvin to finish his loots exchange, I asked him.
“I’m not sure yet. Though, I’m going to take rehabilitation for a while.”
There is something that I would like to discuss before we reach the fort, but there is not much opportunity. There is also chance that he will ask me something, and I can still ask him end of today or tomorrow.
“I’m going to be around the Guild Dormitory. If you are free, then I hope you can pay a visit. Since it is spring now we can have Sake together.”
Their party is going to be inactive for a while since Alvin need to rest. Besides, the reward they received from defeating the Orcs is bountiful. They need to discuss about their future plan as well.
After spending 2 days with us, they were looking for a place to stay. But I better not recommend the same place as our party. Now that I think about it, it feels special partying with them.
“Well then, take care, Alvin. If I have times I will surely come and visit you.”
After giving farewell to Alvin, I leave the Adventure Guild and go to the room which was proposed by Ellie. Although the room is not high cla.s.s due to here being a frontier fort, it is huge enough to accommodate five of us comfortably and it has a bath too.
There are no baths in the guild-managed dormitory, plus the rooms are small and the walls are thin. It is a very welcoming facility for adventurers who don’t have money, but it will not be suitable for our current party.
“I’m going to take it easy today, but what are we going to do tomorrow?”
“Honestly there is no way we can suddenly move after resting today. Maybe we should take it off tomorrow too.”
Ellie who is the most experienced among us will usually give her opinion during times like these. Most of the time what she said is right, making her opinion more valid.
“The subjugation reward will be collected once we arrived back at town. But what about our preys?”
“I can’t sell it here. There is too many, I’m afraid n.o.body is going to buy it.”
Since the town is near to the border, they have over supply of meat. That’s why it is hard to sell this stuff over here.
“Alright, when we come back to the town then.”
“We might come to the royal city someday. Can’t we sell it higher over there?”
“But my Item Box is not boundless you know.”
Actually, the other day I tried to store large amount of stone inside, but suddenly it won’t enter anymore.
That makes me fl.u.s.tered, but I immediately know the reason.
It is the capacity limit. It is not limited by numbers. Seems like it is limited by weight.
At first, I thought that my Item Box is unlimited, turns out there is limitation.
Because of that, I throw away most of the rocks. Because I felt dissatisfied somehow, I put it into some specific arrangements. The end result looks like Stonehenge, where there are more than 50 rocks stack together.
It will not be blown away by strong wind because I created the foundation under the structure. A mysterious ruin within the forest. Romantic!
“There should still be some empty s.p.a.ce left right.”
“But the rocks……”
“Just throw that away, I tell you. You can get as many rocks anywhere on this Earth.”
“No way, that is not good! The rocks are super useful!”
Not only can it be used as some sort of shield, it can be used as weapon too. It is a versatile thing that is very useful in battle. Pg. 179
Throwing away all of it is ridiculous!
“I won’t ask you to throw all of it at once. Just that if you really need it then you can just dig it out at that time, right?”
“There’s no need for you to tell me that.”
The actual problem is when I have x99 rocks it becomes too heavy.
If I were to release some of it, then it is possible to put all the loots and others all at once. But it feels kind of a waste. I already standardized it so that it has uniform size and weight after all!
“Why Masaru like to stick into weirds things, like Wild Rabbit and rocks……”
Ellie sighed. I’m attached to both of it, you know! I have a proper reason!
If it is about these two, I can talk about even for an hour, but I endured it because I felt like it will be a useless squabble.
“Only when the Item Box is filled with the loots then I’ll throw away the rocks.”
“That is a given!”
Ellie lost her temper.
Like this I’ll try to discuss with Itō kami using my diary. I want to request to increase my Item Box capacity by using the point system. This way I can put more rocks and even larger rocks.
If I were to release all the rocks from a super high alt.i.tude, then it would be a simple task even if I were to eliminate a town.
This is a great idea! Even if it is the Demon King Castle, if I know the location, then it is easy to stir up the place up and down. However, it is impossible to do this with my current Item Box capacity though.
“What if you use your detection skills inside the Demon King Castle? You can do whatever you want without going up on the sky. Even if you manage to drop it safely, they can escape it by using Levitation, or simply cast some magic to deflect all of it. It is too naïve to think that you can defeat them by simply dropping the rocks. Too naïve!”
“Alright, that’s enough, Masaru and Ellie. Now we need to discuss on what to do from tomorrow onward.”
Ann stopped Ellie from talking more about Demon King strength.
“Right. You’re correct. Umm?”
Ellie tilted her head looking at us.
“Maybe we should just use the Gate and return back home.”
“I agree.”
I insisted, and Ann quickly agreed with me. I think we were working too hard for this past week. That’s why a good rest is needed. Furthermore, I want to attend Sergeant dono sword cla.s.s and quickly return back to the town too.
“No, we can’t use the gate. It’ll be unnatural if we were to return now since the timing doesn’t add up. More importantly we should go back through the forest again! Let’s go back to the town through the forest by another route this time.”
“I’m okay with that. I want to increase my level.”
Looks like Ellie and Tilika want to gain more experience. Unusually, both of them have same opinion this time.
“If the gate is no good then we can still take a carriage service to return back to town.”
The town is in the middle of the road between this fort and the Kingdom. We should have no problem to catch the carriage.
“What do you think is the best, Sati?”
“Umm……”
She seems to be lost either to support me or Tilika. She keeps on looking between us.
“Even though we are entering the forest again, but we are still going back home every day. We should strengthen our party more. Not only that, we are lacking in money too.”
“Even if you want to practice magic, we can do it slowly at home. Besides, aren’t you still practicing cooking, Ellie?”
“I can cook fried chicken and pudding already you know.”
“And that’s all.”
Yes, that’s the only thing she is capable of. There is absolutely no progress on other dishes. At first, she practices cooking because I asked her to, but after she is able to cook this two, she becomes totally satisfied.
Since then, she completely stopped cooking altogether. Though, there is no way we can use fire inside our bas.e.m.e.nt.
“Well you see, that. There is no way we can cook inside the bas.e.m.e.nt.”
“There is no problem if you practice your knives skills inside the bas.e.m.e.nt. Well then how about this, Ellie will continue practicing her cooking skill properly, and we will go through the forest to get back home.”
“I-I got it. I’ll return back to practice cooking……”
This is a win-win situation for both Ellie and me so far, but do Ellie hate cooking that much?
“So, do you agree, Masaru?”
“Yeah, no problem. I also want to gain experience points.”
Battle will be much easier if everyone has increase their physical strength. I want to take the days off, but there is no choice.
“It’s decided then. Now, when we reach back home you will do exactly what you promised, right, Ellie. Understood?”
“Uhh…I understand…”
I wonder why she is reluctant to learn cooking so much. Even though she managed to cook the fried chicken and pudding just fine.
“Well then I’ll start preparing dinner. Masaru go take a bath first.”
“Roger~”
“This really unfit human behaviour. It is not necessary for us to learn how to prepare all kind of dishes others than the one we want.”
Ellie said once Ann has gone out. However, it is widely recognized in this world that the female main work is to stay at home and work in the kitchen. That’s why Ellie remark about not needing to practice all type of cooking is a weak argument.
“Giving up halfway is bad you know.”
“Elizabeth sama, I’ll help you, so let’s give it our best.”
“Taiga, can I summon it now?”
Tilika seems not willing to help.
“Yes, just make sure it is not visible from the entrance. Maybe behind the bed.”
“Alright.”
I go outside at the entrance to watch out while Tilika go behind the bed to summon Taiga.
“n.o.body is around so it is okay.”
It just takes an instant to summon it, so there is no danger of us getting exposed. Tilika sit on the floor while leaning her back at Taiga.
Ellie also comes towards Taiga and clung to it.
“Alright, I’m going to do my best. I’ll level up my cooking skill. That’s way Ann will be convinced.”
Ellie said while patting Taiga.
“I’m also just level 1.”
Tilika also said that.
“That’s right. If Tilika is able to do it, then there is no way I can’t. It is possible. I can do it.”
“Right. I’ll be happy if you can do it.”
Not to say that to get level 1 is easy as long one is decent.
I leave Ellie who is still mumbling and go take a bath. Ann returns back to room once I’m done.
“They should be ready soon. Let’s eat in the room.”
“I’m hungry, I love you.”
“I already ordered lots of it, so you guys can eat plenty.”
“Yes!”
The system where we are able to order food is really amazing.
I wonder if this is the reason why Ellie is reluctant to learn cooking. Since she is originally a n.o.ble and just recently becomes an adventurer, maybe that amplifies to her reluctantly to learn cooking. In spite of that, she still knows how to deep fry and make a pudding.
“Ellie, to tell you the truth, there is actually different way to cook fried chicken. The taste is also different.”
Of course, there are countless recipes for fried chicken. The method varies from the one using the wheat to lightly coated the chicken to a technique to uniformly fries all the sides for a long time. Just that I only teach her one method since it is her favourite.
“No kidding!?”
Ellie who is still clinging to Taiga immediately jump up.
“Do you want to know?”
“Yes!”
“Increase your cooking to level 1 first. After that I promise to teach you.”
“I’ll do it! I’ll do it, definitely! Level 1 cooking skill for new fried chicken!”
As expected it is much easier if I baited her to do it. But isn’t this too easy, Ellie?
Anyways, for the time being, I managed to motivate Ellie. All well that ends well.