"Alright. It's starting to get dark so we should set up camp. Tael, grab some rocks and place them in a circle. I'm going to gather a few pieces of wood so we can have a fire."
"Okay. Will do!"
We split up. Tael began gathering nearby rocks and placing them in a circle while I started gathering sticks and tinder. I've never gone camping before so I'm a bit excited, but I can't lose myself in my thoughts.
After gathering a few sticks that had fallen from the nearby trees, I returned to our clearing to find Tael had gathered the stones and placed them in a circle.
"How did I do, Kenji?"
I a.s.sessed his work. Although I am only an ameteur at camping, I still feel like I can rate his work.
"Good job. This will work."
Tael gave me a proud smile as he sat down on a large rock. I placed the sticks and tinder into the circle of rocks and pulled out my flint stick.
"Oh, let me handle it! Firebolt!"
Tael unleashed another firebolt directly in front of my face. I lurched out of the way only a second too soon. The campfire had been lit.
"Hey, you almost hit me!"
"Sorry Kenji! I'm just happy that I've finally been able to cast my spells. It feels good to unleash my powers for once."
Before I castigated Tael, I heard both of our stomachs rumble in tandem.
"Whatever… Let's just eat something. I'm starving."
"Alright! Camping dinner! Let's do this!"
I pulled out my cooking equipment and dinnerware as I began to prepare to cook dinner.
"So what are you going to make?"
"Considering our ingredients, probably just a soup. Rudvisk and meat usually works well together if you cook it with water. Hand me your water skin."
"Why can't you use yours?"
"I can use mine but I want to use yours. Come on man I bought the ingredients. Be respectful."
After squirming for a moment, Tael reluctantly handed over his water skin. I poured it into the cooking pan along with a chopped rudvisk and meat and placed the mixture over the fire.
"The food should be ready in around 10 or so minutes." I said as I handed Tael his waterskin back.
"Alright! I am so hungry!"
As the scent of cooking food wafted into my nose, my stomach began to rumble once again.
"I'm also starving now that I think about it. I haven't had anything to eat since this morning."
"I thought you had that one mundane cla.s.s that prevented that."
"Let's not speak about that please."
"Why are you so averse to talking about it? Do you have a dark past like the characters in my stories? Are you the son of a n.o.ble? That would explain all your money!"
"No, no. I'm not the son of a n.o.ble! I'm just… some guy."
"Are you sure? I saw that you have a family name on your status screen. Only n.o.bles have those. I've never heard of the 'Fujima' family, but judging by how much you're hiding it I suppose you have your reasons. Maybe someday you'll tell me about them."
We both sat in silence for a moment. The crackling of the fire was the only noise that could be heard. Eventually, I decided to respond to Tael.
"Maybe someday I'll tell you more about myself. I'm sorry for not telling you about myself right now but it's just something I'm not really comfortable with."
"Heh… So we've both had our fair share of s.h.i.tty experiences…"
Tael appears to be disheartened for some reason. I don't know much about him either, but from what he's talked about so far I can't expect much good. I don't want to sit in silence either, so I've decided to bring up another topic.
"Why did you become an adventurer?"
"Me? It's a long story, but to put it simply it's something I can do and n.o.body can control me while I do it. What about you?"
I should have expected him to ask me the same question. Now I have to think of a way to say this without sounding crazy.
"I… promised someone that I would defeat the demon king. I've been preparing to become an adventurer for the past 7 months."
"Defeat… the demon king? That's impossible man! He's been around for longer than my dad! People say he can destroy city walls with a single spell! You're just a level 0 person. Don't throw your life away, man!"
"I've heard that before."
"The person telling you that must have had some common sense then. The demon king is called the demon king because n.o.body can beat him! Let's not even mention the h.e.l.l Guardians."
"h.e.l.l Guardians?"
"I just said not to mention them… Whatever. They're essentially the right hands of the demon king. I've heard each of them is the equivalent of a legendary hero in terms of power. According to a rumor I heard, one of them is sieging the Frozen Mist Hills, but rumors are rumors. For you not to have heard of the h.e.l.l Guardians though… You must have been living under a rock or something!"
"W-well I was just… focusing on my preparations."
"I suppose that makes sense. I heard that the n.o.bility lives in their own little world and some people don't even know that a war is going on… Oh I get it! You must be the b.a.s.t.a.r.d son of some n.o.ble!"
"That's…" I stopped myself.
Should I correct him or should I use this excuse he's given me? Surely I can explain it in the future.
"The food should be ready now. Let me split it for us."
"Oh h.e.l.l yeah! I'm starving!"
I took the soup and portioned it out for two people by pouring it into two separate bowls. I handed Tael his bowl and utensils and took my own.
Automatically, I closed my hands together in prayer.
"You're religious? I usually just dig in. I hope I'm not rude."
"N-no it's fine. Sorry it's just a force of habit at this point."
"Alright then!"
Instinctively, I took my spoon and said "Itadakimasu" as I took a spoonful of soup.
"Woah! You say that one line! I heard that's a really rare phrase! You're like a story book and a half!"
"J-just eat your food already!"
"Oh, right."
We both began to eat in tandem. This certainly isn't my best creation, but at this point I would eat just about anything.
"Wow, this is pretty good. That cook cla.s.s is really useful!"
A simple "thanks" was all I could say as I ate spoonful after spoonful.
