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Chapter 48: Camping

Translator: Haruchin   Editor: Marky

「 I thought you didn’t like camping outdoors? You seem used to it, though? 」
I took out the sheet and quickly tied its corner to a tree, then secured the other three corners to the ground with stakes. Dean talked to me as I arranged my sleeping place.

「 I see, you can make a simple roof and wall with a waterproof sheet, huh — what is this sheet made of? 」
Retze touched the sheet in awe.

「 Oh, it’s a lot warmer just by blocking the wind? It is truly wonderful, Twilight! 」
Chris said exaggeratedly. Hey, don’t ask for a hug from me!

「This is really convenient. You don’t have to carry a tent when walking on foot. How on earth did you manage to make it this light? 」
Butler also scrutinized the sheet.

Well, cow and horse hides are heavy, after all. Good job, Lizard-kun.

「 I don’t like camping, but I never said I’m not used to it. 」
I broke the cedar branches that we gathered along with the firewood, and laid them all underneath the tent, then I plucked some moss and covered them. Just have to put the blanket on it, but it’ll be fine to do that later.

There was time to prepare, so this was just a normal camp compared to my experience on the island, which took me by surprise. It’s hard to say that my camp equipment was complete, though.

It’s normal to walk and cover a lot of ground while it’s still bright, but the previous expeditioners already walked this trail, and the general spots for camping were already set.

Take this place, for example. The previous guys already flattened the area, and they piled stones to block the river breeze. There was also a pile of stones in a circle for keeping the fire.

There was still some time before the sun set, but we also had to prepare for our dinner and sleeping place. Well, I’m the only one preparing my place, though! Everyone else was thinking of just wrapping their robes or coats tightly and lying on the ground as is. The stones had been cleared up little by little, so it was more comfortable here compared to the other places.

「 I’m going to mimic your moss.」
Ash went to get some moss.

「 Well, it’s more preferable if they grew here. 」
「 They will be trodden, so maybe it will be useless? 」
Chris and Butler followed right behind her.

Everybody plucked moss in the end. We’d be frowned on if we were in Japan’s mountains, but people here are living by taking various things from the forest, so they don’t have the luxury of caring for their forests in this world.

We arrived at the camping spot earlier than expected, so we decided to fish — well, we only have some thread and hook, so some used branches as a make-shift fishing rod, and there were others who used the spool as is.

Everyone then picked a spot and settled down to fish. I wasn’t confident in my fishing skills, so I went to Dean, who was sitting nearest the camping site, and tied the end of my string to the branch of the tree beside him. The other end was tied to the hook with a bait, and I just threw that end into the river.

「 I’ll make enough soup for everyone, so please look at it as if I caught something. 」
「 Got it. Nice, thanks for that soup, it’s going to be chilly, after all. 」

I left it to Dean, then returned to the campfire. I would also keep an eye on our belongings. Although we were beside the river, the camping site was located a bit far from the river bank, probably in anticipation of a possible water level rise if it rained.

I tossed some vegetables, chickpeas, and a bit of jerky into the pot then placed it on the fire. I put in a lot of tomatoes, so it’ll be tomato flavored soup.

Next, prepare the leaven for tomorrow morning, and make some dough for today’s pizza. I mixed strong flour, weak flour and some salt with lukewarm water — I didn’t have a bowl so the pot would have to do. Added some olive oil. I then pound it when it’s sticky enough.

「 Hey, what are you doing? 」
「 I’m making pizza. Sorry for the noise, but just ignore it. 」

There was a flat stone on the campfire, probably for frying things. I went there and started pounding the dough. Dean was a bit worried so he came to check on me. Ash was also behind him.

「 Well, he’s just like that. Weird. 」

Dean returned to fish after leaving those rude words behind. I’m normal, normal, you hear that!? I started pounding the dough again, still dissatisfied at him. Finally, the dry dough became smooth and it’s done.

I should let the dough rest after I cut the ingredients while waiting until the fishing team returns, and it’ll be fine. Next, I’ll toss the dough into a leather bag after the yeast step. Let’s put some jam on it tomorrow and fry some sausages.

Maybe it’s because people didn’t come here often, but my perfunctory set-up also caught a fish, it seems. Dean brought it for me.
Everyone salted the small fishes that each of them caught, while I prepared the big ones so I could grill them with herbs.

All of them brought a frying-pan thingy and a pot for boiling water, but Butler and I were the ones who grilled the fish. There’s not enough space around the campfire, after all.

Dean and Chris had their frying pans, but they directly heated their metal cups to boil water. Maybe it’s their strategy to lessen their baggage.
Retze also usually brought a cup, but since he’s a porter this time around, he also brought a pot with him.

「 This pot is heavy, so I’m afraid we cannot imitate this. 」
Butler said regrettably..
「 I used my shield as a pot once, but there’s no cover, though. 」
That’s Dean.

Hey, that’s some icky pot. What I had were dutch oven imitations in three different sizes. Yeah, it was quite heavy, but I’m fine. This enhanced physical strength is a real lifesaver.

The big one was deep and used for soups, and I asked the foundry to make it so that the other two would fit inside. I placed some charcoal over the lid of the other one to bake the pizza, while the third one was used for the herb-grilled fish.

「 Hand me your plates, these are already done. You can also get some soup. 」
「 These are also ready. 」
Butler was also done, it seems.

I placed the herb-grilled fishes on top of the wooden plates and thin metal plates.

「 Oh, you’re using a frying pan, Dean? 」
「 Isn’t it fine, plain and simple. 」
Dean grinned.

「 I can also use my plate as a lid. 」
「 It’s really hard for adventurers who have to go to the forest depths since it’ll take several days. 」
If it’s just Dean, then he’ll get by without caring too much for the details, but as far as Chris is concerned, he’ll strategize so that they can bring the least amount of things with them.
Everyone took out dry-looking flat bread from their pack, while I removed the coals and opened the lid from my pseudo-dutch oven.

「 What’s that, Jean? 」
「 Wild asparagus and bacon pizza. 」
Ash asked, so I answered.

「 So it’s that ritual thingy you were doing earlier, huh. 」
Dean, what do you mean by ‘ritual’, huh?

「 I’ve never heard of that dish before. 」
Chris was extremely curious about it as he tried to peek.

I cut it up inside the pot, and took out one slice. Nice, look at how that cheese stretches.

「 Oy, you guys. Why are you putting away your bread? 」

Aren’t we supposed to be responsible for our own meals ?