episode_0091

“It would be better to camp around here today.”

As it started to get dark, Charlie suggested.

“Of course.”

The group immediately nodded.

Soon it becomes completely dark.

It might be possible to advance if one uses a magic tool that creates light or uses a torch or something like that, but on a night like this, doing that in this place wouldn’t be a very wise choice.

A light that shines alone in the dark is likely to become a target.

The schedule isn’t so urgent that I have to cut back on sleep.

“Then we will make a campsite.”

After checking Elle and Dorothy’s reaction, Charlie immediately started building a campsite.

First, we decided on a suitable location, and then assigned each person a place to build their tent in the center.

As for the tents, Elle and Dorothy shared one tent, and Charlie and I shared our own tents.

Originally, it would have been better for me and Charlie to share the tent, but Charlie expressed his dislike and expressed his opinion that he would rather use his own tent, so it was decided this way.

Of course, I also felt comfortable here, so I didn’t complain at all.

In the first place, since the tents are located adjacent to each other, it may not be a big deal to use individual tents.

Anyway, after the location was decided, the group started building their own tents.

El and the others had a tent that looked expensive at first glance and seemed to be imbued with a lot of magical effects, while Charlie had a tent that was inferior but seemed to be of decent quality.

As for my tent, it was a tent that looked quite shabby on the outside.

However, it only seemed like that on the outside, the reality was different.

First of all, the material is not ordinary cloth.

I don’t know exactly, but I thought it might be the skin of some special creature.

I can faintly sense magical power there, so it must have been magically processed as well.

To obtain these items, you will probably need dozens of gold coins. Maybe it could go further than that.

Of course this tent is not mine.

It’s not that I didn’t have enough money, but I didn’t have enough money to buy a tent like this.

This tent was a borrowed item.

From none other than Anton.

Originally, I was planning on buying a new tent, but Anton said there was no need and lent me one of the tents he used during his active duty days.

I, too, wanted to be able to save money, so I nodded my head vertically at his suggestion.

… It seems that he had originally planned to lend a suitable item, but Anton probably did not expect that the look in Nina’s eyes would lead him to give away one of the best items.

Remembering Anton’s eyes glaring at me back then, I started building the tent.

As time passed and the tents were all built, Charlie came up to me and talked to me.

“I will prepare my defenses from now on. I’ll set an alarm, so you spray some scent. You can organize that, right?”

“Yes.”

I nodded slightly and took out a pocket from my luggage.

It is marked with “. Spray along there.”

Following Charlie’s instructions, I walked around the outskirts of the camp and began distributing the contents of my pockets.

The contents are the same as the powder Charlie sprinkled during the day.

A scent that forest monsters hate.

I believe it is a powder invented by an adventurer in the past.

However, thanks to many years of research, the entire contents of the powder have been revealed, and now you can get the exact same item wherever you go in Darbil.

Anyway, looking at the fact that it has been used from a long time ago to this day, the effect itself is clear.

Smaller or less aggressive monsters in the forest will run away even if they smell this scent from afar.

Of course, it doesn’t work on all monsters, but at least for now, no monsters will approach even if they smell this scent.

Just spraying this much is actually enough to take action against monsters.

Nevertheless, Charlie’s defense was not over.

Charlie took out several sticks of uniform size and shape from his bag and began to go around the camp and stick them into the ground.

They were not inserted haphazardly, but were driven into the backs of trees or crevices as if to hide them.

Then Charlie stuck the last stick into the ground and returned to the tent.

“Are you done?”

At that time, El came up and asked.

“Yes. All defenses have been completed.”

Charlie smiled and answered quickly.

“Incense was used to keep monsters away, and a magical alarm was set up in case anything happened. With this, you can now sleep with peace of mind.”

“Oh… .”

L looked at the sticks with curious eyes.

As Charlie said, that can be considered sufficient defense at this point.

At least when it comes to monsters.

No, as I said before, just spraying incense is sufficient as a defense against monsters.

However, the reason why Charlie took such extra precautions may not be simply because he has a very worried personality.

If the only dangerous element in this forest were monsters, there is a high probability that such defenses would not have been put in place.

But monsters weren’t the only thing anyone entering this forest had to be wary of.

… Well, you don’t have to worry about it yet.

***

After preparing for camp, Charlie built a small bonfire in the center of the tents.

The materials were branches from trees scattered around.

Then, with familiar skill, he took out the utensils and prepared the food.

“If you go a little further, it will be difficult to cook food. So, it’s better to eat a lot at this point.”

The dish, prepared with a friendly smile and explanation, was more edible than I expected.

Is this a skill that you have naturally acquired after working as a mercenary for several years, or is it something you learned for a specific purpose?

While imagining the answer, I put the given food into my stomach.

Aside from his attitude and personality, most of what Charlie said was right.

It was like that this time too.

The further you go inside, the less likely you will be able to eat dishes like this.

Most of your meals will be made up of preserved food.

The first reason is fire.

The deeper you go into the forest, the higher the risk, and if you start a fire at night in a forest like this, you are bound to be noticed.

Therefore, unless the group is clearly large or the space is not completely secured, it becomes difficult to light a fire once you have advanced to a certain extent in the forest.

However, that doesn’t mean you can’t smoke it at all.

If you choose the right place, you can create an environment where it is okay to start a fire.

Of course, finding such a place is not easy.

The real problem is the second.

Just the smell.

Even in a crowded city, you can sometimes experience the strong smell of food hitting your nose.

If that’s true in a similarly overcrowded city, what if it’s in the forest?

It has no choice but to stand out even more.

Even most of the inhabitants of this forest have a better sense of smell than humans.

And that, too, is incomparable.

The monsters that appear at the beginning of the forest are either too scared to approach even if they smell it, or they run away after smelling the incense they sprayed for defense, but the monsters that appear at a certain point are different.

The moment it detects the presence of a human by smell, it ignores the scent and quickly heads to the place where the smell came from.

And immediately attacks humans.

That’s why you don’t cook anything after passing a certain part of the forest.

Of course, it is easy to block smells and lights using magic.

If you want to get a magic tool with the same effect, you can get it for a cheaper price than you think.

Outside, it would be easy to block out smells and lights like that.

However, in this forest, the story is a little different.

This is because magic flows in a rather special form throughout this forest, and the magic power of that special flow interferes with magic.

That doesn’t mean it can’t be used at all, it’s just that it interferes with the flow, but space magic is basically very delicate magic.

Even the slightest shaking can cause the magic itself to collapse.

In other words, in order to maintain the magic in this forest, the structure of the magic must also change according to the ever-changing flow.

It is very difficult to implement it with magic tools, and there is no such waste of magical energy and manpower if you ask a wizard to do it.

Although the task itself is easy, the wizard won’t be able to sleep well while doing it.

There may be a way to completely block the flow to the outside, but there is a high possibility that such a method will not be able to handle the amount of magical power consumed.

As a wizard, you need to be at a level worthy of being called an archmage to be able to maintain your sleep throughout the night, and in other ways, you will have to use magic stones as if you were using water.

Simply put, either way is not realistic.

In that case, it would be better to just give up regular eating and eat preserved food.

In fact, most of those who go into the forest do so.

People evolve to solve discomfort.

The dissatisfaction of the mercenaries and adventurers who were exploring while eating tasteless preserved food every day was accumulating. Nowadays, even if it is preserved food, there are many products with improved taste and nutrition, so it can be said that the food situation is much better than expected.

Well, it still doesn’t compare to actual food.

I knew about the magical properties of the forest even before I came here.

It was a fairly widely known fact, and above all, I was well aware of places with similar characteristics.

That’s right, Academy.

The Academy also has a special magical flow similar to this place.

Therefore, space-type or installation-type magic cannot be maintained for a long time.

It’s okay as far as the students’ daily lives, but the more you get into the center, the worse the problem becomes.

When you reach the mountain in the center of the academy, it becomes impossible to install barrier-type magic at all.

Even on a continent that is vast and has many strange places, there are not many places with these characteristics.

There are literally so many that you can count them on your fingers.

The law of the world is that if there is a cause, there is a result, and if there is a result, there is a cause.

There must be a reason why the academy and the forest have such characteristics.

However, the reason was not known to the public.

Perhaps, since they have similar characteristics, there may be similar causes.

With that in mind, I tried to erase the nostalgia that creeped up on me when I thought of the Academy and concentrated on eating again.