Ch.304Late Summer Vacation

The summer vacation at Moon Lake was filled with joy each and every day.

After waking up in the morning, we’d order room service, chat for a while, and around 10 AM when the temperature started rising, change into swimsuits and head to the lakeside.

We’d set up our spot with mats, hotel-borrowed parasols, and a grill table.

After thorough warm-up exercises, we’d begin our proper swimming lessons.

“Good, take it slow. Don’t consciously hold your breath, just let it come naturally… you’re doing well.”

Iris’s once hopeless swimming skills began showing improvement by the third day of lessons, and now she could float without me holding her hand.

Though she could only swim about 5 meters on her own… it was tremendous progress compared to the early days when she’d sink immediately after I let go.

Meanwhile, Seti, who was comfortable with swimming from the start, and Phyllis, whose skills improved rapidly in a short time, were each coaching Jessica and Mina, who were still at an intermediate level.

Tall Phyllis was with Jessica in slightly deeper water, while the shorter Seti matched with Mina, the shortest of us all, in the shallow area.

For reference, the spot where Iris was receiving private lessons from me was at the shore where the water only came up to waist level.

“Whew~ We’ve been swimming a lot.”

“Being in the water is nice and cool, but swimming certainly consumes a lot of energy.”

After swimming for about two hours, we’d come ashore to rest, then go to the carriage storage near the hotel to retrieve ingredients from the “Box of Stopped Time.”

Both the carriage door and the box were secured with locks, and the box itself was firmly fixed to the carriage floor, so there was no worry about theft.

“Let’s see. Meat, fish, sausages, vegetables… and should we bring the seasoning container and syrup for shaved ice dessert?”

“What about beer and whiskey?”

“Alcohol is for the evening. Even dwarves shouldn’t swim after drinking.”

“Aww…”

For reference, Moon Lake regulations prohibit swimming after drinking regardless of race.

No matter how alcohol-resistant dwarves might be, if they drink until intoxicated, it defeats the purpose. For their own safety and public order, no special treatment could be allowed.

As the sun rises high and barbecue time begins everywhere, the atmosphere around the lake changes completely.

People who were playing in or dipping their feet in the water retreat, and fishermen take their places.

This is an unspoken rule among Moon Lake residents because making noise scares away the fish. We had already caught, cleaned, and stored our fish, so we didn’t need to prepare fishing rods.

‘Sizzle~~~’

“Cough, cough, ugh… why does the smoke keep coming my way…”

“Ah, that happens often.”

Our party’s regular grill menu consists of five items: beef, chicken, sausages, fish, and vegetables.

Despite struggling with the smoke, we diligently grill and serve everything, then each person dips their food in barbecue sauce, Welord pink rock salt, or whole grain mustard according to their preference.

If only we had stir-fried kimchi to go with it… I should try making kimchi sometime after gathering the ingredients.

“Well~ Now that we’ve finished eating and cleaned up… Jessica, if you please.”

“Sure. Diamond Dust.”

After meals, we’d bring out Jessica’s grimoire and crafting tablet for some patbingsu time.

Heaping shaved ice in empty bowls, topping it with red beans and fruit, then drizzling it with syrup and condensed milk completes the refreshing patbingsu.

For the first 2-3 days, we enjoyed it among ourselves, but by the fourth day, children began gathering around our table as we finished our meals.

Eventually, from the fifth day onward, we prepared ingredients in bulk and sold cups at 25 coins each, exclusively to child customers.

“Is there really a need to charge 25 coins? I think we could give it away for free without issue.”

“If it were free, wouldn’t everyone bring their kids and crowd around? Some might overeat and get stomachaches… this is just right.”

“So the price is to prevent chaos rather than to make money… business is profound indeed.”

For reference, Mina’s patbingsu business only lasted three days, after which she made quite a tidy profit by going around the lakeside shopping district selling the patbingsu machines themselves.

From next summer, I expect we’ll frequently see residents enjoying not just grilled barbecue but patbingsu as well.

Anyway, after finishing our meal, we’d wait for our stomachs to settle, enjoy swimming for another hour, then pack up around 3 PM, return to the hotel, and take a nap.

Swimming is surprisingly energy-consuming, so everyone falls asleep quickly.

When we wake up, it’s usually around 5 PM.

The crimson sun begins to set behind the western hills, and the heated air becomes somewhat cooler.

It’s the perfect time to enjoy dating in Moon Lake’s bustling district.

Though six men and women moving around together, watching movies and plays, buying snacks, and exploring shops looks less like dating and more like a group package tour.

“It’s a bit disappointing that I haven’t worn my newly purchased summer clothes much.”

“Well… the heat wave came late this year, and when we were at Moon Lake before, we were preoccupied with dealing with the curse.”

“What does it matter? You can keep wearing them next year. Except for Jessica and Seti, none of us are at an age where we’ll grow anymore.”

“Unless someone takes strange potions like a certain someone.”

Mina’s elbow strikes my side as I say this.

Mmm, the dwarf’s strength… it’s strange that my danger detection skill didn’t activate.

After wandering around the busy district, we’d find a suitable restaurant for dinner and return around 8 PM.

After putting our shopping items in the carriage, we’d either take walks along the moonlit lakeside or sometimes hold ghost story competitions in a dark room lit only by candles.

“This happened around the time when the Fifth Western City of Atlier was being built—”

“The mother found out too late. That her daughter’s body had been possessed by her younger sister’s vengeful spirit…”

“The scent that always emanated from that woman’s body was… the smell of dead baby’s blood.”

“Kyaaaah!”

Despite my exposure to horror movies, suspense novels, and internet ghost stories, Grantis’s ghost stories were no less terrifying.

No, in a world where ghosts and monsters actually exist, they were incomparable in terms of plausibility and detail.

It’s a secret that I explored the bodies of the women sleeping with me more passionately because I could hardly fall asleep.

A harem life of playing from morning till night and changing bedmates daily.

Some might think I’ve forgotten my duties as an adventurer, indulging in luxury and pleasure, but I was steadily preparing for our next adventure.

Replenishing consumed food and tools, maintaining the carriage and weapons, checking the condition of various magical items including Ancestor and Aquila.

I also made sure to check the news through newspapers and the adventurer’s guild bulletin board for any urgent requests.

Another issue to resolve was the Wolfsbane that was destroyed in the fight with the Regent.

Since I had purchased that gun from a gun shop right here in Moon Lake, buying another wouldn’t be difficult, but Mina seemed to have different ideas.

On August 19th, as our vacation was coming to an end.

Mina, who had been away since early morning, returned around 3 PM and handed me a silver-gleaming pistol.

“Here, take this.”

“Huh? What gun is this?”

“It’s a custom model based on the Wolfsbane. The base material is titanium, and inside the body, I embedded anti-lycanthrope magical bullet circuitry with mythril silver alloy. In other words, it’s a reborn Wolfsbane that can withstand Will’s skills indefinitely!”

“Wow! That’s amazing.”

“Plus, it looks much cooler now.”

As Seti said, the gun Mina made looked completely different from the Wolfsbane Type 4 I had been using.

The original Wolfsbane was made entirely of silver except for the grip to embody the concept of ‘silver’ in its bullets, and its appearance was angular and rugged like a late Western frontier era German pistol.

But this custom model had a sophisticated design that seemed to belong to the 1900s, with a much more stable center of gravity, and the grip was precisely fitted to my hand shape, giving it an exceptional feel.

“Thank you, Mina. With this, I won’t have to worry about accidents like last time anymore.”

“Of course not! That’s why I made it. Remember that there’s more than just one or two women who worry when Will gets hurt.”

Instead of answering, I expressed my gratitude to Mina with an intense hug, then holstered the gleaming custom Wolfsbane on my left side.

It was much later that I learned Mina had paid a large licensing fee to the Wolfsbane manufacturer to complete this gun.