Chapter 339: Sihee Camp (2)

About two hours have passed since I came out of the dungeon after unexpectedly running into Sihee and Eunbyul inside and promising an afternoon date.

Meanwhile, I washed my dirt-caked body at a nearby bathhouse (since the Guild doesn’t have shower rooms for male Hunters), and changed into spare clothes I had kept in my subspace pocket.

After that, I met Sihee outside, leisurely had lunch together, and then we headed towards the next date course she had prepared.

I hadn’t expected her to take me to a fine dining restaurant starting with lunch, though.

Contrary to my expectation that her prepared date plan would be completely ruined since the schedule was canceled, Do Sihee was proceeding with the date course she originally intended to take me to today as planned.

As soon as I asked her, harboring slight doubt, Do Sihee gave me an answer as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“Things like this are bound to be connected to Dokyung Group’s credibility. I couldn’t cancel a restaurant reservation made under my name the day before. Even if I couldn’t bring Sungchul-ssi today, I would have kept the reservation for that restaurant and paid the full price.”

“I see.”

“And another reason is that Do Yehee, that bitch… there was a possibility that woman might have noticed. If she had noticed that I canceled the restaurant, she would have realized that I canceled our appointment today too.”

The thought that she wouldn’t go that far crossed my mind, but Do Sihee’s eyes were sparkling with conviction.

Since I had no intention of defending that woman, I just nodded along appropriately, going with the flow.

“Consequently, thanks to that, I was able to spend a leisurely lunch with Sungchul-ssi. A blessing in disguise, as they say.”

“It was certainly a restaurant with good taste and a decent atmosphere.”

The fact that it had a private room was especially good in many ways.

Since I could frequently engage in skinship with Sihee without worrying about other people noticing.

Perhaps she was deliberately choosing restaurants with private rooms, anticipating that kind of situation with me.

“I’m glad you enjoyed the meal. I’ll take you to restaurants I recommend on our next dates too. How about a Michelin 2-star Korean fine dining restaurant next time?”

“…More importantly, what did Eunbyul-ssi go to prepare? I haven’t seen her since we came out of the dungeon.”

“You’ll find out soon. Actually, she said the preparations were already finished a while ago, so now we just need to travel leisurely.”

“Travel?”

“We’re not going far. At most, somewhere around Gangwon Province.”

Gangwon Province was quite far enough, but I guessed it probably meant it wasn’t that far by Sihee’s standards.

Anyway, it was within South Korea, a location one could travel to without a passport.

Indeed, in a world with warp gates, the removal of travel time restrictions was convenient in many ways.

Of course, even so, going to Gangwon Province itself was quite an unexpected journey.

Still, I didn’t want to needlessly pry into what she had prepared beforehand, so I leisurely followed Sihee towards the warp gate bound for Gangwon Province.

“Ah, I’m asking just in case.”

“Yes.”

“Do you… not really like camping?”

“Are we going to a campsite, even?”

“…I, I was just asking, alright? Your answer isn’t going to change the destination, so please don’t worry about it and just answer.”

“……”

Seeing her subtly avoid my gaze even while saying that, it seemed the date Sihee and Eunbyul had prepared was probably an outdoor campsite.

Since I didn’t want to disappoint the two of them, I pretended not to know and gave a suitable answer.

“Camping itself could be good or bad. The important thing is who you go with.”

“In that sense, if I’m going somewhere with Sihee-ssi, whether it’s a campground or the backyard of a house, wouldn’t it be enjoyable? You think so too, don’t you, Sihee-ssi?”

“Yes, yes… I like it anywhere as long as I’m with Sungchul-ssi…”

Seemingly pleased with my answer, she passed through the warp gate to Gangwon Province with me without hesitation.

Not long after passing through the gate, I saw Eunbyul at the entrance, already changed into a neat maid uniform.

Along with a rather expensive-looking black SUV.

“Welcome, Master, Kim Sungchul-nim.”

“Good work, Eunbyul.”

“Please both board the back seat of the vehicle. We will travel by car from now on.”

With me and Sihee in the back seat of the luxury SUV, Eunbyul slowly proceeded deeper along a somewhat steep and winding mountain road.

A car driven by an active-duty maid… I rode in one last time too.

I’m gradually getting used to dates with Do Sihee, including Eunbyul, it seems.

The SUV carrying the three of us took us deeper into the mountains amidst various conversations, and perhaps because it was midwinter, a strangely dim atmosphere began to settle in even though it wasn’t evening yet.

“Is there really a campsite this deep in the mountains?”

“There is a campsite, but it’s probably not the typical public campsite Sungchul-ssi is thinking of.”

“Huh?”

“We will be camping, but places like public campsites with lots of people and crowds aren’t ideal, are they? We’d have to be conscious of people’s attention too.”

“Well, that’s true… but even so, isn’t camping just anywhere illegal?”

“We entered Dokyung Group’s owned mountain territory starting 10 minutes ago, Kim Sungchul-nim. You don’t need to worry about that, so you can rest assured.”

“Ah, yes…”

In other words, it meant that the issue was solved with enough money to prevent any problems, so I could rest assured.

Being around these young ladies really makes my sense of money go numb in many ways.

For nearly 15 minutes, the vehicle carrying the three of us headed deeper into the mountain territory.

After traveling by car for about 20 minutes, I spotted a place illuminated by a soft orange light in the darkness.

“There it is.”

“Huh?”

As I blankly muttered in response to Sihee’s mumbling, the SUV gradually moved closer to the light and stopped its engine at the source of the illumination.

“We have arrived, Master. Kim Sungchul-nim.”

“Thanks for your hard work, Eunbyul.”

“Not at all, it’s part of my basic duties.”

I wasn’t sure how far the basic duties of a maid extended, but since Eunbyul insisted, I figured that was the case.

After getting out of the car with Sihee, the scene clearly gave the impression of a camp that had been prepared for quite some time.

“I’ll be resting inside the tent for a bit. Sungchul-ssi, if you’re tired, would you like to rest with me?”

“I’ll look around for a moment before going in.”

“That’s fine too.”

Sihee disappeared into the enormous tent, large enough to fit one or two king-size beds, and I took a moment to look around the campsite they had prepared.

An excessively large tent, more than enough for ten people let alone three, and soft, ambient lighting.

Piles of firewood seemingly stacked for a campfire, and a grill.

Besides that, tables and chairs that looked quite stylish, and various other things were prepared, making it clearly a place that strongly suggested a camping trip prepared long in advance.

As I admired our own little camp set up deep in the mountains, I noticed Eunbyul already opening the SUV’s trunk and preparing something.

“Can I help?”

“It’s alright, Kim Sungchul-nim. This is something I must do.”

“You were just driving, aren’t you tired?”

“No, this is my job. Besides, I personally find I’m more efficient when working alone on maid duties, so please relax and rest, Kim Sungchul-nim.”

As she was taking out coolers and bottled water from the trunk while saying the same thing, I stepped back appropriately instead of forcefully intruding.

Speaking of which, camping, huh.

I always felt that the date courses Sihee chose invariably conveyed her intentions, as if she were aiming for something specific.

On our first date, didn’t she deliberately pick a restaurant with a great ambiance and propose to me?

We spent a summer vacation on a southern island where access was impossible without Eunbyul’s help, which felt strangely full of implications in many ways.

And today’s ‘outdoor’ camping date also gave me the feeling that she was subtly hinting that she wanted something indirectly.

She must have chosen this secluded mountain campground so that she could satisfy not only herself but even Eunbyul’s libido.

…The night was going to be enjoyable in many ways.

The weather might be a bit chilly to carry out the scenario that came to mind, but I could easily handle that with my heat-generating magic.

“Ah, Kim Sungchul-nim. If you don’t mind, could you possibly light the campfire?”

“I can do that easily.”

I neatly piled the firewood arranged on one side to a suitable height, then used ignition magic to start the flames.

The two-tiered stack of oak logs began to grow, crackling tak tak tak.

“Will it be okay left like this?”

“Yes. Thank you, Kim Sungchul-nim.”

After considering various thoughts and taking another look around the campsite, I headed towards the tent where Sihee was waiting, feeling the slight chill.

At the rather unbelievable sight I discovered there, my mouth fell open blankly.

“Ah, you’re here?”

“…What is this?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

…Let alone talking about it, it was an absurd sight that astonished me from top to bottom.

To the blonde young lady tilting her head as if she genuinely didn’t understand what it meant, I kindly explained a few of the strangest things that had just caught my eye.

“How is a bed this size inside a tent? …And is that a refrigerator over there?”

“Huh? Isn’t it common sense to bring furniture like this for camping? If you don’t have a refrigerator, of course, you can’t keep food fresh.”

“Hmm…”

“And the bed goes without saying. Even if it’s considered bivouacking, sleeping directly on the dirt floor is a bit unappealing, isn’t it?”

“……”

“Stop talking nonsense. Sungchul-ssi, come under the covers. I’ve warmed them up nicely with an electric blanket.”

“…Yes.”

Do Sihee said this nonchalantly, citing the common sense of the chaebol elite while on the bed.

Faced with the composed blonde young lady’s demeanor, I gave up thinking and just crawled into the plush bed in front of me.

…Far from camping, it felt like I’d walked into some exotic hotel.