episode_0464

The journey from Luminor Academy to the Kingdom of Dephrin takes quite a while.

Even if it was a neighboring country, it was still a foreign country. If you wanted to travel to the border area at the end of the empire and then go to the palace of the Kingdom of Dephrin, you would need to set aside at least a week.

Moreover, it would take about three days to travel from the palace to the villa… and it was already a difficult journey, considering that they would have to travel by carriage and camp for almost ten days.

Considering the time it took to return, the trip would take at least three weeks, so of course I couldn’t bring Isabel with me. I feel sorry for her, but this time, I had no choice but to go home alone with Harold.

We left in the morning and traveled for about half a day by carriage until we found a campsite on a plain good for pitching a tent.

“Let’s move quickly. I think we should set up the tent while it’s still light and prepare the meal afterward.”

“… Do we really need to pitch four tents? There are only nine people.”

“That’s true, but Princess Raini and Miss Lydia have to use separate tents. The same goes for Prince Ethan and Lady Rosewood.”

“… Oh, I see.”

Agnes glanced at me and Ethan, then nodded as if she understood.

I don’t know exactly what part of it he found convincing, but he didn’t seem to have any particular complaints about having to pitch four tents.

In the first place, except for Agnes and Princess Raini, everyone was capable of pitching a tent on their own, so it wouldn’t take up any more time to pitch one more.

“I know the journey to the Kingdom of Dephrin will be difficult for all of you… but I hope you understand.”

“… I already know, so there’s no need to apologize twice.”

“Well, we’re just getting this for free while we’re in the Kingdom of Dephrin. I expected this much. After all, sleeping outside is pretty common when you’re doing warrior party activities.”

“Thank you both for your understanding.”

In fact, if it weren’t for Princess Raini’s constitution, she wouldn’t have pitched a tent and slept outside like this, but could have slept in a village or an inn somewhere.

However, Princess Raini at this time was at the peak of her power of bad luck, to the point where she could really bring all sorts of bad luck, so there was nothing she could do.

If you enter a town with the current Princess Raini, the townspeople might suddenly become blinded by greed and try to ambush the sleeping party, or the old, unmaintained inn building might suddenly collapse.

Rather than that, it would be better to sleep comfortably in a tent outdoors, even if it meant encountering wild monsters or bandits while sleeping.

After setting up four tents and preparing for camping, we were about to start preparing a meal when the geumjyossegi appeared in front of the food supplies and naturally chased Lydia and me out.

“I’ll prepare the meal. You two, take a rest for a moment.”

“No, but you can still receive food from guests in the Kingdom of Dephrin… .”

“I’m the fastest at cooking alone. ‘The Power of the Warrior’ also has powers related to cooking. I don’t know how long the schedule will be, so eating quickly and resting quickly is good for Lydia, right?”

“… Is that so?”

“Are you sure you don’t need me to help you, warrior?”

“Yes, Lady Rosewood. Anyway, I do all the cooking at our party. You know Lady Rosewood, you’ve seen her a few times before, right?”

“… Okay. Then, please leave the dishes after the meal to me instead.”

The guy who calmly kicked me out of the kitchen and started cooking using the ‘recipe’.

It was nice that I didn’t have to prepare meals since it was a rare camping trip. There are definitely advantages to working with a warrior party.

‘Even so, this will probably be the last time we all hang out together like this.’

If all went as planned, I was planning on leaving shortly after winter break started… but now that I’ve received a letter from Princess Raini, I have to do what I have to do.

As soon as we finish this, let’s leave without any regrets.

As for Ethan… if you leave him at least a letter, he won’t panic.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“Cooking is done~! Everyone, please bring your own dishes and prepare the meal~!”

The Defrin Kingdom expedition team gathers one by one at the words of Gyeomjossegi-gwat, who was preparing food while sitting in front of a campfire.

Judging by the smell, tonight’s dinner looked like curry. Maybe he learned the recipe for curry during class this semester.

I was personally looking forward to it, as it is a food that is difficult to eat in a medieval fantasy world. In order to recreate it without a recipe, there were quite a few ingredients that had to be collected, from turmeric to pepper.

“This is the one I ate before.”

“Isn’t that the yellow soup you made in the outdoor exploration class before! It was really delicious back then!”

“If it’s not enough, you can eat more. I made a lot considering the number of people.”

Members of the warrior party who each commented on the food prepared by Gyeomjyo Segi and took their food.

Ethan and I also joined in and finished serving the curry on top of the pure white rice.

“Is this paella with hot, thick sauce? It looks a little confusing, but it’s pretty edible.”

“Honestly, if you only look at it, wasn’t the dish that Miss Rosewood made in the last humanities class more embarrassing?”

“Don’t put the food Lilith made on the same level as the food you made. There’s no doubt that the food Lilith made is delicious.”

“… … Oh my.”

Agnes was getting tired of Ethan’s nonsensical line that made my face blush for no reason, and I tried to keep my face from blushing as I continued eating.

And the person who needs to pay the most attention during these meal times is… .

“… … .”

“Princess Rainy, move your spoon slowly and carefully. There is plenty of time to eat, so there is no need to rush.”

-Nod, nod.

“You don’t have to answer. Okay, then take your time… .”

Princess Raini, and Lydia, who carefully assisted her so that the princess could continue her ‘meal’ safely.

Princess Raini, who is at the peak of her bad luck, must concentrate even on one meal. If she lets her guard down even for a moment, she might drop the spoon in her hand or the plate, making it impossible for her to continue eating.

They say that if she just endured for the next ten days or so, her bad luck would end… but that doesn’t mean that those ten days wouldn’t be difficult right away.

-Bam.

“… … !”

“Oh, it’s okay, Princess! If you spill a little, just wipe it up later. Since you didn’t drop your spoon, you can continue eating.”

“… … .”

-Nod, nod.

“… Sigh.”

-Gulp.

“… … .”

-Tap, tap.

“… … Ugh!”

“Mom, the sparks from the campfire… . Excuse me, I’ll move for a moment… .”

-Wobble!

“Sigh… … !!”

“Ah, go, princess!!”

“Ugh… … .”

“ and… … .”

“Hmm… … .”

The way she tilted the spoon wrong and spilled half of the food on her clothes, and the sparks from the campfire flew and slightly burned the lower part of Princess Raini’s dress, and when she sat up in surprise, she fell backwards along with the chair she was sitting on.

From a distance, it was a movement that was so pitiful that it seemed like some kind of slapstick comedy. I also realized anew that this is what it means to be at the peak of bad luck.

It ended there because Lydia was helping her. If she had been alone, she would have thrown the plate of food the maid was holding onto her face.

“… … .”

“Princess, are you hurt anywhere?!”

“… … .”

-Nod, nod.

“Hey, first, I’ll bring you another spoon. And let’s move the seat a little bit away from the campfire. And the clothes… .”

… Really, it’s so frustrating that I can’t watch it.

I wasn’t exactly Princess Raini’s maid, but I couldn’t bear to watch her like that any longer. If things continued like this, I’d probably be stuck with that one curry plate until the next morning.

“Master Ethan, I’ll go see Princess Raini for a moment.”

“… Release?”

After putting down the half-eaten plate of curry, he approached the distraught Princess Raini and helped her up.

“I’ll help you too, Princess Raini.”

“… … ?”

“… Release amount?”

“As a maid and recipient of Princess Raini’s letter, I can’t just sit by and watch you two. From now on, I will also help Princess Raini with her meals, so please cooperate with me, Miss Lydia.”

“Thank you for your kind words, but… how can you help me?”

“We will eliminate any unlucky elements from the princess’s meals as much as possible.”

First, I washed Princess Raini’s dirty clothes with my clean magic, then I ran my palm over the nearby floor. I filtered out any hard rocks and made it perfectly flat, then laid a handkerchief on the floor to make room.

“Come over here and sit down, Princess Raini.”

“Now, wait a minute, Miss Release. Even so, you can’t make the princess sit on the floor… .”

“We need to remove as many unlucky elements as possible. Next time, the chair Princess Raini is sitting on might break completely.”

“But, but… .”

“I know that sitting on the floor may seem like a rather rude act. However, I think that what is more important to the princess now than manners and etiquette is the power to overcome misfortune. I believe that Miss Lydia, who has been by Princess Rainy’s side the longest, will understand.”

“… I understand. Princess Raini, I know it may be presumptuous of you to ask, but would you be able to continue your meal here?”

“… … .”

-Nod, nod.

After some hesitation, Princess Raini quietly sat down on the floor and continued eating.

It seems like it’s become an event that’s more about helping the princess than overcoming bad luck… but I guess it doesn’t really matter.