Meanwhile, The Hero’s Party (2)

After taking several times longer than usual to wipe out the horde of Zombie Lizards, the Hero’s party decided to camp in a forest near the dungeon.

Irina frowned in displeasure when she saw blood coming from a scrape she’d gotten after falling over.

“Aww, I hurt my elbow. Camula, heal it.”

“What a pain. Why do I have to heal your injuries?”

“What!? Yuri would’ve healed me gently without complaining!!”

Van ground his teeth as Irina shrieked at Camula.

Did that mean they really were better off with Yuri around?

Rosa, the female warrior, was also looking at Irina and Camula with an exasperated expression.

Even pitching the tent had taken them a long time. Until now, they’d left everything to Yuri.

And when Yuri had been around, the sleeping area inside had always been neatly prepared, whereas now their belongings were scattered around in complete disarray.

When they left Irina in charge of lighting the campfire, she’d produced such powerful flames that they nearly set the entire forest ablaze.

Normally, monsters had never approached the area around their tent, but now they kept wandering over constantly.

They were nothing but tiny, bottom-tier monsters, but having to deal with them while trying to rest was incredibly irritating.

The final blow was dinner: the only edible-looking food they could find inside their Storage Ball was dried meat.

“What!? Isn’t dried meat kind of pathetic?”

Irina pinched a palm-sized strip of dried meat between her fingers and complained, while Rosa tilted her head in confusion.

“Why? This is pretty standard camp food, isn’t it?”

“We always had hot soup before! And freshly baked bread, and salad too.”

“Then why’s it different from before?”

“That’s… Oh, right! Camula, make us something!”

Irina clasped her hands together and looked at Camula with watery eyes, but Camula, who had been chewing her dried meat with a scowl, glared back sharply.

“Why should I!? You make something yourself!”

“I’m tired from fighting!”

“I’m just as tired as you are!”

Vanrost covered one ear as the women argued and took a bite of the dried meat.

It was tough… and far too salty.

They’d bought it at a shop they’d stopped by earlier, but it was completely different from the dried meat Yuri used to make.

Even though both were dried meat, Yuri’s had just the right firmness and a delicious flavor from the spices.

The more you chewed it, the better it tasted, whereas this one was merely salty at first and became more tasteless with every bite.

Just then, Camula raised her voice hysterically.

“That’s why I said we should’ve eaten at the restaurant in that town earlier!!”

“But wouldn’t fighting zombies right after eating make you feel sick? Besides, camp food tasted better than restaurant food.”

“That was because Yuri was the one making it, wasn’t it?”

Vanrost frowned at Camula’s words.

Whenever they returned from a dungeon, dinner had always been laid out on the table as though it were perfectly natural within less than an hour.

But ever since Yuri disappeared, that ordinary routine had vanished with him.

Vanrost asked Irina and Camula.

“You two could easily make the kind of food Yuri used to cook, right?”

“”…!?““

“You said so yourselves, didn’t you? That Yuri’s cooking wasn’t anything special, and that you could make much better food.”

“”…““

“I’d like to try your cooking.”

““We’re tired, so no.””

Irina and Camula answered simultaneously, then silently went back to eating their dried meat.

Rosa, who had been listening nearby, tore off a piece of dried meat, chewed it vigorously, then sighed.

“So basically, that kid actually knew how to cook, right? You two were just showing off and insisting you could do better.”

Irina and Camula’s eyes widened at Rosa’s words.

They shook their heads at the same time and immediately denied it.

“Th-That’s not true! I could make something like that if I really wanted to!”

“S-So could I. I just hate all the annoying preparation work, so I don’t bother.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. I’m not expecting any cooking from you two. Even if you made something on a whim, you’d probably end up creating a biological weapon.”

““What’s that supposed to mean!?””

Van let out a deep sigh as the three women bickered.

He thought while chewing on the flavorless dried meat.

He’d never realized how much being unable to eat a decent meal could destroy his motivation.

No, he’d assumed other women could cook just as well. But none of the three wanted to cook.

If they went to a restaurant run by an S-rank or A-rank chef, they could eat delicious food.

But they couldn’t exactly bring those chefs along whenever they camped outdoors.

Did that mean they really were better off with Yuri around…?

If Yuri were there, they’d be drinking hot soup right now. And they’d have tender meat, sautéed vegetables, fluffy egg dishes… Just remembering it made Vanrost crave that soup again.

Vanrost swallowed hard.

Rosa spoke with a sigh.

“You lot have gotten way too spoiled. Just go into town tomorrow and eat something good.”

“That’s true… There’s a good restaurant in a nearby town, so—”

Just as Camula began to speak, Irina suddenly raised her voice as though she’d remembered something.

“Ah, wait! Don’t we have to go to Belgion first?”

“Belgion? The southern capital?”

Rosa tilted her head, and Camula washed down a piece of dried meat she couldn’t chew through with some water before sighing and explaining.

“We’re supposed to participate in Belgion’s combat tournament, which is held once a month.”

“Ah, that place is nice. The money’s good.”

Rosa grinned, and Camula continued.

“The person sponsoring us is the owner of that arena, Gorius Teslard. He asked us to participate every time because having the Hero compete gives the tournament excellent publicity.”

“Well, if the moneybags asks, I guess you can’t say no.”

“Rosa, that’s a terrible way to put it. He’s our sponsor.”

Just as Irina had said, they needed to head to Belgion for the tournament.

Fighting weak adventurers gave Van almost no experience and was a nuisance, but the generous prize money made it an important source of income.

Belgion also had plenty of excellent restaurants.

He’d make up there for everything he hadn’t been able to eat today.

Vanrost spent the night in the tent, but the sleeping arrangements were far less comfortable than usual, and he struggled to fall asleep.

He vaguely remembered that something had usually been spread over the ground. He couldn’t remember what it was, but it had made sleeping inside the tent almost as comfortable as sleeping in a bed.

(Damn it… So he had all the everyday supplies.)

They had confiscated Yuri’s weapons, equipment, medicine, and other valuables, but Van hadn’t thought about all the miscellaneous daily necessities.

After spending the night in the tent, Vanrost set out for the southern capital of Belgion with his companions while still suffering from a lack of sleep.