Let’s Visit A Dungeon (2)

After riding southwest from my house for about half a day, we arrived at the mountain where the Mushroom Dungeon was located.

We decided to have lunch before heading into the mountains.

I sat down in a suitable grassy clearing, took the sandwiches I’d prepared for lunch out of my bag, and handed one to Noah first.

“Here you go, Noah.”

“Thank you, Lydia-san.”

Next, I handed one to Refa.

“Here’s one for you too, Refa-san.”

Refa’s eyes widened.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. They’re just ordinary sandwiches, but please help yourself if you’d like.”

“Thank you very much.”

A delighted smile spread across Refa’s beautifully sculpted face.

“I brought lunch as well. Although it’s nothing more than leftovers from breakfast. Please, help yourselves if you’d like.”

“Why, thank you very much.”

I gratefully accepted Refa’s invitation to try some of her lunch.

However…

The moment I looked inside the basket Refa held out, I froze.

…What on earth is this?

Everything was burnt and black. Blacker than chocolate. It was impossible to guess what ingredients she’d used, let alone what the dishes were supposed to be.

It didn’t smell rotten, but it gave off a strange, unidentified odor.

Something like the smell of spices mixed with bitter leaves. I had a feeling I really shouldn’t inhale it.

“…Excuse me.”

Holding my breath, I selected what appeared to be a roughly chopped tomato, which looked relatively safe compared to the other mysterious objects.

Its skin had been removed by blanching, and it had been tossed in what appeared to be oil and seasonings.

I steeled myself and took a bite, but…

“Guh!”

It tasted even worse than I’d expected.

“How is it?”

With Refa gazing at me expectantly, I answered honestly.

“It’s difficult to say this, but it tastes absolutely terrible.”

It was better to make sure she understood the reality of the situation before someone ended up dead. This was a level of culinary disaster that simply couldn’t be glossed over.

I had only managed to endure it because, as a knight, I’d trained my body to withstand small amounts of poison.

Perhaps Refa had already suspected as much, because she responded surprisingly calmly, although her voice was filled with sorrow.

“So I thought… You see, I was assigned to the town of Fus this spring and started living on my own. Until then, I’d always lived in the knights’ dormitory, so I got a little carried away with the excitement of my new life and decided to try cooking for myself. The thing is, the food I make is edible, but even I thought it didn’t taste very good.”

“I see…”

Refa must have had an unbelievably strong stomach to describe that stuff as “edible.”

“So I’m not a very good cook, then.”

“Unfortunately, that’s correct.”

“Thank you. I’m glad to have a professional tell me so plainly. Although it’s terribly disappointing…”

Refa spoke regretfully as she took a bite of her sandwich.

“Still, I envy you, Lydia-san. To think you can make sandwiches this delicious. Food brings smiles to people’s faces. I wanted to become someone who could do that too, but I’m a failure who doesn’t know how to live as anything other than a knight.”

Refa smiled bitterly at her own expense.

“…!”

Hearing those words, I desperately wanted to say something in response.

After all, I had been a “failure” myself, someone who had known nothing beyond the life of a knight.

Yet being Lydia Venesca, the magic knight, had been everything to me.

What possible reason could Refa have to envy me?

She possessed everything I had lost.

But when I saw the expression on Refa’s face, I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.

Her face was filled with profound regret and sorrow.

Although an awkward atmosphere had settled over us, food was a wonderful thing. Once our stomachs were full, our spirits improved considerably, and our little group continued through the mountains in a much more cheerful mood.

After walking for about an hour, Refa pointed toward what looked like a cave.

“Here we are. This is the Mushroom Dungeon.”

The Mushroom Dungeon was a cave halfway up the mountain.

“Let’s head inside. Are you ready, Noah?”

“Yeah! Let’s go, Lydia-san!”

Having finally reached the dungeon we’d come to visit, we enthusiastically ventured inside.

True to its name, mushrooms grew everywhere throughout the Mushroom Dungeon.

Refa had apparently visited this dungeon several times before, and she guided us around with practiced ease.

It was a relatively small dungeon consisting of only two floors, and apparently even the dungeon core on its lowest floor was quite tiny.

The monsters that appeared inside were all ranked E or D, the lowest rank and the one immediately above it. Rather than a proper dungeon, it would have been more accurate to call it a concentration of mana.

Although it was somewhat dangerous, the dungeon was apparently a valuable resource for the surrounding villagers because they could gather mushrooms there even in winter.

The magic pigs we’d come here to hunt were extremely aggressive and apparently the most dangerous monsters in the Mushroom Dungeon.

Listening to Refa’s explanations, we ventured deeper into the dungeon, gathering unusual mushrooms along the way.

Apparently, the magic pigs inhabited the second floor, near the dungeon core.

We eventually reached that floor, but…

“There don’t seem to be any around.”

No matter how carefully we searched our surroundings, there was no sign of a magic pig.

“Perhaps they’ve gone out in search of food,” Refa suggested.

Our bags were already stuffed with mushrooms.

We decided to return to the cave entrance for the time being.

It was already evening. I was beginning to feel tired, and I was getting hungry too.

“Lydia-san, let’s try eating some of these mushrooms right away!”

“Good idea. Sautéed mushrooms, mushroom soup… It’ll be a mushroom feast tonight.”

Refa stood a short distance away from Noah and me. Although she wore a pleasant smile, she wasn’t joining our conversation and was instead keeping a watchful eye on our surroundings.

Her behavior was subtle enough that Noah hadn’t noticed anything at all, but she couldn’t fool the eyes of a fellow knight, even a retired one.

Something’s going on here…?

“Well, well! What have we got here? You folks out picking mushrooms?”

Sure enough, several men who had apparently been watching us emerged from the bushes.

They were filthy, disheveled men carrying crude weapons.