This deer is apparently called a Misuzu.
It is commonly seen in the regions around the Margrave Koraus Territory, and capture requests are issued almost every day. Catching one earns twenty copper coins.
「Hmm. It has a distinctive taste」
I have never eaten deer meat before, so I do not know if it is the same as deer from my original world, but it is different from beef and pork. It does not resemble lamb either.
Still, it is low in fat and has no strong smell. It is not bad, so it is easy enough to eat.
When I look at the boys and girls, they are eating in complete silence and focus. This is that thing. The same as when people eat crab. To the locals, it must be delicious enough to rival crab.
「Miriel, you are not eating much. Do you dislike it?」
When she uses magic, she eats more than anyone, but right now it feels like she has not even eaten a hundred grams. Maybe if you come from somewhere else, it does not reach crab-level taste.
「No, I do not dislike it. I am just not used to eating it」
「You do not need to force yourself. Go back to Home and eat there. We also need to prepare Ladarion’s share」
It is already past eighteen o’clock. She should be home and inside Home by now.
「Sorry. I will go」
「Yeah. Also, tell Ladarion to write the situation down on paper and hand it to Sierra」
We need to keep up with regular reports. Of course, I also ask her to check on the state of the manor and on Kainzel-san.
「Where did Miriel go?」
The boys and girls were startled by how suddenly she vanished.
「She went to a space that only goblin exterminators can enter, using a magic that only exterminators can use. We share information there」
Home is already common knowledge, but no one knows the exact details. I will leak a little false information here.
「There are other exterminators besides you, Takato-san?」
「There are, but I have only met a few. No one who became an exterminator has survived for more than five years」
The boys and girls held their breath at my words.
「Well, do not take it too seriously. Even so, I am setting a new record among exterminators, you know. I will definitely survive more than five years. No, I will die of old age. I may be an ordinary man, but an ordinary man has his own way of fighting. Even if it looks pathetic, even if I have to grovel in the mud, I will survive no matter what」
There is no way I am letting some useless goddess ruin my life. I will live, and live, and live on, and I will absolutely die of old age. Just watch me, useless goddess!
「You all have talent, but do not rely on talent alone. Of course, having confidence is important. But if you always keep the mindset of challenging those stronger than you, at the very least you will not suffer a crushing defeat. You can make as many mistakes as you want, as long as they are fixable. You are not adventuring alone. Support each other as companions」
They have talents I would envy, but there is a limit to how strong one can become on their own, and this world is not that kind. Without adults guiding them to some extent, even things that could succeed will not. Only a very small handful succeed entirely on their own.
「Well, how you take my words is up to you. Whether they help you or ruin you depends on yourselves. If you do not strongly wish for it, you will never succeed」
Honestly, I hate how preachy I have become with age. It is not like I have such rich life experience that I should be lecturing anyone.
「You all keep eating. I am going to check the surroundings for a bit」
I grabbed the VHS-2 and went out to survey the area.
While patrolling with only the light of my headlamp, I heard some kind of cry.
「……A deer……?」
A sound like kii or hii echoed faintly from the distance. Are deer nocturnal?
After making a full round and returning to the campsite, the three boys were lying around the campfire, already asleep.
Even though they are young, dragging goblins back and forth four times must have exhausted them. I pushed them a bit too hard.
「Let them sleep as they are. We will switch shifts in the middle of the night」
Seven hours of sleep should be enough to shake off the fatigue, and the two girls still looked full of energy. I kept sipping water now and then to recover my strength. Physically and mentally, I still had plenty left in the tank.
「You can rest too, Takato-san. You have been moving around more than the three of them」
「I am fine. I have been using stamina recovery magic from time to time」
According to Mishinie, even if someone has an affinity for a specific element, that does not mean they can only use that one. With practice, they can use others to some extent as well.
I learned stamina recovery and healing from Miriel. Well, learned might be overstating it. I just memorized the flow of magic power when stamina recovers. Even so, I can now go back and forth four times without getting tired.
……Could it be that I actually have some talent for magic……?
「Takato-san, you can use magic?」
「I only found out recently that I can」
I opened a plastic bottle and gathered the water inside into my palm.
「Water magic? That is rare」
「Is it?」
「Yes. Water is heavy, so not many people try to master it」
Heavy? Is that a mage’s way of putting it?
I do feel my magic power being drained, but I do not really sense this “heaviness”. Creating water from magic consumes a lot, so gathering it from the surroundings costs much less mana.
Since then, every night I have been training by gathering water from a bucket into my palm, forming it into a water sphere, and controlling it.
And then heating it up, nope, not happening. For some reason, my body does not seem suited for producing fire.
「I can manage to control a water sphere now. Next is splitting it」
One water sphere into two. Two into four. Four into eight,
I failed, and it collapsed, splashing onto the ground.
「Magic really is hard」
I am still figuring out how to turn this into an attack, but for now, just being able to use magic is so much fun I cannot help myself.
I gathered the water that fell to the ground, formed another water sphere, and continued practicing my magic.
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