「Thank you, Jered-kun. See you again in two years」
「Yeah. See you. Stay well」
With gratitude, and a bit of reluctance to part, I waved to my best friend as he headed back to the village.
「…Sorry, Alec」
「No, it’s fine. I was the one who walked off on my own…」
And so, I somehow managed to meet up with Jisrare-san, all thanks to Jered-kun.
After accidentally leaving the village by myself and not knowing what to do, my best friend Jered-kun came to find me.
Apparently, he was concerned that I had left without saying goodbye, so he stepped outside to look for me.
By the way, Jered-kun was actually at the venue too…..the venue? Well, I guess it was a venue. The farewell gathering venue. But it seems I completely missed him. I feel bad about that.
After finishing our farewells with Jered-kun, who had come chasing after me, I asked him if he could find Jisrare-san.
Jered-kun kindly agreed and went to look for her….and it turns out Jisrare-san was at my house.
Since I was holding such a large farewell gathering, she decided to wait until it was over and stayed there. Apparently, she spent the time relaxing and playing cards with Mother, Nana-san, and Yggdrasil-san.
Jered-kun managed to find her without any trouble and brought her here to me.
Honestly, I can’t thank him enough. Thank you so much, Jered-kun.
…Since I had the chance, maybe I should have spent a bit more time talking with him. It had been a while.
「Well then, Jisrare-san. Once again, I look forward to traveling with you」
「Yeah. Same here」
Now then, things were a bit messy before we even started, but at last, it’s time to set off on our world journey.
「So, first we’re heading to――」
「Kirk Village」
Kirk Village. A human village located to the northeast from here.
――A human village!
Man, this is nerve-wracking.
Humans, huh… a human village. I wonder what it’s like. Will I be able to communicate properly?
I’ve only ever been to my own village and the neighboring one, so I’m already a bit anxious about whether I can handle interacting with a different culture.
「Alright, let’s get going」
「Yes. Oh, then I’ll summon Hezrat-kun, the giant rat?」
After asking Jisrare-san for permission, I began summoning Hezrat-kun.
He’ll be handling our travel from here on out. Hezrat-kun will be my legs.
「『Summon: Giant Rat』」
「Kii」
「It’s going to be a long journey, but I’m counting on you, Hezrat-kun」
「Kii」
After greeting Hezrat-kun again, I rubbed around his cheeks.
「Kii」
「Ah, I’ll put it on」
I took the saddle Hezrat-kun had pulled out from his magic bag and attached it onto him.
「Alright, excuse me」
「Kii」
Grabbing the handle of the saddle, I quickly mounted Hezrat-kun.
This is probably something I’ll be doing many times from now on. I’d like to be able to mount smoothly and coolly eventually.
…Though, since Hezrat-kun is a giant rat, I feel like there’s a limit to how cool it can look.
「Can we go?」
「Yes. Sorry to keep you waiting, let’s go」
「Okay」
――And just like that, the journey of me, Jisrare-san, and Hezrat-kun began.
From here on, countless trials and hardships are probably waiting for us.
But it’ll be fine. With the three of us, we can surely overcome anything.
Now, let’s begin the adventure.
――Our adventure starts now!
◇
「Let’s stop here for today」
「Yes」
After traveling through the forest for a while, Jisrare-san made that declaration.
I left with a lot of enthusiasm, but so far nothing special has happened. It’s not much different from a normal walk.
For now, today’s travel ends here――this will be our campsite.
「Alright, thank you Hezrat-kun. Good work」
「Kii」
I got off Hezrat-kun, who had been carrying me, and thanked him. I also gave his neck a good rub.
「Then I’ll set up the tent」
「Ah, yeah. Can I watch?」
「Sure」
While I was taking care of Hezrat-kun and removing his saddle, Jisrare-san started setting up the tent.
She laid a sheet on the ground, arranged the poles, and then drove some kind of iron stakes into the ground――
「Pegs!? Those are pegs!?」
「…Huh? Ah, yeah. That’s right」
「I see, pegs」
Pegs. I don’t really know much about tents, but I know that much. At least I know the name.
It’s kind of a cute name. Peg.
And just like that, she secured the ropes extending from the tent with pegs, and in no time at all, the tent was complete.
It probably didn’t even take ten minutes. As expected of Jisrare-san, who’s said to be very experienced in traveling.
「Like this」
「Wow, I see」
Jisrare-san looked a little proud.
Then I noticed something. Hezrat-kun, who had been beside me, was also watching Jisrare-san build the tent with a serious look. He was probably trying to learn how to set it up.
As expected of diligent Hezrat-kun. Since we have the chance, maybe tomorrow I’ll have him help me set up the tent.
「We’ll make a shower room later too」
「Really? Even something like that?」
「Just a simple one」
「I see」
The shower room at home is just a magic tool that releases hot water from above, so when I think about it, even outdoors, it might not be that difficult to recreate.
Still, being able to take a shower every day is nice.
「Alright, Alec, next is dinner」
「Okay」
Yeah, this is starting to feel fun.
Right now, it just feels like a simple camping trip, but maybe because of that, it’s genuinely enjoyable.
◇
Dinner was fun too.
After all, it’s camping, and I’m with Jisrare-san, so of course it was fun.
After that enjoyable meal, and after finishing our showers, it was time to sleep.
I had assumed that one of us would stand guard outside the tent, but――it seems we’re sleeping together.
According to Jisrare-san, 「Even if we’re sleeping inside the tent, I’ll know if a monster comes nearby」.
So, we’re sleeping together in the same tent. ――Together!
By the way, right after hearing that, Hezrat-kun requested to be dismissed.
According to him, 「If I am dismissed and remain in standby, I can recover my stamina more effectively, so I would appreciate being dismissed for tomorrow」.
…I suppose that’s a reasonable explanation.
Still, I can’t help but wonder if he just read the situation and made that suggestion like he usually does…
With that, I rested my head on the pillow inside the tent, wrapped myself in a blanket, and felt strangely nervous. Unnecessarily nervous.
As for Jisrare-san… she didn’t seem particularly concerned about me and had been rummaging through her magic bag this whole time.
「Um, is something wrong?」
I couldn’t handle the silence anymore and spoke up.
「Hm? Yeah. I’m getting my bow ready. Just in case a monster comes while we’re sleeping」
「Ah, I see. By bow, you mean――」
「The World Tree Bow」
――The World Tree Bow. A bow made from a branch of the World Tree, created through a joint effort between me and Jered-papa.
Even though it’s supposed to be my bow, the string is too stiff for me to draw, leading some to say it was, in a way, a failed creation.
After that, the World Tree Bow had been used by Mother, but now it has been lent to Jisrare-san.
Apparently, Mother even told her, 「I’ll lend you my bow, just this once. Use it to protect Alec」.
Those were kind and thoughtful words from Mother, who was worried about me.
…But still, that bow is mine. It’s just on loan. It’s being treated like it’s completely hers now, but it’s actually my bow.
「It’s… not here」
「Huh? What do you mean?」
「The bow… it seems I forgot it」
「Forgot…?」
「It looks like I left it at home. I was maintaining it before we left, and I must have just…」
「I see…」
So that’s why she had been rummaging through her magic bag this whole time. She was looking for the bow.
And now… it turns out she doesn’t have it. She left it at home.
Before we left, Jisrare-san said, 「Just bring one bow. Leave the rest to me」, but it seems she forgot the most important one herself…
「Um… what should we do? I brought a spare bow, but it might not really suit you, right?」
「Yeah…」
Well, it’s designed so even I can draw it… in a way, it’s basically a child’s bow. It wouldn’t really suit Jisrare-san.
「Then, um…」
「Let’s go back to the village」
「…………」
Yeah… I figured that’s what you’d say…
「Sorry, Alec」
「N-no, it’s fine. It’s good we noticed early. At this distance, we can make it back to the village by tomorrow at noon」
…Yeah. It’s not fine at all, though. I only said that to be considerate of Jisrare-san. It’s really not fine at all.
After that grand farewell, after boldly declaring my departure in front of such a huge crowd… and that was just today. Today. And yet, I’ll be back by tomorrow at noon…
This is terrible… What kind of face am I supposed to make when I go back to the village…
…Wait, what if only Jisrare-san goes back?
I could wait outside the village while she quickly retrieves the bow――
「I’m really sorry. I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again」
「N-no, really, don’t worry about it――」
「Once we return, I’ll carefully check all our luggage again. Let’s plan to depart again in about a week」
「O-oh…」
Looks like we’ll be staying in the village properly after all…
This world journey… is really going to end tomorrow.
My journey that was supposed to last two years… is apparently ending in two days.
next chapter: Soon Again, a Relaxed Slow Life in the Countryside
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