67. Camping

” ” “Woah~!” ” “

As we proceeded from the organized roads to the valleys, a magnificent view welcomed us.

The sound of a waterfall could be heard.

Waterfall lined up on the rock walls on the left and right, creating water paths.

“Really, Nature never makes me bored.”

“The sound of the waterfall is amazing…!”

“Umm, I don’t think I can sleep around here…”

Three young people were fascinated by the superb view.

On the other hand, Sonata was looking at the scene calmly alone.

“President, it’s still early, but why don’t we rest? It’s hard to get to the tower by the end of today.”

“I agree with taking a rest, but let’s walk a little longer. As expected, this area is too noisy.”

This valley, called the <Dragon Castle>, was roughly divided into three areas.

The outermost mountain area where mountains were scattered as so to surround the valley.

The waterfall area where the waterfalls were.

The innermost forest area with a tower that penetrates the clouds, <Volketurm>, in the middle of it.

The four of us decided to decide on a campsite when we crossed the waterfall area and entered the forest area. When we reached the forest, it was already dark and only the moonlight could be relied on.

“Let’s stop here?”

At the place where some gaps between the trees in the forest, we stopped.

And decided to camp here.

The place where the sound of the waterfall echoed in your ears gently, and the distance where you could always grasp the location of the water. In short, a perfect place.

“Alright, maybe I should look for grass that could be used as a cushion…”

“You don’t have to do that, Seal. Leave it to me!”

Layla proudly said so.

Layla drew a magic circle with her finger in the sky. It was a magic circle of transference.

When she fought with me, it was about a fist size, but this time it was about the size of a human head.

“That’s the limit size?”

“Yeah. If I widen it any further, the transfer position will not be stable.”

“I see…”

Sonata looked at the magic circle of transference with interest.

“The transfer magic, is it? I’ve heard that there was one user of it in ancient times, but it’s really rare.”

Shura, who replaced Ash not long ago, sharpened her lips.

“So, what are you going to do?”

“This transfer gate leads to the storeroom of my house at <Motherpunk>. And there is something in the storeroom. “

Layla thrust her arm into the transfer gate and took out some sticks.

Then pulled out the green cloth.

I looked at the cloth and guessed what Layla was trying to do.

“A tent!”

“That’s right. It’s two tents. I’ll take them out of here. So, Let’s assemble together.”

“Well, well! It’s really a convenient magic. With this, we can even put items that are too much for a trip into the storeroom through it.”

“You can put heavy luggage in the storeroom from now on… Hmm! Not bad, white-haired girl”

Yeah, it’s really convenient.

“Is it okay to keep the magic circle of transference to the storeroom all the time?”

“Yeah! There is more mana to recover naturally than to consume if I’m to leave the transfer gate. If it’s just one, it’s nothing much.”

It doesn’t consume much mana? Isn’t it really good?

But, a tent huh. Well, it’s nice that insects and wind won’t disturb your sleep.

Hmm? wait a minute…

“Two tents, ah, of course, gender-separated…”

“I and President will sleep under the same roof! Let me sing a lullaby on this sleepless night!”

“Perhaps I should sleep outside…”

“Stop saying stupid things, and start helping me build the tent!”

After assembling the tent according to Layla’s instructions, set the fire and it was time for dinner.

The menu was grilled fish. There was a river passed through the forest, and Layla killed the river fish with a throwing knife. Then stabbed it on a skewer, and cooked it.

While eating the fish, as I started talking about the night scenery, Sonata put out a green incense stick to protect us from monsters. If the incense sticks burned, you wouldn’t have to worry about being attacked by monsters at night.

After eating dinner, we would have a rest in the middle of the night forest. I lay down in a one-pole tent with a book in my hand.

“… It’s so comfortable”

There were no noisy insects or the sound of the wind.

I flipped the cover of the book and looked for the most comfortable position to read.

Supine or sideways? Or prone on both elbows… The most comfortable position always changed depending on the day. It was hard to decide.

“President, are you awake?”

Sonata Campbell appeared by rolling up the cloth door of the tent.

“I guess I should sleep now”

“Ah, so you’re still awake? Why don’t we have a talk outside? “

“Too troublesome”

Sonata left for a while and appeared with a cup in both hands.

A fragrant scent drifted from the cup.

“I have coffee”

“…Say it earlier”

I closed the book and went out of the tent.

The sky was light blue. It was a night with a nice moonlight.

Sonata sat on the grass. I sat next to him at some distance and received the cup.

For the time being, a sip before talking about anything.

“――huff”

The coffee was a little sweet, probably because he was being considerate of me.

“I hate this kind of sweetness”

“Do you not like it sweet?”

“No, that’s not the case. I just don’t like half-baked sweetness like this. Coffee should be completely black or sweet with plenty of milk and sugar.”

“I see, I see…”

Sonata took out two vials from his coat pocket.

There were a lot of white beans on one side,

The other one contained blackish beans.

“What’s that?”

” “Coffee seeds” and “milk seeds”. Don’t you know?… Recently in Imperial City, this seed series is being developed for travelers. When this seed is dissolved in water, the seed melts, and the water will become coffee or milk… Take this.”

I took the white beans out of the vial that Sonata gave to me.

Put the seeds in the coffee. Then a white stain could be seen in the coffee, and slowly the color turned light brown.

“Wow, it’s amazing.”

“If you like the coffee to be rich in taste, add more seeds. Also yeah, I also have sugar cubes.”

“Give me four.”

My mouth touched the sugary coffee milk.

Yeah, good.

Delicious.

The taste of milk was firmly there.

“In a quiet house, I will drink coffee while shaking the “Rocking Chair”, but drinking it in this kind of situation is also good…”

“Yeah, it’s exceptional. Though mine is milk coffee.”

Placed the cup on my crossed knees and asked Sonata,

“So?… What do you to talk about?”

“You won’t believe me, but I have something to say.”

Sonata staring at the bottom of the cup,

“President, I will not betray you, no matter what.”

Unusual for Sonata’s remarks, the words were enthusiastic.

“Because you, are my hero”

“… You praise me up again. But a hero huh? I’m, not such a big deal.”

Put my mouth in the cup and sip the milk coffee. The tip of my tongue felt the rough texture of unmelted sugar. I gulped until empty, put the empty cup on the ground, and this time I asked a question.

“Can I ask you one thing?”

“Sure”

“Why are you chasing the Regenerators?”

Is it because they’re the enemy of humanity or because it’s the work of the Knights? Or ―― personal grudge?

It’s important to understand the flow of emotions that leads to the purpose.

I wanted to hear the reason because I wanted to know more about Sonata Campbell.

“There is no big reason”

“I see, then it must be, job as Knight? Well, it can’t be helped.”

“That’s ri～ght. But, there is another reason… You see, a Regenerator destroyed my hometown and killed my loved one. That’s about it.”

“… Two motives of 100 points makes it 200 points, it’s more than enough reason, right?”

A sudden sad past.

But, well, no one would want to fight such a thing without some good enough reason.

Regenerator…

“Isn’t it possible for anyone to seal all the Regenerators?”

“Yeah. Even your master couldn’t do it.”

Then, if I can seal all the Regenerators… I would be a full-fledged sealer, right?

Suddenly, when I moved my gaze to the left, Sonata, who read what was inside my heart, grinned.

“President, join my new u――”

“No way!”

Dangerous…

It was really dangerous.

This guy, if there is a chance, he’ll drag me to join the new unit.

I need to be careful.

” ――Get out! White-haired girl!”

An angry voice broke through the silence of the night.

It was Shura’s voice.

“What? What is it…”

“It smells like trouble”

Shura appeared from the women’s tent, followed by Layla. Shura looked angry and pointed to Layla and declared.

“Enough, I’m so pissed now!… Duel! Have a duel with me! Layla Freiheit!!!”