Acting Cool Or Planned?

Since Arthur didn't want to accidentally drop the fish and waste all his hard work he was running at a much slower pace.

It took him almost fifteen minutes to finally get close to where he had parted ways with Scarlet and Yuki.

With his Mana Sense even before arriving, he was able to see the campsite, causing him to feel apologetic.

The campsite was a cleaned out part of the destroyed "mage" battle. The grass and flowers previously there were no longer replaced with solid dirt.

In the middle of the campsite was a campfire that would probably take five adult men with outstretched arms to surround.

Around the campfire were seven logs probably for each of us, except for Yuki.

On the logs sat Quan, Ren, Butler Albert, Leo, and Scarlet with Yuki still in her arms.

As for Jiang, despite having a log for him to sit on he was lying on the ground with his head resting on the log as if it were a pillow…

Therefore he quickened his pace and as soon as he arrived everyone looked over making him feel even more apologetic.

Putting the wrapped fish down next to the campfire, Arthur immediately bowed and was about to speak when Scarlet beat him to it "Are you okay? Why did it take so long? If not for the fact that Yuki was not panicking we would have started searching for you."

Once again feeling bad Arthur kept his head down as he fully explained what he did while he was away hunting.

[Humph, so the reason why I'm starving is that you wanted to act cool…] Yuki replied poutingly, letting both Arthur and Scarlet hear her complaints. She knew he was safe because of their connection. That was also why the others did not go searching for him.

[I'm just glad you are okay] Scarlet said, after spending time with Yuki, she was more than accustomed to her behavior and had also learned how to use voice transmission.

Quan: "That was quite a story."

Ren: "Those tree leaves could be useful!"

Jiang: "Big brother Arthur, you should have brought the deer as well. After such a long day of fighting, I feel like I can eat all the fish by myself."

Leo: "I would not have minded if you had brought deer."

Butler Albert: "Young Arthur you should not feel apologetic, please raise your head. In fact, your usage of Mana Drain to deprive the red striped Tiger fish of their mana as a way to catch them is truly ingenious."

With his explanation over, it was now time to cook the fish.

Jiang had volunteered to use his fire magic, but he was unanimously rejected.

In the end, Quan said that they could keep the fish within the weeping willow leaves (apparently the name of the tree was called weeping willow tree) and steam the fish by surrounding the leaves with burning wood.

Arthur, who heard such a method was fascinated and wanted to help, which Quan agreed to since it would be easier with more people helping him.

Using the swords which the triplets collected from the gangsters as shovels they dug a six by twelve foot hole.

After digging the hole Arthur wanted to continue helping, but Quan said to let him do the rest because he might burn himself.

Not wanting to get in the way, Arthur stepped back and watched alongside Scarlet and Yuki as Quan used a sword to shovel burning wood from the campfire into the hole.

After about half a foot of burning wood, he slowly lowered the wrapped fish into the hole and added more burning wood before sealing the hole with soil to prevent heat from escaping.

According to Quan, it would take about twelve minutes for the fish to be fully steamed.

With nothing better to do Arthur, Scarlet, and Quan sat around the campfire. Since Quan wasn't much of a social person, he became quiet a minute into their conversation, so Arthur and Scarlet switched to using voice transmission so they could converse with Yuki because except for Scarlet the others didn't know she could speak. It wasn't that he didn't trust them, it was better for fewer people to know since according to Scarlet, magical beasts with the ability to converse were extremely rare and sold for extremely high prices at auctions. After getting to know Jiang, he would probably let it slip that Yuki was a talking "magical beast". Thus bringing unwanted trouble.

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Twelve minutes later, just as it was time to remove the fish from the "oven" Ren, Jiang, Leo, and butler Albert arrived each carrying stacks of weeping willow leaves. While Arthur was helping Quan with digging a hole, Ren had dragged an unwilling Jiang into the woods and butler Albert and Leo decided to join them. The reason was that with the sun about to set they needed some type of shelter and the only thing Arthur could think of was a sleeping bag. It's not like he didn't think of making a tent. It was that he didn't even know how to start with making a tent. In the end, the only feasible method he had was to make a sleeping bag out of weeping willow leaves. And surprisingly he learned sleeping bags didn't exist in this world, but tents do. So it took a while to explain to his companions what a sleeping bag even was. 

Arthur was starving and the aroma that wafted out as Quan lifted the wrapped fish wasn't helping as he almost started drooling.

"The seasoning is a great touch." Arthur said with a gulp.

Jiang: "Quan hurry up, I might not last any longer"

Ren: "That might be for the best"

Jiang: "..."

Butler Albert: "Young Arthur is correct, young miss the seasoning that is wafting off of the fish truly makes the dish even more delectable."

Yuki: "Au-uuu" [Old man, what do you mean? It was Yuki's idea to get seasoning!]

Scarlet, knowing her Uncle Albert does not understand Yuki's growl, since only she and Arthur can hear her voice transmission, decided to help her new friend out by "translating".

"Uncle Albert, it was Yuki who found the seasoning."

"What a smart girl!"

Yuki: "Au-uuu" [A-as long as you understand Yuki's greatness!]

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Lying in his weeping willow leaf sleeping bag Arthur yawned ready to sleep he couldn't believe how much he experienced in about six hours since his transmigration into this world. Though some parts were hectic and even a bit scary like the battle, but some were fun like when he went hunting. The most recent was as they ate, they talked about their lives and he too told them the story which he told Scarlet, except for the part about Yuki being able to communicate.

After dinner, Arthur made a sleeping bag as everyone watched as reference followed by them recreating their own. Even Scarlet decided to make her own because she found it fun and novel. Its design was similar to the way he made the "fish wrapper" except that the top part was not tied. He wouldn't say it was comfortable, but it was better than sleeping on the ground. He also didn't need to worry about bugs or insects because Butler Albert had made a rotating sphere out of wind around their campsite keeping anything weaker than the barrier out.