Story III / Part V: The Night Before Departure

We kept going until we reached the first checkpoint that located near a lake. It's small but clean. We will be using the lake as rest area for two daesh before continuing to the [Outer Territory]. During the rest time we hunt animals, gather herbs and fruits. The Guild Master informed us next area is a wasteland due to [Rain of Chaos] and we need to stockpiling supplies as many as we can before going to next area. He also told us that we needed to anticipate an ambush and lack of rest area tomorrow. To counter it, we need to imbue our horses and ourselves with [Body Strengthening], [Physical Debuff Immunity], [Mental Debuff Immunity], [Fatigue Eraser], [Insomnia], [Iron Skin], [Pain Eraser] and [Senses Enchanter] Magic.

"Have you gathered the necessities Yuna-san?"

"Oh, I have. You don't need to worry, Kaichou." While talking to Yuna, I saw Ayumi carried something heavy.

"Need a help Miss?" I offered my help while simultaneously picked one of the boxes from her.

"Hey, it's unfair Kaichou! Me too!" Hera's protest but I ignored her.

"Oops, let me help you with that." Toval suddenly came and picked up her luggage.

"Thanks, Haru-san." said Ayumi while smiling gently.

"Eh? I think it's better to say "Thanks My Dear Husband"?" Hera teased us while smirking

"We haven't married yet Hera-san." Said Ayumi with an embarrassed expression.

"Oi, Aniki it's time to take a bath and build the tents." Robert is waving his hand to me and I nodded.

"Come on Ayumi let's drop this here and go to the lake. If we are late, the boys will peek at us!" then Hera grabbed Ayumi's hand and walks faster than we did.

"Be sure not to peek the girls, T-O-V-A-L" Hera warned Toval while glaring at him.

"Hey!" Toval protested and I can only chuckle watching them.

After leaving the upset Toval, I assisted Robert and other boys to set up the tents. I also helped the Mages to set up the barrier, especially against the "intruders" that would attack the girls when they are sleeping. Toval who knew that protested to the girls, but he got six hard smacks from Luna instead. Shortly after that, Hera and Ayumi returned from the lake and its boys' time to take a bath.

Well, as normal boys do, they love to play with water rather than catching fish. Somehow, the water war turned into serious battle between the boys until I smacked their head and asked them to return. Seriously, why did you almost activated dangerous spells like [Flood] and [Tsunami Revenge] because you lost on water war, Toval?!

"Fuuuh! The lake's water is fresh and cold! It's really nice! Don't you agree Robert-kun?" It seems Thomas is in good mood right now. We turned our head to left and we saw Robert. He has caught many fishes and crabs. There is also a salmon in his mouth.

"Heck" Thomas surprised.

"Mmm?" Robert looked at us back.

Thomas shouts, "Where the hell did you get those?!"

"Mmmphmhmm…!"

"It's useless Thomas, don't ask him." I patted his shoulder and sighed.

We continue our hunt but I catch a glimpse of a shining object from far away. When I looked back, I saw Luna, Rania, Yuna, Alfonso, Miral, Hera, Cynthia, Eliza, and Maria sitting on a branch and peeking us with my scope. Wait, my scope?! Oh shit I forgot to take it back from Luna yesterday! Wait, why Alfonso is also there with the girls?! When I'm still surprised, Thomas and Robert started to realize there are people on the tree.

"Uh-oh, look at those bodies, Spidey! Those hot bodies combined with dripping of water and sunset light are a perfect combination!" Luna is saying that while drooling around.

"Give that scope to me! Hmm…oh right…slurp…those young bodies are delicious…!"

"Hey you don't mean you will eat them literally right?"

"Of course not, you idiot, I mean either way…hehe…" Rania starts to think something lewd.

"Rania-san, Luna-san, why are we peeking Kaichou, right now?! Isn't it reversed?! said Miral flustered.

"Oh my, so young…you are so young…Miral-chan…" Rania replied at Miral with pity intonation.

"One of those bodies would conquer us…one day. Remember that." Eliza added with lewd intonation. Meanwhile, Miral became more flustered after she heard those answers.

"Give that back to me, Spidey! Hey, Alfonso can you draw some ehmm…special sketch from that scenery?"

Alfonso stays quiet for a long time, and then he cries, which surprised the girls. But suddenly he shouts, "…THAT IS A MASTERPIECE! THAT IS A MASTERPIECE THAT I MUST DRAW RIGHT NOW!"

Maria raises her eyebrow, "What's wrong with his head?"

Luna waves her hand and says, "Just leave him—GGYAAA!"

I patted his shoulder, "Nice throw, Robert."

Robert strengthened his left arm with [Strengthening] Magic and threw a big crab that he caught to Luna. The crab hit her directly onto her face and made her fell from the tree. After I heard a hard falling sound, I heard a loud scream and then I saw Rania laughed hard from above, followed by other girls. Meanwhile, Miral keeps flustered and starts to panic while Alfonso keeps drawing something from there. Oh right, I need burn his drawings later.

At evening, we grill the fishes and make a crab soup, and stored the rest. After the girls washed the dishes, Jack and the other Rangers takes position in the trees and they sleep in turns there. I slept first while Robert and the others are watching the perimeter. I also let the girls sleep until mid-night after that it's the boys turn to rest.

"Kaichou is sleeping first eh? Why isn't he sleeping with his lover?" Toval asked.

"Well, he doesn't want to. He isn't a pervert like you." Robert answered him with sarcasm.

"Hey that's harsh! You are also a pervert! You hoarded two beautiful maidens with high social status for yourself!" Robert lightly punched Toval and Toval do the same thing to him. After a little scuffle, both of them laugh together.

"Hey, Rean! Why are you so focused while looking at your [Status Screen]? Is there something wrong?" James sits next to Rean and both of them begin to discuss something.

"There is nothing wrong James, I am only preparing for tomorrow. I want to choose the most suited skills and abilities for tomorrow. I have enough points to spend them as I like."

"That's a good idea! Let me help you."

At the lively night, the male members of [White Falcon] Party discussed various topics from the latest trend equipment until the hottest women in the city. They also discussed about the missions that they took on the past until funny moment that they got on that mission. The situation started to tense after Robert and Del told them horror stories to them. But only Toval who scared, when the others were making fun of him. He felt upset and wanted to take a revenge by telling a made-up horror story, but it turned not scary at all. He went desperate and tried to tickle Robert and Del, but a ghost suddenly appeared behind Robert and made Toval surprised to his boot. Thanks to Del who successfully calmed down the ghost and sent it to afterlife, the damage can be minimalized. Then, the lively night of [White Falcon] Party's boys ended swiftly without serious problem.

When I woke up at midnight, Ayumi and the other girls are preparing to take their watch. They light the firewood and cook something warm. Cynthia and Lisa asked my permission to pick a bucket of water from the lake but I worried so I accompanied them instead, we brought three buckets of water with us back when returned to camp. On the same time, Rania is crawling down from a tree.

"Oh, you have awoken, Haru-chan. Did you have a good sleep?"

"Yes, I did. By the way, where are the other boys, Rania-san?"

"The boys are sleeping shortly after Yuna and I woke up. Oh, Robert and Jack are nowhere to be seen. I have no idea where they are going."

"This is bad. We can't have them wandering around by themselves…" as I am trying to figure out where they would go, I heard a sound of footsteps from the trees behind me.

"Bloody hell Robert, where and what are you doing?!" I shout as I saw Robert with his body covered in blood come from the forest with Jack.

"Oh, Aniki I—"

"Miral, please cast [Supreme Heal] on Robert, now!"

"Leader, you don't need to. We just hunted down a big boar that lurking around our camps. Luckily, the horses were sleeping and they haven't noticed the boar. So, they are safe right now."

"You know, the boar is really big Aniki! But I have skinned, dried and stored the meat."

"Good grief, don't wander around by your own…"

"We are Hunters Aniki…We usually work alone anyway. I don't need loud guys like Toval or Ello."

"Ahahahahaha!!!" Rania and Yuna can't hold their laughter after hearing Robert.

"Say, Robert-kun…When you said "dried" did you mean drying it's blood?"

Robert sheathed his dagger, "You are right Ayumi nee-chan. I burned the intestines. If I don't do that, the carcass might attract the carnivorous beasts to us."

"How big was that boar Robert-kun?" Yuna asked Robert while she stirring the pot.

"It was 3 Me height and 6 Me length, I casted [Silent Field] so I won't bother anyone sleeping."

"Oh Our Maker, what will happen if you are defeated by that boar? No one will be able to hear your help…"

"Jack was nearby and that was the reason why I brought him with me. Aniki, I think you worried too much."

"Of course I did, don't you remember that I'm your guardian? Go wash yourself and sleep."

"Aniki, did you forget that I'm an adult already and I am already married with two women?! Aarghh…fine, fine! Let's go Jack!" Robert rubbed his head and left with Jack. I still can hear his grumpy voice from here.

Luna suddenly grinning lewdly, "A love between brothers is a good civilization, don't you think so Spidey?"

(Heck) Inside my heart, I was surprised, but I hide it.

"Especially if it combined with rope…" Rania added.

(What the…) I am in shock again, but I'm trying my best to hide it by not making any kind of expression.

"Why do you like rope that much Rania-san?" Ayumi asked Rania with curious expression.

"Well, I can't help it. I am an Arachne after all. It is in my instinct to tie people upside down. Muehe…" Rania is smiling lewdly and she is staring at me with lewd expression.

"...…" (I better stop right there before this topic become more dangerous)

"Haru-chann…" Rania suddenly grabs my shoulders and breathe on my neck.

(HIIII…!!!) I jolted and ran back to my tent. I entered my tent and sleep as fast as I can even thought I just woke up few minerval ago because I don't want become Rania's "plaything" for an entire night nonstop. I hope she isn't following me to my tent, oh please The Maker, I beg you!

"Ufufufu…Haru-chan is so funny and cute."

"Geez, Rania-san, please don't tease Haru-san like that!"

"Oh…are you jealous…Ayumi-chan??? Ei, ei!" Rania hugs Ayumi while teasing her body.

"P-please s-stop it Rania-san—! Where are you touching?!"

On that night, the girls became Rania's "plaything" until morning. I asked them what happened because I saw them with tired expression. However, they refused to give me an answer and immediately returned to their carriages to sleep. Meanwhile, Rania is sleeping soundly on three with strange position. I thanked The Maker for the last night…well, at least I can sleep again peacefully even though there were a lot of strange voices that I don't want to talk about.

I walked around the camp and checked each of the tent. It seems, the boys have awakened before me and they might be in the lake or went to hunt. Well, I guess I will be cooking right now, but what must I cook today? Last night, we ate grilled salmon, trout and crab soup…I still have fresh crayfishes in my inventory, but Ameryl said we can't eat fish in the morning…guess, I will make hamburger? No, it's not good to eat something heavy in the morning. Guess…I will stick with warm rice and spicy sautéed minced meat then.

Well, this is a simple dish. You only need to add flavoring to the minced meat using onion, garlic, Worcestershire Sauce, sugar, salt, and a few ingredients from Human countries, then pour a glass of water or more before stirring it until the water almost dried up. I have prepared the rice beforehand so the rice should be done right now.

I opened the rice pot, "Yes…it's perfectly cooked…"

Making rice isn't really hard to do. You only need to balance the amount of water and the rice itself. If the water is too much, the rice will be too soft and watery, but if the water is too little, the rice will be burnt and releasing an awful smell. I remember that Yamato Island, and Xiantian Land has different type of rice. The rice from Yamato Island is bigger and sticky than the rice from Xiantian Land, so it can be eaten with chopstick. The rice that I cooked right now is the Yamatonese Rice. It can make you feel full and energetic for longer time.

"Master, is it a Yamatonese Rice?"

"Eh, ah Rean, Shiki, Alexander, and Mikazuchi too…since when were you standing there?"

Rean stands behind me with Shiki, Alexander and Mikazuchi. Rean and Alexander are only wearing short pants and there is a towel around their neck. Their body themselves are still wet, I guess they just returned from the lake, but hey wear something first! Look there are Shiki and Mikazuchi with you too…eh wait…THEY ARE ALSO ONLY WEARING A TOWEL TO COVER THEIR BODY?!

"Wait…wait, Shiki, and you Mikazuchi...please wear something more appropriate first. Look, there are three boys here…" I'm glancing away to another direction.

"Hmm…? Is there something wrong with us only wearing a towel?" Shiki replied with nonchalant tone.

(OF COURSE IT IS!) I covered my face.

They understand what I meant after Miral shouted at them, reminding them to wear clothes first. Then, they walked back to their tent, but they walk leisurely in front of the boys who just returned from the lake, and made Toval nosebleed.

...Then, I stood and went to the lake to bathe. I didn't know the other party members came and ate the breakfast that I have prepared, but when I returned back from lake, there was nothing left for me.