by CHIROLU
After watching all of this, Dale was relieved and decided to entrust the cooking to Latina. He racked his brain, thinking how to prepare their campsite so it was the most comfortable. He was fine, but if Latina were to roll over onto a rock or something in her sleep, she’d definitely find it unpleasant. He needed to do everything he could to make sure Latina could rest even a little easier, since she wasn’t used to camping. She did once survive in a forest, but that was a different matter entirely.
After the potatoes, Latina added sausage to the pot, making for a soup with a better taste than if she just used plain old meat. Next, she got out a small container. Inside were dried herbs, which she carefully added to the soup as well. The seasoning added, she gave it a taste, which was followed by a single nod of her head.
Now finished with the soup, Latina pulled out a paper-wrapped package. Inside was normal bread, so it had to be eaten quickly, before it went stale. Latina wiped off her knife and cut into the bread, a look of concentration on her face. She stabbed it with a large fork meant for cooking and held it out over the fire. Finally, she added cheese to the bread and cooked it further. When the cheese had gotten nice and gooey, Latina turned and faced Dale, who was tidying up the luggage.
“Dinner’s ready, Dale.”
“Right.”
The soup had been made from extremely simple ingredients, but when it came to adventurers out camping, it wasn’t rare at all for them to be satisfied with just eating dried meats and hard bread.
Seeing Latina carry out her cooking so nimbly and in such a short time, Dale was honestly impressed.
Latina poured two bowls of soup out of the pot and handed Dale the bread.
“Latina will be full just from the potatoes, so the bread is only for Dale.”
“I see.”
Dale scooped out a spoonful of soup and put it in his mouth.
“It’s good.”
“Really?”
Seeming quite happy to be praised by Dale, Latina took a bite of her portion. Especially when she was eating, the girl reminded Dale of a small animal nibbling away at a meal. She was simply too cute.
“I thought the same back when I was in a party with Kenneth too, but trips really are more pleasant when you’re with someone who’s good at cooking.”
“When Dale was with Kenneth?”
“Yeah.”
Latina seemed absolutely overjoyed at Dale’s words.
“Kenneth’s food is still tastier, though. Latina needs to keep trying even harder!” Latina said enthusiastically, which made Dale to break out in a smile.
“At the very least, it’s a whole lot better than anything I can make. Just like you asked, you’ll be in charge of cooking during the trip, Latina.”
“Right! She’ll give it her all!” she responded with a beaming smile.
Latina was also fast at cleaning up. By the time dinner was done, the sun had already set. As they were eating, the gradated sunset had turned into a pure-black sky, with only the lights of the stars remaining.
As she listened to the crackling of the fire, Latina started to drift off. She’d been quite worked up, but she still wasn’t used to traveling, so of course, she’d ended up growing tired.
Dale smiled and stroked Latina’s hair.
“Don’t push yourself. We’re going to get up early tomorrow, so go ahead and go to sleep.”
“Mmnn... nuh...? What about Dale...?”
“I’ll take a nap, too. It’ll be fine, so don’t worry.”
“...Right. Goodnight, Dale...”
Wrapped in a blanket and lying on her side, Latina soon started snoring. Dale had long since grown used to hearing this somewhat out-of-tune sound. With a peaceful expression on his face, he watched over Latina as she slept.
This was a trip with just the two of them. He couldn’t stay up and keep watch all night. As he had grown accustomed to doing, Dale left his sword by his side where it would be easy to grab and, still sitting up, he closed his eyes. He was so used to traveling that he’d be able wake up immediately if he sensed anything out of place.
Because Latina was by his side, it ended up being a very peaceful night for Dale. Fortunately, nothing showed up to interrupt their sleep before the morning sun rose. Still, Dale occasionally woke up to rekindle the dying campfire because although it was early spring, the night was still cold. It wouldn’t do to have Latina freeze.
When Dale woke up in the morning, the first thing he did was look over at Latina. She was still sleeping soundly. It would seem that she was able to fall asleep pretty much anywhere. It was the same back at the Dancing Ocelot when she took her naps.
Then, Dale checked on the campfire. Perhaps that was the wrong order to do things, but Latina took precedence over everything else. Dale had already decided that much, even if only unconsciously.
“Wake up, Latina...”
He had trouble bringing himself to wake up Latina when she was sleeping so peacefully, but he reached out and began gently shaking her. Latina started to stir.
“Hnghaahh... Dale...?”
“What is it?”
After Dale responded to her calling out his name from inside the blanket, she popped her head out and thought for a bit, still visibly half-asleep.
“Hnghaaawn...”
After an exaggerated blink of her eyes, she roused herself awake. She seemed to be really sleepy. Latina shot up suddenly and clung tightly to Dale.
“Hmm? What’s wrong, Latina?”
“Latina was startled. Dale always sleeps next to her,” she said, adding in a giggle and a shy smile. “Ah, Latina is on a trip!”
“That’s right,” Dale replied with a smile, holding Latina tight.
Perhaps because of her past, Latina got to the point every now and again that she desperately didn’t want to be alone. Even when she was left back home, she wouldn’t ask for special attention, but outside of such times, she’d want to be by his side like this.
Dale didn’t find it unpleasant in the least, so he let her do as she wished. Though with that said, he had no intention of overlooking Latina being pampered like this by anyone else. He was just that much of a doting fool.
Latina got up, folded up her blanket, and started preparing breakfast. She warmed up some bread for each of them over the bonfire, then laid a slice of cheese over each piece. It was a simple affair, but keeping in mind that it was made by Latina made it taste all the better to Dale.
“Today, we’re going to keep on going down the highway until we hit a post town. If you get tired or your legs start hurting or anything, then tell me right away.”
“Right. Latina understands.”
“We should still be good on supplies. I’ll leave you in charge of monitoring our food situation, Latina. If there’s anything we need, then let me know as soon as you can.”
“It’s alright for Latina to handle it?!”
Dale looked at the surprised Latina with a serious expression.
“You don’t want me to handle everything, right, Latina? You want to take care of whatever tasks you can yourself, don’t you?”
“Yeah... how did you know?”
“Well, I know because it has to do with you, of course,” Dale said with a laugh. The serious and earnest young girl had a spirit of self-reliance beyond what her age would imply. Dale wouldn’t do anything as reckless or irresponsible as leaving everything to her from the start, but he was fully aware of just how much she could handle. And with her cleverness, if you taught her something, then she’d surely understand it.
“You’re my partner during this trip, Latina.”
“Right. Latina wants to do whatever she can manage.”
Seeing Latina’s motivation-filled smile, Dale had something of a strange feeling. Just how much would she grow during this trip? That’s what occupied his thoughts.
It’d be nice if Latina would rely on me at least a little while longer...
While half of him was happy to see her grow, another part was full
of selfish feelings.
They put out the campfire, loaded the luggage back onto the horse, and started walking down the highway again.
Today was another gentle day with lovely weather.
There were some slight ups and downs to the path, but the highway heading towards the port made for an easy walk. As it was an important road for carrying goods from foreign nations into the capital, it underwent periodic maintenance. If you looked about now, you could see people working to repair the holes opened in the road by the travelers constantly walking it.
“Hey, Dale, Chloe was worried about robbers and stuff. Are they really around?”
“Well, it’s a route that a lot of carriages loaded with valuables pass through, so yes, there are robbers around. But we’re still close to Kreuz, so there shouldn’t be many.”
“Really?”
“If a search got put out, then they’d be swarmed by adventurers in no time at all. It’s not rare at all for robbers to end up ruined by adventurers, but normally they’d make their move in a place where it’d be hard for them to be followed.”
Their conversation continued on as they walked, with the sound of the horse’s footsteps resounding all the while.
“It may be a bit dangerous past the post town we’ll be staying in... I’ve heard that robbers pop up every now and again out that way.”
“Will we be alright?”
“Yeah. I’ll be sure to protect you, Latina. Are you worried?”
“As long as Dale’s around, Latina will be fine.”
As Latina gave him beaming smile that showed she trusted him from the bottom of her heart, Dale smiled back.
It’d be easier to just kill them all, honestly. If I were to let loose some attack magic, they couldn’t do a thing about it. It’d be harder to hold back. But I don’t want to show Latina anything too cruel...
Dale’s thoughts at the moment were a bit disturbing.
Oh, but if they were to point a weapon at Latina, I may end up going berserk.
Despite what he was thinking, Dale’s expression remained bright and loving. Adding his gentle patting of Latina’s head, it was a perfect example of how you couldn’t tell what someone was thinking just by looking at them.
Because Latina had generally been limited to traveling around the town of Kreuz, the outside world seemed almost impossibly vast. The scenery didn’t seem special to Dale at all, but to Latina’s eyes, it was something different entirely. It was much the same when they reached the top of the highway’s gentle slope and their field of view immediately widened. Latina shouted joyfully and looked all about.
In the distance was a far-off, hazy-blue mountain range, before which was a sprawl of forests and plains. Even closer was farmland full of wheat and similar crops. A refreshing breeze suddenly blew up against them.
“Wow! It’s so wide!”
“Really? I guess so... Hey Latina, you see over there, way in the distance? That’s the town we’ll be staying in tonight.”
“Wooooow!”
In her excitement, Latina seemed to be trying to look out even a little bit farther. She placed her hand over her eyes like a visor and leaped up and down. Her platinum hair, which was done up in two pigtails, swung all about as it reflecting the sunlight.
“Don’t get too worked up, alright? You’ll tire yourself out before we reach the town.”
“Right!” she replied energetically from Dale’s side.
With some periodic breaks along the way, they reached the town before the sun set, as scheduled.
The post town of Haase was a small one, and it didn’t compare to Kreuz in the least. As you could imagine from its surroundings, its primary business was agriculture, and it was supported by the prosperity of nearby Kreuz. Because it was alongside the highway, it also flourished as a relay station, with everything from high-class inns aimed at wealthy merchants to cheap ones that jammed countless people into a single room.
As Dale had heard, much like in Kreuz, you needed to pay a gatekeeper to pass through the walls that surrounded the town.
Normally, Dale would be fine sleeping at any inn, but this time, he had Latina with him, so he was thinking he’d like to go with a place that felt safe and had better amenities.
“It sure is different from Kreuz. Even the houses feel different.”
“This place is still pretty bustling, though. My home village is way out in the country, so I’m sure you’ll be shocked...”
The houses in Haase were generally subdued. There were hardly any walls painted the way they were in Kreuz. The roofs were indeed red as you’d expect of Laband, but perhaps due to using a different type of paint, they were a much duller shade, which made the town have a somewhat rustic feel.
Dale ended up settling on a mid-ranked inn with a stable. He took the luggage off of their horse and went inside. Latina was looking all over the place the entire time, unable to settle down.
Dale approached the rather strong-looking proprietress manning the inn and asked, “Do you have any rooms?”
“Yeah. Do you just need one?”
“That’ll be fine. Also, we’d like to use the stable. And could we get some water and feed for our horse?”
“That’ll cost extra.”
“Got it.”
Taking the key the proprietress handed him, Dale called for Latina. Apparently, she’d been absorbed in taking in her surroundings while Dale carried out this exchange.
Just like the Dancing Ocelot, the first floor of this inn was a restaurant, while the second floor had rooms for guests. Dale and Latina’s room was in the corner of the second floor. The view from the room certainly wasn’t half bad; with the windows open, you could see out past the walls surrounding the town. The rooms farther in likely would’ve been safer, but that seemed trivial compared to Latina’s smiling face.
The proprietress may not have been overly courteous, but the room was tidy, and it wasn’t such a bad inn, all things considered. There was some space aside from that occupied by the two beds, and overall, it was fairly large.
Dale dropped the luggage in the corner, removed his gauntlet, and took off his coat. Seeing that, Latina took the rucksack off her back and her knife off her waist. She bounced a little, suddenly feeling lighter.
“Um, Dale...”
“I know you may want to go out for a walk, but you’d better not. We’re going to be walking plenty tomorrow, too.”
Latina was clearly surprised at being cut off before she could even ask.
“I get how you feel, wanting to see everything. But we’re going to pass through a lot of towns on our trip. You need to rest up properly when you get the chance.”
“...Right.” Latina nodded her head and looked depressed.
Dale let out a sigh. He didn’t want to make her feel that way, but he knew that she was so worked up that if he let her, she’d go running all over until she collapsed. He needed to drive the point home here at the start.
“But in exchange, once we make it to the port town of Qualle, we’ll do some sightseeing. Just be patient until then, alright?”
Latina’s expression brightened. Dale was such a doting idiot, he just couldn’t leave her depressed like that.
Though it was just a mid-ranking inn, it did have a tub, and after a nice, warm bath, Latina was now sitting at a table, cheerfully looking over a menu.
“What do you want to eat, Latina?”
“Latina wants to eat something she’s never had before. Kenneth said that eating all sorts of things from all over would help her learn.”
“Yeah, that was definitely true for Kenneth...”
Still, was this girl really aiming to be a full-fledged chef? Dale got the feeling she was putting more and more effort towards cooking and food.
Well, I could never tell if Kenneth was an adventurer or a chef, so I guess she’s like her master in that regard...
The face of his “big bro,” who was also Latina’s teacher, came to Dale’s mind as he drank down some
ale, which wasn’t usual for him.
“Hmm... Hmm...?”
Latina had been pondering her choices as she looked at the menu, and she eventually decided on a dish combining grilled vegetables with fritters. As there wasn’t much of anything novel on the menu, she decided she wanted to eat fresh vegetables from the nearby farms.
Dale went with plain, grilled chicken for his meal. Because Haase was in a wheat-producing region, a heaping basket full of bread was brought out with the meals, and the two could eat as much of it as they wanted.
“Hmm...”
“What is it, Latina?” Dale asked, confused at seeing Latina making a troubled face as she chewed.
“These vegetables... should’ve been cooked a little more slowly and carefully,” she replied with a tilted head. “They would be tastier that way.”
That certainly exceeded Dale’s expectations. “I see... so you can tell all that?”
“It’s because Kenneth taught her. These are tasty, though.”
There was a slight bitterness to them, but Latina nodded contentedly as she happily ate the fritters made from fresh sprouts harvested in early spring and cooked with younger palates in mind.
Latina may be even more skilled at cooking than I thought...
As the girl thoroughly chewed the bread to check how it tasted, Dale was once more reminded of the great potential she possessed.
After dinner, Latina returned to the room first, while Dale took his turn in the bath. When he got back to the room, Latina had a small notebook in front of her and was enthusiastically writing something in it. When Dale tried to take a peek, she went to hide it in a panic. That’s how he realized what it was.
“Is that a diary?”
“Latina’s writing what happens on the trip. It’s embarrassing, so don’t look.”
“I see. Sorry. So you’re writing things that it’d be bad for me to see, then?”
