041-060 · 056-ch50

Chapter 50: A Leisurely Journey for Two and a Wolf

One day had passed since Selene and I began our journey back to my base.

As we walked, I chatted with her about various things.

Though to be honest, our conversations stayed limited to topics like magical composition and her activities as queen—I was careful not to touch on anything too substantial about this world as a whole.

The things she knew about this world, and the other cities and kingdoms she spoke of.

These weren't stories I wanted to share with my stream audience just yet.

The very existence of Selene—an intelligent being almost identical to humans—would probably throw the surface world into chaos.

Dungeons provided various resources like ores and monster materials, but they didn't offer land.

And that was the same even on the surface, where every corner had been claimed by nations.

So there were probably people in power who would try to acquire it in the world beyond my dungeon.

The upper echelons of those surface nations would definitely descend into chaos upon hearing this information.

I wanted at least a month's grace period—until that chaos settled or they came to accept it—before releasing the next piece of information.

I didn't want to see the surface order collapse into chaos because of what I'd revealed.

I'd asked Selene to avoid talking about other countries and such, though I wasn't sure she fully understood. From the perspective of people like us who'd come from afar, this world was simply too fascinating.

"Did you ever travel far when you were ruling as queen?"

"I often went for long rides on horseback. Though that city is surrounded by mountains now, it used to be in a much flatter area long ago."

Enough time had passed for the terrain to change.

Whether it was impressive that Selene's magic had protected the city throughout that period, or impressive that this world's ley lines or dragon veins had reacted to her immense magical power and created mountains—I wasn't sure.

It was just speculation, but I suspected those mountains hadn't formed the same way as Earth's mountains. They were probably created through magic-related phenomena.

That was how deeply magic in this world affected its fundamental laws and principles.

"So you've never seen the desert? I was thinking we could stop by on our way back."

"When you say desert, do you mean the Sharangu Desert?"

"I don't know the name. You can see it from the path between here and my base. I thought you might like to see it if you never had."

Despite having been a queen, I wasn't sure if Selene had trained properly or if the Wind People were just naturally physically gifted, but she was keeping up with me reasonably well as I strode through the mountains.

I was choosing easier paths for her and slowing my pace, but it was still impressive that she could keep up.

I was curious whether she could use skills like magic power manipulation, but we were in the middle of conversation, so that would have to wait.

"As I intended to remain queen of that small nation, I never traveled that far. I'd only heard rumors."

"I see. Then you're definitely in for a surprise."

This journey, and the journeys to come.

I'd realized through streaming that I enjoyed traveling alone, but I also seemed to quite enjoy traveling with others.

Or rather, maybe I just wanted to show someone else the spectacular scenery before my eyes.

Apparently having such thoughts, I actually found it quite enjoyable to show my viewers things like the World Tree, the great desert, and the creatures swimming there.

Their surprised reactions, and their words of awe.

To the extent that I found such things delightful, I apparently still liked people.

"That makes me happy."

"Well, the world is vast. There are still plenty of places I haven't visited."

Truly.

This time, I'd ended up picking up Selene, so I had to return for now.

Between the injured people teleporting in, the good World Tree dragon, and the frozen city, it felt like too many events were happening in succession lately.

I wanted to try wandering around more carefree for months on end.

Well, if I thought of it as gaining a guest named Selene and increasing my opportunities and sources of knowledge about this world, it wasn't so bad.

That's a lie—I was somewhat dissatisfied.

Anyway, what I needed to think about was what to do with Selene going forward.

As I walked thinking about such things, we arrived at the small mountain basin that had served as my campsite on the way here.

『Woof!』

With that single bark, Robo ran off to hunt before I could even declare this our campsite.

Lately, she'd been eating even more than before.

She was probably approaching the period when her body would grow to the next stage.

"Let's set up the tent here for today."

At my declaration, Selene made an apologetic expression.

"I'm so sorry, always for my sake..."

"Nah, it's not really for your sake or anything. Having a woman sleeping right nearby makes me restless too, and the drone keeps streaming at night. I can't exactly broadcast a woman's sleeping face."

She was probably referring to how I, who would normally just wrap myself in cloth to sleep, was using a tent I'd brought from the surface because she was here.

But I had my reasons too—well, mostly it was the viewers complaining that they wouldn't allow me to sleep next to a beautiful woman like Selene, but honestly, I just didn't know how to interact with women, so I was trying to be somewhat considerate.

"Is this spot okay? Selene, give me a hand."

"Yes."

My tent wasn't one of those pop-up types that opened instantly. It was the kind where you had to set it up yourself, thread the poles, and hammer in the stakes, so it took a bit of work.

With Selene helping, my setup time was reduced, and I was grateful.

I needed to show her this, or else she'd start thinking in unnecessary directions again, lamenting that she couldn't do anything.

Her failure to protect her people still weighed on her, and from her perspective, this journey probably felt like she was completely dependent on me.

Well, to be honest, she wasn't exactly wrong.

That's precisely why I needed to let her handle what she could do.

"Selene, cut these onions, potatoes, and carrots for me. I'll go get water."

"Understood. Where is the stew powder?"

At Selene's question—reading ahead in my ingredients and words—I shook my head.

"No, tonight I want you to try a dish from my country. The seasoning is a bit different."

"I see. Then I shall cut them for now."

"Yeah, thanks."

While I had Selene cutting the ingredients, I gathered firewood, started a fire, and fetched water from a nearby river.

Beside me as I did various things, Selene skillfully used magic to peel multiple vegetables at once and cut them with practiced efficiency.

Compared to us, who only had offensive magic in our repertoire, this was the kind of magic usage that felt deeply integrated into daily life.

Then, as we were doing this, Robo returned with a deer she'd caught, so I dismantled it, preparing some for tonight's meal and grilling the rest over the fire for her dinner.

"John-san, I've finished cutting. What should I do next?"

"Up until just before boiling, it's almost the same as stew, so sauté the vegetables—actually, wait. I'm using this deer meat in today's dish, so cut it small, and when that's done, sauté it the same way you would for stew."

"Yes, I'll do my best."

"Yeah."

Since Robo always brought back prey, it was pretty tough to dismantle it and cook at the same time, but with Selene here, that had become easier too.

It was frustrating that even if I told her this, she'd just become self-deprecating and wouldn't accept it.

After finishing the meat and washing my hands in the river, I stood beside her as she sautéed the vegetables and took out several bottles of seasonings, mixing them together in a container.

"...Is that black liquid really alright?"

"It's fine, it's fine."

Well, anyone would be intimidated by soy sauce's dark color at first glance.

But then again, did they not have anything sauce-like where she came from?

Well, even sauces easily bought in modern times required quite a process to make, with various vegetable extracts being simmered down. They were products that only powerful civilizations could create.

Then, when the sautéing was just right, I added water and the seasonings to the pot and covered it.

At this point, the campfire was too strong, so using magic to adjust the heat was key.

After simmering for about 30 minutes while stirring occasionally, a pleasant aroma began to fill the air.

Soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and probably the smell of dashi.

I knew it smelled good, but I honestly didn't know which specific ingredient was responsible.

"It smells wonderful."

『Woof!』

At Selene's words, Robo also stood up wagging her tail as if she couldn't wait any longer.

Sit, I thought. Sometimes she really acted just like a dog.

"Should be about ready."

When I opened the lid, a pleasant aroma spread along with plenty of steam.

Meat, onions, potatoes, carrots. And the semi-translucent brown liquid they sank into. What wafted up was the sweet and savory aroma of soy sauce and sugar used for seasoning.

Yes, what I'd made this time was nikujaga—meat and potato stew. By the way, I had rice cooking beside it.

"This is a dish from my country. It's called nikujaga. Well, the meat is supposed to be different."

By the way, this time I was using meat from a monster that was like a deer relative that Robo had caught.

Of course, I'd already checked for poison using magic beforehand.

"It's delicious eaten with rice."

Saying so, I served the freshly cooked steaming rice into a bowl and handed it to Selene.

On the small wooden table before each of us sat steaming rice and nikujaga giving off heat.

This was practically criminal.

"Itadakimasu."

"Ita... dakimasu."

Selene went along with my pre-meal greeting too.

Actually, when I'd first said it, she'd asked what it meant, and when I explained it was an expression of gratitude to all things, she'd been deeply moved and started imitating it.

Apparently they didn't have such a concept, and it seemed fresh to her.

The eight million gods would be okay with this, right? They might go crazy.

But in this world, given that dragon's existence, there probably were things like monster worship or spirit worship.

First, a bite of potato. It crumbled softly when bitten, and the moderately flavored potato really went well with rice.

Next, the deer-like meat. I'd tasted some of the grilled meat meant for Robo, and while it didn't have much gamey smell, it was different from pork but delicious in its own way.

Then I put the sauce-soaked onions on my rice and ate it together with the rice and sauce.

""Delicious/Tasty""

Our words naturally overlapped, and we looked at each other and laughed.

The two of us were watched by Robo, who'd already devoured over ten times the amount of nikujaga and meat we had, with a puzzled expression.

And so, our journey's night deepened.