“Damn it, what the hell did that bastard do?!”

“Gahhh, I just ate, and now I’m getting hungry again?!”

“Gugogyurururu~”

As I was cooking, groans echoed from around me. The last one sounded more like a stomach growling than an actual voice, but oh well.

“Hey, hey, pulling something like that out here…”

“This is basically torture.”

“Oh my, it looks absolutely delicious.”

While making the stove, I suddenly remembered the SkyWolf Mushrooms we had eaten on our way to the Fenrir village. Since they only needed to be grilled, I figured why not—but maybe that was a mistake.

“I see… Using fruit juice on it is a new discovery.”

When I squeezed some juice from a citrus fruit similar to a lemon over the mushrooms, Fleur seemed surprised.

“It might depend on individual taste, but it could be interesting to try different fruit juices.”

Rio also joined in, discussing cooking techniques with Fleur while drizzling juice over her own portion.

“H-Hey… I’ll pay, so can you spare some for us too?”

As I stirred the pot next to the grilling mushrooms, Alyssa approached with an offer.

We had plenty, so I didn’t really mind, but… which one should I give them?

“We have both wild and regular ones. Which would you like?”

“The ones currently grilling are wild. Judging by their size and aroma, I’d say they’re worth about 20,000 frons each,” Fleur commented, appraising them with a merchant’s eye.

That was helpful since I had no idea how much they’d sell for.

“T-Twenty thousand?!”

“So they were wild…”

“Oh my…”

20,000 frons—about the same as a reward for completing a C-rank request. It wasn’t an impossible amount for a C-rank adventurer to pay, but whether they’d spend that much on a single mushroom for dinner was another matter.

Alyssa pondered, tapping her chin, but soon made her decision with a smile.

“Then we’ll take the regular ones.”

“Understood.”

That said, we actually had fewer regular ones in stock, but oh well.

“Here you go.”

“Thanks.”

After finalizing the trade at the price Fleur set, Alyssa and her group happily started roasting their mushrooms over the campfire.

“Still, you’re really skilled with earth magic.”

Fleur had been watching intently when I built the stove earlier, so she must have been referring to that.

“You think so?”

“Yes. I was hoping to gain some insight into making magic thermos bottles, but I couldn’t figure it out at all.”

“Ahaha.”

While I had given direct lessons to craftsmen, making magic thermos bottles was apparently quite difficult. It was just a matter of creating thick walls and vacuum-sealing the inside, but if you aimed for lighter weight, you had to make the walls thinner, which raised the difficulty. Still, since it was the first product, there was no need to go for a high-end model right away.

That aside, the stove I made in an instant probably wasn’t something that could serve as a reference.

“Anyway, the stew is ready, so let’s eat.”

“Sounds good… Alright, let’s dig in.”

Rio ladled some stew into bowls and handed them to Fleur.

In the end, we settled on stew. Just tossing in ingredients usually resulted in a reliably tasty meal.

“Thank you.”

After handing a bowl to Lambert as well, Rio passed the next one to me.

“Thanks.”

I also placed a separate large pot in front of Nir, who immediately started devouring it with incredible speed. His appetite never failed to impress. He even stuck his face into the pot—wasn’t it hot?

“When you’re on guard duty, you have to take turns keeping watch at night. That’s one area where small parties are at a disadvantage.”

After opting not to use the camping house and instead building a simple hut with earth magic, I sat with Alyssa during our night watch, listening to her advice on nighttime security.

Beside me, Nir lay sprawled out, and my hand never stopped stroking his fluffy fur. Fluffiness was the best.

“Oh, that’s not a problem. Back when we camped in the Demon Forest, Rio and I took turns standing watch.”

“The Demon Forest…? Did I mishear that…? Well, whatever. Keeping an eye out for monsters is a given, but you also need to watch for approaching humans.”

“Humans?”

There were, of course, bandits. But some adventurers also made a habit of robbing their peers, and there were merchants who engaged in fraud.

“Basically, the less you know someone, the less you should trust them. Be mindful of that.”

“Got it.”

There were always shady people out there, and we had already fallen victim to a scam as soon as we entered the commercial nation. We definitely needed to stay cautious.

“Well… with that familiar of yours around, I doubt many people would approach carelessly…”

As Nir let out a huge yawn and sprawled out lazily, Alyssa sighed in exasperation.

“Besides, from what I heard at the guild, you two are pretty skilled. You noticed those animals peeking out from the roadside earlier before anyone else. Honestly, I barely had anything to teach you.”

Alyssa shrugged as she spoke, but that didn’t mean her advice had been useless.

“We still learned a lot, so we really appreciate it.”

“Is that so?”

In the end, we decided not to use the camping house tonight. Instead, I used earth magic to create a simple sleeping area with a roof, which surprised Alyssa and the others.

By now, my presence detection skill kept watch even while I slept, so under normal circumstances, we didn’t need to take turns on watch anymore. However, I figured that, at least while on escort missions, standing guard properly was the way to go.