"Ugh, there aren’t any good requests today."

"Why don’t we just stick with the usual? Head to the forest for hunting and gathering."

"Yeah, sounds like a plan to me."

This is the adventurers' guild in the city of Al-Flare. Like always, we’re here bright and early to check out the request board, but there aren’t many appealing jobs available. Since this city attracts a lot of rookie adventurers, typical requests include gathering medicinal herbs, exterminating goblins, or providing materials like meat and hides from horned rabbits or wild boars.

The request board also lists urgent jobs or requests with higher rewards than the guild’s standard purchase prices for specific materials. For absolute beginners, there are low-risk jobs like cleaning the city or dredging ditches. Beyond that, there are requests for adventurers ranked D and above.

As E-ranked adventurers—the lowest rank—we focus on steadily completing hunting quests to build up a track record and aim for promotion to D-rank. Sure, defeating higher-level monsters would get us promoted faster, but we’re not about to take unnecessary risks.

"Alright, let’s head to the forest then."

"Phew, we’ve gathered plenty of herbs and hunted down a good number of goblins."

"Yeah, let’s take a break now."

"Agreed."

By midday, we’ve managed to gather a decent amount of herbs and defeat five goblins. For the goblins, all we need to bring back to the guild are their ears as proof of subjugation. The rest of the corpses we bury deep in the ground.

Even though so many rookie adventurers hunt goblins every day, their numbers never seem to dwindle. Their reproduction rate must be absurd... And if left unchecked, they breed so much that large-scale extermination requests have to be issued.

"Let’s head toward the river for a break."

"Alright. Let me check the compass... It’s this way."

"You know, this compass is seriously useful."

"It really is."

About a month ago, we happened to save a merchant named Tetsuya, who said he was from a distant country. He gave us this compass, a tool that always points in a consistent direction when held flat. Thanks to it, we no longer get lost in this vast forest, even when venturing far from Al-Flare.

The red needle points toward the deeper part of the forest, while the opposite side shows the way out. Most adventurers who get lost in this forest lose track of their direction and unwittingly venture further in.

With this compass, though, there’s no chance of that happening. The only concern is if the compass breaks during a monster encounter, so recently, many adventurers have started carrying a spare.

From our usual path, heading to the left of the red needle leads us straight to the big river.

"Alright, I’ll start the fire."

"I’ll fetch some water from the river."

"I’ll gather some more firewood nearby."

Thanks to the compass, we’ve reached the river safely. I remember how, in the past, a break would mean chewing on tough, foul-smelling dried meat.

But with this fire starter—a tool for easily making fire—we can quickly get a fire going. Roasting the dried meat over a fire softens it and reduces the smell. Back then, though, starting a fire was such a hassle that we rarely bothered. It’d be easier if we had a magic caster in the party who could use fire spells, but that’s not something we can count on.

"Fire’s ready."

"I’ve got the water!"

"And here’s the firewood. This should be enough."

Using frayed hemp twine as tinder, I scrape the fire starter to create sparks. Once the black powder catches fire, it ignites the twine, and the fire quickly spreads.

I’ve tried using flint and steel before, but getting a flame with that is much harder. Even someone as clumsy as me can start a fire easily with this tool.

"What flavor should we go for today?"

"Consommé, maybe?"

"Yeah, we had egg soup yesterday, so consommé sounds good."

"Alright, consommé it is."

I fill a pot with river water and set it over the fire to boil. Once the water’s hot, I take out one of the wooden containers holding instant soup powder—a new product Tetsuya started selling at his shop. Adding this powder to hot water makes incredibly delicious soup.

There are four flavors, so we can enjoy a different one every day. The shop limits purchases to two flavors per person, but since we’re a party, we share among ourselves. Solo adventurers often return the next day to collect all four flavors.

"Let’s add the dried meat too."

Into the boiling water, I pour three servings of consommé soup powder from the wooden container, then toss in some dried meat. The soup softens the meat and makes it delicious enough to eat.

"Finally, sprinkle some outdoor spice... and it’s ready!"

"Thanks."

"Smells amazing."

Once the dried meat has softened in the soup, I divide it into three portions and finish it with a sprinkle of outdoor spice—a magical seasoning Tetsuya gave us that transforms the taste of grilled meat or fish into something extraordinary.

This recipe we came up with—instant soup combined with dried meat and a touch of outdoor spice—is the perfect meal for us.

"Let’s eat!"

"Thank you for the food!"