Aiming for a Cozy Life in a Dangerous Forest in Another World! - Chapter 42

Chapter 42: Let’s Head Towards Town 1

We decided to visit the capital of Margrave Baiz’s territory. It would be our first time in a human town.

But to get there, we needed to follow the river Kaito and Pola had been swept down.

Maybe we could all go together, at least part of the way?

I suggested this, and they said,

“Huh? You were planning on going alone?”

“…Well, wouldn’t it be dangerous to take you to that town?”

“Hmm, I don’t think so. Most of the people there wouldn’t recognize us. It would be way more dangerous to let Onee-chan go alone…”

…Was he… worried about me?

Well, if Kaito said it was fine, then I guess it was fine.

It would be my first time in a human town in this world, and there would probably be a lot of things I wouldn’t understand if I went alone. And it would be my first time interacting with humans besides Kaito and Pola…

Well, worst-case scenario, we could just kill everyone and run away, right?

“Alright then, let’s all go. We’ll explore new areas along the river and head towards that capital.”

“Okay!”

When I said that, Pola, who had been listening to our conversation with a bored expression, suddenly perked up.

If we were all going, then the problem was what to do with the base.

Of course, the base wasn’t mobile, so we would have to leave it here. But I didn’t want any magical beasts or monsters to move in while we were gone.

As I was thinking about this,

“Kotoha-sama, you could unleash your aura at various points in the base and then enclose the entire area with magic. That should keep out most magical beasts and monsters. And as for the few exceptions, I doubt they could break through the walls that Kotoha-sama created at full power.”

I see.

It was a bit of a hassle, but it was better than having to rebuild the entire base.

It was practically a dragon’s lair…

We decided to leave the next morning.

We would spend the afternoon preparing.

My only task was to transform the base into a lair right before we left, so until then, I would be watching Kaito and Pola’s training.

Label was preparing the Fangrabbit and Fiferd meat from the pantry, processing and preserving it for our journey.

I wanted to see the results of their training, but there weren’t any magical beasts nearby.

So, I had them attack a tree.

Kaito’s movements were much faster, his attacks more powerful. And his attacks were much more precise.

Pola’s accuracy had also improved, and she could easily shatter trees with her magic.

They were incredible.

“You’re both amazing! You can definitely fight alongside me now!”

I praised them, and they both seemed delighted. They were excited to fight with me.

As I was watching them, Rin conveyed, “Me too!”

“Huh? Were you training too, Rin?”

When I asked, Rin shot something at the tree.

The liquid it fired – it was probably the venom it had acquired, judging by its color – hit the tree, and then the tree collapsed almost instantly.

I thought its venom used to rot the tree, causing it to snap at the weakened point.

But this time, it looked like it had melted the tree in an instant.

“……Umm, did your venom get stronger?”

“Yep!” Rin jiggled. “I learned other things too!” It conveyed.

It seemed like Rin had also learned to create a more potent venom and something like a smokescreen.

I was hoping we could try them out on our journey.

We finished confirming everything, took a bath, and went to bed early to prepare for tomorrow’s departure.

♢　♢　♢

The next day, we left the base.

I activated 『Dragon Transformation』 and unleashed my aura at various points in the base.

Then, I activated 『Earth Magic』 at maximum power, with 『Dragon Transformation』 still active, creating a huge dome-shaped wall to enclose the entire rocky mountain and protect the base.

I had made it so strong that if something were to break through it, I would just have to accept it.

Once everything was ready, we set off, heading towards the river where Kaito and Pola had been swept down.

I thought I should take the lead since it was dangerous, but at Kaito’s suggestion, we decided to take turns leading and keeping watch.

For now, I kept my aura concealed, using my usual forest exploration style.

We reached the river, checked the flow, and started walking upstream.

After walking for a while, we started to see magical beasts. We must have been far from our usual range of activity.

Whenever Kaito or Pola spotted one, they would shout, “Watch this!”, and charge at it.

I thought about warning them about the dangers of charging in blindly, but I decided not to discourage them. They had trained hard because they wanted to help me, and I didn’t want to spoil their moment.

Label was keeping watch, and they weren’t straying too far from us, so I knew we could back them up if anything happened.

Kaito had become much better at dodging attacks, creating openings, and striking.

Pola was now incorporating 『Earth Magic』, which she had learned after 『Wind Magic』, into her attacks, accurately hitting multiple magical beasts in their vital points with a combination of stone and ice projectiles.

I could never achieve that level of precision.

Both of them could now defeat something like a Forest Tiger without much difficulty.

As the sun began to set, we started looking for a place to sleep.

The river was dangerous, so we went a little deeper into the forest, looking for a clearing.

Once we found a suitable spot, I used 『Earth Magic』 to create a wall around it. I didn’t forget to create a few peepholes so we could see what was happening outside.

Kaito created beds for us inside, while Pola, with Label’s guidance, butchered and cooked the Fangrabbit we had hunted earlier.

I unleashed my aura at four points within the temporary base to ward off magical beasts.

For dinner, we had Pola’s roast Fangrabbit with herbs.

Label had gathered a variety of fragrant herbs that could be used for cooking.

He had dug them up, roots and all, and stored them with Rin, so he was probably planning on growing them back at the base.

They smelled great and also masked the gaminess of the meat.

After dinner, we went straight to bed.

We decided to take turns keeping watch: Kaito, then me, then Label.

The middle shift was the hardest, but I insisted on taking it. Label had to prepare breakfast, and I didn’t want to make Kaito do it.

Pola also wanted to keep watch, but I wasn’t going to let a six-year-old girl do that.

Besides, we had covered a considerable distance today, and she had fought many magical beasts — well, only rabbits and tigers — to show me how strong she had become.

We would be traveling again tomorrow, so I wanted her to get a good night’s sleep.

I convinced Pola to sleep, left Kaito in charge of the first watch, and went to bed.

♢　♢　♢

“Onee-chan, wake up.”

“………Hmm? Is it my turn?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright.”

I switched places with Kaito and went to our designated watch post.

This was my first time keeping watch while camping. There wasn’t much to do.

I just circled the perimeter of our temporary base, peeking through the holes I had created to check if anything was approaching.

We had 『Light Magic』 illuminating the area where Kaito, Pola, and Label were sleeping, so there weren’t any creepy sounds in the darkness.

Label said we should be able to reach the edge of the forest by midday the day after tomorrow if we kept up this pace. I guess I should start thinking about what I wanted to do in the town…