Chapter 28. Three Things

Naturally, the journey to the north was quite long.

The time she spent alone with Claude had already passed about a week, and during that time, three things had changed.

First, our lodgings changed.

Until now, we had been staying at inns, even if they were shabby, but from today, we had to camp for a few days. The surroundings were gradually turning into a barren plain.

Thud.

Claude dropped a heavy bundle in front of me and silently demanded something. Not knowing what it was, I became confused and just stared up at him, using my gaze as a question.

“……?”

“Set it up.”

“What is this?”

“A tent.”

“Ah.”

Finally understanding the situation, I let out a short exclamation before opening the bag. Inside, I could see fabric and poles to support it.

Since I was Claude’s subordinate, I had to set up the tent.

Clank clank.

It’s my first time setting up a tent.

I awkwardly took out the components and spread them on the ground.

“Hmm… Do I start with the poles?”

I muttered to myself as I started to struggle. I roughly knew the principle of tents, so this should work.

I gradually set up the tent, threading the fabric through the loops in the middle of the poles. I felt a sharp gaze from the side, but I stubbornly maintained my pace.

Haste makes waste, they say.

So don’t pressure me, you jerk.

“At this rate, the sun will set before we’re done.”

“……”

He’s all talk for someone just standing there with his arms crossed, watching.

I gave him a quick, timid glare and then tried to balance the center of the poles. Why does it keep collapsing when it seems like it’s about to stand? It’s so frustrating.

Having never set up a tent in my life, I struggled for quite a while.

“Phew. It would be easier with two people…”

As I was subtly hinting for help, I suddenly closed my mouth.

Rustle rustle.

There was a sound from beyond the bushes.

A wild animal?

I rolled my eyes to look at the shaded forest. It was dark, and I couldn’t see anything. But I could feel that something was there in the darkness.

“Uh, um…”

I stuttered, unable to speak properly, and looked to Claude for help. However, he had his back turned to me, leisurely gathering twigs to make a campfire.

I found out later that originally, subordinates were supposed to do all of this. He probably started moving on his own because my pace was too slow and he got impatient.

Anyway, that’s beside the point…

He’s a hero, how can he not sense this presence?

Thump thump thump thump!

At that moment, the beast in the bushes charged towards me.

“Kyaaaa! It’s a wild boar…!”

I screamed loud enough to shake the forest.

Claude seemed more startled by my scream than by the wild boar. He flinched, his shoulders jerking, but then swung his sword as if to say, ‘What’s all this fuss about such a small thing?’

Squeak!

The wild boar fell lifelessly with a short death cry.

“Huff, huff…”

I breathed heavily.

It was a brief moment, but I had experienced the fear of death. Thinking Claude was my only hope for survival, I found myself clinging to his side without even realizing it.

After a moment of silence…

“……”

“……”

It felt like my scattered wits were slowly returning.

I cautiously raised my head. Claude was looking down at me with a grim expression. His lips were tightly pressed into a straight line.

“Hehe…”

“Let go.”

“Yes, sir.”

I quickly released my arms that had been tightly hugging him.

After looking at me as if I were pathetic, Claude glanced at the flattened remains of the tent on the ground. Feeling guilty, I hurried to explain.

“I was startled because of the wild boar…”

“Dinner rolled in on its own, it seems.”

Saying that, he bent down again and started to finish setting up the campfire. I blinked as I watched him skillfully light the fire.

It wasn’t visible when it was dark, but now that the fire was lit, something caught my eye.

His earlobes were tinged red.

Or maybe not.

Perhaps it was just the reflection of the red light from the campfire.

When I tried to look more closely, Claude, as if he had eyes on the back of his head, spoke in a firm voice while burning the wild boar’s fur.

“If you can’t set it up by the time the meat is cooked, there’s no dinner for you tonight.”

“……!”

I can’t let that happen when I’m already starving.

“Phew.”

I blew air through my mouth to lift my bangs, then gripped the poles again with determination.

Negotiating with food for a hungry person brought forth strength and wisdom I never knew I had. I displayed amazing concentration as I carefully balanced the poles and covered them with the fabric.

After several attempts, finally…

“Ahh! It’s done!”

My heart felt like it would fly out of my chest with joy.

Setting up a tent for the first time in my life brought an incredible sense of achievement. And I did it all by myself!

“You’re noisy.”

But Claude’s reaction was indifferent.

Without a word of praise for my hard work, he patted the spot next to him. It was a gesture telling me to come and sit down.

Geez, you have no empathy.

A complaint rose in my mind, but I was so hungry that I quickly went over and sat next to him. The wild boar was cooking appetizingly, giving off a savory smell.

My mouth watered.

“Slurp.”

As I licked my lips, Claude glanced at me and cut off a piece of meat with his dagger.

“The outside is cooked.”

He handed me the meat as he said this.

This was the second thing that had changed.

He always made sure I had food to eat first. It seemed like he heard my stomach growling several times over the past week.

Even in restaurants, at first we would wait for both of our meals to arrive before starting to eat, but from some point on, he would push his plate towards me even if his food came first. Of course, I politely refused.

<It’s okay.>

<Just taste it.>

When he said it with such a scary face, I couldn’t refuse twice. Besides, my stomach chose that moment to growl once more.

I gratefully tasted his food, munching away.

He would prioritize my provisions when buying dried food at the market, and now he was making sure I got meat first even while camping.

It seemed he was considering the purifier’s health.

After all, I need to eat and sleep well to go around exterminating the undead effectively.

“Munch munch. It’s delicious. But it would be even better with some salt.”

As I rummaged through my backpack, I could feel his gaze fixed on my hands. When I took out some salt and sprinkled a bit, Claude quietly dipped his meat in it.

“Not bad.”

Coming from him, this was high praise.

I guess my sense is pretty good after all.

I placed the salt between us and we continued eating, occasionally dipping our meat in it.

Crackle crackle.

The sound of the burning campfire mixed gently with the sound of wind blowing across the plains. The wind had gotten a bit colder, probably because we were getting closer to the north.

I unconsciously huddled up.

Then, Claude, who seemed to have filled his stomach to some extent, looked at me quietly.

“Are you done eating?”

“Yes. Shall we go in now?”

I asked, fiddling with my cold nose tip.

Claude’s gaze turned towards the tent.

“It seems there’s still work to be done.”

“Huh?”

What are you talking about, you jerk? I’ve already set it up.

“Are you suggesting we sleep together in one tent?”

“……?!”

I involuntarily gasped.

Setting up one tent was already too much for me, so I hadn’t even thought about it.

Claude stared at my flustered face and let out an obvious sigh. Then he stood up.

“Come here.”

My body stiffened at his short command.

Go in together?

The tent is… smaller than I thought…

As I was stumbling through my thoughts, I saw him heading towards the tree where our two horses were tied.

Claude bent down, picked up a bag from the ground, and came back towards me.

“Huh…?”

Was there another tent?

Looking closely, it was a bag that looked exactly like the one he had thrown to me earlier.

“Do I have to explain everything to you like a child?”

“……”

I felt smaller and smaller in front of him as he shook his head.

I didn’t know either, really…

“You’re quite high-maintenance.”

Yeah. It seems so.

Watching him with an obvious look of annoyance, I quietly stood up. Then I approached Claude’s side.

This was the third thing that had changed.

He was teaching me about my shortcomings like a teacher.

“Hold this part like this.”

“Like this?”

“No, center it this way.”

“Ah, I see.”

This was an aspect that wasn’t there when we first set out on this journey. At first, when we went to an inn and had to leave the horses or order food, if he thought I didn’t know how to do it, he would just do it for me.

But at some point, he started teaching me one by one how to do the things he had been doing.

It seemed he was doing this because I would have to do these things on my own later.

“How did such a simple task take so long?”

“Well, it was my first time…”

“I expect you to be faster tomorrow.”

“Yes.”

I answered obediently.

Wondering if he would teach me how to hunt next if I set up the tent quickly.

“Let’s get some sleep now.”

“Yawn.”

A yawn came out just then, so I readily accepted his suggestion.

I crawled into the tent he pointed to, one of the two tents set up side by side. It was the one we had just set up with his help.

How could it be so sturdy and cozy when we set it up so quickly?

I felt a bit sorry towards him in my heart.

The one I set up was a bit…

“Ugh!”

In the early morning, while I was sleeping, I heard Claude’s startled groan followed by the sound of something collapsing outside.

Half-asleep, I clutched my blanket tightly. I could hear Claude muttering curses as he crawled out of the collapsed tent.

The sound of him setting up the tent again while continuing to mutter curses could be heard.

…I’m sorry for setting it up poorly.

Sending a heartfelt apology in my mind, I bit my lower lip.

I better pretend to be asleep.