Kays Translations

Chapter 118: Preparing Camp

　Tauro erected two more of his carefully made tents and spread soft furs across the ground inside them.

　He assigned one tent to the coachman and another to the women.

　Tauro, Shin, and Rumeya would share the larger tent.

　For lighting, Tauro had prepared a magical lantern. It was extremely useful—and immediately ignited Leada’s merchant instincts.

　When filled with fragments of discarded magic stones, the lantern activated [Illumination].

　Unlike an expensive oil lamp, it produced no unpleasant odor, cost little to operate, and shone brightly.

　It was the sort of product every household would want. Leada became intensely interested and asked Tauro to let the Garfish Company handle its sale.

　For dinner, Tauro served freshly prepared vegetable-and-meat soup, grilled miso rice balls, and pudding for dessert, all taken from his [Magic Storage].

　Leada and the coachman were delighted by the luxurious meal. It hardly felt as though they were camping in the wilderness.

“Leada-san, I’ll make sure the expenses are added to the bill.”

　Tauro teased her. Leada choked when some of the soup went down the wrong way.

“P-please direct the invoice to Marches-san. I’m only his representative.”

　Everyone laughed at her emphatic reply.

　Ordinarily, travelers would establish a watch after dinner and sleep in shifts. Black-Gold Wings, however, had Aeris.

　Aeris used her [Barrier] magic to surround the tents and turn the campsite into a safe zone.

　Most monsters could neither enter the barrier nor bring themselves to approach it. Aeris would also notice immediately if anyone crossed its boundary.

　Aeris asked whether Tauro wanted to place additional traps within the barrier, but he declined, saying that would be unnecessary.

“You really are amazing, Aeris.”

　Rumeya praised her once again.

“Naturally! I’m a rear-guard specialist recognized by the Adventurers’ Guild!”

　Aeris boasted proudly. Tauro didn’t interrupt, because in this case she truly deserved the praise.

　Dawn arrived without incident.

　The group happily ate the breakfast Tauro had prepared in advance and departed immediately.

　Breaking camp required almost no work, since Tauro stored the tents in his [Magic Storage] within seconds.

　The route over the pass had initially seemed unpleasant, but the journey was becoming remarkably comfortable.

　Even Leada, who had been tense at first, gradually relaxed and began smiling more often.

　They traveled safely through another day and camped again that night. By the following day, they were finally approaching the troublesome mountain pass.

“Nothing has entered the range of my [Presence Detection] yet.”

　Tauro confirmed this after climbing down from the carriage to walk.

　The other members of Black-Gold Wings also continued on foot around the carriage as they approached the uphill road, reducing the burden on the horses.

　The incline was steeper than they had expected.

　Fortunately, the carriage carried very little visible cargo and climbed without difficulty.

　That also meant the horses would be able to move much faster if bandits appeared and the carriage needed to escape.

　After they had spent several hours climbing, Tauro’s [Presence Detection] reacted.

　He linked [True Eye] with [Presence Detection] and confirmed ten human silhouettes waiting near the top of the slope.

“One of them has [Enemy Detection]. They noticed us before I detected them.”

　Tauro’s [Presence Detection] could sense the emotions of those it detected, but its effective range was shorter than [Enemy Detection].

　Tauro, Shin, Rumeya, and Aeris moved ahead of the carriage and continued up the slope.

“They really are just a bunch of children… Hey, leave your cargo behind and walk away quietly. Then nobody has to get hurt.”

　The sword-wielding man who appeared to lead the group was surprised by the travelers’ appearance, but delivered his demand as though he had done it many times before.

　Although there were ten attackers, only five carried swords. The others were armed with clubs, woodcutters’ axes, and sickles.

“Suke-san, Kaku-san, teach them a lesson—but don’t kill them.”

　Tauro jokingly addressed Shin and Rumeya like the retainers of the old lord from Mito.

“Suke-san? Kaku-san?”

　The two looked back at Tauro in confusion.

“Never mind. It was a joke. They’re amateurs, so subdue them without killing anyone.”

“Understood!”

　Shin and Rumeya nodded, then rushed toward the unprepared would-be bandits.

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