Volume 3 Chapter 122: First Day of Camping (1/2)
“Bring your belongings and assemble!” [Roche]
At Roche-san’s behest, everyone other than the instructors dealing with the carriages gathered.
“I think there are some of you who already know, but for everyone’s sake, I’ll start with the basics.
In roads with a lot of pedestrian traffic, there are usually areas that are easy to turn into campsites. This place here is one of those. As you can see it’s just the open part of the road cutting through the mountain, but take a look behind us. There’s a standing signboard, right?” [Roche]
Indeed. On the signboard was the drawing of a river and an arrow, which indicated where where one could get water.
“Usually, these spots make it easy to set up a tent and there’s also a nearby source of water. The people responsible for these lands specifically prepared them for adventurers like us. Adventurers that came here before us prepared it for later adventurers like you or me. That’s the kind of place this is.
That’s why anyone can use these campsites. Of course, we have the right to use them too. But when you use them, there’s a rule that you have to protect… Well, it’s mostly common sense. There’s not a lot and they’re not difficult to keep either, so don’t brace yourselves so much.
From now on we’ll be making sure to adhere to these rules and then prepare to build our campsite. If there’s anything you don’t know or understand, make sure to ask us instructors. At night, we’ll have to take turns keeping watch, but other than that, you can ask us anytime you want. If you have time to spare, feel free to take a break or gather food in advance for the days later. As long as you don’t get in other people’s way, you can do whatever you want.” [Roche]
After giving a rough explanation of the program here, he warned the students on a number of things.
Don’t dirty the campsite. As much as possible, keep it the way it was after use. He talked about all sorts of rules from the very basics to what to do when there are other people using the site.
And then just as planned, we moved on to the main objective of our training today. The beginning of the preparation of our camping. First, we need to prepare a place to sleep. Like that the instructors also started preparing theirs.
I too went to a corner of the camping site to prepare my own. In my case, I’ll be using earth magic.
” ‘Earth Wall’ ” [Ryouma]
I erected four walls from the land and formed a rough enclosure. I made two of the walls a little longer than the others, then I divided the space inside and made sure to provide room for a bed and a toilet. And then I made another two walls. Unlike the others though, I cut them thinly and made a roof with them. I filled the gaps in the enclosure and the roof with earth, and hardened it with the Rock spell. With that my lodging was completed.
Now for the finishing steps.
” ‘Item Box’ ” [Ryouma]
Umm, where did I put it…
“Umm…” [Ryouma]
“Yes, what is it?” [Student]
When I turned around there was a group of 5 boys and girls looking at me strangely. They were all kids from a different carriage than the one I was riding. Actually, they’ve been watching me for some time now, and it’s just now that they finally called out to me. …To be honest, I was wondering when they were going to call out to me, so I was actually a little nervous.
“I see you’re using magic. You are preparing for camp, right?” [Assertive Boy]
“Right. It might just look like a box now, but I’ll open some more holes and then I’ll attach these things.” [Ryouma]
As I answered the assertive boy, I took out some doors and mosquito screens that I’d prepared before hand, then I attached them to the house.
“Do you really need to use that much mana to prepare your lodging? Shouldn’t adventurers leave some spare mana in case of emergency? At the very least, from what I’ve learned, mages are not supposed to waste their mana.” [Strong-willed Girl]
This time it was a strong-willed girl who asked that question. Based on her light armor and her staff, I assume she must be a mage.
“Right. But when working outside of town, it’s hard to get sufficient rest like you would be able to at a safe town, right? I agree that one shouldn’t waste mana to prepare for the worst, but bt I don’t think using mana to be able to rest effectively is a ‘waste’.” [Ryouma]
The quality of rest that one could get from a comfortable environment is different from that of a poor environment. The preservation of strength. The preservation of one’s focus. Creating an environment that allows one to work at optimum performance is by no means a waste.
I have a lot of mana, so I can use my magic without holding back. But while that’s true for me, it’s not the case for others, so they might find it difficult to copy me. But what if it’s just a part of what I’m doing?
“Come here.” [Ryouma]
I brought the five with me and moved to a space next to the house I’m still building.
I erected four columns with earth magic, then I attached a rope to them and created a square frame. I joined together the rope, and in the blink of an eye, I was able to create a hammock. I jumped on the hammock and I was able to confirm that it had sufficient strength.
I took out a huge waterproof cloth and placed it on top of the column to create a cover in the case of rain.
“You can also prepare a bed with four columns like this. With a setup like this you can avoid bugs crawling on the ground and you won’t have to be too picky with your location. And more than anything, the consumption of mana will also be a lot less. With something like this, you won’t have to consume that much mana. Yes, for example you.” [Ryouma]
“Me!?” [Assertive Boy]
I asked the assertive boy from earlier.
“You don’t look like a mage, but can you use magic when fighting?” [Ryouma]
“I don’t… I mean I can’t.” [Assertive Boy]
“But you do have mana, right?” [Ryouma]
“A little. But even if I use it, at most I can just cast 2 or 3 attack spells.” [Assertive Boy]
“In that case, you won’t mind using that mana for something else, right?” [Ryouma]
He could use that mana to erect a wall and use it to protect against the wind or the sun. Even if he becomes unable to use magic, there are still magic tools. For people that don’t rely on magic when fighting, so long as they take care not to completely run out of mana, using up their mana shouldn’t be a problem.
They don’t rely on magic as much as I do, so isn’t it fine for them to use their mana to make their lives a little more convenient?
When I told them that, they thanked me and left.
“So there’s also that kind of thinking. But a magic tool, huh.” [Assertive Boy]
“Why don’t you practice your spells so you can do something like that? If it’s just the basics, I can teach you.” [Strong-willed Girl]
“Still, he sure was surprisingly decent…” [Assertive Boy]
Hey! What do you mean by ‘surprisingly decent’? My knowledge and my teaching abilities aside, are you telling me you guys don’t even think I’m a decent person? …And here I was thinking of teaching them stuff only I knew about like about slimes or alchemy. Although I guess it’s still a bit early to be giving advice like that…