The current destination lies within a vast forest, a towering mountain ominously known as the “Mountain of Evil.”
It’s even taller than Mount Fuji, which exceeds 4,000 meters in elevation, making it an easy landmark to spot.
Even without a compass, I’ve been able to make steady progress without losing my way, thanks to the grand sight of the mountain in the distance. I can check my location using a magical map granted by the Creator God, but it’s quite basic and doesn’t help much in the dense forest. So, I occasionally climb trees to check my direction.
“Heading toward where the mana is densest should be about right. Still, it doesn’t hurt to double-check.”
Once, lured by the mana, I ended up face-to-face with a bear-like magical beast over three meters long, and it nearly scared me out of my wits.
The bear monster, one eye blind, seemed to be in the middle of a meal, tearing into meat from a deer-like creature with ferocious hunger.
Naturally, I slipped away quietly while it was distracted by its food. Even with the protection of the Creator God, facing such a terrifying monster would no doubt leave me traumatized. I used my appraisal skill to check, and it turned out to be a “Murder Grizzly” — a name as terrifying as the creature itself.
A protagonist with a hero’s mindset might have tried to fight it, but unfortunately, I’m just a supporting character through and through. If I’m going to face it, I’ll need to raise my level and become much stronger first.
Since learning that powerful beasts release dense mana, I’ve stopped relying on instinct alone and now confirm my direction visually. Thanks to this, I’ve been getting closer to my destination without getting lost.
“Still, it’s quite far, huh? It’s going to take over two weeks on foot.”
Since I’m not in a rush, I prioritize safety. It’s been two days since I entered the great forest, and I’ve covered a decent distance. So far, I haven’t sensed any human presence around.
Instead, the number of magical beasts has increased.
I’ve been encountering forest foxes — Green Foxes — and forest wolves — Forest Wolves — which has helped me level up my magic.
“Water Cutter!”
Through continuous practice with manipulating water spheres, I acquired this water-based magic. It allows me to slice through objects, aiming for the necks of monsters with a pressured jet, similar to a water jet cutter.
The attack power is quite high, easily slicing through necks. Compared to suffocating enemies with water spheres, this is faster and more reliable, so I’ve been focusing on training this water spell lately.
“My level reached 10. The item box is now at level 3, so storage capacity has increased a lot, too. Things are going smoothly.”
Unfortunately, my summoning magic is still stuck at level 2.
I can only summon items from the 100-yen and 300-yen shops, and only up to 300-yen items at that.
“It’s not too inconvenient for now, but I’m starting to crave fresh vegetables and fruits…”
If only I could summon fresh food with the summoning magic.
(But judging by the level progression, I’ll probably only be able to summon items up to 500 yen at most…)
I sigh. Thankfully, the 100-yen shop does have canned fruit, so I’ve been making do with canned mandarins, peaches, and pineapples.
“But I’m tired of syrupy canned fruit… I want to eat a plain apple.”
I long for fresh, crisp fruits with a hint of sourness. I found vegetable seeds at the 100-yen shop, but I can’t exactly grow them while I’m on the move, so I had to give up on that.
“…Maybe I should slow down a bit and spend more time foraging and hunting.”
Since I’ve been focusing on covering distance, I haven’t done much exploring around me.
With the Appraisal skill, I’ve only been checking the plants within my protective barrier during camp.
“I want to level up Appraisal, and maybe I’ll find some edible wild plants.”
I started to feel a bit excited.
It reminded me of the time I went into the mountains with my maternal grandfather on a hunting trip. We kept our gear minimal, making it almost a survival camp.
It was the first time I drank water drawn from a stream, boiled for safety, and tried cooking and eating wild herbs.
(Maybe this lifestyle actually suits me. It was a lot of fun.)
That time, we were looking for boar.
We didn’t find any, but we caught a wild rabbit instead.
My grandfather quickly dressed and cooked it by the stream.
The meat, seasoned with just a sprinkle of salt, had a unique flavor, but my hunger made it taste delicious.
When we wanted a snack, we gathered some winter berries left on the mountainside.
“Winter strawberries, mountain persimmons. The autumn olive was a bit bitter, but there were surprisingly edible things in the mountains.”
The forest was bountiful.
And since this vast forest is filled with mana, there must be more flavorful berries than in the winter mountains of Japan.
As my alarm chimed to signal midday, I decided to take a break. I had my eye on a spot with a small lake that looked quite comfortable.
“The water is so clear. I wonder if there are any fish?”
Water spots are often home to slimes, so the area is spotless with no trash. Slimes are excellent cleaners, as they dispose of any animal or beast remains, so I’ve been leaving them alone lately.
“Yep, it’s a nice spot. I’ll use this as my base for foraging and hunting today.”
Feeling excited, I inspected the surroundings.
I stored any obstructive fallen trees in my item box. Some stumps still had roots in the ground and couldn’t be stored, so I used a life spell, Dry, to dehydrate them.
Then I softened the ground with earth magic and tried storing them again.
“All right, they’re stored. Now I can clear more space for the camp…”
With my trusty hand axe, chopping down trees is difficult, so I tried using Water Cutter on a trunk, and it sliced cleanly.
“Wow! Magic really is amazing. It’s easier than using a chainsaw.”
Wanting to create a sunny ten-meter square area within my protective barrier, I continued cutting down trees. I removed the stumps as well and used earth magic to level the ground, creating a proper campsite.
“Nice! It looks comfortable.”
I set up my tent, arranged a table, cooking equipment, and a chair, all taken from my storage.
It was perfect. With my prized camping gear surrounded by lush greenery and a beautiful, crystal-clear lake right in front of me.
“All right, time to show off.”
I took a few photos with my phone and sent them through the Hero Messenger app, created by the Creator God, with the message, “Today’s campsite!”
“Well then, let’s have lunch.”
I felt like having pasta for the first time in a while, so I decided to make aglio e olio.
While boiling some pasta from the 100-yen shop, I started on the sauce. I had oil and powdered pasta sauce, but I wanted to add a personal touch.
I summoned a can of sardines in oil and heated the oil in a pan over medium heat. For garlic flavor, I used garlic paste from a tube and added a red pepper.
“Smells great.”
Garlic really does stir up the appetite.
Humming a tune, I added the sardines to the pan and sautéed them.
When the pasta was slightly undercooked, I added it to the pan, along with a bit of the cooking water and some salt and pepper. After tasting, I drizzled olive oil on top and sprinkled fried garlic and dried onions.
Not bothering with a plate, I decided to eat straight from the pan. I also started grilling some Horn Rabbit meat skewers on a makeshift grill.
The sizzling skewers emitted a delightful aroma.
Seasoned simply with magic salt, they had always been delicious, so I looked forward to it.
“Yeah, pasta enjoyed outside while camping is the best.”
Relaxing in a chair and savoring my hearty meal was pure bliss. The only thing missing was a cold beer, replaced with soda, but the grilled meat was delicious.
“Camping in another world isn’t so bad.”
