“Anyway, I want to camp inside the dungeon.”
“That’s pretty sudden!”
The next day, I hurried over to Mr. Budo at the mountain dungeon. Since I’d never spent a night inside a dungeon, I wasn’t sure if it was okay to camp there. If I went without the necessary permission, it could lead to penalties, so I wanted to check first.
Mr. Budo, although complaining about the sudden request, looked up the dungeon’s rules in what seemed to be a thick book.
“Well, to make it short, it seems like staying overnight in the dungeon isn’t a problem. There’s no requirement to submit any paperwork either.”
“Oh, I was ready to write a long and tedious explanation, though.”
“In the city, it seems like people often stay overnight in dungeons, but I rarely see it here.”
That likely meant that in rural areas, there aren’t dungeons that are worthwhile to spend the night in. If it weren’t for the camping, I probably wouldn’t have thought about staying overnight. Monsters become more active at night, after all.
“However, those kinds of things are usually done by parties, right? Even though Aurora is with you, are you okay alone?”
“I found a spot where monsters don’t appear, so it’s fine!”
“Are you sure?”
Mr. Budo seemed suspicious, but he was probably just worried. I wasn’t so shameless as to ignore his concern. I decided to explain about Aurora and the hidden area we had discovered, as I knew that without this, Mr. Budo might tell me to stop. Even though no special permission was needed, it was better to explain.
“Ah, a hidden area… You’re really saying no monsters appear there?”
“Aurora, who lived there before meeting me, can vouch for it. Right, Aurora?”
“—!”
Aurora, who had been floating around looking bored, suddenly became alert when it was her turn to respond. She flew between me and Mr. Budo, nodding enthusiastically in agreement.
Seeing this, Mr. Budo’s expression softened, and he took some chocolate from his pocket and offered it to Aurora. He looked like a potential weirdo at first glance, so he told Aurora to be careful not to attract attention, though there was no one else around.
“By the way, did you find any valuable herbs or anything?”
“Not much worth noting. There weren’t even any treasure chests… Maybe the real treasure was Aurora and that space itself.”
“Hmm, I see. There are such things. Still, camping sounds great. I haven’t been able to go since I got married.”
“You might be able to get her to join you if you ask. Maybe start with glamping and gradually get her used to it?”
“Glamping” is essentially a type of camping where everything is set up for you in advance, including tents and barbecue equipment, allowing you to enjoy camping without much effort. I’ve tried it once, but it’s usually meant for groups… doing it alone felt a bit too much for me. But it might be perfect for Mr. Budo, especially since his wife, Fuyuko, seems to like outdoor activities.
“Glamping, huh? That sounds good! I’ll ask her! So, are we camping today?”
“Not today. We need to prepare first. Today is for checking everything and gathering barbecue supplies.”
“I see. As always, be careful, okay? By the way, just between us, a YouTuber named Nekossy? Or maybe Nekkoshii? Apparently, they were in our dungeon.”
“Huh, really?”
Nekkoshii, huh? Well, I’ve already met them. Come to think of it, after that incident, I checked Twitter to see if they had posted the three-shot photo of me, Aurora, and them, but as promised, Nekkoshii didn’t upload it. However, their tweet from that day was strangely upbeat, and their followers asked, “Did something good happen?” Of course, they didn’t mention me in the tweet and instead replied with something like, “I pulled a great fortune in a fortune slip!!!”
“Alright, take care! Have a good time, both of you! Aurora, be careful too!”
“—!”
Aurora, now feeling a bit more trust after getting the chocolate, waved both her hands in farewell to Mr. Budo. Yeah, Aurora really is friendly, and she’s charming to everyone. The impression I got from Nekkoshii earlier… not so great.
“Okay, Aurora! Today we’re going to find tons of food! The quality of the camp food depends on it! Let’s go!”
“—!”
