Vol 1 Chapter 10 (2/2)
Each time Misasagi-senpai’s hair glittered in the sunlight, Homura couldn’t help feeling her heart thump in shock, still not yet accustomed to her appearance.
“You can also cast magic, Touya-kun? Amazing.”
“Like I said before, I failed to cast it. It’s the most basic of basics. If you can’t cast in an emergency, things can end pretty badly.”
“How nice. I also want to learn how to do it! Please!”
“Of course,” Misasagi-senpai a.s.sured her.
“But there are things you have to learn before that, okay?” Touya made sure to add.
“So stingy. What was that chant again… Hydra… Oxy… Surfer…?”
Homura held up her finger high with expectation in her eyes.
But nothing happened. It was the same even when she tried it again.
“—No good, huh? Well, I already guessed that, though.”
“The chant isn’t required. What’s needed is your imagination. The chant is merely to aid that.”
“I see, imagination, huh… Like this… a turtle’s… wave…”
As Homura started shadow training by putting strength into her palms and shooting them forward, Touya gave a look of disbelief, but Misasagi-senpai watched over her kindly.
“I’d be overjoyed if Hinooka-san manages to become a Mage.”
“Yes, I’ll do my best! I’ll definitely become one! I’ll become the greatest Mage in the Exploration Club’s history!”
“Really now.”
Touya sighed.
“Thank goodness that senpai is a Magic Warrior. You can learn both fighting techniques and magic from her.”
Hearing that, Homura’s eyes lit up even more.
“A Magic Warrior!? An Elf Magic Warrior! I see. Ah, I wish I was also an Elf type~. Light-Weight Warriors are so stingy.”
“What’s with this att.i.tude from a completely normal human?”
“There are also people whose bodies gradually change as they spend a long period of time here. I also looked closer to my Earth form here before.”
“Hoh, is that so? Then there’s still hope… Ah, that’s right.”
Suddenly realizing something, Homura took out a bundle wrapped in paper napkins from her breast pocket.
“That is…?”
“It’s the pie that senpai made! It’s the last leftovers. There was no way I was going to leave the last one to Mori-chan back home~”
“—Umm.”
As Misasagi-senpai tried to say something, Touya made her stop with a look.
“?”
Homura made puzzled expression just as she stuffed her cheeks.
“…I… gurh…”
Homura made an expression as if she were chewing sand.
“Uuu… kuh… ugh…”
Teary-eyed, Homura shot a look of protest at Touya.
“It doesn’t taste good, right? But you brought it without permission. Don’t waste food.”
The anxious-looking senpai held out some water to her/
“Food brought from Earth loses its nutritional value to an extreme degree here, except for certain flavorings. It’s not as bad as poison, but if you eat too much, your stomach will…”
“Ugh, but… it was the pie that senpai worked so hard to make…”
While glaring at Touya reproachfully, Homura slowly ate up the pie.
Homura was still quite interested in their base camp at the old castle, but they immediately began preparing to depart for their mission after eating.
“We’ll have time en route. You can ask the questions you want as we walk.”
“But doesn’t talking while moving use up a lot of concentration and tire you out…?” Touya humbly interjected.
“It’s fine. Our journey this time won’t be taking a rough path. It’s a route that the Exploration Club previously cultivated,” said Misasagi.
Completely ignoring Touya’s worried expression, Homura asked another question in a carefree manner.
“—So, where are we going?”
Touya’s head slumped in dejection. Misasagi-senpai also widened her eyes in disbelief.
“Huh?”
“See? This is the kind of person she is.”
“In that case, I’ll have to apply restraint as much as possible…”
“Don’t worry. For some reason, I feel really lively right now! I could walk dozens of kilometers!”
With a thud, Homura draped her body over the backpack Touya was shouldering.
“Ugh.”
“Touya-kun, my baggage is also included in here, right? I’ll carry my portion myself.”
“…What should we do, senpai?”
“Very well.”
Misasagi-senpai allowed it so easily that it was anticlimactic.
“We’ll have you carry it until we reach our first rest spot.”
“Ro~ger~. Come on, hand it over.”
Touya reluctantly divided up the baggage.
It included things like sleeping bags, underclothes, tableware, foldable mats, a medical kit and canteens. There were also survival tools that Homura had no idea what their use was inside.
The baggage was so heavy that it would make her recoil if this was a shopping trip, but it felt strangely light to her.
Nonetheless, the various tools were compact for the most part, and the majority of s.p.a.ce was taken up by bundles of preserved foods separated from the rest.
“There are a lot of boxed lunches for just one night’s stay… Are these reserves?”
“Yes, they’re reserves. We’ll be leaving the surplus behind.”
“We’re leaving food behind?”
“Our current destination is the 2nd relay camp. Relay camps are one of the bases that the Exploration Club has set up. When we have surplus, we leave as much equipment behind as possible and stock up.”
“I see. Then does that case you’re carrying also contain preserved foods, senpai?”
Homura looked at the st.u.r.dy case that was fastened to Misasagi-senpai’s knapsack.
“This is…”
Just as she was about to reply, Misasagi-senpai suddenly smiled mischievously.
“A state secret, I suppose you could say?”
“Eh~, no way~?”
“It’s something important. I’ll show it to you once we reach the relay camp.”
“You promise?”
The Exploration Club members finally finished repacking the baggage.
The final items that Touya and Misasagi-senpai equipped were weapons.
Misasagi-senpai equipped an arrow quiver and a collapsible composite bow, which was even smaller than the ones used in archery, on her back.
On the other hand, Touya attached two separate long and short swords to his waist.
“Oooh… A game… It’s just like a game…”
While circling around the two of them to look them over, Homura spoke out in admiration.
“Like I thought, a dragon or something is going to come out, right…?”
When Homura leaned over and tried to lift up one of the sword’s heavy scabbard without permission, Touya smacked her head.
“Yeah right! At most, a wild boar might come out… right?”
After he said that, Touya’s expression suddenly became uncertain, and he looked over at Misasagi-senpai.
“That’s right. And, considering the season right now, a bear might appear as well.”
“……”
Touya stiffened as he placed a hand on the hilt of one of his swords.
“Umm.”
Homura held out her hand greedily.
“I’d also like to equip a cool weapon, you know…”
“You planning to carry even more than you already have? You’ll definitely wear yourself out, you know?”
“Very well.”
“Eh, wait, senpai?”
Once again, Misasagi-senpai readily consented.
She went back once more to the armory and then returned soon after.
“In that case, take this—a folding knife. Properly speaking, it’s a tool for outdoor use, but it was made to be st.u.r.dy, so it can also be used as a weapon.”
Misasagi-senpai handed over a knife, which had its blade folded back into its hilt, over to Homura.
It couldn’t be compared to Touya’s swords, but Homura still felt sufficient feedback from wielding it. It might be even heavier than the biggest knife in the Hinooka family’s kitchen.
Putting in unexpected power into it, Homura timidly unfolded the blade.
“Th… This can fight off a bear?”
“Impossible. Hinooka-san, if you encounter a dangerous wild animal, please abandon all your baggage and run away.”
“Uh, that’s so uncool…”
“I’d also run away at full speed if I encountered a bear, you know,” Touya added in. “Fighting a lump of muscle like that is no joke.”
Misasagi-senpai nodded with a serious face.
“Of course, the first priority is to try not to meet such creatures. But the wild animals on Nutella don’t know humans. If they’re experienced with us, they should run away instinctively, but there are also cases where they approach out of interest. It’s still only been ten years since humans have arrived on Nutella. We still haven’t completely clarified what kinds of dangerous creatures live here.”
“……”
Homura looked back at Misasagi-senpai quite meekly.
“…Senpai… So you can talk in long sentences like that… And without stammering either…”
Homura’s head was vigorously smacked from the side.
“You! This concerns your life, you know! Listen at least a little seriously!”
“…Sorry.”
Chapter 10 END
TRANSLATOR’S NOTES
(1) Just in case it isn’t obvious enough in the translation, Misasagi’s speech changes slightly here compared to normal, which occasionally happens throughout the story. Her normal halting way of speaking (emphasized by the commas that appear everywhere in her sentences) disappears and she seems to speak much more smoothly in comparison.
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