Summoning the RV

The Royal Castle was hosting a ball tonight. The chandelier hanging from the ceiling sparkled brilliantly as ladies and gentlemen jovially danced along to music. It felt like I’d become a princess and wandered into a dream land...or rather, it would have been better if that were true. But reality was far from a fairy tale.

“I’m breaking off our engagement, Mizarie!” As those words echoed throughout the lively ballroom, the buzzing guests immediately fell silent. Then their snickers followed, mocking me. “I’ve gathered proof that you’ve been secretly bullying Nadia! Not only does she not deserve it, but she’s a rare light magic user, which makes her valuable—and don’t think you can get away with harming her just because you’re a duke’s daughter!”

My accuser was Claude Richard, a love interest in the otome game The Girl of Light and the Evil Forest, whose world I was now a part of. Currently, he was my fiancé. He had beautiful, sleek golden locks; blue eyes as clear as gemstones; long, slender limbs; and a toned body. His pretty face was comely enough to make a girl fall in love with him—probably. I wouldn’t know how his admirers felt. But someone who would get it, the main character who had fallen for him, was standing behind him at this very moment.

The Girl of Light and the Evil Forest was an incredibly popular otome game. The main player character was a young girl living a simple life somewhere in the countryside. After her magical abilities with light were awakened, she went on to become the Girl of Light, a hero tasked with defeating monsters. And so, the game’s story followed her for three years, from the ages of sixteen to eighteen while she attended the Academy. There, she took down monsters while nurturing her relationships with the love interests.

But me, on the other hand? I was on the whole other end of the spectrum, opposite the main character—I was the villainess.

Internally, I heaved out a long, deep sigh after listening to Claude. I had been reincarnated into this otome game. Because I was the villainess, I was supposed to bully the main character, Nadia. But I’d never actually harassed her, not even once. Still, the game had somehow self-corrected itself or something, and made it so that I had bullied her.

I should’ve been grief-stricken over the shock of my broken engagement, or I should’ve snapped back despite being at fault—the villainess had actually done the latter in the game. But I wouldn’t be caught doing anything like that.

Finally, the game’s over! I exclaimed internally. It took forever to get here!

Joy was the only feeling in my heart right now. From here on out, the story would follow a path where I got my happy ending.

I did my best to get through the past three years, I mused. I was falsely accused of bullying the main character countless times. But now that my fiancé is breaking off our engagement, I’m free to live my life.

As those thoughts swirled around in my mind, a red-faced Claude yelled, “Are you listening?!” Not at all. The corners of my mouth may have even been slightly turned up while I thought about my happy future. “You shall be exiled from this kingdom!”

“Very well,” I replied, holding back the smile about to spread across my face after seeing things develop exactly as they had in the game.

“But if you were to cry and beg for forgiveness... Wait, what?”

“I said I understand,” I responded, this time with a friendly grin. Claude recoiled at the sight of it.

Was my smile that intimidating? But then again, I am the villainess after all...

“Well then, I’ll be taking my leave,” I said, saying my goodbye.

“W-Wait, where do you think you’re going?!” Claude exclaimed, stopping me in a panic.

“Why, away from the kingdom, of course,” I replied. “I’ve been exiled after all. The crown prince wouldn’t take back something that he commanded, right?”

“Ummm...”

The king hasn’t come to the ballroom yet, but I wonder if he’s gotten permission for any of this. I’ve been assuming he wanted to deal with things before the king got here, otherwise there was no reason for him to do this with him absent. Then again...it’s not like I need to worry about it now.

My family didn’t care for me. I had no loyalty toward them—if anything, I was relieved that I could saddle them with this mess at the very end.

Oh, but I do need to grab my one and only friend—my beloved black cat, Ohagi. That thought was first in my mind among all the other plans I was making for my future as I left the ball. Ignoring Claude and his entourage as they chased after me, I rushed outside at a pace unbelievably swift for someone in heels and raised my arm up. My role as the villainess was over. I was free.

“RV Summon!” I used my unique skill, which I had hidden until now, and an RV appeared at my side. It was a modern RV, completely out of place in this otome game set in a fantasy world.

The type of RV that I summoned was a camper van. The vehicle it used as a base was relatively small, making it a compact RV compared to others. The body was a mossy green, and it had white doors that opened to the back seats. I suspected those doors opened to a living area too. The doors had round windows, while the body of the van had small rectangular windows. The driver’s seat was the same as one in a smaller car; it didn’t look like it would be too difficult to drive. The door to the front seat also had a white logo of an adorable cat on it.

“Wh-Wh-What is that?!”

“I’ve never seen a skill like that before!”

“How outlandish...!”

The people chasing me were going on about something among themselves, but I paid no attention to them as I climbed into the RV.

“From the driver’s seat, it just looks like a regular car,” I remarked.

If it wasn’t apparent already, the truth was...this was my first time actually using this skill. Despite being in the unfortunate position of villainess, I also had my status as the daughter of a duke, which left me with many duties and no time to test out my skill alone. I knew how things played out in the game, so I also knew that I had no one on my side. That’s why I had been quiet about this unique skill and kept claiming that I didn’t have one—if people thought I didn’t have a skill, they wouldn’t be able to use it against me.

The only thing I’m curious about around the driver’s seat is the dashboard, but I don’t have the time to look through it right now. Better off leaving that for later.

I noticed Claude and the others advancing toward my RV, so I quickly started the engine and put it in drive, turning on the automatic lights.

Don’t touch my baby with your filthy hands!

“All right then, let’s go get Ohagi and...get exiled!” I stepped on the gas, speeding away in the RV.

“Ohagi, where are you?” I called out.

After Claude broke off our engagement and exiled me, I headed to the mansion where I lived, parked nearby, and then sneaked into the yard. I was determined to take Ohagi into banishment with me.

After calling out her name a few times, she came out with a “Meow.”

“Ohagi!” I exclaimed.

“Meow!” Ohagi skittered across the ground and leaped onto my shoulder. She rubbed her face against my cheek and touched her nose to mine—a cat’s way of greeting someone. Ohagi settled on top of my head and began happily purring. To my delight, I felt the vibrations of her purrs.

Ohagi was clearly attached to me. With her jet-black fur and light blue eyes, she was just a kitten, not even a year old. But she was a limber girl, full of curiosity that led her to jump atop various places.

Though she was doing well now, Ohagi had been treated unkindly by the mansion’s servants before. When I met her, she’d been in the yard weakly crying for food, and they kicked her in response. I’d naturally stepped in to save her without a second thought. After that, there was no way I could leave her behind at the mansion.

“I’ll take care of you, Ohagi! You’ll live a happy life with me, I promise.”

“Mrrmrow!”

I then grabbed a bag I had hidden between the shrubbery on the mansion grounds. It was packed with several seasonings, as well as my allowance, which I’d slowly saved up. I’d prepared all this ahead of time, knowing that today’s events would take place.

All right... We’re ready to go!

Just when I was about to leave the mansion, a voice suddenly rang out, yelling, “Mizarie!” It was my father.

“A post-horse came by—I’ve heard everything. His Highness broke off your engagement? How foolish could you be to let that happen? We raised you, even though you’re a dark magic user, with black hair just as dark. Have you forgotten your debt to us? You’re worthless now that your engagement’s over!” His face was red with anger, and the maids that followed were snickering behind him, mocking me.

Yes, I was Mizarie Kraphtia, the eighteen-year-old daughter of a duke. In this world where people fought monsters and where the Demon King’s element was darkness, there was an aversion toward those born with not only the same element, but with black hair as well—especially among the nobility.

Countless monsters filled this world: slimes, orcs, dragons... Despite that, the Demon King resembled a human. Because of that, people believed that a dark-type human would become the Demon King. Nothing like actual evidence supported this theory, though.

I was born into this world as a dark-type human with black hair. As someone who had been Japanese in their past life, I felt that it was pretty normal... If anything, I thought the element of darkness was strong and impressive.

My looks had one possible silver lining—my eyes weren’t black as well. They were a coral pink, so my black hair made them totally pop in an adorable way. My eyes might have even been my saving grace, the reason why I was allowed to live despite being a dark-type.

After spotting Ohagi perched on my head, my father let out a heavy sigh.

“Are you still looking after that beast? Didn’t I tell you to get rid of it already?! It’s untoward to have a black cat within the mansion!”

“What...?” I said with a gasp. “How could you speak ill of Ohagi when she’s this cute? You’re the worst...”

“How dare—?!” he screamed. “Are you defying me?!”

I had followed my father’s every word until now. Suddenly rebelling like this must have been a shock. I had obeyed him all this time, believing that if I stayed a good daughter and avoided any wrongdoing, I would be able to reach an ending that was different from the game. I’d thought I might even get along with my family—but I was wrong.

“Father, I’m leaving. I will shed the family name of Kraphtia, and live on my own as just Mizarie.”

“Don’t ever step foot on the family estate again! I have no use for a daughter who’s been useless since the day she was born!”

“Farewell,” I said before I turned around and walked away.

The servant who had been watching the whole thing immediately got out of the way, stepping back as if they were trying to distance themselves from me.

I have no idea how I survived here for eighteen years.

Just like my father, the servants here didn’t care for me either. But things were going to be different from now on. I wasn’t going to be the villainess anymore—I was going to live my life as Mizarie, a regular person.

≈≈⛟

It was time to exile myself from this kingdom! Or at least that’s what I’d intended.

I had sped out of town in my RV to jump-start this exile, but for some reason, Claude was right on my tail, chasing after me on horseback. Several knights followed him.

“Hold it!”

“Stop there!”

I could hear them screaming from behind as they ran after me, lighting the way with magical instruments.

Why is he coming after me...?

“It’s so silly when he’s the one who exiled me, isn’t it, Ohagi?” I cooed to my cat.

“Mreow?”

If it had been daytime, the roads would have been busy with carriages; fortunately, it was night now. I saw the empty, open roads before me and stepped on the gas. The engine vroomed as the RV vigorously accelerated, and before I knew it, I was speeding away at eighty kilometers per hour, leaving Claude and the knights in the dust.

I checked my side-view mirrors; Claude was so far behind, he was just a grain of rice now.

I mean, there’s no way a horse was going to beat a car, I thought to myself, unable to hold back a chuckle at the absurdity. Even though the game had just been trying to course correct, I had still been accused of a crime I hadn’t committed and thrown out of the kingdom. This skill was the least I deserved.

“RVs are so comfortable!” I exclaimed.

“Mreow!”

Unlike riding a horse, I didn’t have to change my attire, my butt didn’t get sore, and I didn’t have to worry about getting tired since it was a machine.

After I drove along the main roads at a nice forty kilometers per hour for a while, the dashboard chimed. I checked it, spotting text being displayed.

<You’ve leveled up! Current Level: 2>

“Huh?! What’s this?!” I shouted, excited by the unexpected level bump.

Each person’s intrinsic skill leveled up differently, so I wasn’t sure what exactly had made mine go up. Considering the timing, travel distance probably had something to do with it.

There were two forms of magic in this world: elemental magic and intrinsic skills.

The elements were made up of six types—fire, water, earth, wind, light, and darkness. Everyone was born with a certain element attributed to them, but whether they could use magic of that element was separate from their birth type. With enough practice, one could learn magic, and other various things...

Even though I’d been attributed with the element of darkness, I couldn’t use dark magic or any other kind of elemental magic. Unfortunately, I had absolutely no talent for it whatsoever.

I did try practicing though, I mused. I dreamed about using magic—but that went nowhere.

On the other hand, intrinsic skills were something that could only be used if someone was born with one. Roughly one in five people were born with an intrinsic skill, but some of them were more common than others.

Physical Fortification was probably the most common intrinsic skill, and many people had it. Other common skills were Detection and Sight Fortification. As for rare skills, there were things like Appraisal and Dimensional Storage.

Then there was my skill, RV Summon. It was an extremely rare skill, and I didn’t know if there were any others who had it. There were other skills that were confirmed to only be possessed by one person as well, such as Luck and Teleportation.

Both elemental magic and intrinsic skills required using the mana stored in one’s body. The amount of mana one had was said to differ between people.

I parked my RV on the side of the road to give it a closer look—it was my skill, yet I barely knew anything about it. Ohagi looked tuckered out, nestled in the passenger seat and sleeping peacefully. Absolutely adorable.

“It looks like its base is a regular, small car, but I wonder if there’s anything special,” I muttered to myself.

The dashboard in front of the driver’s seat was an LCD touch screen. There was text that read “Level,” so I tapped it. Some info popped up. Pretty high-tech.

Level 1 Summon RV (Camper Van)

Level 2 Dimensional Expansion: Restroom

“Wait, a restroom!”

An extremely important feature had been added.

I’m so glad, I thought, grateful for leveling up from the bottom of my heart. Thank you, Level 2. Thank you!

In the middle of the dashboard was a circular map with a roughly one-hundred-meter radius. The RV’s current location was in the center of that map. There was a fuel gauge, speedometer, odometer, outdoor temperature reading, and a clock on the sides of the map. It didn’t seem too different from the cars I’d seen in Japan, aside from the fact that it displayed my current skill level.

Then I suddenly realized something.

“Fuel?!”

The RV was a car, so it needed gasoline to operate. But this world was located in an otome game that took place in an ambiguous, medieval Europe-like setting—there were no gas stations here.

Am I screwed...?

“Ahhhh! What am I going to do...?”

At the very least, I gotta avoid something as stupid as Claude catching up to me because I ran out of gas!

I didn’t expect anything to come of it, but I tried tapping the fuel gauge, and details popped up on the screen.

“Oh? The fuel is...mana?! So it runs on my mana instead of gasoline!”

Now that I think of it, the RV is my skill. There’s nothing surprising about it fueling up on my mana, I thought, nodding to myself. I’m so glad it doesn’t run on gas...

“I’m a dark-type, so they didn’t get me a magic tutor, but I actually have quite a bit of mana,” I remarked, continuing to converse with myself.

I kept reading the details and saw that there was a gauge showing the estimated distance to empty. According to this gauge, as long as I didn’t go too fast, I could drive another hundred kilometers with the amount of mana I had left.

Mana naturally recovered by resting, so it was likely best if I made sure to take breaks and rest properly at night. Getting sick would slow down the recovery rate of mana, so I wanted to be mindful of my condition moving forward.

“All right, let’s check the back next—the living area!”

“Mau...?” After letting out a huge yawn, Ohagi looked my way.

“Oh, did I wake you up?” I asked, turning to her. “I’m sorry, Ohagi. I’m gonna go look at the living area behind us—let’s go together.”

“Mrow!”

After hearing Ohagi’s energetic response, I stepped out of the RV. It was just a little bit inconvenient that the front seats and living area weren’t connected.

I first walked in a circle around the RV, inspecting it closely. Seeing what my RV was like really got me excited.

“Wooow! It’s incredible! I like it!”

The RV’s body was moss green, with white accents and a round window. It had curtains in the interior to hide the living area from the outside, which was another great highlight of the RV. The rear side of the vehicle had a large opening, so getting things in and out looked like it would be a breeze.

“Let’s head in!”

“Mrow!”

I was about to grab the handle of the side door, but I stopped when a thought suddenly popped into my mind.

What’s the key situation for this RV?! I can’t relax and enjoy myself if I can’t lock the doors...

When I went ahead and touched the door, it made a clicking sound as if it had been unlocked. At the same time, I could feel that a bit of my mana had been used. It was likely related to the locking system of the vehicle.

“I’ll want to test things out in the future—but I guess for now, we’re fine, safety-wise...”

And so, I removed my shoes and entered the living area of the RV. There was a cabinet for shoe storage on the right side of the entrance, so I put my shoes away.

“Wow, it’s way more spacious than I thought it would be!”

The inside was mainly an off-white, with moss green and coral pink (the same as my eyes) used for accent colors. There were four windows in total, including the one on the door, and recessed lighting in the ceiling which provided a warm ambience to the living area.

To the right side of the entrance was the shoe cabinet, and on the left side there was a basic sink. Above that was a convenient-looking storage space against the wall of the front seats. Right in front of the sink were two single-seater sofas on opposite sides of a table.

There’s two sofas, so Ohagi and I can each have one to ourselves. How luxurious!

I pushed my hand into the sofa. It had the perfect amount of springiness to it, and seemed like it would be comfortable to relax on.

The back of the car had a space that looked good for keeping my belongings, which probably connected to the rear-side doors, as well as another door to the side of the shoe cabinet. Next to that door was shelving for storage, which went up to the bottom of the window—this also looked like it would be useful.

“Mreooow.” Ohagi was cautiously looking around the room from my shoulders, her light blue eyes darting about. She went up to a wall close to us, sniffing it and the surrounding area.

“Starting today, this is our home,” I explained to her.

“Mreow,” Ohagi responded as if she had understood my words, and she began to rub her head against my cheek. She then jumped down from my shoulder, landing on the sink. It had a round ceramic bowl, and the faucet above it had caught Ohagi’s interest.

“You see, this is...” I grinned as I turned the faucet on, and clean water vigorously flowed out.

“Mrow!” Ohagi’s tail puffed up, and she hissed before quickly realizing that it was just water. She started pawing at the running liquid.

I chuckled. “Are you having fun?”

“Mrrmrow!” She seemed to enjoy playing with the water.

I joined Ohagi and touched the water, using the opportunity to wash my hands. The cold water running over my hands felt nice. Ohagi then got closer to the running stream, and began drinking.

“My biggest problem right now is getting food for Ohagi,” I mumbled to myself. “If we reach a town or village, I should sell my dress and accessories to buy some food and supplies.”

“Mau,” Ohagi meowed.

I’d been caring for Ohagi secretly up until now. I hadn’t been given proper meals either, so I hadn’t been able to give Ohagi good food. But things were going to be different from now on.

We’re both going to eat lots of delicious things, Ohagi!

Then I realized something. “Hold on, there’s another door,” I said.

“Mreow?”

After making sure that Ohagi was done drinking, I turned the faucet off. Then I headed to the door that was on the other side of the shoe cabinet. There wasn’t another door visible from the outside of the RV, which meant this door was connected to an entirely different space.

“Maybe this is the restroom,” I wondered aloud.

I had confirmed on the dashboard that a restroom had been added on when I leveled up. I opened the door to see a toilet with an electronic bidet, like the kind often seen in modern-day Japan. For the millionth time, I thought of how incredible this RV was. I put my hands together and thanked the restroom for existing before closing the door.

“That reminds me, RVs usually have a folding bed or something, right? I bet if you put away the table and seating area, there’ll be room to sleep!” I examined the table and sofas from various angles, and tried moving them around to see if they would budge. The sofas and table were able to fold down and... Voilà! The seating area turned into a bed. “I just want to pass out,” I said with a heavy sigh. I couldn’t sleep right now though—if I didn’t get a little farther, Claude could possibly catch up to me.

“Mrooow...” Ohagi on the other hand was tired, and as soon as the bed was ready, she climbed onto it and fell asleep, curled up in a ball. Right away, I could hear her faint breathing as she fell sound asleep.

“Of course you’re tired—you’re still just a kitten after all...” I said, petting her head. “You get lots of rest and get big, okay?” I could hear her purring happily in her sleep.

Okay, that’s the most adorable thing ever. I’m going to make sure I make money for you, Ohagi!

“I guess I should work a little bit more... Wait, what’s this?” I had unconsciously looked toward the front seats and saw a handle on the wall. Upon closer inspection, the wall looked to be a sliding door.

Could this be...?

I opened the sliding door, and there was the driver’s seat. It appeared that there was just a divider, and the front seats and living area were connected.

Good to know!

“Now I don’t have to step outside to move between the spaces, so it’ll be easy! I’ll leave it open, since there’s no need to keep the areas divided.” I happily made my way to the driver’s seat. “Oh, wait. I need to get my shoes, or I won’t be able to drive.”

I don’t want to be driving barefoot,I mused. The shoes I currently had on me were high heels, so they weren’t great for driving, but it was better than nothing. I could just buy myself some shoes when I got to a town or village.

I grabbed my shoes and sat in the driver’s seat. Just then, something caught my eye on the dashboard. On the bottom right of the screen, there was a key-shaped icon. I tapped the icon, and two lists titled “Approved Users” and “Guests” popped up. Under “Guests” was Ohagi’s name.

“I wonder if people registered here can lock and unlock the RV,” I said aloud. I tapped the dashboard and changed Ohagi’s status from guest to approved user. I wasn’t sure if Ohagi could actually open the doors on her own, but it probably didn’t hurt to have her registered just in case. “All right, I’m ready! Ohagi’s sleeping, so let’s drive carefully.”

I began driving the RV again. I wanted to distance myself from the Royal Capital a little bit more during the middle of the night, when carriages weren’t driving around.

As I vroomed off, I finally started relaxing. The eighteen years I’d spent until now were truly awful. My life had only gotten worse when the otome game’s story had started and I’d begun attending the Academy... It was a truly strange situation where I, the villainess who was supposed to bully others, was the target of bullying.

That’s why I’m going to make up for that time and start enjoying my life to the fullest.

“My father barely gave me any allowance until now, but I’m going to be able to make my own living from now on.” Just that fact filled me with joy. “Making my own money sounds tough, but the fact that I can do that means I’m free,” I remarked.

The only unfortunate thing about my newfound freedom was that I hadn’t yet figured out a source of income. That was the one thing I had to seriously think about. At the very least, I was going to sell off the dress and accessories I was wearing, and collect that money as compensation for my suffering.

“Other than that, I’m gonna enjoy living in an RV to the fullest!”

In my previous life, I had pretty much been a corporate slave, and I’d spent my nights soothed by videos of campfires. There was something strange about campfires—I could just watch them forever. Everyone should try looking at campfires.

As for content related to those campfire videos, I’d often watched videos of actual camping or RVs as well. Before I knew it, I’d fallen in love with camping content, and I’d wanted to try it out for myself, but...I’d never thought that my camping dreams would come true after being reincarnated.

“Man, I’m so excited for what’s to come!” I exclaimed with a deep exhale. Now I was exhilarated, and I decided to start off my new life by enjoying this drive under the star-studded sky.

Meeting Adventurers

Pan-Fried Lyliches

The story of the otome game had reached its end, and I was now free and excitedly driving my RV.

“I’ve been exiled, so I need to head out of the kingdom, but first I need to get to a town and do some shopping.” Otherwise, I wouldn’t have any food...or anything really.

I was headed to the town of Marle, which was just down the current main road I was driving on. I was planning on somehow selling the dress I was currently wearing to purchase some new clothes and essentials. Of course, that included food, but I needed some daily necessities to live comfortably in my RV as well.

“Oh!” I noticed some fruit on the side of the road, right where my headlights were shining. I parked my RV and scanned the area. There was an open space perfect for parking carriages and camping. Several tents were already pitched.

I see. So they have these kinds of facilities for when you can’t get to a town or village on time while traveling.

As for the fruit I stopped for, there were several trees growing on the side of the open space. The fruit had probably ripened, fallen off, then rolled to the road.

I wonder if I’m allowed to eat these... Actually, are they even edible?

I decided to step out and take a look at the fruit. As I opened the door and left, Ohagi woke up. She let out a meow before jumping onto my shoulder.

“You’re right—you should come with me.”

After leaving the RV, I used my skill to put it away. I could just summon it when I needed it, which was super helpful since I didn’t have to worry about finding space to park it.

I looked around, scanning my surroundings when I heard a stern voice yell, “Who’s there?!”

“Eek!”

“What was that giant object just now?”

Two figures made their way toward me. They were adventurers wearing armor, a man and a woman. One had a sword pointed at me, while the other was holding a lantern. They were camping on the side of a main road, so it made sense to have someone watching at night.

“I’m not anyone suspicious!” I exclaimed, which was highly suspicious in itself. The thought that I was indeed a suspicious person because I’d been exiled crossed my mind, but I decided not to dwell on it. “I apologize, but I can’t really share details because it’s my intrinsic skill.”

“Wow! I see, so you have a rare intrinsic skill... I shouldn’t pry too much then,” the male adventurer said. I was relieved that he wasn’t going to question me about it.

It was frowned upon to probe someone about their elemental magic and skills, especially intrinsic skills. This was because for people like adventurers, revealing one’s skills could expose their weaknesses.

The man slightly lowered his guard, but the woman was furrowing her eyebrows as she looked at me.

“I’m more interested in her clothes... She seems like she might be trouble.”

“Oh...” I recalled that I was still in my dress from the ball. It was no surprise that she was shocked to see someone with such a gown in the middle of the night. “Oh ho ho,” I laughed, trying to ignore the question. “Anyways, um... Do the fruits growing on these trees belong to anyone? I’m starving, but I unfortunately don’t have anything to eat.”

“You totally sound like you have some issues!” the woman exclaimed. “That fruit isn’t anyone’s, so you’re free to eat it,” she said, still answering my question.

“I see! Thank you very much for letting me know!” Looked like the fruits were up for grabs.

The trees here had mandarin oranges, as well as a fruit called lyliche, which was unique to this world. It was a sweet fruit, similar to a peach. Both trees were about two meters in height, so I was able to gather fruit easily. Thank my lucky stars.

The adventurers seemed relaxed, perhaps because I was absorbed in picking fruits.

“There’s a bonfire, so why don’t you eat over there?” the woman suggested. “It may be spring, but it’s still cold at night.”

“There’s a bonfire?! Is it really all right for me to join you?!”

“We don’t mind,” she said.

I thanked them and took a seat by their fire.

In the center of the open space was a bonfire, with several tents pitched around it. Aside from the two adventurers, everyone else was likely asleep.

It’s really a campfire...

There was something so elegant about the crackling of the flames and the sound of the firewood burning. I wanted to just stare at the fire forever.

This is so relaxing... I think this is the first time I’ve been able to really relax like this since being reincarnated into this world.

I sat there blankly warming up by the fire when the woman pulled out some dried meat from her bag and handed it to me. She seemed a little bashful about it.

“Sorry for saying you seemed like trouble. You should eat some meat too.”

“Thank you so much for all your help!” I said, accepting the dried meat with gratitude.

I peeled a lyliche and gave some to Ohagi, who happily enjoyed it with a “Mrow! Mreow mreooow!”

She’s so cute.

After eating the dried meat, I peeled a mandarin and took a bite.

“Wow, that’s sour!” The sweet-looking mandarin had been extremely tart.

“Ha ha, those mandarin oranges are pretty sour. The lyliches are sweet though.”

“You could have told me if you knew that,” I whined with a pout. Still, I carried on and peeled a lyliche before having a bite. I was a bit worried after the mandarin, but the lyliche was thankfully sweet.

The juicy fruit felt replenishing after I’d gone so long without food or water. I couldn’t help but audibly enjoy the mouthwateringly sweet fruit.

“Mmm, it’s delicious!” I gushed enthusiastically.

“Lyliches are pretty good, but I’ve eaten so many that I’ve gotten tired of them,” the man chuckled. “They’re pretty cheap, and easy to obtain in places like this.”

“I see...”

To someone who had been barely fed at home and had only gotten proper meals when attending evening soirees, being able to eat lyliches whenever you wanted was an extremely enviable prospect. Then again, I also wanted to eat a variety of delicious things—I really wanted that. Ever since reincarnating into this world, I had been barely fed because I was born with the element of darkness.

I’m going to have my fill of delicious camp foods while traveling with my RV! That was one of my great ambitions. Still, it seems sad to be tired of such a delicious fruit. I’m sure there are tons of different ways to enjoy it...

“Do you always eat these raw?” I asked, tilting my head. Both adventurers nodded.

“Is there any other way to eat fruit, other than eating it as is?” the man asked. “Even in dining halls, they just serve peeled and cut lyliches.”

The adventurer’s words shocked me. “You can easily turn it into something delicious with just a frying pan...” I explained. “It seems like you’re missing out on life without knowing that...”

“Just a frying pan to turn lyliches into something delicious...? You can do that?”

“I can’t even imagine it,” the woman said.

It looked like dishes that involved pan-frying, baking, and simmering fruits weren’t common. Perhaps the food culture in this world wasn’t that developed compared to Japan.

Possibly swayed by my unintentionally pitying gaze toward the two, the man pulled out a frying pan from his belongings.

“If you wouldn’t mind, could you show us how to make it? I want to try it, if it’s as good as you say.”

“After helping me with the fruit and even giving me that dried meat, I’ll make it as a thank-you!”

I enthusiastically pumped my fist in the air as if to say, “Leave it to me!” They both replied with a “Yes, please!” The woman seemed confused by my offer, but she still nodded while handing me the frying pan that the man had pulled out. She then lent me a knife as well, which was incredibly helpful.

“I just realized, we haven’t even introduced ourselves,” the woman said. “I’m Tricia, and this is...”

“I’m Carter. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Mizarie, and this is Ohagi. Super glad I met you two.”

After we quickly introduced ourselves, I began preparing the lyliches. First, I made an incision around the middle of each fruit, then twisted the fruits to release the seed in the center, splitting each lyliche in half. I then sliced each half into five pieces, then peeled the slices. Because the flesh of a lyliche was soft like a peach, if I used too much strength, it would squish the fruit and leave a mark where my fingers were. That would really suck, so I had to be careful.

“Then the sliced lyliches go in the frying pan!” I explained. I laid out the fruit slices in the frying pan as Tricia and Carter watched with nods of understanding.

All I did was cut them and put them in the pan, so I don’t think there’s anything that impressive about this... Oh, but I might as well add a little something.

I pulled out some cinnamon from my self-banishment kit (titled the Mizarie Set) that I’d brought from home, and sprinkled it over the lyliches.

“What’s that?” Carter asked.

“It’s cinnamon.” I had stolen it from the kitchen back home, but perhaps it wasn’t common outside of the nobility.

“Oh, I’ve seen it sold at spice stores at the markets sometimes,” the woman said. “I’ve never bought it though, since I don’t know what to do with it.”

“If you like the final dish, you should definitely buy some and try adding it to things!” I said.

“I’ll be sure to do that,” Tricia replied with a nod.

“Me too!” Carter nodded as well, his eyes brimming with anticipation.

“You definitely should! This will be good without the cinnamon too. So after laying out the slices, you place the pan over the fire, and after waiting some time, it’ll be ready!” What an easy dish this was.

“What, that’s all?!” they exclaimed in unison. The two had apparently expected some additional steps, but just heating up fruit turned it into something delicious. The flavor of the raw ingredients shouldn’t be underestimated.

While we waited for the dish to finish cooking, we had some laid-back conversation.

“I’ve been wondering, is it just the two of you traveling together?” I asked. They both shook their heads in response.

“We’re a three-person party,” Carter said.

“Our third member’s asleep in a tent,” Tricia explained.

“Gotcha.” I had forgotten about the several tents in the area. There were also two carriages, which were probably used by merchants to sell their wares while traveling.

I thought there were a bunch of different groups here, but maybe that isn’t the case... I thought, curiously looking around.

“The people here right now are from a trading company, which owns those carriages, and the adventurers guarding them,” Tricia began to explain. “For the guards, there’s our party, and then another one made up of four people in that tent over there.”

“I see,” I said. She then explained that they took turns being lookout, so all the other adventurers were sleeping.

I’m so glad I didn’t run into any monsters on my way here. I need to test what’ll happen to my RV if I run into any—I’ll just figure things out once I’m settled. Although, I do think I could just run over something like a slime... No, that’s a horrible thing to think about.

“Oh, looks like it’s almost ready,” I said, glancing down at the frying pan. The lyliches had softened nicely and were giving off a warm aroma, stimulating my appetite and taste buds.

What a criminally delicious-looking dish!

“Wow, it smells great!” Tricia said, taking in a deep breath through her nose as she gazed at the pan-fried lyliches with a dazed look. Carter looked restless sitting next to her.

I let out a little chuckle as I served them with the very same plates they had prepared for me earlier.

“Thank you. I’m going to enjoy this,” Carter said.

“Thanks for the food!” Tricia exclaimed before taking a bite. “Mmm, it’s hot, but it’s good!”

“Shouldn’t you wait...? You know what, never mind...” Carter seemed a little troubled by the way Tricia was just digging in. But he joined her, taking a bite of the lyliche before exclaiming, “Delicious!”

Glad they like it! All right, time for me to dig in.

I cut the slice into a bite-size piece. The lyliche was slightly sticky from being pan-fried. Even without eating it, the mouthwatering aroma was tickling my nose and spreading throughout my body. Within its sweet scent, I could also pick out the sharper note of cinnamon. It was a perfect accent to the profile of the lyliche, and I could tell it was enhancing the fruit’s natural aroma.

My first camp food!

“Time to try it out,” I said, nervous before taking the bite.

My mouth was instantly filled with a deep sweetness. It was as if the warm winds signaling the beginning of spring had blown throughout a field in my mouth. “Mm...!”

At the same time, the lyliche began to melt in my mouth. The peach-like fruit had not only increased in sweetness, but in flavor as well after being cooked.

“Hot!” I breathed through my mouth because of the heat of the lyliche, and I felt the cold outdoor air as I inhaled. That air had perhaps helped cool down my mouth, which helped me better enjoy the flavor of the lyliche. As I swallowed, I could feel the hot fruit warming my chilled body. “Mmm, delicious!”

I knew it wasn’t very good manners to do so, but I couldn’t help but lick my lips. The pan-fried lyliches were just that good.

I picked up another slice—I couldn’t stop. Just the fact that I was enjoying camp food while in front of a campfire made this whole experience incredible...but then I looked up and saw the night sky glimmering with stars. I was finally free from the cruel fate that had controlled my life until now, and I was so happy I could burst into tears.

“We still have lots of lyliches, so let’s keep eating!” I exclaimed.

“Yes!” Tricia and Carter both enthusiastically nodded in unison.

Sweet things really do bring happiness, I mused.

We then enjoyed the pan-fried lyliches until there were none left.

After cleaning the dishes and such, I picked up Ohagi, who had fallen asleep beside the fire.

“We should get going then,” I said. “Thank you so much for treating us so well.”

Carter and Tricia seemed surprised by this.

“What? You’re heading out now? It’s still dark...” Carter said.

“Shouldn’t you wait until sunrise?” Tricia asked, clearly worried.

“I’d like to get to the neighboring kingdom as soon as possible, so I’m leaving now,” I explained.

“I see,” Carter responded.

They still seemed worried even after I’d explained I was in a hurry, but they understood and nodded.

I also didn’t want to interact with too many people until I got my hands on some new clothes, since there was the possibility that I could run into someone who knew of me, or they could find out about the incident surrounding my broken engagement once they got to the Royal Capital.

“Well then, until we meet again!” I said.

“Be careful on the road!” Tricia replied.

“I hope we’ll meet again,” Carter said. “Thanks for sharing that delicious lyliche dish with us!”

I waved goodbye to the two and headed out in my RV. They had seen my RV up close, and were shocked. But they excitedly said it was impressive, making me smile.

After having the dried meat and pan-fried lyliches, I was full and in high spirits. It reaffirmed how important having food was.

“They were such nice people, weren’t they, Ohagi?”

“Mrow,” Ohagi responded from the passenger seat. I’d brought her there while she was asleep, but she’d woken up. She also seemed pleased that she’d gotten to eat.

“We should be about twenty kilometers away from Marle, so let’s get a bunch of stuff there. We can get some pillows and make the RV comfortable!” Just thinking about all the things I wanted to get excited me.

As I happily continued down the road, there was a chime from the dashboard.

<You’ve leveled up! Current Level: 3>

“Whoa, I got another one already!” It was my second level bump. I eagerly tapped the dashboard and checked what was added.

Level 3 Pop Top Installed

What?!

I quickly drove into a field that was slightly off the main road and parked the RV. I then headed into the living area with Ohagi and checked out the pop top.

“Oh, is this it...?”

A pop top was a rooftop accessory that went on RVs. The ceiling of the RV could be lifted up to create space at the top—in other words, a second floor to the RV. The back of this pop top could be opened up, and I could see the road that we’d driven to get here, which was exhilarating.

The space created by the pop top had a mesh tent over it to keep bugs and such from getting in, and it also had some clear spots for looking out at the sky and my surroundings. The tent part had a zipper connecting it, so it was probably removeable, making it possible to enjoy the open air.

The floor had some panels that could be clicked together, which—when laid out—would provide a place to roll around and lay down on. It was the perfect place to relax!

“Whoa, it’s incredible!”

“Maaau!” Ohagi seemed very curious about this new area. She was going around and sniffing the tent. She then rubbed her body against it.

It’s so cute how she’s showing that this is her territory.

I also made my way up to the pop top area and sat beside Ohagi. Since it was above the top of the RV, I could see quite far into the distance.

It appeared that it was right around sunrise, and I could see light slowly pouring out from behind the mountains.

“Isn’t it beautiful, Ohagi?”

“Maaau?”

I was moved by the beauty of the sunrise, but Ohagi seemed completely uninterested. She just stretched out.

It’s so cute how she stretches one leg at a time. She’s so dexterous!

Ohagi then returned and rubbed her head against me. I reached my palm out to her, and she vigorously rubbed her head against it.

“Aww, do you know that you’re too cute?”

“Mmmau.”

I was completely smitten with how she was cuddling up to me. After a while, Ohagi seemed satisfied, and she climbed onto my lap and curled up into a ball. Perhaps she was sleepy.

“Of course you’re tired. I took you around so many places today,” I said while gently petting her. A smile spread across my face when I heard the faint sound of her breathing. She was so fluffy and soft—it was the best feeling.

My lap is already warm from her, I thought, starting to get sleepy myself.

“Now that I think about it, I haven’t slept yet...” I remarked.

After having my engagement broken off at the ball, I had quickly exiled myself, so there hadn’t been any time to rest. But from now on, I would probably be able to sleep whenever I wanted.

I don’t have to do any princess training either! I mused as I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders. Being with Ohagi is so much better than being with the prince anyways.

“Mrooow...”

“Hm? Oh, she must be talking in her sleep. How cute.” I petted the space between her eyebrows, and Ohagi purred in response.

Cats usually had one home they stayed in, so the trip may have caused her some stress.

I hope she’ll feel even just a little bit better through my pets.I hope she’ll grow to see this RV as her home.

I continued to enjoy my leisurely time in the pop top.

The Town of Marle

I continued driving, soothed by the sight of Ohagi curled up as she napped in the passenger seat. The town of Marle was now close enough that I could see it.

Marle was surrounded by outer walls, with an entrance at each of the four cardinal points. It was still early in the morning, so there weren’t very many people around. But the few people I did pass by were shocked by my RV. In the end, I decided to park it somewhere a bit farther from town and walk the rest of the way.

I removed all my accessories and tied my hair into a ponytail. I couldn’t do anything about the gown I was wearing, so I tried to pass myself off as a noble lady just going on a morning stroll. It was an ambitious plan, but I didn’t have many other options.

Being confident makes people actually less suspicious of you...I think.

I stored my RV and walked down the road with Ohagi riding on my shoulders.

“It’s a small town, but there’s a lot of people... I wonder if we’ll be okay, Ohagi.”

“Mreow?” Ohagi seemed completely uninterested in my concerns as she excitedly inspected our surroundings.

I guess it’s fine. As long as Ohagi’s happy...

“We’ll have to buy food for you once we’re in town. I don’t think they have kibble in this world, so I guess maybe some poultry will be good?”

“Mrow!” Ohagi happily meowed, seemingly picking up on the word “food.”

“Um... I see that you’re a member of the nobility, but may I ask, why are you alone...?”

Before I could enter Marle, the guard at the entrance had stopped me. My heart thumped loudly in my chest.

Could it be that he knows who I am?! I panicked for a moment before realizing that a post-horse couldn’t have made it here sooner than my RV. But that wasn’t enough to quell my worries.

I still had one concern: magical instruments used for communication. There were magical instruments located in towns (but not in villages) which made it possible to communicate with others across long distances. If Claude had used one, that would mean he’d informed the town of Marle about me. But judging by the state of the entrance, it didn’t seem like they were conducting any inspections.

These magical instruments for communications required a large amount of mana to operate, so they weren’t available to just anyone. Claude had decided on his own to sentence me to exile, which meant that there was a good chance he didn’t have the approval to use a communication instrument.

Things seem fine for now, I mused, letting out a relieved sigh.

The guard only wore leather armor, so he wasn’t very heavily equipped. If they were on the lookout for me, someone who’d used an unknown skill, the guards would’ve been better prepared with gear. It seemed like there hadn’t been any messages regarding me after all.

My plan to just walk through the entrance with a confident “Good morning” had failed, but there was nothing I could do about that now.

“I’m just a humble townswoman,” I began. “I went to a forest a little distance away to forage for some herbs, and I was attacked by thieves... But then, a certain nobleman saved me. He pitied me with my torn clothes, and gifted me this gown.” This was the cover story that I’d come up with on my way here.

The guard had likely thought I was an aristocrat because of the quality of my gown. It wasn’t like anything worn on a daily basis—it was an extravagant gown to attend high-class soirees. But I had removed all my accessories before coming here, which meant I looked very strange for a noblewoman.

There was one other thing I could use: the color of my hair.

I ran my fingers across my hair and chuckled nervously. “No member of the nobility has black hair,” I remarked.

“That’s true...” the guard hesitantly agreed. “There aren’t very many commoners with black hair either, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist, and you’re proof of that.”

Black hair was despised in this world since it was said to be the color of monsters. If a noblewoman were to give birth to a black-haired child, often that child would be raised secretly and hidden from society. However, it wasn’t uncommon for the child to just be killed either.

Though I wasn’t killed, my family had constantly looked down on me and treated me as a burden. But despite how my hair color had impacted my life, I’d still been the prince’s fiancée. The background of villainess characters was often whatever was convenient for the game’s story, just as my life here was.

“I guess she does seem like just a citizen of this town if I ignore the gown,” the guard muttered to himself. “Although, she is remarkably beautiful for a regular townswoman...” Hearing the tail end of his murmurs, I couldn’t help but feel a bit bashful. “I guess there’s no issue,” the guard finally concluded. “You can enter.”

“Thank you very much,” I said with a smile before entering Marle.

Many of the buildings in Marle were constructed out of red brick, which warmed the color palette of the place.

Right past the entrance, there was a main road that perpendicularly crossed another main road at its center. These roads seemed to lead to each of the four entrances. Along the main road stood various shops that were lively and bustling with people.

I would’ve liked to have taken my time here if I wasn’t a condemned person trying to escape this kingdom... Too bad.

After walking down the main road, I found a shop with a sign that featured clothing.

“I need to get something different to wear first!”

“Mreow.”

Once I entered the shop, the clerk at the counter looked my way and immediately rushed to bow her head deeply to me. It was undoubtedly because of the gown.

“Welcome!”

“I’m sorry—I may be in a gown, but I’m just a regular townswoman.”

After sharing the same story I’d told the guard and explaining that I wanted to sell the gown for some new clothes, the clerk responded with a relieved “Oh, I see!”

The plan was to just trade in the gown from the ball for some cash. The accessories I’d worn with it were still in my RV. I didn’t want to sell those because they were much too valuable for a supposed townswoman to be hawking off for a profit all at once, and shops would be suspicious of how I’d obtained them.

“This is incredible,” the clerk said, looking at my gown. “This is in such good condition.”

I was fortunately able to sell my dress, so I picked out several new pieces of clothing. The gown sold for quite the high price, which was fair considering that it’d been a dress from a duke’s household. Though my family hadn’t treated me kindly, they had cared about my appearance. They hadn’t wanted me to embarrass the family as the prince’s fiancée.

“With the money from the dress, I’d like to purchase these, and also that one, please!”

“Of course! Great choices!”

I purchased two different outfits and changed into one of them.

My new outfit was all about mobility. It was mostly in green tones. The top was lightweight and short-sleeved, with cutouts in the shoulders that made it perfect for staying cool. For the bottom half of my outfit, I had a pair of dark green short shorts with stockings underneath and a pair of boots. To tie the two halves together, I had wrapped a thick vermilion cloth around my waist. A chocolate brown belt with a pouch was layered over it. Lastly, to top it all off, I had a white headband with a mustard yellow ribbon, as well as a leather necklace with some decorations on it, adding a cute touch to my ensemble.

Just switching out of my high heels to these boots filled me with an indescribable sense of relief.

Aside from the outfit I had on, I bought another outfit that was a bit more stylish for when I wanted to relax and enjoy myself, as well as several pieces of innerwear.

“Thank you very much for your purchase!” the clerk said.

“No, thank you for buying my dress!”

“Mreow!”

After a satisfying shopping experience, I left the store with a wide grin across my face.

Now that I’ve solved the clothing issue, next up has to be...breakfast!

“You’re hungry too, right, Ohagi?”

“Mreeew.” That was a “Yes.”

I walked down the main road to see if there was anything that looked good, and a pleasant aroma wafted toward us.

Smells like baked bread and grilled meat!

“Mraaaw!”

“Yeah, it smells awesome!”

And so, we headed out, drawn in by the delicious scent.

We were led to a market. There was an area there with food stalls serving breakfast to all sorts of people. Skewers of meat, salads, soups, sandwiches, and fruits seemed to be the common offerings.

“I see,” I said, nodding to myself. “So this is what commoners in this world eat... It looks yummy.” Unfortunately for me, there was no rice—it appeared that bread was the common staple food. “So they put meat and veggies on top of bread and eat it... Looks like there are various sandwiches and stuffed breads like that being sold.”

Hm... There are so many choices, I don’t know what to get.

Ohagi and I made our way to a stall that was selling sandwiches filled with grilled chicken and vegetables. A sweet and savory sauce on the sandwich mercilessly whetted my appetite.

“Wooow, it looks so good!” I said.

“Welcome,” said the man running the stall, greeting me.

“Could I have one sandwich please? Also...would it be possible to have that?”

“This?”

I pointed at the chicken that was currently being poached. I couldn’t give something covered with sauce and seasonings to my cat, but boiled chicken was fine.

“I want it for her,” I said, gesturing to Ohagi.

“Oh, for the cat! Of course you can have it; make sure to feed her plenty!” the shopkeeper enthusiastically agreed. “I haven’t even used salt yet. We can’t give her something with sauce or anything, now can we?”

“Thank you very much!” After I paid for my sandwich and Ohagi’s chicken, he handed me the food.

Then I got some soup and found a bench nearby to sit down and have breakfast. I prepared some breast meat, as well as half that amount in thigh meat for Ohagi. She was still just a kitten, so I needed to spread out her feedings throughout the day.

“Mrow, mrow! Maaau!”

“Wow, somebody’s excited,” I said while handing her the food. “Here you go, Ohagi.”

“Mau!”

I laid out the meat on a small plate I’d borrowed from a stall, and Ohagi began ferociously chowing down. I could tell that she was enjoying it a lot from the way her tail swayed in the air as she ate.

“All right then, time for my food!”

My sandwich had crispy lettuce and chicken covered in a sweet and savory sauce, which was on a bun that was relatively hard. It was nothing like the food I’d been able to eat when I was a noble lady. But now, I was a commoner! No matter what anyone said, I would proudly declare that I was just a regular person! Because of that, I was able to take a large bite of the sandwich without any concern for etiquette.

“Nom!” As soon as I bit down, the meatiness of the sandwich filled my mouth. The chicken seemed to have been grilled after being parboiled, making the skin crispy. The juices flowing from it mixed with the sweet and savory sauce, which rendered it impossible for me to stop eating. The lettuce in the sandwich was also incredibly fresh, helping to lighten the richness of the sauce. “Mmm, delicious!” I couldn’t help but voice my delight.

After we filled our stomachs, next on the list was purchasing everyday necessities and some groceries.

“If we can find it, I’d like something I can use as a tarp.”

“Mau?”

A tarp was basically a large waterproof cloth. It wasn’t a proper structure like a tent, but more like a roof that could be added onto things. It could be attached to trees, or even to the front of my RV’s back doors.

Does this world even have waterproof cloth though? Despite living in this world for a bit, I had only been a member of the nobility until now—there were too many things I didn’t know. I couldn’t find out little details like this when I was playing the game...

I entered an item store, a type of shop that was frequented by adventurers along the main road. The shelves were lined with various must-haves for adventuring, like lanterns, tents for wilderness camping, rowia grass (which monsters hated the smell of), leather pouches, and daggers.

How fantasy-like, I mused.

Along with the common necessities, there were also things like small frying pans and pots that could be used while camping out in the wild. They were made so they could be easily carried with one’s belongings.

“I see... There are some things that are magical instruments, or just old, but a lot of things are actually pretty similar to camping items in Japan...” I mumbled to myself.

Since I had my RV, I didn’t have to worry about lugging around my things. I first picked up two pots—since Ohagi’s food needed to be prepared differently from my own, each of us having one was a must.

“Oh, this large cloth might work as a tarp...” I picked up one before me and unfolded it. It looked to be a roughly three-meter-long square, which was plenty big enough to cover Ohagi and me. But it seemed like it was made out of regular fabric, which was the only problem. “I don’t think I can use this in the rain.”

As I stood there wondering what to do, a clerk came up to me and asked, “Do you need processed fabric?” Looked like I could get the cloth processed.

“What kind of processing can you do?” I asked.

“I have some samples,” the clerk said before bringing me a bundle of them from behind the counter. There were various types of fabrics—one that had some added thickness, one that was more loosely woven for breathability, one that was smooth and slippery, and so on.

“Huh, these are all interesting,” I said, feeling each of the samples. As I went through them, I finally found one processed fabric that seemed spot-on. It was lightweight and felt similar to fabric made of synthetic fiber, like polyester or nylon.

“That fabric is processed using the sap from mandragoras,” the clerk began to explain as I inspected the fabric with keen interest. “Because of the materials required, it’s quite expensive, but it’s definitely a good fabric to have around.”

“Mandragora...?” I echoed with confusion.

Is that the plant that kills you with its screams if you pull the root out? I guess it can’t be something that terrifying if it’s being used to process fabric.

I decided to ask the clerk how much the processing would cost. Considering the size of the cloth I’d picked out, it was a pretty penny—roughly seventy percent of the money left over from selling the gown.

Wow, that’s pretty expensive!

“If it’s too much, you can always go for a smaller cloth. That’ll make it cheaper,” the clerk suggested, concerned about the price.

“Thank you, but that’s all right,” I said, shaking my head. “I’ll take it as is!”

I was going to be camping from now on, and a tarp was a necessity for that, so I didn’t want to be cheap here. If my only reason to not make a purchase was just concern for my remaining funds, then I felt it was best to just buy what I wanted. After all, I still had the accessories I hadn’t sold, as well as some savings that I’d brought from home. I likely had enough money to get myself to the neighboring kingdom and live off my savings until I figured out a viable source of income.

“I’ll be fine!” I insisted. “I’ll have the cloth processed!”

“We appreciate your business!”

Processing the cloth was going to take a while, so I had to return to the shop at a later time to pick it up. I decided to go grocery shopping while I waited.

“First, I’ll definitely want some meat!” Meat was undoubtedly a must-have.

I headed to a butcher shop, which was selling both animal and monster meat. They were priced low to high—cheap monster meat, standard livestock meat, and then expensive monster meat.

I browsed the various options, hunting for the right one. From her place on my shoulder, Ohagi began staring at me as she rubbed her face against my head.

“Mreooow!”

“You want this one?”

“Mreeewn,” she replied adorably. Ohagi had picked out some chicken thighs.

“I guess I’ll buy this one. I should get some chicken breast too.”

I’ll work hard to give you food, Ohagi!

Along with Ohagi’s chicken, I bought some beef, sausages, and some dried meat, then left the butcher shop.

Now we’ve got delicious meat to feast on! I mused.

There were magical instruments that worked like refrigerators available for purchase, but they were expensive, so I decided to hold off on getting one. The raw meat I purchased would be eaten within the day.

I had salt and some other seasonings already, so I decided to purchase the other things I could think of.

“I guess I just need some veggies now, and then I’ll be good on groceries,” I muttered to myself.

I headed to a produce shop and found a vegetable called honey egg, which I’d never seen before. It was shaped like an eggplant, but it was a pale yellow—it really was just best described as a pastel yellow eggplant.

Even though I was an aristocrat, I was a hated villainess, so I’d barely eaten proper meals at home. All the delicious food I’d ever eaten was from buffets at the soirees I’d attended—and yet, I’d never seen this vegetable at any of those.

This means I’m probably gonna keep discovering new ingredients. I can’t wait to see what else is out there!

“Excuse me,” I called out to the clerk arranging vegetables. “How do you eat this?”

“Oh, you should slice those into round pieces and pan-fry or grill them. You can eat them on top of bread or even cook them with some cheese. There’s honey inside, so you don’t have to season them.”

“I see! How interesting.” I didn’t know that there was such a variety of vegetables in this world.

I bought the honey egg, leafy vegetables like cabbage and lettuce, and a larger quantity of certain vegetables with a longer shelf life, such as onions and some root vegetables.

After the produce store, I ran to buy some cheese.

I definitely can’t forget cheese! No way!

I had ended up on quite the shopping spree, so I headed outside of town first to load all of my purchases into the RV before returning to the shop for my cloth.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” the clerk said. “I think the processing turned out pretty nice, but what do you think?”

“Wow! It feels amazing!” I gushed while touching the cloth.

This processed cloth seemed like it could be hung over the RV doors to create an area with the vibe of a living room. The possibilities were inspiring.

Along with the cloth, I bought various little items I thought would be needed for adventuring, such as the small cookware I’d found and some dinnerware.

Now I’ll be ready to camp whenever! All that’s left is...

“I’d like this dagger as well.”

“Sure thing.”

This wasn’t a weapon shop, but they did sell small daggers. I didn’t plan on fighting any monsters, but it was probably good to have the dagger on hand.

I’m going to be traveling, which means I won’t always be somewhere safe like in a town...

The dagger, which was the first I’d ever held, felt heavy in my hand.

And so, after running errands and shopping for various things, I once again headed out in my RV. I was likely going to reach the neighboring kingdom in another day or two—after that, I’d be able to relax a bit more.

“All right, we’re going to put the pedal to the metal, Ohagi!”

“Mrow!”

As we sat in the driver’s seat, Ohagi and I both enthusiastically raised our paws and fists in the air.

The Beginning of Camping

Beef and Honey Egg Topped with Melty Cheese & Leaf-Steamed Onion

During the day, the roads were busy with travelers, adventurers, and carriages. Even I knew that standing out wouldn’t be very good, so I was driving through a grass field that was a bit farther away from the roads. At first, I was worried about being able to drive off road with all the little pebbles and such that were strewn around, but this RV drove great through whatever nature threw at it!

Ohagi slept peacefully in the passenger seat. The sight of her sleeping was the pinnacle of cuteness. I was glad to see that she didn’t seem afraid of the RV and was able to relax.

After I drove for some time, the dashboard chimed.

“All right, it’s level-up time!”

<You’ve Leveled up! Current Level: 4>

Since I was in the middle of a field, I decided to go ahead and park my car to check what came with the new level.

Level 4 Kitchenette Installed

“This is...!”

Until now, my RV only had a basic water system, but finally, finally, my palace had its very own kitchen!

I kicked off my shoes and headed to the living area right away. The area that just had the basic sink was now a kitchenette. The small faucet and bowl had turned into a proper sink, with some space next to it that was big enough to have a cutting board. At the very back of the counter was a single burner.

There’s even a small fridge!

I quickly stored the meat I bought and felt relieved that I didn’t have to worry about it. I was planning to eat it quickly anyway, but I didn’t feel comfortable storing raw meat at room temperature.

Around the kitchenette was some shelving where I could store dinnerware, as well as a spice rack.

As for the basic sink, it had moved next to the shoe cabinet between the entrance door and the restroom.

It’s placed so that I can easily wash my hands both when I come in and when I come out of the restroom... How considerate! This RV is so incredible! It’s way too sophisticated! It’s the best!

“Now that we have this, maybe I should have lunch now.”

“Mrow!” Ohagi responded, rushing over after possibly reacting to the word “food.” Since she had been sleeping until now, she let out a meow while she yawned. Just insanely adorable.

I was going to make Ohagi’s food first. I pulled out the chicken breast, removed the skin, and then butterflied it. That was all the prep needed. I then added the chicken breast along with some water to the pot I’d bought in Marle.

This heating element looks like it’s an induction cooktop, but it probably runs using my mana.

“I wanted it to have actual flames, like a gas burner, but I guess this is fine,” I said.

When it came to surviving in the wild, fire and water were extremely important. As someone who really wanted to light a campfire, I wanted to start one using my kitchen, but it didn’t seem like things were going to be that easy for me.

I accidentally mentioned food to Ohagi, but it was going to take some time before her food was ready.

I wasn’t thinking about cooking time... My bad, Ohagi.

The water came to a boil so I turned it off and left the meat in the pot to finish cooking with the residual heat. I wanted to leave it for an hour, which meant Ohagi was really going to have to wait.

I’m super sorry, Ohagi.

“Oh! Why don’t we try lighting a campfire, since we have some time?”

I wasn’t sure if I’d succeed, but it was worth a shot.

And so, I pulled out some of my belongings stored in the back of the RV and headed outside. The first thing I needed to use was the rowia grass, which monsters weren’t very fond of.

“I learned how to use it at the shop, so I’m all prepared,” I mumbled to myself.

All I had to do was place the rowia grass into a small specialized jar and light it on fire, and it would be ready to use. I was told that one bundle of the grass would last several hours, while two would last through the night.

“Wait, I don’t have anything to light it with!” I realized aloud.

Relax—remember, I already bought some tools to help me light a fire.

I had purchased ignition rocks, which were magical instruments made out of processed magic stones. Striking two ignition rocks against each other would create sparks, which would then help start a fire.

The store sold more convenient magical instruments as well, but after watching all of those camping videos and dreaming of starting my own campfire, I couldn’t resist the most primitive tool.

“I’ll have to collect some firewood then...” Fortunately, I was right in a grassy field where small branches and leaves were scattered all over the ground. I’d likely be able to gather enough fuel for my campfire in no time. “This is so fun!”

“Mreooow!”

I started gathering branches with Ohagi. Generally speaking, the best branches for firewood were dried-out ones. Those more knowledgeable would perhaps point out that dried-out branches from specific trees were actually the best. But unfortunately, I wasn’t aware which trees those were.

“Oh, this might be good,” I said, picking up a small branch from the ground.

“Mreow?”

It was very light, and plenty dried out...or at least I thought it was. I tested the branch by breaking it in half. It made a nice snapping sound, startling Ohagi. She let out a surprised yowl.

“Oh no, I’m sorry! That must’ve surprised you.”

“Mreow...” Ohagi responded from the top of my head. She had jumped from my shoulder to there.

For a second, I thought she’d just teleported onto my head... Ohagi sometimes does move around without showing any signs of her presence...

“Well, this one seems good!” I decided I would try to gather similar branches to the one I’d snapped.

It would be bad if it rained, so I should gather extra and keep them in the storage of my RV. Oh, I want to try tying them up with hemp rope, like they do with firewood at the stores! Wonder if I’m the only one who gets excited seeing bundles of firewood like that.

After gathering more of the small branches, I scanned the area for some thicker wood.

“If I only use thin branches, the fire will probably burn out right away...”

It would be difficult to maintain a campfire for any extended period of time without some thicker firewood.

Also, thicker wood can be arranged in different ways. Maybe even in a way that allows me to put a pot on top and cook soup over the campfire!

“Oh, but maybe the bottom of the pot would burn if I put it directly over the fire,” I wondered aloud. “Maybe I should use something to hang it over the fire? I think a little sautéing with a frying pan should be fine though...”

Hmm... It appeared that there was a lot more to camping that I hadn’t considered.

After I walked for a while, Ohagi suddenly meowed at something.

“Ohagi?” I called out, curious as I looked in the direction she meowed at. There was a patch of grass rustling around. “Huh...?” Without thinking, I took a step back.

That’s right; this world has monsters... But that’s probably just a cat hiding in the grass. That’s definitely what it is.

Despite what I was telling myself, I wasn’t sure what to actually do. I did have the dagger I’d bought on my waist, but I’d only been planning to use it to cut off branches, so... Basically, whatever was moving around in the grass had to be a kitty cat, for my own sanity’s sake.

Unfortunately, a slime jumped out from the grass.

“A slime!”

“Mrrmrow!”

I’ve never seen one before!

The slime was semitranslucent and pale blue, with round eyes that were a little cute. I’d lived in this world for eighteen years, but I had rarely ever gone outside, so it was my first time seeing a monster.

The only time I’ve ever fought a monster is when I controlled the main character of this game, as a player in my past life...

Slimes were known as the weakest type of monster, and it was said that even children could defeat them. I still didn’t feel completely safe, but a monster showing up like this made it all feel like a real adventure, which was exhilarating.

“Maybe I can take it down myself...” I wondered aloud. I was completely useless stat-wise, so if it had been any other monster, this would’ve been game over for me.

In a grassy field, the common monsters that might appear are jackalopes and honeycolas.

Jackalopes were monsters that looked like rabbits with horns, and honeycolas were monsters that had a mascot-like role in this game. They were pretty cute, and were said to enjoy honey. Both monsters weren’t very strong, but they were stronger than me.

Slimes had a core in their body that could be destroyed by slicing or piercing it. Destroy the core, and you defeat the slime. I took a closer look and saw something round floating within the pale blue blob of goo.

“Is that its core...? All right, I need you to get down on the ground for a second, Ohagi.”

“Mrow.”

After encouraging Ohagi off my head and onto the ground, I held up my dagger and stared at the slime, taking deep breaths.

“It’s okay—I can do this. Even I can kill a slime!”

I tightly gripped the dagger and cautiously inched closer to the slime. Even though I’d hyped myself up to take it down, I wasn’t the kind of protagonist-like character who just charged toward their enemy.

As I moved closer, the slime moved as well, wobbling around.

“It’s... It’s so slow!”

It was so slow that I wanted to fast-forward at quintuple the speed. No wonder slimes were considered to be weak enemies.

The slime still continued to wobble closer.

“Seeing it move so slowly makes me feel bad for it. I don’t really want to attack it anymore...”

The slime wobbled forward at a snail’s pace.

What should I do? Should I just ignore it and leave it be?

Just as those thoughts crossed my mind, Ohagi pranced up to the slime and...with a swipe, slashed it!

“Ohagi?!”

“Mraw!”

She’d slashed through the slime and its core with one swift swipe, defeating it!

“Ohagi, you’re so strong...”

I see, so this is what the law of the jungle is... It seems I’ve learned another law about nature through my travels...

I decided to just completely forget about the slime and start preparing the campfire I’d dreamed of for so long.

“All right then...”

Upon returning to the RV, I began lightly weeding the area. It didn’t sound like a great idea to start a campfire directly on grass in the middle of a grassy field.

With a wooden shovel I’d purchased, I dug a slight divot into the ground. Then I started placing the tree branches I had collected into the divot. I placed the thicker, larger branches on the bottom, and the thinner ones on top.

After I arranged the wood to my satisfaction, starting the fire was next.

“Okay, so in the videos I watched, they normally used knives to shave the branches. I think the thing they were making is called a feather stick? It kind of looked like a spider lily, so it was pretty cute.”

Just shaving some wood with my dagger seemed simple enough for someone not very used to handling knives like me. I held the branch in my left hand, and the dagger in my right... It was go time!

I began shaving the surface of the branch, sliding the dagger away from me. It was slightly similar to shaving bonito into flakes. Only slightly, though. Just the tiniest bit.

After I shaved the branch several times, the carved portion would curl up toward the tip of the branch like flower petals. This shaved portion was supposedly good for sparking flames and growing them into a full campfire.

“It’s ready!”

I was hoping to craft something cute. But I was inexperienced, so I just made quite the distorted feather stick. I wasn’t sure if just one would be enough, so I decided to be safe and make five. Toward the end, I was getting the hang of it and starting to have fun.

And so, I was done with all the prep work.

I placed three of the feather sticks on top of the stacked wood and shoved one inside the stack. Hopefully this will be enough to get a nice fire started.

“I’m going to light this now, so just stay back, Ohagi,” I warned. “It’s gonna get hot.”

“Mreooow?”

I picked Ohagi up and put her down slightly farther away from where I was preparing the fire.

She should be safe here.

I then pulled out the ignition rocks and struck them against each other above the stack of wood, as if scrubbing their surfaces. The friction created sparks, which landed on one of the feather sticks.

“Oh...?” The spark dove into the bushy part of the feather sticks. I wasn’t sure if it was okay for that to happen. “Did I mess up? Or did it work? What’s going on?” Worried, I edged closer to the fire to see what was going on. Suddenly, there was a loud noise, and the campfire began burning.

“Whoa! Ow, it’s hot!” I exclaimed, surprised. This startled Ohagi, making her hiss. “Sorry! I’m sorry, Ohagi!”

“Mrew.”

“Wait... Eek!” I shrieked. “My bangs are a little burnt!”

What the hell? No one said I had to sacrifice my own bangs to summon a campfire...

The monster repellent still needed to be prepared, so I pushed aside despair over my hair and placed the rowia grass into the jar. Then I lit it on fire.

“Maybe I should just use this opportunity to cut my hair...”

As a noble lady, I’d had long hair all my life. It might be good for me to just chop my hair off into a bob or something. I wanted to take care of my bangs first, but I didn’t have any scissors.

“Hmm... Well, it’ll probably work,” I said. Without any other options, I cut my hair with the dagger.

Working in small sections actually worked, and I was able to cut my bangs to fall right above my eyebrows, and the rest of my waist-length hair was chopped to shoulder length.

It’s actually not that bad...

With that, I’d gotten nicely freshened up and felt lighter.

“Now washing my hair and drying it is going to be easier. Nice,” I muttered to myself.

All I had to do was just be careful to not burn any more of my hair. I didn’t want to end up bald.

“The fire’s so nice,” I said with a deep exhale, feeling relaxed.

As I listened to the crackling sound of the fire and watched the swaying flames, a strange sense of calm washed over me.

I think this time right now is a real luxury for me. I never got to just blankly sit around before.

“I completely understand how people who go camping feel now,” I mumbled to myself.

I was recalling my past life.

There were several types of camping one could partake in. There was the standard sort, where you’d go with many people and get a little rowdy; the kind where you stayed in a cabin, glamping, which provided everything including meals; and solo camping, where you would camp alone.

“Even though Ohagi’s here, I guess this is basically solo camping,” I said.

Solo camping was nice because you didn’t need to think about anyone else. It was perfect for me in both my past life, when I had been a corporate slave, and in my current life as a villainess, where I was hated by everyone.

Being able to spend time on your own is so important...

“Mreow...”

“Ohagi?”

Ohagi rubbed up against me, then yawned before curling up in my lap. It was the epitome of cuteness.

Ohagi is all nice and fluffy in my lap, I’m petting her, and I have a campfire in front of me... This is the best. I might die from happiness.

As I petted Ohagi, she purred in her sleep. It was truly a move of impeccable skill. As I kept stroking her, Ohagi flipped onto her back.

“Do you want me to rub your belly...?!”

Oh my god! How can she be so cute?!

Of course, I complied with her request, giving everything I had. She was so soft and fluffy.

“Oh, shoot...”

After I spent time petting Ohagi, the firewood was starting to run low. I picked up some of the branches I had left next to me and added them to the campfire.

I also wanted to do this... Watch the burning wood crumble and add in more wood. It’s really fun to arrange the firewood—I could do it forever...

“Wait, I forgot about food! We have to eat.”

“Mau?!” Just hearing “food” made Ohagi wake up.

The chicken I had prepped was probably about ready, so I needed to start setting up my own food as well.

“I’m sorry—you’ll have to wait just a bit longer, but it’ll be ready soon.”

“Mau.”

As I petted Ohagi, she curled back up as if to say, “Fine.” It seemed like she agreed to wait.

“Since we have the fire, I’ll cook my food here!”

I was going to use the honey egg I’d bought in Marle. It was good to just grill on its own, but it also worked along with other ingredients, including pairing nicely with bread. It looked like honey egg was quite the versatile ingredient.

After bringing out the ingredients and cookware from my RV, I was ready to go!

“I’m kind of nervous to cook my first camp meal...”

I cut up some beef into bite-size pieces and seasoned them with salt and pepper.

“First, I’ll put the beef in the small frying pan and sear until the pieces are nicely browned.”

As the meat started to cook, a wonderful smell wafted up from the pan. It was so good that it made me consider just eating the beef as is.

“Nope. Gotta be patient,” I said to myself.

I then placed the honey egg that I had sliced into round pieces on top of the beef and put the lid on the frying pan to steam it. Once the honey egg softened, I placed some cheese on top and put the lid back on. Now I just had to wait a little and it would be ready. But that wasn’t all for my camp meal!

“I’m going to make one more dish!”

I brought out one onion and some wrapping leaves I’d bought at the item shop. Wrapping leaves were sturdy and quite versatile. They grew in most places, and they could be used in place of dinnerware, or even like aluminum foil since they didn’t burn easily.

“I couldn’t not buy something so useful.”

And so, I’d bought several leaves.

“Oh right, the onion. First, I need to make two cuts from the top in an ‘x’ shape, leaving the skin on, and put some butter on top. Add some salt and pepper, then wrap it up in the leaf and find somewhere less hot in the fire and...plop it in!”

I then waited for around ten minutes. Just those steps were enough to transform the onion into a delicious dish.

My food was almost ready, so I began preparing Ohagi’s chicken. After pulling the chicken out of the pot, I sliced it with my dagger. It was tender and cooked all the way through.

“Nice, this looks good!”

I was starting to regret not having bought a knife for cooking, but I decided to reframe my thinking and be glad that I’d bought the dagger.

I’ll have to add a knife to my shopping list for the next town we travel to.

After shredding the chicken into bite-size pieces for Ohagi, I put them on a plate.

It’s just boiled chicken, but it actually smells pretty good, I thought while stepping out of the RV with the food. Ohagi immediately ran up to me with a loud “Mrow!”

“Ohagi?!”

“Mrrmrow.”

Upon running up to me, Ohagi went straight for the chicken. She sniffed around as her tail wiggled in anticipation of the food.

I didn’t know it smelled that good...

“Don’t worry—this is yours. Let’s eat together outside.”

“Mrow!”

As I headed to the campfire with the plate of chicken, Ohagi enthusiastically followed.

“I think you may be too cute for your own good...”

The first dish I’d made for myself was beef and honey egg topped with melted cheese! I lifted the lid, and a cheesy aroma wafted up from the pan. The cheese that dripped down from the beef and honey egg fell onto the pan and crisped up, which only got me more excited to eat.

The plan was to eat directly from the pan—no dishes were needed! Not because I was lazy, but because I’d convinced myself that this was one of the pleasures of camping.

“All right then, let’s dig in!”

“Mrow!”

Before I could finish talking, Ohagi had already shoved her face into the plate. She must have wanted to eat the chicken really badly.

I’m sorry I made you wait until my food was ready...

As I watched Ohagi enjoy her food, I began eating my own as well. For utensils, I had bought a wooden spoon. Since I’d already cut the beef into bite-size pieces, I could conveniently scoop up the food!

As I took my first scoop, the melted cheese created a long cheese pull. Under the cheese, I could see the beef and honey egg peeking out, which just whetted my appetite.

I took a bite and immediately had to breathe out of my mouth due to how hot it was.

“It’s so hot, but... Mmm, it’s delicious!”

The beef had a nice sear on it, and the honey egg was soft and sweet. The juices from the meat mixed with the honey egg and created a sweet sauce in my mouth.

“The honey inside the honey egg is so good! This is definitely an ingredient fit for a fantasy world!”

The sweetness wasn’t intense like pure honey, but it was much lighter and refreshing. Because of that, I thought I could eat it forever without it feeling overly sweet.

For my next bite, I had some of the crispy cheese as well, which was a nice contrast to the soft honey egg. It made for another delicious bite. The crispy cheese also had a more condensed flavor, which made me want to eat it on its own.

“Tomorrow I’ll try putting some on bread for breakfast,” I said. I had completely fallen for the delicious honey egg.

Just then, I heard a satisfied “Mrooow” coming from my side.

“You finished eating? Hope you enjoyed it.”

“Mrew.” Ohagi seemed full and satisfied, pressing herself against me as she curled up. Looked like it was time for her post-meal nap.

“Just eating yummy food and kicking back by a campfire... This is nice.”

Even if Ohagi was unwinding, I still had a second dish! It should be ready right about now, so I used a branch to extract the wrapped onion from within the fire.

“Whoa, a little burnt—but the leaf’s completely fine.”

After pulling on some thick gloves I’d bought at the item shop, I unwrapped the onion. It had softened and turned a nice golden color, which meant it was ready to eat.

“Wow, this smells so good. I almost feel like I’m doing something wrong...”

Wonder why the sweet smell of cooked onions is so amazing, I thought while scooping up some of the onion with my spoon. I blew on it to cool it down before taking a bite. Salt and pepper enhanced the flavor of the butter, and it wasn’t too rich.

“Simple seasonings are the best way to bring out an onion’s sweetness,” I said.

Wonder why meals eaten in the wilderness like this are so delicious.

I enjoyed the onion as well, without leaving a single crumb.

I added some more wood to the crackling campfire and officially entered relaxation mode.

“Man, I should’ve bought some pillows or something.”

Since I hadn’t reached the neighboring kingdom yet, the plan had been to not stay too long in town. But it didn’t seem like I was still being chased, so I was making sure to take breaks while still hurrying out of the kingdom.

I petted Ohagi, who was sleeping next to me, and closed my eyes.

Things had taken quite some time because I’d had so many firsts—running into my first slime, starting my first campfire, and cooking my first camp meal.

“I wonder if I’ll be able to do things quicker next time...”

As I thought about various camping things with my eyes closed, I began to drift off as well, and I joined Ohagi in slumber.

“Achoo! It’s so cold!”

Suddenly, I woke up from the cold. I looked around to find that the sun had already set—I’d probably fallen asleep for quite some time.

“Wait... I’m outside?! Oh, that’s right. I fell asleep out here with Ohagi...”

Perhaps my body was exhausted, or I’d just been relieved after I was able to shop in Marle without any issues... Maybe it was even a combination of both.

I glanced at the campfire and saw that it had completely burned out.

Oh god. No wonder I was so cold...

“Yeesh, I guess I was pretty tired.”

I yawned and stretched before picking Ohagi up. I wasn’t going to just keep sleeping outside, so I quickly headed into the RV.

“Mmmau.”

“You must be sleepy too... It’s just a little past sunset, but we can sleep inside the RV,” I reassured her.

“Maaau.”

I let Ohagi down and quickly put away the table before turning it into a bed.

Sleeping with your legs stretched out is definitely the superior sleeping method. Also, I love that I can sleep whenever I want.

I’d purchased some pieces in town and designated them as pajamas, so I changed into those and brushed my teeth at the basic sink before rushing into bed. Ohagi was right up against me, which made for a warm and comfortable sleeping experience.

“Good night, Ohagi.”

“Mreow.”

Filled with bliss, I picked up where I left off to enjoy the rest of my nap.

A Successful Self-Exile!

The next day, I was once again vrooming down the road in my RV. I was actually close to the border of the neighboring Kingdom of Seawell.

It was a quite large kingdom, but because it was filled with dungeons and strong monsters, most of the land was completely undeveloped. But that also meant there were many adventurers, and the towns in Seawell were known for being lively and bustling. In other words, even if someone like me were to visit, I would likely just blend into the crowd without particularly standing out.

It seems like there’s so much going on there—I’m excited.

When looking over at the map on my dashboard, I saw that I was just a little ways away from the border.

“We should probably start walking from here. Wake up, Ohagi.”

“Mmmrow...”

She had been sleeping peacefully in the passenger seat, but I woke her up before storing my RV. We then began to leisurely stroll down the road.

After walking a few dozen minutes, we arrived at the kingdom’s border. There was a large gate, with several soldiers inspecting those passing through. People on foot went through a simple inspection of just presenting identification, while those with wagons had to have their cargo examined as well. Fortunately, the inspections seemed to be going fast. At the quickest, they appeared to be taking a minute, and ten minutes at most if a cargo inspection was needed.

It looks like I’ll be able to cross the border quickly, I thought as I merrily made my way into line, but... Before I knew it, I was escorted to a separate room.

“So... You are Mizarie Kraphtia, correct?” the soldier asked, sounding quite nervous.

“Yes...” I nodded.

There seemed to be no messages about me sent to the town of Marle, but it seemed that I wasn’t as lucky at the border. However, being stopped may have been good in the sense that I didn’t have to go through the trouble of explaining what I was doing there.

I had brought identification with me because if I didn’t show them who I was at the border, it would only lead to trouble. They wouldn’t know that I had left the kingdom as I was ordered to.

Can they just exile me and let me leave already?

“Is there a problem?” I asked.

“Mau?”

Ohagi and I both tilted our heads in confusion, and the soldier responded with a shake of his head, exclaiming “No!”

Huh? There isn’t a problem?

“Um, no, well... The border has been contacted about you, so... We did think you might be coming, Lady Mizarie.”

Just as expected, the border had received a message about me.

“Well, I have been sentenced to exile.”

“We just thought you were going to seem a bit more haggard...”

“Oh...” It was possible that they had expected me to be crushed after Claude had broken off our engagement and sentenced me to exile. They might have even been ordered to mock and kick me while I was down. Being a soldier sounded like a rough job. “Um... If there isn’t anything else, I’d like to get going.”

“Y-Yes, of course. I apologize for taking up your time.”

“Not at all. Thank you very much for your hard work.” Then I turned to Ohagi. “Let’s go.”

She leaped onto my shoulder, which was adorable, but put quite a bit of strain on my shoulders when she jumped with more force than usual.

I left the room right away, so I didn’t hear what the guard said after I was gone.

“The orders were to provide her shelter because she would surely be emaciated, but there doesn’t seem to be any need for that...right?” the guard mumbled to himself.

≈≈⛟

“I’m finally out of the kingdom!” I said with a deep sigh of relief. “I’ve successfully exiled myself!”

I had stopped to stretch after passing the border. I felt refreshed, like I’d been freed from various complications.

“I can’t go back to the Kingdom of Richard, nor do I want to—so we should just travel all over the world. It’s been fun to just leisurely live in the RV. What do you think, Ohagi?”

“Mrooow!”

I was initially worried that the change in environment would stress Ohagi out, but she had actually been more energetic since we’d left home, just like me. I was considering renting a place and living there if this lifestyle was too much for Ohagi, but it didn’t seem like there was any need for that.

And so, I decided to go forward with the laid-back leisurely life I’d dreamed of in my previous life.

The area right around the border gates was quite crowded, making it a bad location to summon my RV. However, I was already out of my home kingdom, which meant there was no need to hurry away.

There was a town around ten minutes away from the border on foot, so I decided it might be good to stop there and rest for a bit.

“There’s a bunch of things I want too,” I thought aloud. “I need a kitchen knife and a pillow. I want some daily necessities like a bath towel and other things like that.”

As my skill level continued to increase, my RV would likely grow bigger as well. Considering that possibility, I wanted to start fleshing out my dinnerware collection as well.

I wonder how many sets of dinnerware I should buy... It looks nicer to have matching things, but if it’s just Ohagi and me that are going to be using them, then... Though come to think of it, I might run into people like I did when I met Tricia and Carter, so it might be nice to have five of everything. Man, why is it so fun to just think about the future like this? There’s too many things I want.

“I want to buy some toys for Ohagi too...”

Though I wanted to get something for her, I wasn’t sure if cat toys actually existed in this world. I’d never seen one in shops before, so it was possible that I would have to make one myself.

“Huh? There’s a lot of people walking that way,” I said.

“Mau?”

The road that passed through the border led to a town to my right, but some people were heading to the left and into a grass field. Their destination looked to be...the top of a hill.

I took a better look and saw that there were clear tracks, showing that the grassy field had been well traveled, with people passing through regularly.

“Why don’t we go there too?”

“Mau!”

Overcome with curiosity, I stepped off the town road and headed toward the field. There were people of various ages, from young children to the elderly, walking in the same direction. What was waiting there? My question was answered after a few minutes of walking.

Before me was an entire field of gold.

“Whoa! The whole area is a field of flowers!”

“Mroooooow!”

Once we were at the top of the hill, we could see that the entire area before us was covered in flowers. The golden flowers swayed in the wind, and there were even white clovers growing between those yellow flowers. It was truly a sight to see.

This must be a famous tourist destination!

“Mrow! Mrow!” Ohagi chirped. She had suddenly gotten excited and ran off.

“Ohagi?!” I called out before quickly running after her. I was worried that there was something wrong, but she had just been chasing a butterfly. “Eek! No! Don’t hunt butterflies!” I quickly scooped Ohagi up and let out a relieved sigh.

A mouse or something similar might be fine, but I can’t have her hunting butterflies... Yeah, no. There are other tourists here too, so... Ohagi seemed slightly annoyed, but she still stopped going after the butterfly. Thank god she’s done.

I decided to take my time and enjoy the view, when a voice called out, “Welcome! How about some sparkling nectar?”

“Sparkling nectar?” I wondered aloud.

I looked in the direction that the voice came from and saw a stall. It seemed like they were trying to target the tourists who came to see the flower field. They were selling a drink made out of sap from the golden flowers here, which was mixed with soda water.

What the heck! That’s definitely going to be delicious!

I went over to immediately purchase some of the sparkling nectar. The golden liquid was bubbling from the carbonation, and there was even a flower decorating the rim of the cup it came in.

“How fancy!” This was a truly photogenic drink.

Unfortunately, Ohagi couldn’t have this, so I poured out some water from my canteen for her to drink. She lapped it up happily, but the way she was eyeing my sparkling nectar stung.

The sparkling nectar had a refreshing, sweet smell that seemed like it could be easily enjoyed by anyone. I took a sip and felt the strong carbonation in my nose. After the bubbly sensation, the sweetness from the flower sap filled my mouth.

“Mmm, delicious!”

Perhaps it was due to the carbonation, but the drink wasn’t overly sweet. The aftertaste of the subtle sweetness was just perfect—I could drink this forever.

I continued to enjoy the scenery, taking a sip of the sparkling nectar every now and then. This was sheer bliss. After having my fill of the view, I left and headed for town.

The first town I reached in Seawell was Totto. This place was known for soaps and oils, and there seemed to be many shops selling those items.

Now that I think about it, I think we had soap imported from Totto back home when I was still living the aristocratic life.

“Mreooow.”

“Yeah, you’re right. This town smells really nice. It’s the smell of soap, but do you mind...?” I looked to Ohagi, worried that she may be sensitive to the scents wafting around, but it didn’t seem to be causing her any issues. “Yeah, you seem all right.”

Oh, but I think cats don’t like the scent of peppermint or avocado. I need to be careful about keeping those scents away from her!

Now that I was in a new kingdom, I wanted to start figuring out a way to make some money. As of right now, my funds were the minuscule savings I’d brought from home, the little bit of money I had left from selling my gown, and a few accessories I hadn’t sold yet. I wanted to live off those for now and get myself a bit farther.

I don’t want to stay too close to the Kingdom of Richard, and I also want to travel a lot and make camp meals with ingredients from all over the world. My ambitions have no bounds!

And so, I stuck to just buying some soap, a kitchen knife, some pillows, a couple things useful for camping like hemp rope, and some groceries. (As for the soap I bought, there was one made with flowers from the field, so I decided to get that one.) I didn’t want to stay too long. I wasn’t comfortable being in a town so close to the border where there were soldiers that knew my business.

I was back in my RV vrooming down the road when I saw large mountains in the distance, along with a forest to my left. I rolled down one of the windows, and I could hear the high-pitched tweeting of the birds flying high above me. It was cute how Ohagi reacted to the birds with a “Mrow?!” and just stared out the window.

“It’s the outdoors,” I told her.

“Mrow.”

For today, it sounded like a good idea to head to the forest. There, I’d gather some dried branches to stock up on firewood. After all, campfires were the best!

Now that I’ve left my home kingdom, my real travels are just beginning!

Side Story: Claude’s Present

I was in my father’s stately office, and the sound of a heavy sigh filled the room. Right now, it was just the two of us in here—my father and I.

“Claude, what have you done?” My father was judging me for my decision to break off my engagement with Mizarie and declare that she be exiled.

“Mizarie may have been the daughter of a duke, but she’s just a black-haired girl born with the element of darkness. It’s rare for someone like her to even be alive in the first place!” In spite of that, Mizarie had been my fiancée for some odd reason. It made no sense whatsoever.

“Lady Mizarie does indeed have the element of darkness, but she was a smart girl, wasn’t she?”

“Well... Even so, Nadia will be great if she just studies to be a princess and takes some lessons. There’s no way Nadia can’t do what even Mizarie could.”

Unlike Mizarie, Nadia was a kind, adorable noble lady with light pink hair. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she had stolen my heart from the moment I’d laid eyes on her.

Although, just as father said, it’s true that Mizarie was a relatively smart person. She read all kinds of books and seemed very studious. She even helped me with some of my duties as the crown prince. She paid attention to the fine details when it came to her responsibilities, and she even improved my working environment... Wait, why in the world am I complimenting Mizarie of all people?

Everything is Mizarie’s fault for heading out of the kingdom using her crazy skill! I have no idea what she was thinking.

Though I’d sentenced her to exile, until Nadia had settled in and taken enough lessons, I’d been planning on having Mizarie cover her duties... I truly had no idea what she had been thinking.

Upon finding out that I had broken off my engagement with Mizarie, my father had immediately demanded that I bring her back. However, I hadn’t been able to catch up to her on horseback.

Just what in the world is that skill of hers?!

“All I need is Nadia!” I declared, raising my voice.

My father’s gaze sharpened as he shot me a stern look.

“Lady Nadia is the daughter of the viscount of Graz, correct? Don’t you think being princess to the crown prince is too heavy a load for her to bear?”

“What?!” My body trembled with anger upon hearing my father’s words. “Nadia is the person I’m fated to be with! I won’t have anyone insulting her. Not even you, father!” I said, walking up to my father’s desk and slamming my hand down.

“Claude, you seem to be lacking in composure... You should take a few days to calm down. We’ll talk then.” My father then gestured with his hand for me to leave.

“I am thinking completely rationally. What’s ridiculous is you trying to make a black-haired dark-type my princess. Perhaps you should be the one to take some time to think things through, father.”

I decided that further discussion would just be a waste of my time, so I took my leave.

≈≈⛟

It had been several days since that ball, and I was treasuring the time spent with Nadia. Even so, I still had duties to fulfill as the crown prince.

“Nadia, would you mind helping with my work?”

“Of course,” Nadia said, nodding with a smile. “If I can be of any help to you, I’m happy to do so.” She showed no signs of being bothered.

If this was Mizarie, she would’ve been a stickler and said something like, “We’re only engaged, so I’m not officially permitted to touch those documents.” Unlike Mizarie, who only helped after I commanded her to do so, Nadia is much more flexible!

I handed the documents to Nadia, who looked at them and tilted her head in confusion.

“Um... What are these?”

“Sorry?” It was clearly paperwork. “I’d like you to take care of these papers,” I explained, assuming that she may have misunderstood and thought that I wanted the documents delivered.

“I’m sorry, Sir Claude. It’s a bit difficult for me to understand these.”

“Excuse me...? No, sorry. You haven’t been assigned an instructor yet. I’d love it if you helped me after you’ve studied.”

Nadia let a troubled “What...?” slip out as she heard my words. “You want me to take care of these? I did have a tutor looking over my studies back home, but... I don’t think it’s at all possible for me to do something at this level...” Nadia’s brow furrowed, and I quickly hurried to cheer her up.

“Oh, no, my apologies. It seems that this was paperwork that I needed to handle.”

“Of course it is!” Nadia exclaimed with a sigh of relief. “I was shocked when you handed me such complicated documents.” She seemed to truly believe that it was much too difficult for her to handle.

Mizarie would’ve been able to take care of this paperwork in five minutes or so. Yet Nadia acted like these documents were in a foreign language...

I could feel myself going pale. I looked at the mountain of paperwork stacked on my desk.

Mizarie could’ve handled these in just a few hours.

“Oh!” Nadia suddenly exclaimed. “It’s almost time for tea, so I’ll be heading out. Good luck with your work, Sir Claude.”

“Huh? Oh, all right.”

I couldn’t keep Nadia from leaving as she headed out with a smile on her face.

I thought I could just have Nadia take care of everything Mizarie had been handling. I turned to my aide, who had been standing nearby, and instructed, “Contact the border and see what Mizarie’s status is.”

“Are you going to have Lady Mizarie brought back?” the aide asked.

“I don’t want to, but it seems I have no choice. It’s also troublesome to have father in a bad mood.” I let out a heavy sigh. “I’m taking a break,” I announced before leaving my office.

This is truly the worst...

Discovering a Natural Hot Spring

After shopping in the town of Totto, I drove through grass fields, humming along the way. Just then, the dashboard chimed.

“Aw yeah!”

“Mrow!”

<You’ve leveled up! Current Level: 5>

Level 5 Dimensional Expansion

“Dimensional expansion...?!”

I have to check out the rest of the RV right away!

I parked my RV and immediately headed to the living space with Ohagi. When I peeked in there, I saw that it had grown about a meter wider, and the length of the back area had expanded about two meters.

“Whoa, this is incredible!”

“Mrow.”

I’m all for a size upgrade! I thought, clapping my hands together in excitement. Wonder how the RV looks from the outside.

I had entered the living space straight from the driver’s seat, so I put my shoes back on and headed outside. Then I walked around the RV and gave it a good look.

“Yeah, it doesn’t look any different from the outside!” It looked just as it did before—like an RV that’d been built out of a small vehicle.

The level-up was called “dimensional expansion,” so the inside of the RV had likely expanded through some mysterious magical force.

“The previous dimensional expansion added a restroom, and this one just made the whole thing more spacious. Maybe if I keep leveling up, the living space is just going to become huge...”

Or maybe it’s going to only expand to a certain size and stay within the limits of an RV? Hm. There are a lot of mysteries surrounding this RV.

If my intrinsic skill had been something common like Physical Fortification, I’d know a lot more, but there was almost no info on rare skills like RV Summon. In the game, the magic and intrinsic skill levels capped out at Level 99, so I’d likely be able to at least level up that much. But I had a long road ahead of me before I could max my level out.

I’ll just take my time discovering the unknown.

“For now, I know that driving nets me experience, which will increase my level, so... I guess all there is to do is just drive!”

I pumped my fist into the air, cheering myself on. In response, Ohagi gave out a happy “Mre-row!”

All right, let’s drive to the ends of the world together, Ohagi.

And so, I made my way back to the driver’s seat.

We’re gonna put some miles on this baby and level up the RV a whole bunch!

I didn’t have a clear destination, but I wanted to distance myself from the Kingdom of Richard while visiting various places.

“I want to visit a bunch of villages and towns, and go sightseeing, and buy specialty items from every one of them,” I said, musing aloud.

Wonder how far I can take this RV? I thought while buckling myself in.

That was to say, what kind of roads could this RV handle? There would surely be a variety of them ahead of me, such as uneven roads with lots of stones, animal trails, shallow rivers, mud, and sudden inclines.

“This RV isn’t that big, so I think I can handle narrow roads to a certain extent,” I said.

Depending on additions and features such as tires with certain functions, an engine with a turbo boost, and whether a vehicle is a four-wheel drive, the type of roads a vehicle could handle would differ. But I had no idea what kind of features on a car would be good just by looking. Even with tires, I could only vaguely guess what might be more expensive or cheap.

I suddenly remembered that this RV ran on my mana, not gasoline.

“Maybe this RV is on a completely different level from a regular car...”

My only choice was to test-drive the RV in various places. It wouldn’t be good if I had to deal with a strange road on the spot.

With that decided, maybe I should first try driving down some animal trails...

“All right then. It’s going to get a little bumpy, so hang on tight, Ohagi.”

“Mreow?”

I had conveniently been driving alongside a forest, so I took a sharp turn and entered it. Fortunately for me, there was a good amount of space between the trees, so I was able to drive through the forest without any issues.

The animal trails were littered with branches and rocks, making the RV shake, but there was no issue driving over them.

“Whoa, I’m impressed.”

My RV was able to drive much more smoothly than expected over the animal trails—it deserved a round of applause.

If things are going this well right now, I might even be able to drive up steep mountains, I mused while speeding through the woods.

After driving for some time, I started spotting wild animals. There were squirrels up in the trees, as well as various birds and creatures I’d never seen before.

They won’t attack me, right...? Maybe I should’ve thought a little bit more before just heading into the forest. Oh well, nothing I can do now that I’m already here.

“I should take some self-defense classes or something whenever I have the chance... Yeah, I should definitely do that.”

This world was full of people who made their living fighting, like knights and adventurers. If I paid them for their time, they would probably be willing to teach me for a few days.

“Towns should have adventurer’s guilds,” I said, thinking aloud. “I can check one out and look for a teacher there.”

Although knights were strong, many came from backgrounds of nobility, so I preferred to avoid dealing with them. That left adventurers or common soldiers—perfect for me.

“Hm...?” I suddenly saw something that looked like smoke. “What’s that? A forest fire?! No, it probably isn’t...”

The smoke was white, not black, and it didn’t seem like anything was on fire either. I tilted my head, confused, while my RV slowly approached the smoke.

“It’s a hot spring!” I exclaimed.

My eyes glimmered with excitement as I jumped out of the RV. Ohagi’s tail pointed up—maybe that was because she heard my excitement—while she leaped onto my shoulder.

“It’s a natural hot spring, Ohagi! Is this what’s known as a hidden spring...?”

“Mrooow?”

The hot spring appeared to be gushing up from the ground, and I could feel quite a bit of heat wafting my way. There was a pool of water roughly one meter in radius, but it appeared to be a mixture of water freshly gushing out and water from a creek nearby, making it the perfect bathing temperature. There were even rocks and boulders surrounding the pool, which made it look like an open-air bath in Japan.

Not only did the creek water and hot spring water mix for a great temperature, but it seemed to be continuously flowing back into the creek as well. That meant that the pool was probably not always full, making it clear enough to see the bottom.

At the other end of the pool, there was a squirrel splashing around in the water and bathing itself. Not only was it adorable, but that likely meant that the hot water was safe to bathe in.

Truly nature’s bounty!

“All right then, why don’t we enjoy the hot spring right away...after a quick scan of the area.” It would be terrible if someone peeked as I bathed. “Do people even use this hot spring?” I wondered aloud.

It was possible that people from nearby towns or hunters used this hot spring... If that was the case, then other people might come to bathe while I was using it.

I walked around the area and checked to see if there were any paths or human footprints.

“There are some from animals, but it doesn’t look like there are any human ones. It doesn’t seem like there’s any kind of path leading here either.”

I concluded that there were likely no other people that used this hot spring, and that even if there were, they rarely came here.

I decided to first tie my tarp between my RV and a nearby tree, creating a little roof next to the hot spring. This would be enough to make me feel a bit more at ease with how open the space here was.

“It’s hard to climb up this tree while holding the tarp,” I said.

I was only tying it on a branch that was just slightly higher up though, so I had barely climbed the tree. It was still quite the struggle to get myself up, which was a bit sad for me.

“My core...? I think my core isn’t stable?”

At the end of it all, it took thirty minutes and six failed attempts to just tie the tarp onto a branch.

I should probably start making time to exercise from now on.

Then I tied some hemp rope taut between two trees, which I was going to use to dry my bath towel, as well as my clothes after washing them. I had several outfits, but if I didn’t do laundry consistently, I’d quickly run out of things to wear.

“I’ve got the soap I bought in Totto, so everything works out perfectly!”

I could also just dry things inside my RV if I need to leave before they finish drying outside.

“Can’t believe that at one point I thought my clothes could just dry by a campfire in an instant...”

The truth was, hair and clothes easily absorbed the scent of a campfire. There was something grand about campfires that I loved. But I also learned from lighting them that being able to bathe properly was very important as well.

I still love campfires though, even with the smell staying on things. I just can’t stop lighting them! If I could just get a bath installed in my RV, then I could start a campfire anytime I wanted... I’m praying you come through, my intrinsic skill.

And so, unfortunately, today was going to be a campfire-less day.

“Now I just gotta grab a bath towel and a washcloth to scrub my body...” I remarked with a jovial hum.

I guess the other thing common with hot springs is some milk, like we would have back in Japan.

Back in Japan, where I had lived my previous life, it was common for glass bottles of milk to be sold in the changing rooms at bathhouses. After enjoying a nice hot bath, many bathers usually cooled down with milk. Lucky for me, I had bought that drink while getting groceries in Totto. Having a fridge made a world of difference when it came to deciding what food and drink to get for later.

There was a relatively flat rock right by the hot spring, so I placed my soap, towels, and cold milk on it. While it had taken some time, I was finally ready.

“Time for a hot spring bath!” Just as I was about to get undressed, I heard a loud splash. “What’s happening?! Ohhh... Ohagi’s in the hot spring!”

“Mrooow.”

“Do you like the water...? I thought cats didn’t like taking baths, but maybe you’re a special case, Ohagi...” It was also possible that she wanted to get clean after having lived outdoors for most of her life. “I mean, looks like she’s enjoying it so I guess it doesn’t matter.”

I had wondered if animals bathed in this hot spring, but I didn’t expect the adorable sight of Ohagi jumping in.

I began undressing while watching Ohagi surprisingly enjoy the bath. Since I planned to wash my clothes later, I placed them on a boulder near the creek before heading back to the hot spring pool.

“I know I’m out in the wild with no one around me, but being naked is still kind of embarrassing...” I said, thinking aloud.

Still slightly bashful, I first stuck my hand in the clear hot water. The water wasn’t as hot as expected—it was probably barely forty degrees Celsius, which meant I could take my time enjoying the water.

I used my hand to scoop water over myself, and my body trembled at the sudden sensation of heat. It was my first time bathing in a hot spring since I’d been reincarnated into this world, so my anticipation only kept growing.

“Time to get in...”

After quickly rinsing my body, I grabbed hold of a boulder, using it for support as I slowly lowered myself into the water and entered the pool feet first. The water quietly plopped as I went in, and soon the warmth of it ran through my entire body.

“Ahh, it feels so goood!” I exclaimed. I couldn’t help it if I sounded a bit like the old men at bathhouses back in Japan—gender didn’t matter when it came to appreciating a good hot spring. I could understand now why they would often sing in the bath.

“Mreooow.”

“It feels nice, doesn’t it, Ohagi?”

My face unconsciously softened into a relaxed grin.

I let out a deep exhale and closed my eyes. All I could hear were the sounds of nature—the water in the creek, the trees rustling in the wind, animals passing by.

It would probably feel great to just fall asleep in here, I mused. I definitely can’t fall asleep in the bath though. That would be as dangerous as getting lost on a snowy mountain. I definitely can’t sleep here.

After warming my body all the way through, I decided to leave the hot spring for a moment. I saw Ohagi on a nearby boulder, lying there with her belly turned up.

“It gets hot if we bathe for too long, doesn’t it?”

“Mreooow.” Ohagi seemed to be enjoying cooling down as well.

I spotted a rock that would make a perfect chair. After pouring some of the water from the hot spring over it, I cleaned it with soap before sitting down.

“Gotta wet my washcloth, lather up some soap, and... Whoa, this soap smells so good!”

The washcloth wasn’t of particularly great quality, but it lathered up the soap nicely. I slowly scrubbed my body, and I was quickly covered in the pleasant sensation of bubbles.

I never realized that washing your body could feel this nice. I was always so lazy about bathing in my past life, but I want to appreciate bath time more from now on.

While washing my body, I realized that I had gotten injured a little bit below my elbow. The hot water and soap weren’t making it sting, so it was probably just a light scratch.

“Hm? I don’t think I had something here while I was still a noble lady... Oh, it must be from gathering branches for the campfire.” Without realizing it, I’d probably gotten a little roughed up while doing something or other during my trip. “It’s pretty small. I wonder if it’ll heal without me doing anything.” I set it aside, deciding not to worry about it. “Oh, I should wash you too, Ohagi.”

I rinsed soap off myself and lathered up some more.

“Mraaaw?” Ohagi looked confused as she watched me, unaware of what I was planning.

I kept lathering up soap with the washcloth, to the point it may have been a bit excessive. But now it was go time.

“Come here, Ohagi.”

“Mreow?” With no reason to be wary of me, Ohagi quickly made her way to my side.

I hope she doesn’t mind the bubbles, I thought as I petted her back with my soap-covered hand. I slowly got her used to the sensation before beginning to scrub her with vigor.

“Mauuu,” she weakly cried, surprised at the soap on her body.

“Sorry, Ohagi. I’m just getting you all cleaned up!”

“Mmau-mau-mau!”

I added more soap, covering Ohagi’s back, her stomach, and the area around it in bubbles. Her initial cries slowly turned into calmer meows as I continued to wash her.

Is she already getting used to this...? Ohagi’s ability to adapt constantly surprised me.

I kept soaping up the rest of her, including the area around her face, and she was quickly covered in bubbles. I loved my fluffy Ohagi, but a bubbly one like this wasn’t too bad either.

“I guess you do have some grime...”

The bright white bubbles started to turn brown as the bath progressed. Ohagi had been living outside ever since she’d been found at the Kraphtia estate, so it couldn’t be helped if she had some extra dirt on her even with her regular self-grooming.

“Mreow?”

“It’s okay—you’re getting clean now. I’ll make sure to bathe you regularly from now on.”

After scrubbing her plenty, I began using the hot spring water to rinse off the bubbles.

“Maaau.”

“Yeah, it does feel good, doesn’t it?”

I made sure to rinse her liberally so there would be no soap left behind. Cats cleaned themselves by licking their fur, so leaving any soap that she could ingest wouldn’t be good.

After I rinsed her a bit more, Ohagi’s bath was finally over.

“You’re all clean now! What a beautiful girl!”

My Ohagi is the cutest in the entire world, I thought with an internal sigh.

“Now I just need to dry you off—”

“Mre-row!”

“Eek!”

Just as I reached for a towel, Ohagi shook the water off her body. I even got splashed in the face, something I hadn’t seen coming.

I guess it’s fine if I get wet since I’m still naked, but that was a surprise.

“I’m gonna dry you now, Ohagi!”

“Mrrmow?!” Ohagi tried to run off for some reason, but I caught her and began to dry her off with the towel. I didn’t want her catching a cold because she was still wet.

The towel proved quite absorbent, and Ohagi’s wet fur gradually returned to its former fluffiness.

“Yeah, this looks good.”

I used two more towels, and voilà—I had an Ohagi with a fluffy but shiny coat!

It’s true—Ohagi is the cutest in the entire world after all!

Following a bath of sheer bliss came the grueling task of laundry. I washed my dirty clothes and underwear, then hung everything up on the hemp rope I had tied between the trees.

Ohagi came up to me as if to help, but she just wanted to play. I did my best to protect the laundry—I couldn’t have my freshly washed clothes get dirty already.

“All right then, now all I have to do is just wait for everything to dry.” The weather was nice today, so it probably wouldn’t take too long. “Why don’t we eat while we wait for things to dry?”

“Mrow!” Ohagi’s tail immediately shot up after that suggestion.

Nothing beats a nice meal after a hot spring bath and doing some work.

While I started getting ready to cook, I pictured myself as a TV chef sharing a new recipe with her audience.

There won’t be any campfires today, so today’s meal is brought to you from my RV’s kitchenette. The ingredients you’ll need for this meal are some mushrooms, medium-sized tomatoes, and some sausages purchased in town.

First, chop the sausages into small pieces. Then, combine it with some cheese, some herbs, and pepper before mixing it all together to create a dip.

Next, remove the stems of the mushrooms and tomatoes, and scoop out the insides of the tomatoes. We won’t be using the insides of the tomatoes right now, so we’ll throw it into a pot and turn it into soup.

For the soup, add in some potatoes, as well as salt and pepper, and bring it to a boil—and that’s it.

Stuff the mushrooms and tomatoes with the dip we made earlier and pan-fry them.

What a great meal full of veggies!

With the main meal prepared, all I had to do now was wait for some bread I was toasting and some water, and soon everything would be ready to eat. For Ohagi, there was some chicken in a large batch that I’d prepped and stored in the fridge.

“Let’s dig in!”

“Maaau!”

Ohagi eagerly chowed down, and just watching her filled me with happiness.

Guess I’ll eat too.

The mushrooms and tomatoes were cooked to the perfect softness, and the delicious aroma of cheese almost made me drool.

“I’ll have some of the tomatoes first... Hot!” Even though I’d waited before taking a bite, it still burned. After quickly drinking some water to cool my mouth down, I sighed. “Might’ve been hot, but it’s delicious!”

The dip stuffed in the tomatoes was pretty substantial, and the sausage inside had a great snap to it. I could imagine myself getting addicted to this flavor.

The soft texture of the pan-fried tomato was indescribable. I had always enjoyed a good roasted tomato, so this was definitely a meal I was going to make again.

The mushrooms also smelled great from being browned. Not only are these delicious, but they pair so well with cheese! How could I resist stuffing my face with them? The mushrooms were also bouncy and had a great texture. It seemed like I was never going to get tired of this meal if I just went back and forth between the mushrooms and tomatoes.

While the tomato soup was a bit lackluster, the potatoes were nice and soft. And dipping my bread in the soup made for a perfect combination.

“Mrew.” Ohagi seemed satisfied as she finished her meal. She started licking her front paw and using it to clean her face.

“Did you enjoy the food?”

“Mau.”

I returned to the RV to begin cleaning things up when something chimed. Looked like I’d leveled up even though I wasn’t driving.

“Wonder if this means that just having the RV out counts as using my skill, not just driving,” I mused aloud.

Although it could be the case that I gained more experience while driving, it would be great if I got any experience just by having the RV summoned.

After placing our dishes in the sink, I quickly headed to the front of the RV to check the dashboard.

<You’ve leveled up! Current Level: 6>

Level 6 Air-Conditioning Installed

“Air-conditioning...?!” I shouted with excited delight. “Now that I think about it, there’s air-conditioning for the front seats, but there doesn’t seem to be any for the living area... I think...”

It hadn’t been an issue since it was still spring. But it would’ve sucked dealing with the heat and humidity without air-conditioning during the summer... Just the thought of not having it for that season sent a chill down my spine.

“If summer had come and we didn’t already have air-conditioning, we would have been completely screwed,” I said to Ohagi.

“Mrrrm?”

I’ll protect you no matter what, I promised in my heart as I tightly hugged Ohagi. She might not have cared for that since she pressed her paws against me, her toe beans squishing against my face. Maybe you’re not a fan of this, but it’s just a quick reward for me, Ohagi.

“Oh right, the AC!” I had to check that out first!

I returned to the living space and inspected the ceiling to find where the AC had been installed, but I didn’t see any signs of it.

“Hm? It said air-conditioning was installed, didn’t it?”

I had expected a standard wall-mounted AC, but I may have been wrong. I tilted my head in confusion as I paced around the living area, until I suddenly saw—!

“There’s something new on the ceiling!”

It looked like it wasn’t an air-conditioning unit that had been installed, but something similar to what was in commercial buildings—thin, long vents had been added to the RV.

There were vents in the front and back of the living space, as well as the restroom. Not only that, but every area in the RV had been set to a comfortable temperature.

“I’ve seen this before in commercials! It’s that thing called central air!”

My RV rocks! It’s evolving in such impressive ways. I could probably just hole up deep in the mountains and still live a perfectly comfortable life. I’ve got high hopes for what’s up next.

“Since I checked out the living area, I guess all that’s left to do is wait for the laundry to dry,” I said.

But I still thought about what else to do while I waited, until Ohagi suddenly meowed. I turned to find her up on her hind legs and reaching up toward me.

“Darn, why don’t I have a camera...?”

I reached out to her, thinking she wanted attention, but that didn’t seem to be the case. She then jumped on top of the shoe cabinet and meowed loudly toward the ceiling.

Oh, maybe it’s...?

“Do you wanna head to the pop top?” I had forgotten that Ohagi really liked the area above the roof that the pop top created. I quickly opened up the roof and prepared it so that we could go up.

“Mrow!”

“Looks like I was right.”

Ohagi easily made her way up to the roof and immediately flopped onto her back, starting to purr before falling asleep.

“Wow, her guard completely dropped,” I said with a chuckle as I reclined beside her. After I bathed in the hot spring, ate, and did some laundry, now was a good time for a nap. I could watch the scenery outside from inside the pop top, with sunlight pouring in and making it even more comfortable. “I get the spot next to Ohagi!” I said with a giggle.

There next to Ohagi, after relaxing in the bath and eating a satisfying meal, I was full of bliss. Lying down like this also made it impossible for me to fight off the drowsiness overcoming me, and I let my consciousness drift away.

“Mreow mreow!”

With something pressing up against my arm, I bolted awake. The sound I heard in my slumber turned out to be Ohagi.

“Hm...?”

Just five more minutes of sleep, please, I thought for a moment as I drifted off again. Then I slowly opened my eyes to find Ohagi kneading my arm, which instantly woke me up.

“O-O-Ohagi!”

“Mmmau.” Upon noticing I was up, she paused her duties as a biscuit-kneader and laid down beside me. It looked like she was going to sleep right next to me.

“H-How adorable!”

She’s so cute! I’m completely smitten with you, my adorable little Ohagi!

“All right, let’s just go back to sleep like this... Wait, it’s so dark out!”

I checked outside and saw that the sun was setting behind the mountains. I’d only meant to take a short nap, but it looked like I’d been completely conked out.

“Oh no! I have to bring in the laundry! Sorry, Ohagi. I have to go down!”

“Mreow.”

I left Ohagi in the pop top and ran out to gather my clothes. They had gotten cold, but there wasn’t much I could do about that. I collected my laundry in a basket I had bought in town and brought them into the RV. I sat at the table and folded them, and with that, laundry was finished. There was some storage space in the back of the RV, so I stored my clothes there.

After wrapping up with laundry, I collected the tarp and hemp rope I’d tied to the trees and finished cleaning up. It felt like the large tarp was taunting me once again, but I was getting a little more used to dealing with it.

“That should be everything.”

“Mrow.”

“Are you done with the pop top, Ohagi? We’re heading out soon, so I’m going to put it away.”

After putting everything back and pulling the pop top down, I drove off.

The Village of Friulia

Grandfather’s Cheesy Bread

After bathing in the hot spring and taking a nap, I was feeling great. I drove through the forest, humming with Ohagi at my side in the passenger seat.

While I was worried about driving through the forest before, my RV was surprisingly exceptional, and I got used to driving even in this terrain.

“If I keep driving a bunch and leveling up, maybe the RV will turn into a whole castle...!”

My very own moving castle! Sounds like something I saw in a movie in my previous life. But it might actually be a little too much to have an actual moving castle in this world.

The sun had set and it had gotten darker, but I was able to keep driving thanks to my headlights. On top of that, my RV was a large moving object—monsters and animals didn’t dare approach it.

“Looks like I can drive through forests without any problems, so I guess the next thing to test would be inclines, right?”

If I remember correctly, the steepest incline on a Japanese highway was roughly twenty degrees. I think that’s what the instructor at the driving school I went to said.

“I could probably drive up a pretty steep hill then, couldn’t I...?” I said, wondering aloud.

Humans were curious beings, and I couldn’t help but want to try things out for myself.

Maybe I should start by finding a small mountain and try driving up, I thought while scanning the area. Perhaps it was because this was the constructed world of a video game, but I was surrounded by nature, and there were many mountains in my field of view. The wide variety included tall mountains, mountains with gentle inclines and some height, and mountains with pointy peaks. Among all of them, I found one mountain with a gentle incline and relatively low height.

“Well, that seals it—think I have no choice but to go up that mountain,” I said.

I readjusted my grip on the steering wheel and licked my lips.

I wanna say something like “This gets my racer’s blood pumping!”

“All right then, let’s head out!”

Now that I was comfortable driving through the forest, I pressed down on the gas and zoomed through the forest at an exhilarating speed. I soon reached the foot of the mountain, where it had a path wide enough for my RV to drive up. To my surprise, it was unexpectedly well maintained.

Maybe there’s a town or village on the other side of this mountain, I thought, growing more excited. I might get to discover new things, or meet new people! Let’s get going!

The path uphill was a gentle incline without any large rocks blocking the road, which made it easy to drive up.

Maybe this road’s used a lot for transporting cargo, I mused to myself.

Just when I thought things were going great, the incline gradually grew steeper.

“Yeesh... I’m starting to get worried that my RV’s going to flip over...”

Despite my concerns, the incline before me wasn’t actually as steep as it’d appeared. Even if I was scared, it seemed that I was completely fine.

Human eyes and brains are so weird...

“Mrooow.”

Just as I began slowing down a bit while continuing uphill, Ohagi woke up.

“Good morning, Ohagi! You’re great emotional support!”

“Mraaaw?”

I had deflated a bit after being humbled by the sudden increase in steepness, but Ohagi slightly reenergized me.

There’s no doubt about it—I should keep up the intensity!

With that thought, I pressed down on the gas and vroomed up the mountain.

“The RV’s not flipping over, thank god!” I exclaimed with a deep exhale. I was so relieved.

“Mreow.”

Now without worry, I continued driving the RV and was even able to enjoy the view. Various kinds of wild plants grew on the mountain, including some with fruits. I was curious to try them out, but I wasn’t sure if they were safe to eat.

There appeared to be some animal trails with evidence of foot traffic, so there were likely people passing through here after all.

“We might be able to just keep going and make our way downhill,” I told Ohagi. However, right when we were about to reach the peak, the path ended. “What the heck!”

The sudden incline near the peak was likely the reason for the lack of a path, as well as the large rocks scattered all over. The part where a path could be made was also narrower—a carriage wouldn’t be able to carry cargo through that area.

What do I do...?

I observed my surroundings and found that despite the trees around, there was enough space for my RV to drive between them.

“Let’s just move forward slowly...” If that didn’t work, I could always turn back.

My heart thumped as I cautiously stepped on the gas.

There were more rocks than on the path coming here, but there wasn’t anything big enough to stop me from going forward. There were probably some people who passed through here on foot.

I drove the RV safely up the mountain.

“This might actually be okay...?”

The RV went over the scattered branches and baseball-sized rocks, something it had already experienced in the forest.

Yeah, this feels fine!

“Mrow-mrow!” Ohagi seemed happy about our success as well.

I carefully drove and somehow made it to the top of the mountain. It was a slightly cleared area that thankfully had some flat ground.

After I decided to park the RV and take a break, the chime signaling a level-up rang out.

“I leveled up already?! Isn’t it too soon...?”

Perhaps driving through uneven terrain like forests and mountains netted experience quicker than regular roads. I eagerly checked out what upgrade was included with this new level.

<You’ve leveled up! Current Level: 7>

Level 7 Shower Installed

“A shower...?!” I got so excited that I accidentally froze on the spot.

I immediately took off my shoes and headed into the living area. I couldn’t wait to see the shower.

I wonder how it’s installed?

“All righty then, let’s check it out... Hm?”

The living area had a table with two sofas on either side of it, and now there was a partition-like wall behind the sofa farther from me that wasn’t there before.

I deduce that there’s something behind there...!

After heading over to check it out right away, I saw that there was a little hallway with a sliding door between the back of the sofa and the shelves. The open doorway had a Japanese noren curtain, something that was commonly seen hanging in the entrances to the bath of Japanese bathhouses. This had to lead to a bathroom too.

What a snazzy little addition.

I passed through the curtain and saw a door that wasn’t there before. In front of it, there was a small area to the side that could be used as a changing area.

Nice, very nice!

“Let’s check out the shower then,” I said, grabbing the door as my heart beat loudly.

The shower head was mounted to the ceiling, and there was even a spout sticking out of the wall near the bottom, which I could buy a bucket to use with. The size of the shower seemed like it was a little under two square meters. There were also two racks attached to the wall, which could hold my soap and other bathing items.

“I see, so it’s this kind of shower...”

I would have preferred a detachable shower head, which was most common in Japan and what I was used to, but I couldn’t complain when I’d had no shower at all before.

Besides, my shower might also get upgraded as I level up!

“I should try it out a bit. Checking water pressure is important!”

After moving to the side to avoid getting wet, I started the shower. Hot water immediately came flowing out.

Whoa, love that I don’t have to wait for hot water!

“Hm... The water pressure doesn’t feel that strong though,” I said. While it unfortunately felt a bit lackluster, I still took it as an overall win that my RV had a shower now.

“Wonder if the hot water is endless... No, my mana probably decreases with the amount of water I use.”

The closest comparison I could think of was water magic. Water could be produced using the caster’s mana, so my intrinsic skill probably worked in a similar way.

“Maaau!”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Ohagi. You must’ve been surprised at the shower suddenly turning on,” I said to her. From the door to the shower, she was cautiously watching me.

Before heading down the mountain, I stepped out of the RV.

“Ooh, it’s a little chilly.”

The peak of the mountain didn’t seem like it was at too high of an altitude, but it was still a little colder up at the top.

It was already completely dark, so it was probably best to stay here for the night and head down the mountain in the morning.

Even with my headlights, it’s still a bit scary to drive downhill at night...

“Wow, what a starry sky!” I gushed as I looked up. “As for the mountain... Hm?”

I assumed I wouldn’t be able to see anything on the mountain, but there were several spots glowing all over. The lights seemed too big for fireflies, and they had a light blue glow.

“Looks like the light only appears on the other side of the mountain though, and not the side I came up from,” I said.

Wonder what it is...

I checked my immediate surroundings and saw a patch of grass that was glowing just a few steps ahead of me.

“Let’s go check it out, Ohagi.”

“Mau!” she responded, jumping up onto my shoulder. It was a great leap as usual!

I hope there’s a classic fantasy item up ahead, like a glowing ore or something. At the very least, I hope it’s not a weird glowing bug, I inwardly prayed while slowly approaching the light, only to find glowing flowers.

“Wow, how fantasy-like! I wonder what kind of flower it is?”

The glowing flowers were a blue similar to nemophilas. They had white centers, which seemed to be the source of the light pouring out. Several flowers grew together in bunches, which was probably why they looked like a dreamy light from a distance.

“I wonder if it’ll keep glowing after being picked,” I said, crouching down to look at the flowers.

“Mrrmrow!” From her perch on my shoulders, Ohagi smacked the flowers with a playful bat of her paw. Looked like the light radiating from them interested her.

The flower’s basically just a cat toy to her, I thought with a chuckle. Then I picked one of them.

“Whoa, it’s still glowing!”

This was great. Maybe it could make for a nice night-light if I placed several of these flowers into a vase. It would look nice by my bed, but it would also be a good source of light for some calm camping.

“This glowing flower might have incredible potential!” I beamed with excitement.

After picking a few more flowers, I returned to my RV.

“Maybe I’ll find out the name of these flowers if I visit the village at the foot of the mountain,” I said. There were perhaps other ways to use these flowers too—I was super excited to head down the mountain tomorrow and find out.

All right, why don’t we use this excitement to light a campfire? Now that I have a shower, I don’t have to worry about reeking of smoke.

I pulled out firewood from the back of my RV. I had gathered them before, bundling about fifteen sticks with hemp rope. Now they looked like firewood sold at home improvement stores, which was fun. It also made me want to collect more camping equipment-esque items.

I guess in this world, camping supplies would just be considered items for sleeping outdoors.

I dug out a small hole and began piling up firewood. Just like before, I used a knife to carve some branches to make a few feather sticks. After I placed those under the bundle of firewood, the campfire prep was done.

Not gonna make a blunder and burn my bangs again like last time!

“All I need to do is grab my ignition rocks, and...” While I still wasn’t quite used to the process, I was able to use the ignition rocks without any issues. Sparks immediately flew, and the feather sticks began burning. “Nice, looks good.”

Then the feather sticks went up in flames, which slowly began spreading to the firewood. It was fun to just stare and watch the fire light up.

I want to watch this forever, I thought with a deep internal sigh.

The fire slowly spread and eventually created a fully lit campfire. Though I was slightly sad the process was over, I was also excited that it was ready—it was a strange mix of feelings. Then I headed back into my RV to gather some ingredients.

There’s something I’ve been wanting to make, so that’s what’s going to be for dinner tonight! I announced in my head. The meat for this dish will be chicken!

I first boiled some chicken for Ohagi in the kitchenette and then left it to cool. Next, I put some water in a pot and turned on the stove to make some soup for myself.

“It’s pretty cold outside, so I want something soupy!” I cut up some daikon radish, carrots, burdock root, and scallions I had purchased and threw them all into the pot. “Now comes the problem of seasoning... I mostly have things that lean Western in flavor, like salt, pepper, and cinnamon...” I missed having miso soup, but without miso, there wasn’t much I could do about that. “For the seasoning... I’ll just add lots of dried meat and vegetables to turn it into a sort of stock, then use olive oil, salt, and pepper, I guess?”

After seasoning the soup a bit, I gave it a taste. Turned out definitely light on flavor, but plenty delicious.

Yeah, it’s looking good!

I then brought the pot back out to the campfire and grilled my portion of chicken over the fire, making sure to crisp up the skin. Then I lightly toasted some bread and placed it on a plate, before bringing out...

“Ta-da! Cheese!”

It might look like I was eating cheese with every meal, but cheese was just a magical, versatile ingredient that was both delicious as is and heated up.

Ohagi stood beside me, eagerly waiting for her chicken to be ready as I pulled out a branch. I carved the tip into a point with my dagger.

I’ll skewer the cheese with this and roast it over the fire! After that, I’ll put it on the bread and eat it all together. There’s no way it won’t be delicious. It’s one of the dishes I always wanted to try when watching Heidi, Girl of the Alps.

As I held the cheese over the campfire, it slowly began to melt.

“Ooh, it’s looking good.” The cheese could get too gooey if it was exposed to the fire for too long, so I quickly placed it on top of the bread. It was melted just enough, and I took a deep breath to enjoy the delicious cheesy aroma. “This is it! This is the dish her grandfather was making for her!” Every dish in that show had looked so good, which was hard for a viewer who couldn’t easily recreate each of them at home. I was overjoyed to be able to recreate it now.

“I think your chicken should be ready too, so let’s eat,” I told Ohagi.

“Mrow.”

I pulled apart Ohagi’s chicken into bite-size pieces before plating it for her. Then I seasoned my own chicken simply with some salt and pepper.

“Let’s dig in!”

“Mrowf, harf.” Ohagi was vocalizing as she ate.

Without any concern for people watching me, I opened my mouth wide and took a big bite of the cheesy bread. The crunch from the toasted surface of the bread and the flavor of the melted cheese was incredible. The cheese also stretched between my mouth and the bread, which was a sight I couldn’t get enough of.

It’s like those cheese pulls I’d see in videos online!

“Mmm, delicious!” I exclaimed. I could probably eat this every day.

The lightly seasoned soup warmed up my chilled body. I never knew that soup enjoyed at the top of a mountain could be so delicious.

After having about half of the bread, I ate some chicken as well. While biting down, I could hear the sound of the crispy chicken skin shattering. Just the sound was enough to make it feel delicious. It was a nice contrast to the richness of the cheese—it was a good decision to just season it with salt and pepper.

“Man, how great would’ve this been with some alcohol...” I said with a sigh. Drinking and camping went hand in hand. “But this world is an otome game made in Japan, so the drinking age here is twenty—just like Japan,” I said. As someone who had been well over the drinking age in her previous life, I was suffering just a bit having to hold back on drinking with my camp meals.

I mean, the food’s already yummy—that’s enough to satisfy me, of course.

“A chair to sit in by the campfire would be nice too. And a blanket—I could probably also use one if I’m going to be traveling through mountains and forests. It gets especially chilly up at the mountain top.”

I continued to warm myself by the fire, relaxing.

If I was back in Japan, I’d play an otome game while lounging around. But since video games don’t exist here, maybe I should read? Or I could learn embroidery or knitting, or even make little trinkets.

After Ohagi and I finished eating, I cleaned up, and then we headed back into the RV for some deep sleep.

≈≈⛟

There were clear skies the next day.

“The air is so fresh here since we’re at the top of a mountain!”

I was planning to head down the mountain today, but first, I wanted to check if I could see anything at the foot of it. Looking down, I spotted a small village.

“Oh, there’s a peaceful-looking village down there!”

Maybe I can ask the people there about the glowing flowers.

There was a path similar to the one I’d come up on. They likely carried cargo uphill, unloaded it at the top of the mountain, and then reloaded it after moving the empty carriage to the other side.

“Seems like a pretty safe mountain to drive through. Oh, I’d love to find a mountain stream and camp alongside it one day.” So many things I wanted to do kept popping up in my mind, one after another, and they wouldn’t stop. “All right then, let’s head to that village as our next stop, Ohagi!”

“Mrow!”

And so, I was going to attempt driving downhill for the first time.

“Shoot, this is bad! It’s so high up!”

“Maaau.”

I was driving, ready to head down the mountain. But driving downhill was much scarier than driving uphill—it was anxiety-inducing if nothing else. Going uphill was still scary because the RV would fall backward if I stood still, but with going downhill, there was the fear of speeding up too much. I shifted into a lower gear and made sure to keep pressure on the brakes.

“I hope we have a safe descent...!” I prayed while slowly making my way down, being extra careful.

I drove over a slightly larger rock, which made me fear that the RV would topple—but it must have been surprisingly stable, because there were no signs that it was going to tip.

I took some breaks in between, and after several hours, I was able to make it down the mountain.

“Thank god!” I exclaimed.

“Maaau!”

Ohagi and I celebrated reaching the foot of the mountain safely.

I parked the RV and had a quick lunch before heading to the village I’d seen from atop the mountain.

We reached the village after driving for about ten minutes. The whole place was surrounded by mountains, placing it in a large valley. There was a low wooden fence around the entire village, and a sign that read “Friulia Village.” From the size of it, it probably had a population of roughly two hundred people.

The houses were made of brick with orange roofs, and there was even a windmill at the edge of the village. Spring water flowed through the river that bordered the area.

I parked my RV a bit farther away from the village and stored it away with my skill before walking the rest of the distance with Ohagi as I typically did. Well, to be more accurate, I walked while Ohagi was perched in her usual spot, my shoulder.

Maybe she’s balancing on my shoulder for a workout. Oh, it’s a work-meowt! ...Maybe it’ll catch on.

“There’s something about villages that makes me more nervous to visit than towns...”

I had the impression that anyone could pass through a town, but everyone knew each other in a village, making visitors stand out.

Wonder if they even have inns here...

Nervous, I stepped into the village—and immediately made eye contact with a young man chopping wood. He was a muscular man with short dark-brown hair, and he looked to be roughly twenty years old.

“Huh? Are you a traveling merchant...? I don’t remember hearing anything about a merchant coming today...”

“No, I’m not a merchant!” I quickly corrected him. “I’m, um, just a traveler!” Though I’d just come up with that explanation on the spot, there was something dreamy about being a traveler. If anything, it didn’t seem like there was any other term than “traveler” that fit me.

“Oh, so you’re a traveler! I was surprised to see someone visiting since we barely get any people passing through here.”

“I see. I wanted to ask, do you have any inns or anything...?”

“Oh, inns? No, we don’t have any.”

Of course there aren’t any! Usually in a video game or manga, they would bring you to the village chief’s house for some hospitality, but I wonder if that’ll apply here.

“That’s why most travelers stay at the village chief’s house,” the young man explained.

It does apply! I thought for a moment before remembering that this was, after all, a video game world.

“I’ll take you there,” the man said. “It’s at the very back of the village.”

“Th-Thank you...”

It seemed that greeting the village chief was a standard event when entering a village, just like in games and manga.

As the young man had said, the village chief’s house was at the back of the village. His was larger than the other houses. Its entrance had a lamp that used the glowing blue flowers I had seen in the mountain as a motif, as well as flower beds with various other flowers and plants.

“This is the village chief’s house,” the woodcutter said as he knocked on the door.

Right away, a voice responded from inside the house. “What is it?” The door opened, and an elderly man appeared.

“We have a traveler,” the young man said.

“Oh my, isn’t that something special?” the village chief responded. He had a long, fluffy white beard and he was shorter than me—he was a precious little old man. He carried a cane made out of a carefully processed tree branch, decorated with the glowing blue flower. His clothes were embroidered and appeared to be some sort of traditional clothing, perhaps something unique to this village. “Welcome. I’m Jesef, the village chief. I must say, I’m surprised to see a traveler. There are rarely any visitors to this village.”

“I’m Mizarie, and this black cat’s Ohagi. We’re just traveling together, visiting different places.”

“I see,” Chief Jesef said, nodding with a smile. The fluffiness of his white beard was starting to look like a new source of healing fluff...

Wait, no! He’s not a fluff; he’s the village chief!

“Why don’t we continue this conversation inside with some tea?” Chief Jesef suggested.

“Thank you. I’d love to,” I replied.

The woodcutter then said he had work to do and swiftly took off.

Inside, the house was filled with warm wooden furniture.

Chief Jesef’s wife joined us, welcoming me as she said, “Wow, a traveler? How rare!” His wife was a classy lady with an adorable smile. She wore a white apron with flowers embroidered on it, and she told me how she liked to cook. “I actually have some scones I baked this morning. I’ll bring them out with some friulia tea. For the cat...maybe some fish?”

“Thank you very much. I think fish will be fine as long as it isn’t seasoned with anything. I appreciate you preparing something for Ohagi as well. I’m sorry for the trouble.”

“So her name’s Ohagi. It’s a bit strange, but cute.” Though Chief Jesef’s wife seemed confused at first, her expression quickly returned to a smile.

As far as I knew, the food ohagi—a sweet rice ball covered in red bean paste, as well as a traditional Japanese confection—didn’t exist in this world, which was probably why she was confused by my cat’s name.

It must’ve been a hassle to prepare food for a cat on top of preparing things for a guest, but the chief’s wife didn’t seem bothered at all. She just smiled at Ohagi and said, “Not only is your name cute, but you’re an adorable kitty, aren’t you?”

“I hope we’re not coming on too strong,” the chief said. “We rarely have any guests, let alone someone as young as you. My wife must be happy you’re here.”

“No, not at all. I should be the one thanking you for welcoming me when I just dropped in unannounced like this.”

From the young man who was chopping wood to Chief Jesef and his wife, this village was just filled with good people. “Also, there was this glowing flower I found... What is it? I noticed the lamp in front of your home uses it as a motif too.”

“Oh, yes. Those are friulias, and they’re a specialty of this village,” Chief Jesef responded. To my surprise, the flower and village shared the same name. “Friulias only grow around this village. They glow at night, so they’re sometimes used as a source of light. The nectar from the flowers is very high-quality, and the petals can also be processed into tea leaves.”

“What an incredible flower,” I said.

Chief Jesef continued to explain that friulias only grew on inclines located on the side of the mountain facing the village, and that the villagers gathered and processed them. The village made its living by selling the processed goods to merchants traveling through. Aside from friulia products, the artisans and women of the village also created lamps and accessories using the flower as a motif, as well as embroidered clothing.

I definitely want to buy some things before I leave!

“Tea is ready,” the chief’s wife called out. Along with the sound of her voice came a soft, floral aroma. I turned to find her carrying a tray with tea and scones.

“Wow, that smells wonderful!”

“We have lots of tea and scones, so please help yourself. I hope this is good for Ohagi. It’s a fish from a mountain stream that I just boiled...”

“Thank you very much—this is perfect!”

The tea was a pale blue color, and the chief’s wife recommended sweetening it with friulia nectar. There were also two scones on the plate, which were served with friulia nectar and a cheese cream. It all looked delicious.

The chief’s wife placed the cooled freshwater fish before Ohagi, whose eyes glimmered with hungry anticipation.

“Here you go, Ohagi,” she said.

“Mrooow!” Upon hearing her voice, Ohagi began to scarf down the fish, purring as she ate—the fish must have been quite delicious.

I should try giving her some fish next time...

“I just realized, I haven’t properly introduced myself yet. I’m Jesef’s wife, Aida.”

“I’m Mizarie. I’m a traveler that just recently set out.”

“Oh, I see! Well, you can take as much time as you need here.”

“Thank you very much!”

After that simple exchange, I decided to try the friulia tea. Though Aida mentioned it was good with nectar, I first wanted to try it on its own. As I took a sip, a faint floral aroma and tart taste filled my mouth.

I can see why this might be better with nectar...

As I mixed it in, Aida giggled as she said, “Isn’t it a bit off on its own?”

“Yes, it is,” I said, nodding. “It’s a bit tart. And it could be hard for someone to drink as is for their first time.”

Then I tried the tea with the nectar, which gave it a gentle but perfect amount of sweetness. Unlike before, it was much more palatable. Then I grabbed a scone, which I could tell she had reheated for me.

She’s so considerate! What a wonderful woman his wife is!

I split the scone into halves. First, I decided to enjoy it with the nectar. When I bit down, the outside was crisp, but the inside had been baked up to be fluffy. The nectar wasn’t too sweet, but it brought out the flavors of the scone. I tried the cheese cream as well, which had a depth to its rich flavor—another layer of deliciousness.

I could eat hundreds of these.

“Mmm, it’s delicious!”

“I’m glad you like it. You should take some tea leaves with you, if you’d like.”

“Wow, thank you!”

As Aida and I happily conversed, Chief Jesef laughed and said, “Conversations are much livelier with another person here.”

“Well, we don’t have that many young people in the village,” Aida replied. “Oh, speaking of,” she said, clapping her hands together. “What are your plans for tonight, Mizarie? You should stay here.”

I thought for a moment about her suggestion. I wanted to stay here for several days, but I also wanted to camp with my RV. For example, if I could find a clearing by a mountain stream, I wanted to fish, skewer my catch, and grill it over a campfire while relaxing. Still, there was a lot I didn’t know about the village.

“Would it be all right if I stayed here for just one night? Tomorrow I’d like to go camp—I mean, experience the outdoors somewhere by a mountain stream.”

“Oh my, you’re going to sleep outdoors?”

“Isn’t it dangerous for a young person like you to be doing that on your own?”

Both Aida’s and Jesef’s eyes widened with surprise, but I was just at that age where I wanted to go camping. Besides, I would’ve felt bad if I was in their care for multiple days.

“It’s just been Ohagi and me up until now, so it’ll be fine,” I explained.

“That’s right,” Aida said with a nod, pressing her hand against her cheek. “You’re a traveler after all—getting overly worried for you would just be rude. I apologize, Mizarie.”

“No, there’s no need! I appreciate your concern, thank you.”

They both respected my wishes and kindly told me that I could come to them at any time if I felt like resting in the village.

After meeting Chief Jesef, I decided to check out the village with Ohagi. Aida said she would prepare our room while we were out.

Thank you, Aida!

Chief Jesef had also given me a simple explanation of the village before I left.

“He said that friulia flowers are the specialty of this village, and I can find products made from friulias at the general store...” The place had just the one general store, and if villagers needed anything else, they would just trade with each other. For example, someone could trade meat that they hunted for some vegetables someone else grew. “That sounds like a nice life too,” I said.

While strolling and imagining myself leading a self-sufficient lifestyle, I suddenly felt watched. I turned to find two kids from the village looking my way. They were weaving baskets out of vines.

“Who are you?” one child asked, puzzled.

“Kitty!” the other exclaimed, perking up as soon as they saw Ohagi.

“Hello. I’m just traveling and stopped by this village.”

“Mrow.”

“Hello!” they greeted me in unison; then they told me that they were making baskets and selling them. The baskets were a bit uneven, but you could tell they were handmade and had something special about them. And more than anything, the fact that they were woven out of vines made them nice and rustic.

It would be nice to have something to organize my fruits and other groceries...

“You guys are really good at this. Could I buy one—no, two baskets? I was actually just looking for something like this.”

“Really?!” one exclaimed.

“They’re two hundred rooks each!” the other explained.

What a great deal!

I bought a basket from each child before saying, “Can I ask you guys something?”

“What is it?”

“You can ask us anything!”

“Thanks. I just wanted to know if there are any clearings right next to a mountain stream?” I would love to camp there, if there’s such a place.

After hearing my question, the two of them began to discuss something between them.

“What about that place?”

“Wouldn’t the other one be better?”

It seemed that there were several options.

“There’s a place that’s pretty big, but the path there is narrow and you have to climb up a cliff...”

“And there’s a place that has a wide, easy path, but the space isn’t that huge and it’s on top of a mountain...”

They asked me which I would prefer, and I picked the latter. I wasn’t going to be walking, so distance didn’t matter—if anything, extra distance was perfect because it would help with leveling up my skill.

“Could you tell me how to get there?”

“Sure! After leaving the village, you go straight that way, and there’ll be an entrance to the mountain,” one child said, starting to give directions. “You just follow the path up the mountain and you’ll get there. It’s smoothed out so carriages can pass through, but not all the way through.” The child continued to explain that animal trails a little past the entrance were maintained so people could transport the animals they’d hunted or the produce they’d gathered.

What a beginner-friendly mountain! Thank god...

“By the way, do you think someone like me could catch a fish in the stream?” The truth was, I had never fished in a mountain stream before—but I wanted to eat fish! I wanted to grill it over a campfire! My desires were strong.

“If you want to fish, the general store sells nets and fishing rods. I think you could fish.”

“Really?! Yay!” I couldn’t help but jump up in my excitement.

“You’re funny,” one of the children said with a laugh. “The general store is that way.”

“It’s the store with the sign.”

“Over there? Okay. Thanks for your help, you two.”

“Maau.”

“You’re welcome!” they responded in unison.

After thanking them, I headed to the general store.

All right, let’s get some fishing equipment!

I opened the door to the place, and as the bell on the door chimed, a voice called out, “Welcome!”

“Hello. Would it be all right if my cat came in as well?”

“Sure, no problem. What a unique customer,” the middle-aged store clerk said with a smile. “Take as long as you need.”

The store was in a space of about eighteen square meters, and among the products were the baskets the children from earlier were making. There were also trinkets and traditional wares using the friulia flower as a motif, weapons and equipment for farming and hunting, and ingredients with decent shelf lives.

You’d expect to see at least one of these kind-of-everything stores in a small village like this.

As I wandered around the building, Ohagi reached for a product.

“Mrrmrow.”

“Hey, you can’t do that,” I gently warned her, but I noticed that what she reached out to did, in fact, look like a cat toy. It was a hair accessory made out of a braided cord.

It’s a pretty cute accessory, but it would make a great toy for Ohagi!

I decided to buy two—one for Ohagi, and one for me.

Next is my main objective, the fishing rod!

There were several fishing rods hanging on the wall, along with some nets and wooden buckets. It appeared that they also sold bait. The fishing rods themselves were simple and made out of wood. Each one was a different size, so I held them all and picked what felt best. Of course, I picked out a net and wooden bucket as well.

“Oh, are you going fishing?” the clerk asked.

“Yes. I was planning on fishing in a mountain stream, then staying outdoors. I’ve been sleeping outside for most of my travels,” I said, trying to casually slip in that I liked camping.

“That sounds fun,” the clerk said with a smile. “Weather can be volatile up in the mountains though, so just be careful.”

“Thank you. I will.”

It didn’t rain on my way here, but it was true that the weather could easily change up in the mountains. It also got colder in higher elevations.

I’m so glad I have my RV...

After buying the braided cord, as well as various pieces of fishing equipment, I put everything in the baskets I had bought from the kids.

Nice, now I’ll be ready to fish whenever I want.

After shopping and strolling through the village, I decided to play with Ohagi. Of course, I was going to use the braided cord I bought earlier! As for where I was going to play with her, I was in the corner of a plaza in the village.

“All righty, are you ready, Ohagi?”

“Maaau!”

I dangled the braided cord high up, and Ohagi wiggled her butt before she suddenly lunged at it.

What a big jump!

“Good job, Ohagi!”

“Mrow!”

As I continued to dangle the cord, Ohagi would follow it and jump at it. Even though she made a beeline for the cord, it was incredible how she would always stick the landing as well—as expected of my talented cat. Just then, someone started clapping.

“What an impressive kitty,” she said. She was a villager who looked to be around sixty years old, and she was passing through the plaza.

“Thank you.”

“I’m Anne. I’m surprised to see a young person like you visiting the village.”

“My name’s Mizarie. I’m traveling and just happened to find this village, so I decided to stop by.”

“I see. We’re surrounded by mountains and don’t have much going on, but I hope you’ll enjoy yourself,” Anne said with a smile, which I returned with my own grin. “Oh my, I was on my way to go shopping. Please enjoy your stay, Mizarie.”

“I will, thank you.”

I saw Anne off first, then went back to playing with Ohagi. After several attempts, she tightly grabbed the cord.

“Whoa!” I had been quickly moving the cord away and dodging Ohagi, but she’d already caught up with my speed.

Wait, is she a genius...? Just when I was inwardly complimenting her, she started biting the cord.

“Hey, that’s definitely too far! You’re going to destroy it.” I quickly pulled the cord away from Ohagi before dangling it in front of her again, but she had just turned into a loaf on the ground. “Huh?” Then I noticed she was panting a bit. “Oh, you must be tuckered out.”

It made sense that she would be tired after jumping that much. I took a seat beside her, and she started rubbing her head against me with a “Mreooow.”

“We can get back to playing after taking a break,” I said with a giggle.

“Maau.”

It’s fun to let loose and play like this too. It might be nice to spend some time in Friulia and at the spot by the stream.

Camping by a Stream

Salt-Grilled and Buttered Freshwater Fish

I stayed the night in Chief Jesef’s house and left the village after breakfast. I offered to pay them for their troubles, but they refused to accept my money, saying that hearing the stories of my travels was enough. Even after that, I didn’t feel like I’d done enough for them, so I still secretly left behind some money, even if it wasn’t much.

“It’s another great day for camping!”

“Mau!”

I used my skill to summon my RV and climbed right in; then I began driving in the direction that the kids had pointed out for me.

“Oh, that must be the entrance into the mountain. It does look pretty wide and easy for my RV to go through!” Upon finding the path that the children had described, I continued driving into the mountains. I wasn’t as nervous as my first time driving through them, and things were going well.

After driving for some time, I began to hear the sound of running water.

“Oh, I left my windows open.”

I had been a little careless, but the sounds of nature coming in from the mountains made the perfect background music, so I didn’t mind it at all—if anything, it was pleasant.

As for Ohagi, she was sleeping peacefully in the passenger seat.

“Oh, the river’s showing up on the map.”

Though I called it a map, it was just the display with a hundred-meter radius on my dashboard, so I couldn’t look for much on it. Still, it was fun to see these kinds of changes to the display.

All righty then, let’s keep going to the stream!

I was able to find the mountain stream right away. Just as the kids had told me, there was a small clearing right by the riverbank. It was big enough for around three RVs.

“Nice, looks great!”

I parked my RV and set up the tarp between it and a tree by the stream. This was going to be base camp for my streamside life!

Though I struggled with it at first, I was starting to get better at putting up the tarp. If I kept training, I could possibly become a master at camping one day.

Next up was a campfire!

“It would be terrible if I got wet while fishing,” I said, thinking aloud.

It’s super important to prepare a fire prior to fishing. It’s totally not because I just want to light a campfire.

Since I was right in the middle of a mountain scattered with branches, I decided not to use any of the firewood I had gathered before and stored in my RV. Those were going to be saved for the right moment.

“Think I’ll be able to quickly gather some just around the RV,” I said.

I started out gathering branches in that area, and stepped out of it just a bit to see all the wood I could want. With experienced hands, I finished gathering branches and starting the fire.

“Wow, a campfire by a mountain stream... How picturesque,” I said with a deep sigh. I just wanted to live here.

As I stared blankly, admiring the campfire, Ohagi woke up from her nap with a “Mrow.”

“That’s right—we’re going to fish for our dinner. I’ll work hard to feed you, Ohagi!”

“Mrow!”

I filled the wooden bucket with water from the stream, so I could put the fish in there. I then baited the fishing hook, and it was go time!

After taking a seat on a large rock, I cast my line. The current was relatively slow, and I could see fish swimming in the stream with my naked eye. After casting the line, I saw some of them gathering.

“Good, good. Just keep going and take a bite out of my bait... And they’re not biting...”

The fish were swimming up to the bait and picking at it, but they weren’t actually eating it. Perhaps fishing was more difficult than I’d expected it to be.

Well, I have time... Guess I’ll just take it slow.

And so, I decided to enjoy this leisurely fishing experience. I tried closing my eyes, and I began to hear all the sounds of nature: the water running in the stream in front of me, the wind rustling through the trees, and the crackling of the campfire. Along with all those sounds, I sometimes heard what seemed like animals running and birds chirping—as well as Ohagi breathing while she slept.

The weather’s so nice today. If I keep listening to Ohagi sleeping, I might get sleepy.

“Things might be different if I could just catch a fish...”

Will I be able to catch one?

Even though I’d decided to take things slow, I still wanted to actually catch something. Then I suddenly recalled a fishing video I watched, which I’d found in the suggestions beside camping videos. It wasn’t about fishing in a stream like this, but it couldn’t have been that different.

“Think I’m supposed to move the fishing rod, to make the bait seem like a real fish.”

The bait was a paste, so I wasn’t sure if I could really fish with it using that method, but it was perhaps worth a shot. After standing up from the rock, I began moving the fishing rod slightly up and down. This was probably better than just letting the line dangle in the water.

“Okay, come on, fishies!”

As I watched, one of the fish that was playing with the bait earlier regained interest.

This might work, I thought to myself while my heart pounded. I continued to move the fishing rod. It seemed that small movements worked the best.

In less than a minute of attacking—but what felt like over a minute to me—the fish finally took the bait.

“This is it!” I felt a tug on the line and used all my strength to pull up the fishing rod. The fishing line drew an arc, like you would see in comics, and I was able to catch the fish.

“Whoa...” I couldn’t help but stare blankly at my success before my mind snapped back to reality. “Gotta put it in the bucket!”

After placing the fish there, I let out a sigh of relief.

The back of the fish was an ocher-like color, and it had a spotted pattern. I didn’t know if it was a one-to-one match with a fish from Japan, but it looked close to a cherry trout.

“Mrow, mrow!” I hadn’t realized Ohagi had woken up. She was curious about the fish in the bucket. Ohagi tried swatting the fish, so I quickly stopped her.

“No, Ohagi, you can’t do that! You can have it after it’s been cooked!”

“Mreew,” Ohagi cried, sounding disappointed as her ears flopped down. Though I felt bad for her, I wanted to catch a few more fish, so she would have to wait a bit.

All righty then, let’s catch two more fish and then have lunch!

After some time, I had three fish in my wooden bucket. After watching them swim around, I started to find them cute. Now it felt like a bit of a waste to eat them.

I’m still totally going to eat them though.

“Okay then, let’s prepare lunch.”

“Mrow!”

“I’ll season mine with salt, and yours will be as is, Ohagi.”

After preparing the fish purely through instinct, I then began shaving down some branches with my dagger. I carved the tips into points and then skewered the fish. All that was left to do was to stab the branches in the ground by the campfire. The crackling fire was now decorated with two fish.

“It’s just like what you see in a fantasy series!” Just watching the fish grill was fun, but the savory aroma of the fish began to waft over, making my stomach growl. “Oh no, I almost forgot. I wanted to make one more dish!”

I sliced an onion into rings, and placed a healthy amount of them on top of a wrapping leaf. Then, over that, I placed the last fish, which I’d sliced into fillets, along with some beech mushrooms I had purchased in Friulia, as well as butter, salt, and pepper. After that, I completely wrapped up the whole assortment and placed the bundle in an area where the fire wasn’t burning as hot to steam it.

“Mrow!” Ohagi seemed like she couldn’t wait.

“It’s not done grilling yet, so you’ll just have to hold on a bit more,” I said.

Ohagi’s ears turned down as she sadly replied, “Mraaawn.”

She’s such a good girl for listening.

I checked the fish several times before removing it at just the right moment. I tore up the fish that was for Ohagi. The steam from it had an intensely delicious aroma that hit me right in the face. I couldn’t wait to dig in.

I finally finished preparing my cat’s portion, so it was time to eat.

“Here you go, Ohagi.”

“Mrow!” She dug into her food with a ravenous intensity, letting out a quick “Mau.” Then she got lost in her meal, purring as she ate. Her tail was wiggling, so it must’ve been extremely delicious.

She’s so cute when she eats, I thought, sighing inwardly. I got a little distracted with her being absolutely adorable, but I should eat too!

“Time for me to dig in!”

I bit right into the stomach area of the fish. There was no other way to enjoy a meal like this than to be bold—just like this! The crisp skin crackled as I bit in, and it was immediately followed by the tender, juicy flesh. Knowing that I’d caught this fish myself made it even more delicious.

“Mmm, it’s so good!” I felt like I could eat a hundred more.

I mindlessly scarfed down the salt-grilled fish, and it was gone before I knew it.

That flavor was addicting.

Then I looked at the wrapped bundle waiting its turn in the fire.

“I’ll enjoy you too!” I said with a giggle.

I put on some thick gloves to remove the bundle from the fire. As soon as I unwrapped it, the fragrant aroma of butter reached my nose. I couldn’t help but inhale the scent. The butter had melted into the fish fillets, and the bed of onions was a perfect caramelized brown. The beech mushrooms also added a nice contrast to the dish and helped make it look good.

“Time to try it,” I said, opening my mouth wide. I couldn’t help but squeal gleefully over how extravagant it felt to devour the fish, onions, and mushrooms all in one bite. “The savory taste of the fish is incredible!” The addition of butter had also made the whole thing much more aromatic. The mushrooms had absorbed the delicious flavors from both the fish and the butter too. “I want to eat this forever.”

My second dish was also gone in the blink of an eye. I turned to my side and saw Ohagi had finished too, and was already grooming her face.

“I hope you enjoyed the meal, Ohagi.”

“Mrow.”

“The fish was really yummy. Guess we’re having fish for dinner too... Huh?” Suddenly, it began sprinkling. “Shoot, it’s raining.”

“Maaau!” Ohagi cried as she scampered into the RV.

I get it; you don’t like getting wet.

I knew that the weather was volatile up in the mountains, but the timing was terrible.

“I hope it clears up quickly.” The moment those words left my mouth, the rain suddenly grew intense. “Eek!”

As if I was copying Ohagi, I quickly ran into the RV.

I’m so glad I have this!

Thanks to the tarp I’d set up, there was a bit of a roof over the RV and part of the stream. But it was raining hard, and when the water hit the ground, it just splashed up and into the area that had been covered, drenching it anyway.

“We’ll have to wait for things to clear up from inside the RV,” I said.

“Mreow.” Ohagi then rubbed up against me.

“Why don’t we take a nap?” I suggested, petting her head. It felt like a wonderful idea.

I suddenly woke up to the crashing sound of intense rainfall.

“Oh right, I decided to take a nap with Ohagi because it started raining...” I recalled with a yawn. Stretching while I continued to yawn, I moved my body a bit.

Turning to my side, I saw Ohagi sleeping with her belly facing up. Then I turned my attention to the window. I couldn’t help but yelp at the sight before me.

“It’s raining so hard!” I had feared the weather getting worse when I woke up to the sound of rainfall, but I didn’t think it would get this bad. “Nature’s no joke...”

Since I still had the tarp out, it was probably best that I put it away. It was a big pain to retrieve the tarp in this heavy rain, but if a branch came flying and tore it, that would be worse—it had cost me a pretty penny after all.

“I’m going to step outside for a moment, so wait inside, Ohagi.”

“Mreow...”

I watched Ohagi yawn before I headed out to get the tarp.

The sound of the heavy wind was the first thing to greet me.

“What the heck, the wind’s so strong...!”

The rainfall was much more slanted than I’d expected, which gave me pause.

I really don’t want to work in this weather. Just as that thought crossed my mind, the water from the stream was reaching my feet.

“Whoa! This is really bad!” Things were much worse than I thought—I couldn’t be complaining about not wanting to be outside.

I quickly, but cautiously, headed out and retrieved my tarp. The water didn’t go up past my ankles, so my legs were just barely safe. Despite getting completely soaked from putting away the tarp, I somehow made it back into my RV. But I had no time to rest, so I headed to the driver’s seat right away.

“Mau?”

“We have to leave here right away, Ohagi. We’re heading out!”

It was my first time driving in the rain, but that was still a safer option than being parked next to a river during massive rainfall like this. I managed to make a U-turn and went down the path I came. Since it was an incline, there was water running down the path, but the RV was driving with no issues. Heavy rain didn’t seem to cause any issues.

“Phew, that was clos— Whoa!” Perhaps it was because I thought I’d escaped a crisis, but a fallen tree that slid down the incline struck the side of my RV. “Huh? What? Huh? Is this okay?”

My heart was thumping in my ears, but I tried to calm down before checking out what had happened from the window.

The fallen tree had a diameter of roughly fifty centimeters. It’d been shoved to the side of the path when it had hit my RV, so it seemed like I wouldn’t have any issues avoiding it. Still, it seemed like it might’ve scratched my car, which saddened me.

“I came all this way without any scratches or anything... I never thought I’d run into a rolling tree!”

There aren’t any repair shops in this world, so I’ll probably have to find an artisan who works with metal or something, I thought as I continued driving.

After somehow making it to the foot of the mountain, I let out a deep sigh of relief.

“Man, driving through the mountain in the rain is nerve-racking.”

“Mau?”

“You seemed to have fun watching the water droplets, Ohagi,” I chuckled as I scratched her chin. “Okay then, what should we do now?”

The only place in this area was Friulia, so there weren’t many people walking around—especially not today when it was raining.

Doesn’t that actually make it a great day for a drive? Maybe the weather will even clear up while I’m on the road, I thought, deciding to take this opportunity to drive around the area. I could probably go around the entire valley pretty easily in my RV.

“Wait, that area over there is sunny. All right then, we’re going on a little drive!”

“Mrow!”

I then vroomed down the road in my RV.

We’re off!

The Encounter at the End of the Rainbow

I drove through a prairie, which was isolated since the rain had just let up. Everywhere I looked, there were just mountains, and it was an incredible view—was there anything more satisfying than this?

“Oh, a rainbow!”

“Mau!”

It had stopped raining, and a large, beautiful rainbow spanned the sky. There weren’t any tall structures like buildings to block the rainbow, and I could even see where it ended. That made me want to go see where it touched down.

“Okay then, let’s drive to the end of the rainbow!”

“Mrow!”

Without any care for the mud splashing on my RV, I eagerly kept driving.

My drive continued for around thirty more minutes. Right when I got to the area where that would’ve been the end of the rainbow, the chime signaling a level-up rang out.

“Mrow!”

“Whoa, a level-up! I wonder if I got lots of experience from driving down the rainy mountain road since it was pretty grueling.” Perhaps curious because of the sound, Ohagi was looking at the dashboard. I looked too and saw... What?! “There’s a navigation system?!”

Until now, the map on the dashboard only displayed the nearby area. But now there were roads and places like the village of Friulia on the screen. Along with that, there were red and blue dots on the screen. Some dots were still, while others moved.

“I wonder what these are...?” There were blue dots in the mountains, and both blue and red dots in Friulia. “Are the red dots only for villages...?” Wondering what it could be, I zoomed in on the village, and saw that the red dot was moving inside a house. “Oh, this is a person...”

I couldn’t tell who specifically was being shown, but knowing where people were on my navigation system was very useful for driving around. I’d be able to avoid accidents!

“I wonder what the blue is then. Some of them are moving, so maybe they’re pets in the village?” The blue dots were perhaps a generic marker for nonhuman things.

Curious if there were any other features, I found something labeled Navigation Settings. The settings menu allowed for adjusting the range and density of the dots.

“Wow, this is pretty nifty...”

The current settings were the standard, from which I could expand or shrink the display range. There was also something called a Blacklist, almost cheekily on the side of the screen.

It looks like the RV will play a warning sound if someone registered on this list gets close... What a useful feature.

For the blue dots specifically, it looked like I could also set things up to show details like strength and rarity.

“It looks like these show things like monsters and animals after all.”

These were on by default, so I decided that was fine for now. I wasn’t going to fight monsters, so being able to run from strong ones was enough for me.

“Hey, wait...”

After taking a closer look, I saw a red dot nearby. For a second, I thought it was me. But my current location showed an icon of the RV, so it seemed like people in the RV wouldn’t show up on the screen.

“I wonder if someone from the village is here?” There was just one thing: the dot wasn’t moving. “Huh? Did something happen? Should I go check it out...?”

“Mau?”

It was raining until just a little while ago, so there could be a person who was unexpectedly hurt and couldn’t move. If that was the case, I had to save them and bring them back to the village!

I quickly exited the RV, scanning the area. I could see the rainbow right above me and someone on the ground at the end of it.

“Somebody’s there!” I ran over and called out to them. “Are you all right?!”

The person on the ground was a boy, who looked to be my age. His hair was an orangey brown, and he appeared unconscious. He didn’t respond to my voice.

You’re not supposed to move them around too much in situations like this, right?

It would be terrible if he had hit his head, so I decided to first inspect him for any wounds.

“There’s nothing that pops out as a huge injury, but it looks like there’s a bunch of small wounds. He’s also covered in mud, and some bloody spots...”

Considering that he was unconscious, it was possible that he had gotten hit pretty hard somewhere on his body—some wounds could be intense even without blood.

“Mraaaw...” Ohagi cried, looking worriedly at the boy.

“Don’t worry,” I said while petting her head. “I’ve got a potion on me, so let’s try using it...”

I didn’t have many, but I had a few of them with me just in case. I quickly ran into my RV to retrieve one.

There were several types of potions in this world. Novice’s potions healed light injuries and recovered a bit of vitality. Journeyman’s potions healed injuries and recovered more vitality. Expert’s potions healed large injuries and recovered a substantial amount of vitality. There were other potions aside from those three as well, but they required the skills of an alchemist to make, which drastically decreased the amount on the market.

Also, expert’s portions could heal deep, large injuries and broken bones, but if too much time had passed, or if a limb had been removed, it couldn’t heal that. This might be the world of a video game, but most items were just not that versatile.

I had five novice’s potions, three journeyman’s potions, and one expert’s potion on me.

“Hm... All his wounds look like cuts, but there’s a lot, so I don’t think the novice’s potion will be enough. He’s knocked out, so he might have a large injury that I just can’t see... Guess I should use the expert’s potion.”

All right then, let’s do this.

I crouched down next to the boy and brought the expert’s potion up to his mouth, but...it wasn’t going down his throat.

“Urgh...” I hadn’t realized how difficult it was to get an unconscious person to drink something.

In shojo manga, they usually take a sip and transfer the liquid through mouth-to-mouth. I get it—there was a reason for that the entire time. But still, I’m not the handsome male lead of a shojo series, so I’m not doing that.

Sorry about this, I thought while pinching his nose and pouring in the potion all at once. It’s definitely going to go down the wrong pipe, but at least you’ll recover!

“Ack, ugh, ough... Huh?” The boy regained consciousness and was able to drink the potion. However, the intensity of his coughing made Ohagi wary, and she hissed at him. I felt sorry about that.

The boy panted for a moment before realizing aloud, “Wait... It doesn’t hurt...?” The boy blinked in surprise as he inspected his body. He then let out a sigh of relief as he quietly muttered, “I’m alive...” I could tell that he’d been severely hurt after all.

“Are you all right?” I asked.

He gasped, as if he hadn’t noticed me until now. His amber eyes stared at me, wide with surprise.

“Wh-Who are you...? Actually, where am I...?”

The boy looked around curiously. He seemed cautious of me. It was only natural for him to be on guard, since his last memory was thinking that he might die.

“I’m Mizarie, and this is my cat, Ohagi,” I began, speaking slowly to reassure the boy. “We passed by and found you on the ground. You weren’t waking up, so I force-fed you a potion.”

“Oh! So that’s why I’m not injured... So, you saved my life. Thanks.” The boy seemed to relax a bit after listening to me.

“No problem. I think your wounds are healed, but how do you feel? Can you move?”

“Um...” The boy slowly got up and tried moving around.

It looked like he could move with no issues, aside from his left arm, which he appeared to avoid using. It seemed like it only moved due to the kickback from when he twisted his body.

Maybe he’s not fully healed...?

If a potion wasn’t of good quality, or if an injury was worse than what the potion could handle, the user wouldn’t be fully healed.

“Oh, this is different,” the boy said with a nervous smile, noticing me staring at his left arm. “This arm was injured in a monster attack and hasn’t worked properly since. Every wound from just now has been healed. I hit my back really hard and thought it was the end for me, but even that doesn’t hurt anymore... Which potion did you use?”

So his left arm was already like that.

His arm might’ve recovered if he had used a potion sooner, but it was too late now. If he really wanted to heal it, he probably had no other choice but to obtain a stronger potion.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better. I used one expert’s potion.”

“An expert’s potion?!” he exclaimed. The boy was so shocked, I thought that his eyes were going to pop out of his head. “You used such an expensive item on some stranger like me?! The cost of one of those is enough money to live comfortably for six months!”

“I mean, you looked pretty badly hurt.”

“Still, there’s being kind, and then there’s this,” he said with a heavy sigh as he hung his head. “But that’s why I was saved... I’m truly grateful.”

“It’s no problem,” I said, waving my hand with a smile to signal that it wasn’t a big deal.

“The thing is...” the boy continued. “I unfortunately don’t have any money on me right now. I promise to pay you back for the potion, but would you mind waiting a bit?”

“I don’t mind...” I hadn’t been thinking about the cost of the potion at all. His determination to properly pay me back was endearing to me.

He could’ve just said, “You’re the one who chose to save me!” and run off, if he’d wanted to.

The boy suddenly gasped as if he realized something. He looked back and forth between Ohagi and me.

“Sorry, I just realized I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Raoul, an adventurer.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Raoul!”

“You don’t need to be formal,” he said.

“Really? You can just call me Mizarie then,” I said, smiling.

“Sure,” the boy—Raoul—said with a nod. When he looked at my RV behind me, he was stunned. “Huh? What is that? That huge thing?”

“Oh... It’s an RV! It’s my skill.” There was nothing I could really do about it now that he’d seen it, so I decided to dramatically present it as if it was accompanied by a musical flourish and a loud “Ta-da!”

“An RV...?” Raoul echoed. I could imagine a million question marks popping up above his head.

Cars didn’t exist in this world, let alone RVs. The most common mode of transportation was horse-drawn carriage.

Oh, I knew it... There’s a scratch from that tree earlier, I thought, noticing the damage to my RV. It depressed me a little.

“Mraaaw.”

“Ohagi? Oh, there are rain clouds again...” It seemed that weather was still volatile in these mountainous areas. We would get wet if we stayed out, so I gestured Raoul over. “It looks like it’s going to rain again, so let’s go inside for now.”

“What? Uh, okay...?” I opened the door, and I could hear Raoul mumble, “So it’s like a room inside...”

Sorry for the confusion...

“There are no shoes inside the RV, so you’ll have to take them off.”

“Got it.”

I pulled out a pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet, but Raoul hesitated to take them. “I’m super dirty—I couldn’t wear something as nice as those.”

“Huh? Oh, right, you’re covered in mud.”

Maybe it would be better to have him hop in the shower first. I can’t just leave him like that.

“Just wipe your feet then,” I said, bringing over a damp towel. After that, I led him to the shower.

“This seems bigger than it looks from the outside.”

“Oh, yeah... It’s my skill, so I guess you’ll just have to accept that this is what it is.”

“O-Okay...?” he hesitantly responded.

Raoul couldn’t hide his confusion. I shoved him into the changing area and explained how to use everything before heading to the kitchen. I heard him yell, “What is this?!” in shock, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

It’s his first shower after all. How can it not be surprising?

“I’ll make something simple for us to eat while he’s showering,” I said, but I didn’t have anything special. I had some bread, cheese, vegetables, meat, and fruit.

His injuries seemed pretty bad, but he should be able to eat without any issues since the potion healed him, right?

I cooked some meat and put it between some bread and salad mix to make a sandwich. I then prepared a potato soup.

“Nice, looks good,” I said.

Right as I finished making the food, Raoul came out.

“Thank you. I’m sorry for the trouble. Also, is that really just a skill? Hot water came out... I have no idea how it works...”

“Ha ha,” I nervously laughed. I didn’t know how it worked either. “Well, I’m able to peacefully travel thanks to this RV, so I don’t think about it too much.”

Raoul let out a deep sigh. “I’m surprised you haven’t been targeted by any miscreants yet... I’m sure everyone who sees this skill is surprised.”

“Oh, now that you mention it, I think I’ve totally shocked everyone who’s seen it.”

Along with Claude and the other aristocrats with him, the parties of adventurers I’d met on the road were all extremely shocked when they saw the RV. But there hadn’t been anyone who had tried to steal it.

“Isn’t it impossible to steal a skill anyways?” I asked.

“That’s not true. Someone could hurt you and force you to obey them, or they could take a hostage and blackmail you. They could even use a skill or item that makes you listen to them.”

I gasped after hearing all those things I hadn’t thought of. Free from the story of the otome game, I had completely let my guard down. Until now, it’d been clear whom I’d needed to be cautious of—that had included members of my own family, so I had always been tense.

I might’ve become too relaxed these days... I thought, quietly reflecting on my recent behavior.

“Sorry, I went too far,” Raoul said, panicking.

While it was true that I was surprised by suddenly having those things pointed out, nothing Raoul had said was wrong, and I was grateful for him reminding me that I needed to have a bit more of a sense of danger.

“You didn’t at all,” I said, smiling as I shook my head. “I’m aware that I’ve been a bit too relaxed, so I think I’ll be more careful moving forward!” I said, determined. It made Raoul burst out into laughter.

“I see—that’s good then.”

“Man, I guess you just let your guard down when you’re freely traveling around. Anyways, let’s eat. It’s just some simple things, but I prepared some food.”

“Thanks.”

Raoul and I sat across from each other and began eating. Though the dishes were basic, Raoul ate happily and exclaimed that they were “Delicious!”

Looks like he was pretty hungry.

Ohagi seemed to be enjoying her meal of chicken as well.

After eating a bit, I asked Raoul, “Why were you passed out in a place like that?” I wasn’t sure if I should be asking that, but I was too curious not to ask. I told him he didn’t have to tell me if he didn’t want to, but...Raoul easily answered.

“A strong monster appeared, so my friends used me as bait and left me for dead...”

“Excuse me?” I couldn’t understand the nonsense that had just spilled out of Raoul’s mouth. I muttered, “Excuse me?” again. It was probably the deepest my voice had ever gone in my life. “What? What does that even mean?! Weren’t they your friends?!”

“Yeah, well... We were originally in a party together, but I got injured a bit ago, and...” Raoul shared what had happened to him with a wry smile.

As an adventurer, Raoul had formed a party with his friends and had made a living by taking on jobs. However, one day, his left arm was injured after he was attacked by a monster, leaving him unable to move it very much. He had been deep in a forest without an expert’s potion on him, so he hadn’t been able to heal his injury on the spot. By the time he’d made it back into town, even an expert’s potion wasn’t enough to heal him, and Raoul was left with a disability that was critically disadvantageous for an adventurer.

Ever since then, he’d continued to work with his party, but things had gotten strained with the sudden decline in Raoul’s ability to contribute in battles. Several jobs later and he was here, where his party had faced certain doom after an unexpectedly strong monster had appeared. His party thought that they’d rather lose him than have everyone die, so they’d pushed him toward the monster.

Raoul had managed to escape with his life. But while running, he’d passed out, which led to me finding him.

“What the heck?!” I exclaimed.

That’s terrible, just completely awful! I want to slam into them with my RV and send them blasting off far into the distance!

I couldn’t help but wish his party harm after hearing what they’d done.

“That’s why you were injured like that,” I said. “That’s unforgivable...” I said, shaking my first in anger. In response, Raoul just burst into laughter. “Hey, why are you laughing?”

“I mean... I’m mad too, of course, but there’s something weirdly satisfying about having someone else upset on my behalf.”

“I’m not satisfied at all!”

If anything, I’m feeling more conflicted than I was before!

“Don’t you want to get payback on your friends?”

“Hm, well... I first need to focus on rebuilding my life, so I honestly don’t have enough free time to be thinking about that.”

“Oh, right. Your life...”

I really sympathized with that. Perhaps it was because of my solemn look, but Raoul nervously smiled and said, “Don’t worry about it. I can’t use my left arm, but I can still take down some monsters... I’ll continue being an adventurer while I rebuild my life. I don’t have most of my things, but I can just buy them as I earn money.”

“I see...”

Seeing how tough Raoul was, I started thinking about how I needed to seriously consider how I was going to make money. Since I was planning to travel without staying in any one place, it might be difficult to hold a steady job.

“So, about paying you back for the potion...” Raoul seemed uncomfortable, but he still continued. “With the situation that I’m in, I won’t be able to repay you right away, so I was wondering if you would let me be your guard until then. You could consider it interest for the cost of the potion.”

“What...?”

I hadn’t expected such a suggestion, so I had to think about what to do. Honestly, having a guard sounded like a very attractive deal. My only skill was summoning the RV, and I couldn’t use any other magic. I could run from things, but if there were several obstacles or a narrow road before me, I would be done for. Raoul had also worried about me upon seeing the RV—he was probably not a bad person.

It’s just until he repays me for the potion anyways...

“Sure. I’m looking forward to your company, Raoul.”

Raoul seemed surprised that I accepted. “Yeah, me too. Looking forward to it, Mizarie!”

Ba-ba-ba-bum!

Raoul has joined the party!

I had just bolted from the Kingdom of Richard with zero plans, but now that Raoul had joined me, I probably had to start properly planning out an itinerary.

“Hey, Raoul. Is there anywhere you want to go?”

“Huh? Shouldn’t we just be going where you want to go? Do you have anywhere?” he said, asking me the same question.

“I left my home kingdom to travel, but I don’t really have a particular destination. I just want to visit a bunch of places. If there’s anywhere that you want to head toward, though, we can go there.”

After giving a simple overview of my situation, Raoul said, “I see,” and suggested several places.

“In order to take on jobs, I need to go to a town that has an adventurer’s guild. From here, the closest towns would be either Kokoshka or Totto.”

“Oh, I came here from Totto!”

“Should we go to Kokoshka then?”

“Yeah!” I said, nodding enthusiastically. I was excited to head there.

I had read in books that Kokoshka was a large hub for trading, and a wide variety of goods were sold there. There was no doubt that I’d be able to spiff up my RV’s living area!

Deciding on a destination was a double-edged sword though, because now I couldn’t wait to leave.

I was planning on staying here for a few more days!

I wanted to check out the traditional craftwork of Friulia, and there was a part of me that wanted to try mountain hiking. But with the terrifying monster that had attacked Raoul now lurking in the area, it was best to refrain from exploring.

“Wait, we should tell the villagers about the monster that attacked you, right?” I asked. “I’m sure they visit these mountains.”

“Yeah, we should tell the village of Friulia, as well as the adventurer’s guild in Kokoshka... They’ll either post a job to take it down or issue a warning.”

“Right.” It sounded like we should head to the village right away. Now that the rain had cleared up, there could be people entering the mountains. “Raoul, let’s head to the village and warn them now!”

“Okay... Wait, what are you doing?” Raoul asked, tilting his head as I moved from the living area to the driver’s seat.

“Heh heh, this is the heart of the RV! Come on, sit here, Raoul!”

“O-Okay.” I had the hesitant Raoul sit in the passenger seat and put on his seat belt before he could ask any questions.

“All right then, let’s go!”

“Mau!”

“A-All right!” Raoul joined in a bit on the enthusiasm.

Sitting in the driver’s seat, I opened up the settings on the dashboard to register Raoul as a user for the RV. Now he would be able to enter the living area freely.

I gripped the steering wheel and paid no attention to Raoul’s perplexed expression. I slowly stepped on the gas, and the RV began to move.

“Huh?! It’s moving?!”

“Mau.”

Raoul’s eyes were wide with surprise. He quickly turned his head and checked his full surroundings.

“What? Huh? So fast...” He seemed transfixed with how fast the view was changing before him.

Since carriages were the most common mode of transportation in this world, the speed of the RV was probably incomparable to what he’d experienced before. Ohagi had already gotten used to it and appeared smug as she sat between us.

“What is this? It’s incredible...”

I started to get a bit excited as well over how everything shocked him.

“This is a map of the area,” I said, pointing to the dashboard. I explained how the red dots were people and how the blue ones were monsters and animals. “I was able to find you thanks to this,” I proudly said.

Raoul fell silent, and didn’t react.

Did I get a bit carried away...? I wondered, looking over at Raoul, who remained too stunned to speak. He kept blinking, looking outside, then looking back to the map. He then shut his eyes and seemed to be thinking about something.

“I mean, come on. Isn’t this against the rules or something?” he finally said after a long pause. “Even just this map would be incredible, but you can tell where people and monsters are? That’s just ridiculous...” It looked like my RV’s broken, overpowered features had shocked him a bit too much. “Not only that, but it’s incredible that you can see the area with yourself at the center. Then again, the range isn’t that big...”

“Oh, you can see more if you move it,” I said.

“Huh?”

Right, this world doesn’t have touch screens, I thought as I touched the map on the dashboard. Not only could you zoom in and out, but by swiping, areas farther away could be seen.

“What...?” Raoul seemed completely stunned by the perhaps unexpected features.

“It’s useful, isn’t it?”

“I feel like ‘useful’ is a total understatement. This is on a completely different level...”

Oh, right. We’re going to Kokoshka.

I moved the map around and searched for Kokoshka...and there it was.

“Looks like this is Kokoshka. Seems to be about a day or two of travel with the RV,” I said. Kokoshka looked much larger than any town or village I’d been to, and it seemed like I’d be able to do lots of shopping.

“I’m just... This is a lot. I don’t even know what to say anymore...” Raoul said with a sigh.

“Isn’t it useful though?”

“It’s so useful that it’s shocking... You have heat and water, a place to rest, and it moves? What even is this? Is it a house, or is it a carriage?”

“Well,” I began with a nervous smile. “It’s an RV, and it’s often used for camping, but... I guess to put it into local terms, it’s something used to easily sleep outdoors! I think that’s the best way to describe it. It’s perfect for those who love the outdoors!”

“I don’t think there are people so strange that they’d choose to sleep outdoors,” Raoul said.

“You’re right...” I flatly responded.

There probably aren’t that many people who are interested in campfires or who get excited by them, but I like them, and there’s nothing I can do about that.

“But, it’s definitely useful for someone who wants to travel like you. There are just some people who can’t enjoy sleeping outdoors, no matter how hard they try.”

“That’s true,” I said. I also preferred the comforts of my RV rather than actual camping. Sometimes I thought actual, real camping would be okay, but I preferred to leisurely camp.

As we discussed such things, the village of Friulia came into view.

I parked the RV outside the village and stepped out.

“Oh, right! You still had your shoes stored away. You can just leave from the living area after you grab them. I have a pair over here already, so I’ll get out from here.”

“S-Sure thing,” he said, heading over to the living area, where the shoe cabinet was.

Ohagi then jumped up onto my shoulder with a “Mraaaw,” and she began to rub her head against my cheek.

Maybe she was a bit lonely...?

I couldn’t help but take glee in seeing this sweet, cuddly side of Ohagi.

After Raoul and I headed into the village, we saw the woodcutter who had helped me before.

“Hey, were you all right in the rain?”

“Yes, thankfully.”

“So...who’s that? Your friend?” The woodcutter tilted his head, confused by Raoul, who hadn’t been around when I’d first visited. His reaction was probably due to the fact that not many people visited the village.

“Actually, I was knocked out by a monster attack,” Raoul said as he stepped forward. “She saved me.”

“What?! Are you okay?!” The woodcutter gulped, then stared at Raoul. He was probably checking to see if he had any injuries, but they were all healed thanks to the potion.

The woodcutter seemed satisfied that there were no injuries, looking relieved. He then asked what had happened.

“A leaf goblin appeared over there, in the northern mountain,” Raoul explained.

“A leaf goblin?!” the woodcutter and I exclaimed in unison.

Leaf goblins were a subspecies of goblins that could manipulate plants. They were a troublesome foe that would attack by raising sharp leaves into the air and sending them flying at high speeds. Leaf goblins also made things like traps out of vines. Even veteran adventurers would likely have trouble defeating one on their own.

“That’s so dangerous. I’m surprised you survived...”

“Yeah, I somehow managed...”

The woodcutter nodded at Raoul’s words and exclaimed, “I’m going to tell the chief!” Then he ran off. On his way there, he yelled, “There’s a leaf goblin in the northern mountain!”

“I guess the village should be okay now,” I said.

“Yeah, it’s not a very big village, so the news should spread right away.”

“That’s great!” Now all we had to do was go to the adventurer’s guild and ask them to take down the leaf goblin. “Still, we’ll need the guild to take it down quickly. The leaf goblin might go somewhere else, so I don’t think I’ll be able to rest easy just yet.”

“We should report it as soon as possible,” Raoul said, nodding.

It seemed best to leave after gathering some food. We couldn’t take our time when there was danger lurking.

“Raoul, I’m gonna buy some food and things we need! I want you to stay here and warn anyone who’s heading out of the village about the leaf goblin.”

“Got it.”

With our tasks assigned, I quickly headed to the store. I’d decided it would be best if I went shopping since I knew the layout of the village and could get it done quicker.

“Hello!”

“Oh, you’re the one who bought the fishing rod. Were you able to catch anything?”

“I was! Wait, now’s not the time for that...” I wanted to talk about how delicious the fish I caught was, but I didn’t have time for that. I told the clerk about how there was a leaf goblin in the northern mountain and that I needed to purchase some food before I left, as I was in a hurry to inform the adventurer’s guild.

“What, a leaf goblin?! That’s a big deal! Feel free to take whatever you need, since you’re going over there to let the guild know.”

The clerk tried to give me a plethora of ingredients, which were mostly preserved foods, but it was too much. It was enough to feed both Raoul and I for around five days.

Oh, right. It would take about that long to get there if I didn’t have the RV.

“I still have some shelf-stable foods, and we’ll be getting there pretty quick thanks to my skill,” I explained. With that, I purchased about half of the things I was offered.

After I finished shopping, I headed back to the village entrance and found not only Raoul there, but Chief Jesef as well. They seemed to be discussing the details of the situation.

“Sorry to keep you waiting!” I said.

“Hey, Mizarie. I was just explaining the situation to the chief,” Raoul replied.

“Thank you!”

Because of the rain, most villagers seemed to be home. The woodcutter was currently running around the village, making sure everyone was okay.

Things seem fine for now, I thought. Just when I felt relieved, it started sprinkling again.

“The weather simply isn’t very amicable today...” Chief Jesef mused aloud. “I heard from Dan that you’re going to contact the adventurer’s guild, Mizarie. I’m sorry for the trouble, but I’ll leave it to you,” he said, bowing his head deeply to me.

“It’s no problem!” I responded in a panic, waving my hands to signal that there was no need for that. I’d only just arrived here, but Friulia was a warm, kind village, and I wanted to do what I could to help. “As they say, we should help each other in times of need. I’ll hurry over there and ask them to take down the monster.”

“Thank you. Oh, I just remembered that I have something for you from Aida. If you’d like, please enjoy it on your way there.”

“Scones! Thank you so much.”

I couldn’t help but smile; Aida’s scones were absolutely delicious.

I’ll have to do my best to get to the adventurer’s guild quickly!

We left the village in Chief Jesef’s hands and headed out of Friulia.

To the Adventurer’s Guild!

I would have loved briskly vrooming down the road—but since it was raining, going too fast was out of the question.

We were headed to the town of Kokoshka. What really got me excited was when I set our destination to Kokoshka in the navigation system, and it gave me a route to get there!

I mean, of course it did. It’s a navigation system. Still, pretty impressive!

Unlike my previous home, Japan, there weren’t many properly paved roads in this world, so the navigation was mostly vague suggestions to “go a little toward the left,” or “lean more toward the right.”

“It’s raining, so there aren’t too many pedestrians,” I said. With the roads clear, I could probably speed up a little without any issues.

“Man, your skill really is something,” Raoul remarked. “It’s insane that you can just hike up mountain roads this easily.”

I chuckled when I heard how astonished he sounded.

I sure am grateful to have it, I mused.

“I’m happy I’ve got it,” I said. “This skill’s gonna help us get to the adventurer’s guild and warn them about that leaf goblin!”

“That’s true,” Raoul said, nodding. He seemed like he hadn’t gotten used to the RV yet, and was a bit restless. There was something heartwarming about that.

“The navigation system’s guiding me, so you can go relax in the living area if you’d like,” I said.

“No, I shouldn’t be the only one relaxing...” Raoul said, shaking his head. “Although, just sitting here and staring out is not that different from relaxing...”

Raoul seemed conflicted—it was like he wanted to do something, but there wasn’t anything for him to do. And there wasn’t much I could do about that.

“Even though your wounds have healed, you were pretty injured not too long ago. Maybe it’s best if you just rest. Oh, would it be better if you slept? Maybe lying down would be easier on—”

“I don’t need to be on bed rest or anything...”

I wanted to suggest he sleep in the bed, but unfortunately, he politely declined.

Well, he might not be able to really relax if he’s just sitting alone in the living area.

“Could you keep me company and chat with me then?”

“Yeah, you can count on me!”

It was nice to have someone in the passenger seat whom I could talk to, so it was decided that we would continue onward like this.

Following the navigation system, I traversed mountains and crossed prairies, going as fast as I could.

I need to get to the adventurer’s guild in Kokoshka as soon as possible!

We took a couple short breaks as well and enjoyed the scones Aida had given us. I even got to talk about the RV and explain some features to Raoul as we made our way toward town.

After roughly seven hours of driving, the RV suddenly stopped.

“Huh?”

“What’s wrong?” Raoul asked, confused.

“Mreow?” Ohagi said with a yawn.

I don’t know how to answer because I don’t know what’s going on!

My RV just suddenly stopped in the middle of a prairie.

Is the engine stalled? But this RV runs on my mana, I thought before nausea suddenly overwhelmed me.

“Ugh, I don’t feel so good...” I said, covering my mouth with my hand. I wanted to just lie down right there, but it would be dangerous if the RV suddenly started moving again, so I used the emergency brake to keep the car stopped.

“Let’s get you to the living area so you can rest,” Raoul said, gently rubbing my back. “Can you walk?”

I nodded silently, and Raoul supported me as I dragged myself to the living area. Not only was I nauseous, but my head was pounding, and my body felt heavy.

“Ugh... Bed...”

“Bed...? Oh, right! You move the table and chairs to make a bed!”

I’m so glad I explained how the RV works to him.

I sat down and closed my eyes. It was a little more comfortable than standing up and staying awake.

My consciousness slowly began to drift away, and I finally let it go while hearing Raoul yell, “Mizarie! Hang in there!”

≈≈⛟

The sizzling sound and fragrant scent of something cooking awakened my consciousness and appetite.

I need to get up...

I used my arms to prop up my heavy body and sit in a horizontal position.

“Oh, I’m in bed,” I said. I had woken up here, and in my RV.

I guess Raoul managed to put the bed together. Thank you!

My body was also feeling much better than earlier. I exhaled, relieved that it didn’t get any worse. Then I suddenly remembered what woke me up and turned toward the sound and smell. The door to the RV was open. It was coming from outside.

“Ohagi? Raoul?” I called out as I peeked outside, and I saw Raoul grilling meat over a campfire. Ohagi was sitting next to him, already enjoying some meat.

Guess they became friends while I was asleep.

“Oh, Mizarie!” Raoul called out, noticing me. “You’re awake! How are you feeling? I grilled some meat—are you up for eating?”

“Yeah... I guess I have an appetite,” I said with a wry laugh as I caressed my empty stomach, which was seconds away from growling. “I’m feeling a lot better now. I wonder why I suddenly felt bad,” I mused aloud. I was still surprised by how dizzy I had gotten.

“You don’t know?” Raoul said, surprised. “You ran out of mana. You were using your skill continuously for so long, you were bound to run out sooner or later.”

“Mana? Oh, I see... So in other words, my mana tank became empty.” It appeared that running out of mana also stopped my RV from running, and it affected my body as well.

I stepped out of the RV and saw a campfire roughly two sizes bigger than I usually made. Not only was the fire large, but Raoul had skewered meat onto some branches, grilling them.

“Whoa!” I couldn’t help but feel excited at the sight before me.

There were some large rocks that conveniently made the perfect chairs, so I sat down and warmed up by the fire. It was already night, so the campfire was just what I needed.

As I smiled at the flames, Raoul glanced over at the RV.

“Is it okay to leave it out?” Raoul asked.

“Huh? Oh right, my mana...” I looked back at the RV and tilted my head, confused as to why the RV hadn’t disappeared when I ran out of mana.

After I slept like a log, my stores weren’t completely full, but my mana recovered significantly.

Still, didn’t I fully run out at some point? What’s going on here?

As I sat there wondering what was going on, Raoul tilted his head in a similar fashion and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I was just thinking about how my RV didn’t disappear even when I ran out of mana,” I explained. “If we were driving fast and it suddenly disappeared, we might’ve been killed...” The thought of that happening sent a shiver down my spine.

“Oh, that’s it? Even though I said you ran out of mana, you don’t completely run out. There’s still a little left in your body. Everyone always has a little mana in them. They say mana is vital to sustaining life.”

“Oh, I see. That’s why I felt so awful when my mana was depleted.”

“Yup, exactly.”

I get it now, I thought, nodding my head. On the other hand, Raoul seemed worried. He then revealed a terrifying truth.

“You might not be thinking about it too deeply, but...if you actually, really run out of mana, you’ll die. Be careful about using your skill.”

“What?! O-Okay, I’ll be careful.”

You just die if you completely run out of mana? What a terrifying world this is...

Just then, I recalled a lesson from my childhood where I had heard something similar. Because no one knew I had a skill, I was just told, “You’d be in terrible trouble if your mana is depleted, but you shouldn’t have to worry about that, Lady Mizarie.”

Darn you, teacher from my past!

I let out a heavy sigh, grateful that Raoul had told me before it was too late.

“Oh, looks like food’s ready,” he said.

“Yay! I’ve been waiting for this!” I cheered.

My eyes glimmered with excitement as Raoul grabbed the meat. Each skewer had three pieces of it.

My stomach is about to start rumbling like crazy!

“You can just eat it like this, but would you prefer to have it plated?”

“I’ll eat it off the skewer!”

It’s authentic camping! I thought as I immediately chose to enjoy the meat as is. Though we were in a hurry, I’d just learned a lesson about the importance of eating proper meals and taking breaks.

As my eyes shone with anticipation to dig in, Raoul chuckled.

“You seem pretty energetic, so I guess you’re doing better. Eating and sleeping will help you recover mana faster too.”

“Mizarie learn, eating important!” Though I was being playful, I meant every word.

With that, Raoul handed me a skewer of meat.

The skin was grilled to crispy perfection, and the juicy, fragrant aroma wafted up my nose and spread throughout my body.

I can already tell that this is gonna be delicious! ...Wait.

“What kind of meat is this?” I asked. It didn’t look like the chicken that I had in my fridge.

“Oh, yeah,” Raoul said, turning to me. “It’s a monster I hunted nearby.”

“What?!” It wasn’t animal, but monster meat.

Don’t think I’ve ever had monster meat before...

I recalled how those around me, especially my mother, would say that it was barbaric to eat monster meat—that it was food for commoners.

Wonder how it tastes.

“Do you eat monsters often?” I asked.

“When I’m sleeping outdoors, I mostly hunt and cook whatever I catch, so yeah. There are a lot of dishes sold in towns that use monster meat too. But beef and pork taste better than lesser monsters.”

“I see. How do greater monsters taste?” I asked out of curiosity, and Raoul’s eyes widened.

“They’re delicious!” he exclaimed. “But they’re difficult to hunt, and there aren’t many opportunities to eat them... Usually, expensive restaurants have dishes that use greater monster meat. Oh, but not every monster tastes good. Some monster meat is gross.”

“Interesting...”

I’m sure some greater monsters are poisonous. I don’t expect every single monster to taste good. Still, there are a lot of yummy monsters out there... I wonder if it’s like all the different brands for Wagyu beef that they have in Japan. That thought made me want to try some greater monster meat.

Excited to experience a new flavor, I dug into the meat. The skin crackled, and it had a good meaty bite to it. The meat seemed to be pretty lean, and it wasn’t as juicy as I was expecting.

It tastes pretty normal, I guess...

As I chowed down, Raoul pointed into the distance and said, “It’s meat from that monster.”

I turned my gaze and saw a jackalope.

Oh, so this must be what rabbit tastes like!

“I’ve never eaten a rabbit before,” I said.

“Really? I feel like jackalope meat is sold pretty commonly.”

“Guess I’ll have lots of chances to eat it then.”

Up until now, I hadn’t gotten many opportunities to try various foods as an aristocrat. But from now on, I could buy all kinds of ingredients at markets.

I’ll then grill what I buy over a campfire and eat it! It’s gonna be so delicious!

“You’re weird,” Raoul said, laughing between bites of jackalope meat. “You mentioned you’re traveling. Did you come from far away?”

“Not really, I came from the neighboring Kingdom of Richard. I just started traveling.”

“I see.”

“Yup,” I said, nodding. “That’s why I want to travel to a bunch of different places,” I explained. “Do you have anything you want to do once things are more stable?”

“Well, it might be a long shot, but I want to go dungeon crawling.”

“Dungeon crawling?” I echoed.

Dungeons were created by some mysterious power. They were filled with monsters, and it was said that rare items awaited in the deepest parts. From treasures like gold and jewels to legendary equipment, all kinds of valuables were rumored to exist deep inside dungeons.

“It’s just a rumor, but I’ve heard that there’s a legendary secret elixir. If I can get my hands on that, my arm might regain its full functionality.”

“That’s true,” I said. It was common in video games for premium healing potions to appear inside the treasure chests found in dungeons.

Camping inside a dungeon sounds fun...!

“That’s a great idea! Dungeons seem fun!”

“They aren’t particularly fun. You might be able to get rich quick, but they’re pretty dangerous... You definitely shouldn’t go just because it seems fun.”

“Ouch, harsh...” Still, I was grateful that he was warning me out of genuine concern.

That’s right. Even if this is the world of an otome game, this is now my reality. I can’t just load my last save file if I die. But still, dungeons seem fun...

As I thought about the possibilities for my future, I bit into the second piece of meat. I was expecting more of the same lean flavor, but out came rich cheese!

“Mmmph?!” I was panicking at the unexpected new flavor in my mouth.

“Jackalope meat is pretty lean, so it’s best eaten in combination with other ingredients,” Raoul explained as he laughed at my surprise. He asked if it was good, and I eagerly nodded.

“I’m just savoring this unexpected, blissful addition...” I gobbled up the cheese-filled piece of meat, and gulped in anticipation as I stared at the third piece of meat on the skewer.

Is this one filled with cheese too? Or is it perhaps a new flavor combination?

“Man, I can’t get a read on what delicacy you’ve cooked up this time, Raoul!”

You’re a sinful man, good sir.

“You’re expecting too much,” he said with a nervous chuckle. “Well, I hope you like it. The ingredients are just stuff I borrowed from your RV anyways, since you said I can use them.”

“No, no, you should be proud of this!” I said before biting down into the last piece of meat. It was much more fragrant than the previous two pieces, and the skin completely shattered. “Mmm, you used olive oil on this one?! It’s delicious... There’s even some tomato inside! I love that you can have veggies and meat at the same time!” I was thoroughly impressed and clapped with joy.

“You’re overreacting,” Raoul said, laughing bashfully.

After enjoying the delicious meal, I took a shower and immediately went to sleep. Ohagi and I used the bed, while Raoul slept on top of the rear storage area, which had gotten bigger. I didn’t want him to sleep on the floor, but there weren’t many options, so we settled on the storage area.

I’ll buy him a fluffy floor mattress once we’re in town...

Since I had used too much mana, as soon as I was in bed, I fell asleep.

≈≈⛟

“I sure slept well,” I said, groaning as I stretched my arms and neck before getting out of bed.

Glancing to my side, I saw Ohagi was awake as well. She yawned adorably. I turned my attention to the window and saw that it was sunny outside.

“Looks like it’s going to be a great day for driving! Hopefully we’ll get to Kokoshka today!” I exclaimed, pumping my fist in the air.

“You’re awake,” Raoul called over from the rear storage. It appeared that he’d stayed in the back of the RV since I was sleeping—what a gentleman.

“Sorry, just give me a second.”

I headed to the changing area and quickly got dressed before calling Raoul over. He walked toward me while sleepily rubbing his eyes.

“Take as long as you need. I’ll be preparing breakfast,” I said.

“Okay, thanks.”

After sending Raoul off to the changing area, I began cooking. I boiled some meat for Ohagi, tore up some leafy greens to make a salad, and toasted some bread, topping it with cheese and a sunny-side up egg. It was a simple meal.

“All that’s left is salad dressing,” I said, thinking aloud.

I made a simple dressing by mixing olive oil, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Once we had more time, I wanted to try making one with vegetables—like carrots or something blended in—and take a stab at fruity vinaigrettes too.

I nodded to myself, satisfied with the breakfast I made. “Yup, looks good.”

“Whoa, something smells good,” Raoul said at the same time, his voice overlapping with mine.

He seemed refreshed after washing his face, and he wore a pleasant smile. After we said good morning to each other, it was finally time for breakfast.

As we ate, we discussed our plans for the day.

“I think we’ll reach Kokoshka today, so I’ll do my best.”

“Sounds good—just don’t push yourself like you did yesterday. Getting spooked like that isn’t good for my heart.”

“I’ll be careful!” I didn’t want to experience that terrible feeling again either.

I’m gonna start taking more breaks. I’ll step outside and take some deep breaths. It’ll be nice to enjoy the view for a bit.

We finished our breakfast and took care of the dishes before heading to the front of the RV. Raoul sat in the passenger seat with his shoes on, and Ohagi was sitting between us.

“All right then, let’s head out!”

We took off, vrooming down the road. I stared out the window as I drove. The area was mostly just grassy fields, but there was a town road way off to the side. I tried to avoid the town roads as much as I could. I didn’t want to shock people with my RV.

I left the windows down since the wind felt nice, and while enjoying the breeze, I even felt like singing. As various thoughts ran through my mind, I continued driving for several hours, taking breaks in between, until a town came into view.

“Is that Kokoshka?” I asked.

The town was in the middle of a prairie, with tall walls surrounding it. It looked like it would have high defense stats.

“Yeah, that’s where the adventurer’s guild is. There’s also a lot of shops, so you’ll be able to get your hands on almost anything you want.”

“Sounds nice. We should go shopping after we’re done notifying the guild.”

My excitement grew, and I sped up toward Kokoshka.

There was a large, gentle river running through the backside of Kokoshka. The river was used to transport cargo, helping this town develop into a trade center.

Once we entered town, the streets came into view first. They were lined with shops that had various decorations under the eaves. There were of course furniture and trinkets, but there were also lots of lamps, carpets, and cooking utensils. Just like Raoul said, I could probably get my hands on anything I wanted.

“Let’s first head to the adventurer’s guild!”

“Mrow!” Ohagi jumped onto my shoulder, her usual spot, as she enthusiastically responded. She was so adorable.

“There’s so many people,” I remarked. “Do you know where the guild is, Raoul?”

“Yeah, I’ve been to the guild here a couple times,” Raoul said, nodding in response to my question. “It’s over there,” he said, and began guiding us.

The adventurer’s guild was a large wooden three-story building. The first floor was where you could request and accept jobs. There were various kinds of people, from brawny, muscular men to beautiful, captivating female mages.

There was a bulletin board on the back wall that had papers pinned to it. There was a crowd surrounding it, so that was likely where jobs were posted.

“Whoa, this is incredible,” I said.

“It’s nothing special. Is this your first time coming to one?”

“I’ve never had any reason to visit an adventurer’s guild before,” I said with a wry laugh. I checked with Raoul to see what we should do. Apparently, all I had to do was go to the counter and tell them about the monster.

“Is that one okay?” Raoul asked.

“Yeah.” I nodded.

We headed to a counter, and a dainty clerk greeted us right away with a “Hello!” She paused for a moment, then exclaimed, “Oh, Raoul! It’s nice to see you!”

“Sorry, I’m in a bit of a rush,” he explained. “I came here to inform the guild of a monster.”

Raoul seemed to know the clerk. She looked surprised to see him, but the clerk’s expression quickly turned serious upon hearing what Raoul said.

“Do you know where it is?” she asked, pulling out a map.

“It’s the northern mountain near Friulia... Here,” he said, pointing to a spot on the map. “It’s not somewhere strong monsters usually show up, and it’s an area frequented by the villagers of Friulia, but a leaf goblin appeared here.”

The clerk gasped. “A leaf goblin? That would require at least a B-Rank adventurer... Was there only one?”

“I only have confirmation of one appearing. I didn’t investigate, so I don’t know if there are any more,” Raoul said.

“I see...”

I stood by quietly as they quickly took care of things.

Ten minutes later, the clerk said, “We appreciate the information,” and with that, the report was over. The guild ended up deciding to post a job calling for the leaf goblin’s defeat. Still, it was a strange case, so the guild was also going to directly reach out to adventurers.

“Phew, now it should be taken care of,” Raoul said. “Thank you, Mizarie. We wouldn’t have been able to report it so quickly without you.”

“It’s no problem; getting us here was no trouble,” I said with a smile. Just then, I remembered what I wanted to do while I was here. “Can I take a look at what kinds of jobs are posted?”

“Huh? I guess you can...”

“Thanks,” I said, not paying attention to Raoul’s confusion as I headed over to the bulletin board.

Though this was the world of a video game, there was no exploring in the game, which was why I was so interested in the type of jobs that were posted.

There were all sorts of different job postings, from simple tasks to killing monsters. I saw requests for errands, deliveries, helping look for lost items, foraging for medicinal herbs, guarding someone while they went to neighboring villages, collecting items, and taking down monsters. Even I could probably handle a few of those jobs.

As I stared intently at the bulletin board, Raoul walked up beside me and asked, “See any good jobs?”

“I think I could do some of these.”

“Yeah, the ones on the bottom are just odd jobs,” he said with a laugh. “There are a lot of requests to take down monsters,” he muttered.

I definitely couldn’t take down monsters. Maybe I could if my RV shot cannonballs.

However, I did want to work before I ran out of funds for travel. Even though I could live out of my RV, I still needed money to buy food and daily necessities, which were common expenses.

“You sure are looking hard,” Raoul commented.

“Oh, the truth is, I need to start working soon. My travel funds are precarious,” I said with a nervous laugh.

“Right,” Raoul said, furrowing his brows. “You’re taking care of me too...”

“No, no! I’ve been planning to work, even before you joined me!”

It’s not your fault, Raoul! I might be buying more groceries than before, but you took down a monster for me, and you were really good at building a campfire!

In my mind, Raoul had a lot going for him because he had lots of life skills, and they even worked outdoors.

“You’re perfect the way you are! You have so many things I don’t!”

“You’re a really positive person, Mizarie...”

“I mean, I can’t go on if I don’t stay positive!”

I’m the villainess, after all! If I didn’t stay positive and optimistic, my mental health might’ve not survived.

“Since you’re not planning to settle down anywhere, why don’t you take on jobs as an adventurer and make money for now? I’m sure you can profit from your skill, depending on how you use it.”

I nodded in response to his suggestion. I was thinking the same thing.

“I’m injured, but I can take down monsters as long as they aren’t too strong. Taking down monsters should get us enough money for day-to-day stuff,” Raoul said. “Guilds always have jobs posted, so I’ll support you too.”

“Wow, thank you!” I nodded as I listened to Raoul’s dependable words. Then I caught a glimpse of a job titled, “Letter delivery to the village of Friulia.”

“Hey, Raoul... What if we take on this job? I’m also a bit worried about the leaf goblin, so...”

“I think that’s a good idea. We’ll get there before the adventurers who take the job will, so we can let the village know that the guild’s called for its removal. I’m sure the villagers will be relieved to hear that.”

“Then it’s decided!”

We settled things quickly. I grabbed the job posting and headed to the counter.

I’m going to get registered as an adventurer! I’m so excited!

After returning to the clerk from earlier, I handed her the job posting, then said, “I’d like to be registered as an adventurer, please!”

The clerk blinked a bit at my enthusiasm, but she smiled and said, “Sure thing.” Raoul stood behind and watched over me. “I’ll first begin with an explanation of the adventurer’s guild.”

“Yes, thank you!” I nodded.

The clerk began to go over the details of the guild.

The adventurer’s guild was a neutral institution that existed in every kingdom. They usually had regional headquarters in large towns, where adventurers could accept jobs. However, the completion of jobs could be reported to any guild.

Upon registering with the guild, an adventurer would be issued an adventurer card, which could also be used as a form of identification. If lost, it cost ten thousand rooks to replace.

Jobs were just as they were posted on the bulletin board, but an adventurer’s rank determined what kind of jobs they could take on. The highest rank was S, then it went from A to F. All adventurers started at F.

F-Rank adventurers could only accept jobs that could be completed within town. E-Rank adventurers could accept jobs that required going outside of town, like foraging requests and taking down low-leveled monsters. D-Rank adventurers could accept requests that required going to a different town, like escorting someone to a neighboring area. C-Rank adventurers could accept long-distance escorting jobs.

Monsters were also ranked, and once an adventurer reached Rank E, they would be able to accept jobs taking down monsters of their matching rank. Additionally, you could only accept jobs up to one rank above your own.

And that was it for the explanation.

Now that I was banished and had abandoned my noble status, I was grateful that they could issue me an adventurer’s card as just Mizarie.

“I’d like to register,” I said.

“Of course. Please fill out your name on this form. Your name is required, but you don’t have to share your skill if you’d like to keep that a secret.”

“Okay,” I said. It would only lead to problems if I wrote down “RV” as a skill, so I decided to forgo putting something down. “Um...”

Other than my name, there were lines on the form to list any battle skills I could use, as well as any qualifications I had, and things like that. It was probably helpful for the guild to know what I could do.

This is kind of like a résumé.

I wanted to write something cool, like “proficient in swordsmanship,” but I unfortunately had no battle skills. Just to sell myself a bit, I noted that I was traveling all over the world, so I could deliver goods for people.

“Here you go,” I said.

“Thank you,” the clerk replied as she reviewed the file. She then used some sort of magical instrument to create my adventurer card. “Here is your adventurer card. Please be careful to not lose it.”

“Will do!”

The card had my name and my rank, F, on it.

All right, now I’m an adventurer too!

“I’m sorry, but...” the clerk began, pulling me back to reality.

Huh? Is something wrong?

“You’re an F-Rank adventurer, so you can’t accept the delivery job to Friulia, which is a D-Rank job...” the clerk explained.

“Oh...” As an F-rank adventurer, I could only accept up to E-Rank jobs. I wondered what I should do, then Raoul stepped up to the counter.

“She has me,” he said.

“Raoul?”

“I’m a C-Rank adventurer, so you can accept up to C-Rank jobs if you’re with me,” he explained before glancing over at the clerk.

I see. Forming a party with someone makes your rank the same as the person with the highest rank in the group.

However, because I was a lower rank than him, we could only take up to C-Rank jobs, instead of B-Rank jobs like he would be able to if he was alone.

Thank you, Raoul!

“So that’s it. We’ll take this job!”

And so, I was able to accept the job to deliver a letter to Friulia.

Shopping in the Town of Kokoshka

After making various arrangements at the adventurer’s guild, we headed out to town.

I’ve been waiting for this! I’m so excited to go shopping!

“I want a small wooden chair,” I said.

“A chair?” Raoul echoed.

“Yeah! I want one for sitting in front of bonfires.”

There was no guarantee that I’d conveniently find the perfect tree stump or boulder that would be comfortable to sit on every time I lit a campfire. It would be even better if I could play video games while sitting in front of a campfire, but they didn’t exist in this world, so something like reading would have to do.

“A chair sounds nice. Since you have the RV, you don’t have to worry about carrying it around with you either. It’s pretty incredible.”

“Heh heh, my RV’s slowly getting more spacious too, and there’s even storage. Let’s head out to get the chair—wait, no. First, let’s buy you a mattress.”

“It’s getting more spacious...?”

I pretended to not hear what Raoul had said and entered a nearby fabric store. In this world, fabric stores sold premade mattresses and also took orders for custom ones. The store was filled with a wide range of bedding, from thin blankets to fluffy feather duvets.

“Wow, this looks so warm!”

“Maaau!”

I’m starting to want something too.

I just had a simple blanket to drape over myself, so some proper bedding was a must for sleeping better.

As Ohagi and I eagerly scanned the store, Raoul, who’d been standing beside me, grew pale as he mumbled, “So expensive...”

Yeah, these are pretty premium items... I don’t have enough money on me to buy these.

Just as I was wondering what to do, a clerk appeared from the back of the store and greeted us. She’d probably come to explain the different products to us since we were browsing.

“Welcome!”

“Hello,” I greeted back.

“Mau!”

“Hi,” Raoul said.

“Are you looking for bedding?” the clerk asked.

“Yes,” I answered with a nod. “I’m looking to purchase two sets—one for him and one for me.” The clerk nodded and began showing me her recommendations.

“Mizarie, I’m fine with what I’ve been using,” Raoul whispered after pulling me closer by the arm. “Just buy your own things.”

“No way,” I said, shaking my head.

While it was true I wasn’t very flush with cash, there were some items I wanted to use up. I pulled out the accessories I had been wearing when I was banished. The plan was to sell these and purchase our bedding.

Since I was going to start making money by accepting jobs through the adventurer’s guild, I had no problem selling these off. I wanted to cash out and be done with all the things from when I was a villainess.

Raoul’s eyes widened with shock upon seeing what I had. “Where did you get these?”

“I have some history with these accessories... I don’t want to hold on to them forever, so I was thinking about selling them! I’d appreciate it if you didn’t ask for details. It’s not a pleasant story that I want to remember...”

“I see...” After seeing the troubled look on my face, Raoul didn’t press any further.

“So, I’d like to sell these and purchase some bedding,” I explained to the clerk.

“These are incredible... Even I can tell that these are of the finest quality,” the clerk remarked.

“Thank you.”

These accessories were worn by the crown prince’s fiancée after all.

After I picked out the items I wanted, we headed to a nearby jewelry store that the clerk told us about, and I sold off all the accessories. We then headed back to the fabric store, where I made my purchase. Bedding successfully obtained—mission accomplished!

Phew. Glad that’s settled.

“All right then. I wanted to say that the chair’s up next, but we need to store the bedding in the RV.”

“Yeah, we should,” Raoul agreed.

We weren’t going to be able to shop while lugging around two sets of comforters, foldable mattresses, and pillows, so I wanted to quickly store everything in the RV.

Where should I summon it...? We would definitely look suspicious heading out of town while carrying bedding...

“Are there any isolated roads or something?”

“Right, we can’t have people seeing the RV. It’ll definitely cause a huge commotion,” Raoul said, praising my wise thinking. Unfortunately, there weren’t any isolated roads, so we both racked our brains for an idea.

Hm...

“Oh, I’ve got it!” Raoul exclaimed. “I remember the training area at the guild was pretty spacious, what about there?”

“That sounds good!”

And so, we headed back to the guild. When we arrived with the bedding in our hands, the same girl who’d helped us earlier gave us a dubious look.

I don’t blame her.

Thankfully, Raoul was able to handle things, and we were able to store the bedding.

“Whoa, look at this! This chair is so cute! Wait, this other one is nice too! Oh, but I have to consider this one too!”

We were now at a furniture shop where I was hyper with excitement. There were small simple chairs, hammock-like ones where the seat was made of cloth, chairs of various heights, and more. The only thing they didn’t have were foldable chairs, perhaps because there wasn’t any use for them in this world.

I’m going to be keeping it in my RV, so I don’t have to limit myself to small chairs.

Just then, a chair woven out of flexible tree branches caught my eye, captivating me.

“Wow, they even have chairs like this! It’s so fantasy-like!”

It was something that would probably be hard to come across in Japan. Not only was the material unique, but the tree branches used were still living and slowly growing, which was strange.

Is it some type of fantasy tree?

It was a low rider chair, with the seat touching the ground. I crouched down to inspect it, wondering if it got dirty.

“Are you interested in this chair?” a clerk called out to me.

“Oh! Yes, I kind of like the style,” I replied.

“I understand,” the clerk said with a nod. “This is a one-of-a-kind item created by an artisan. The seat touches the floor, but when the chair is placed on the ground, it absorbs nutrients from the soil through the seat and chair legs, helping it grow. If you like how it currently looks, you can just use it indoors and it won’t change.”

“That’s incredible! I’ll take it!” I exclaimed, immediately deciding to purchase it upon hearing the clerk’s explanation.

A chair that grows when you use it outdoors? That’s so cool! It sounds like the perfect camping partner.

“It’s pretty pricey,” Raoul said, exasperated, but I couldn’t help that fate had brought us together.

“Mraaaw,” Ohagi said as if she were in favor of the chair from her spot on my shoulder.

I was pleased after making my purchase, but I was starting to run low on funds. The chair was pretty pricey after all. Despite that, I was planning to use up the money I’d made from selling off my accessories. I wanted to spend it all, then start earning money on my own. I also had some of my allowance that I had saved up in the past, so I wouldn’t have any issues buying what I needed for a while.

“What are you buying next?” Raoul asked, tilting his head.

“Mau?” Ohagi tilted her head as well.

Raoul was also currently carrying my chair for me. According to him, it wasn’t a big deal as my guard, which was very kind of him.

“I want a cast-iron skillet!”

“What’s a ‘skill let’?” Raoul asked, tilting his head further in confusion.

“It’s like... An iron pan? An iron frying pan? The kind where the entire thing is made out of iron, including the handle...”

“Is something wrong with the frying pan you have right now?”

“Good question, Raoul,” I said. Pointing my finger out, I began explaining why skillets were great. “Just by using a skillet, the dishes you make become a hundred times more delicious! Not only that, but foods that usually taste bad transform into tasty dishes as well!”

This is all just my own opinion though.

Food cooked and served in cast-iron skillets looked a hundred times better than their normal counterparts, and there was something exciting about that. When it came to cooking meat, just using a cast-iron skillet made it seem more outdoorsy.

Naturally, I hadn’t owned one in my past life, but there’d been many people using cast-iron skillets in their camping videos, and I’d always hoped to use one myself someday!

That long-awaited dream of mine will finally come true!

“What, skillets are that incredible?! Are they some kind of magical instrument...?”

“Yeah... Kind of...!” I responded after a short pause.

A skillet totally wasn’t any kind of magical instrument, but I decided to go with that.

I mean, that’s the vibe, so...!

Our next destination was a shop specializing in traveling gear. Because Kokoshka was such a large town, there were various specialty shops not found in smaller towns. Traveling merchants who were on the road for long periods of time and adventurers who slept outdoors made up this shop’s target market. There were various types of cooking equipment, from portable, compact items to large pots that could feed big groups of people.

“Whoa, just browsing is already fun! They say you can really get hooked on camping gear once you get into it, but I totally understand.”

Okay then... Let’s go look at all kinds of cast-iron skillets!

There were various types of skillets available. Some were simple, while some were extravagant pieces with creative designs. There was even one with a rose molded onto the handle, which felt wasted on my uninspired cooking.

“Incredible...” I mumbled, stunned. Raoul then came up from behind me and looked around at the skillets.

“Wow, these are really detailed.”

“Yeah, but looking at these really gets my blood pumping,” I said, picking up a couple different ones as I inspected them closely.

“Speaking of...” Raoul began as if he remembered something. “You know how adventurers often sleep outdoors in the depths of forests or in dungeons? Since it can really get you down, some people do like to splurge on the things they travel with...is what I’ve heard.”

“Oh, that’s a good point.”

I had never been to a dungeon before, but I could imagine what it was like—fighting day in and day out with monsters, unable to fully relax even while sleeping. It was probably important to use furniture and little wares that you liked and picked out so you didn’t lose yourself in it all. Otherwise, the stress could really get to you.

Now that I’m free, I’m going to live free of stress!

“The ones with designs are nice too, but for now, I’ll get a regular skillet. The price is better too.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’ll buy one of these more creative ones with money I’ve earned myself.”

I think working to buy the items I want will be a lot more fun than just working. I’ll work hard to earn funds for my skillet and my meals!

With that, I purchased two small, normal skillets—one for Raoul and one for myself. I also picked out another simple cast-iron skillet, this time a larger one that could cook about five servings. They both seemed easy to use.

Heh heh, there’s no doubt that meat cooked on these will be delicious!

“Is there anything else we need?” I asked.

“Hm... Honestly, with your skill, I don’t think there’s anything we need.”

“Really? But what about those plates? They’re so cute,” I said, pointing to a set of cream-colored plates with small flowers painted on them. Various items of tableware from the same line were next to the plates. “It’s so nice. I’d love to have a matching set of tableware.”

I hadn’t spent much money on plates and such in my past life, so I thought it would be nice to spend a little more in this one.

Camping is definitely more fun with all kinds of items. But also, there are just so many things I want...

“Those cups are cute too... You can’t have too many cups, can you? Oh, it would be good to have a few backup lamps too.” I couldn’t help but want everything around me.

Even though we slept in the RV, we would sometimes spend time outside, like when we had a campfire going, so a lamp was a necessity. There were various kinds, like ones you could hang off trees and ones you could place directly on the ground. I definitely wanted both. Not only that, but there were also two kinds of lamps—the cheaper kind lit with fire, and the slightly pricier kind which used a magical instrument for light.

Magical instruments are useful, but since we’re camping, I just have to go with the real fire.I can picture it—the flame swaying inside the thick glass of the lamp while I leisurely read beside it in my chair... That sounds awesome.

“Since we’ll be lighting bonfires, I’ll also get a lamp that we can hang from a tree!”

“You sure were lost in thought there...” Raoul said with a wry laugh. “Why not?” he said, agreeing.

After we’d finished shopping, we decided to stay at an inn for one night and leave town the next day.

Despite being cheap, the inn was clean and seemed comfortable. We were currently resting in our own rooms—mine was next to Raoul’s.

After lying down on the bed, I picked up Ohagi.

“My life as an adventurer’s finally gonna begin! I’m looking forward to our partnership, Ohagi!”

“Mrow!” Ohagi energetically responded. I couldn’t help but smile at that.

Afterward, I gave Ohagi lots of attention. We played with the braided rope, our mock cat toy. Then, finally exhausted, we both fell asleep.

≈≈⛟

“It’s another great day for a drive!” I said with a stretch. We finished having breakfast and were walking out of the inn. Ohagi was also stretching out, which was adorable.

Our plan for today was to check the status on the leaf goblin job before heading out to Friulia. According to Raoul, we would be able to get information at the guild. And new jobs were posted daily there, so it was best to go at least once a day.

Being an adventurer sounds pretty tough...

Still, there were aspects about being an adventurer that I longed for, so I enthusiastically made my way to the billboard. Along with other jobs, the one for taking down the leaf goblin was posted as an urgent assignment.

“I wouldn’t be able to take it down though... Oh, this seems perfect.”

What I found was a job to forage for herbs. I would be able to handle this job, and even if we gathered too many, I’d easily be able to transport them with my RV. The job had no time limit specified on it, so it was likely a job that was posted regularly.

“Hey, Raoul. Can we accept this job too?”

“Foraging herbs? Yeah, sounds good.”

“Yay!”

And so, we headed to the same clerk from yesterday and quickly took care of paperwork to accept the job. Along with that, we also asked about the leaf goblin—it would’ve been bad if there weren’t any adventurers who took on the job.

“Oh, some adventurers headed out for that one. There was a C-Rank party and a B-Rank solo adventurer. We’re leaving the job open to others just in case, so I think there won’t be any issues with getting it taken care of,” the clerk explained.

“That’s great to hear!” I let out a sigh of relief now that Friulia was safe. “We have our jobs as well, so we’ll be heading out to Friulia and gathering herbs on the way.”

“Very well, good luck,” the clerk said, sending us off.

And so, Raoul and I left the guild.

A Job Foraging for Herbs and a New Feature

“Man, it’s been a whole day since I’ve been in my RV!” I exclaimed after summoning my vehicle in an area away from the town. After properly storing everything we’d purchased the day before, I hopped into the driver’s seat. We would be spending the day foraging for herbs while making our way to Friulia, so today’s drive was going to be a bit more leisurely. “Okay then, let’s head out!”

“Yeah!” Raoul enthusiastically replied, which got me even more excited.

I was driving along while humming a tune, when suddenly, a grassy field filled with tall plants came into view.

“Hey, Raoul. Do herbs grow in those kinds of places?”

“Huh? Herbs grow pretty much everywhere...”

“I didn’t know that!”

When I’d played the game, herbs had never really made an appearance. And as an aristocrat before, there really had been no use for them. So I was actually pretty excited to be foraging. I parked the RV and decided to look here for herbs.

Herbs were used to make novice’s potions. Raoul explained that they were a rounded blue-green plant, so they were easy to spot.

“I see!” I exclaimed after the lesson.

Crouching down, I began scanning the area. There were all kinds of grasses, including tall ones that reached my hips and short ones that only went up to my ankles. Some even had small flowers. Ohagi was swiping at the tall grasses and playing with them.

I’m starting to have fun! I thought as I curiously looked around. Just then, a plant matching the description of herbs caught my eye. “Oh, is this it?!” I asked Raoul, my eyes glimmering with anticipation.

“So close,” he said. “This is a mock herb. Beginner foragers often mistake them for one another, which is why they’re called mocks.”

“Urgh... I didn’t think I’d fall for something like that.”

“The leaves near the base of a mock herb are mostly all serrated,” Raoul explained with a chuckle. “The leaves on an herb are all rounded, even at the base.”

“You’re right...” Just like Raoul had said, the plant I’d grabbed had serrated leaves near its roots.

I’ll have to be careful, or else I might grab the wrong one again...

“That’s how everyone starts out,” Raoul said.

“Yeah! I’ll get an herb next time!” I said, picking myself back up before I resumed foraging.

Roughly an hour had passed. After a focused search for herbs, I succeeded in gathering enough to make a small mountain in my basket.

“Yay!” I exclaimed.

“Whoa, you got a lot,” Raoul remarked.

“Right? Hey, you have way more!”

Raoul’s basket was filled to the brim, and there was even a pile of all the extra herbs he’d foraged which hadn’t fit inside...

“I’ve been an adventurer longer than you have, so I can’t be underperforming,” he said. “Also, there were a ton of herbs growing here. I gathered them thanks to you picking this spot!” According to Raoul, my eye for locations made me plenty impressive, so I had his praise.

Damn, what kind of pretty boy move is that? I’ll do better next time, I thought as I stood up, but Raoul stopped me.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“This was your first time foraging for herbs, right? Just in case, I think we should double-check the herbs.”

“Okay, sure! I’d love your help!”

If I delivered the herbs with lots of mocks mixed in, the guild might think I was a useless adventurer, which wouldn’t be good. Since I had Raoul here to teach me the ropes, I decided to accept his help.

“This is an herb, this is also an herb... Oh, this is a mock.”

“No, one got in!” I exclaimed in frustration.

I had accepted his help because it was important to double-check one’s work, but I was actually pretty confident about what I’d gathered.

Darn, I can’t believe I didn’t notice the mocks even after he’d described the differences to me!

“Don’t worry, it’s bound to happen. It’s something everyone fails at during their first try. Though the leaves at the roots of mock herbs are mostly serrated, sometimes there are more rounded leaves than serrated ones,” Raoul kindly explained as I sat there, frustrated.

“What?!” I grabbed the mock herb that Raoul was holding out of his hands and checked the roots.

He’s right—there’s just one leaf near the root that’s serrated!

“That’s terrible! This is a scam!”

Raoul chuckled.

After he went through all the herbs, two-thirds ended up being mocks.

Sadge...

“Man, you’ve got a lot of dirt on you, Mizarie.”

“Huh? Oh, you’re right.”

I had worked up quite the sweat as well, so I decided to take a shower. It was truly incredible that I could easily just hop into the shower like this.

After showering, I changed into an outfit with a skirt. It was an ivory and green maxi skirt, something I had previously bought in a town. The green part of the skirt was a dark shade, made out of quilted fabric. It was paired with a green apron that had ivory lace layered on top of it. I also had a vermilion ribbon tied around my waist. It was all very cute, and I quite liked this skirt. Although my top exposed my shoulders, it had three-quarter sleeves—and along with my maxi skirt below, this outfit was great even for chilly days.

We were in no rush to report back about the foraging job, so we took a quick break before getting back on the road. Ohagi had happily played in the field, so she was now tuckered out and curled up in a ball as she napped between Raoul and me. She was so adorable.

As I vroomed down the road, the dashboard chimed, and the level-up message popped up on the screen.

<You’ve leveled up! Current Level: 9>

“Huh, what was that? There was a sound! Did something break?” Raoul looked around curiously, surprised by the sudden sound.

“No, nothing broke,” I said with a giggle. “My skill leveled up.”

“Oh! I see, congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

I parked the RV and went through the dashboard menu to check the details of what feature had been added. Raoul was tilting his head in confusion as he watched me, so I explained that I could check what my level-up included on the dashboard. That really impressed him.

“Let’s see what I can do now... Huh?!”

Level 9 Appraisal Feature Installed

What does that mean?! But also...

“I wanted that earlier!” I exclaimed without thinking.

“An appraisal feature sounds insane,” Raoul said, looking at me with disbelief. “It’s already unbelievable that this huge object is moving at such high speeds...”

Since it was a useful skill, I decided not to think too much about how brokenly overpowered my RV was. And since I was going to spend my days camping, I was grateful for the ability to appraise the items around me.

“First I need to figure out how to appraise things... Oh, it looks like I can see details on the dashboard.”

I went through the menu and began reviewing the details. There was an icon in the shape of a magnifying glass, so I pressed that. It was now added to the standard dashboard display. Tapping it once made it set to appraise all items, and tapping and holding the icon let you specify the item to be appraised.

I guess I can just press this to do the appraisal.

I tried tapping the button, and a soft light shone from my headlights. Appraisal results were displayed for everything in front of us.

<Herb> Herb used to make novice’s potions.

<Valkyr Grass> Plant used for dyes. Often mistaken for herbs and known as the “mock herb.”

<Slime> Weakest monster. Weaker than a cat.

<Rock> Just a rock.

<Tree> Normal tree.

<Honeycola> Mascot monster that likes honey.

<Boulder> Large rock.

<White Clover> Small, cute flower. Perfect for making flower crowns.

“Wh-What is this?!”

All I could see were the appraisal results. Everything the light hit was appraised, and those results showed up in front of me like a video game.

There’re even monsters in the results!

“What’s wrong?”

“Huh? Can’t you see this...?”

“Well, I see the light...”

It looked like Raoul could see the light used to conduct the appraisal, but not the actual results. It seemed that the results were only shown to the skill holder, me.

I’m glad it’s not like just anyone can peek in on the results...

Feeling relieved, I turned off the appraisal feature.

“So... Everything the light hit was appraised.”

Raoul looked up at the ceiling, completely perplexed. It seemed like he wanted to say he had no idea what I was saying. He took a lengthy pause before looking back to me and asking, “Pardon?”

“I’m surprised too... For now, can I go take a look at the RV?”

“Yeah, of course. You leveled up, so it’s important to check on things.”

In an effort to also calm myself down, I decided to step out and give my RV a good look. Once outside, I noticed that the scratch on the RV from when I was hit was completely gone. All the dirt was also gone, and it looked like a brand-new vehicle.

“Oh! I wonder if it’s like when you fully recover after leveling up,” I mused aloud.

This was an unexpected but happy discovery. My RV had probably become squeaky-clean after each level-up until now. But because of the speed I was leveling up at in the beginning and the clearings I was driving through, I hadn’t damaged the RV at all, which had kept me from noticing the refresh.

Other than the fact that it had become spotless, nothing else was different about the RV.

“Wow, it’s so clean,” Raoul said, impressed.

It seems like just the appraisal feature was added, so there probably aren’t any other changes.

“Why don’t we try using the appraisal light?” I suggested.

I brought out a basket of the herbs we gathered earlier and pressed the button to start the appraisal. It made the text, “<Herb> Herb used to make novice’s potions,” appear numerous times and all on top of each other.

This is sure gonna make me sick!

I quickly moved the basket out of the way, but still clapped in awe at Raoul’s skills, since they were all herbs.

“You already finished inspecting it?”

“Yup,” I said. I wanted to check other things as well, so Raoul waited for me at a slight distance away, with Ohagi perched on top of his head.

When did they get so chummy?!

“Upon testing the appraisal light, I’ve discovered that these are all herbs!”

“Wow... With this, we’d be invincible when it comes to foraging jobs.”

“Yeah, I agree,” I said, nodding.

No matter how far a job required us to go, we’d be able to get there with relative ease in the RV, and finding items would be quite simple using the appraisal light.

It might be fun to use while driving. But I’d have to be careful to not get myself in an accident!

Right as I was about to turn off the appraisal light, I saw the word “<Jackalope>” appear.

“Raoul, there’s a jackalope over there.”

“Oh, want me to hunt it so we can eat?”

“Sounds good.” It seemed like it would be best to call it a day and relax here for the night.

“All right, it’s decided then.” As soon as Raoul said that, he threw a dagger and got the jackalope in an instant. It was truly in the blink of an eye.

“Whoa, what? You’re so strong. And so fast...”

The jackalope became little particles of light and disappeared, leaving behind its body as a drop item.

I know this world is from a video game, but that’s still so weird to see...

Here, monsters would drop items and disappear when defeated, while animal carcasses remained.

“This is nothing, but I do think we should get one more. I believe there might still be some around, so I’ll check. Maybe you can start a bonfire?”

“Will do!” I said, raising my hand.

“Of course,” Raoul said with a laugh. He knew all about my love of campfires by now.

I saw Raoul off, as well as Ohagi, who was still on top of his head. As I started preparing the fire, I wondered if it was all right to send them off together like that.

My First Skillet-Cooked Dish

A Jackalope Omelet

“All right then, why don’t we try something new today? Let’s do a...log cabin fire!”

It sounds so fun!

First, I looked for a spot that would work for the fire. I needed somewhere that didn’t have tons of grass or flowers; had exposed, bare ground; and was rugged. I scanned my surroundings and quickly found the perfect spot.

“Nice,” I muttered to myself. Then I pulled out the tree branches—or rather, firewood—that I’d previously gathered and stored in my RV. I stacked them into a square, resembling a log cabin. “It’s like a mini log cabin!”

I threw some thinner branches into the center and lit the fire. I couldn’t help but smile as I watched the small spark gradually grow into a large fire.

I want to just stare at this forever,I thought with an internal exhale of relaxation.

“Oh, right. I need to start prepping food!”

I had bought some vegetables while we were in Kokoshka, so I made a salad first. It was very simple—just some torn leafy vegetables with tomatoes on top. What would be different about today’s salad was the dressing!

The ingredients for the dressing included a carrot, honey, olive oil, salt, and black pepper. I grated the carrot and mixed it with the other ingredients and, voilà, it was done! While easy to make, it was so delicious.

“The salad’s done... But the real prep starts here. Ta-da!”

It’s the cast-iron skillet I just bought! I’ll use this to cook today’s main dish, the jackalope. This is gonna be so good.

Just a simple flavoring of salt and pepper would be great, but topping it with cheese was a good option as well. Or, I could even stir-fry it with some vegetables.

“Hm, the possibilities are endless with a skillet.”

I had some eggs as well, and an omelet sounded pretty good too!

I was pretty much done with the mise en place for our meal, so I pulled out my chair from the RV. It was the low rider chair made out of the fantastical tree. After placing it in front of the fire, I took a seat.

“To put it mildly, this is totally and absolutely awesome...”

Since the chair was quite low to the ground, it had incredible stability when sitting in it. I had anticipated being concerned with how close I was to the ground, but I could smell the grass, which was nothing but comforting.

Taking a nap in this would be amazing...

On top of that, there was the sound of the campfire crackling. This added to the atmosphere, and I didn’t want to leave. Sitting in a chair of my own and staring at a fire like this was the life I could only dream of back when I had been a corporate slave, and when I had been a villainess.

After I stared blankly at the fire for some time, the flames were starting to fade. I needed to add some firewood, so I reached out to the pile, but...I couldn’t reach it.

“Right, low rider—I need to get up.”

The fact that I almost grunted like an elderly person getting up—that’ll be my little secret. I didn’t actually grunt anyway, so it doesn’t count. Still, it’s a bit of a pain to get up from a low rider like this... From now on, I need to keep firewood close enough that I can reach it while sitting down.

As I added more wood to the fire, Raoul and Ohagi returned from their hunt. In Raoul’s hands were three jackalopes’ worth of meat!

“Whoa, you got so much!”

“There was a stream over there, so I prepped the meat too.”

“You’re incredible...”

I immediately placed the skillet on top of the campfire and began cooking the jackalope meat. Just the sound of it sizzling sounded delicious.

After the meat was browned, I steamed it a bit before throwing in some onion slices I had prepared earlier, frying them. I prepared a smaller fire next to the main one as well and boiled Ohagi’s meat on top of that.

“It looks good,” Raoul remarked.

“Yeah! I can’t wait to eat!”

The onions became a nice amber color, and Raoul turned to me. His eyes were glimmering with excitement as he said, “It looks done.”

“Tsk-tsk, there’s still the final step,” I said, wiggling my finger at him.

“There’s another step?” he asked, tilting his head.

“Ta-da! Eggs!”

“Oh!”

I quickly beat the eggs and slid the meat and vegetables in the pan to the side, then poured all the eggs into the empty space. The eggs sizzled and were cooking quickly, so I had to move fast. I wrapped up the meat in the egg, then quickly moved the skillet from the fire to a boulder right next to it. I poured a tomato sauce, which I had been cooking alongside the meat, over the omelet before serving it with two portions of bread.

“And now it’s done! It’s a jackalope omelet!”

“Looks delicious!” Raoul exclaimed.

“And for Ohagi, we have some boiled jackalope meat!” I announced.

“Mreooow!”

Raoul was obviously excited, but even Ohagi’s tail was happily wiggling. And so...

“Let’s dig in!” Raoul and I said in unison.

“Mrow!”

I cut open the omelet with my spoon, and the inside was soft and creamy. I assembled a bite with the jackalope meat and onions inside, then dug in.

“Mmm, so good.” The lean jackalope meat had been transformed through the egg wrapped around it. Adding the tomato sauce to the egg also made for a juicy bite.

“It’s delicious!” Raoul exclaimed. He had taken a bite with me.

Ohagi was also purring as she eagerly ate her food, so it was probably good.

After eating about half of the omelet, I remembered we had the salad.

“I made a salad too! Help yourself!”

“Oh, thanks... It’s so crunchy and good.”

“Right?! I’m glad I bought fresh veggies in Kokoshka.” I was about to take a bite out of a cherry tomato when I suddenly realized something. “Wait... What if I do this?!”

“Mizarie...?”

I placed the skillet back onto the fire and threw in the cherry tomatoes from the salad. The surface of the tomatoes quickly blistered, and a savory aroma wafted over us.

“Oh, I wanna do that too!” Raoul exclaimed.

“Cooked tomatoes are pretty great...”

And so, we enjoyed the salad and the tomatoes along with the rest of the omelet.

Searching the Mountain

After our stop in the field, we continued driving, making sure not to push ourselves by going too fast. Finally, we made it back to Friulia. The village was buzzing over something.

“Mreow?”

“I wonder what’s going on... Oh, it looks like there are already adventurers here!”

They had already passed by, but I saw people dressed in adventuring equipment walking off.

I know we didn’t gun it, but we still had the RV—so how did they get here so fast?!

“They probably sped here on horseback,” Raoul explained as I stood there in shock. “There aren’t any towns or villages, but along the main roads there are some travel lodges. You can rent horses there.”

“I see.”

So it looked like they had rushed here, swapping out horses at lodges along the way.

These adventurers are such good people!

Right as we were about to enter the village, we noticed the woodcutter. He was energetically splitting logs near the entrance to the village, just as usual.

“You’re back already?!” he called out to us. “I wasn’t expecting you to return so soon, you’re fast—oh, and the adventurers are here too!”

“Traveling is what I’m good at!” I said with a smile and a peace sign, to which the woodcutter smiled back.

“There are two groups of adventurers here right now,” he said. “There’s a B-Rank solo adventurer and a C-Rank party.”

“Wow, that’s a relief!”

A B-Rank adventurer would probably be able to handle the leaf goblin. On top of that, there was a C-Rank party here, so they could probably beat it up together.

“It’s such a big help,” the woodcutter said. “Thanks for letting the guild know.”

“It’s no problem... Oh, right! I also registered as an adventurer, and I have a letter for someone in Friulia.”

“A letter? Who’s it for? I’ll take you there,” the woodcutter offered, so I decided to take him up on it.

“It’s for Anne. I met her the last time I was here, but I don’t know where she lives...”

“Oh, Miss Anne,” he said, nodding. “I guess it’s from Theo then—that’s her son. He used to live in Friulia, but he moved out to town. He always sends letters to her, telling her to move to town with him since Friulia doesn’t have as many conveniences.”

“I wonder if he’s at that age where he wants to live with his mom,” I said with a wry laugh.

“Theo is a momma’s boy!” the woodcutter said with a laugh. “Come on, Ms. Anne’s place is this way.”

“Okay.”

It seemed to be toward the back of the village. After walking for some time, I saw a cute house with a green roof. Looked like that was Anne’s house.

“Thank you for bringing us here.”

“Don’t mention it. I’ll be heading back then.”

“See you,” I said, bidding the woodcutter farewell with a wave before knocking on Anne’s door. “It’s my first job. I’m kind of nervous.”

“Since it’s just delivering a letter, the hard part is over,” Raoul said.

“Yeah, the trip here was the most difficult part.” Considering that, this job was truly perfect for me.

Hold on... There’s no response from inside the house.

Raoul and I both looked at each other, tilting our heads in confusion.

“Wonder if she’s out right now,” I said.

“Maybe. It’s a small village, so she’ll probably be back right away.”

I nodded in agreement, and we decided to kill some time first.

It’ll be nice to see Chief Jesef. After that, we can go to the store and buy some things.

And so, we headed to Chief Jesef’s home, but he wasn’t there either.

“Huh...? Everyone’s out.”

“Maybe they’re all near the village entrance to give the adventurers a send-off,” Raoul said.

“That could be it!”

We quickly headed that way. Just as Raoul had guessed, Chief Jesef was there, along with a large gathering of villagers. I thought we would get to see the adventurers, but unfortunately, they had already left.

“That’s too bad... Oh, Chief Jesef!” After spotting the elderly man—who was probably heading back home—I called out to him.

“Oh!” His eyebrows shot up in surprise, and he happily headed our way. “Hello, Mizarie, Raoul! Thank you very much for contacting the adventurer’s guild.”

“It’s no problem. I’m glad to see the adventurers made it here. And it looks like they’ve already headed out.”

Chief Jesef nodded. “They should have no problem taking down a single leaf goblin. Now we’ll be able to rest easy.” He seemed happy. Chief Jesef looked a little exhausted, so he might’ve not been able to sleep that well the past several days.

He mentioned that he was going to head back home to rest, but I wanted to ask him about Anne before he left.

“I have a letter addressed to Anne, but she wasn’t home... Do you think she might be around here?” Since there were many people gathered to send off the adventurers, I thought she might be in the crowd. But scanning the area, I didn’t see her.

“Huh.” Chief Jesef tilted his head in thought, pondering for a moment. “She doesn’t seem to be around here. I wonder where she went.”

“She may have gone back home while we came here, or she might just be out somewhere else,” I said.

Guess our timing just wasn’t very good. We can try coming back later.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, a child chimed in.

“She left the village.”

“What?” Raoul, Chief Jesef, and I all asked in unison.

Chief Jesef was most flustered by the child since he had told people to not leave the village while the leaf goblin was out there. Of course, that included Anne.

“What’s the meaning of this? I’ve told her that it’s dangerous outside of the village, and Anne should be well aware of that!”

“Well, she said that Fluffy escaped, so she was going to look for him.”

“Fluffy?” I echoed.

Sounds like a cat’s name, I thought while scratching Ohagi’s chin.

“Yeah, he’s a cat!” the child replied.

“I see, so I guess she had to leave to find her cat...”

“Still, heading out of the village is dangerous,” Chief Jesef said. “What do I do...?”

We knew that Anne was outside the village, but if people went to look for her and ran into the leaf goblin, that would be trouble. We couldn’t easily send out a search party.

Isn’t this the perfect opportunity for my RV?

“I’ll go look for Anne!” I declared confidently. “I am an adventurer after all!”

Before Chief Jesef could respond, Raoul stopped me. “Wait, hold on. What are you going to do if you run into the leaf goblin? It’s too dangerous for you.”

“I’m worried about Anne and Fluffy though. Also, I’m pretty good at running away!”

I have my RV for that!

I hadn’t tried to go too fast until now, but the RV could likely drive over a hundred kilometers per hour. Probably.

After hearing what I had to say, Raoul thought about it for a moment with an agonized groan. Though it was dangerous, he probably thought it would be possible with my skill. Raoul was well aware of how incredible my RV was.

“Okay then,” Raoul finally said after a pause. “You have to promise that you won’t push yourself. If we run into trouble, you have to listen to my instructions.”

“Of course!”

“Mau!” Ohagi nodded along with my response.

“So, we’ll go look for Anne,” I told Chief Jesef with a smile. “We have a method to escape, so there’s no need to worry for our safety.”

“Thank you very much,” Chief Jesef said, bowing his head. “I feel bad about relying on adventurers for everything, but I greatly appreciate your help.”

“Leave it to us!” I declared.

And so, we headed out to search for Anne and Fluffy.

After we were far enough from the village, I summoned the RV and we hopped in.

“So, she headed out of the village to look for her cat...” Raoul remarked. “I hope she hasn’t gone too far.”

“Yeah... I don’t think cats usually go that far, but I don’t know for sure,” I said to Raoul as I looked at Ohagi.

“Mreow?” She tilted her head as if to say, “I don’t know either.” Adorable.

Cats usually didn’t travel too far from home, but that didn’t mean it never happened. There were also plenty of dangers nearby.

What if Anne and her cat ran into a monster...?

All I could imagine was them getting knocked out in one hit, and I felt my face go pale.

“Let’s find them quickly! With the navigation, that is.”

I turned my attention to the navigation screen on the dashboard and looked for areas with red dots, which indicated humans. Since everyone else was back in the village, it would likely be easy to find Anne. As I looked, I saw a group of five red dots.

“These are still close to the village. Wonder if these are the adventurers,” I said, thinking aloud.

If that’s the case, where’s Anne? I should look near the mountains... Found her!

“Wait, this is the actual mountain! Anne might be up the mountain!”

“Really?! That looks far from where the leaf goblin appeared, but it might’ve moved by now... We should hurry,” Raoul said.

“Yeah!” We had to head there at full speed. “Wait for me, Anne, Fluffy...!”

I pressed my foot down on the gas, and we drove off.

We reached the mountain in about ten minutes. There were many trees, but they had wide gaps between them, so it seemed like we’d be able to travel a good amount by RV.

“Since we’re on an incline, and there could be a mudslide, we’ll drive carefully.”

It looked like we’d still have to travel a bit farther to reach the red dot.

I can’t believe Anne climbed up this path at her age... Maybe she’s surprisingly strong for how gentle she seems.

As those thoughts crossed my mind, I slowly drove the RV up the mountain.

“It’s nice to be able to go up mountains,” Raoul remarked as he looked out the window and watched for any hazards. It could be dangerous if there was a large branch in our way. Those kinds of things don’t show up on the navigation system.

After driving for a bit more, I heard a voice calling out, “Come down, Fluffy.”

“I hear Anne,” I said.

“Glad we found her quickly.”

It sounded like Fluffy had climbed up somewhere high. It would be bad if we showed up in the RV and scared him, so we decided to walk there. Luckily, Anne didn’t seem to be too far, and we could hear her.

“Anne, are you there?” I called.

She gasped before responding, “Who’s there?!”

Raoul and I looked at each other before sighing in relief.

“She seems okay,” Raoul said. “That’s good.”

“Yeah, but we can’t rest easy until we get Fluffy!” Fluffy might be in trouble. I’ll save you, no matter what! I thought while heading in the direction of the voice.

After heading in that direction, we found a cat meowing on top of a tree and Anne standing flustered below it. She realized we were there right away.

“I’m so glad we found you,” I said. “We were surprised to hear you left the village even though the leaf goblin is still out there.”

“Oh, is that so...? I apologize for worrying you,” Anne said with a look of regret before turning her attention back to the top of the tree.

“Is that Fluffy?” I asked.

“Yes. He likes to climb up to high places, but he has trouble getting down.”

“Oh my...”

Cats sure like to do that!

The tree that Fluffy had climbed up was a bit higher than the trees in the area, and was perhaps over ten meters tall. If he were to fall from that height, he would sustain quite the injury.

“What should I do...?” I muttered, trying to come up with a plan.

“Leave it to me,” Raoul said.

“Raoul?”

Raoul began to swiftly climb up the tree.

“Wow, he sure has guts,” Anne said. “I’m not very good with heights.”

“I think most people would be afraid to climb something that tall...” I remarked.

I watched, slightly nervous. But in the blink of an eye, Raoul climbed all the way up and had Fluffy in his arms.

“You’re okay now,” he told the cat with a beaming smile.

Anne, who was standing next to me, let out a deep sigh of relief.

After finding Anne and rescuing Fluffy, we decided to take a short break before heading back to the village. Fluffy was probably starving.

“Well... RV Summon!” I said, bringing out the RV.

“Oh my!” Anne’s eyes widened with shock while Fluffy hissed at it.

Sorry, that probably scared you.

“This is my skill! It allows me to travel quickly. It’ll be dangerous to head back to the village on foot, so please get in.”

“O-Okay,” Anne replied.

I opened the door to the RV and instructed Anne to remove her shoes before boarding. I also wiped Fluffy’s paws with a wet towel.

“I was surprised too,” Raoul said while he helped by bringing out a pair of slippers for her.

Fluffy must have not enjoyed having his paws wiped, because he was running around like crazy in the living area.

I prepared extremely simple sandwiches of cheese and lettuce for Raoul, Anne, and myself. The cats got the usual: boiled meat.

Now, it was time for a break.

“I’m sorry for the trouble. It was really great that you two came! Thank you!” Anne bowed her head deeply to us after finishing her food. She was also petting Fluffy’s head while he sat in her lap.

She was aware of the leaf goblin’s appearance, but I could understand her concern for Fluffy outweighing the threat of danger.

I can’t really blame her too much... I would probably go look for Ohagi too if she ran away.

Anne looked around, curious. “I have to say, this is incredible. I’ve never heard of a skill like this. You must be a famous adventurer, yet you went out of your way to search for someone like me...”

“No, not at all! I’m just starting out! I lucked out with my skill, but I haven’t told very many people about it,” I explained.

“You should be careful. Some people might try forcing you to use that skill for something awful,” she said, nodding along to my explanation.

“You’re absolutely right,” I agreed, nodding back. “Well, I’m sure Fluffy would be more comfortable at home, so we should... Oh, they’re getting along! How adorable!”

Before I knew it, Ohagi had made her way to Fluffy, who was on Anne’s lap. She had been curious about the other cat, so she was sniffing him.

“Mraaaw,” Ohagi meowed.

“Mrrrow,” Fluffy responded.

They didn’t fight—they just sniffed each other before touching their noses together. It was a cat’s way of greeting another cat.

“How nice, Ohagi. You became friends with Fluffy?” I asked her.

“Mau,” she responded. Both cats seemed happy.

“Okay, I’ll be driving then. If you could stay seated there, that’d be great,” I told Anne. “As for you two, be careful. We’re going to be moving,” I said to the cats before turning to Raoul. “Can you watch them here for a bit?”

“Sure,” he said.

After Raoul and Anne both responded with a nod, I headed to the driver’s seat. It would be dangerous heading downhill, so I wanted to drive slowly. If I sped down, it could scare Anne and Fluffy.

“All right, let’s head out!”

I began vrooming down the mountain, and I heard Anne’s surprised voice exclaim, “We’re moving!”

I would be excited too if I only knew a world without cars like her. Then again, since there are windows in the RV, maybe she’s just enjoying the view.

“I don’t think we need to use navigation, but it’s good to check the map regularly... Huh?”

As I checked the map on the dashboard, I noticed that the red dots I had seen on the way here were moving strangely. Since they were just shown as red dots, I wasn’t sure of the details, but something may have happened to them.

“I wonder if they found the leaf goblin...” I mumbled to myself.

“What’s that?” Raoul asked. He and Anne had been listening, and they were both looking my way.

“Does that mean the adventurers are in trouble?” Anne asked, her voice tinged with worry.

If they’d found the leaf goblin, they were likely fighting it.

Could they be struggling and in a crisis?

With that thought, a multitude of terrible thoughts ran through my mind—but I shook my head and waved them away, telling myself that they would be fine because they were experienced adventurers.

“They’re close,” Raoul mumbled as he stared at the map on the dashboard. “We might get caught up in their fighting if we stay here. We should head back to the village quickly.”

I gasped, flustered by his words.

Isn’t that basically turning our backs on the adventurers and fleeing?

Raoul seemed to notice that I was unsettled, and placed his hand on my shoulder to reassure me.

“We’re also adventurers, so I understand that you want to go help them. I feel the same way, but right now we need to prioritize getting Anne back to the village.”

“You’re right...”

Raoul absolutely was. All I had was the RV, and I had no skills when it came to fighting. If I went and they were in the middle of fighting the leaf goblin, I would just get in the way.

I pressed down on the gas pedal and headed toward the village.

Battle against the Leaf Goblin

After several minutes of slowly driving down the mountain, I noticed that there was a blue dot on the map heading our way.

“Huh...?” Red dots are humans. Blue dots are everything else, like monsters... “Is this the leaf goblin?!” I gulped. It was approaching us at an incredible speed, so if we continued taking our time to get down the mountain, it could catch up to us. This is bad...! “Raoul, it looks like the leaf goblin’s gonna catch up to us!” I quickly called out to my guard.

“What?!” Raoul immediately made his way to the passenger seat.

“Why is it targeting us?!”

“It might have heard the sound of us moving, or it might just be sensitive to the presence of others. I’d like to be able to outrun it, but... I’m assuming that’s going to be difficult.”

“What do we do...?”

If we continued running from the leaf goblin, there was a chance that we would lead it to the village, which would be terrible. Considering that, it would be best if we could just lead it somewhere far away—but saying that was impossible would be an understatement.

As I continued to drive while slightly panicking, Raoul made his way back to the living area.

Hey, don’t leave me alone!

“Urgh...” I groaned as tears started forming in my eyes. I continued driving, making sure to avoid hitting trees, and Raoul returned.

“Mizarie, stop heading down and start driving up the mountain, heading west.”

“What?!”

You want me to go back up?! Before that thought could leave my mouth, I realized that Raoul probably had an idea. I nodded and made a U-turn before stepping on the gas. Wait, are we just running toward the other side of the mountain?!

While I continued driving, my heart beating fast, Raoul kept heading back to the living area to discuss something with Anne. Since they were behind me, I couldn’t really hear the details of their conversation.

After I drove west for a bit, there was an area of land that looked like it had collapsed, leaving a large cliff behind. I drove up, making a detour around that cliff, and heard a deep, loud roar echoing in the mountain.

“Graaagh!”

It’s the leaf goblin!

“What do we do, Raoul? I think it caught up to us!” I exclaimed, my face becoming pale. Checking the map, I saw that the blue dot was just a stone’s throw away.

“We’ll be okay,” Raoul said with a slightly nervous look. Despite his anxiety, he seemed like someone with a plan. “We’re going to ram the RV into the leaf goblin and push it off the cliff.”

I fell silent for a moment before finally responding, “Excuse me?” When I heard his plan, only one thought crossed my mind: that was impossible. He wants to attack the leaf goblin with the RV and push it off the cliff...? “No way, that won’t work!”

“You think so? I think it will—the RV is pretty sturdy,” he said.

That’s not what I meant! Well, actually, is that what matters here? Taking down monsters is the norm in this world, so I guess if we have a chance at taking it down, we shouldn’t be wasting our time evaluating our options...maybe. But what if the leaf goblin gets ahold of my RV and lifts it up, right into the air...? Just the thought of that is terrifying. Will Raoul’s plan work...?

Various thoughts ran through my mind, until I suddenly heard Raoul yell, “It’s here!”

“Huh?!” I checked my side-view mirror and saw a gigantic green creature in the reflection. “Th-That’s the leaf goblin?! It’s so big!” The monster was about three meters tall, and it had grass growing in a mess on the top of its head.

“Fluffy, Ohagi, are you two all right?” I heard Anne call out to the cats.

“Mrow,” Ohagi replied.

“Mraaaw,” Fluffy also responded.

It seemed like Anne was watching over the cats. I let out a sigh of relief, and heard Anne yell, “Physical Fortification!”

Oh, so that’s how she was able to hike up the mountain with so much energy.

I tightly gripped the steering wheel and took a deep breath before stepping on the gas. I created some distance between us and the cliff, and thought it was best to wait for the leaf goblin to appear before us.

“It’ll be okay,” Raoul said, giving me an affirmative nod with a serious look, trying to reassure me.

“If we don’t do something about it, the village of Friulia will be in trouble, so we might as well try,” I said.

“It was completely unexpected though—I didn’t think we’d be doing this ourselves,” Raoul remarked. “I’m sure your RV will be able to handle it. It’s not like we’re going to be fighting it directly.”

“You’re right!” I said, nodding in agreement. Then I saw the leaf goblin come into view. It was making a beeline for us, perhaps because it was mindless. Or, it might have had absolute confidence that it was stronger than us.

“Now, Mizarie!”

“Got it!” Right as Raoul gave the signal, I put the pedal to the metal. I heard the tires screeching as they drove us forward, and the RV rammed into the leaf goblin as it ran toward us. I heard a large thud and reflexively shut my eyes.

“Graaagh!”

“Eek!” I shrieked.

Hope I’m forgiven for the pathetic sound that just left my mouth.

It looked like the courage I’d mustered up wasn’t for nothing. I successfully sent the leaf goblin flying off the cliff, which had been right behind it. The cliff was over ten meters high, so falling should’ve defeated the beast.

“All right!” Raoul exclaimed.

“We did it...!” I had ended up closing my eyes, but once I heard Raoul’s voice, I opened them and looked up. I saw the leaf goblin in midair, but then...vines shot out from its body, and wrapped around the RV.

“Huh...?” It felt like my heart stopped beating for a moment, but it immediately started thumping loudly in my chest. At this rate, the leaf goblin was going to drag us down with it, and we would be flipped upside down at the bottom of the cliff. “This is bad, this is really bad! What do we do, Raoul?!”

“First, we need to cut off these vines!” Raoul opened a window and began slicing off the vines wrapped around the RV, but the vehicle was being dragged toward the cliff faster than he could cut.

“It’s no use! Leaving the windows open will be more dangerous!” I quickly shut the window and adjusted my grip on the steering wheel. “Raoul, Anne. I need you both to grab onto something and curl up!”

“Got it,” Raoul said, nodding.

“U-Understood!” Anne responded.

“Mraaaw,” the cats meowed.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

It might’ve been pointless to do so, but I stepped on the gas while the vehicle was in midair. Fortunately, there were some vines right under the tires, and I was able to drive for a moment.

Wow, it’s like I’m driving through the sky...

“Go!” I yelled. The leaf goblin was stuck in place, and my RV drove over its face before driving a bit more through the air. Well, technically, it wasn’t driving—we had basically jumped through the air in the RV, and with sheer luck we landed on the side of the cliff.

All right, we’ve landed. It might be on a cliff, but it’s land!

I stepped on the gas again and taking advantage of that momentum, we began driving down the side of the cliff.

“Whoa!” It was almost like something out of a comic book, but then I remembered that this was the world of an otome game. Things like this were more possible than impossible!

I continued screaming as we headed down the cliff. It felt like it had taken ten minutes, but it had probably only been a couple minutes after we’d made the jump. And so, we safely made it back to level ground.

“We’re alive,” I said after letting out a long, heavy sigh. Just getting those words out was an effort.

“My heart is still beating out of my chest,” Raoul said with a sigh of his own. He was sitting limply in the passenger seat, leaning forward.

Just then, I heard a chime from the dashboard.

<You’ve leveled up! Current Level: 10>

“Whoa! My level went up!”

“Really? You just leveled up the other day... Maybe it’s because you took down the leaf goblin.”

Raoul’s statement made me tilt my head in thought. That could be the case, but I also think it’s possible that my reckless driving helped me level up. We did accidentally fly through the sky after all.

“I’m actually not really sure about what situations give me more experience,” I explained. “The only thing I know for sure is that driving helps me level up.”

“I see... I guess there’s a lot to be learned when you have a rare skill,” he said, nodding in satisfaction.

Just then, I suddenly realized something. “Anne, Ohagi, Fluffy!” I had been so caught up with fighting off the leaf goblin that I had forgotten about the living area. Raoul and I rushed over to the back of the RV. There I saw Anne curled up under the table while she held Ohagi and Fluffy in her arms. It seemed like no one was injured and that everyone was safe. “I’m so glad... I’m sorry for the sudden air travel. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Anne said. “These two had a bit of a fright, but no one’s hurt.”

“Thank you for watching over them,” I said. I let out a sigh of relief before looking at Ohagi, who was in Anne’s arms. “Come here, Ohagi!”

“Mraaaoow!”

“You must’ve been scared—I’m so sorry.”

Ohagi immediately jumped into my arms, and meowed as she rubbed her head against my face with so much fervor that she was effectively headbutting me. I was delighted that she was safe, and I gave her plenty of head pats and scratches.

“So, what happened to the leaf goblin...?” Anne asked.

“Oh, I forgot about it!” I had been so relieved by the fact that everyone was safe that the monster had left my thoughts.

“You’re one busy little lady,” Anne said with a chuckle.

We all stepped out of the RV and looked for the leaf goblin, but it was nowhere to be found.

“Oh, maybe it’s over there,” Raoul said.

“Huh? Oh, looks like a crater formed there,” I said.

There was a patch of concave earth not too far from the RV. The leaf goblin had disappeared, leaving behind several items that it dropped. Raoul picked them up.

“There’s some full moon grass, seed of the seasons, herb, and...a bay laurel dagger.”

“I’m surprised that such a strong monster left behind basic herb. The other drops will probably be useful, like this rare full moon grass, those seeds, and also that dagger,” I remarked.

Raoul handed me the dagger, and it was unbelievably light. Even I could probably swing it with no issue. I’d had this dagger back when I was just a player of this game, but I’d only used it as an in-between weapon, and it hadn’t been my final choice. However, now that this game was my reality, there were a lot more factors to consider when choosing a weapon, like its weight and portability.

This dagger might be nice.

“Since you’re an adventurer now, why don’t you use that dagger?” Raoul suggested.

“What? I appreciate the thought, but I need to consider your earnings from this too... I don’t think I’m flush enough to even pay for half this dagger’s market value...”

“Hey, come on. You’re the one who took the leaf goblin down. And I would never ask you to split the earnings with me,” Raoul said, adding that I didn’t have to worry about anything. Still, Raoul was basically like the commander of this operation since he had formed the plan and guided me to the cliff. He deserved his share of the loot.

“I can’t do that. You fought with me too, Raoul!” I said, showing that I wouldn’t back down on this. Raoul’s eyes widened in surprise before he started laughing.

“Man, you should just take it without a fight... If you team up with other adventurers and say stuff like that, they might just take everything from you.”

“Urgh... Well, I’m only saying this because it’s you, Raoul!” I wasn’t as careless as he was suggesting.

In the end, we decided that I would take the dagger while Raoul took the full moon grass and seed of the seasons.

“Oh...!” We had taken down the leaf goblin, so we were going to head back to the village, but I remembered there were adventurers here. “Raoul, Anne. If the leaf goblin came after us, what do you think happened to the adventurers...?”

Could they have been defeated by the monster? I wondered as sweat rolled down my back. Raoul and Anne had been elated since we’d taken down the leaf goblin, but they gasped in realization. Now they looked thoughtful, with their hands against their chins.

“If they were lucky, they might be alive...” Raoul said.

“It would be nice to at least move their bodies...” Anne added.

“Hey, don’t talk like they’re already dead!” I exclaimed.

After jumping quickly into the RV, I checked the area with the map on my dashboard. If there were moving red dots, that would mean the adventurers were at least alive. I saw three red dots together, and one more a bit farther away from them. The three dots were moving. At the very least, they weren’t injured to the point that they couldn’t walk.

“The problem here is the red dot that isn’t moving...”

Even if the dot wasn’t moving, that person could very much be alive. I told Raoul and Anne that we were heading out to help them, and we took off in the RV. Since we’d be traveling through the mountain, it looked like it was going to take roughly twenty minutes to get to our destination. I needed to drive cautiously so we didn’t get into an accident. Raoul joined me up front in the passenger seat, while Anne stayed back in the living area with the cats.

After I drove for some time, just when we were almost there, Raoul said he remembered something.

“Didn’t your skill level up? Did anything change?”

“Oh! You’re right!” I had been so busy thinking about the leaf goblin and the adventurers that I had set aside my recent level-up. The last one had granted the incredible feature to appraise items, so I was curious as to what kind of upgrade came with this one. I could easily see any changes by tapping through the menu on the dashboard, so I slowed down and navigated to the menu for just a moment.

“Huh, this is...” My tone of surprise made Raoul peek over, and he tilted his head in confusion.

“Is it that impressive?” he asked, before suddenly raising his voice. “Wait, in front of you! There’s an adventurer on the ground!”

“Huh? Where?!” I squinted upon hearing Raoul’s exclamation and...there they were! There was an adventurer lying on the ground several dozen meters in front of us, next to a tree. I stopped the RV, and Raoul and I rushed out to their side.

Looked like the adventurer on the ground was a woman, with her hair in a ponytail. Her ears were long, so she was likely an elf, not a human.

“She’s okay—she’s breathing,” Raoul said. “She’s injured, but there’s nothing critical enough to be fatal.”

“Really? That’s a relief!”

Just then, Anne got out of the RV, yelling, “Is everything all right?!”

“She’s unconscious, but it’s nothing lethal,” I answered.

“I see. That’s good to hear,” Anne said with a smile of relief. She then opened the RV door and turned back to us. “Still, we can’t leave her lying there, can we? Let’s take her back to the village and get her treated.”

“Yes, of course!” Right as we were about to carry her into the vehicle, the adventurer regained consciousness, slightly struggling as she sat herself up. “Oh, you’re awake! Are you all right? Are you hurt anywhere...?”

“Ugh...” The adventurer took a moment to catch her breath before explaining her situation. “Did you save me? I was trying to stall the leaf goblin, but it got me... Think I passed out after healing myself with some recovery magic.” It seemed that her injuries hadn’t been too serious since she had been able to use healing spells. “That reminds me—what about the other three?”

“I believe they’re alive, but I’m not sure how they’re doing. If your injuries aren’t too bad, we’ll find them first before heading back to the village.”

“I’m fine,” she said, nodding in agreement with the plan.

And so, we decided to head to the area where the other three adventurers would be. I ignored the “What is this?!” coming from the living area as I sped through the mountain. Fortunately, the three red dots were close by.

“Think we should be seeing people soon... Oh, pretty sure it’s that group right there!” I saw that the three people in front of us were all standing and walking, so I felt relieved.

The red dots on the map just don’t give enough context on how someone’s doing.

“It’s nice to see that they look okay, right, Raoul...? Hm?” As I looked to Raoul by my side, he was staring in shock, eyes wide.

“That’s my party...”

“Oof...”

The party that used Raoul as bait and ran from the leaf goblin...

Suppressing the urge to just charge at them out of anger with my foot on the gas, I parked the RV instead. My hands, still grasping the steering wheel, were trembling with fury—it seemed that I was angrier with these people than even I had realized. I let out a long exhale to compose myself.

“I-It’s okay. I’m fine, so you can calm down, Mizarie!”

“I’m perfectly calm, whatever are you talking about?” I was completely levelheaded, contrary to whatever he thought. See how I responded? Textbook tranquility.

I left the RV and walked toward the three adventurers. They appeared to be injured. Raoul followed behind soon after and began explaining who was there.

“That’s Hugo, who’s the vanguard,” Raoul said, pointing at a man in the group. “Then there’s Bianca, who’s a mage. The last one is Mia and she provides support.”

“Got it,” I said, nodding along.

It seemed to be a party with one man and two women. According to Raoul, they weren’t unskilled or anything, but they had a pretty inflated sense of how strong they were. They took notice of us as we got closer. The first one to call out was Hugo, who appeared to be their leader.

“Wh—?! Raoul, you’re alive...?!”

“Yeah. Even though you guys used me as bait to flee from the leaf goblin, I somehow managed to survive. What are you guys doing here? I can’t believe you took on the job to take down the leaf goblin...” Raoul was probably asking why they accepted the job when they weren’t strong enough to accomplish it. His cheery demeanor from just moments ago had vanished, and there was now tension in the air.

“No, we were worried about you! We thought there was a chance we could still make it in time—that’s why we’re here! We came to save you, Raoul!”

Raoul just stared silently with a look of disdain.

They claim they’re here to save him, but that’s hard to believe when they went and accepted the job first—that’s a pretty calculated move. If they were really worried, they should’ve reported the leaf goblin to the adventurer’s guild right away, then come as support to help find him. But they didn’t do that. What a blatant, horrible lie.

“The guild pays a set amount of money if you submit a dead adventurer’s card,” a voice called out from behind. “You were after his card, weren’t you?”

Looking behind me, I saw that the elven adventurer and Anne had left the RV to join us. Hugo gulped upon seeing the elf and took a step back. He was basically admitting his guilt.

Maybe they were planning on taking her adventurer card too, if she died.

“N-No, you’re wrong! We were really—”

“Then why didn’t you say anything about your injured party member when you accepted this job?!” the elf said, interrupting him. “It’s because you didn’t want anyone getting in the way of you swiping his adventurer card from his corpse since you thought he was dead.”

“Urgh...!” Hugo fell silent at her retort.

“You’re the worst...” I grumbled.

“Well, it’s fine,” Raoul said with a dry chuckle, sounding apologetic. “The bright side is that we were able to cut our ties here. But I’ll have to report this to the adventurer’s guild. With her statement as well, I’m sure they’ll believe me.”

“Damn it! Why are you alive?! I thought you would be dead for sure...”

“Raoul, can I go punch him, please?” I asked.

“Perfect timing. I was thinking of punching him as well,” the elf chimed in.

Perhaps she and I would get along quite well. We both smiled at each other before stepping toward Hugo. But then the loud roar of a leaf goblin stopped us in our tracks.

“Graaagh!”

“Eek, it’s here!” the mage shrieked.

“Aah!” the support screamed.

“What?! There’s a second leaf goblin?!” Hugo yelled.

The party’s voices made everyone nervous. The large creature I could see behind several trees was definitely a leaf goblin.

“Oh no, what should we do?!” I asked.

“I’d love to just run, but I think that’ll be difficult...” Raoul said.

“I’ll handle it!” the elf said.

Before we could even come up with a plan, the adventurer kicked off the ground and leaped toward the leaf goblin with a rapier in her hand.

She’s planning to fight it!

All I had was my RV and the bay laurel dagger—but I wasn’t skilled at using a dagger, and my RV wouldn’t be much help in assisting the elf.

A sharp clang rang out, and I looked over to see the elf swinging at the leaf goblin. Its skin was perhaps too hard, because it looked like she wasn’t able to attack it properly.

“What should we do, Raoul? Should we ram into it with the RV like earlier?”

“That might help, but it might be hard considering the landscape of this area.”

“Oh, because there isn’t a cliff...”

It was going to be difficult to lead the leaf goblin to the cliff while the elf was fighting it. As I stood there agonizing over what to do, the elf called out to us.

“Hurry up and run!” She had been buying time so we could escape.

Hearing her yell, Hugo and his party quickly began stepping back. Apparently, they were going to take her up on that with no hesitation.

Hold on...

“RV Summon: Class C!” I said at the top of my lungs, summoning an RV that was a size larger than it had been until now. It was a Class C RV, which was the more commonly seen kind of RV back in Japan.

Yep, as a result of leveling up, I had gained the ability to now summon a Class C, not just my former camper van. My skill was totally evolving.

After they saw me summon the RV, Raoul’s and Anne’s jaws dropped.

Right? Right? Isn’t my brand-new RV amazing?! I thought with a look of pride before calling over to them and the cats, “Get in!”

“What’s with this RV, Mizarie?!” Raoul asked as he got inside. “It’s completely different from earlier!”

“This is what happened when I leveled up. I think this might be able to help us with the leaf goblin!”

“Oh! Well, it is truly large, and I don’t think it’ll lose in power, but... Oh, I know!” Raoul suddenly realized something and opened the window. “Hugo, give me your sword! My dull blade won’t land any critical hits!”

“What...?” Hugo, who had been trying to flee, stopped in his tracks. “Are you kidding me?!” he yelled. He seemed ready to leave without lifting a single finger.

I won’t let him though.

With that thought, I pressed on the gas and drove up to Hugo’s side.

“Agh, what in the world is this thing?! It’s so fast...!”

“Hurry up and give me your sword!” Raoul yelled. “Do you want to die?!”

The two women with him—Bianca and Mia—pulled on Hugo’s sleeve and both muttered, “Hugo...” Upon seeing that, Hugo sucked his teeth before he handed his sword over to Raoul. I was a bit annoyed by that, but Raoul didn’t seem to care at all.

“All right then!” Raoul exclaimed as he returned his attention forward. “Mizarie, can you drive us past the leaf goblin’s side?”

“What?” I felt a chill at hearing his ridiculous request. “Wait, hold on, what are you planning to do?”

“I’ll stick the sword out the window and use the RV’s speed to slice it!”

“Wow...”

That plan sure does rely heavily on physics! But he’s not wrong—if we can use the speed of the RV to deliver the attack, we should be able to land a pretty critical hit. Even a metal rod would be no joke if it came flying toward you at over a hundred kilometers per hour.

I took several deep breaths to calm myself down. Disaster wouldn’t even begin to describe what would happen if I messed things up.

“I got this! Women are courageous! Let’s go!” I exclaimed, amping myself up.

“Yeah!” Raoul cheered back. He then stuck the sword out of the window and used his body to hold it in place. Just holding it with his hands would probably send the sword flying.

After looking at Raoul and signaling with a nod, I pressed the pedal to the metal and took off in the RV. I focused on the area right in front of me and yelled out to the elven adventurer fighting the goblin.

“Stand back—we’re going to attack!”

“Got it!” The elf saw the RV speeding toward the monster and took a large leap backward. I made sure to use that opportunity to speed up as much as I could.

We’re going so fast—this is kind of scary! But the RV won’t be able to suddenly stop!

As I listened to the tires screeching, I headed right for the leaf goblin—and before I knew it, the sword in Raoul’s hands had let out an awful sound as it split the leaf goblin in two.

Wait... In two?

After slamming on the brakes, I let out a deep exhale.

“All right! We defeated it, Mizarie!”

“Yeah...”

Raoul seemed happy, but my heart was beating out of my chest. While stumbling a bit, I got out of the RV and saw that items had been dropped where the leaf goblin used to be.

Yup, looks like we defeated it.

As I stood there relieved, the elf ran over and exclaimed, “That was incredible!”

“I’m pretty surprised myself, but I’m glad we took it down.”

“I was actually struggling against it, so you saved me. Thanks, you two,” the elf said.

“We should be thanking you,” I said. Then we both smiled at each other.

“Shoot, it’s broken,” Raoul said. I turned around to see that Hugo’s sword had snapped.

“Oh right, where did those three go?” I said, wondering aloud. I had forgotten that we’d left them after borrowing the sword. I scanned the area—and there they were, several dozen feet ahead of us. It seemed like they were still trying to run.

“We can’t just let them go after what happened here. I’ll go catch them,” the elf said.

“Hey...” But before I could say anything else, she cast wind magic on her legs and kicked off the ground. The elf ran so fast that it was like she was flying between the trees, and she caught up to Hugo and the others in an instant.

That was amazing!

“Wow, B-Ranks sure are impressive,” Raoul remarked.

“Totally... It’s nice to have her here, considering the situation.”

“Yeah,” Raoul said, nodding in agreement.

We then both headed toward Hugo.

All right then, time for those traitors to meet their maker.

All’s Well That Ends Well!

Hearty Pizza Toast

“Eek!” Hugo shrieked along with his party members, perhaps afraid of the twisted smile on my face and what it signified for them. “Dammit! Untie these ropes! We came here to save Raoul!”

“I don’t believe that for even a second,” the elf grumbled. “We’ll let the adventurer’s guild determine the truth of that... Still, I don’t mind getting revenge through a different method if that’s what you want,” she said, turning to Raoul. “I’ll keep my eyes closed.”

“I can’t see anything either!” I chimed in.

The elven adventurer had tied up Hugo and his party with rope earlier, which was why they were now causing a commotion. The proper course of action would be to turn them into the adventurer’s guild, but their treatment of Raoul was beyond horrible. That’s why, regardless of what Raoul wanted to do to them, the elf and I decided we’d turn a blind eye, literally—we had physically shut our eyes.

“Wow, I sure can’t see anything at all,” I said in a monotone voice.

“Come on!” Hugo yelled.

“Nooo!” Bianca exclaimed.

“No way!” Mia shouted.

Ha ha ha, your screaming’s music to my ears!

“I’m fine,” Raoul suddenly said, which made me open my eyes.

“Huh?”

“Are you serious?” the elven adventurer said, staring at Raoul in disbelief. “You almost died.”

“Well, I’m alive,” he said with a nervous chuckle.

He really is a kind person... Really someone of great character.

Since Raoul insisted he was fine, it wasn’t right for me to butt in when I wasn’t even the victim here. The most I could do for him was to properly report the incident to the guild and have them punish the party heavily.

I guess things will work out in the end...

Just as that thought crossed my mind, Hugo suddenly raised his voice.

“You have got to be kidding me! I don’t need his forgiveness! He’s always been useless in our party!”

“Hugo?!” Bianca yelled in shock.

“This isn’t the time for this kind of discussion!” Mia scolded.

Both girls had gone pale at Hugo’s statement.

“I’m more skilled than you!” Hugo continued. “Even my weapon is much better in quality than yours! Both Bianca and Mia match me in skill and equipment!”

“But ever since Raoul left, we haven’t been doing as well!” Bianca argued back.

“That’s right,” Mia agreed. “Not only that, but we’ve had to keep eating disgusting preserved goods...”

Raoul, the elf, and I all stared silently as they argued among themselves.

This is so ridiculous...

To summarize Hugo and his party’s loud argument, Hugo had always thought that Raoul was weak and useless. He believed that he was stronger and better equipped, and that Bianca’s and Mia’s abilities were proportional to his. Hugo claimed that in contrast to that, Raoul was completely incompetent, held the party back, and slowed their progress on jobs. He even said that Raoul’s incompetence became strikingly obvious after the injury to his left arm, and that Raoul should have resigned from their party.

The elf and I both shook our heads in disgust as we listened to every word.

Unlike what Hugo had claimed, their party hadn’t been doing well since they’d left Raoul. He had always done things to look out for the party, like scanning the area for any trouble and making sure they were safe, or swiftly hunting to provide warm meals even when they were traveling afar.

I’ve spent several days with Raoul now, and he’s always been very considerate, so I understand how nice it is to have him around... Actually, if Raoul’s the only one with a subpar weapon, why didn’t they help him get something better? Aren’t they a party? They should be working together.

That thought made me slightly—actually, quite a bit—angry.

“I think the death penalty would suit them after all,” I said.

Oops, accidentally let out how I really feel.

“Don’t say something so disturbing,” Raoul said with a chuckle, but I was quite serious.

Well, that’s not important right now.

“For now, we’ll take them to the adventurer’s guild in Kokoshka,” I said. “The guild can punish them there.”

“Oh, I can handle that,” the elf chimed in. “It seems like they were after my adventurer card as well.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it,” I said, nodding in agreement with her offer. Truth be told, I didn’t want to let these people ride in my RV.

“Dammit, it’s not fair, Raoul!” Hugo yelled. “I can’t believe you got a woman with a skill like that... I could use her so much better—”

“That’s enough!” Raoul shouted. At the same time, his fist rammed into the top of Hugo’s head.

“Whoa, that was loud... Huh, Raoul?” He had shown no signs of harming his former party until a second ago, so I was shocked to see him suddenly strike Hugo with his fist, hard enough to startle me with the noise of the impact made.

“Mizarie isn’t an object,” Raoul declared in a cold tone unlike his usual self. “Apologize to her.”

I gasped—Raoul had gotten upset because he’d insulted me.

And yet he’s so nonchalant when he’s the one being mistreated...

I couldn’t help it if the corners of my mouth turned up slightly.

Hugo let out a strange shriek as his head rubbed against the ground thanks to Raoul’s fist grinding into it.

Wow, Raoul is big mad.

“I-I’m sorry...” Hugo whimpered.

“I’ll make sure to let the adventurer’s guild know about the insults you hurled my way as well,” I responded with a cheery attitude.

“Come on...” Hugo grumbled, appearing defeated. Tears streamed down his face as he got even friendlier with the ground below him before passing out.

Now that I think about it, his injuries hadn’t healed yet...

And so, all the commotion with the leaf goblins had come to an end.

≈≈⛟

After that, we returned to the village of Friulia and stayed with Anne, resting for a few days. The elven adventurer—whose name we eventually learned was Fifia—left for Kokoshka with Hugo and the others, saying, “This needs to be reported right away.” Though I didn’t want to give a ride to Hugo and his party members, I suggested driving Fifia to town with the RV so we could bring back someone from the guild to Friulia, but she declined the offer.

Raoul and I set up to cook at the small plaza in the center of the village. We had decided to treat the villagers to some camp meals as thanks for their hospitality. But I was surprised to see that almost everyone in the village showed up. Then again, that probably wasn’t too shocking since there wasn’t much to do around here for fun—and a small celebration like this was quite the exciting affair.

“So, what are you planning to make, Mizarie?” Anne asked, curious.

“That’s a surprise!” I said with a cheeky grin. “Well, you can watch and see,” I said as I began to prepare the food. Raoul was in charge of creating the campfire needed to grill it.

The menu for today was inspired by the various breads I’d seen at the market in the town of Marle—it was pizza toast, since making pizza dough from scratch would be difficult here.

I sliced a hard loaf of bread as thin as I could and topped each slice with ingredients such as slices of cheese, tomatoes, honey egg, and pork. After that, I added another slice of cheese and some basil.

Wow, what a ravishingly delicious-looking dish!

“How’s the fire, Raoul?”

“It’s perfect! I arranged the wood into a cave just like you asked.”

“Thank you!”

Yes, I’d had Raoul build me a pseudo pizza oven. I placed the pizza toast into my cast-iron skillet, which Raoul was going to put inside the oven over the fire. As soon as the cheese melted, it would be ready. Though it came together quickly, it was an incredibly scrumptious and satisfying dish.

“All right, let’s fire it up!”

“Yeah!”

After Raoul placed the pizza toast inside the pseudo oven, it took less than a minute for the cheese to melt. This idea was a huge success.

“Okay, let’s keep cooking more!” I exclaimed.

A slice of cheese on the bottom was the base for all the pizza toasts, while the toppings varied between different meats, vegetables, eggs, fish, and so on. Soon after that, I heard the crowd shout out, “Delicious!” I was happy to hear they were enjoying it, and I continued firing off more servings.

“Let’s eat too,” Raoul suggested.

“Yeah!”

After we had prepared a good amount, some available villagers volunteered to take over, giving Raoul and I the chance to take a break and enjoy some pizza toast.

I picked one topped with boiled eggs and potatoes. I couldn’t get enough of the soft texture of the potatoes mixed with the melty cheese.

Raoul chose a pizza toast that was topped with extra meat, and he was trying to eat carefully so as to avoid spilling any meat. Despite his efforts, the cheese kept stretching, and the meat—which was the star of his toast—was about to fall through the gaps in the cheese.

“I’m glad to see you’re able to enjoy the food as well,” Chief Jesef said, appearing with his wife, Aida, while Raoul and I were having our food.

“Thank you very much for preparing such a delicious meal,” Aida said.

“It’s no problem! I’m just glad to hear that you liked it,” I said.

“It was really good,” Aida said.

“I’d love to have more,” Chief Jesef said, raving about the pizza toast with a smile.

I had worried that the dish might be too rich for some people with all the cheese on it, but it seemed to be going over well.

“We still have plenty left, so let’s enjoy today to the fullest!” I exclaimed.

Just then, someone called out, “I brought more vegetables and meat!” It appeared that someone had supplied extra ingredients.

Looks like our pizza toast party isn’t ending anytime soon!

We all laughed and once again celebrated the defeat of the leaf goblins.

≈≈⛟

“We should get going to Kokoshka soon,” I said. “We still need to report back to the guild.”

“Mraaaw?” Ohagi responded from my lap as I petted her.

“It doesn’t seem like there are any leaf goblins left, so we should be fine to leave,” Raoul remarked.

“Agreed. The map on the RV is really useful...”

We had used the fact that monsters showed up as blue dots on my dashboard to thoroughly investigate the mountains, and we’d found no other leaf goblins.

Still, the guild should do a proper investigation of the area. It would be terrible if we missed even just one of them.

Anne heard us talking, and she brought out some tea from the kitchen.

“You’re leaving already?” she asked.

“We’d be overstaying our welcome if we didn’t leave,” I said. “I also want to visit the next town over.”

“Mm-hmm,” Raoul agreed with a nod.

At this rate, we were going to become residents of Friulia.

“That sounds nice,” Anne said upon hearing that I wanted to travel the world. “I’m so comfortable here that I just don’t feel like going anywhere else,” she said while glancing over at the letter on her desk.

We had accepted a job to deliver a letter, which turned out to be addressed to Anne from her son. He apparently was inviting her to come live in Kokoshka with him.

I’m sure he’s worried about his mom living on her own in this village...

“It would be nice if it was easier to get between the town and this village, but there’s not much we can do when we’re surrounded by mountains,” Anne said. “Besides, the mountains are important. They’re also where the friulia flowers grow.”

“Those flowers are very beautiful,” I said.

“They really are, especially at night.”

I nodded in agreement. “Well, we’ll visit again,” I said with a smile.

When we were leaving the village, Chief Jesef, Aida, and the woodcutter all came to see us off. It was truly special that I was able to make connections like this during my travels, and I wanted to continue cherishing these experiences.

≈≈⛟

I drove the RV at a leisurely pace for several days before we arrived at Kokoshka.

Our first destination was the adventurer’s guild. We had to report the completion of our jobs, as well as give our statements regarding Raoul’s former party members.

I won’t forgive the guild if they let those guys off with some lukewarm punishment, I thought as I made my way to the reception desk.

“Welcome back...” The usual clerk greeted us, possibly slightly put off by me breathing heavily through my nose. But I had no time to think about that.

“I’d like to discuss Raoul’s former party members,” I explained.

“Of course. I’ve gotten an overview from Fifia,” the clerk replied, nodding with a serious look before detailing what she already knew.

Fifia had broadly explained the events that took place, as well as the party’s intentions. She had explained everything quite thoroughly. All I could add was the fact that Hugo and the others were horrible people, and how badly Raoul was treated.

“As for me, all I want is for the guild to make sure they don’t create another victim,” Raoul said.

“Of course,” the clerk said, nodding. She seemed uncomfortable, but she continued going over the situation. “The truth is, it’s not unheard of for a party member to be sacrificed when an unreasonably strong monster appears. There is no rule regarding punishment for these situations since being an adventurer is a trade that sometimes requires one to face the threat of death. It’s the nature of the job.”

After hearing what she had to say, I started to panic and sweat, worried that the party would get away without any punishment. Luckily, the clerk continued.

“But... This incident is particularly malicious, so we have decided to strip them of their credentials as adventurers. Other than that, we’ve fined them. Once we’ve collected the fine, the two of you will receive payment, though...it may take some time before we can pay you the full amount.”

“Okay, thank you,” I said, relieved that they weren’t being let off scot-free.

The payment of the fine was going to take time because Hugo and the others currently didn’t have much cash on them. Apparently, they were going to be sent to a mine somewhere, where they would be forced to work.

After the clerk finished going over the incident, she pulled out two bags of money and placed them on the desk.

“This is the money we obtained after selling their equipment and other such items. For now, please take this as the first installment of their fine.”

“Thank you very much,” Raoul and I responded in unison.

We next received payment for delivering the letter and gathering the herbs. This reward was split evenly between Raoul and me. Raoul insisted that I get more because our method of transportation was my skill, but he helped me with every other aspect of the jobs, so we split it evenly.

Or so I thought we would be doing, before Raoul handed me all the money from the two jobs.

“Huh? What’s this for?”

“It’s for the potion. It’s still not enough to cover the cost of one though. I’ll live off the money from the party’s fine.”

“Oh...right!”

I completely forgot about that!

Our deal was that Raoul would be traveling with me as my guard until he worked off the cost of the potion I’d used on him. It didn’t feel right to take his money when it was my own decision to use the potion on him, but I would probably be repaying him if the situation was reversed, so I gratefully accepted the payment.

“Your goal is to get to a dungeon, right?” I asked.

“Huh? I guess so. I don’t know if I can really find one, but I want to look for an elixir.”

I gulped. “Dungeon... It’s such an exciting word,” I remarked. “Hey, now that I’m also an adventurer, I want to go to a dungeon with you! If the paths inside are wide enough, we could even travel in my RV! What do you think?!”

“What, you want to go with me?!” Raoul exclaimed, thinking for a moment before nodding in agreement. “It’s not right for me to stop you if you want to become an adventurer. But you’re going to have to learn the basics of how to move in battle before we go.”

“Wait, really? I can go with you? Yay! Thank you!” I was already thinking of paying him to teach me self-defense and basic battle skills, so I was relieved to have Raoul as my instructor.

We both grinned at each other and decided on our next destination: a dungeon!

Afterword

It’s nice to meet you. I’m Puni. Thank you for picking up this copy of RVing My Way into Exile with My Beloved Cat: This Villainess Is Trippin’. The title is a bit long, so I’ve been referring to it as Villainess and RV!

This story was all about camping! And campfires! And RVs! And delicious food!

There are lots of camp meals that look delicious and get me excited, but unfortunately, this story takes place in an alternate world. There were many times where I agonized over whether certain ingredients would exist there, or I worried about the tools used. Working on this book reaffirmed the greatness of rice and instant noodles for me.

I don’t have much stamina, but I love nature. I haven’t been able to go out that much recently, but I used to go to Yakushima, go river trekking, and observe squirrels in the forests—at least I think they were forests—during winter in Hokkaido. Those were all quite difficult activities, but they were all fun.

I hope Mizarie’s slow-living lifestyle with Ohagi seems as relaxed and laid-back—like the happiness of having a cat by your side!—as I’d intended. I hope everyone can enjoy a fun experience following along with Mizarie.

Naturally, this book features additions to and corrections on the web novel, but on top of that, I was provided a map of the roads Mizarie has traveled, as well as a floor plan of the RV! Isn’t that incredible? I hope you enjoyed them while reading the book.

Dear Canarinu, the illustrator for this book, thank you for your energetic and stylish depictions of Mizarie, as well as the delicious foods! Also, thank you for drawing Ohagi so adorably, and for giving Raoul an air of kindness along with his handsome face. The logo for the RV is also adorable. I’m so grateful!

To KONNO Takashi, who was in charge of illustrating the map, I’d like to say that imagining Mizarie camp in all the various locations made me feel warm inside. Thank you!

To Abe-san and Fujiwara-san, who were in charge of this project, thank you for hearing out my selfish requests. Words fail to describe my gratitude for the both of you. I think this turned out to be a wonderful book.

Finally, to everyone who was involved in the creation of this volume, and to all the readers, I thank you. I hope you continue to support Villainess and RV!

Bonus Short Story

The Astounding Bonfire Lover (Raoul’s POV)

While building the fire, I felt someone staring intently. I turned to find Mizarie silently sitting there, her eyes fixed on me. Well, not on me, but the bonfire.

There were signs that I had started to notice. Whenever she was looking at a bonfire, Mizarie would get a dreamy look on her face. She had even purchased a specialty chair just to sit in while relaxing in front of one.

It was embarrassing that I had even thought for a moment that she was looking at me...

“You really like bonfires, don’t you, Mizarie?”

“What?! Y-You could tell?”

“Yeah.” I could tell real easily.

Mizarie placed a hand over her mouth, as if she were embarrassed about me finding out. “Yeah, the truth is, I really like them!” she said, nodding. “I think bonfires have this special element to them that just heals you when your feelings are all jumbled up. When you’re exhausted after a long day of work, just blankly staring at the swaying flames of a bonfire feels like bliss. I feel like I’m transforming back into a human after being worked hard... I think there’s definitely some kind of healing property to them. I just want to soak it in forever...”

“I-I see.” I had perhaps opened a door to a realm I shouldn’t be setting foot in.

“Your fires are so much bigger than the ones I make,” Mizarie observed. “That’s another thing I like about bonfires. They really show your personality. It would be fun to see what kind of bonfire every human in the world makes!”

“I don’t think they’ll be that different...” I responded.

I had spent many nights outdoors, and seen the fires lit by other adventurer parties, but they were all pretty much the same.

Yeah, Mizarie’s a bit different from other people...

Maybe it was inevitable for that thought to cross my mind.

After some time, Mizarie started dozing off. It was possible she was tired from her passionate spiel on bonfires.

“You’ll catch a cold if you sleep here,” I said. “Let’s move to the RV...”

I suddenly stopped in my tracks. Wait, maybe I shouldn’t move her away from the fire...? Perhaps it was ridiculous to think, but I just saw how much Mizarie loved these bonfires. It didn’t feel right to carry her into the RV.

“What should I do...” I muttered. Just then, Mizarie smiled like she was having a fun dream. It even sounded like she whispered something about a bonfire. “I guess it’s decided...”

I headed into the RV and brought back out a lap blanket. She shouldn’t catch a cold so easily with the blanket on her.

“I’ll try relaxing by the fire too.”

Though I didn’t have as deep of a fondness for bonfires as Mizarie did, I felt like I appreciated them a little more than I did before.