Chapter 78
Although there was an attack by the boss monster 'Deep Gigant', the exploration tour to the 'Fairy Lantern Cave' by boat came to an end.
By the time they returned to the port, it was nearing sunset, so they decided to head back to the hotel for the day.
The four capture targets looked regretful to part with Reina... but they were left in charge of dealing with the aftermath and explanation regarding the defeated Deep Gigant.
Clael and Reina returned to the hotel, took a bath, had a meal at the hotel restaurant, and ended their day.
And so... the third day of the trip arrived.
"Now then... what should we do today?"
Early in the morning, Clael woke up and lightly stretched his body while pondering the day's plans.
There were absolutely no plans for today.
Because the monsters that were expected to attack the beach had already been dealt with ahead of time, leaving nothing left to do.
(Originally, today, tomorrow, and the day after were supposed to be spent dealing with monsters...)
But without realizing it... and with yesterday's incident, it had ended so easily.
In other words, they now had three days of free time in their schedule.
"Good morning, Master Clael."
"Ah, good morning."
Just like the day before, Reina woke up right after Clael finished changing clothes.
Her nightgown was disheveled in the same way, nearly revealing her underwear.
"Reina, is there anywhere you'd like to go today?"
"Anywhere is fine with me. As long as I'm with you, Master Clael."
"That's a sweet thing to say... but we don't have any particular plans today. A swim in the sea again could be nice though..."
It's a rare vacation.
He wanted to take Reina to various places and let her experience many things.
"Hmm... barbecue..."
"Barbecue?"
"Ah, yes. My friends at the academy were talking about it. That barbecuing during camping is really delicious."
Apparently, before summer vacation, Reina had talked with her friends about how they would spend their summer.
One of the ideas that came up during that conversation was having a barbecue.
"A barbecue, huh... sounds good."
In his previous life, Clael had been a homebody and had never barbecued.
But now he was much more active than when he lived in Japan, so it might be a good idea to try it.
"I've had meals while camping back in school, but I've never done a barbecue just for fun. Since we have the chance, let's try it."
"Yes. Eating outside sounds fun."
Reina clapped her hands together with a bright smile.
Their plan for the day was decided.
They would go have a barbecue somewhere.
When they asked the hotel concierge if there was a place where they could barbecue, they were told there was a shop that rented barbecue equipment.
The shop also sold ingredients and would teach them how to start a fire, so they could go empty-handed.
"Alright then, shall we head to the shop?"
"Yes."
Clael took Reina with him and headed to the shop the concierge had told them about.
It was a shop located a bit away from the beach. While it was a bit cluttered, it didn't give the impression of being dirty—just full of stuff.
"I'll be right back, so please wait out front."
"Okay, understood."
Leaving Reina in front of the shop, Clael entered, where a well-built male clerk greeted him.
"Welcomeee. Looking for a barbecue?"
"Yes. For two people, please."
"Alrighty. Do you want to rent the barbecue gear?"
"Yes, the full set and ingredients too, please."
"Sure, sure. Then please choose from these courses."
The laid-back clerk handed over a menu.
Even for barbecues, it seemed there were several menu options.
For renting a full barbecue set, there appeared to be two courses: 'Gold' and 'Silver'.
('If it's the Gold course, it comes with magic items that make it easy for amateurs to start a fire and cook. The Silver course seems like it'd be hard unless you're fairly experienced...')
"We'll go with the Gold course."
The price difference was nearly double... but both Clael and Reina were amateurs. If magic item support was included, then that was obviously the better choice.
(I've already decided not to spare any expense for Reina. This much is nothing.)
"Got it! Then, for ingredients, our store runs the supermarket next door, so go ahead and buy whatever you like. You can barbecue at the beach or in the forest out back, but since the beach gets crowded around noon, the forest is recommended."
"Thank you very much."
"Sure thing. When you're done, just let us know and we'll take care of the cleanup."
After receiving the full barbecue set from the casual clerk, Clael left the shop.
"Ah, welcome back."
"They said to buy the ingredients at the supermarket next door. I'll go place this in the forest out back, so could you go ahead and pick out the ingredients?"
"Okay, I'll just choose whatever looks good."
Reina entered the supermarket.
Clael headed toward the forest out back.
The forest was set up like a campsite, with people pitching tents, already barbecuing, or playing catch and frisbee.
"Wow... there are quite a few people here."
As expected, summer was the prime season for camping and barbecuing.
It wasn't exactly packed, but there were a fair number of people.
Clael spread out a leisure sheet in an open spot and placed the barbecue gear.
"Hopefully we don't run into any capture targets today..."
"Luyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"
"Hm?"
A loud, familiar voice rang out.
Turning toward the voice... and, well, as expected, there they were—the four capture targets.
"Come back, Luy! Come back!"
"Abububububububu..."
For some reason, the shota character Luy was being carried out on a stretcher, accompanied by the other three.
Luy's face was pale blue, and he was foaming at the mouth.
"Scary stuff. I heard he ate a poisonous mushroom."
"That's what happens when you eat random things growing around here."
"Campers like that are a problem. It's a nuisance when they cause a scene."
Other campers were all murmuring similar things.
Apparently, Luy had accidentally eaten a poisonous mushroom.
"...What the hell are they doing?"
In any case... it was a good thing Reina wasn't here.
If she got involved with them, she'd end up in a bad mood.
Clael slowly shook his head and headed to the supermarket to meet up with Reina.