Episode 23: Prelude to an adventure

Nagye saw a team nearby, oblivious to their presence and distracted enough to be leaving many openings for attack.

Ari: Nagye, you shoot rocks at them to distract them, then me and Taro will also fire at the ones not distracted, then we all jump in, but Shizuka has to stay hidden to make them think we’re less than we actually are, and to jump in and help or prevent them from escaping. Nagye stays here to provide support, got it?

Although Ari’s instructions were usually not the best, this time they were simple enough to understand. Everyone got into position and the ambush was about to commence.

Taro saw the target team passing by, he recognized Turt’s voice and decided he would not attack him, but then he heard another familiar voice, it was priest guy

lanky villager: hey, what’s that bird— woah, did it just throw a rock at me?!

chubby town guard: it’s an ambu—

he did not get the chance to finish his alert, Ari’s flying mace had hit him right in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him

priest guy: huh?, wha—

Taro shot a rock to priest guy’s lower back, knocking him to the floor. Then Ari, Sidra, and Taro jumped out

priest guy: Taro!, this time I won’t have any considerations!

priest guy ran towards Taro, Shizuka was ready to jump in, but Taro was also not gonna have “any considerations” towards priest guy

Taro: (I can make this shot, but his head is moving too much, then I’ll hit him in the stomach, this is for all the things you’ve done to me, jerk!)

Taro fired a mana enhanced rock at full power, it hit priest guy square on the stomach. he was knocked back down, out of wind and feeling like his legs became jelly

Turt: woah, isn’t that the man Taro?

Sidra: do not distract yourself, this is an ambush

Sidra got a hold of Turt and spun him around before throwing him at another of his teammates

big shirt guy: you guys can deal with this, I’m outta here!

Shizuka: Raaaa! not so fast! hehe

the ambush had been a success, the other team surrendered and was sent back to the starting point, not before them handing over their white cloths as proof of defeat

thanks to the combined power and strategy of the team, they managed to conduct 3 more successful ambushes, returning to the guild master with the most white cloths by the time the drill was over

guild master: over 15 with cloths? most impressive, I haven't seen something quite like it before. I knew my expectations were not misguided, wait here a moment, I’ll be back soon

the guild master went to talk to some adventurers while Taro and the girls celebrated their new victory

Shizuka: I guess we’re really that strong, we could easily pass as monsters now hehehe

Sidra: oh dear, I’d rather not

Ari: I've never had this many successful ambushes before, I see now the power of working in a team with people you like

Taro: (I hope the travel to the river is this easy) we uhh, very tough

a little after, all the teams returned to the starting point, and the guild master returned as well

guild master: lend me your ears please!. I congratulate you all for coming this far, we spent an entire week training nonstop, on top of our daily activities. Without falling into arrogance or complacency, I think we have become more competent in handling the threats we may encounter. Let's hope we can just have this knowledge and never have to use it.

The crowd cheered; the uproar was about getting ready to celebrate in the festival. Taro and the girls on the other hand were feeling impatient, they had an urgent matter to attend before really relaxing

guild master: it's important that we remember we’re not enemies amongst ourselves, the real enemy is the Horde, and those who may want to attack our peaceful town. One such potential threat is the appearance of a bruo in the vicinity

the cheering stopped, substituted by murmurs and whispers

guild master: thanks to our skilled adventurers, we managed to track the bruo’s hunting site, it is to the east, where various animal carcasses were also found. This leads us to believe that the reason why we haven’t been seeing many monsters fleeing from the east is because the bruo has been intercepting them.

Ari: which means

Taro: forest, no bruo!

guild master: It is more of a blessing than a curse. it does the dirty work for us, and if it were to become a problem for us, we have enough power to bring it down. that’s all I wanted to say, you may go rest now, let the festival preparations begin

Sidra: and for us: let our journey being

once the training session was dismissed, the girls and Taro went to their usual spot near the rock to plan their adventure to the river

Shizuka: I think we should still not travel at night, even if the bruo is somewhere else, what if there’s another bruo? or some other creature

Ari: fair point, we also need something to camp under, like blankets we could use as tents

Sidra: I know of a way to sleep away from the ground. back in a town I was sent to, we had to sleep outside because we were having an infestation problem, so we had to tie blankets to tree branches and poles, like a sort of cocoon we could sleep over

Taro: (ahh, a hammock, it's been a while since I last saw one. By the way she’s describing it, it’s clear they don't exist here. perhaps I should learn how to make pretty hammocks to become rich like those “rich in another world” animes)

Shizuka: don’t forget the food, we need to bring food, I don’t wanna eat bugs and random plants in the forest, also, we can do what we talked about earlier!, about cooking outside and eating together

Nagye: umm, w-what about the weapons? I think we’re gonna need some, but t-they’re expensive

Ari: we’ll have to settle for wooden training weapons and mana enhance them. I’ll try to sneak some training weapons from the guild storage later

Taro: also, bags, for carry, many river plants

Nagye: r-right, I’ll try to bring as many as I can. a-also, I have an idea, b-but I don’t know if it’s good

Sidra: Don't be doubting yourself after ambushing 15 people today

Nagye: I th-think we should practice sleeping outdoors before traveling, that way we’ll know what to expect

Shizuka: yes let’s have a sleepover! in the church yard since it has a lot of trees, like a little forest

Sidra: wonderful idea, we have to ask for permission, but I don’t think there will be a problem

Ari: sounds like a plan, we go for our blankets, meet at the church, and sleep in the yard, let’s do it

The whole group went to follow through with their plan. A little after sunset, they gathered at the church’s entrance

Sidra: they said it was ok but only if we didn’t damage the trees

Ari: fair enough

Shizuka let’s get to it, or as Taro says: we go!

Taro: we go hehe

Sidra taught them how to make their makeshift hammocks, though it was difficult at first

Ari: wait Shizuka, don’t sit here, I don’t think it can support us bo—

the hammock fell to the ground with Ari and Shizuka on it

Shizuka: haaahehehehe!

Ari: don’t laugh! go make your own —hahahah

after various failures, they all managed to prepare their hammocks

Nagye: t-this is indeed better than sleeping on the floor, where it's rough and uneven, and where bugs can crawl on us

Shizuka: this reminds me of when the snotter got us and we all slept at the church hehe, fun times

the group chatted until they fell asleep one by one

the next morning, they woke up early to give notice of what they were going to do

bald priest: I pray to the goddess you not only find the Naro river plant, but also find no danger in your path

Sidra: worry not too much for us, with the favor of the goddess, we will succeed

Taro: (wait for us sister Sunny, we’re going to help you this time)

then they visited the guild

guild secretary: what do we have here? my best ambushers are here, what brings you so early?

Taro: we go, plant forage quest