𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟎: 𝐑𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟐)

The girl named Miliaria is good at making plans and sticking to them.

In a very positive way, she is a person of deep thought and far-sightedness.

At the same time, she is not a person who can adapt to circumstances.

She is extremely weak to sudden events. When she encounters a situation that exceeds her own expectations, she easily panics.

She becomes so useless it’s almost laughable.

“Are you okay, Miliaria?”

“Ye, yes. . . Nel-san.”

I remove her pointed hat, stroke her brown head, and try to calm her down.

Her breathing, which was like a cat’s hiss, returned to normal.

“I’m sorry. . .”

“Don’t worry about it. No one is good at dealing with sudden situations.”

You can only deal with it if you intend to.

It’s just a matter of getting used to it.

Swordsmen like Asuka can commit to building up that familiarity through training, but wizards can’t do that.

You have to think about which magic to use, chant it, and then activate it.

You can’t train your body to draw a sword in an instant, or to jump to the right, and so on.

Quick judgment and accurate analysis of combat power, tactical thinking that builds up the next move and the move after that, these are the things that are required.

In a high-dimensional way.

If a sixteen-year-old girl could do it perfectly, it would be a miracle.

Especially since Miliaria is the type who is weak in actual situations.

“You just need to get used to it little by little. Until then, rely on me. I’ll help you without any ulterior motives.”

I pat her small back.

“You’re really like a mother, Nel-san.”

Miliaria chuckled.

No, I want you to call me “Onii-san”. That’s what I want.

“Nel-san, Nel-san! Mei is hungry!”

“I can’t take it anymore. . .”

While I was calming Miliaria down, Asuka, who had been scouting the area a bit, and the exhausted Meisha returned.

With a worthless report.

“Not again. . .”

With a sigh, I take out a special pemmican from my backpack, sandwich it in bread, and give it to Meisha.

“It’s delicious! I love Mama Nel!”

She was pleased.

That’s cheap love.

Pemmican is a nutritious portable food made by finely chopping meat and vegetables, frying them until fragrant, and solidifying them with butter.

You can dissolve it in hot water or warm milk, or you can sandwich it in bread or just bite into it. It’s delicious.

Because it’s a lump of fat, it’s bad for your body if you eat too much.

If you eat it as voraciously as Meisha, you’ll definitely gain weight.

Why this girl doesn’t gain weight is an eternal mystery.

But, even though she doesn’t gain weight, she has a bad fuel economy.

She’s a capable adventurer who can fight hand-to-hand, use holy magic, and respond immediately to my instructions, but she gets hungry very quickly.

And when she’s hungry, she can’t move.

Because of her troublesome constitution, my backpack is filled with portable nutritional food.

“When Mei’s not hungry, she’s super capable!”

Asuka laughs dryly.

If you’re going to say that, you’re a capable adventurer too, if you didn’t have the habit of always wanting to be in front.

A swordsman who rushes in even though she has enough combat sense.

A wizard who has knowledge and can use many spells but is weak in actual situations.

A monk who has high-level abilities in all areas but can’t move when she’s hungry.

The members of our clan are very unique.

There have been ups and downs, but the investigation is going smoothly.

It’s not a very large ruin.

There are only about twenty buildings left, and the rest is completely rubble.

And there were hardly any monsters. The only ones were golems. We’ve defeated about thirty of them.

They were probably protecting this place.

A city with no inhabitants and no visitors.

“It’s kind of sad, isn’t it?”

Miliaria said quietly.

Maybe she’s gotten used to it, but she’s now able to handle sudden golem attacks without panicking.

“Who are they protecting the city for? What’s the point of doing that now?”

She shakes her head slightly.

Probably because she knows it’s a meaningless thought.

Golems don’t have a will. They just faithfully execute the orders they are given.

Until the day their functions stop.

Overlaying sentimental thoughts on that is exactly what human selfishness is.

Or should I say, her kindness.

“But, because they protected us, the town wasn’t ravaged by filthy monsters. Maybe they were able to pass on the culture and customs of the time to our generation thousands of years later.”

So, I adjusted her slightly off-kilter pointed hat. Gently.

Miliaria looked up at me.

Intently.

“Nel-san, are you surprisingly romantic?”

“No? If I were to speak my mind, I’d say, ‘Thanks to them protecting us, we can get our hands on some treasures.'”

“I thought so.”

The girl giggles.

OK. That’s fine.

Thinking too much dulls both the sword and magic.

“But, golems only have set movements, so they’re boring. I think it would be better if they had more varied attack patterns.”

Asuka interrupted my conversation with Miliaria to say something that really didn’t matter.

Yeah.

What did you come to these ruins for, say it again.

This battle junkie girl.

Anyway, the exploration is going well.

At this rate, we should be able to finish making the map in two or three days.

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