By the Grace of the Gods (LN) - Volume 6 - Chapter 10

Chapter 4 Episode 10: Camping, Day 1

“Everyone get your luggage together and assemble!” Roche commanded. Other teachers were still watching the carriages, but everyone else assembled. “I think some of you know this already, but I’ll explain the basics. First of all, there are a lot of campsites set up in areas that get a lot of visitors to make it easier for travelers to set up camp. There’s one of those here, and as you can see, it’s just an open area in the middle of a mountain path. See the sign?”

There was indeed a sign. It displayed a picture of a river and an arrow pointing to where water can be found.

“Most campsites have an easy place to set up tents and a place to get water. The owners of the land make these places to help travelers, and to help adventurers train the next generation. That’s why campsites are free for anyone to use.”

“But while we have the right to use them, there are rules you have to remember. They’re all pretty common-sense things. There aren’t too many, and they’re not that complicated, so don’t worry about it too much. Today I want to go over those rules, then have everyone prepare to set up camp. If there’s anything you don’t know, feel free to ask any of the teachers. We’ll need to take turns standing guard at night, but aside from that, you’ll have free time. Use it to get some rest, gather food in preparation for tomorrow, or whatever else you want as long as you’re not getting in anyone’s way.”

After he explained the plan, he discussed the rules for using the camp. We couldn’t pollute the camp and had to put it back in the state we found it in to whatever extent possible after we left, among other rules you’d expect. We were also told what was customary for when others were using the camp at the same time.

Then, as planned, it was time to prepare to set up camp, the objective of this trip. First we needed to secure our own sleeping space, so everyone including the teachers got ready for that. I went to one corner of the campground and cast Earth Wall to summon four walls from the ground, creating an appropriately sized area. Two of the walls were a little longer than the others. I divided up the space within to create a bed and bathroom. Then I created two thinner slabs or earth to use as a roof. I filled the space between the roof and the walls with earth and solidified it with the Rock spell, mostly completing the work on my hut for today. To finish, I checked my Item Box, but it was taking a while to find what I was looking for.

“Um, excuse me!”

“Yes, what is it?”

I turned around and saw five confused boys and girls. None of them were the kids who rode in my carriage. It looked like they had been watching me, but only just decided to ask questions. Honestly, I was weirdly nervous waiting for someone to talk to me.

“It looks like you were using magic. You’re setting up camp, right?”

“Right. It still just looks like a stone box, but I’m going to put some holes in it and install these,” I answered the lively boy and showed him the door and window screens I had in my Item Box.

“Should you be using that much magical energy when camping? Adventurers are supposed to save their energy for emergencies. I was taught that magicians should try not to waste their magical energy,” a strong-willed girl asked. She was wearing light armor and wielding a staff, so she was probably a magician.

“That’s true. If you’re away from town, then it’s hard to get as much rest as you could otherwise. That’s why it’s typically agreed upon that magicians shouldn’t cast spells needlessly, and I think that’s correct too. But I don’t think that using magic in a way that will improve your sleep is a waste.”

One’s environment can affect the quality of one’s sleep, which impacts stamina and focus. In order to use your power to the fullest, it’s best to create an ideal sleeping environment. But in my case, I happened to have a lot of magical energy and could use it freely anyway; that was something the students might not have been able to replicate. But maybe there was something I could teach them.

“Come with me for a minute,” I said, and brought the five of them next to the base I was constructing.

I created four tall stakes with earth magic and wrapped a rope around them to make a square space, then filled that square with more ropes tied from one end of the square to the other to make a simple hammock. I jumped onto it to see how it works, and demonstrated that it was strong enough to hold my weight. Next, I took a big waterproof cloth out of my Item Box and draped it over the stakes, and in no time, I had set up a tent that could withstand wind and rain.

“With just these tools, I’ve set up a place to sleep. This method makes it hard for bugs to get in, and it works pretty much anywhere. And most importantly, it didn’t cost as much magical energy as my other method. Something like this shouldn’t cost too much for you, for example.”

“Me?” the lively boy from before said.

“You don’t look like a magician, but do you use magic in fights?”

“No, I don’t know how.”

“But you do have magical energy, right?”

“Some. Enough to cast a couple offensive spells if I could.”

“Then there’s no reason for you not to use that magical energy on something else, is there?”

Even a single wall would be good for blocking wind and sunlight, and if he couldn’t use magic, he could still use a magic item. For people whose fighting style didn’t involve magic, they may as well use that energy in other ways. They didn’t have to set up camp mostly with magic like I did, but they could use a little bit when it was convenient. After I told them this, they thanked me and left.

“That’s a unique way of thinking about it. Magic items, though?”

“What if you just learned to use magic for yourself? I could teach you the basics.”

“Well, he was more normal than I expected, at least.”

I didn’t know what that was supposed to mean. They didn’t seem to be questioning my knowledge or teaching skills; they just thought I was abnormal. I didn’t even use my slimes, alchemy, or anything else that only I could use, and I was trying to take this seriously. Also, they probably should have gotten a bit further away before talking about me behind my back.

“Hey, nice job on your first lesson.”

“Oh, Howard, hello.”

“Sounded like you did pretty decently.”

“You think so?”

“They got what you were saying, and it seemed like it got them thinking as well. You can tell if someone’s a bad teacher when the students can’t understand what they’re saying. So conversely, you’re pretty good.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Howard seemed kind of casual, but maybe he was just trying to break the ice. As long as we were talking, I decided to ask something I was curious about.

“By the way, is my way of setting up camp unusual?”

“I’d say so. Like you were saying, you should avoid wasting energy when you’re out of town. You’re right about it not being so much of a waste to use that energy for camping, but most people just bring a tent and tools from town. Advanced users of space magic can apparently create a safe space for themselves, but no newbie can do that. The best they could do with magic is light a fire or replenish their drinking water if they run out. You seem fine, but how much magical energy do you have left?”

“More than enough. I have a lot of magical energy to spare, thankfully. I’ve been told that I have as much as a court magician would.”

“Guess that’s why you seem fine, then. If this isn’t too tough for you, then it seems like a great way to set up camp to me.”

“Ryoma, do you have a second?” Lucas asked.

Lucas was the largest of his team of three by a long shot. That and the big metal hammer on his back made him look like a force to be reckoned with. But he was currently holding a wooden board with a sheet of paper upon it in his left hand, and a quill in his right. Between the pinkie and ring finger of his left hand, he also carried a bottle of ink.

“Any particular time you want to stand guard at night? Just asking in case there’s any times you’d do better or worse.”

“I should be fine at any time, but I’m strong at night in general. I’ve gone hunting very late before, and I think I have pretty good night vision.”

“No particular time, strong at night, and with good night vision. Got it,” Lucas repeated as he wrote with the quill. I guess he was asking because some adventurers might have low blood pressure or something. I had no experience with that myself, but from what I remembered of an old coworker, it could be very dangerous. “Alright, thanks for your cooperation. I’ll tell you what time you’re getting later. If you’ve got nothing else to do, take a cursory look around the place. You too, Howard.”

“Understood.”

Adventurers could look unscrupulous at first glance, but they had meticulous jobs.

■ ■ ■

“Come on, pull harder!”

“I’m pulling, I’m pulling!”

“I’m going to fetch some water. Be right back.”

My preparations were done, so I decided to go have a look around with Howard.

“I don’t see any problems here.”

Some of the students were taking a bit long, but nobody needed assistance.

“Just the first day, after all. Not likely to be any big troublemakers on the—”

“What’d you say?!”

“Oh, great, a fight? Guess I spoke too soon.”

“Let’s go.”

We went around a tent to see where the voice came from. Beck’s party and another group of four boys were silently glaring at each other. It looked like a hostile situation.

“Hey, what’s all the commotion?”

“Ack!”

“I wouldn’t call it commotion.”

“Yeah, that!”

“Me neither.”

The group of four panicked in reaction to Howard’s question.

“We were just discussing the idea of looking for something to eat.”

“Then these guys started arguing with us and we got a little loud, that’s all.”

“You’re the ones who started it, not us.”

The four boys responded to Beck’s point by getting hostile again.

“Ryoma, looks like we should separate these two groups before we ask what happened.”

“Agreed. Can I talk to the group of six? I know them, so I think it’d be easier for me.”

“Sure, then I’ll take the other four.”

Thus, I took the six of them to my campsite, created a table and some chairs with earth magic, and asked for their side of the story.

“So, what the heck happened?”

“I mean, same thing that usually happens. I told you that there were these guys who make fun of Wist, right? That’s these guys.”

I’d forgotten about that, but yes, they had brought it up. Apparently they were referring to these four.

“They’re strong. I don’t like them as people, but I can’t deny they’re good at hunting.”

“Um, between picking herbs and hunting, hunting’s more profitable. And all they do is hunt, so compared to us who mostly just pick herbs, they make a lot of money.”

“They make fun of us a lot for picking herbs.”

“Even just now when we were talking about finding food, they taunted us saying we were going to eat grass.”

It sounded like that was what started the argument. When I asked for further details, my suspicions were confirmed in that most of the arguing was done by Beck. He was always one to do that. But it didn’t seem like he physically attacked them.

“Alright, got it.”

“Um, are we getting punished?”

“I don’t know what the other teachers will decide to do, but personally, I think we can let you off with a warning. I see no signs that either side of this conflict hurt the other, and from what you’re saying, it’s not entirely your fault. Beck, I think it’d be best if you worked on your short temper, but better this than doing nothing when your friends are insulted, I guess.” Maybe I was adding fuel to the fire, but I personally couldn’t disapprove of that.

In any case, I decided to just warn them. I told them to be more careful in the future, then headed off to report this to the other teachers. They agreed to handle Beck’s party the same way I did. Also, everyone was informed of an unspoken rule: unless it was to share information to ensure safety, such as warnings about bandits or monsters, groups were not to interfere with each other.