While Rudy and Rie were surveying the surroundings, Luna and Locke prepared the campsite where we had stopped.
They gathered nearby branches to build a campfire, and Luna went to collect fruit, while Locke went to hunt for game.
Luna collected a decent amount of fruit from the area and set it aside.
As a child, she had often picked fruit from nearby trees, so it was easy for her to identify which ones were edible.
"Is this enough?"
Luna gazed at the fruit she had gathered with a satisfied smile.
"I wonder when Rudy will be back…"
Among their group, Luna felt a bit awkward with everyone except Rudy.
She found it difficult to approach Princess Rie due to her high status and the somewhat intimidating aura she emitted.
Though the atmosphere was different from when they were at the academy, it was still hard to take the initiative and engage with her.
Furthermore, being in the same space as Locke was incredibly awkward due to their previous conflict.
As Luna absentmindedly stared in the direction where Rudy had disappeared, she suddenly thought of Ena and Rika.
"I wonder how Ena and Rika are doing…?"
She was worried about them.
Her own group felt a bit uncomfortable, but they were all skilled individuals.
There was hardly any chance they would fail.
Honestly, having Rudy, Rie, or herself in a group would almost guarantee success, and having all three together made it a certain.
Ena and Rika should have also been in good groups...
"But, did they do this on purpose…?"
Luna tilted her head in thought.
She wondered if they had deliberately placed the high-achieving students in one group to compare the lower-performing ones separately.
In reality, if a group had even one outstanding student, their chances of surviving a week would be much higher, making it difficult for lower-performing students to be fairly evaluated.
That's why she suspected they had grouped the top students separately from the others.
This arrangement was good for Luna in terms of grades.
Though it was uncomfortable having awkward relationships, she would have been paired with strangers anyway, so this group was still preferable.
"Still, I'm glad Rudy is here…"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Rudy was as comfortable to be around as Rika and Ena, if not more so.
With a faint smile, Luna gazed at the fruit she had gathered.
"There's nothing to do..."
As I waited briefly, various voices reached my ears.
"How could you do that?!"
"What does it matter? They would all end up dead anyway."
Looking in the direction of the voices, she saw Rie and Rudy bickering as they approached.
Luna was about to greet Rudy warmly but stopped upon seeing them arguing.
'Uh...'
Rudy noticed Luna first and greeted her.
"Ah, Luna, we're back."
"Uh, yeah! Good job!"
Luna smiled in response to Rudy's greeting.
"What are all these fruits?"
Rie's attention was immediately drawn to the fruits behind Luna.
"Oh, I found a few familiar fruit trees nearby, so I picked some."
"Wow, you know about these?"
Rie asked Luna in a friendly manner.
"Yep... I ate them when I was little, picking them straight from the trees."
"You've picked and eaten fruits straight from trees?"
Rie looked at Luna with a surprised expression.
'Uh...'
Seeing Rie's astonished face made Luna feel a bit awkward.
It made sense since Rie and Luna came from different worlds.
There was no way the Empire's princess would have ever picked and eaten fruit from trees.
"There are many fruits I've never seen before."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Rie looked at the fruits curiously.
Rudy seemed interested too, as he examined the fruits from behind.
They were grown on trees in the forest, so they weren't high-quality fruits.
As a result, Rie was seeing all of them for the first time.
She had rarely eaten them herself, aside from when she was young.
"Ha...haha..."
Luna laughed awkwardly, realizing the difference between her and Rie.
Well... it was surprising that she had become this close to Rudy. Rudy's world was also different.
"Wow, I haven't seen this in a long time."
"Do you know this fruit too?"
At that moment, Rudy leaned down to pick up a small fruit.
"Is this a cherry?"
Luna's eyes widened in surprise.
"Rudy, how did you know?"
"Huh? I just saw a tree nearby when I was little... Ah."
Rudy suddenly stopped talking, then paused to think for a moment before speaking again.
"…I saw it in a book."
Rudy quickly changed his story.
"…You suddenly saw it in a book?"
Rie stared at Rudy with a bewildered expression.
"Anyway, I saw it in a book."
Rudy insisted, then immediately popped the cherry into his mouth.
"Uh...? Rudy, you should wash it before eating... And the pit is quite big...!"
For those eating cherries for the first time, biting into the pit could damage their teeth.
Luna tried to warn him of this fact.
"Hm?"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})However, Rudy skillfully picked out the seed and spat it onto the ground.
"...You said it was your first time eating it."
Realizing what Rie had said, Rudy paused to think.
"I thought that might be how to eat it. So I just went for it."
"You just guessed on your first try?"
As Rie asked this, Rudy made a cheeky expression.
"Isn't human intuition amazing?"
Seeing his grin, Rie sighed as if giving up.
"By the way, where did Locke go?"
Rie asked Luna as she scanned the area.
"Um... he said he went hunting..."
"Hunting?"
As if on cue, they heard the sound of something being dragged from far away.
Locke walked towards them, his face smeared with blood.
"What's he up to now..."
Rie muttered to herself, but Rudy and Luna were thinking the same thing.
In one hand, Locke held a bloodstained sword, and in the other, he dragged a dead boar.
"It's dinner."
With that, Locke sheathed his sword at his waist.
"You caught a boar with just a sword?"
Rudy's incredulous expression was shared by Luna.
How could an ordinary person catch a boar with a sword?
Seeing their expressions, Rie spoke up with a smile.
"Tonight, we can have a feast. We might eat even better than at the Academy, right?"
Luna couldn't find the words to continue.
It truly felt like they would eat better than at the Academy.
Although they were all nobles and surviving would be easy, she thought there would be issues related to actual survival skills.
Surprisingly, they seemed to be more suited for this kind of survival than anything else.
"I'll prepare the boar."
Locke carried the boar behind some trees.
"Let's start a fire and prepare to cook."
"Right!"
Just as Rudy and Luna were about to start, Rie sneakily stepped back.
"I fought the monsters, so I'll take a break."
As Rie tried to head into the forest, Rudy grabbed her collar.
"You didn't do that much. Go make a place to store those fruits."
"Ugh..."
Rie glared at Rudy while he held her collar.
"Got it?"
"Grrr..."
Rie clenched her teeth and replied to Rudy.
It was the first time Luna had seen Rie react like this.
She was always confident and outspoken, but in front of Rudy, she couldn't even budge.
It was intriguing.
"Luna, let's prepare the fire and get ready to eat."
Hearing Rudy's words, Luna grinned.
"Alright!"
It was night,
Summer was approaching, making the weather warmer, but the forest still had a slight chill to it.
Nonetheless, it wasn't cold enough to catch a cold, and it wasn't uncomfortable either.
We had even prepared a campfire, so there shouldn't be any problems.
We tidied up our surroundings and gathered around the campfire.
"Since it's our first day and we're tired, let's go to bed early."
"Alright. Wake me up later."
Rie and Locke laid down on the ground after saying that. We decided to take turns keeping watch at night. If everyone fell asleep, we wouldn't be able to respond to a sudden monster attack, so a night watch was essential.
If only we had learned alarm magic that would alert us when monsters approached, it would have been more convenient.
However, since no one knew how to use alarm magic yet, we had no choice but to keep watch.
For now, since it was the first day and we were unfamiliar with the forest's conditions, Luna and I decided to keep watch together.
When we got tired, we would wake up Rie and Locke to take over.
Rie and Locke laid down in their spots.
She shifted her body, seemingly uncomfortable with the ground.
"Ugh... It's so hard. How can anyone sleep here?"
Despite her grumbling, Rie fell asleep within ten minutes, though tossing and turning.
It hadn't even been a full day, but after riding in the carriage for so long and preparing the base camp, she must have been exhausted.
I quietly stared at the crackling fire.
Like I had mentioned when we went out to explore with Rie, coming to this place felt refreshing.
I had only studied at the academy, so I had never felt this relaxed...
My body and mind felt drowsy, with the tension released and a warm campfire in front of me.
Earlier, my guard had been down, so I ended up talking about cherries.
I remembered picking and eating cherries from a tree near my home when I was young, so I had instinctively acted on it.
I made an excuse, thinking 'Rudy Astria' wouldn't have eaten cherries, but no one seemed to care, so we moved on.
I made a mental note that letting my guard down could create such slip-ups.
But I couldn't always be on edge.
I was constantly on guard at the academy, so shouldn't I occasionally allow myself to relax?
Of course, in a few days, I would need to be on high alert again, but right now, I wanted to enjoy this moment without worrying.
As I was lost in thought, Luna spoke up.
"They seem like nice people, better than I expected..."
"Huh?"
Luna sat with her legs crossed, looking at me and smiling.
"Rie and Locke, they both seem like good people. Even though they're of high status, they're kind..."
She was right.
Rie had done as I asked, and Locke, on the other hand, had taken the initiative to get things done without being told.
Moreover, Locke seemed familiar with this kind of lifestyle and shared his experiences, explaining what needed to be done.
As a result, I didn't have much to do, and I could finally relax.
"Ah... of course, I think Rudy is the kindest!"
"Ha ha... thank you."
I gave Luna a faint smile as I spoke.
"When I first came to the Academy, I thought people of high status would be on a different level than me."
"Really?"
"Yeah, but it turns out everyone's just like me. Hehe..."
Luna tilted her head and rested her face on her arm. I looked at her and smiled softly.
"Well, people's lives are all pretty similar."
There was no big reason for the lives of high-ranking nobles to be drastically different.
Of course, there might be some small differences, but if you looked at the big picture, they would all be quite alike.
Similar experiences, childhood stories...
"By the way, it looked like there were some cherries left earlier. Want to eat them together?"
"Sounds good."
Luna brought the cherries over and sat down near me.
We each picked up a cherry and popped it into our mouths.
"It's so sweet... hehe."
Luna kept eating cherries as she spoke.
Watching her, I smiled faintly and reached my hand out toward the bonfire, muttering to myself.
Seeing this, Luna also stretched her hand towards the bonfire.
"It's warm..."
"Yeah..."
Relying on the warmth and light of the bonfire, the night deepened.
***
