Chapitre 23: Our first task as a unit (Day 3), Part 3
Fasnilthar
Hey there, it's Fasnilthar, back at it again. Food! I've always had a bit of a weird relationship with it. On one hand, I'll pretty much eat anything that isn't hazardous, but on the other, getting chances to eat well always feels great. Especially when it started to feel like what I could count on as routine was reaching higher marks. A part of me always loved the idea of ranking up my knowhow with it, as a result. Nothing as reliable as learning this type of thing yourself, right? Still, time is a limit everyone has to follow. The days in the academy weren't that tiring, but I basically occupied most hours of them looking for some kind of study, and since work life started I found very little time to expand my options a whole lot. I could handle everyday stuff with some ease, though saying I was good at it would have been an exaggeration. And unfortunately, the old team only consisted of other survivor cooks, a coworker who can practically only make sweets and also had some unhinged cooking tendencies, and a mad scientist* who no sane person would trust with solo kitchen duty. We didn't eat badly when we were traveling, however things were a little dull as a result of our limited scope.
(*Falminoria has this weird habit of mixing potion ingredients with normal food, or testing what can happen if you apply transfusing magic into eatables. It doesn't tend to help with taste, I can tell you that much.)
No one was that great at handling varied seasonings either, and we sometimes messed up the process of handling trip food as well. If we wanted to gamble, at least the mad scientist would occasionally land an unexpected win, but the odds weren't great when it came to her experiments. I did try to find the time to develop this field over my forced break, yet I couldn't get that much progress done, overall. Which was why the idea of having someone who was actually good at it around was so thrilling. An elf who cooked was also bound to be collecting all sorts of different recipes memorized, so the variety check probably would be cleared by default. No more boring meals, as a result. With that in mind, I then held the lunch we would have that day in my hands, or at least the portion of it reserved for me. It wasn't anything complex or the like, but the smell made it clear it was likely on a higher step than simple dishes I would make, and it also seemed to mix plenty of flavors in this initial sniff.
That, and the dish appeared to be so appealing visually by my past experiences. There was this sense of harmony in what things were already mixed and those separated, showing the intention of the chef carried through despite the dishes being stored in a moving cart. I was almost afraid of sinking the spoon in, taking a bite, only to then get disappointed, an element to the scene that appeared to be worrying my coworkers, as they watched me stare into the plate anxiously. It looked like Chiaisei was about to ask me if I was doing well, that said, the chef herself, Nalfimiria, seemed to be having her portion without any worry over our reactions. With that in mind, I took my first spoonful.
"Oh damn, this meets the standards for the specialized spots I'm a regular at." I had eaten stuff made by Nalfimiria before. Since meeting, she had prepared dinner and breakfast for us twice, though on both of those days occasions left her with too little time to prepare lunch. As a result, she had restricted herself to the basics, even if her grade and variety for those was already much higher than mine. Not to mention that she seemed to be well informed in my region's eating habits, despite having arrived in it not too long ago. And still, it was this part of it which to me guaranteed we likely would be eating decently regardless of the spot we found ourselves in. Be it during travels, or if tasks of ours brought us deeper into the wild world, if she knew how to prepare meals in advance like this, every one of them could remain an experience of sorts, for a while to come. As this realization dawned on me, it almost brought tears to my eyes. Of course, since there hadn't been too long of the meal waiting at this point, this likely didn't show the full extent of her practical knowledge, yet seeing as a lot of our travel meals take place on days like that, it still felt like a good reason to celebrate.
—Is that kind of reaction normal? — Senshin asked while looking at me, uncharacteristically starting a conversation. It looked like my reaction made him really curious.
—I wouldn't say that it is, yet I can comprehend where she's coming from. The knight orders don't put this much of an effort in feeding us either.
—She hasn't reacted like this to any specific meal before, however. Perhaps it is less about a single meal in itself and more her conclusion about our cook in itself? — Chiaisei added, seemingly being the first in the conversation to read through my entire thought process at that moment.
—Still, it is odd to think social behavior in regards to meals still surprises me occasionally. I never thought I would have seen any reaction like that to food. — Even Finarkzir was commenting on this as well, though in my joy I felt no need to reply to any of them. Believe it or not, I prefer to stop talking during mealtime. Since I talk a lot, doing both at the same time would imply long pauses between bites and all, and I didn't particularly like that idea. I didn't take too long to finish a plate either, so that generally didn't get in the way of my habits too much.
—Does it please you to see one react like this to your food, my lord? Personally, I'm quite delighted with it as well.
—Not quite, though I'm really curious now. I always knew she was a weird one, but there is bound to be a backstory behind this for her to react so vividly. You've never starved before, have you? — Since her take seemed a bit more serious than that of the rest, I made sure to to signal that I hadn't. Taking a brief pause from stuffing myself to answer them all, I took a breath before saying:
—I'm simply enjoying the hint of a bright tomorrow. — I was fully serious when saying so, though it looked like my teammates took it as a joke.
We kinda just finished lunch mostly in silence beyond that point. After eating, we brushed our teeth and decided to spend our time resting below a shade in the resting area of that outpost. Seeing as this happened around noon, it was decently warm at that point, though nowhere near enough to become a problem for the rest of the walk. It usually takes a while for spring to warm up in Galecirnan, and for most of the year basic heat resistance gear can cover for us without much of an issue. It was still best to avoid relying on it for any situation, though, as that equipment both required some amount of essence and caused a small amount of infusing fatigue in situations where infusing our clothing wouldn't be enough. The weather was nice around that region either way, as the proximity to the surrounding forests made that road and the outpost far more refreshing. It made it easier to appreciate the terrain and nature around us.
I mean, the road and the outpost there meant the greenery wasn't exactly at our reach, still, the forest lines weren't that far from the road, and the spots in which we could see the Azure Lines near us sorta mixed in with the greenery, since they were built within the forests. It felt like some sections of that road were constantly under shade. We also would frequently see normal animals moving around, like a few squirrels who seemed interested in our lunch, before spotting Finarkzir and rushing towards a hiding spot. The seats we had and the outpost itself also mixed surprisingly well in the surroundings. The building was only two stories tall, and the seats around us were placed alongside man-kept trees, ones that made it easier for this place to seem part of nature as well.
At some point, Nalfimiria took an instrument out of the cart and started playing it for us. Normally I'm really talkative, but even I preferred to just sit around and relax at moments like those, so we all just decided to enjoy the sound a little. She picked up tunes that matched really well with the sounds of the forest themselves, so it helped with the mood as well. I was reminded that Chiaisei could sing while listening, and ended up bringing it up during a break between songs. Nalfimiria liked the idea of her participating, and suggested the two tried playing a song together, which Chiaisei was somewhat resistant towards. She ended up letting up in the end though, and after discussing their options for a moment, they not that surprisingly chose a few songs from Gujimatsuki that Nalfimiria could play.
The sister had already been to the region once, and according to her, it was a habit of hers to pick up songs, recipes and other costumes like those while she traveled around. And with that decided, they got to it, and this kinda started a habit of our own group, namely getting the two of them to do music for us from time to time. Chiaisei also knew how to use sound casting to help with this process, so that made things all the more pleasant, and the two of them even attracted a lot of attention among the other people resting in that outpost. Getting that attention made Chiaisei particularly hesitant to continue or to do this again, yet in the end Finarkzir managed to convince her this shouldn't cause any problems, and Nalfimiria ended up offering Chiaisei to teach her more about songs from other places, a proposal my girl ended up accepting.
After this improvised show, Nalfimiria pointed out our time of rest was over, seeing as she was the only one carrying a watch on her. It looked like our timing for lunch and our break was really good, considering that by the time we got moving again, it looked like the temperature had already peaked for the day, and was slowly starting to drop once more. Of course, this half of the trip was still a little rougher than the morning, but we were ready for it, so it didn't bother any of us too much. The fact that heat resisting gear is as easy to access as it is is really helpful. Either way, we more or less managed to keep up conversation for most of this part of the trip as well, but neither of it was really that deep or personal. Some more questions about the job were made by Chiaisei, but in general, there wasn't a whole lot I considered noteworthy enough to merit describing.
But since Senshin decided to keep track of how many times each of us used the cart, for this half of the journey, it was another 2 times for Chiaisei, 1 more time for me and 1 time total for Senshin. Sowanar never needed the seat, and as Nalfimiria was the one pulling the cart she likely had about as much a need for the chair as we had the ability to pull her. Nothing too unexpected, though I did feel kinda bad that Sowanar never used a turn, especially since he had insisted on carrying part of his equipment personally. At the time I guessed knights weren't really used to be the ones in the other end of service, or at least not ones without noble origin, which seemed to be the case for Sowanar by that point. Another fun thing I counted, a total of 6 strangers on the road stopped for a moment to show shock at the elf pulling our cart alone, or at least those were all the ones I counted. Maybe not that surprisingly, 4 out of those 6 strangers stopped to observe us while someone was using the seats. No one else had joined me for taking notes of that number at the time, though.
At any rate, as we neared the town we were heading towards enough to see it, we split off from the main road we were at and headed to a side road that would lead to the entrance of the town we would be going through. Heading to the entryway, we could see that the first structures we found were places where the guardsman checked up on visitors. The trainline that led to that city was also visible from that entrance. Or rather, one of them. There was a line that only traveled between Zainlastris and that town, something that also applied to each of the city's other satellite towns, though just like the road we took, there was a train line that led from Zainlastris to Zainthruden that passed by that point. There were also some connections to the other satellite towns around, but Zainlastris didn't have that many of those around it to begin with. Only five, to be specific.
Passing by the main bus and train stations connecting the town to the rest of the country, it also was made clear the buildings around us had less floors than what was usual in Zainlastris, and there not only were fewer people roaming the streets, but less branches of streets dividing themselves as we proceeded. That, and the variety of storefronts and services we could find in a full blown city couldn't be found as easily there. It was part of what served to distinguish cities from towns, other than the laws around this sort of division. Still, I found the relative quietness of places like that really relaxing compared to what I was used to. Seeing as I was born in a similar town, it is also nostalgic to visit this kind of place. Not that I thought living in them was an option at that period in time, seeing as my job meant the best locations for me were places where I would have an easy time heading towards any part of the country where I might be requested. Thankfully, the job frequently brought us to this kind of space regardless, since cities generally are further away from wild zones.
"Still though, it's been a little more than a month and I'm already somewhat nostalgic, huh? Staying in the same place for a time has been surprisingly difficult." I hadn't been working for long, not even for 2 years of work by that point. Even then, spending one and a half months doing only solo jobs meant I rarely ever left Zainlastris during that period. Maybe this was a sign I was already attached to the job, or maybe just showing I wasn't as used to cities as I thought I was. Regardless, some of the sights I was taking in right then made me reminisce a bit about this kind of environment, not only my childhood but also in all of the towns I had visited during my year on the fields.
Stuff like seeing all the Earth Towers of that place right from the moment I entered it, even if those had less floors than those seen in cities. Or seeing signs the wild life felt much closer to me since entering there, be it simply due to higher signs of animals roaming the trees in the streets around us or because the smell of the wild world felt more active there, as if the winds on the forestlines near the border of that place were turned towards us. While we searched for the bus stop that would lead us to the local association office, this feeling sank into me, and judging by the fact Chiaisei had been paying close attention to me for the last minutes I imagined it must have been very apparent.
—You have mentioned before that you're from a satellite town instead of city born, haven't you Fasnilthar? — She asked. The rest of the group turned their attention towards us after hearing that as well.
—Well, sorta. I was born by the sea, so that in itself made the mood really different. But yeah, I was born on a satellite. Are the rest of you city folk? — I directed the question to them from the start since I already knew Chiaisei's place of birth. She is from the capital of Xarzin-Lawqzarch. Seeing as at our time the Imperial Core was the biggest human city in the world by a very large margin, she was likely one of the members of the group most used to city life.
—I can't say for the rest, but I was born in the capital, the Royal city of Zainnilklerant.
—I'm also from a city. Keitaurashi. Chiaisei likely heard of it.
—I have indeed. I've never visited it, yet from what I heard it's close to Zinsaki-Nohin's coast, isn't it? Most of my visits to your country were either to the capital or the nearby areas.
—Home is pretty small. Everything is closeby, honestly. The Azure Lines can cross the country in less than an hour. — Senshin explained, not appearing too intent on prolonging his side of the conversation.
—And you've mentioned you're from Cravlirnir, haven't you Nalfimiria? Zainlastris must look tiny in comparison. — At this point in time, Cravlirnir had a higher population than all of Rasdwinvhyr combined, from what I remembered of my geography classes. Which wasn't entirely surprising, seeing as Althnalmir had both the size and population over double that of Galecirnan as a whole. It was also the social country with the highest concentration of people outside its originating species inhabiting it. Lots of fun facts about the place, many of which might have been connected to the presence of Lady Melynaris as the High Queen of that land.
—I've traveled enough to get used to the norm in other countries already. Besides, my childhood house was somewhat isolated from the rest of the city. I've gotten to explore it well enough post the point I could walk on my own, but I wouldn't say I think of it as normal either.
—Still, I must say I long to visit it at some point. The High Queen's Stand on its own might merit a visit, from what I have heard.
—Well, seeing as dad works there, I've gotten used to it as well already. It's basically just an especially big Temple of Will, and the one where you are the most likely to get to see the Great Will herself. It is second in size only to our Temple in this very same city. If you were to see it personally, I'm sure it wouldn't be long before you noticed all the similarities. The biggest difference is that there are more people outside the sisterhood roaming throughout it than what is usual for us. The rest of the scenario is for the most part devoted to the same being, after all. Speaking of, you haven't mentioned where you're from yet, have you, Chiaisei?
—Ah, yes, I forgot to mention that. Since Fasnilthar was the one asking, I didn't bring it up, seeing as she already knows this. I'm from Tiānyunshèng, though.
—The home to the Eternal Throne. I would say it's almost as much of a must for tourists than my home, then.
—Perhaps there is some merit there, but I personally can't agree with that position from others. A Disciple is only as impressive as the foundation offered by their masters. There may be exceptions to that rule in the world normally, but when it comes to the First Disciples, I believe none of them would accept any other truth.
—Indeed. Yet, as far as works left with us by the Greater Ones, the main sources are present everywhere. Althnalmir and its many additional gifts are the exception, but as far as a second place where the Great Sisters left their mark as visibly, that would probably be Xarzin Lawqzarch. For, as an eternal student of theirs, the work of the Emperor has never left the attention of the Great Six.
—I suppose that might indeed be the case. My home has long since benefited from the Greater Ones care, after all. — Chiaisei said, which put an end to their brief debate. Between a sister and our learned student of the path, hearing their talks made me feel like I was listening to two clerics when they got into this sort of topic.
"I think some depth in philosophy is among Chiaisei's specializations. She has probably studied her fair share about the sisterhood's way." My own fields of specialization only covered the pragmatic needs for the job, so the fact Chiaisei not only had finished deeper studies but got accepted as a High Scholar at that same age was more than a little impressive to me. I completed a ton of extra time as well but since I was really curious about a ton of stuff, outside of the necessities my choices for classes were kinda random. That made her focus seem all the more remarkable in my eyes.
—It would be nice to see all of this one day. Even if just to try and figure out what each of us grew up used to. Not that that would be happening anytime soon, of course. — I told them, despite thinking this was very hopeful thinking at that point. For one, I wasn't sure how long I would be spending with that group. Though even if I hung around for a while, there was no telling if we all would still be friendly enough to each other to go on trips like that together, considering going around the globe with our current level of income and the type of job we did would have been impractical. That break might be just a little too long compared to the ones we typically get. Still, I thought it would be nice to grow enough as a pact warden to travel around like that at some point.
"Then again, there are other people waiting to make trips like that with me, aren't there? Not sure how realistic it would be to keep constant contact with this group post the point I get back to the gang. Ah, well, let's just keep these thoughts for later." Even if this group split up after I left, I still felt it would have been nice to visit their homes at some point, so regardless, I focused on this positive side of things.
—I am sure you all will. Perhaps even sooner than any of you might imagine as well. — After Nalfimiria said this, the topic kinda moved on to other places. Maybe the others also had their reasons to feel pessimistic towards that hope, seeing as the mood didn't necessarily improve upon hearing that declaration. Either way, around that point we took the bus that led us to the local guild center, where the people who asked for the job would be waiting for us. Not only would they be there to greet us but also to bring us to the accommodations the unit would be spending that night on.
That greeting didn't take long, and the situation hadn't changed a lot since the previous day either, meaning we were shortly after that point brought to our stay. Unlike how it was in the house, we all would be sharing a room, and Finarkzir even got to spend the night nearby, so long as she remained with the disguise placed on her. Preferences aside, spending the occasional night like this was inevitable, but it looked like Chiaisei was already ready for that possibility without any need to explain things. As she put it, it would be unfair to expect our particular wishes to be matched when we weren't even paying for our stay. Nobody else had any intent on complaining, so we took the room without any complaint.
After that, we also made sure to store our gear and the cart properly. Which reminds me, I sorta forgot to mention what we did to it before taking a bus, haven't I? That piece of nostalgic talk just led so nicely into "we arrived at the current goal", so I'll leave it like this for now, unless our editors complain too much. Let's leave the mistake in, to make things look more authentic! I never said I am good at this, did I? Anyways, during our walk to the bus stop we had met with someone from the association, who ended up bringing most of our load to the stay ahead of time. Maybe Nalfimiria could have convinced the driver and all, but it's not like most buses would be even equipped to drag that cart around.
Either way, from there, we split up briefly. Chiaisei and Nalfimiria headed towards the forest where we would be having our task tomorrow alongside Finarkzir, so that they could map out the battlefield. Senshin and Sowanar stuck around the stay to get in a bit of training. At first I thought it might be best to stay with them, seeing as I wouldn't be of much use with the rest of the girls, but Chiaisei ended up asking me to accompany them, even if just so that I could assist with drawing the map. I told them I would be heading back earlier though, to get a bit more time for preparation on that day. Just to check on my accuracy again and all.
With that, we headed there with the materials ready to get over with that part of the task. Buuuuuut, since my page quota is so conveniently ending right around this point, time for another switch! This is normally where I would pass the pen to Senshin, though this time the writer will be going out of the current pattern. Then again, this series isn't long enough by now that we have officially established Almenar, Senshin and me as the main writers for this section, has it? Well, but now that I've commented on it, IT IS OFFICIAL. Or I guess sort of? That pattern won't last that much longer, anyways. In any case, see you all soon!... Hopefully.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone