Chapter 6: From Dismantling To Camping - Part 2

"Now then, my servants! Serve me, your master, with the most grandiose feast and build me a shrine worthy of my grace!" "....." Arezu, Alex, Liz, and Hannah were left speechless by Lynn's audacity. None of them could argue back against her decree—they had, after all, agreed to it even before setting out on their goblin-slaying quest. Yesterday, during their planning, Lynn had volunteered to drive the wagon Liz provided. She offered to drive without replacement for the entire day until they reached Mead Village before dusk. However, Lynn's generosity came with conditions. If the party failed to reach Mead Village on the day of departure and had to camp outside, she would be exempt from all camp duties. Whether it was cooking dinner or breakfast, setting up the tent or campfire, washing dishes, or taking a night shift, Lynn wouldn't lift a finger. After all, she needed to recover from the exhaustion of driving all day. "I expect great things from all of you, my servants." Her "encouragement" offered no motivation to the others. Though they were reluctant to follow her decree, they had little choice if they wanted a decent night's rest. As the situation now made clear, the party had failed to reach Mead Village by nightfall—even though they had taken the shortcut through the forest. The delay wasn't due to their encounter with orcs, nor the time Lynn spent cleaning Arezu using a weakened pressurized water blast followed by a wind spell to dry him off. What they hadn't accounted for was the wagon's speed. Sure, Lynn could drive, but unlike a seasoned coachman who could estimate travel time, manage the horse's stamina, and maintain an optimal pace, she lacked the finesse to keep the schedule on track. At least we made it out of the forest road before dusk. Arezu thought as he tended to their dinner. Lynn, lounging comfortably beside the wagon, noticed Arezu's glance. As if reading his thoughts, she smirked. "Should I help you with cooking dinner, Arezu?" Arezu glanced at Hannah, who stood beside the makeshift table. Dinner would be simple—just grilling and frying—so one person was more than enough. He searched for a polite way to decline. But before he could speak, Liz and Alex dragged Hannah away with terror on their faces. Even Lynn paled at Hannah's offer to help cook. Though he sometimes suspected his companions disliked him, Arezu understood their reaction. He wasn't assigned cooking duty for his skill—it was simply because no one else was up for it. Lynn wouldn't help, as agreed. Alex and Liz could barely chop ingredients evenly, and Hannah... according to the others, her cooking had a mysterious ability to render food inedible—or even toxic—regardless of the ingredients. Seeing Hannah's disappointment, Arezu tried to soften the blow with kind words. "I've got this. You can relax after setting up the tents and tending the campfire." As dusk turned to darkness, the moon and stars lit the open plain near the road, where five figures sat around a campfire awaiting their dinner. "So, what kind of grandiose feast will it be, Mr. Arezu? Will it be good enough that we won't regret it if it's our last meal?" Did she really have to say the last part? Arezu grumbled to himself as he set the frying pan over a second fire. "I'm not sure if it'll be good, but at least it'll be edible." With that, he began cooking. Their dinner consisted of stale bread, milk, sugar, eggs, dried meat, cheese, and sweet potatoes. Surprisingly, Lynn had personally provided the milk, sugar, and eggs, instructing Arezu to make something with them. Maybe she'd seen the frying pan in my equipment. Azeru thought. The cooking was straightforward: soak sliced stale bread in a milk-and-egg mixture and grill it, fry the remaining egg mixture, grill the dried meat with cheese, and fry the chopped sweet potatoes with sugar—all in the same frying pan. Once done, everything was stacked on a plate in the order: bread, cheese, meat, potato, egg, potato, meat, cheese, bread. Served with tea. It took only a few minutes to cook, but with only one pan, Arezu could prepare one serving at a time. The first plate, naturally, went to the self-proclaimed master. "So what do you call this meal, my dear servant?" Perhaps feeling a bit smug about the successful result, Arezu humored her. "Just call it... Burger Queen." Lynn had no idea what a "burger" was, but being called a queen clearly delighted her—at least, judging by her satisfied smile. Despite the limited ingredients, the food turned out well. With nothing else to do, the party turned in for the night, starting the night watch rotation. Liz and Hannah took the first shift, followed by Alex, and finally Arezu. Lynn, of course, would sleep through the entire night. But when Arezu woke up a little early for his shift, he found Lynn sitting at the campfire instead of Alex. "Wasn't he supposed to be on duty?" Arezu asked, eyeing Alex's tent. The man inside was fast asleep. "Oh my, I'm sorry for disrupting your plan, Mr. Arezu." "...What do you mean?" Arezu sighed, already bracing himself for Lynn's teasing. "Didn't you wake up early just to spend some time alone with him?" "I'm not like that!" Arezu snapped, not even trying to lower his voice. "Really? So I guess I was wrong to assume you prefer the company of young men?" Her remark along with her smug smile left Arezu without a single escape route. Resigned, he sat across from her at the fire. "I woke up early and told Alex to get some rest. But you don't need to worry about me. I slept enough to handle today's quest." I wasn't worried. Arezu thought. With more than four hours until sunrise, silence would have been too awkward. Arezu struggled to think of something to say—but Lynn spoke first. "Say, Mr. Arezu. Have you heard the story of the Seven Curses?"