July had already passed the halfway point, and the General Academy was about to begin its summer break. The summer break was two weeks long, from late July to early August. During this time, students were allowed to return home or stay at the academy and take on requests. Since extended breaks also permitted venturing into Memoria, I didn’t anticipate any major inconveniences.
Speaking of the General Academy, the Royal and Noble Dormitory was finally completed the other day. This new dormitory was built for Royalty and Nobles, and we would be moving into it during the summer break. Sir Yuri would be joining us as well. However, since he was also the Lord of the Esmeralda Baronetcy, he had to return to Feel on weekends, and we were scheduled to accompany him as guards. With that in mind, we were currently packing our belongings at the Golden鯱 Hall in preparation for the move.
“Even so, most of our belongings are already stored in storage, so I don’t think we need to buy anything extra,” Carol said. She was right. Our essential clothing and underwear were packed in large quantities into storage, along with snacks and light meals for when we got peckish. The beds, chests of drawers, and desks were already provided in the rooms, so we didn’t need to prepare those either. Therefore, the only things we truly needed to prepare were… ah, there they were!
“So, all that’s left is to find a butler for Aurora?”
“That’s right. While I’m fine without one, it seems to be a problem for Royalty not to have a butler.”
“Especially since I’m bringing Yuria with me.”
“Indeed.”
Carol had Yuria, and Seras had File, as their personal butlers, whom they brought to the academy. However, the other members of Royalty, who were staying at the Marquis Amatista family’s residence, had not brought any butlers with them. Therefore, they were planning to return to their respective countries during the summer break to bring back a butler. My fiancée, Aurora, was in the same situation. She would have to travel to the Flug Beast Duchy, meet with the Emperor of Flug, and then find a butler.
“I thought there might be a butler at the castle who was assigned to me. Can’t we use them?”
“Unless there’s a very good reason, I think it should be fine.”
“The issue, I believe, is that the butler is contracted by the Flug Beast Ducal family.”
“Is that a problem?”
It wasn’t exactly a problem, but it would make bringing them to Alka more difficult. It would be seen as special treatment for the Flug Beast Ducal family, and I doubt Yamato and the others would be happy about it.
“Ah, so that’s why you need to meet with Father.”
“Yes. It will affect our subsequent actions whether that butler transfers to Wing Crest or if we establish a new contract with a different butler.”
Right. In fact, Seras had initially considered bringing the butler who had assisted her at Lichtenfels. However, that butler held a significant position within the Grand Ducal family of Lichtenfels, making it impossible. That’s why she asked File to accompany her to the academy as a lady-in-waiting.
“While we need to consult with the Emperor of Flug about that, aren’t there other things we need to prepare?”
“Huh? Was there something else?”
“I believe we’ve covered everything, but…”
Seras mentioned there were still things to prepare, but I was sure we had everything needed packed in storage. I opened my storage and checked, but from my perspective, everything seemed to be in order.
“Perhaps it’s understandable that you wouldn’t realize. Don’t you still need camping tents and bedding?”
“Camping? In that case, we have the Multi-functional Beast Carriage…” Ah!
“Ah… you’re right, we really should have prepared those.”
Until Seras pointed it out, it had completely slipped my mind. Rebecca, Carol, and I had learned Traveling, so our only reason to camp would be in a labyrinth. Of course, we had camped before for requests, but we had used the Multi-functional Beast Carriage then. However, the Multi-functional Beast Carriage, with its sole drawback of being too large, couldn’t be used in certain locations. In such cases, tents were the standard. We had never camped in such places before, so it had entirely escaped our notice. Seras’s ability to remember was due to her experience; before our official engagement, she had gone hunting in Lichtenfels several times and had camped using tents.
“That’s right. Until now, the Multi-functional Beast Carriage caused no problems, and besides, we can simply return using our Traveling ability, so we’ve only camped a handful of times.”
“It’s a side effect of evolving so rapidly.”
Yes, Reina was absolutely right. We had formed a Raid out of fate. By then, Yamato was already an Ancient Human, and Prim had also evolved quickly. Consequently, we were provided with the highest-class gear and even beast carriages available to Hunters. Furthermore, we ourselves had rapidly evolved not just to High Class but to Ancient Class. Therefore, we had never used a tent before, and besides marching and labyrinth expeditions, we had only camped a few times.
“So, this is also a learning experience. Then, next time we go to Feel… ah, no, that won’t work.”
In that sense, I could say that enrolling in the General Academy had been a good thing. I had intended to buy a complete set of camping gear, including tents, in Feel, but I quickly realized it wouldn’t work.
“That’s right. We should ask Yamato to provide the materials, and then ask Edward and the others to craft them.”
As expected from Carol, she quickly realized the solution. Ancient Class individuals would immediately damage any arms, armor, or clothing made from Monster materials, iron, or common wood with a magic power of G-rank or lower. This was true even for Magic Silver and Adamantine Steel. Therefore, Yamato had asked Ed to develop alloys, and they used P-rank or higher Monster materials and the finest wood like Cherry Tree and Fusang Tree. The same applied to camping gear; tents made from common materials might not even last a single night under our influence. Thus, we had no choice but to have them custom-made using P-rank or higher Monster materials.
“I heard we managed to secure a large amount of Monster materials from conquering the Krater Labyrinth.”
“They also mentioned that there was an illogical stratum submerged in the sea.”
Tents are designed to withstand wind and rain, so they are often made from the hides of Water Attribute monsters. However, Water Attribute monsters are generally formidable, so it’s common to use the hides of C-rank monsters like the Blue Lake Bull. But for the reasons mentioned earlier, we couldn’t use those. Therefore, we would have to have our tents made using Monster materials from the Krater Labyrinth, which Yamato and the others had conquered in the spring.
The ownership of Monster materials varies depending on the Raid or Union. In Wing Crest’s case, it is held by the four men: myself, Yamato, Ed, and Lucas. The women are their wives and fiancées, so it could be said that ownership is held by each couple. Ed’s situation is slightly different as he is a Crafter, but he often receives requests from Yamato, which seems to satisfy him. We also possess some Monster materials, but checking my storage, I only found Fire Attribute and Earth Attribute materials of P-rank or higher. Therefore, the process would be to discuss this with Yamato, purchase the materials from him, and then place the order with Ed.
“It’s tough being an Ancient Class, isn’t it?”
“Indeed. Ah, if you’re having the camping gear made, make sure it can be folded compactly, just like regular items.”
“Understood. We’ll need to order tents, sleeping bags, chairs, a table, a cooker, and sheets. Ah, and cots too.”
Even the term “camping gear” encompasses quite a lot of necessities. The standard practice for normal Hunters is to store everything in a dedicated mirror bag, and then store that in another mirror bag or a storage bag. However, since the capacity of these mirror bags is limited, all camping gear is designed to be foldable into a compact size. Although mirror bags are designed with some leeway, veteran Hunters often carry a variety of camping equipment, sometimes requiring multiple mirror bags for camping gear. This is common knowledge for Hunters, a basic understanding that we had skipped over. Consequently, we were scrambling to research and prepare everything, and the variety is truly immense.
“I think a tarp would be useful too, and a portable bonfire, right?”
“Ah, indeed.”
Even if we requested all of it, it probably wouldn’t reach the Divine Gold coin mark, so we could afford it. However, since we need to actually use it a few times, we might need to go hunting during the summer break. Everything would be custom-made, and the delivery time is only about ten days, so this is going to cost about 20% to 30% more in payment. Oh, the name “camping gear” was apparently decided by a guest who had thoroughly researched and developed a set of items necessary for camping. Later, when I mentioned this, Yamato and Mako commented that it sounded like “camp gear.” In Yamato’s world, camping gear is used for a leisure activity called “camping.” Since monsters don’t inhabit those areas, there’s almost no threat from external enemies, and it’s simply a form of play to experience outdoor living. It’s a testament to how peaceful their world is, which is why they have so many forms of entertainment, and “camping” has led to the creation of various types of equipment. Yamato had gone camping a few times as part of his training, and Mako had gone for fun. Apparently, Yamato’s family has quite a substantial collection of camping gear. Yamato was also very interested in it. His Engraving Tool even contained a book featuring camping gear, so our camping gear was modeled after it. In fact, Yamato took the lead and even made some for themselves. Considering his duties as a Baronet and his current role assisting Emperor Neige, I wondered if he had time for that. Perhaps because of that, the camping gear we requested, plus a little extra, was completed within a week of our order, and they even gave us a discount, so I couldn’t complain. I certainly didn’t expect them to make a portable bath as well. Oh, and we already purchased portable toilets individually.
The tent Yamato crafted for us is octagonal with two-meter sides and a maximum height of nearly three meters. It’s called a one-pole tent, pitched using a single pole and ropes. The interior is floorless, meaning the ground is exposed. Therefore, it might not be as spacious as it seems. Within this space, we can set up an inner space of only about one square meter. The inner space is enhanced with 20x mirroring, making it somewhat spacious. We plan to use it not only for sleeping but also for the portable toilet and the portable bath. Even so, it will only be used by me, Rebecca, Carol, Reina, Seras, and Aurora. Even if Yuria, File, and Aurora’s contracted butler join us, that would be a total of nine people, so I believe it’s plenty spacious.
Next, we need to actually use it during the summer break and check its performance. It would be safest to test it in Alka and then go camping in a place like Mylight. This is something to look forward to as well.
