Chapter 133: Kazu this time is like he came to cut grass. He hasn’t fought a monster even once

The road through the forest was a bad road, and if one tried to run at night it mostly caused accidents.

That was why encountering a Falling Cloud in the afternoon on a road through the forest, camping and spending the night then resuming movement the next morning was common sense for the contractors.

Being caught in a Falling Cloud if unlucky was already factored in by the contractors.

They prepared for camping. For adventurers too, returning to Aquila being delayed by trouble was not rare enough to be unusual.

"The fog doesn’t look like it’ll clear, so it’ll be camping!"

The contractor man in gray work clothes who returned to the truck called out to Kazui and Yuri on the bed, and the workers.

"Nearby there’s a wide grassland usable for camping, and there should be a side path that enters it!"

From the contractors’ view, getting caught in fog on this road, held up, and camping sometimes happened.

That was why they had their eye on places usable as campsites here and there.

If carefully driving at slow speed, trucks could somehow move as far as the campsite.

Returning to far Aquila was of course impossible.

"Adventurers, please look for that side path!"

To the bearded, well-built contractor who looked in his forties, Kazui returned words.

"Understood."

Kazui turned toward Yuri.

"I’ll go. You guard the truck."

"Got it."

Yuri answered immediately and created an entrance and exit in the Common Shield defensive barrier guarding the truck.

It was a transparent thin film, but in the Common Shield that could be visually confirmed for form’s sake, a hole opened that Kazui could pass through with room.

Kazui solidified defense with Aura Mail and jumped down from the bed.

Then he passed through the hole and went outside the defensive barrier field.

On other trucks too, same as Kazui and the others, martial arts job adventurers got off the trucks to look for the side path entering the campsite.

Because of the fog only nearby trucks could be visually confirmed, but from the state of noise it was clear the same situation was happening even on trucks that could not be seen.

"Now then, I’ll look..."

While being wary, Kazui started walking through the forest with thick fog hanging.

Leaving the unpaved road in the forest and stepping into the trees, he walked around the forest and continued looking for the side path to enter the campsite.

—-

In the vast forest, grasslands where trees did not grow were scattered.

On a fairly wide grassland the size of a schoolyard, many tents were set up, and twenty trucks were lined up.

Both tents and trucks were mostly olive drab or khaki, and all of rugged design.

Because of that, rather than a campground, it had become a scene like a military campsite.

The caravan returning from Pratumvite to Aquila had left the road and made the wide grassland a campsite.

This was the campsite of the caravan Kazui and the others were also participating in as escorts.

"Even if the fog clears now..."

Looking up at the starry sky, Kazui grumbled.

Just as Kazui muttered, until a little while ago the starry sky could not be seen because of the fog, but now it could be seen.

Just a few minutes ago the Falling Cloud fog, same as when it appeared, suddenly vanished.

But night had already grown late... it was the middle of the night.

Even if the fog cleared, running the forest road at night was suicide, so the caravan had no choice but to continue camping.

"Better than it not clearing."

While warming at the bonfire, Yuri returned words.

At several places in the campsite bonfires were being held for the adventurers performing night watch.

Even if spring, at night it was cold.

About thirty adventurers, while being wary of the surroundings, were mostly warming near the bonfires.

The number of adventurers hired by the caravan was fifty. Roughly divided into three shifts, they took charge of camp security in rotation.

While one shift took rest and sleep, two shifts split into truck charge and tent charge and each performed security.

Magic job adventurers deployed defensive barriers around the trucks and tents and continued protecting the caravan party.

Martial arts job adventurers, until monsters appeared, had nothing to do but watch the surroundings.

If the number of martial arts job adventurers were a little more, they could send out a scouting shift around.

But if they allocated adventurer numbers to scouting, the campsite defense would become thin to that degree of numbers, so they were not scouting.

"Even so, monsters are few this time."

Warming at the same bonfire, Tint spoke to the nearby adventurers.

Tint’s party was the same shift as Kazui and Yuri’s party, and currently they were on tent security, so they were warming at the same bonfire.

"Usually on a round trip one person can earn five magic stones, but this time still only one... and one between two people."

Tint’s party was the same as Kazui and Yuri’s party, a pair of martial artist and mage.

"Being able to earn is better. Our place hasn’t earned even one yet."

The one who grumbled was Kazui.

The number of monsters that had attacked the caravan so far was five in total, all midway on the return route.

But the truck Tint and the others rode was attacked by monsters, while the truck Kazui and the others rode was not attacked.

That was why Kazui and the others had not fought monsters and had not earned magic stones.

"Kazu this time is like he came to cut grass. He hasn’t fought a monster even once."

Looking at Kazui with half-lidded eyes, Yuri grumbled unhappily.

"Even if Tint fought once, the one doing the work... is mostly me."

Tint’s companion adventurer continued while glaring at Tint.

"Splitting the reward in half with this, I can’t accept it."

Wrapped in a black combat uniform for mages, Tint’s companion used "I" and looked like a beautiful boy with an impressive cool eye area.

But actually she was a tall girl with short chestnut hair that suited her.

"Nora says the same kind of thing as Yuri."

While glancing at the girl who was Tint’s partner... Nora, Kazui muttered.

"When monsters are few she’s always that kind of feel."

With a subtle expression Tint added.

"When monsters are many the burden on this side is bigger, so in total the burden doesn’t change."

In work with protection targets like escort or security, magic job adventurers mainly took charge of defense, so combat was often mainly taken by martial arts jobs.

That was why when monsters were few the magic job burden tended to be heavier, and when monsters were many the martial arts job burden became heavier.

But just as Tint said, in total the burden of martial arts jobs and magic jobs was similar.

That was why in parties where adventurer levels were aligned, rewards were mostly split per head.

When there was an extreme level difference among party members, the high-level adventurer often took more reward.

Because the high-level adventurer’s contribution was mostly higher.

"Ahh, I wish monsters would come out. Like this it won’t be a decent earning."

A lamenting voice of an adventurer from another party, not Kazui and the others or Tint and the others, could be heard.

The voice of a male adventurer who seemed like a swordsman facing them across the bonfire.

"Over there they seem to be having a similar talk."

Right after Tint laughed at Kazui’s words, the defensive barrier guarding the tents, while echoing a shattering sound into the night sky, shattered to pieces like window glass hit by a thrown stone.

The countless fragments of the defensive barrier, while releasing light, vanished as if melting into the night air.

The campsite became noisy, and the air tightened in an instant.

Multiple mages cooperating, the area around the tents had been guarded with four layers of Common Shield, but the outer three defensive barriers were all shattered in an instant.

The one remaining defensive barrier was also cracked all over and in a state just before being shattered.