Eguchi Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill: Volume 13

1. Auflage 2023
ISBN: 978-1-7183-4324-5
Verlag: J-Novel Club
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, Band 13, 250 Seiten

Reihe: Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill

The long, dangerous dungeon crawl is over, and Mukohda and his familiars are finally homeward bound! After what felt like ages underground, Mukohda's long overdue for some R&R back in Karelina, and this time he isn't going to let anyone stand in between him and a golden chance to lounge about and not spend every hour of every day fearing for his life. Nothing could convince him to throw himself back into trouble. Nothing!

Unfortunately for Mukohda, it's only a matter of time before his decisions catch up with him and trouble comes calling whether he likes it or not. You can't fly across several countries on an ancient dragon without turning a few heads, after all, and this time around, 'trouble' has pointy ears, a terrible work ethic, and a pathological obsession with dragonkind even more intense than Mukohda's desire to not get involved with any of this nonsense. What shenanigans will Mukohda's self-proclaimed best friend in the whole wide world drag him into this time?

Autoren/Hrsg.

Eguchi, Ren

Weitere Mitwirkende

Masa

Hill, Tristan K.

Leseproben

Chapter 1: You’d Be Shocked What People Will Pay for a Mangy Clump of Fur

Our adventure in Brixt had come to a close. We’d cleared the hardest dungeon around, and gained a new traveling companion in the process: Old Man Gon, the ancient dragon. Thanks to Gon’s ability to carry the rest of us on his back while flying at tremendous speeds, our journey home went way faster than I’d anticipated and we touched down on a plain near Karelina ahead of schedule.

The moment I had the chance, I slid off Gon’s back, flopped directly onto the ground and sprawled out on the grass. “Ugggh... That was ,” I moaned.

«Is that truly all it takes to exhaust you, my liege?» asked Gon. «You’re quite delicate, aren’t you?»

“What do you , ‘Is that all it takes’?! the one who decided to fly the whole way at top speed! You could’ve slowed down a , at least!” I groused up at the massive dragon.

«Nonsense,» said Gon. «We never would’ve reached our destination in a timely manner if I hadn’t flown at a decent pace.»

“I , but ,” I groaned.

«You could have ridden on my back, as we have always traveled in the past,» commented Fel.

“Let’s not go comparing apples to oranges, okay?” I said. Fel fast, to be sure, but when all was said and done, Gon was much, much faster. If I was going to suffer, I preferred the option that would get it over with quicker.

«Hey, what’s the holdup? Let’s hurry home already!» urged Dora-chan.

“Yeah, good idea,” I said. “Of course, we’ll have to visit the Adventurer’s guild first.”

I’d handled Gon’s familiar registration with the guild back in Brixt, and in theory they should’ve already contacted the Karelina branch to update them on the situation, but it would’ve just felt wrong to not stop in personally, for formality’s sake. Karelina more or less my home base for the time being, after all.

“Okay, let’s get going,” I said.

«Very good. I shall carry us forward from here. Get on,» said Fel.

“Okay, okay.”

I scrambled up onto Fel’s back. Meanwhile, Gon started glowing as he shrunk down to a less titanic size.

«There! All ready!» said Gon.

«Think I’m gonna ride on the old man’s back, myself,» said Dora-chan as he fluttered up and took a seat at the base of Gon’s neck.

«Oh, if you must,» said Gon.

I peeked into my bag to find the slime still fast asleep. It had been so excited to fly around on Gon’s back that it had frolicked itself into exhaustion and had been out like a light since somewhere around halfway through the trip. It looked like it was sleeping so soundly that I couldn’t bring myself to wake it up, and just left it where it was.

“All right! Next stop: good ol’ Karelina!” I said, and with that, we set off toward town.

It was pretty obvious that the guards posted at the gates had been warned we were coming, seeing as they mostly managed to keep their cool in spite of Gon’s presence. Emphasis on the “mostly,” to be clear—having the real thing in front of them must’ve been more nerve-racking than simply hearing about him, and they were definitely a little more nervous than usual as we passed through. That awkwardness aside, we made it into town without incident...and that’s when the struggle began.

I was pretty sure that the town’s elites and public officials had all been informed about Gon, but that information had clearly made its way into the rumor mill of the general populace, and just like that, I was responsible for yet another local uproar. It was like Brixt all over again, and needless to say, I spent the entire trip from the gates to the guild shouting “It’s okay! They’re my familiars! Everything’s fine, no need to worry!”

“Ugh, I’m ,” I grumbled as we finally stepped into the familiar entryway of the Karelina Adventurer’s guild. All that shouting as I paraded around with my familiars had really done a number on me. It wasn’t over yet, though—the second we stepped into the guild hall, the place fell into a deathly silence. I heaved a sigh as a distinct sense of déjà vu came over me, then opened my mouth to shout once more. “They’re my familiars! It’s fine! Nothing to see here!”

“Ah, you’re finally back!” said Willem, who quickly arrived to greet us.

“Hello, Guildmaster,” I wearily replied.

“I swear,” Willem continued, “do you have to bring an outrageous guest with you you stop by?”

asked

“Well, we can talk about all that later. Follow me,” Willem said, beckoning me along toward the usual storehouse. With Fel Gon in the picture, there was just no way we could have our talk in the guildmaster’s office this time.

“Oh, hey there! You’re back! Hear you’ve been up to your old tricks again, eh?” said Johan, an old man who served as the guild’s butcher and who’d handled quite a few of the monsters I’d brought in previously.

He had quite the smirk on his face for a guy who was keeping a very careful distance from me and my familiars.

“So, I take it this is your new familiar? The ancient dragon, yes?” asked Willem.

“That’s right,” I said. “Everyone, meet my newest familiar: Old Man Gon, the ancient dragon.”

“I am my liege’s faithful servant, and so long as he makes this town his home, I will be relying on your services. Greetings to the both of you,” Gon said out loud. I’d instructed him to do so in advance—I knew that we’d be working with the Adventurer’s guild in this city quite a lot from now on, so it felt like it’d be for the best for him to properly introduce himself. Gon was terrifying at a glance, so anything we could do to make him seem less scary to the workers here felt like it would be worth doing.

“Y-Yes, well! We’ll be relying on you too, I’m sure,” Willem stammered before muttering, “S-So now there’s two of them that can talk,” under his breath.

“I know he like a big, scary dragon, but I promise that he won’t go on a rampage, or anything like that,” I said. “Right, Gon?”

“Indeed. nobody causes my liege any sort of harm, that is,” said Gon.

Willem gave me a long, hard, unblinking stare.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing! Just...you really get yourself an ancient dragon as a familiar, didn’t you?”

“Yes? We just discussed this, didn’t we?”

“We , but that doesn’t make it any easier to swallow!” Willem snapped. “You know what I thought when I first learned about that ancient dragon of yours? I thought I’d gone senile and started hearing things!”

“I don’t know what to tell you,” I awkwardly mumbled.

“Not that the Fenrir was any easier to accept, I guess,” Willem continued. “Anyway, there isn’t the slightest doubt anymore that you’re the most powerful adventurer in the whole damn history of the guild, so I hope you’re ready for a big ol’ laundry list of quests to come your way. We’ll be working you hard from now on.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” I said. “What do you , ‘the most powerful adventurer in history’?!”

“Seems pretty straightforward, if you ask me,” said Willem. “If having a Fenrir and an ancient dragon fighting for you doesn’t make you the most powerful adventurer, then I’d hate to meet whoever deserve the title.”

I glanced over at Fel and Gon, who were sitting to either side of me.

“And that’s not even the end of it, is it?” Willem continued. “I’ve heard tell that your pixie dragon and your slime can put up a hell of a fight too. What else am I supposed to call a guy who has familiars that’re all that dangerous?”

“Okay, but even if I agreed with all that—and I’m saying that I do—couldn’t you at least, I dunno, say it in a way that sounds less over-the-top?” I asked.

“Huh? Why?” said Willem. “Everyone’s already calling you that.”

“Bwuh?!” such

“Sorry, but it’s a done deal at this point. It’s also true. Just a matter of everyone acknowledging it,” said Willem.

“, spare me,” I moaned inconsolably.

“So, you two’ve just about wrapped this topic up, right?” asked Johan as I shriveled in on myself with despair. “Mind if I cut in and have a lil’ chat myself? Just the two of us, if that suits you,” he said, beckoning me over to him.

“What is it?” I asked as I walked...