The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]
Chapter 355: Securing Food

Chapter 355: Securing Food

Although they had left the river, which gave them an obvious trail to follow, behind, their journey through the grasslands went on much smoother. Part of it was because of the daylight - even though their surroundings were just as full of danger as before, if not more, the fact that it was bright, and she could finally see well, much better even than with the night vision goggles on, soothed Clara’s nerves, and added more vigor into her steps. Of course, they still had to remain cautious, but decent visibility made things easier for them.

Another reason was Lane. Every now and then, he would climb back into the sky with his Sky Step to draw the extension of the map. As he was at it, he also took note of any monster groups that had traveled out of the dungeon expansion’s area, and might encounter them. Thanks to that, they could avoid fights better...

However, it wasn’t a foolproof method. Not all monster groups stood still. Even if Lane had marked them in one spot... As they walked, so did the monsters, causing their paths to cross from time to time. Some of them were herbivore monsters, who showed no desire to fight, and even fled from the duo... But others were carnivorous. Not only did they not run away, but they even rushed at Lane and Clara, attacking them without hesitation!

Such scuffles happened from time to time, causing Lane and Clara to leave a bloody trail in their wake. It was far from the optimal situation, but... On the flat grasslands, they had nowhere to hide. They had tried to escape into the air a few times, but the monsters just kept on chasing after them relentlessly, until they finally landed, and dealt with the problem directly.

"Haaah..." Clara exhaled, bending over, and resting her hands on her knees, taking a breath after yet another fight. She had long lost count of how many monsters they had defeated... That’s not how this mission was supposed to go.

But then again, they didn’t have any cloaking abilities or anything. Even though their uniform didn’t stand out too much on the grasslands, and they had concealed their scents with the grass, it wasn’t a perfect disguise. If they got too close, the monsters could still sense them...

It’s been hours now since they had split from the river to circle around the dungeon, and the sky was already turning dark again. The nights were long, but the days were so short... Clara dreaded the thought of the upcoming hours, as they continued the mission. She was tired, hungry, and thirsty... At least the dungeon was quite cool, so the thirst didn’t bother her all that much, but still... She took out her water bottle, and took a sip. Only a tiny little sip. There was only a little bit left on the bottom, so it was best to conserve it...

"Do you know how far is left until we reach the..."

’The river’ was what she wanted to ask Lane, but as she turned to take a look at the man, she couldn’t help but pause, the words dying in her throat.

"...What are you doing?" she asked instead.

It was a valid question, in a way. Lane was picking up the carcasses of the wolf-like monsters, stuffing them in a spatial bag. How could he fit them in there, or how could he stand putting the bleeding dead monsters in his spatial bag, she didn’t know. The former one was probably because he was rich and could afford a better spatial bag than she had ever seen... But the latter left her completely baffled. It just seemed so... disgusting. Unhygienic. Disturbing. It just rubbed her the wrong way. An idea to do it would have never passed through her head.

But Lane didn’t see anything wrong with it, he just continued to pick the monsters up. "Securing supplies," he explained calmly. "As for the river, we’re near. Don’t you hear it?"

Clara furrowed her brows. Now that she focused on it, she could indeed hear the murmur of the water not far in the distance... It was just that she was so tired that her sensed dulled a lot, and she didn’t notice it before.

But that was not the point. While she was glad that the source of water was near, Lane’s actions still stole all of her attention.

"What supplies?" she couldn’t help but ask.

"Food, duh!" Lane rolled his eyes. "Who knows how long we will be stuck in this dungeon? There’s no telling if someone will think to deliver us any supplies. But we have a free, abundant source of meat. I don’t know if it’ll taste good, but it should at least be edible."

"Oh..." Clara blinked. Now that Lane said it, it indeed made sense... Why didn’t she think about that? However... "How are you going to eat it? Raw meat can contain harmful bacteria..."

Lane rolled his eyes once again. "We’re going to roast it first, of course!"

"...How? We have no equipment..."

Lane let out a theatrical sigh. "And I’m supposed to be the useless, spoiled rich kid here..."

Clara’s cheeks flushed. Now that she thought of it, there was no need for equipment. There were other ways to make fire. They even had an Esper with a fire ability on their team...

"And who said we have no equipment?" Lane then asked, pulling a Smokeless Campfire out of his spatial bag.

Clara’s jaw almost dropped to the ground. "Since when do you have it?"

"Since a long before we came here, of course!" Lane scoffed, setting the Smokeless Campfire on the ground. He stuffed one of the wolf legs onto the spit, and started supplying the device with his Mana.

It didn’t take long before the meat was ready. Lane took it off the spit, and split it in half, handing a portion to Clara, together with two Recovery Pills.

"Take it," he said, already biting into his own serving. "We’re still only halfway through... Don’t faint on me, since I have no desire to carry you back on my own!"

"Don’t worry. I wouldn’t want you to do it either!" Clara snapped back in return...

But she still accepted the food and the Pills. Even though a bit begrudgingly.

It was hard for her to admit that this man who couldn’t even do household chores was actually competent in some aspects...