Chapter 34: If It's the Night Before the Final Battle, Then Enjoy the Feast

And so, we finally arrived at the lair of the "Demon Dragon."

Along the way, we were attacked by monsters multiple times, but we managed to repel them with ease.

Just yesterday, Myudy gave us her official stamp of approval for completing our training.

"You’ve all pushed yourselves to the limit… and grown stronger," she said—meaning we’ll be going all-out in the upcoming battle with the Demon Dragon.

Unfortunately, we no longer had time to challenge Myudy to a match. That seemed to be Rizel's biggest regret.

Naturally, fighting while still fatigued wouldn’t be wise, so after some discussion, we decided to take a day of rest before the final battle.

At present, we were in the middle of setting up camp.

Incidentally, tents in this world are generally made for two people. At the moment, we had four girls in the party, but since Rizel had brought her own tent, the arrangements worked out. I got a men’s tent to myself, Yuto and Karen shared a women’s one, and Rizel and Myudy used Rizel’s.

The miasma remained thick—no, actually, it was growing even denser as we drew closer to the Demon Dragon. Yet for some reason, no monsters appeared near its territory. Even Yuto’s Search Sonar skill showed no signs of movement.

Thanks to that, we were able to relax in peace.

Honestly, I was grateful.

That night, we held a feast.

Yuto began cooking nonstop, determined to use up all the ingredients she’d saved up until now.

Hamburg steak, stew, curry, potato (or at least a potato-like vegetable) salad—nostalgic Earth dishes were laid out buffet-style.

“Japanese food is hard without miso or soy sauce. If we at least had rice, I could do more…”

She looked a little disappointed, but as far as I was concerned, it was all food I loved.

To be honest, anything Yuto made tasted amazing.

“So goooood! I could eat this forever~!”

Rizel, the carnivore of the group, reached out for dish after dish, devouring them like a vacuum cleaner.

She was completely shameless about it. Her current favorite was the hamburg steak. She tried to take them all and got scolded by Yuto.

Does the idea of dividing things up equally not exist in her mind?

“Rizel really is a glutton, isn’t she?”

Karen watched Rizel with a gentle smile.

She wasn’t quite a vegetarian, but as a veggie lover, this was a problem far removed from her world.

“Steak’s ready~!”

Yuto brought over some thick-cut steaks made from giant meat slabs.

She’d grilled them using magic, so the heat was perfectly controlled. That said, this wasn’t beef—it was meat from a cow-like chimera, so eating it undercooked would be dangerous. We made sure to cook it thoroughly before digging in.

“Steaaaak~!”

Rizel’s attention immediately snapped to the steak.

“Haha, don’t worry, there’s tons of steak. Eat as much as you want.”

Unlike hamburger steaks, which take extra effort to grind and mix, steaks were—well, to put it crudely—just slice and grill. Besides, chimera bodies were huge compared to regular cows.

Even all of us together wouldn’t be able to finish it all.

“This one’s for you, Karen.”

Yuto handed her a mushroom steak, drizzled with a fruit-based sauce. It was her main dish, tailored to someone who didn’t care much for meat.

“Thank you, Yuto. Truly, throughout this journey… your meals have been wonderful.”

“I’m glad to hear that…”

Karen bowed deeply, and Yuto looked embarrassed.

A quiet, heartfelt mood settled over us.

“Tch. Don’t get all sentimental. We haven’t even won yet. Don’t jump the gun.”

Myudy, who had been silently picking at her food until now, spoke up.

“That’s exactly why we will win tomorrow! Show me the results of all your training!”

She followed it up with a firm declaration.

“Of course, of course~! I’m going full throttle from the start tomorrow~!”

“No matter how badly you’re injured, I’ll make sure to heal you!”

“I’ll play my part as a ‘Hero,’ no matter what it takes!”

Everyone voiced their resolve.

“Raiga, Karen, Rizel, and Myudy. Thank you all for bringing me this far. Tomorrow, we’re going to win. No matter what.”

Yuto brought it to a close.

And so, the night quietly passed.

The feast had reached its peak, and the meal gathering came to an end.

Amazingly, all the food we had prepared in large quantities was completely gone. Even the steaks, which we had expected to have leftovers of. Rizel the carnivore was truly formidable… Although wolves belong to the canine family and should technically be omnivores.

I looked up at the night sky.

It wasn’t exactly clear—the miasma covered it.

It was a shame, because I could see the perfectly round moon, nearly full.

Raiga was beside me.

“Tomorrow, huh.”

“Yeah…”

No one else was around. Just the two of us.

“Do you think we can win?”

“We will. It’s a promise, right?”

He spoke as if trying to dispel my unease.

“Maybe it’s thanks to Myudy’s training—I can feel strength surging throughout my body. Plus, I have my trump card: ‘Power Release.’”

“Yeah…”

“Are you… nervous?”

I was supposed to watch from the rear tomorrow.

The other four would be the ones heading into the deadly battle.

“Yeah… sorry.”

“No, I understand.”

What ruled me was a vague anxiety about the future and a fear of death.

The doubt that we could really win.

The terror of what might happen if we don’t.

Those two feelings twisted together and stirred a storm in my heart.

“But believe me—I can only say this much.”

“—Thank you, Raiga.”

“When I come back, tell me. Your answer. I showed you my ‘sincerity.’ I kept my promise, after all.”

“Raiga!”

I almost confessed everything.

“The answer comes only after it’s all over. Otherwise, that’d be what you call a death flag, right?”

Raiga laughed, half-joking.

Then,

“There’s tomorrow too. I’m going to sleep now. Otherwise, I’d just end up asking you. Yuto, don’t stay up too late either.”

Raiga left.

And I—

I—

“Sorry, promise. I don’t intend to keep it.”

The words I squeezed out were swallowed by the darkness. There was no way he could hear them.