Chapter 59 Camping Out

We made considerable progress on our trip towards our first stop which would be Latipac City that lies between Dragon View Trade City and Crown Capital City.

According to Mother, that place is considered the centre of trade for the Lehcarouc Kingdom due to its position within the Kingdom.

And according to Dennis, it will take us a little more than a week to get there at our current pace so we're making camp for the night.

So far the journey has been uneventful outside of having to deal with the small talk from the three men and their not so subtle ogling.

Mother seemed entirely nonplussed about their gazes but Katsuki kept glaring at them whenever she caught them staring.

With the wagons parked by the side of the road, we were expected to make our own camp which is also the reason why I'm panicking slightly.

"We don't have a tent, Mommy!"

"Ufufufu~ It does seem like we have not prepared one, but Mama is fine with simply sleeping with my little one curled up with me~"

"What about Katsuki?"

"Ara ara? She can curl up against you then~"

"Mommy!!"

She giggled and patted my head, "It's alright my little one~ Did you really think Mama will come here without some proper preparations?"

Mother gestured to me to come closer so I did, giving her the opportunity to pick up my Pack of Folding off my shoulders.

She then flipped it around such that it's upside down before reaching into its opening and pulling out an item disk.

Throwing it on the ground, the disk expanded and turned into a tent big enough for all three of us to sleep in.

As much as I appreciate the fact that Mother prepared this… But when and where did she get this tent and also sneak it into my bag?! This was most definitely not there before this!

Not noticing my obvious confusion, Mother went ahead to instruct Katsuki to get firewood for our campfire. My Inugami girl then ran off into the forest without another word.

"Mommy… When did you put this in my bag?"

"Ara, ara? It has always been there, my little one. Mama put it in there before giving it to you~"

Oh… I guess I didn't know since I never looked inside it when I first received it… Judging by the smile on Mother's face, she knew I never checked it.

"Did Mommy put anything else in there?"

"Ara, ara? Perhaps?"

I narrowed my eyes at her and she passed the Pack of Folding back to me, giving me a sly grin as she did so before she ducked inside the tent.

I flipped the bag upside down and stuck my hand inside the pack. Just so you know, when the bag is upside down, you take and store things from the bottom of the pile instead of the top.

Taking the first item plate from the pile, I pulled it out and shook it to make it turn back into the original item, only to find… A pair of black lace panties.

…

What kind of mother puts her own panties in her daughter's backpack?

I reached in and pulled out the next item plate and I was expecting it to be her bra but it turned out to be a piece of paper.

'For when my little one gets lonely~'

…

I sighed and put the two things back inside the backpack.

No, I'm not going to use it, but I won't throw it away either…

I slung my back over my shoulder and climbed inside the tent, finding Mother already stripped down to her underwear while unrolling the sleeping bags.

She even prepared multiple sleeping bags like she already expected me to have company…

Mother giggled when she saw me, "Did you like my present?"

"Is that a normal thing to put in a daughter's bag, Mommy?"

"Ufufufu~ I would hate to be normal, my little one. Being abnormal is more exciting don't you think?"

I can't argue with her on that one.

"Mistress?" Katsuki's voice came from outside.

Oh? She's already back so soon?

I went outside again to see Katsuki standing there with a bunch of firewood cradled in her arms.

"That was fast," I commented.

"Oh, I was trained to survive in the wild as well, Mistress. So such a thing is easy for me," She explained with a sense of pride.

I nodded and started to carve out a fire pit with my magic.

Oh, it's been a while since I last checked my stats haven't I?

[Name: Aster Nilm

Stats:

426 Strength

425 Dexterity

422 Endurance

440 Magic

Skills:

Hunting (Tier 2), Cooking (Tier 2), Martial Skill-(Dagger Proficiency (Tier 2), Unarmed Proficiency (Tier 2), Bow Proficiency (Tier 2), Sword Proficiency (Tier 2), Polearm Proficiency (Tier 1), Axe Proficiency (Tier 1))

Magic Skills:

Mana Management (Tier 2), Umbramancy (Tier 2), Electromancy (Tier 2), Lumenmancy (Tier 1), Pyromancy (Tier 1), Hydromancy (Tier 1), Aeromancy (Tier 1), Geomancy (Tier 1)]

Yep, I managed to learn the four basic elements quite easily that day, but levelling them is going to take quite a while. For now, I want to concentrate on Lumenmancy and bring it up to tier two first before anything else.

Katsuki watched as I piled the firewood into the hole before turning to my Inugami maid, "Do you mind lighting this up?"

She's the one with the tier two in Pyromancy after all.

"It would be my honour, Mistress."

She stretched out her hand and a small stream of fire flew out from her palm, igniting the tinder easily.

I thanked her before moving back to my Pack of Folding, digging through the item plates until I found my wok, a table, a chopping board, several plates, some meat, vegetables and also some condiments.

"Eh? Is Mistress cooking?" Katsuki asked.

"Hmm? That's right. Do you know how to cook?" I asked, though I already know the answer from looking at her stats.

She hung her head, "I apologise, Mistress… The best I can do is simply roast some meat over a spit…"

I giggled and patted her head, "Don't worry about it~ I'm sure they will teach you at the maid academy!"

That was when Mother poked her head out from the tent, "Ara, ara? Is my little one cooking? Ufufufu~ Mama is looking forward to it~"

It wasn't the first time I cooked as evident by my cooking skill being tier two so Mother trusted me with the fire without supervision.

Placing the ingredients on the table, I started preparing them to make a stir fry.

Katsuki seemed quite fascinated by what I was doing and watched intently as I placed the ingredients into my wok before moving towards the fire.

Using my own Pyromancy, I manipulated the fire to increase its heat, allowing me to start frying my prepared ingredients within the wok.

I noticed that my actions seemed to draw the attention of some of the others within the caravan but I paid them no mind. I'm guessing they were just curious about my unorthodox method of cooking since this should be foreign to them.

At least, that's what I think since Mother didn't seem to be surprised and the fact that this wok initially belonged to her meant she was at least familiar with some form of cuisine similar to this as well.

Soon enough, I had the portions separated into three separate plates and Mother emerged from the tent wearing a nightgown. At least she wasn't in her underwear…

"Ufufufu~ It looks like your skills have improved again, my sweet child~" Mother giggled after tasting a bite of the food.

Katsuki looked down on her own plate, "Is… Is it alright for me to have this, Mistress?"

"Of course~ Unless you think my cooking is not good enough for you to eat?"

"No! Not at all, Mistress!" She denied quickly, already moving to shovel a mouthful of food into her mouth, only to stop and moan at the taste.

"Mistress… It's soooo good…"

"Ehehe~ I'm glad you liked it!"

Right before I could start eating my own portion, I heard the sound of someone approaching us.

I looked up and what do you know? It's Jack.

"Hello ladies. I can't help but smell the delicious scent of food coming from here. Is there, by any chance, a way for me to have a taste?"

He even brought along an empty bowl as well.

I decided I could at least spare him some so I scooped out a little of mine into his bowl.

The Mercenary immediately brought a mouthful of it into his mouth and gasped, "Oh by the Gods! Did you make this?"

I nodded, taking the chance to eat my share and enjoying my own cooking.

"It's delicious, my lady! Damn, whoever your husband is in the future is going to be one lucky guy! Actually… What do you think of me? Do I stand a chance?"

Wow, this guy has absolutely no subtlety huh?

"I'm a futa and I like girls," I stated bluntly.

The only thing he said to that was a single "Oh".

It took a few more seconds before he finally recovered and wished us a good night, turning around to retreat back to his own camp.

Heh… I think I should do this more often!