Hulim Heyerar looked calmly at the biscuits the elderly woman held out, then spoke earnestly. “Thank you, Granny, but I follow a strict diet for my special training. I can’t eat just anything, so I’m sorry—I can’t have these biscuits.”

  “Special training?”

  The elderly woman wore a look of pure confusion, and she was not alone—the young woman and the middle-aged woman were equally perplexed by Hulim’s words.

  Yet Hulim’s expression was perfectly serious. She tapped her wand lightly and nodded firmly.

  “Indeed! An extremely special kind of training!”

  “Uh...... well, if that’s the case...... then I suppose it can’t be helped.”

  The elderly woman had no choice but to pull the biscuits back, then turned to share them with the only willing eater in the carriage—the middle-aged woman.

  Sometimes, a ridiculous excuse that lay beyond the other person’s understanding worked far better than a clumsy lie that was obviously a pretext. It left people in awe of the unknown, making them convince themselves to believe you.

  Hmm...... after all, that was exactly what Semiris had taught her.

  ......

  Jingle-jingle~!

  A bell chimed out.

  The caravan ground to a halt.

  “Halt advance! Rest for one hour!”

  It was midday now. Regardless of whether the passengers had eaten on the carriages, the adventurer guards and drivers needed to stop for lunch.

  Sounds of people climbing out of carriages echoed from outside.

  Hulim stood up—she was ready for lunch too, but she had no intention of eating in the carriage. She had spotted a small river outside and planned to eat there.

  When the elderly woman saw her stand, her eyes lit up, and she reached for her biscuit tin. But Hulim merely touched her wand and shot her a glance, and the elderly woman dejectedly pulled her hand back.

  At the same time, the young woman in the carriage was starving and wanted to get out for lunch—but the moment she moved, the elderly woman’s eyes fixed on her.

  “......”

  The young woman’s mouth twitched, and she had no choice but to sit back down. It seemed she would have to go hungry for the rest of the day.

  So choosing a good excuse to refuse really was important......

  Reaching the riverbank,

  Hulim pulled out the portable rations Jessica had packed for her, ready to eat.

  “Hey there, young miss Heyerar! Eating alone out here?”

  A voice suddenly came from behind her.

  Hulim turned—and it was Huntfang, the C-Rank Adventurer party tasked with her protection.

  “Mr. Alec, hello. Just call me Hulim. Would you like to join me for lunch?”

  “Haha~! Alright then, Hulim—I’d be happy to!”

  Alec sat down casually, and his companions followed suit beside her.

  Alec glanced at his team. “Oh right, Hulim—you haven’t met the rest of my crew, have you?”

  Hulim shook her head.

  Alec then began to introduce them.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  First, he pointed to a quiet middle-aged man clad in armor.

  “This is Barth, our party’s vanguard. He might not say much, but he’s as reliable as they come!”

  Barth nodded silently at Hulim in greeting, and Hulim bowed politely in return.

  “This is Ange, this is York, and this is Stein.”

  Ange was the party’s archer, a woman with long hair; York was the mage, never without his wand; and Stein was the scout, a man with a black face covering.

  “And last but not least, me—Alec, the party leader! Now we’re properly acquainted. Let’s get along well for the rest of the trip!”

  After greeting each of them in turn, the Huntfang members pulled out their own rations and prepared to eat.

  “Whoa, Hulim—this is all you’re eating?”

  Alec stared at Hulim’s rations and shook his head in dismay.

  “?”

  Hulim looked confused. “Mr. Alec, is there something wrong with what I’m eating?”

  “Is there something wrong? Of course there is! Young folks like you—”

  “—need to eat meat!”

  With that, Alec pulled a strip of dried meat from his rations and held it out to Hulim.

  “Here, have some of mine!”

  Hulim glanced at the dried meat in front of her, then up at Alec—he was gnawing on a strip of the same meat, and the rest of the party was too.

  “Thank you.”

  Hulim took the dried meat without hesitation. She tried to bite into it big like Alec did, but only managed to tear off a tiny piece.

  “......”

  “Hahaha~!”

  Alec doubled over with laughter on the spot.

  “You’ve got such a tiny bite!”

  The rest of the party couldn’t help but smile too.

  “Alright, Alec—don’t laugh so hard!”

  Ange chided him with a smile, then stood up and sat beside Hulim, pulling out her water skin.

  “Here, Hulim. Soak it in water like this, and the dried meat will soften up. It’ll be much easier to bite into......”

  “Thank you......”

  Though she’d made a small fool of herself, the awkwardness between Hulim and the Huntfang party melted away after this little incident......

  After lunch, there was still plenty of time before the caravan set off again. Hulim sat by the river, watching the fish swim by, wondering if she should catch some fish for grilled fish that night.

  Pop~! Pop~!

  A strange sound came from the other side of the river.

  Hulim looked up—and on the opposite bank, two large, translucent pale blue orbs were bouncing toward the water. Behind them followed four smaller translucent orbs, bouncing along in tow.

  “Slime——no, wait, they’re Popomu!”

  Hulim’s eyes lit up. She never thought she’d see wild Popomu!

  She’d heard that wild Popomu were common in many places, but unfortunately, none lived near Mentor Town—this was her first time seeing them in the flesh.

  “Hulim, what’d you say? Oh—those are Popomu!?”

  Alec heard her voice and turned around, immediately spotting the creatures on the other bank.

  He hurried over to Hulim and stared intently at them.

  “Yep, that’s them! The two white blobs for eyes, a mated pair with four little ones, and their habit of living near water—this is a whole family of Popomu, a rare sight!”

  “What? A family of Popomu? Where? Let me see~!”

  Ange, who had been checking her bow, heard Alec’s exclamation and immediately perked up, walking over to the riverbank.

  “Wow~! Those four little Popomu are so cute! I want to go over and pet them~!”

  “Hey now, don’t you dare actually do that! Popomu might look cute, but they’re no pushovers in a fight!”

  Alec warned her.

  “Aw, I know! I’m just saying! But they’re really so cute~!”

  As Alec said, Popomu were not creatures to be trifled with. They were surprisingly agile; when facing an enemy, they could contract their bodies to harden their skin, then launch themselves at high speed to ram their foe. A direct hit from one could shatter an adult’s sternum.

  Besides ramming with their bodies, adult Popomu could also shoot high-pressure water orbs from their bodies—powerful enough to smash wooden planks.

  And there was one more thing—one that was extremely important to Hulim, at least.

  They were delicious......

  “Delicious...... ingredients.”

  Hulim stared at the Popomu family on the other bank, her heart stirring with desire.

  Pop~!?

  One of the adult Popomu suddenly sensed danger and immediately positioned itself in front of the others to shield them.

  Pop!

  Pop!

  Pop!

  “......”

  The four little ones had no idea danger was near, and kept bumping into the adult Popomu blocking their way, eager to jump into the water and swim.

  Pop~!!!

  Then they were scolded.

  The little Popomu immediately drooped their bodies, no longer bouncing or chirping.

  Pop, pop!

  Then, led by the adult Popomu, the whole family bounced back into the forest on the other bank.

  “Aww...... they’re gone!”

  Ange looked thoroughly disappointed.

  Alec scratched his head. “Huh, that’s weird? Did I talk too loud and scare them off?”

  Hulim was disappointed too.

  Her delicious ingredients were gone......

  Jingle-jingle~!

  Just then, the bell for departure rang out.

  Hulim could only stare longingly at the other side of the river, abandoning her idea of gathering ingredients.

  ......