The Search
Gerard's search continued until the sun had completely set. Word even reached us that he would skip a proper dinner and keep going. Thanks to that, when my group and I stepped out of the tent for a meal, more than half the encampment was empty.
The knights left behind to guard the camp turned their gazes toward us.
“….”
“….”
“….”
It was burdensome. There was no way that look wouldn't be burdensome. It would have been a little better if the female knights had been the ones staring like that. Even if they were men, if they had been ordinary people, I could have endured it somehow. But every single one of these bastards staring at me was built like a damn mountain.
And they weren't even looking at Iris or Master. Every last one of them had their eyes fixed solely on me, shining with that intense gaze.
…Are these guys insane? Why the hell are they looking at me like that?
Maybe it was because of Gerard's character setting, which mixed knight and soldier traits together. While the other disciples brought followers with a roughly even male-to-female ratio, the knights who followed him were all sturdy, muscular men without exception. Just thinking about all those muscle-bound giants staring only at me sent chills down my spine.
“…It looks like they're all staring at Master, doesn't it?”
“It's not that it looks like it. That's exactly what's happening, you idiot disciple.”
“Mm, it must be a bit uncomfortable, but please understand them, Master.”
“Understanding them is going to make me so uncomfortable I might actually die.”
“Maybe that's just their way of showing respect to the strong?”
Respect my ass. If someone looked at you like that, even a good-natured person would ask what the hell their problem was. The only reason I was letting it slide was because there was no killing intent in their eyes. I should just eat quickly and go back inside. At this rate, I wouldn't even know if the food was going into my mouth or my nose.
But the moment I saw the meal the knights had supposedly prepared for us, I genuinely muttered, “Ha, fuck.”
Inside a broth that was either yellow or brown—impossible to tell—various chunks floated around. There was even a separated layer of oil thick enough to scoop up with a spoon. No matter how many times I looked at it, even after staring for dozens of seconds, it didn't look like food. No matter how generously you described it, this was no different from cheap pork porridge.
Was this really something they'd prepared with care for their guests? Wow, what a brand-new way to declare war—by slapping someone right in the balls.
“What the hell is this? Dog food?”
Even Master frowned deeply and muttered those words. It looked like a lot of ingredients had been thrown in, but the chunks and broth were all mixed together in a mess. I knew cooking outdoors was difficult, but this level of culinary atrocity was just unacceptable.
“…Goddamn it.”
Come to think of it, this was also because of that damned setting. The idea that a true soldier or honorable knight only needed nutrition and satiety, so anything would do. Thanks to that, it seemed all his followers were eating like this too.
“Disciple. This seat cannot eat dog food.”
“I don't particularly want to eat that either.”
“Even Master thinks so? I don't think I can ever eat this again.”
It seemed like the three of us had finally reached complete agreement for the first time.
“I also… think this is a bit much….”
That made four, including the noble. Though looking at it, this pork porridge seemed perfectly suited for that noble. If you told him to eat it, he'd probably scarf it down in a panic thinking it was a threat.
What was even funnier was that they had apparently put a lot of effort into the ingredients. The brown color came from adding wine, the rock-like chunks were large cuts of beef, and that charred-ash visual was apparently from adding bay leaves.
“…Even the apostles wouldn't eat like this. No, even the beggars of the Open Sect wouldn't go this far.”
No matter how generously you looked at it, this was nothing more or less than a twisted slime monster from the twilight. I could say that with complete confidence.
This wouldn't do. This was an insult to beef. I quickly went over to the knights who were cooking, confiscating all the ingredients and tools. If I had been an ordinary guest, it might have been considered rude. But since I wasn't an ordinary guest—and was in fact the master of the Guardian Hero—the knights couldn't even dare to say a word.
“Good. It's been a while since I've eaten your cooking. I'm looking forward to it, disciple.”
“Do your best, Master! Your assistant is always on standby!”
I had lived alone for a while and had quite an interest in cooking. Both back in my original world and after falling into this game world, whenever I had some free time, I would cook. And the reactions hadn't been bad. After trying my food, Master would often pester me to make it again, and my disciples would praise it highly and beg me to cook it once more.
To be honest, my skills weren't anything spectacular. But I could say one thing with absolute certainty: it would at least be better than that culinary abomination. I would bet everything I had on that.
“At least they cut the meat well. That's something, you crazy bastards.”
The effort of slicing the beef was reduced. I simply seasoned it with salt and grilled the meat over the fire. I also cut up the vegetables I had brought and grilled them. In another pot, I mixed in onions, garlic, and bay leaves. Then I added the wine I had brought and let it sit for a bit. After that, I added the pre-grilled meat and vegetables and brought it to a boil, seasoning it simply with salt and pepper.
Originally it was a dish that required aging and took a long time. But if I made them wait any longer, Master would get angry. So I quickly finished the beef stew and served it to the group who had been waiting for a proper meal.
“…Yes. This is what you can call food that humans eat.”
“Master, I want to try making food like yours someday.”
“Isn't the problem with you not your cooking skills, but that all your skills are lacking?”
“Wow… that's too much. Even if it's based on facts….”
“Be quiet and eat your meal. Unless you want to eat a chestnut flick along with it.”
I had made the stew as generously as possible. So not only Master and Iris, but also the noble who had been eagerly waiting for another chance to eat, and even the knights who were still staring at me, were able to have some.
It wasn't an incredibly outstanding meal. Still, it had to be better than whatever the hell that pork porridge or dog food was. As if to prove it, the knights emptied their bowls completely cleanly. Fortunately, it seemed they didn't all lack taste buds. Once the world calmed down a bit, I thought I should grab Gerard and give him some proper taste education.
“So, any results?”
“…I'm sorry, Master. I have nothing to say.”
The search operation that continued until late into the night after dinner. But neither Gerard nor any of the knights under him had found a single thing. This wasn't the Great Forest—just a barren stretch of land. If there had been something to find, they would have found it already. And if it was something that couldn't be found, no one would be able to find it.
“You've worked hard, Gerard. You and all the knights under you. You must all be very tired, so go rest quickly.”
“I'm sorry, Master. If I've disappointed you in any way….”
“I wasn't disappointed, so don't worry. If you keep acting like this, I might actually get disappointed. It's not good to pay too much attention to such trivial matters, Gerard Geranium. As a Hero, you should have a broader outlook.”
“…Understood. Thank you, Master. And once again, I'm sorry.”
There was no major problem. After all, tomorrow Iris would step up and find a way. Even if Iris weren't a regressor, Master and I would have come up with something.
After Gerard withdrew, I stepped out of the tent for a moment and walked around outside. It had been so hot during the day, but now that the sun had set, it was incredibly chilly. The people living in a place like this would be extremely sensitive to even the smallest things. And the vague fear and terror that the forbidden zone inspired would naturally be great.
In that sense, it was truly fortunate that the noble had cooperated. If not for him, we wouldn't have even known the location of the water source, and many other things would have been inconvenient.
“If you have something to say, come out and say it, you idiot disciple.”
If she pretended not to hear and didn't come out, I was planning to fly over and give her a chestnut flick. But unfortunately, the idiot disciple noticed quickly and revealed herself.
“…When did you notice?”
“When? From the very beginning.”
Even though Iris was a regressor, it didn't seem like she had any special perks like in novels. It didn't look like she had brought her fully grown future self's power and abilities intact. Was the only weapon she possessed her experiences and memories of the future?
“It seems Gerard ultimately failed. He says no matter how much he searches, there are no singularities.”
“I see.”
“If Iris had come to a place like this, she definitely would have come with a proper force. The fact that all traces of that have completely vanished is truly strange. Especially since there isn't even anything here that could erase traces.”
“If we search again tomorrow, we'll surely find something.”
As she said that, Iris clenched her fist tightly. It was clear that this kid definitely knew something.
“Iris.”
“Yes, Master.”
“You know, I want a happy ending. Everyone probably wants everyone to be happy, but among those, I want a perfect ending without a single flaw. What about you? What kind of ending do you want?”
What was your ending like? I asked it in the most roundabout way possible. I still hadn't properly heard how Iris had returned to the past or what she had experienced in the future. At first I had stayed silent in case I made some mistake, but after talking with her a few times, I realized that as long as I avoided directly mentioning the concept of regression, it was enough.
“…I, I want the same as you, Master. The happy ending that everyone dreams of. A perfect ending. I dream of that too. But sometimes those dreams don't come true the way we want.”
“That's right. Not everything goes the way we want.”
“…It can all shatter. In a truly miserable and horrific way.”
…I see. So that's how it was, after all. In the future Iris experienced, the Heroes—and I—had all ultimately failed and suffered defeat. So miserably and horrifically that she wouldn't want to recall it again.
“It must have been hard.”
“….”
“You've been through a lot. And without knowing any of that, I've been making things difficult for you as your master all this time.”
“No. Actually, all of that was good.”
I glanced at Iris as she spoke. Under the moonlight, teardrops flowed down from the lake that had pooled in her eyes.
“I missed all of it so much, Master.”
She must have agonized so much that her insides had rotted away. She must have felt like she was burning up black from anxiety. To me, who had seen the concept of regression to the point of exhaustion, it was something I could adapt to naturally. But from Iris's perspective, figuring out what the hell was going on and adapting to it must have been overwhelmingly difficult.
“I'll do it properly from now on. I won't disappoint you. I promise, Master.”
Even so, Iris spoke with firm eyes and a steady voice. It felt a little different from the Iris I originally knew, but I smiled because I thought this was the real Iris.
“Good. I'll be looking forward to it. To see exactly how you'll change. My idiot disciple.”