Chapter 57

<056. No, I was just curious>

After that, following Eve's suggestion, I started giving orders to these foolish chicks.

"Set up the tents near the three bonfires. Don't spread out too far, and don't talk nonsense about watching the stars with your lover."

"......"

A couple looked dejected. Really, are they here to play?

"Line up in pairs. Stand guard in two-person teams, each for two hours."

"W-What's a night watch?"

Ah.

They don't know what a night watch is.

"It means staying awake at night to keep watch."

"......D-Do we really need to do that?"

"This is the Sleeping Mountains, where real monsters swarm. If monsters ambush you at night, do you plan to die?"

"......"

"Stand guard in pairs. If one falls asleep, the other can wake them up, and most importantly, your field of vision doubles. Understand?"

"Y-Yes......"

This is worse than I thought. Jefrin's education is a mess.

No, no.

These kids are aiming to 'learn at school and get a job locally.'

Sigh. I need to be patient.

"I'll distribute two hand warmers that stay warm even in the middle of the night. Take them and decide the order of the night watch. Also, I've filled your canteens with warm water, so keep hydrating."

"......Understood."

Still, they follow my orders purely.

Just as I was about to distribute the hand warmers, someone approached quickly. Glancing over, it was an elf with long silver hair. Shafia.

"......"

"Take it. It's your share."

"W-Who said I'd take......"

"Don't you want it? Aren't you cold?"

Shafia is an elemental swordsman, and her magic color is green, the color of wind. She fights with a fast sword enchanted with high cutting power, so it's no exaggeration to say she has no insulation measures.

Her equipment is lighter and thinner than Nefte's.

Well, Nefte, who is originally a heavy knight or a guardian tank, is too heavily armored, but anyway.

"......Tch. I said I wouldn't take your help. Have you forgotten?"

"Are you not cold? Or are you ignoring my advice?"

"What?"

"Will getting sick here and holding everyone back tomorrow be the loyalty and pride you speak of?"

"......Grr."

At my words, Shafia hesitated and then extended her hand. This kid doesn't use both hands to receive from an adult.

But I'm a good adult, so I overlook it when kids make mistakes. I handed over two hand warmers and a canteen, and even gave her a ration of jerky for the early morning.

Shafia, who received everything, gripped the supplies I gave her and glared at me.

"By the way, Shafia Evergreen Grove."

"What......"

"Didn't you say you'd risk your life if you received help from me?"

"Ugh!"

At that, Shafia was about to throw the items I gave her......

"Would throwing them away here be loyalty?"

"......Grr, grr. Grr."

She hesitated, unable to do anything, trembling, and even tears welled up in her eyes.

"Grr......Rather, kill me!"

"What? That would also be disloyalty to Eve. Don't throw a tantrum."

"Kyaah!"

She sure can scream.

She's healthy.

Well, well. The health of children is most important. Growing up healthy is what children should do.

Making mistakes and educating them is the job of adults.

***

"Hmm."

I woke up to a sound from outside.

Do you know? Good sleep is one of the hardest things to achieve.

Think about it. You can only get good sleep when you're healthy. That means Wolfram von Loewen格林's sleep, with his Strength 2, is very irregular and hard to achieve deep sleep.

So, I'm light sleeper, often wake up, have trouble sleeping when the pillow changes, and am sensitive to the cushion on the ground.

That's why I woke up.

"We can stand guard for two more hours......"

"No, this is my job. Go back and rest."

"Y-Yes!"

A familiar voice and two unfamiliar voices.

Creak. Opening the tent, I saw a person sitting alone by the bonfire.

"Having the commander stand guard is not a good decision."

"I know."

"I don't remember telling you to stand alone."

"I'm not alone."

What do you mean? Are you all together with the power of friendship or something?

Staring at Eve, she subtly pointed to someone far away.

A red wolf, curled up and lying in front of the cart.

"Oh, right. You can communicate with Partasch too."

Eve nodded, and I understood.

"......Wolfram, aren't you going to sleep?"

"I think I can stay awake for another hour or two."

"Is that so."

After that, silence ensued.

Crackling.

Only the sound of the bonfire burning broke the silence, forcing noise into the air.

"Wolfram. Wolfram von Loewen格林."

"What is it, Eve von Loewen格林?"

"......Are you the Wolfram I know?"

"......"

That's a pretty sharp question.

"Yes, I am Wolfram von Loewen格林. Do I look like someone else?"

"......No. That unlucky face is just the Wolfram written in my family tree."

"Hah. The incompetent usurper who took the student council president position from me and only stumbles. You have some nerve to talk."

"......I-I-I can't you speak nicely?!"

Striking her in the chest, Eve clutched her chest and let out a groan of pain.

No, this is, well.

When you see an opening, you take it. That's just how our generation is.

That's the deal mechanism of Lee Youngjin, the 'Iron Tier Lone Massacre', 'Unstoppable Flash Judgment Vayne', and 'Dream Field Nursery's Best Output AD Prince'.

"It's because you talk nonsense."

"Then, how can you conquer the Sleeping Mountains? I haven't heard of any expedition from your term."

"......"

Hmm.

Eve is right. As far as I know, there was no such event in the original.

What should I say? How should I fudge it? Saying it's written in ancient documents is risky because Eve goes back to the palace during summer break and reads ancient documents, which is part of the 'original plot', so there's a high chance of being caught.

"You illegally accumulated wealth during your term by buying magic books and swords, even though you knew you couldn't learn them yourself."

While I was looking for a way to fudge it with a serious expression, Eve spoke first.

If Eve speaks first, my job is simple.

Nod.

Just nod.

"......Were you dreaming of something? A dream that no one has challenged for 300 years? ......Really?"

Nod.

I don't really know, but it seems like it.

"......I see. I understand. Honestly, I thought you were just a stupid fraud......but I need to change my mind. You are stupid and a fraud, but......you are the only idealist in Jefrin who dreams."

Nod.

It feels like I'm being insulted, but I don't understand what she's saying, so I'll just keep nodding.

"......Two hours have passed. I'll wake up the next night watch."

"Hmm."

Eve got up and went to wake the others, and I tilted my head as I watched her back.

"So, what was that dream?"

My dream is to be the best convenience store manager in Jefrin,

"Do Jefrin kids not even dream of that?"

***

The next day, after a few battles.

Naturally, the deeper we went, the stronger the monsters in the Sleeping Mountains became.

Of course, it's more dangerous if you leave the paved road, but walking on the road paved by the first emperor, the number of monsters increases, but the layout doesn't change.

Perhaps the first emperor set up a mysterious barrier on the road, which is the effect.

"......Pant, pant! We won again!"

"Are there any injured?"

"No! We're all fine!"

"Good! Let's advance a bit more before the buffs wear off!"

"Yes! Everyone, bite a snack with your right molar before the next battle starts!"

"Yes!"

Following Eve's orders, everyone bit a snack with their right molar.

"......Really, what an amazing item. To have this effect here."

"Hmm."

"How can one snack have two magical effects? It's really dangerous to release this to the market. I need to contact the Tristar family. You shouldn't act recklessly either. This is......a really dangerous item."

I nodded.

The snacks I gave them were layered buff snacks made by a magical patissier. They have two effects: 9th tier [Sleep Resistance] and 9th tier [Lowest Healing Promotion].

Originally, when making a magical patissier, the buffs are random, and that hasn't changed, but I used a trick.

In short, 'if you make a large quantity at once, the same options are more likely to appear.'

I kept making small batches until I got a chocolate with Sleep Resistance, then multiplied it without using the patissier, and cheated with the flour dough.

As a result, they bite a chocolate ball with their right molar and fight with two buffs every time.

Since the magical sweets activate when you chew one snack, the chocolate ball is treated as one snack in terms of size.

"......Honestly, I don't know how this expedition would have