Light the campfire.
Gauss handled the ingredients, while Alya heated some water.
Today's lunch was stew.
In this bitterly cold weather, nothing soothed the soul better than a steaming pot of stew.
Gauss had wanted to add some Frost Snake meat, but he refrained for Alya's sake and instead made a simple carrot and lean pork soup.
"Mmhm—"
Alya cradled the hot soup in her hands. As the warm food entered her stomach, it dispelled the last trace of cold.
"We can finally go back and rest for a while."
She could not help stretching. The weariness brought on by days of traveling surged over her.
Still... this probably counted as suffering alongside happiness?
Just think of how many ordinary people lived difficult lives without being able to earn the generous rewards that adventurers like them received.
People had to know how to be grateful.
At that thought, she rubbed her cheeks, pushed the corners of her mouth upward with her fingers, and forced a smile.
"Once we leave, what will happen to these monsters in the wild?" Gauss asked curiously.
"They might hibernate, or perhaps migrate to the warmer south. Either way, slightly stronger tribes always have a way out." Alya stopped what she was doing. "I heard that the snow here usually doesn't spread into the depths of the Emerald Forest."
"As if there's an invisible barrier in the center of the Emerald Forest blocking the cold wave?"
"If that's the case, then why would those ogres rather wage war on humans to obtain food for the winter than migrate?"
"Maybe... it's the will of the Green Dragon Queen in the forest?" The question fell within Alya's blind spot, so she could only offer an answer based on her own guess.
But the guess did have some basis.