"So this is what it looks like inside."
"The ceiling is covered in slimes... Oh, I see, that’s how he’s catching the bugs."
"This little room over here is a toilet."
"Are you serious? He even installed stuff like that?"
"What's this tube for?"
"That’s a water purifier. It filters the water to make it clean—"
I was currently giving the students a tour of my base.
Shortly after my shift on the second day began, a boy had asked for a look inside. Once I agreed, word spread, and students began flocking to the entrance. There were only six of them so far, but since the space wasn't particularly large, the room felt quite crowded.
"Ryoma, you in there?"
"Hm? I'm here!"
I heard Gazel's voice calling from outside. I wondered what he wanted.
"There you are! Look at these!"
When I poked my head out of the entrance, he was triumphantly holding up his kills in both hands. Since my base was elevated, he thrust them upward from below, bringing them as close to my face as he could reach.
"You caught birds today too? These are some pretty big ones."
"Yeah! I set the traps for them yesterday."
"I see. Is that why you were back so late?"
"Pretty much. They fell for the traps perfectly, so I figured I’d bring the blood over for your slimes. They get their nutrients from blood, right?"
That was actually a huge help. These kids really were natural hunters.
"This is all we’ve caught so far today, though, so I’m gonna need the meat back. I’d like to be more generous, but, well..."
"This is more than enough. I’ll get ready to drain the blood right away. As a small thanks, why don't you come inside for some tea while you wait? I have some herb tea made with river water and herbs I picked around here."
"Hey, if you're offering, I'm drinking. Can I see the inside too?"
He really had a straightforward personality. It was refreshing and easy to deal with.
"Of course. Would the rest of you like some as well? It's just made from local ingredients."
"I'll pass."
"Me too. I need to get ready for tonight."
"Same. We should probably head out now."
"Thanks for showing us around."
"I'll try to use this as a reference for my own camp."
"Thanks, boss!"
After seeing off the six who had already been inside, I set about preparing the tea.
"Just brush the bugs off your clothes and come on in."
Gazel followed my instructions obediently, but as soon as he stepped inside, he began staring intently at the walls.
"Did you find something interesting?"
"I was just thinking about how solid these walls are. My place is so old that the wind just whistles through the gaps. This is just a temporary shelter, but it’s built way better than my actual house."
"I see."
"Man, if only I could use Earth Magic..."
"Are you not very good at magic?" I asked.
"I'm hopeless at it. But looking at this, it makes me think that if I could use it, maybe I could finally do something about those walls."
"Is it really that old?"
I handed him a cup of tea, and he nodded with a grin.
"Hot! Whoops... Honestly, our house is one of the better ones. The adults look out for us and give us advice, so as long as we keep up with the repairs, it’s fine. It looks like a dump, but it’s perfectly livable. The place that's really falling apart is that old lady's house next door."
"You say that, but I wouldn't really know..."
I wondered if she lived in one of those buildings that was practically a ruin, like the ones I had heard about recently.
"Well, I only have to put up with it for a little while longer anyway."
"Put up with it?"
"Yeah! I've finally become an adventurer. I'm still Low-Rank right now, but I'm going to train hard and start raking in the gold. When that happens, I'm not just going to patch the place up—I'm going to tear it down and rebuild it from scratch. I’ll build a massive house where everyone can live comfortably."
"I see."
He certainly didn't lack ambition.
"Specifically, how big of a house are we talking?"
"How big... Uh, I hadn't actually thought that far ahead."
I felt a bit like the wind had been taken out of my sails.
"Well, that happens. You can figure out the details as you go."
"I've decided!"
"That was fast!"
Wait, what? He just thought about it and decided that quickly? Talk about a fast learner.
I decided to hear him out. "Alright, so how big do you want it?"
"About the size of your shop."
"Wait, why my shop?"
"I just remembered that your place is two stories tall. That’s why."
"That’s your only criteria!?"
"Well, if it has two floors, it’s got to be pretty spacious, right?"
"It certainly adds more living space, but..."
"Exactly! Plus, two-story buildings are rare. It’ll really stand out."
I had my doubts about that logic.
Besides, if they hired contractors, it would cost a fortune and take a lot of time. Rebuilding wasn't something to be done on a whim. I felt like he should probably be a bit more cautious, but since they would need to save up the money first anyway, a rough goal was probably fine for now.
Deciding not to rain on his parade, I simply offered him some encouragement.
"By the way, you mentioned 'our house' earlier. Do only children live there?"
He had mentioned that the adults looked out for them, but his phrasing suggested the adults didn't actually live with them.
"That's right. It’s not quite like a church or an orphanage. In the slums, there are a bunch of houses where kids without parents group up. We sleep there at night and head out to work first thing in the morning."
"Are there rules for living together?"
"I guess the main one is that the older kids look after the little ones. The adults in the neighborhood help us out with daily life and teach us things too. We actually learned how to hunt from an old guy who used to be an adventurer... Oh, and it’s almost time to start gathering firewood from outside the city. We need it to survive the winter, so it’s kind of a rule that anyone with free time has to go pick up branches."
He continued, "Anyway, that’s how it is. We don't have any money, but we manage to survive together. We're all basically siblings. The three guys with me in this camp all live in the same house."
"I see."
So children without parents survived through a combination of their own hard work and the support of the community. It made sense that their bonds and sense of loyalty to one another would be incredibly strong.
Just as I was finishing my crash course on life in the slums, his cup became empty.
"Thanks for the tea. It was great."
"You're very welcome."
"Alright, I'm heading out. I still haven't found the prey for my request yet."
"Ah... right. I see."
"Wait, what? Oh, right. You're an instructor, so you aren't allowed to give us hints about the requests. I shouldn't have brought it up."
"Yeah, something like that."
"In that case, I'll just have to track it down myself. See ya!"
Brimming with confidence, he marched out of the base.
He had no idea that the prey he was looking for didn't even inhabit this area...
I suppose it’s about time for me to head back to my standby station as well.