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She took her large bowl and I took my medium one and we sat around the bonfire. It was still raining, so we had the tarp hung over our heads. Something about this scene reminds me of a game I once played, I think as take a sip of the hot soup. The weather may have been terrible, but the taste was amazing. I always felt that food tasted at least 20% better when eaten outdoors.

The pot was emptied in no time. Now the only thing to do was to sleep. Daniela quickly entered the tent before her warmed body could cool off again. And so I stayed outside to tend to the fire. We would take turns watching it. The rain had died down even more now, so it was unlikely that the fire needed much attention to keep it burning.
I run my hand through my hair without thinking. It had grown quite a bit now. There was no store manager in this world to remind me to cut it. And so I pulled out a pair of scissors from the hollow bag and started to snip at my hair. Back in my world, they had all kinds of nifty gadgets for campers, but there was no such thing here. And so I had bought these separately. I also had Chief make me a small estoc that looked like an ice pick.

“What would you need a tiny estoc like this?”

He kept asking as he made it. But the finished product was amazing. Only Chief could have made something like it.
I cut off roughly a few inches of my hair. I was sure people would say ‘Isn’t it still too long?’ but I would catch a cold if I cut it too short. And that was the bigger danger in the present.
After burying the chopped off hair in the dirt, I take out the estoc and some meat that we had bought. As the hollow bag used dimensional magic, I wondered what would happen if I put raw meat inside, and as expected, it showed no signs of having aged. But I wasn’t sure if it was just the appearance, and perhaps the time had passed inside, so I experimented with warm and cold food. There was no difference in temperature. So time really had stopped. However, we had now stuffed the bag until it was full, so we would have to eat the food and create more space.

I skewer some sliced meat with the estoc and hold it over the fire. Hehe. The one good thing about working all night. A company benefit. Midnight meals. As the meat began to cook, and the juices sizzle, I add some spices that we had stocked up on. Ah, it smelled so good. A real man’s meal. The meat in the flames had turned into the perfect color. The surface would be crispy while the inside was still rare. The trick was to not overcook it.

“Hehe. I think it’s ready.”
“What is?”
“The meat. This is about perfect.”

Alright, the juices were starting to drip. Now was the time! Time to eat…?

“That looks very good. Are you going to eat that?”
“Ah…Daniela? Wait, I thought you were asleep…”

I hold the savory skewer in one hand as I turn around. Master Daniela was standing there, looking down at me with folded arms and a big smile on her face.

“Asagi.”
“…Yes.”
“Where is my portion?”
“Here you go…”

I gave up the delectable piece of meat to Daniela.

Our first night in the plains was off to an awkward start, but at least we weren’t ambushed by any monsters. I continued to cook more meat until she was satisfied.
It was only after Daniela returned to her tent to sleep that I realized that we had gone through our entire stock of meat.

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