Minerva was left confused.

　It wasn't a long time ago that she went into her bedroom as usual and thought tomorrow would come again as usual.
　Suddenly the duke's mansion was attacked and she found herself thrown out into an unfamiliar meadow.

　He was attacked by a beast he had never seen before, and when he finally found a stream, he met a demon that spoke human language.
　He was surprised to see that Rona, who he had previously assumed was just a beast, began to speak with the same fluency as the demon, but even more than that, he felt dizzy from the magical exchange between Rona and the demon.

　I didn't understand what was going on, and the confusion was growing, rather than a path back to the capital.
　It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

''Greystar Battalion Commander. I'm embarrassed to say ......, but I have no idea what's going on.

　A bonfire flickers between Minerva and her friends and Rona and the others, and the fire is surrounded by twigs sticking into the ground in a circle.
　At the end of the twig, the flesh of the nedullo was cut into pieces and stuck in the fire.
　It's because Minerva and her friends, who don't have much in the way of tools, have no other way to cook meat than to roast it over the fire.

"Don't worry, lady. Me too.

　Moore replied as he held one of them in his hand and held the meat to the fire.

'Rona said that this is a different world. What do you mean by a different world?　Does that mean we're on another continent?

'I don't know.　If it's not the Robles continent, I wouldn't bother using the word 'world'. It's just a matter of saying it's a different continent. I've got to say, it's a good thing that I'm not the only one. When there's no pale sky, it's out of my range of understanding. It would be great to have a knowledgeable person like Kyle at a time like this.

　What you don't have to do is what you don't have to do, Moore said, putting the words in a sigh.

　Minerva turns her gaze forward.
　Rona is explaining to the man who sits on an old stump, arms crossed and poised, with words to spare.

　If you believe Rona's words, the man is Minerva's teacher, Aldis.

　I don't believe it.
　That was Minerva's honest feeling.

　The Aldis she knew was still a young boy.
　The age does not match this manly person with stubble by any stretch of the imagination.

　Indeed, his hair color and eye color are jet black, the same as Aldis', and his face is very similar.
　If Aldis continues to age like that, maybe he'll be like the man in front of him.

(But ......)

　In her mind, Minerva shook her head (headgear).

　There is no way this person is Ardis.

　I don't know if it's the same person or not, but it's the same person originally, Rona said.
　But this man doesn't seem to know either Minerva or Moore.
　What's different is the light in his eyes.

(My master's eyes aren't that cold.)

　The man's gaze at Minerva was icy cold, like that directed at an enemy.

　Although Rona's intercession had softened her attitude somewhat, she has since seemed to show no interest in the matter.
　Even when exchanging conversations, Minerva and Moore were very uncomfortable because of the wary looks they were receiving as if they were stamping their prices.

''Look, miss. Your meat is burned.

　Moore, who had been silently roasting Neduro's meat, offered one of them to Minerva when he saw it was about time.
　The meat, which had been stabbed into a tree branch and roasted over the fire, had a nice brown color.

　Rona responds to Moore's voice.

'Hmm. I don't feel like it, but since it can't be helped, why don't we have some too?

　Not looking too happy, Rona paused her explanation to Ardis and moved on to eating.
　It's a good idea to use two forelimbs dexterously to hold a twig between them, and then eat the meat stuck in the tip in a single bite.
　Admiring her dexterity, Minerva looks down at the meat handed to her.

''Eh, and ....... How do I get ......?''

Oh, I see. You're a princess, aren't you?

　Moore also gave a troubled look to Minerva, who was confused because she didn't know how to eat.

'We don't have any knives or forks, and we don't have a single plate. Then why don't we just put the food directly into your mouth like this? She takes a bite of the meat, as if to show you how it's done.

　Normally, it would be unacceptable for a young lady to take a direct bite of foodstuffs.
　However, this is an emergency situation.
　On top of that, the other nobles and servants are not looking at her, so Minerva is willing to take on the first experience of her life.

　Even though it was divided into small portions, the size of the chunk of meat was too much for Minerva's mouth.
　She opened her small mouth to its edge and took a bite.
　I bit through the flesh, which is stringy and harder than I expected, and then chewed it, still hot, with my back teeth.

　His eyebrows furrow at the hardness of it, but the first time he took a bite of neduro meat, it had a beefy texture, so he was able to accept it without any discomfort.
　Minerva took the liberty of deciding that the simple lack of flavor was probably due to the lack of seasoning, but she was soon reminded that she was very wrong.

　Every time she chewed on the hard meat, an unearned fishy smell began to waft from within it.
　At the same time, something slippery spilled out of the meat, causing an unpleasant sensation, and the shed flesh resisted the pressure of my teeth like tanned leather.

　The fire should have been cooked through.
　Nevertheless, a foul odor, like that of raw meat, covered my mouth.

　Of course, it's not like Minerva, a noblewoman, has any experience with raw meat.
　But the strange odor and unpleasant texture that increased in momentum with each bite made Minerva spit out the meat, unable to endure it.

''Ugh!　What the hell?　Peh, peh!　Oh no!

　Next to Minerva, Moore is similarly vomiting after being baptized with neduro meat.
　Apparently, as a young lady, Minerva's tongue does not seem to have had a special claim to luxury.

　Although Moore is now an officer in the king's army, he is a strong man of history who used to run around the battlefield as a mercenary.
　Since he says it's so bad that he spits it out, there's no doubt that there's a problem with this meat, even in the general sense of the word.

''What the hell is this?　You can't eat this!

　Following the tip of his gaze, Minerva also turned her attention to Rona and the others.
　It's a good idea to be able to have a good time with them.

'If you don't want to eat it, don't eat it. No one asked you to eat it.

　For some reason, the man said in a dismissive tone, holding his own head in one hand.
　Rona then turned her flat voice to Moore, "Eat," she said, "Eat.

'I know how you feel, though. The only thing to eat in a place like this is nedullo meat. If it were later in the season, we could have eaten some tree sprouts, but we wouldn't have been able to fill our little stomachs anyway.

It's the only way to go: ......

　Minerva looks at Neduro's flesh with a dark face.

　Even if the hunger wasn't yet unbearable, it had been more than half a day since I last ate.
　He could hold out for now, but soon that would come to an end.

If you want to, go ahead and choose to starve, or if you have something else to eat, go ahead and eat. If you have something else to eat, go ahead and eat.

　For some reason, the dark-haired man responded to Minerva's murmurings as if she were talking to herself.
　There was a slight hint of irritation in his voice.

'I'm sure there's a little better food if you go to the human village, but this is all we have here, Minerva. I know it's hard, but you should be patient and have a little bit of food. Pinch your nose and you'll feel a little better. Maybe a little.

　There is no way that Minerva, a noblewoman, would be able to find anything else to eat in a world where she doesn't know left or right, much less what to do with it.
　Following Rona's advice, she pinched her nose with her finger and boldly took another bite of Neduro's meat.

　It is true that the fishy smell has lessened somewhat.
　But no matter how much you dull your sense of smell, there's no changing the unpleasant texture.

Ugh. ......

　Minerva, on the verge of vomiting, forced herself to swallow the meat without chewing.
　At the same time as the gurgling sensation passed down her throat, her stomach juices almost flowed backwards as if rejecting her, but she managed to push it into herself.

　With tears in my eyes, I looked to the side and saw Moore struggling with the meat as well.
　As expected of a former mercenary.
　Her ability to adapt is also incomparable to Minerva, a noblewoman.

''You don't have to bite me, you have to bite me!

　Blasting to himself in desperation, he confronted the unimaginably bad meat.
　It was as if he was chewing the meat from the tip of a branch and swallowing it without chewing it in his mouth.

　It seems very unlikely that Minerva would be able to do the same.
　In the end, Minerva, who had managed to swallow a mouthful of meat, had no choice but to get water from Rona to fill her stomach.





　The sky had become darker by the time we finished eating with a delicate sense of tension.

''We're done with our food, let's go to sleep now,''

　Rona said and moved closer to Minerva's side and curled up.
　Aldis removed his sword belt and placed it beside him, then lay down and tried to fall asleep.

'Hey, don't you have an order for the night watch?

　Seeing Rona and the others, a flustered Moore asks a question, but Ardis doesn't even try to look at us and replies in a cumbersome manner.

'Night watch?　We don't need to put up all those things, we can deal with them on our own before they attack us.

It's a matter of when. First of all, it's not very nice to ask that of a young lady, is it?

You can't even detect an attack: ......

　Aldis gasps.

　Minerva bit her lip in dismay.
　Perhaps, based on the flow of the story, Aldis and the others are able to detect danger and respond to it even if they are asleep.
　It might be the same for Moore, who had a long experience as a mercenary.

　However, Minerva is a noblewoman who has never even been in an encampment.
　She doesn't have the skills to detect a crisis that strikes in her sleep, nor does she have the skills to jump up and deal with it immediately.

''It's okay. Minerva will be safe with me at her side. I don't mind if you goof off or sleep until morning.

　Rona's offer further clouds Minerva's mind.

　She feels helpless, but she has to convince herself that this is her own strength.

　Minerva curls up right next to Rona and closes her eyes, feeling the body heat coming through her golden (kogane) fur.
　Immediately, fatigue enveloped her entire body.
　Even though Aldis had been training her recently, this was the first time she had walked this far and for this long.
　It didn't take too long for Minerva to let go of her consciousness and fall asleep.