Reincarnated as the Final Boss of an Eroge, but I Just Want a Peaceful Life After the Game Ends - Chapter 17: At the Campsite

Chapter 17: At the Campsite

In the southeast of the Kingdom of Eternia, there lay a vast sea of trees—a dense forest that stretched endlessly.

Deep within it stood a towering sacred tree that people called the World Tree.

At the end of Violation of Eternia IV, Sidol’s story came to a tragic close—his body and soul completely devoured by the demon he had summoned, leaving no trace behind.

That summoning skill was said to have been taught to him at a certain location, but the game never revealed the exact details.

There were two types of magic involved: spirit magic and summoning magic.

They seemed similar, but were fundamentally different—both considered unique to races that worshipped spirits and passed down as ancestral traditions.

(If I’m going to learn it, now would be the perfect time…)

It had been several weeks since Sophie Roa arrived in the Bahamul Territory.

She had quickly gotten along well with both Ivelia and Karen, and they relied on her like a dependable older sister.

It really made me realize how true it was that age brings wisdom.

Apparently, Sophie also communicated frequently with the village chief, Jorg.

With her around, it felt like the territory could be managed just fine even without me being directly involved.

And there was one more thing.

“I understand. I’ll apply for the royal knight recruitment.”

When I told Karen about the royal knights’ open recruitment that I saw in the capital, she didn’t seem entirely uninterested.

Since it was only a limited-term contract, I suggested she give it a try—and surprisingly, she agreed without much hesitation.

Thanks to Sophie’s presence—who was skilled at housework—Karen didn’t have to worry about leaving anything behind.

It seemed she was finally able to follow her desire as a warrior and test her current strength.

“I’ve got some business past the capital, so I’ll travel with you at least that far.”

“Yes! Please do!”

As Karen and I were talking, Ivelia suddenly jumped into the conversation.

“In that case, could I come along too? It’d be lonely staying here all by myself.”

“Bahamul will be just fine with me and Jorg handling things.”

Sophie followed up, her ample chest swaying slightly as she stepped forward.

That said, this was harvest season, and we’d be gone during a busy time.

“Even if I may not look the part, I’m the daughter of a deputy governor. I know a thing or two about managing a territory, so please leave it to me.”

Even if something unexpected happened, Sophie was the daughter of a baron and raised in a household that oversaw regional administration. She was more than capable of acting as my proxy.

Unlike the version of Sophie from the game, the Sophie here wasn’t under the effect of [Charm★]—she could think clearly and make sound decisions.

And if she ever got tired of being in Bahamul, she could just use [Perception Disruption★] and slip away unnoticed.

Even if that happened, as long as Jorg was around, things would probably work out.

“Alright. Then I’ll leave Bahamul in your hands, Sophie—and Jorg’s.”

With the territory entrusted to them, the three of us set off for the royal capital the following week.

◆

We camped every night along the way.

This time, the three of us moved by lightly running across the terrain.

Since it would be bad if anyone saw Ivelia, I carried her while using [Perception Disruption★] the entire way.

After about a week, we reached the outskirts of the royal capital.

“Lord Sidol, Lady Ivelia. Thank you so much for bringing me this far. I’m really grateful you both came with me.”

“Karen, I’m sorry. We couldn’t accompany you all the way into the capital because of me.”

“It’s not your fault, Lady Ivelia. And besides, I’m honestly really excited. I can’t wait to see what kind of warriors are there.”

We stopped about two kilometers west of the capital’s gate to see Karen off.

Karen and I could have entered the capital without any trouble, but Ivelia had been officially declared dead.

Using a fake name was too risky.

That meant we couldn’t just casually walk into the city.

In the game, Ivelia had always acted like some kind of demon, leaving a terrible impression.

But the Ivelia in front of me now was someone who could apologize sincerely.

She was completely different.

Since this would be Karen’s first time in the capital, I made sure to go over a few final details.

“You know where the Adventurers’ Guild is, right?”

“Probably. I should be fine. It’s in the commercial district near the southern commoners’ ward, right?”

“Yeah, that’s the one. Lady Sophie went over it with you a bunch of times, didn’t she?”

“She did. So I’ve got it memorized.”

“Good. Then you should be fine. Also—if you don’t end up making it as a royal knight, you’ll come back to Bahamul, right?”

“That’s the plan. But… I don’t know why—I just don’t feel like I’ll fail. Once it’s decided, I’ll write you a letter. I’ll address it to Lady Sophie though.”

“I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Karen stepped away slowly, reluctant to say goodbye.

“I’m off, then. Lord Sidol, Lady Ivelia.”

“Yeah. Take care.”

“Take care.”

Ivelia and I stood there for a while, watching Karen’s back until she completely disappeared from view on her way to the capital.

“She’s gone now.”

“Karen will be fine.”

“Oh, I’m not that worried about Karen. If anything, it’s Fina I’m concerned about. If she finds out Karen’s from Bahamul, she’ll probably start questioning her nonstop about you, Sidol.”

“I already told Karen it’s okay to talk about me—as long as there’s no one else around. It’s better to be honest than to force herself to hide everything.”

“True. She might not look it, but that girl can be sharp when it counts. And she doesn’t let things go easily.”

“Doesn’t let things go, huh…”

“Exactly. That’s just how girls are. Whether it’s something good or bad, we hold onto it. Anyway, we should get going. We’re still too close to the capital, and I’d rather put some distance.”

“Yeah. I want to get back to Bahamul as soon as possible too.”

That said, if I was going to learn summoning magic, the timing would probably line up with the period when Ars was clearing the final dungeon in Violation of Eternia II.

Once he entered that dungeon, I planned to sneak in on my own as well.

I had to get the [Skill Crystal: Hypnosis★]—a reward for defeating the final boss in that dungeon—before Ars could claim it.

Carrying Ivelia in my arms, I ran southwest from the capital toward the border.

After walking for several more hours, we found a safe-looking spot by the water and decided to camp there for the night.

“We’ll need to buy some food.”

I started preparing a meal.

I could cook a little, but I wasn’t nearly as good as Karen or Sophie.

“That’s true. But… do you think I can actually enter town?”

“If I carry you and keep [Perception Disruption★] active, no one will notice. Once we’re in, we should even be able to stay at an inn. Want to rest somewhere like that tonight?”

“If we can, that sounds nice. But honestly, I’m fine with camping too. I used to sleep in dungeons all by myself, remember?”

From what I’d heard, when Ivelia first started grinding levels in dungeons, she barely brought any guards with her.

At first, she carried food in with her servants.

But once her level got high enough, she found the servants more trouble than they were worth and started doing solo runs.

For food, she apparently hunted beast-type monsters inside the dungeon, butchered them on the spot, cooked them with magic, and ate them without even seasoning them.

That’s pretty wild.

Hard to believe she’s actually a noble lady.

Even I brought salt with me at least.

“You know, I just realized something. Sidol—you’re casting multiple spells at the same time, aren’t you?”

She must’ve noticed [Parallel Thought★], the skill I learned at East Hill Tower.

Thanks to that skill, I no longer had to cast spells one at a time—

I could now recreate the phenomena I imagined almost perfectly, without delay.

“I learned [Parallel Thought★]. Now I can cast multiple spells at the same time.”

“That sounds amazing. I want that too.”

She said that, but honestly, I didn’t know of any other place where it could be obtained.

Maybe it was possible in some unexplored dungeon—like the one in Bahamul Forest.

After all, that’s the kind of place where I managed to get [Skill Crystal: Chant Omission★] and [Last Leaf]—items that, in the entire game series, only ever appeared once each.

“If I get another one, I’ll give it to you.”

“Even if you say that… the only dungeon that drops items I’d want is the one in Bahamul Forest, right? And that dungeon only ever drops enough loot for the number of people present. So I guess that means we’ll have to wait until [Skill Crystal: Parallel Thought★] drops again.”

“Yeah, that’s about right. More importantly… sorry I’m not as good at cooking as Karen or Sophie.”

Even as I talked, I was busy cooking—though, to be fair, it wasn’t much.

Just a soup made from jerky and leftover vegetables, and some hard bread.

The bread was too tough to eat as-is, so we had to soak it in the soup first.

Even simple camp food like this, when Karen made it, tasted really good.

I wished I could replicate it, but unfortunately, I didn’t have any real cooking skills.

Even though I’d been reincarnated into another world, I didn’t get any kind of cheat.

All I had was Sidol’s “balanced mastery”—decent proficiency in both magic and combat, nothing flashy.

If [Cooking★] or other convenient skills had existed in the game, I would’ve gone after them right away.

But back then, character profiles just had things like “likes cooking” or “good at housework” written in a single line—and that was it.

“I like this kind of thing too. Food isn’t just about how it tastes. For me, it’s about when, where, and who I’m eating with. Right now, I’m camping by a riverside, sharing a meal with you, Sidol. That makes it feel incredibly warm and delicious.”

“Hearing that really takes the pressure off.”

After we finished eating, I washed the empty pot—and while I was at it, I also washed my body and hair before heading into the tent to sleep.

The water was cold, so I filled the pot and used magic fire to heat it, then used soap to wipe myself down and wash my hair.

When the three of us were traveling together, Ivelia and Karen used to wash each other.

But tonight, Ivelia called out to me instead.

“Sidol, let’s wash up.”

I filled the cleaned pot with water and heated it with magic.

Ivelia used [Chant Omission★] to skillfully adjust her fire magic, turning the cold water into pleasantly warm bathwater.

We washed each other, which naturally meant we were both naked.

We were both still young—just fourteen.

Our bodies hadn’t fully matured yet.

That said, it’s not like I could say I didn’t feel anything seeing Ivelia’s naked body.

My late puberty had only just kicked in recently.

Ivelia had survived, and her affection toward me had already maxed out.

If I made a move, she wouldn’t reject me.

But… I didn’t plan to do anything like that—at least not anytime soon.

I still didn’t know if I was going to survive this world.

I couldn’t risk getting her pregnant and then dying irresponsibly.

Ivelia wouldn’t want that either.

Even though I was thinking all of this seriously, Ivelia always acted surprisingly casual about everything.

She removed her clothes and underwear without hesitation, stood completely naked in front of me, and spoke with an expression far too mature for her age.

“I mean, there’s nothing left for me to be embarrassed about in front of you, Sidol. After everything you’ve seen, and all the things you’ve done to take care of me—there’s no way I could ever marry anyone else. You understand that, don’t you, Sidol?”

Well, I was a noble’s son too.

And when a noble girl—especially one unmarried—receives that kind of care from a man, it’s basically the same as being promised to him.

But that was fine with me.

From the moment I saved her, I’d already decided to take responsibility.

With that resolve, I took off my clothes.

It was the first time I’d been completely naked in front of Ivelia.

We only wiped each other’s backs—of course, we washed the front ourselves.

I had braced myself for things to get awkward or overly tense, but the mood wasn’t like that at all.

It was calm… normal.

Even so, her chest had already developed to the point where it could rival an adult’s.

Just looking at it made me think—she had a lot of potential.

Three years from now, she’d be incredible.

When that time came, I wouldn’t mind marrying Ivelia.

(That reminds me… I have [Art of Intimacy★], but what would actually happen if we went all the way?)

That thought popped into my head.

Back when Ivelia seduced me before, we had kissed.

And I was pretty sure [Art of Intimacy★] had activated then… but I was so overwhelmed, I didn’t remember a thing.

Being approached like that by a girl—

Even in my past life as Tasuku Takamura, that had never happened.

With those thoughts swirling in my head, I drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, when I woke up, Ivelia was covering my mouth.

I didn’t want to brush her off harshly, so I greeted her softly.

“Good morning, Ivelia.”

“Sidol. So you were already awake. Good morning.”

Since she responded like that, I decided to just go with it—and kept kissing her.

At that moment, [Art of Intimacy★] was definitely affecting Ivelia.

We only kissed, though.

Apparently, the skill doesn’t fully activate unless things go further than that.

When the kiss ended, Ivelia kept looking at me with a slightly needy expression.

But it didn’t take long before she returned to her usual self.

She probably resisted the skill’s effect.

If that’s true, then maybe there are certain conditions under which even [Charm★]—the skill I had—can be resisted too.

That said, if [Art of Intimacy★] only activates during actual intercourse, then it won’t be a problem as long as we don’t go that far.

And if you meet the resistance conditions, it won’t affect your mind either.

So, in that sense, things between Ivelia and me were fine.

It’s not like I’m against our relationship developing—but we’re still young, and I’ve got death flags hanging over me.

To survive, I couldn’t afford to lose myself in Ivelia right now.

“Let’s pack up the tent and get breakfast.”

I gently pulled away from the clinging Ivelia.

“Alright. Though, I can’t really help much…”

“That’s fine. Just being here makes you special enough.”

“If you keep saying things like that, I won’t let you go, you know?”

“Haha. Go easy on me, will you?”

Even with banter like that, Ivelia never got in my way.

“I’ll take care of folding up the tent, okay? So, Sidol—can you handle breakfast?”

“Got it. Leave it to me.”

Without even needing to discuss it, we naturally split up the tasks.