SS1 6.3 - Sierra Lodge
About 2 km west of the nest we just shut down, stood a cave on a cliff wall. It was located 8 meters above the ground, so we had to climb it. Ariel climbed it first and she performed dyno from one foothold to another like a spider. It was fast and nimbly, and she didn’t lose her grip, footing, or balance even for a bit.
In summary, she needed only about 10 seconds to reach the cave entrance. That was the faster rock climbing I had ever seen throughout my life. After ensuring it was safe, she then set up a climbing rope for me. Then, my struggle began.
I was a good long runner and decent weight lifter, but climbing required an entirely different skill set and body build, and I didn’t have climbing qualification. All I had was only an introduction to basic rock climbing when I was in sapper school, followed by a few climbs on indoor climbing wall for beginner.
And so, it took me 45 minutes to scale the 8 meter high cliff, along with lot of panting, sweats, sore at the wrist, arms, and shoulder, and also slightly sprained right ankle. I also had some bruises and scratches from slip of footings.
“This was harder than I thought,” I said as I reached the cave entrance and sat on it. “The cliff is made of solid rock, but it’s definitely not ordinary rock. It’s very slippery like a surface of glass. The climbing route is also trickier than its look.”
“Mhm,” Ariel said while packing up the climbing rope. “Even orc and goblin that inherently are natural climbers will have hard time to climb this cliff without a rope.”
“I see,” I said before gulping down a vial of healing potion and stamina potion. “That’s the reason why you chose this cave as our resting spot.”
“Mhm,” Ariel firmly nodded.
‘I should build a rope ladder later,’ I muttered as my tattered body returned to its full capacity. It was as if the previous torturous climbing was only my imagination. After a smile I said to Ariel, “Let’s check our harvest and have a lunch.”
“Mhm.”
Wasting no time, Ariel took me to enter the cave. The cave entrance was small. It was only 0.8 meter wide, 1 meter high, and had a shape of four meter long sharp curve, so we had to crawl our way. However, the cave interior was spacious. It was about 7 meter long, 5 meter wide, and 3 meter high. The floor was also flat and clean.
“No bat’s shit, bugs, or anything that show presence of other animal in this cave,” I said as I checked every corner of the cave. “The air is also not stale and the temperature is nice.”
Ariel immediately pointed her finger at piles of dark purple crystal in a corner. “Purple monn stone enable us to have such condition. After sunset it will also emitted a small glow so this cave won’t be in total darkness, but people from outside won’t notice it.”
“I see.” After a smile I added. “This is not the first time you use this cave.”
“Ariel and Big Sis take cover here a lot when doing scout mission in Sidra Forest,” Ariel explained. “We call this cave Sierra Lodge.”
I lightly nodded and asked, “Do you have other cave like this one?”
“Another one, 5 km south of this place, and another three in deeper part of Sidra Forest.”
“That’s nice.” After a smile I continued. “Let’s have a lunch.”
“Mhm.”
I immediately took out the HMV from inventory and then we sat in the rear compartment facing each other.
As I put an upside down beer crates between us I asked Ariel, “Do you have food you can’t eat?”
“No, Ariel can eat any food.”
“In that case, let’s have BBQ.”
“Mhm.”
Stolen story; please report.
Without delay I ordered BBQ from Texan Char. It was a small BBQ house in Shinjuku, serving Texas style BBQ using A5 Wagyu beef. Based on the review I watched, the BBQ went well with both white rice and bread. Therefore, it became very famous among foreigner and locals. Now, I wanted to try it.
I ordered a big plate of 775 gr A5 Wagyu beef ribs for 18.350 Yen or about 121 mollar. It came with two small bowls of white rice, a small plate of pickled cucumber, a big bowl of shredded cabbage, three types of sauce in mini cup, and two big glasses of lemonade.
I couldn’t help but had a big smile as Ariel looked at the BBQ in front of us with sparkling eyes. She also kept gulping down her saliva hard. Wasting no time, I offered a gratitude for the food and then our late lunch began right away.
“Let’s eat,” I said before giving my lemonade a sip.
“Mhm. The meat looks very tasty,” Ariel said while taking her rice bowl.
“It has to be tasty.” I took the biggest ribs in the plate and put it on Ariel’s rice bowl while added, “It’s a celebration meal to welcome you to Shimon family.”
“Okay.”
Ariel immediately gave the ribs a small bite, chewed the meat, and a second later her eyes widened. She then gave the ribs another big bite.
“How is it?”
“It’s super tasty. Ariel never eats such delicious meat.”
“Glad you like it.”
Wasting no time, I took a piece of ribs and gave it a bite, and a deep and juicy savory instantly erupted in my mouth.
‘The review doesn’t lie,’ I muttered before taking my rice bowl and put spoonful white rice to my mouth. “This is really a good BBQ.”
“Mhm,” Ariel replied before giving her ribs a finishing touch. Then, she gave me an expectant gaze. “Berg, can I have another rib? The smaller one is fine.”
I immediately put another rib in my bowl and pushed the rest to Ariel. “You can have them.”
“Really?”
“Really, it’s your celebration meal, remember?”
“Mhm.”
“But you have to eat the vegies too."
“Okay.” Ariel immediately took another piece of rib and gave it a big bite.
The lunch then went in silence and swift, but full of happiness. I thought Ariel would eat all the ribs that became her share, but she only ate half of it and put the other half in a lunch box and then stored it in her inventory.
I said nothing. It was her share. She could do whatever she want as long as she didn’t waste it. Not to mention, she ate her share of vegies clean. Then, the cleaning began.
The plate and bowl were made of thick oiled paper, while the glass was made of food-grade plastic. So, I asked Ariel to throw all of them to trash bag and store it in her inventory until she had a chance to throw it to trash bin.
“Berg,” Ariel said after she finished the cleaning. “Do you always eat tasty food like this?”
“Of course not,” I casually said. “For such as high-end and big plate BBQ like the one we just ate, I only ate it in special occasion like birthday or religious celebration. It’s about 3-4 four times a year.”
“I see.”
“But my daily food is not bad. There are lots of affordable but tasty foods in my world.”
“Mhm.”
“The BBQ we just ate also has personal plate for 1800 Yen or about 12 mollar. If you like it, we can buy it as dinner once or twice a week.”
“Okay.”
“Now, let’s check our harvest.”
Wasting no time, I took out my tablet. Then, together with Ariel, I calculated the money we got from our hunt. The money for monster kill was same as usual, but the money for shutting down the nest was only 300.000 mollar.
Maybe it was because the nest was only a few days old, but it was not a problem. If we could shut down such nest once a month, we would still be freaking rich. Then, I transferred 30.000 mollar to Ariel’s tablet.
“Use the money wisely.”
“Mhm,” Ariel nodded and then she asked me, “Berg, can you teach Ariel how to buy something using my tablet?”
“What do you want to buy?” I curiously asked.
“Cherry,” Ariel happily said. “Long time ago, a kind hunter give Ariel and Big Sis a bag of sweet cherry. Ariel wants to buy some as offering for Big Sis.”
“I see.” After a short ponder I continued, “Let’s buy it from Japan.”
“Mhm.”
Without delay I taught Ariel how to search and buy using her tablet. A minute later, we found an offer for fresh harvested cherry from Yamagata. I believed right now was not the harvest time for Japanese cherry, but the offer was there so I asked Ariel to take it.
The price was 245 mollar/kg. It was freaking expensive for a mere cherry, but it worth every penny. Japanese cherry was one of the best cherry in the world, and a decade ago there was even a case where a group of professional thief was specifically targeting Japanese cherry orchard.
After tasting it a piece, Ariel also agreed with my assessment, “This is super-duper good cherry.”
“Yeah,” I said before putting a piece in my mouth and chewed it. “Very juicy, and deep sweetness with a hint of refreshing sour instantly pop up in your mouth as soon as you chew it. It’s the best kind for crafting high-end cocktail.”
“Big Sis will love it so much.”
“I bet she will.”
Wasting no time Ariel bought 20 kg of Japanese cherry. It was equivalent to harvest from one whole mature tree. She then also bought lychee and grape from Japanese orchard, 20 kg each like the cherry. The grape and lychee were also freaking expensive, but I said nothing. W 0-1 was a heavy lover of cherry, lychee, and grape, and Ariel wanted to give her the best parting gift she could get.
After that it was resting time. We would cremate W 0-1 after sunset, so we still had some time for some errand. Ariel immediately cleaned and stoned her sword. Honestly, it gave me a mix feeling to see a 12-year-old girl had a serious face while skillfully gave her shortsword maintenance.
Well, I was sure I would get used to it sooner or later. So, I immediately went with my intention to build a rope ladder. We then were busy with our own errand and working in silence.
*****