That was, a few days ago.

Departing Uruk first, the group consisting of Zeal and the heroes who were heading towards the meeting place within the beastman territory that was closest to the demon territory encountered their biggest obstacle. 

「…hungryy~.」

「Don’t say it, Ueno! I’ll be too hungry.」

Yes, it was a problem of food.

The group of heroes passed through towns up until now, so if they had money, there would be no need for them to worry about food, and if they exterminated monsters in the towns, they would earn money at the Adventurer Guild or a town hall that served a similar function, so in essence, starvation was impossible.

However, they were currently walking through a thick and overgrown forest.

Furthermore, there were no human settlements near here, and the monsters that they could defeat had now become stronger. 

The animal trail was mountainous, but walking through the gaps of the overgrown trees consumed a lot of stamina.

The food they had quickly depleted, and the food shortage problem should be solved as soon as possible. 

Speaking of, I didn’t think that there wouldn’t be any animals here.」

I looked around and sighed.

The silent forest didn’t even have the scent of beasts. 

Because my status had largely improved compared to before, my physical abilities had become better, and my five senses became sharper.

I could differentiate between the scents of a monster and ordinary animals.

At the very least, within the radius of twenty meters, there were no monsters nor animals. 

In addition, in the sky above the forest, …no, since even before entering the forest, there weren’t any birds flying around either.

That’s how strong the monsters ahead were. 

And we needed to defeat it before Akira and the others arrived. 

…well, I didn’t know about Kurou-san, but Akira and Amelia-san could defeat them in one blow.

Thinking up until here, I laughed. 

What a change in mental state, my feelings towards Akira, there was a one hundred and eighty degree change from before we were summoned to this world and before. 

As expected, it was related to what happened in that dungeon and when Akira left the castle. 

For me to be like this, I’m a simple guy.

「What are ya laughing about, Tsukasa-kun. ‘Tis a huge problem! If this continues, we’ll starve to death.」

I obediently apologized to Ueno-san who was angrily glaring at me, and I started thinking as well.

It was confirmed that there was clean water in the nearby river.

Even when I took a sip to check, there were no abnormalities.

Truly, it was just the food.

Besides, we couldn’t stay here the entire time, and there might be food that we could bring with us and be kept for a period of time.

「For now, everyone spread out and bring back anything that could be food. It would be dangerous if anything happens when you’re alone, so form groups of threes or twos. Mark the trees as you go, and never go off on your own.」

The groups were: Ueno-san, Tsuda-kun, and me in a team, Asahina-kun, Waki-kun, and Hosoyama-san in another team, and Zeal-san and Nanase-kun in the last team. 

Walking away from the slightly open area that was our base, we all went in separate directions.

If we knew the direction from which we came from, we would be able to return.

Just in case, I turned towards Zeal-san for confirmation, and he had a somewhat serious look on his face, but he approved of it.

「Then, when the sun reaches the highest point, turn around and come back. …saa, let’s go.」

Honestly, we didn’t need three people to a group, but there wasn’t much time until we needed to return.

If Asahina-kun, Zeal-san, and I were there, then we would at least be able to defeat the monsters that come.

It should be alright.

In hindsight, the me at this time probably couldn’t think straight due to the hunger.

If that weren’t the case, I wouldn’t have had us move separately in this forest that contained who knew what.