Hideout in Another World: I Tried Building a Secret Base in the Middle of Nowhere

Chapter 104: Hideout at Night

After dinner.

As I pondered vaguely about any useful tools that might be prepared before going to the village of Vaintz, Gisella kept sticking to me for some reason.

Ever since we were returning from Savoia, Gisella has been swaying on Elizabeth’s back.

Despite Gisella’s seductive appearance, she’s surprisingly reserved most of the time.

Occasionally, she would lean in a bit and tease me, but she wouldn’t actively cling to me like this.

But today, she’s strangely cheerful, pressing her body against me like a cat.

“Gisella being affectionate is rare, isn’t it?”

“Do you think so? …Well, maybe~. Did you not like it?”

“I’m happy. You should stick to me more often.”

“Haha~. That’s a bit embarrassing.”

Gisella said with a slightly flushed face, laughing.

At times like this, Shiro, for example, doesn’t hesitate at all and straightforwardly expresses affection, but it seems onis have various personalities.

“Didn’t you say something about wanting to have children with me in the past…?”

“Nooo! Stop bringing that up! It’s embarrassing~! Ugh… you’re amazing, Bonus.”

“Huh?”

Gisella, who had been embarrassed for a moment, sighed, then began to say something as if reminiscing with a distant look.

“No matter how many years I tried, I never got it right… but you’re never wrong, Bonus.”

“Ah, including today?”

“Today too, but also other things~. With my way of doing things, the enemies disappear… but so do the allies, and in the end, I’m left with no one around. I have a bad reputation, don’t I?”

“There was a guy who ran away crying while screaming your name in front of the inn. That was funny!”

“Grrr! …But, well, that’s the kind of woman I am.”

“Come to think of it, you looked so disheartened when we first met at the black market.”

“But ever since being with Bonus, I’ve been surrounded by more and more people. It feels like a dream.”

“Well, even those bad rumors are being used effectively now, so it’s not like you were wrong back then. It was just a bad time, and now luck happens to be on your side. It’s not like Gisella was wrong.”

“Hehe, maybe so~. Well, I’m having a lot of fun every day now.”

“That’s great. Well then, shall we design the shovel together nicely?”

“Yeah… So, what’s a shovel?”

After that, we returned to our usual selves, engrossing ourselves in designing a simple shovel together.

There should be a lot of monster disposal and civil engineering work for a while.

If we could provide shovels to the villagers, the work would go smoother.

It’s just a consolation, but it should also be somewhat useful as a weapon against monsters.

“I’ll consult the boss about the handle part tomorrow.”

“Yeah, this will be useful, won’t it~? As long as there are materials, it doesn’t require much technical skill, so it might be good to hand the blueprints to Laura and have her mass-produce them.”

“That’s true. Rather than having Gisella do the forging, it might be better for her to contribute in a different way.”

“I wouldn’t mind making them, but right now, I have to maintain everyone’s weapons.”

After that, we spent quite a long time together, bouncing ideas off each other.

We usually go to bed relatively early since everyone sleeps when the sun sets, so it’s unusual to stay up this late and work our brains.

The only person I can have this kind of conversation with is Gisella.

She’s good at making things, surprisingly good listener, so I often lose track of time chatting with her.

Gisella still seems energetic, but I’m starting to feel sleepy, so I decide it’s about time to end the conversation.

“The candles today didn’t smell too bad. I wonder what oil was used.”

“I got those from Menas before. I’ll ask next time… Well then, Bonus, good night. Thanks.”

After extinguishing the candle flame and stretching with both hands raised, a yawn naturally escapes me.

As I start to walk towards my sleeping place, Gisella suddenly leans in, lightly kisses my cheek, and before I can react, she briskly walks away.

Touching my own cheek, I remember that I hadn’t shaved today because I was busy.

“I need to shave in the morning… Let’s sleep.”

At night, I wake up to go to the bathroom.

I woke up at a strange time…

To avoid waking up the others, I strain my eyes and grope my way out of the rock bed.

Since Kuro isn’t following, it seems like she’s out for a nighttime stroll today.

Before going out through the crack in the cliff, I borrow some dried meat from the food storage and put it in my pocket.

The restroom is generally located a bit away from the residential area.

Under the starlight, as I walk slowly, the appearance of the hideout at night gradually comes into view. During the day, you can hear lots of bird calls and the distant cries of Kidanakemo, but at night, it’s very quiet. However, surprisingly, there are many nocturnal creatures, and they are very active. Animals and insects that are rarely seen during the day start appearing, and small shadows quietly move around everywhere. Initially, when I came here, I felt terrified and anxious at night, but now I don’t feel much danger. Of course, I don’t really know for sure. Even though their bodies are small, there are creatures with incredible powers like pink. There may be dangerous creatures that carry poison or spread diseases. But at least for now, none of the creatures have interfered with us, and we haven’t encountered any danger at night. However, occasionally, we come across strange phenomena, like flying creatures resembling strings in the air or pale blue lights moving along the rock walls. At such times, I do feel a bit anxious about whether it’s really safe, but more than that, I’m intrigued by the mysterious atmosphere.

While enjoying the night view of the hideout, I relieve myself in the usual place and then head towards the lake. Nights often feel surprisingly cold, but today the wind is warm, making for a pleasant walk. And so, I arrive at the large rock where I usually fish.

The night lake is beautiful. There’s nothing obstructing the starry sky, and the reflection of that scenery is perfectly mirrored in the lake, creating an enchanting atmosphere that makes you expect fairies or spirits to appear any moment. As I gaze at such a scene with my mind empty, it feels as if all the troubles of the day are being washed away.

“All right, how about today~?”

Carefully, I approach the edge of the rock and peer into the lake. It’s still just reflecting the starry sky, with no significant changes.

Squatting down, I take out the dried meat I brought from my pocket and shake it left and right towards the lake from the top of the rock.

I continue doing that for a while, but there’s no change in the lake. Just when I’m thinking of giving up and going back to sleep, I notice that the surface of the lake a bit further away is rippling.

I squint and observe the situation, and as something in the water slowly approaches, making small waves, it moves straight towards me.

When it reaches my feet, the waves quiet down again. As the traces of the waves disappear, a small yellow hand extends from the water.

“Here it comes. It’s been a while.”

I lean out as far as I can from the rock, take the hand, shake it lightly with my fingers, and finally give it the dried meat.

I don’t really understand what I’m doing, but this is already a repeated exchange, an established method I’ve found by trial and error.

The yellow hand that grabs the dried meat retracts with a small sound.

I lean back, move back a bit, and gaze at the unchanged surface of the lake for a while.

Then suddenly, as if sliding out of the water’s surface, a large creature resembling an otter appears and jumps onto this big rock where I am.

Then, it approaches me on two legs, tottering.

In its small yellow hands, it holds a big fish firmly, offering it to me while looking up with its round eyes.

“Thanks. I’ll use this for breakfast.”

“Meow~”

This otter-like creature has a bright gray body, with only its limbs and tail being yellow and faintly shining.

When I first saw it during the day, I thought its only feature was its yellow hands, but it’s obvious at night.

Its overall length, from the tip of its nose to the tip of its tail, must be about two meters.

When standing up, its head is only up to the waist, but its tail is long.

It seems to move freely and quickly in the water, but it doesn’t seem to be very good at moving on land.

Using its short legs, it walks on two legs for some reason, leaning forward and walking totteringly.

Moreover, it seems to understand to some extent what I’m saying and responds in its unique high-pitched voice when spoken to.

“Meow…”

“Meow~”

“Meow~”

And then, as one creature appears, several more come up one after another…

After giving dried meat to the other otter-like creatures as well, they all dive back into the lake and approach me in the same manner, holding fish.

“Oh, thank you. But… why don’t you come out when there are other people around?”

“Meow?”

“Because you’re my friends, it’s okay.”

“Meow~”

They respond firmly to my words, but it’s unclear whether they understand them.

However, their appearance is oddly human-like, so I can’t help but talk to them. In most cases, even after giving them dried meat, they often lie down freely on the rocks for a while. Some of them chew the dried meat with a melting expression, while others lie sprawled out on the rock as if glued to it. The one who always shows up first is used to it, and even now, it’s resting its chin on my knee, swaying its tail and head. It’s a creature whose ecology I don’t quite understand, but it has an indescribable charm. However, it seems to have a rather timid nature and for some reason, only shows up when I’m alone, especially at night.

“Cute.”

“Meow~!”

“Meow!”

“Meow~ Meow~ Meow~…”

“Oh, it’s you, Shiro. Were you following me?”

“Bonus, really? Sneaking around with dried meat… it’s worrying, isn’t it?”

“Sorry, sorry.”

The otter-like creatures, except for the one resting its chin on my knee, hastily dive into the lake. The one left behind has tears in its eyes, with an expression of despair, being held by Shiro.

“What about this one?”

“I don’t really know either… Oh well, since it’s crying, I’ll take care of it.”

I take the otter-like creature from Shiro, but it’s heavier than I expected, and I end up falling backward.

Instead of running away, the otter-like creature grabs my shirt with both hands and desperately hides its face.

“Well, it’s not like it’s attacking us… and when you give them dried meat, they give you fish.”

“Yeah, this fish was collected by these little ones.”

“This rock has a good view, right? On sleepless nights, I occasionally came here, and once I saw a yellow light in the water and wondered what it was…”

While explaining to Shiro about the time I fished with Kuro before, I gently stroke the wet body of the otter-like creature. It seems to feel good as it suddenly stops trembling with fear and leans against me as if rolling over.

It’s quite cute, but it’s ridiculously heavy, and my clothes get wet.

“Still cute, though.”

“This one’s really heavy.”

As Shiro takes dried meat from my pocket and tries to give it to the otter-like creature, it looks worriedly between me and Shiro.

After hesitating for a while, it finally grabs my shirt with one hand while slowly taking the dried meat from Shiro with the other hand.

“Hehe.”

“Maybe it’s getting used to us?”

“Oh… Can I have more dried meat?”

“Sure.”

As Shiro says this and looks away, the otter-like creatures that had jumped into the lake earlier are now hanging onto the big rock, peering at us worriedly.

It seems that this night view, known only to me before, will now be shared with Shiro as well.

Although I somehow wanted to keep it as my own secret, seeing Shiro and the otter-like creatures, it doesn’t seem like a bad idea.

“They’re timid, so let’s not startle them.”

“Yeah. Wow… they walk like this… Here, take it.”

Shiro, who has succeeded in feeding them, shakes hands with the otter-like creatures. Their pace of getting used to her seems faster than mine.

Shiro, without hesitation, takes off her clothes to keep them dry and starts playing with the otter-like creatures, who are getting used to it.

Unlike me, she easily picks them up.

The otter-like creatures seem to find high places amusing as they clap their small hands in delight.

They look just like human children.

“They’re interesting, aren’t they?”

“Yeah, during the day, when I couldn’t catch anything, they secretly attached fish to the bait. Well, sometimes the hook was in places other than the fishes’ mouths…”

“It’s always interesting when I’m with Bonus.”

After playing with the otter-like creatures for a while, Shiro says this and sits next to me, leaning her shoulder against mine.

On the other side, the first otter-like creature sits down, dangling its legs, nibbling on dried meat while looking at the lake.

“Nights like this aren’t so bad.”

“Yeah.”

“But… well, if we’re not careful, we might end up sleep-deprived…”

“Hehe. That might be true… Oh!”

The otter-like creatures, who were just relaxing a moment ago, hastily dive back into the lake.

Only the one who was sitting next to me, tilting its head, remains frozen, watching the situation.

“Gugya~u~?”

“Meow…”

“Oh… we might indeed end up sleep-deprived.”

Seeing Kuro suddenly appears in front of us, the otter-like creature next to me is completely frozen with its eyes wide open.

It seems that Kuro found us while taking a walk at night.

Now… there’s still a little dried meat left. I wonder if Kuro can get along well with them~.