Chapter 415: Adapt to Changing Circumstances

"Erina-chan, don't you eat more?"

"...No." Erina looked at the half boiled vegetables left in the bowl with a bitter expression: "It's too unpalatable. Even if I'm a little hungry, I can't swallow much."

"That's right. There's no oil or water at all..." Nishida put down the spoon and sighed: "Hey. Whenever this happens, I will think of my old life... Erina-chan, what do you want to eat most right now?"

"The waterless tomato chicken wing root curry made by the servant." Erina immediately wiped her saliva without thinking and said: "Pair it with ramen with rich miso soup, and add barbecued pork to cover the whole bowl of noodles. ! Eating the two together, it couldn’t be more enjoyable...and it feels very youthful!”

"Hmm~ The so-called youth means that you don't have to worry too much no matter how much high-calorie food you eat! But Erina-chan doesn't worry about getting fat, so it must be fine. As for me, right now, I want to eat beef brisket and stewed radish! Pair it with white miso soup and rice..."

"That one sounds super delicious too." Erina couldn't control her stomach and made a growling sound again: "Ugh... I can't think about it anymore. The more I talk about this, the hungrier I get! It feels like I haven't eaten properly in a long time. ... Without rice, it feels like I haven’t had a proper meal!”

"Oh, then we should look for the next destination based on the local love of rice?"

"... Let's take it one step at a time. It would be nice to go to places we haven't been before. It will be easier to hear everyone's news." Erina said this while frowning and taking another mouthful of salted vegetables: " Sure enough, I still have to eat... If I don’t eat enough, I won’t have the energy to find out the news later.”

"Hey? Erina-chan, do you really want to go?"

"Of course." Erina said firmly, "I told you not to let you go by yourself. We will split up and gather at the secret base late at night."

"Hey~ Although this is just a shabby house for hiding temporarily, but Erina-chan said that, her style suddenly improved!" Nao smiled and dragged her face, staring at Erina: "But I I suggest you try to find out more information after dawn."

"But wouldn't that be dangerous?" Erina heard this and showed an incomprehensible expression: "There are too many people during the day, and the possibility of our exposure will be greatly increased..."

"But in contrast, the number of things that can be inquired about during the day will also increase." Nao put forward: "There is too little information that can be inquired at night. And if we inquire about certain topics at night, we are more likely to be suspicious, right? Absolutely. Unlike during the day, it can be easily disguised as ordinary chatting."

"...It makes sense." Erina looked even more nervous: "However, it is too dangerous to go out to investigate during the day. We can't cover our faces to increase the suspicion. We can only barely cover it with a hood. There is no security guarantee.”

"But there is no other way, Erina-chan~ I have to do this, right?" Nao Nishida pointed to the dumpling doll she took out of her bag and held in her arms with a smile, and reminded: "By the way, Can’t you go out with it? It will be easily recognized.”

"I know this..." Erina squeezed the dumplings and thought about when she could have a live one. She felt very uncomfortable: "Anyway, let's consider what information we mainly want to find out now, right?"

"Yes. If you don't think about this carefully, even if you go out to investigate tomorrow, you won't be able to find anything."

When Nao said this, her tone was thoughtful for a moment, and then she slowly spoke up again.

"Hmm... Asking too much in detail will make you suspicious, so why not just talk to the other party about the Mead Carnival. Maybe while we are chatting, the other party will get interested and take the initiative to mention some useful information for us."

"We should also take the initiative to ask something." Erina fell into depressed thinking: "This will make it easier to guide the topic in a direction that is beneficial to us."

"We can only adapt to circumstances, right? But maybe we can ask more about things related to cargo transportation." Nao suggested: "The Mead Carnival is held by all the city-states and villages in this area, and it is not exclusive to Hawke City. festival. So there should be a lot of goods shipped out of the city."

"...I see. You want to sneak into the freight carriage and pass through the city gate, right?" Erina understood Nao's meaning and couldn't help but nodded and praised: "I just want to ask more about whether this city will sell a lot to the outside world. Something like that...?"

"Is this how it feels? Of course you can't ask so openly, otherwise something will be discovered."

Nao said this and mentioned a very crucial issue.

"Of course, if we want to follow the freight carriage out of the city, we can't do it on the night of the carnival. Because the supplies must have been prepared in advance. How to do it, we still have to know enough information to think about it later."

While Nao Nishida said this, he took the map of Hawke City and pointed to one of the city gates above.

"I have found some information before. This city gate has relatively little traffic. So if we really have no choice but to sneak to the city gate on the night of the carnival and then force a breakthrough, it is best to choose this side gate. Keep the guards present After quickly solving it, you can go to the inn outside to grab two horses and escape... Ah, Erina-chan, you can ride a horse, right?"

"A little bit better..." Erina looked at the map and hesitated: "I don't think this option is good. It's better to break through the big gate normally. Because the other party will definitely expect that we are trying to slip out of the small gate, so they must Will there be more troops stationed near there?"

Nao: "Oh, it makes sense. I have also considered this issue, but to be honest, no matter how many people are added, there will still be more guards at the big city gate, right?"

Nao: "After all, the width is there. To prevent us from forcing our way in, we must set up more guards. Moreover, the big gate is stronger, and the small gate may be blown up by your magic." Isn’t it bad? Since we want to consider forcing a breakthrough, we must consider the possibility of the opponent closing the door and beating the dog."

Erina: "...I'm not a dog!"

Nao: "Me neither~ I'm a cute little bunny."

Erina: "You actually still identify yourself as a rabbit...I don't think you feel any psychological pressure at all when you eat rabbit meat."

Nao: "Oh, it's because the roasted rabbit is so delicious...but I'm not just a rabbit. Don't you think Sayo-chan is also eating fish?"

Nao: "Don't worry, if a bunny-eared girl bakes it, I will never eat it, right?"