yemalu

Chapter 505 Returning With The Bear

Groelle and I carried the giant bear back to camp while Seraphine was in charge of bringing back the firewood and scouting ahead.

Needless to say, we drew quite a lot of attention from our hunt when we returned.

Serene and Gwen goggled at us when they saw what we brought back, the two of them having already finished setting up camp.

"You girls hunted a Frostfire Thunder Bear?" Serene gasped.

I nodded, "Groelle tracked one down so we killed it."

The Meslatar frowned at the Wrunch, "Why would you track such a monster? Are there no normal animals for you to track?"

Groelle huffed, "One bear can fulfil all our food needs for the entire training camp if we ration it. That gives us more time for ourselves, so why not?"

"You\'re putting our Young… Ahem… I mean you\'re putting Aster at unnecessary risk here!"

"Ha? Then how is Aster going to get stronger?" The Wrunch scoffed.

Sorry Selene… I know you mean well but I\'m going to have to side with Groelle here.

Besides… That bear wasn\'t even the strongest monster I had fought before, and I didn\'t even need to use my full strength on that guy.

Selene pouted but did not say anymore, obviously knowing that Groelle had a point.

I raised my hand, "It\'s fine Selene, I was fighting as the support so the ones who were in the most danger during the fight were Groelle and Seraphine. Anyway, we\'ve already defeated it so why don\'t we start working on preparing it?"

Gwen prodded Selene from the side, "I agree with Aster… Because it would be unthinkable to disagree with Aster, Selene."

The veiled threat was clear to all and Selene quickly shifted her tone, "Ah, of course. Umm… Let\'s… Let\'s start then… We should drain the blood first…"

"Already done," Seraphine told her. "We can just cut off the meat for what we need today and then let the snow preserve the rest."

"Alright… Then let\'s start cutting the bear up over here…"

I was about to follow them to help but Selene stopped me.

"Ah! It\'s alright, Aster! We can handle it! Could you… Umm… Could you do a quick check of the camp we set up to see if everything is in order? If it is, you can go and tell Head Maid Mary that we are done, then she will come and do an inspection."

It was clear she found the work of cutting up the bear to be beneath me but again, this wouldn\'t be my first time skinning and processing a game that I hunted out in the field.

Still, I decided not to torment the poor Meslatar and simply nodded my head in agreement.

She let out a sigh of relief before turning to join the rest of our group, the girls teasing her for showing me preferential treatment as soon as she did.

I wondered why Mary would put me in this group since this would not be a problem if my group members consisted of my usual companions.

Maybe this was also a part of training where we have to work with people we don\'t usually work with? That makes sense I guess.

I went towards the camp site that they set up, which consisted of a small hole dug out for a campfire which had no fire yet and a single large tent with five sleeping bags inside.

There was also another hole in the snow which I was guessing served as our food storage since it wasn\'t far enough from our tent to be a latrine.

It was definitely not luxurious but it was practical, which was what we needed anyway seeing that this was a training camp.

Seeing that nothing was amiss, at least as far as I could tell, I went ahead to look for Mary who was standing beside Thora and Sebastian, the three of them watching over the entire training camp vigilantly.

Mary noticed me walking towards her immediately, "Hello Aster. I saw that your team has brought back a Frostfire Thunder Bear, well done."

I\'m not even surprised that she knew.

"Thank you, everyone worked together to bring it down."

"Of course. I take it that your team is done then?"

I nodded, "Yes. Could I ask that Head Maid Mary check our camp?"

"Very well. Lead the way, Aster."

I honestly still can\'t get used to her calling me by name…

We went back to our campsite and the four girls were still in the midst of skinning the giant bear.

Mary gave a quick look around the campsite before picking up a stone to toss at the tent.

The stone smacked against the tent\'s side, causing its surface to ripple from the impact but the tent held strong.

She nodded in satisfaction before moving towards the carcass of the bear monster.

The two of us stood there and watched the four of my group members expertly carve the bear apart, working together in perfect sync.

They probably knew what Mary wanted since Selene quickly cut out a piece of the bear and started to drain the mana out from the slab of meat. It took her a few minutes before she came up to us and handed the meat over to Mary who received it with one hand.

The Head Maid looked at the slab of meat with a critical eye, flipping it over a few times to inspect every part of the meat for what felt like an eternity before she handed it back to the Meslatar maid.

"Very good. Once you are done with the bear, your group can take the rest of the time as free time. The restriction on not helping the other teams is still in effect but you can go and mingle with the other groups that have already completed their tasks."

"Thank you, Head Maid," Both Selene and I replied.

I then raised a hand, "Umm… Head Maid? Could I ask for how long do I need to wear this uniform?"

"The uniform stays on at all times during training but you can choose to change out of it when it is outside of training, Aster."

Ah, so that means I can take it off now. But well, I think I\'ll just keep it on for as long as I can since it would also be passively training me due to the weight pushing down on me.

Ironically, this reminds me of the time where I trained with Mother back when it was just the two of us. I wonder if I did this first or the maids were already training like this even before I did?

I thanked Mary again and she left to return to her post.

Selene turned to me, "We\'ll finish up with the bear so… Umm… Aster can do whatever you want in the meantime. We\'ll call you when the food is prepared…"

I smiled at her wryly, "I would feel bad if I left everything to you girls though. Is there anything I can do to help?"

She hesitated for a moment before brightening up, "Ah! We… Don\'t really need it yet but… Could Aster help us set up the campfire? I\'ll light it later when night falls but just arrange it for now, please."

"Oh sure, leave it to me~"

I left and gathered some of the firewood that Seraphine had collected and brought them over near the hole dug specifically for the campfire.

Taking out a knife, I then started trimming the wood and cutting them down to appropriate sizes before I arranged them inside the hole.

While I was in the midst of doing that, I felt an arm wrap itself around my waist to pull me up into the air.

I panicked for a moment until I realised who it was that pulled me up.

"Wahahaha! Sister Aster!! You hunted a Frostfire Thunder Bear too?! That\'s so awesome!!" Odeta laughed.

"Hello Odeta~" I giggled, letting her hug me closer to her. "Is it your free time now as well?"

"Wahaha! Of course! Look at our bear!"

I turned to look at the direction she was gesturing and sure enough, there was also another giant bear strung up at the other side of the camp currently being processed right now.

The only difference was that Odeta\'s bear was clearly in worse shape with several of its limbs mangled and broken, most likely from Odeta beating it up.

Looks like she really wrecked that monster without holding back huh…

Odeta then looked down at the pile of sticks I had been arranging, "So what\'s Sister Aster doing? Are you busy now?"

"Umm… Setting up the campfire? Do you need me for something?"

"Oh~ Yeah! I do! The others want to see you of course! They said they want to see you in this uniform up close! Wanna go?"

Ah, of course they do… Because I want to see them in their own maid uniforms too~

Just look at Odeta! Normally she wears just a crop top and a bottom which reveals her abs. But even though her abs aren\'t on display right now, this is simply just peak gap moe!! She\'s so cute!!

So of course I quickly set up the sticks and made Odeta bring me to the others to enjoy their maid uniforms~