122-111 Oops, tea!

By the time I reached the same level as last time, I had encountered three battles.

Three goblins, two orcs, and one bound viper, all of which took only a short time to fight, but it took some time to clean up, so about two hours had already passed since we left the town.

If we only wanted to get the wood, we could have entered the forest from the north of the town, but there was a high possibility that a strong demon would suddenly appear.

Therefore, I plan to enter the forest to the east as usual, go north, reach the foot of the mountain, and then return to the west.

But orcs are common this deep into the forest, aren't they?

Yes. It is said that the orc nests that we destroyed were made by orcs that overflowed from deep within the forest.

But it's good for us. Orcs are very useful.

Orcs may be a threat to ordinary people, but to us, they are a convenient source of meat and pocket money.

In other words, they're a super-competitor of task boars.

They also seem to target ordinary hunters, so if you can consistently hunt Orcs, it might be better to let the Task Boars go, and not hunt them as much.

However, if you move your activity area from shallow forest to deep forest, the possibility of encountering task boars will decrease.

On the other hand, it should be easier to encounter vipu bears, but they're not very efficient, so I'm not too happy about that.

"Oh?　Isn't this a tea tree?

"Tea tree?　Does that mean tea leaves?

As we were walking further in, Natsuki stopped and pointed to a tree that was only a little shorter than I was.

The tree was covered with green leaves, but I had never seen a tea tree before, only tea plantations from a distance, so I couldn't identify it.

I don't know what a tea tree looks like.　It looks like a sasanqua, but ...... you see, it has light pink flowers.

"...... Yes, it does. I'm pretty sure the tea tree is white, but the flowers look more like a tea tree than a sasanqua.

Natsuki tilted her head at the flower Yuki pointed to.

The leaves are also closer to the tea tree, aren't they?　The veins and the thickness of the leaves.

The veins and thickness of the leaves.

No, there are also whitish sasanqua flowers.

Haruka joined in the discussion, and the women began to discuss.

Halka joins in, and the women begin to discuss the matter. Toya and I look at each other and shrug.

"Hey, Toya, you know what?

I don't understand. Don't ask me, I can't even remember the sasanqua, let alone the tea tree.

I know. Neither do I.

I'm not even sure I can remember the tea tree.

The tea tree, but the sasanqua was planted in our yard. ......

"Sorry. The flowers are beautiful, but I have no idea of their names or varieties.

I guess that's what happens when you're not interested.

By the way, there was a small sasanqua at Nao's house.

"By the way, there was a small sasanqua at Nao's house.

Oh, so that was the sasanqua.

I remember the red flowers blooming.

But I'm not even sure when it was blooming, but if it's blooming now, does that mean it was blooming near winter?

I don't think it bloomed in spring or summer. .......

By the way, according to Haruka, both the sasanqua and the tea tree are in the camellia family and are close in variety, so it's not strange that they look alike.

"The sasanqua is also written in Chinese characters as mountain tea.

"So, mountain tea, ......, maybe the leaves of the mountain tea tree can be made into tea?

"Well, I don't know.　I don't know, but ...... it's more of a tree now. So, Toya, try it. What do you think?

At Haruka's urging, Toya looks at the tree.

I also tried to use [Help], but the result was 'evergreen broad-leaved tree'.

The result was 'evergreen broad-leaved tree'. Since I was able to determine walnut trees from which ordinary people collect nuts, it must not be a tree known to the general public.

Let's see, ...... seems to be classified as a 'chanoki' tree.

"Oh, yeah. Okay, let's dig it up and take it home.

"Oh, really?

Haruka nodded happily at the answer, while Toya looked surprised.

"Of course. "Of course. Yuki and Natsuki agree, right?

"Yes. Barley tea is not bad, but I also want to drink regular tea.

"Herbal tea has a nice aroma, but it doesn't taste very good.

As Natsuki mentioned, our drinks are basically barley tea and white water.

As we don't drink alcohol, we tried to find tea in the town of Laffan, but unfortunately we couldn't find any, so we decided to make barley tea using barley, which is easily available.

Barley tea made by simply roasting and boiling barley is easy and tasty, but it is a bit lacking.

I have also tried herbal teas using several kinds of medicinal herbs, but the taste is not so good.

Juice is not something you can drink in this city where sugar and fruits are expensive.

If I had access to green tea or black tea, I'd drink it too. .......

If we dig it up, does that mean we can plant it in the garden?

Of course . If I didn't have a magic bag, I would have given up, but since I do, why not?　It's better than coming here to pick tea when it's sprouting.

That's true. There's no way I'm gonna be able to pick tea around here. --No way. Let's dig.

Fortunately, it's not a very big tree.

It would be a full day's work if I had to dig it up by hand, but with the help of earth magic, it would not be so difficult.

"Then dig up the area around ...... the bottom of the longest branch. It should be about a meter deep.

The area indicated by Natsuki is quite large.

If it was a normal replanting, there would be no need to dig so large, but since we were moving to a completely different environment, and thanks to the magic and the magic bag, there would be less work to dig up and transport.

Even if it's a little wasteful, it's better, Natsuki said.

Since Natsuki, who seemed to be the most knowledgeable among us, said so, there was no reason for us to object.

"Then, Yuki, dig from that side.

"Okay.

For those of us who have built a glass bathtub, digging a hole is not so difficult.

The soil was quickly pulled aside and a hemispherical trench was formed.

However, we could not move it as it was because the roots were intertwined with the surroundings.

As expected of a forest, there are many roots. Tonya, please cut the roots protruding from the trench.

Oh.

Using the machete and saw that Toya had brought for logging, he quickly cut the roots for a few minutes. Finally, he finished digging up the tea tree.

I'll just have to put it in my magic bag. ...... It looks heavy.

I'll use Light Weight, and Toya can lift it. I can make it much lighter for a short time.

Yes, that would be great.

Then we'll unroll the magic bag.

The difficulty of magic and the consumption of magic power are simply proportional to its power and duration, so if the duration is limited to a few tens of seconds, it is not difficult to make this tree light enough for Toya to carry by himself.

Haruka and the three of us unfolded the largest magic bag we had, and I applied the Light Weight to the tree with great force.

Toya, now!

Oh!　--Oh, light!

As soon as I call out, Toya lifts the tree with its huge rootball and quickly throws it into her magic bag, even though she is surprised by its weight.

I'm not sure if I've used too much magic for nothing.

Yes!　Now we can drink tea in the spring!

"Oh, you can't drink it right away?

In the event that you've got a lot of time and energy, you're going to want to make sure that you've got the right equipment.

It's springtime to pick tea.

I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that.

What time is that?　Early summer?

"No, no, no. When is that?" "Early summer?" Touya asked, and Yuki pondered and counted.

I'm sure you count from Risshun, right?　Let's see, it's around the beginning of ......5?

"Yes, that's right. That's around the holidays. We can pick them until the end of summer, but this time of year, ...... no, if you can tolerate the taste, maybe you can?

Natsuki became a little more serious and nodded her head.

Tea is usually made from the sprouts, right?

The leaves on the tree were too hard to be made into tea.

"Natsuki, are you actually quite unhappy?

No, it's not unbearable, but when you have enough to live on, ......

It's not that I don't care if it's just water when I'm eating or not, but when I can eat good food, I start to think about tea too.

Natsuki used to drink a lot of green tea.

I used to buy green tea from the vending machine. Even when we went out, green tea was served.

Oh, by the way, at Natsuki's house, we were served Japanese sweets.

And green tea as well.

It was a delicious Japanese snack that I would never have been able to eat at my house, where I usually only eat buns from the supermarket.

I was distracted by the sweets, but the green tea must have been good, too.

It's fine, I like it!　To be honest, getting the tea tree was the best thing I've done lately!

By the way, how does it compare to balay crabs and crustaceans?

Ugh. ...... Tough choice.

I pointed out, and Natsuki was at a loss for words.

Shrimp and crabs have played a major role in improving the quality of our food.

It is a favorite of all of us because it adds depth to the flavor even if you simply add it to the soup, and naturally Natsuki likes to eat it as well.

For me, who can put up with just water, crab and shrimp are by far the best, but Natsuki seems to have a problem with them.

Well, that's fine. To be honest, I'm getting tired of barley tea too.

That's right!　I'd like to find a few more bottles if I can. ......

Isn't one bottle enough?

Since you're here, don't you want to make some tea?　I think I can make green tea without any problems, but I think black tea requires a lot of trial and error. Also, I'd like to have some matcha green tea.

Green tea and black tea are made from the same leaves, but matcha is grown in a different way.

Is it just me, or is matcha a bit much?

I'd love some tea, but matcha?　It won't be good without some sweet treats, will it?

I can't deny that, but a good matcha is delicious on its own.

I can't critique good matcha because I've never had it, but I do know that it's expensive.

I know that it is expensive, which is synonymous with the fact that it is difficult and time-consuming to make, and it is not something that Natsuki can easily make.

I was going to point it out, but I felt something trapped in the [search enemy], stopped speaking, and focused my attention.

"Mmm ......, this is ....... Sorry, I'm surrounded.

What?　You're surrounded by enemies?　Seriously?　They're not responding, not to me.

Toya looked surprised at my words, and I nodded.

"Yeah. I thought they were working alone because they're over a hundred meters away, but I think they're working together.

There are several reactions that are gradually approaching from over 100 meters away, centered on the point where we are now.

The fact that we didn't pay much attention to them backfired because it was normal for a certain number of them to always be trapped due to the increased range of the search.

I knew that they were getting closer, but I didn't expect them to work together at such a distance.

"You mean they're working together, right, Scalp Ape?　Do they have the intelligence to work together at such a distance?

Is it because they've been here for so long?

Is it impossible to escape?

I'm not sure what to do, but I'm sure it's a good idea.

...... is difficult. If you try to get between them, you'll probably end up fighting.

There are currently more than 20 of them that we know of through [Searching for enemies].

If you're not sure what you're looking for, you can always ask for help.

This is the first time I've fought them, and there are more than I expected.

In addition, I've already expended more magic than I expected in gathering the tea tree.

Yuki has not used the "Light Weight", so she consumes less magic than me, but her original magic power is still less than mine.

It's not a perfect situation.

This is a little ...... bad, isn't it?