CH 40

Just as the guild had said, jammer mushrooms, synonymous with creepiness, continued to grow wherever I went.

It was at my feet when I was preparing dinner, then right in front of me when I turned around to pick up a bowl. I stifled a sigh and held my head in my hands, trying to regain composure and eat normally, but there it was when I looked down at my plate. On the tiled floor before taking a shower. Inside the basket where I kept our towels. Next to the futon I’d stuffed away. An inch away from my eyes when I opened them in the morning.

My heart was in a spiral of negativity, shaken by the surprises that kept coming every time I let my mind wander. If Fikar hadn’t repeated pulled them out of their spots and thrown them out the window, I might’ve cried for real. Goodbye, peaceful days. Hello, poisonous colors.

By midday, Su, cheerful as ever in spite of the gloomy weather, was waiting outside, swallowing jammer mushrooms whenever they were sent flying. In the blink of an eye, she made them all disappear, and I put as much effort as I could into stroking her wet snout.

My story quickly spread through a soaked Tortea and, tormented by melancholy and mushrooms, my work at the guild office was done for me. On the second such day, Kontos-san, Tortea’s only magician, came to visit me. Elated as he looked, he was increasing ordinary compared to all the other muscular adventurers.

“Sumire-chan, I hear you’re plagued by jammer mushrooms? That’s lovely! I’m so jealous!! Show me, ah– It’s grown before I knew it! Yes, yes, this is it~!”

If you’re jealous, I’d love to take your place. No, I want you to take my place.

Kontos-san gently lifted my toxic stalker and caressed it lovingly.

“Mhm, mhm, it’s a fine specimen, isn’t it? Good color, good luster, good magic power!”

“It has magic power?”

“Of course. There’s a lot of it, which is rare for magic herbs around here.”

Plants and animals with generally high amounts of magic power were called magic herbs1 and magic beasts. Ordinary creatures could have small amounts of magic power, too, but it was so tiny and harmless that it might as well not exist. It was the same with humans – some had a lot of magic power and could be called magicians while others were completely unable to use magic even if they had a little in them.

Magic beasts sometimes used their magic to attack, but with magic herbs, there was no danger except for some cases in the northwestern region. Both could also be eaten, although you might get a stomachache if you’re sensitive to them.

“And by eating magic beasts and herbs, a magician can quickly recover their magic power. It’s a treat, in fact.”

“Really?”

“They can also be used in magic research. Quality magic herbs aren’t so easy to find around here, though.”

“So,” Kontos-san said, turning to me.

I wish you would get these jammer mushrooms away from me.

“Please, would share some jammer mushrooms with me? For now, I’ll take 30. If you want, I’ll send a request through the guild and pay you for them.”

“No, I don’t want to be paid for these annoying things. I just don’t want to touch them.”

“I don’t understand why people who’ve been possessed don’t like jammer mushrooms. If I were a girl, I’d definitely want to be possessed.”

“And I’d hate having something so ugly look threateningly at me all day long.”

Kontos-san pulled an enormous burlap sack from under his black robe and asked Fikar to put his catch in there. As Fikar nodded, I thought that Su might have to go without snacks for a while. … Nah, they grow quickly, so 30 might grow overnight.

Imagining a bag brimming with jammer mushrooms, I felt sick. Luckily, a light laugh from Kontos-san distracted me from that thought.

“In reality, this is a blessing from the fairies. It’s amazing, isn’t it?”

“Fairies? Blessing?”

With fairies, some people said they exist and others insisted they don’t. Supposedly, they existed where nature was richest, but were usually impossible to find. They were so rare that a handful of people had ever seen one once and only for a few moments, so people didn’t have much reason to believe that they were real.

Instead, there were a great diversity of mockingfairies2 living all over the place. They were creatures that flew and floated without wings, but they were far from the exceptional beauty of real fairies.

“You have to be able to see magic to understand, but the magic fairies use is clearly different from other forms of magic. The magic coming from jammer mushrooms matches that distinct signature.”

“So there are fairies around here?”

“Guess so. Fairies give blessing to people they like, so you must’ve looked favorable when you entered the forest.”

“Ehh?… But I haven’t seen any fairies and I haven’t done anything out of the ordinary?”

Sure, I often went into the forest, but that wasn’t uncommon for someone in the guild – there were others who entered way more often than I did. My star-rank wasn’t high, so I’d never spent several consecutive days deep in the forest, and I don’t recall loving animals or caring for nature any more than the average person. Above all, when I went in alone, I stayed as close as I could to town and I was extra cautious about my surroundings. Otherwise, I was always with others and dragons were very sensitive, so they’d be watching if a fairy ever appeared.

“The reasons and conditions for receiving a blessing from a fairy are still unknown. They sometimes give blessings to people who have nothing in common in terms of personality or daily life, and in rare cases, they can even bless people in the royal capital where there isn’t much nature.”

“I see.”

“Well, this blessing is good in its own way. Jammer mushrooms are delicious, nutritious, and full of magic power. It just looks a little strange.”

It’s that little bit that I really hate.

Being blessed by a fairy sounds wonderful. You might expect sparkling lights to rain down on you, or that you might suddenly be able to use magic, or that you might gain the ability to fly. It was too much of a joke that a poisonous-looking mushroom that relentlessly stalks you should be called a blessing.

Coupled with the nonstop rain of the rainy season, it was very depressing.

Fikar, who was shoving freshly-grown jammer mushrooms into Kontos-san’s sack, came and hugged me anxiously. It was unusual for me to be down and out, but the seemingly endless surprises left me feeling glum. Fikar was expressionless as always, but he kept closer to me than usual, trying to get rid of jammer mushrooms before I could notice them.

Now, being lifted up like a stuffed animal was a healing experience. I felt safer up there, knowing that jammer mushrooms couldn’t grow on other living things. If it were sunny, I’d want to lie on Su’s back. I hadn’t anticipated that the size of our house would be a liability…

Fikar hugged me tightly, stroking my head as he pressed my body against his. Then, I heard his hand move and stuff something into the sack.

They grew too fast.

TL Notes:

1: It’s 魔草, which I don’t particularly recognize from any other WN I’ve read, so I’m not entirely sure whether 草 should mean grass, herb, weed, or just plant. WoW (no, I don’t play) uses it as the Chinese translation for Felweed, but that’s out of the question. I found a WN titled “草 Magician Chloe“, so I ended up going with ‘herb’ as the least derisive/unimpressive of the bunch.

2: I translated カエルヨウセイモドキ (kaeruyouseimodoki) as ‘fairy mockingfrog’ in Ch. 35, but it appears that it should be ‘frog mockingfairy’ instead, given the usage of ヨウセイモドキ (youseimodoki) here where カエル, the part missing, means frog. This also solves my comment about mockingfrogs not making sense since frogs can’t hear other frog species, as this seems to be less about mimicking calls and more about being knock-off fairies.