Volume 1, Extra

Volume 1, Extra

Translator: Adam Seacord

Editor: Weasalopes

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「Teres Farm. Pleased to meet you all.」

「Nora Mora. Hi, everybody.」

The day after the King had stopped by to vent, Merizza had brought two women to the Azuma workshop. Teres was an elf, and Nora was a rabbit Hybrid (although she looked mostly human). It was an interesting sight to see these two elegantly beautiful women on either side of Merizza, a well-built man beginning his elder years.

Teres was a stereotypical elven beauty with golden hair and jade-colored eyes. She stood taller than Hiroshi, let alone Haruna. She was slender in girth, to add to the stereotype. Her breasts were about as developed as Mio’s. They weren’t nonexistent like Makoto’s or Rayna’s, but very underwhelming for her height.

Nora was a hybrid with blush pink hair, beady red eyes, and rabbit ears springing from the top of her head; adorable in a cuddly animal kind of way. She was short in stature (like a rabbit) but with enough curves on her that no one would say she was lacking in that department. While she was a hybrid, the only difference between her and a human were her ears and tail. Even her hands were exactly the same as a human’s. Hiroshi wasn’t sure if he wanted to thank or curse the fact that she had no paws or claws that got in the way of working here.

「Just wanna get this outta the way. Y’all don’t wanna go home or nothin’?」

After the Japanese members had introduced themselves, Hiroshi decided to double check this (while keeping plenty of distance between him and the girls) considering that they were rescued from those bandits’ captivity. He was sure that Merizza had cleared all this, but just in case.

「I could, but I left home with a purpose in mind, and if I go home now…」

「Don’t worry ‘bout what people think.」

「To be honest, I’m beginning to enjoy living in the city.」

Teres said, with a touch of embarrassment. Hiroshi presumed that this country girl simply got a taste for city life. Most fantasy settings described elves as isolated, which could be translated to mean that they were rural.

「Most of the elves in the city don’t want to move back home.」

「Really?」

「Yeah. As far as I can tell, there isn’t a law or anything that forbids them from coming home, but…」

Hearing Merizza add this bit of information, Hiroshi could imagine the elves leaving the forest saying “I’m going to make it big in the city!” Kind of clashing with the whole fantasy thing that is going on here.

「…Sure. And you, Mora-san?」

「Call me Nora. Just Nora, please. Mora describes our entire species.」

「…And you, Nora?」

「Moras no longer have a home, once they live on their own. I wasn’t born in a human city, so my hometown has moved somewhere else. It doesn’t exist anymore.」

She sounds like a wild animal that way, the Japanese members thought. Moras, by the way, were not one of those all-women species, which meant that there were villages comprised entirely of Mora men and women.

「Moras are not strong, so it’s hard for us to live outside the city. But to live in the city, we need jobs. I don’t have the skills for that.」

「So Merizza-san came up with the perfect opportunity.」

「There are a lot of risks in living as someone’s pet.」

Her self-awareness for her fate in that case indicated some resilience within her, in contrast to her appearance.

「So, here they are. Can you teach them?」

「Couldn’t tell ya until we gave it a shot.」

「Makes sense.」

Merizza said. Still, mass-producing spices like curry powder wouldn’t be too complicated. If they were taught how to use the equipment, the mass-production can happen regardless of their skill levels.

The question was, how much Hiroshi would have to teach these girls. Even half a decade was too short for them to reach Mio’s level, let alone Hiroshi’s.

「To tell ya the truth, if ya just want curry powder and other spices, I’ll just make some equipment for it, teach ‘em how to use ‘em, and make sure the hard parts are automated. The problem is, they won’t be able to teach anyone else how to make it, so there’s a real low ceilin’ for the amount we could produce.」

「That makes sense. A monopoly’s sweet for a while, but it’s a loss in the long run.」

「That bein’ said, in three months, I could maybe get ‘em to Haruna-san’s level, but that’s it…」

At this time, Haruna was at a point where she could craft class 8 potions (with the right ingredient) without fail, usually. She was far from reliably crafting class 7s, and she hasn’t been trained at all in Refinement, Weaving, and Building.

「In any case, I’ll teach ‘em as much as I can, starin’ from the beginning.」

「Please do. If you need anything, just holler. I’ll make it happen.」

「That’s mighty generous of ya.」

「Just investing in a business.」

Merizza said with a laugh, as he left the workshop. After watching him leave, Hiroshi turned to Mio.

「For starters, can ya teach ‘em what potion ingredients we can get ‘round here?」

「Mm-hm. Can either of you use any weapons?」

「A bow and arrow.」

「Sadly, the best I can do is keep some thugs at bay with my bare hands while I run away.」

Teres and Nora answered honestly, a little taken aback. This was starting to sound foreboding.

「Then train at the Association in your spare time. Register as an adventurer if you can.」

「Adventurer? Even though we’ll be working in the workshop?」

「Some ingredients, you have to fight for.」

Mio answered Teres with a straight face. They didn’t need to train these girls in the first place if they were only expected to deal with materials readily available on the market.

「You want me to tag along? I haven’t collected materials in a while.」

Haruna asked.

「If ya don’t mind.」

「No problem.」

「What about you, boss man?」

Tatsuya asked.

「I’ll go get tools for ‘em at the Association.」

「You’re not going to craft them?」

「I gotta teach ‘em tool craftin’ too, so it ain’t much point in givin’ ‘em the good stuff right off the bat.」

This made sense. Who would be motivated to craft new tools if they already had ones that worked better than anything they could craft?

「Then I’ll go with you. We have to get some spices too, right?」

「Then I’ll take on a mission or something.」

「So you’re comin’ with us to the Association, Makoto-san?」

「Yep.」

「Then let’s lock up, since no one’ll be here.」

So. With new members in tow, another day at the Azuma workshop began.

「I mean, I pushed for this too, but are you sure you’re okay with this?」

「Little too late to ask, don’t ya think?」

「I mean… Yeah…」

On their way home from the Association, Tatsuya was trying to gauge how Hiroshi was doing. Regardless of any teaching involved, he was nerve-racked about having more women around the workshop. Although, they would be amiss to leave the workshop unattended for such a long time. The best solution was to hire people to work and maintain the workshop. If only the two candidates were men, this was the perfect opportunity.

That’s why Tatsuya was enthusiastic about this solution, but he noticed during the interview that Hiroshi did not look too good. Alarmingly so. The two girls didn’t say anything, perhaps because they were nervous themselves, but there was no way that they didn’t pick up on it. Haruna and Mio could teach them the basics, but Tatsuya was anxious thinking of the day when Hiroshi would have to step up.

「Brother. You gotta forget ‘bout my phobia for a bit.」

「Still. Couldn’t we have had the King pick out some male apprentices?」

「I just gotta keep my distance. That’s all. Unless your’e sayin’ ya can kick ‘em out now.」

「…No.」

「Ya see?」

It was too late for that. Before the interview, they still had a chance. But now that they had evaluated their characters, morals common decency prevented them from firing the girls (unless they would turn out to be hopelessly unfit for the job).

「Besides, I got some questions for Teres-san.」

「Questions?」

「I wanna ask if there’s an elven village and some shrine or another in the Southern woodlands.」

「Oh, right.」

Tatsuya remembered. It was important to make sure that there was a village to go to, since this world had proved repeatedly to be different from the game.

「Anyway, they’re gonna be mixin’ curry powder and preppin’ soy sauce and ponzu for a while.」

「Client’s orders.」

Tatsuya realized that his party could not get away from food. It didn’t help that demand for food (while theoretically quantifiable) was never-ending.

「So, what do we need to buy?」

「Spices, of course. And soy beans, wheat… Lotta yuzu, too.」

「Okay.」

It seemed like they would need to buy a good amount. Just as they were about to split up,

「Grah!」

With a loud zap, a cry erupted from around Tatsuya’s feet that seemed feral. Looking down, they found a young child (too young to tell their gender) in rags, holding their right hand as they crouched on the ground.

「A pickpocket, huh…」

「Ain’t exactly news-worthy.」

That being said, the Japanese party (who were all securely guarded with enchantments) had not encountered any pickpockets after their first week in Farlane. They assumed that these thieves talked among themselves.

「What now?」

「If the kid don’t know who we are, they ain’t a pro. Let’s ask ‘em a few questions.」

「You’re having fun, aren’t you?」

「It’d be a waste to ignore such a cliché-slash-ubiquitous event to just turn him in, don’t ya think?」

Ignoring Hiroshi’s nonchalance, Tatsuya tied up the kid with an inconspicuous Bind to keep him from running.

「That was quite the scream. What happened?」

A man working in the market called to them.

「Well, I wasn’t watching my step so I ended up kicking this kid, pretty hard. I don’t want him to be hurt, so we’re going to take a look back home.」

「Why bother?」

「I’d feel bad if he was injured badly.」

With straight faces, they proceeded with the kidnapping. After watching them leave, the man who had called out to them returned to his job.

「May I ask a question?」

「What?」

「Is Boss Man afraid of women?」

As they were preparing to gather ingredients for unclassified potions in the bushes outside of the East Gate, Nora spoke out.

「You guys can tell, huh…」

「Watching his expression and the distance he kept between us, anyone who doesn’t think so is definitely dense.」

Nora declared, and Haruna and Mio let about a chuckle.

「Sensei went through some stuff back home.」

「I’m impressed that he can be around you two.」

「All thanks to Haru. We just copy the distance she keeps.」

Upon Mio’s answer, the two rookies remembered the conversation they had in the workshop, along with where Haruna and Hiroshi were standing. They had a comfortable distance between them, indicative of more than a little buildup of trust. Neither Teres nor Nora were unobservant enough to think that, while Hiroshi and Haruna went through the formality of conversation, they mostly communicated via eye-contact.

「Um, I have a question.」

「Shoot.」

「Are you and Boss Man… In a relationship.」

「Nope.」

Haruna shut down Teres’ question without missing a beat.

「That’s sure what it looks like to me. You two are so in tune with each other.」

「We’re in tune exactly because we’re not in a relationship. Hiroshi-kun can’t even come in physical contact with a woman for more than a second before he starts hyperventilating. No way he’s ready to be in a relationship.」

Haruna answered with an expression that was too bitter to call a smile, but too sweet to call solemn. That mysterious entrancing expression made the hearts of the other three girls skip a beat.

「I understand how Boss Man feels. But what about you, Haruna-san?」

「What?」

「How do you feel about Boss Man, Haruna-san?」

「…Best friend, slash, partner in crime…?」

Haruna said without much confidence. Truth be told, she didn’t want to categorize her feelings as romantic. Something didn’t feel right about that. At the same time, she felt ambivalent enough that it would have been difficult for her to defend that there was nothing but friendship between them. If she were to call Hiroshi a sense of shipmate on this stormy journey, she would also have to call Tatsuya, Makoto, and Mio the same. But how she felt about Hiroshi was undeniably different from how she felt towards them. Her confusion about this unknown emotion emanated from her, enough that it was evident to those around her.

Haruna didn’t quite understand romance, in the first place. She had been in more rom-com-like situations like dealing with her friends’ relationships or be given the short end of the stick when it comes to drama around her. She had made it this far in life without so much as a “trial-period” relationship. In fact, she didn’t talk much with boys to begin with, mostly because she seemed so far out of anyone’s league.

Anyone who had asked her so far were the player types that didn’t even try to look beyond the surface, and cocky narcissist types. Anyone whom Haruna (or her friends and family) would approve would never try and go for the unobtainable. As a result, Haruna had never encountered a single man (who wasn’t a family member) who looked her in the eye and sincerely respected her character. It was less that she wasn’t keen to romance, she just lacked experience because of her circumstances.

If it was miraculous for Hiroshi to meet Haruna and form a safe partnership, it might also be miraculous for Haruna to meet Hiroshi, and that they were able to understand and respect each other sincerely until Haruna had developed some sorts of feeling for him. The problem was however, that Haruna could not foresee any future that took their relationship further in any direction.

「…I see. I think I understand.」

「Poor Haruna-san… And Mio-san.」

「Wait, what?」

「Haru, you never notice things about yourself…」

「What? What?」

Haruna really didn’t seem to see it. Mio let out a sigh in response. Everyone would have accepted this excuse, if she had given it any time before the first ball in the castle. But, after the assassination scare and the battle against Barold, Haruna’s emotions were clearly changing, albeit slowly. The only ones out of the core party who couldn’t see that were Haruna herself and Hiroshi.

It may be cruel to call Hiroshi unobservant in all of this, though. How could anyone expect him, out of all people, to consider romantic feelings towards him from the opposite sex? In fact, he wasn’t unobservant, and must have been noticing the slight changes in Haruna’s behavior, but he was too untrusting of women to deduce that to be an indication of romantic feelings. Considering his experience back in middle school, anyone could imagine that, even if Haruna had confessed her undying love to him as bluntly as humanly possible with not an inch of room for misunderstandings, Hiroshi would not believe it, barring a powerful (incredibly powerful) show of it.

「Herself… You too, Mio-san…?」

「Mio is fine. I don’t deny it. I just don’t trust my emotions and instinct enough to confidently say that I’m in love.」

Hearing Mio’s confession, Haruna flashed an expression. OF course, she had noticed Mio’s complicated emotions towards Hiroshi. Mio harshly reacting to Hiroshi whenever he did something sheepish, then regretting it (shown by an expression that Haruna assumed could only be picked up on by those who knew her well) while Hiroshi wasn’t around was telltale of the turmoil that was Mio’s adolescent heart.

「And what do you two think of Sensei?」

「I’m sorry. I don’t think he’s that charming.」

「I’m sure he’s a kind and honest person, but…」

Haruna and Mio could only chuckles at their honesty. Unfortunately, Hiroshi’s charm required an acquired taste. They were confident that, once these girls watch Hiroshi craft something (if they didn’t have very negative preconceptions about craftsmen for some reason) their impression would change. They also understood that most people could not see that quality in Hiroshi from a time as short as their interview.

「A fair first impression.」

「That was my impression back home.」

Haruna dropped, to which the girls looked surprised.

「Um, how long have you all been together?」

「Hiroshi-kun and I for three months or so. Everyone else came together like a month after that.」

Haruna added another bombt to Teres’ timid question.

「J-Just three months…?」

「Until we got transported here on accident, we didn’t interact much other than the occasional hello.」

In just three months, they had synced up as much as a couple married for decades. It was hard to imagine that Hiroshi would take any steps to close their distance, so they assumed that Haruna had carefully observed her partner, and kept a distance while carefully closing it. At first, it might have been out of necessity, but it was crazy to continue making that kind of effort with someone whom she had no special feelings for. This was way too much to chalk it off to her general kindness.

According to Teres’ values, anyway. There was another part of her that was wondering if Haruna was able to maintain that kind of relationship with most everyone.

「I guess some humans are truly extraordinary.」

「Haru’s very special. In a lot of ways.」

Mio interjected, not wanting Nora to think that Haruna was anywhere near the average human being. In fact, Mio didn’t want to be grouped in with Haruna just because they were the same species, especially since Haruna was practically a character from a romance simulator in the olden days, who would set up a bunch of events, only to lead to the game over screen after a single mistake.

Non-human species, like elves, would sometimes call people “humans” but it was never taken as an insult by anyone. Intuitively, the term did encompass all humanoid species of intelligence.

Haruna did give a little frown to Mio treating her like an outlier. But before she could say anything, Mio added:

「Too much chit chat. We need to work.」

「…Right. It wouldn’t hurt to get a big stockpile going.」

Losing the opportunity to say something about it, Haruna’s contempt left her with a sigh. It wasn’t a big deal to her, though. In a minute, it wouldn’t bother her anymore. What Mio had said was hardly an insult, especially compared to the nobles in the castle.

「So, gather these leaves. These grass, and these too. Cut off the leaves as cleanly as you can, and make sure to pull the grass up from their roots.」

Haruna said, while showing examples. A little taken aback by how quickly Haruna wiped her dissatisfaction (albeit trivial) from her face, the two rookies started collecting vegetation as they were shown. They were working in silence for a few minutes, but…

「So, are there any other women in Boss Man’s life?」

Teres jumped back into gossip, tired of the monotonous work already.

「There are, but…」

「Even if Sensei wasn’t afraid of women, he would never get close to them.」

Haruna and Mio answered, without stopping their work.

「Ooh, but Elle-chan might power through with her puppy dog approach if it weren’t for his phobia.」

「Possible. Her straightforward lovey-dovey eyes are what make me unsure of my feelings.」

「I can’t blame her, considering what happened… But poor Hiroshi-kun.」

「Her appearance aside, her age and status make it impossible.」

Some key phrases flew out, making the rookies hesitate to ask more questions. Without context, Teres and Nora could only imagine the worst. This drove them to concentrate on the harvesting in order to escape their own imaginations.

「Low key, I think it’s going to fall on whether or not we can make it home by the time Elle-chan becomes of age. What do you think?」

「I concur.」

The phrase “of age” left the rookies with no room to deny that they were talking about a young girl (too young to be considered an adult, at least). Despite obvious red flags, the rookie girls were overcome by their temptation for gossip, and ended up asking all sorts of questions.

And so, while they passed the time collecting more than enough herbs with colorful gossip, the four girls had bonded quite well by the end of it. Like Haruna once said, no girl turns down gossip and dessert. What they didn’t know is that, by the time they had left the castle, there was a dark horse of the romance variety (an extremely dangerous one, especially for Hiroshi’s mental health) lurking.

「Now. Why did a kid like you, who couldn’t even verify if his targets were viable, decide to get into the pickpocketing business.」

「I got nothing to say. Turn me over to an officer, already.」

Tatsuya started to question the kid they had captured, in the workshop’s dining room. Perhaps because they weren’t exactly gentle on the way here, the kid stubbornly refused to answer. Judging by looks and voice, there was no way that the kid was any older than Aearis.

「I mean, I got a pretty good guess.」

Hiroshi muttered with a long sigh, some color drained from his face. He had spoken louder than intended though, and caught the attention of Tatsuya and the kid.

「What do you mean a good guess?」

「I don’t wanna put it this way, but it’s ridiculously clichéd.」

「Clichéd? You mean…!?」

「Just a guess, but you got someone in your family who’s mighty sick, don’t ya?」

Even as a solemn expression grew on the kid’s face, the kid didn’t answer.

「It’s written all over your face, now.」

「What if I do!?」

「What if, ya say…」

Still not sure if he should come out and say it, Hiroshi trailed off. Watching this, Tatsuya chuckled and gave him a push.

「Why don’t you tell the kid that you’ll cure that person in exchange for working here?」

「Ya don’t think we gotta clear that sort of thing with someone?」

「It’s not like we’re hiring people by the dozens, I doubt anyone’ll mind. Besides, do you think those two will cut it?」

「Depends on how quick they learn, but I don’t think so. Even with three of ‘em, I don’t think they could handle all the food prep and maintenance here.」

Listening in on this conversation, the kid was growing more nervous by the second that, perhaps, it was a huge mistake to have targeted these men. In fact, this particular conversation could have been taken as a discussion for making some sort of illegal substance.

「Are you sure you can handle this patient, though.」

「I won’t know ‘til I examine ‘em. But it shouldn’t be anythin’ that spreads by air, droplets, or contact.」

「How do you know?」

「If it’s somethin’ that spreads that easy, we would have heard ‘bout it. Even if nutrition and stamina were factors, someone at the market would have known ‘bout it.」

「Good point.」

Even if it was a disease that was spreading in the slums, it’s not like residents of those areas didn’t come to the market. There was no way that a diseases spread by air or contact would be contained to such a small area. Sure, some people may not appreciate people from the slums going to the market, but they weren’t locked out of it.

Besides, the slums of Wulls were relatively low on crime compared to other cities. This was mostly due to the fact that it acted more as a refugee camp for people who lost their homes to monsters or natural disasters, rather than a cesspool of self-destructive people. While it wasn’t much, people even received aid from the government there, and soldiers would patrol the area, making it a little harder for crime to become rampant.

Of course, there were areas that housed people who decided to live short but couldn’t die young. But those areas were clearly segregated away from the slums, and the government kept watch on them. What’s more, after dealing with Barold, organized crime had mostly been abolished. The only gangs left were the types that would never mess with a civilian who had wandered off to the wrong side of town. The necessary evil types that helped keep the city’s peace in their own way.

「Lookin’ at this kid’s hygiene and malnutrition, they ate somethin’ nasty. In any case, we gotta clean this kid up, do an examination and get some good food in that belly. Just treatin’ the symptoms won’t be a long term solution.」

「Make sense to me. I’m getting hungry, too. Let’s eat.」

「Sure. I couldn’t get any new ingredients so we’re havin’ leftovers. Do ya mind?」

「Not at all!」

Upon Tatsuya’s response, Hiroshi disappeared into the kitchen. Considering what was in the pantry, leftovers (nine times out of ten) meant meat. There were heaps of monster meat stashed in there, on top of the Wyvern meat. Other than that, Tatsuya expected maybe some Pomey that Hiroshi had been growing in secret.

「…What do you think you’re doing…?」

The kid growled.

「Employee diversification?」

「…Huh?」

「If you do work here, I’ll guarantee you’ll eat the best food in Farlane.」

Tatsuya said, without telling the kid that most of those meals would consist of monster meat. Because, well, Tatsuya didn’t think that kid would mind as long as it was edible. No one needed to know that reasoning, though.

「We’re back!」

「Hey, welcome home.」

Thirty minutes after Hiroshi had gone to the kitchen, Haruna and returned with the girls just as Tatsuya had finished drawing a bath, already utilizing the kid in (semi-)forced labor.

「Mm? Do we have company?」

「We found it.」

「…At least you didn’t make a collar or anything…」

Haruna jabbed. The kid, obviously on edge from the sudden appearance of this group of women, scuttle away to a corner of the room.

「Mio-chan.」

「Mm-hm.」

Haruna said, and Mio started walking towards the bathroom. Tatsuya called to her.

「We just drew the bath.」

「Okay, thanks.」

「And I think lunch’s almost ready. Let’s eat first.」

「Hiroshi-kun’s cooking?」

「Who else could it be?」

Haruna let out a chuckle at Tatsuya’s response. Tatsuya didn’t really cook well, and Makoto had no experience cooking (in-game or in real life) outside of home-ec classes. So, Haruna and Mio weren’t home, Hiroshi would be left in charge of the kitchen. While Haruna’s and Hiroshi’s cooking skills were on par, Mio’s were far below that of Hiroshi’s.

「Boss Man can cook, too?」

「He can cook, craft, process… Pretty much anything you can think of.」

「That’s why he’s Sensei.」

Haruna and Mio answered, which Nora found a little incredulous.

「And who is that… girl? I think?」

Haruna asked.

「She’s a girl?」

「Don’t ask me… She’s human.」

「I’m sorry, I’m not sure either.」

Nora and Teres answered Tatsuya, vigorously shaking their heads. The kid, now the topic of discussion, tried harder to intimidate the group.

「That being said, there’s reason to think so.」

「What is it?」

「Hiro didn’t look too good.」

「…Is Boss Man’s phobia really that bad?」

「I couldn’t tell you… He may not have even been aware of it himself.」

As the conversation started to derail, an appetizing smell of charred soy sauce and ginger filled the dining room.

「Lunch is ready, y’all.」

「Mm. Looks great. What is it?」

「Rock Boar ginger roast. Ya can eat it as-is, or put it in a sandwich.」

With that he served it alongside a mountain of bread from the serving cart. There were salads and soups, of course, but the soup might as well have been label “don’t ask.” They could see Hiroshi’s attention to detail as he had prepared a few pieces of lettuce on the plate for making sandwiches.

「Rock Boar meat… I thought those were too tough to eat…」

「I’m really curious as to who acquired the meat of such a rabid creature.」

Teres and Nora commentated, shaken by the ingredient mentioned with nonchalance. Rock Boar, as its name may suggest, were boars with hide as hard as rocks. So hard, in fact, that most physical attacks didn’t affect them. They also perfectly resisted certain elemental spells, not to mention that they would charge at terrifying speeds. Most would be lucky to hit a Rock Boar with a long-range attack, let alone damage it. What’s worse, they attacked any creature they could find. Naturally Rock Boar meat was one of the more difficult ingredients out there to obtain. In the first place, since the Rock Boar was only about twice the size of a normal boar, so unlike Wyverns, their meat were rarely undamaged after combat.

While Rock Boars were more annoying than most monsters, Oxygen Ring did the trick again. They were easy prey for Tatsuya. They had taken down the Rock Boars on the same day as the Wyverns, and since their hide was a strict downgrade from Wyvern hide, they had sold the other materials to Merizza after taking the Rock Boars apart, carefully. They had talked about crafting armor out of them, but they were running out of time, and since that could cause a widespread panic, they decided to have Merizza buy the parts as-is.

「Brother and Makoto-san could take down a hundred Rock Boars if they wanted to. Ain’t that right?」

「Yeah.」

Tatsuya said without a boasting tone, and dug right into the ginger roast. The ginger, sauce, and the wild flavors of the Rock Boar meat complimented each other in wondrous harmony. Even Tatsuya hadn’t personally taken down and taken apart for this meat, it was perfectly thick, far from too tough to chew. Eating it as is seemed fine, but a sandwich was becoming more tempting.

「Why don’t we have rice and miso soup with this…」

Tatsuya said, expressing the grievance of all of the Japanese members.

「We don’t have ‘enough for a buffet.」

「None of us would mind, I’m sure.」

「We won’t mind, but are we tellin’ these folks, who just came up today, to start usin’ chopsticks?」

「You have a point…」

「I mean, that’s why I prepped ‘em, ready to be made into sandwiches.」

Again, Hiroshi showed off his attention to detail by preparing tongs for everyone, just to put the meat on bread. They looked over to see Nora already putting a slice onto a sandwich with a piece of lettuce on it.

「I went ahead and cooked ‘em this time, but let me know if ya got anythin’ your species can’t eat or soemthin’.」

「Nothing like that for me. I didn’t eat much meat back in the village, but that was just a matter of short supply, rather than any rule.」

「Don’t worry. Moras are omnivores.」

With that, the two rookies happily ate the food in front of them. The kid, who had been watching this from the corner of the room, glared at them with some sadness and envy.

「…Gotcha.」

Mio, who had been keeping an eye on the kid, scooped up the little thing. No one, including the kid, could react to her seamless snatch.

「Wh-What are you doing!?」

「When a meal is served, you wash your hands and sit at the table.」

「I didn’t ask for any food!」

「Doesn’t matter. It’s polite to eat what you’re served. Why would we poison a kid from the slums, anyway?」

Stoically shutting down the kid’s whining, Mio made sure the kid’s hands were cleaned at the sink. She washed her hands too, since they had been dirtied by grabbing the kid. Then, she held the kid’s hand and silently pushed the kid onto a chair.

「You’re pretty strong, Mio.」

Tatsuya said.

「You’re not ill. You can eat. Don’t be a brat.」

Pressured by Mio, the kid timidly carried the ginger roast sandwich to the kid’s mouth. As soon as the kid took a bite, both eyes shot open as if In shock, and the kid started scoffing it down.

「It doesn’t look like anything in the digestive tract is affected.」

「Agreed. If ya don’t mind, Brother, Haruna-san. Can y’all go to the slums with the kid to bring back the patient? We gotta take a bath and practice basic blendin’.」

「Okie dokie.」

After deciding what to do after, the Japanese members turned their focus to their lunch. Despite still wanting for rice, each of them finished two servings.

「Here they are.」

「Thanks.」

Haruna and Tatsuya had returned in thirty minutes or so, with a woman in her skin and bones, along with a child even younger than the pickpocket. Mio and the two rookies were still taking a bath.

「Alright, let’s take a look. Can ya help me, Haruna-san? After this, we’ll chuck the little one in the bath.」

「Okie dokie.」

Haruna began prepping for an examination. Hiroshi had convinced the kid to bring these two in, by the way, by saying:

「If ya brin’ ‘em in and get examined, we’ll feed ‘em, too.」

Good food was mightier than the sword.

「So, what do you think?」

Haruna asked, after a swift pair of examinations.

「Pretty much as expected. Don’t know if she’s the sister or momma, but the older lady’s got parasites and a Magical Material poisoning.」

「…Poisoning?」

「It must be a substance that’s only in this world. There’s a Magical Material called Melanite. When bonded with a certain atom, it becomes toxic.」

「…Which atoms?」

「Nitrogen. The thin’ is, nitrogen is pretty stable, so it won’t bond if they’re just left alone. They bond durin’ the process of plants takin’ nutrients from the ground. Plants can’t tell the difference between afflicted Melanite and the nutrition they need.」

Hearing this, Haruna had good guess. They must have eaten some grass sprouting from afflicted soil after the recent ordeal, until it caused a poisoning. As for parasites, there were plenty of plausible explanations.

「Can you treat it?」

「Won’t’ be a problem. The only thin’ is she’s really weak right now. We gotta take out the parasites so they don’t soak up all the nutrition for her.」

「Okay. How about the little kid?」

「Malnutrition from the Melanite nitrite poisonin’. Negative for parasites, but we should do a soft dewormin’, just in case.」

Haruna noticed something as she listened to Hiroshi’s speedy explanation.

「If that’s how they were poisoned, how come Fum-chan is fine?」

「Fum?」

「That’s the kid’s name.」

「Right, we never asked.」

Tatsuya pointed out.

「Slipped my mind.」

When first found Fum, it was difficult to communicate at all through the wall of distrust, and they didn’t have time to ask for name after that. They had not had a chance to ask for the woman’s and the younger child’s names, as they had been focusing on more pertinent information.

「Anyway, body type, weight, and the amount they consumed can change how likely they’ll get a poisonin’. Judgin’ by the smell, the kid may not be showin’ symptoms yet , but it’s close.」

Haruna agreed with a frown. Hiroshi had called it clichéd, but Haruna thought that Fum’s pungent odor caused Hiroshi to take action. Not from some phony superhero complex, but most likely to prevent the possibility of an infectious disease spreading to the rest of the party, and even Aearis. Otherwise, he had no reason to save a girl who tried to rob him.

「I’ll whip up IVs with fluids and a dewormer. Will ya give it to ‘em?」

「Mm-hm.」

Mixing this and that with expertise, Hiroshi finished up his concoction with some magic and packed it into IV bags before handing them off to Haruna to handle the rest. Fum, who had been watching all of this in hiding, was enamored by Hiroshi’s stoic expression.

「He’s pretty cool when he’s doing these kinds of stuff, isn’t he?」

「What?」

Haruna whispered to Fum, after smoothly administering the IVs.

「He was charming while he was doing the examinations and mixing the medicine.」

「He wouldn’t have trouble finding suiters if he always acted that way. 」

「No, Teres-san. The real charm is that the usually useless man becomes very competent and cool when needed.」

「Oh! I see!」

Haruna and Fum didn’t know how to respond to Teres and Nora, who had sneaked their way into the conversation. With Hiroshi’s sublime skills and ridiculously extravagant medicine, Fum’s mother and sister had become healthier than they ever had been in less than a week. Upon being presented with the generous offer of guaranteeing food, clothes, and shelter for maintaining the workshop, the entire family nearly pledged their eternal royalty to Hiroshi out of overwhelming gratitude, unbeknownst to him.

After this incident, the Japanese party informed the King and Layotte to improve the soil in the slums, in order to prevent a panic caused by the tainted soil. In the process, some of the areas that no longer housed anyone were turned into farmlands, which were used by all sorts of people from the craftsmen of the workshop to the better citizens of the slums.