CH 194.2

「It seems I have no choice but to ask how to harvest it」

I mumbled to myself while still holding the wriggling Dangorou in my hand.

「Fortunately I know just the right person to ask」

The Garden Forest is a place where spirit beasts, heavy horsemen, and the turtle live. I can’t just call an experienced adventurer to come and collect them for me.

So the only way to get rid of them is for me to learn and do it myself.

「It’ll be fine if I just bring a lot of potions with me」

I have reliable magic to deal with injuries, illnesses, and abnormal status conditions. As long as I know what kind of danger I’m in, I can just cast my magic as I go.

「Let’s bring the mushrooms with this」

I brought a small wooden box from the living room and placed it in the garden.

The White Lady is dangerous if you’re injured when touching it, but it’s not the type to spread poisonous spores.

I used my gardening shovel to carefully scoop out the chestnut moths along with the mushroom that grows on it. Then I put them in the box.

***

The next day, behind the merchant guild building.

In a dimly lit alleyway, I was with a familiar adventurer.

「Can you take a look at this for me?」

A small wooden box on the floor, its lid gently opened.

A mushroom is so valuable that it is said to be『Worth as much as gold coins as its height』.

When the old man took a glance at the inside, he narrowed his eyes with a serious expression.

「To think that you’d put your hands on one of these, quite the balls you have there, huh?」

Somehow he looks at me like how he looks at an amateur who is working on a difficult task.

「I was wondering if you could tell me how to harvest them safely」

A sullen old man who closes one of his eyes and keeps looking at mushrooms with one eye. He bend his mouth into a letter へ and pondered.

By the way, this old man and I have worked together many times. I’ve asked him to do a variety of things, including investigating and collecting dropped materials after subjugating magical beasts, as well as notifying and guiding nearby residents.

This old man is the only veteran adventurer I know.

「The fact that you want to learn about it… means that there are still more, right?」

He muttered some words and looked at me curiously.

「I can’t tell you where it is, though」

We stared at each other for a while.

I could feel that the technique was an important asset, and that he would not sell it cheaply.

「The reward is three white ladies, less than that and you got no deal」

「……Fine」

We shook hands firmly. With a wooden box in my hands, we immediately headed to the workshop of a reluctant old man to practice.

「For practice, I’m going to use this one that grew on the chestnut burr. And I’m taking this one with me when I’m done, is that alright?」

It’s a harvesting practice, the mushrooms will be a bit damaged. But still, the value must remain the same.

This is a talk after we sealed the deal. Meaning if I accept it, the old man will get an additional reward.

(I would be more thankful if you would dispose of the mushroom you use for practice instead, though)

That’s my real feeling, but I don’t say it out loud. This is because he won’t even understand the feelings of someone who didn’t see the mushroom in front of him as gold.

All I can do is make an expression that says, “you got me”.

「….Veteran adventurers are also good at negotiating aren’t they?」

I made a stinging remark. The old man just made a small smile with the corners of his mouth.

「Fine, I understand. But won’t the value of what you use for practice drop significantly?」

I agreed, looking as if I had no other choice. The reason I added such a question was just out of sheer curiosity.

「If you want to sell it, the price will go down significantly. But the taste is the same, so it doesn’t matter if you’re going to eat it」

「….You’re going to eat it?」

I said, but the sullen old man laughs loudly. I shrugged my shoulders once and followed behind him.

***

A few hours later.

I took the lesson and headed home once I had managed to master the technique.

By the way, it seems that the muscle was pretty bad.

「You don’t seem to have any experience with harvesting, huh?」

I remember the expression on the face of the sullen old man who said that at the beginning of our lesson. He saw my sloppy hands and knew at a glance what level I was at.

Although I grew up in the countryside, I had no experience in picking wild vegetables. I pretended not to hear his muttering, 『I wonder if the reward too low?』

「If you hadn’t brought your own potions, you wouldn’t have made it today」

The sullen old man spat out such words with a tired look on his face after he handed me a passing grade.

At first, he looked at the potion I had laid out on my desk and said that it was exaggerated, though it would be worth it. But in the end, most of the bottles on the desk were empty.

(There’s a lot of difference between having outdoor experience and not having one)

When we went hiking in the mountains I saw the brilliance of my junior that he doesn’t always show. Turns out he was in the hiking club when I asked him about it.

It’s a big difference from me, who couldn’t even pitch a tent.

While I was thinking about such a thing, we arrived at the north part of downtown. I walked up the stairs to my house with my newly purchased leather gloves and two knives in hand.

「I’ve just learned how to do it. Make sure not to stand too close to me, alright?」

I immediately took my kins to the garden forest.

I lay down on the ground in front of the mushroom and held the long knife in my left hand and the short one in my right. Carefully, I inserted the tip of the blade into the lower part of the stump from both sides.

「It’s like Japanese lacquer tree」

The problem is the juice inside. These mushrooms look dry, but they have a lot of moisture in them. Touching it is a bad idea.

『I won’t lose to a mere poisonous mushroom』

That’s what my kins said. They could probably remove it if I ask them to.

(But then I’m pretty sure they’ll get poisonous juice all over their bodies)

It’s clear as day that I’m going to be affected.

「Alright」

I plucked them and put them in a wooden box filled with straw.

My goal was to get three of them. As promised, I plan to give them all to the sullen old adventurer.

I have no intention of eating or selling them, so having them on hand would only be a hassle.

「Ah shi–」

The second one fails, and the spattered juice gets on my cuffs and cheeks.

It takes a few minutes for it to cause severe inflammation, so I immediately activate E-rank cure abnormal status. The worst thing about this mushroom is that it can’t be treated with F-rank magic.

「Though I said it failed, it wasn’t that damaged」

Since it was near the base of the plant, there seemed to be no problem in terms of harvesting it. Let’s ask the sullen old man’s opinion about this.

The third one was a success. I laid out the white lady on the straw and let out a big sigh.

This way, I finished thinning out the mushrooms.

***

In the evening of that day, at a popular restaurant near the central square of the royal capital.

The reluctant old man who had instructed Tauro to harvest mushrooms took out a box in a good mood.

What he pulled out of the box was a small ceramic plate. On top of the plate was a white mushroom, cut into small pieces.

The amount of mushrooms was probably enough for one bottle. It was the one Tauro had used for practice.

「Leader, did you cook it by yourself?」

「You’re as dexterous as ever」

The members of his party cheered as they looked at the dish he had brought.

The sullen old man nodded with a happy expression and placed the plate in the center of the table.

「It’s delicious you know?」

They were poking at the platter of food and reached for the box there with forks.

Only one person, a young sorceress who had recently joined the team, did not touch it.

「What is it?」

At the leader’s words, the young sorcerer gave him a dubious look.

「What is this?」

He seemed to be wary of the food.

While smiling to reassure him, the reluctant old man told him its name.

「A poisonous mushroom」

The young sorcerer sighs heavily.

「No, thank you. I’ll pass」

The sullen old man looked disappointed at his answer.

「Even though you can feel ecstatic after eating this」

「…..I’m fine」

The young sorcerer carried the food from the restaurant to his mouth without changing his expression.

The reluctant old man staring at him looked somewhat envious.