CH 15

Translator: Haruchin   Editor: Marky

Dean was disassembling the rabbits — er, it’s more like he’s just taking out the horns and checking for magic stones before chucking them into the sack. The Adventurer’s Guild gives out subjugation rewards just by bringing the horns to them.

「 You’re going to bring those rabbits, too? 」

「 Two for lunch, the rest are bait for bears and wolves, so I’m bringing them deeper into the forest later. Those predators are gonna pop out near the entrance of the woods if I leave them here. 」

「 Oh, I see. 」

「 Bears and wolves are lured by the smell of blood, so I bury them or burn them if I’m not confident I can take them on. 」

I had been tossing them into【 Storage 】 all this time. Oh, right, I forgot that I couldn’t teleport home for lunch.

My sojourn at the island traumatized me, so there’s always water, salt, and sugar in my bag, and I also made sure they’re in my【Storage 】, so it’s all good. Well, there was normal food crammed within the 【 Storage 】 too, but it’s not as if I could just take them out now. Anyway, I should also hunt for my lunch, then.

My style had been self-taught, so I learned a lot while talking with Dean. He also taught me a lot of other stuff, like how to track monsters, and how to traverse the woods. Yep, having a coach was still the best. We continued walking, and came across a monkey monster — that’s the first time I encountered one. They’re notorious for kidnapping and eating children from human villages. They’re weak when alone, though.

「 See that grass with yellowish borders on its leaves? That’s Kinca grass. It’s used in putting scent to the liquor that filthy rich guys drink. Stupid grass, if you ask me. 」

Oh, so we’ve arrived at our destination.

「 Scent… Will it become delicious? 」

Dean just shrugged with a ‘who knows’.

I also tried smelling it, but it’s…immature…and rustic…

「 Don’t need it. 」

「 I don’t need it, either. Well, my client’s cash-rich so he sprinkles them in like they’re sand. 」

I was expecting it to be some kind of valuable medicinal herb that only the wealthy could afford, something that would launch a thousand ships and bring world war — but it’s just a simple plant used to rip-off money from idiot high-ballers, huh. Well, who am I to judge, if I didn’t have my cheat food storages I’d probably cash out a lot of money just to buy rice, regardless of how ridiculous the price might be, if it was sold here. It’s a win-win situation for both the rich and the seller.

Kinca Grass doesn’t grow in the winter when the ground is frozen, obviously, but it has buds year-round. It’d be a problem if it didn’t sprout again, so I didn’t pluck it all out and left half of it. The strong-smelling ones that grow during this season and the new sprouts during spring are considered premium, it seems. Plus, it also has a different official name, and guess what, it’s called Golden Coin Grass. It’s completely treated as some kind of luxury grass, huh.

【 Appraisal 】— Butterfly Grass, effective against butterfly-borne macular disease — apparently. I should keep two to three stalks and research the recipe for medicine. Unlike cooking, I should study a plant or make the medicine first before the recipe would appear in the results of appraisal.

We prepared our lunch by the riverside. Dean piled up stones around the bonfire for a make-shift windbreak. He also prepared the rabbits while I gathered some firewood. I gathered some branches, chopped them haphazardly, carried them back and that’s it.

「 Ohh, you’re really rough, huh. 」

「 If I chopped them any smaller, carrying them will be a pain in the neck, right? 」

Hey, even I know a thing or two about the size of firewood, you know. I’ve been stranded on a deserted island and had to build my own fire, after all!! Anyway, I peeled the bark thinly then fed it to the fire. Afterward, I just randomly throw them in from smallest to biggest. Medicinal herbs were also growing around here, so I gathered some while watching the meat. Dean chopped the meat to suitable sizes after a while, then he grilled them again. I thought he would cook it whole, but it’d be scary if the meat was half-cooked, so what he did was definitely better. Rabbits would dry up if left on the fire for too long, but the peculiar scent characteristic of wild game was also bothering me. It’s difficult to find the sweet spot, huh.

We were watching the rabbits carefully, when Dean suddenly grabbed his sword.

「 Uh….Sorry I surprised you. 」

「 Hm? 」

Thought it was a bear, but it was just a lion. Oops, wrong, I mean Leon, er, Leora.

「 Why are you here? 」

「 Erm, bear hunting, but I came to get some water now. 」

No, that’s not what I was asking. Well, she won’t say she’s a fugitive in front of Dean, right. So that meant it’d be bad to call her name?

「 Acquaintance? 」

「 Yeah. 」

「 Ash is the name, nice to meet you. 」

「 Dean. 」

Ash and I exchanged looks ー so I was right in not calling her. That’s a relief. Did she get her alias from her hair color? In Japan, ‘Ash’ was a different hair color altogether, but hers was a beautiful, blue-tinged, gray hue. Her face could still scare the living daylights out of anyone, though.

「 Sorry for cutting the tour halfway through that time. I’ll pay you back for the potion, for sure. 」

「 Don’t worry about it. I was also at fault for making you guide me around even though you were wounded. 」

「 No…. 」

「 The meat is done grilling, wanna eat with us? 」

It seemed like it’d turn into an apology contest, so Dean cut it off by inviting Ash to lunch. The meat was overcooked, though.

「You can pay the potion back right away after hunting a bear, right? 」

「 No, the lodging fee’s a bit too high. It’s such a small town but there’s a lot of people, so it’s a struggle trying to find a room. 」

That’s puzzling, I didn’t have any memory of having to struggle, though…….

「 Hmm~? What kind of inn is that? 」

Dean didn’t have stranger anxiety, huh. I couldn’t help but think of that as I grilled another batch of meat… I’ll bring some spices next time.

「 No, there’s only a bed and a table but… One gold coin a day is really a bit too much. 」

「 …. Hey, that’s a total rip-off, you know. 」

I couldn’t stop myself from retorting.

「 You got pulled into a shady inn, that’s for sure, but why didn’t you realize it? 」

Dean’s right, even I, a newbie in this world, noticed it right away.

「 It’s the guild’s referral, though? 」

「 …. 」

「 …. 」

Turns out, Pink Head was the one who recommended it. I couldn’t help but stare at Dean with meh eyes.