CH 20

The next morning, I see the white lizard is still sleeping in the cage. I tell Rose to look after it and leave.

I’m just about to bring Hipopo back out when I see two people I know.

For some reason Ahri and Roa are standing outside the tent. I bring Hipopo out, and the two women don’t move a centimeter in the meantime. If I had to guess, I would say they’re curious, but I can’t see their faces so I can’t say for sure.

“Good morning. Thank you for staying with me late last night. How are you feeling?”

I decide to greet them with something inoffensive.

“Very well, thanks to your potion. Roa told me about it. Its effect is incredible. A single mouthful was enough for my fatigue to vanish.”

Says Ahri, and Roa silently nods from behind her, with the cloth covering her face moving back and forth.

The conversation stops there, and as I think about what to say next, Ahri speaks.

“Lady Kalin asked us to stay with you again today. We can show you around if you want. Where do you want to go?”

“Ah, then please take me to where food is stored.”

“Very well, come this way.”

Ahri starts walking, and Hipopo and I follow her, with Roa walking behind us.

I don’t think they feel like talking, so I stay silent. I finally see a slope dug diagonally, and the food storehouse that has become sort of like a half-basement.

“Let me call the person responsible.”

Says Ahri while walking to a nearby tent, and I promptly begin my examination.

“Tell me if you find anything Hipopo.”

Hipopo is sensitive to harmful beings and techniques.

“Bumoh.”

Hipopo responds and puts its nose to the ground, beginning its own examination.

I take out a dowsing pendulum to measure magic elements, and a 《Transcribe》 scroll.

“《Activate》.”

I activate the scroll hovering behind me and suspend the pendulum with a quadrangular pyramid shaped jewel in its tip with my left hand.

Judging by the shape, this used to be the nest of some sort of monster, which was reworked into a food storehouse. A very logical choice in a place where construction materials are especially valuable.

I kneel on the slope and hang the pendulum below where I’m standing. For some reason Roa is following me, and starts tapping the ground.

Is she helping…? N-nevermind, I have to focus. The magic elements are dense in the ground. Germs can’t grow when they’re this concentrated, so it’s sterilized enough.

I keep measuring the magic elements with the pendulum, and find they are highly concentrated everywhere I look. But nothing seems out of the ordinary.

Food is usually stored in a half-basement not just because it’s cold and dark, but also because the highly concentrated magic elements in remote regions eliminate germs. Since the magic elements are indeed highly concentrated, it’s difficult to think that germs specific to this region are entering people’s bodies via the food. They could come from the monster that once occupied this space, but…

“Roa, this was a monster’s nest right? Do you know what kind of monster it was?”

I ask Roa, who is next to me holding her knees and moving her body along with the movements of the pendulum. I didn’t notice this until I turned around to ask her a question.

“Bear.”

She says.

“Hum, what kind of bear? What was it like?”

Roa tilts her head, and Ahri comes back with a man.

“Master Rust, this man is in charge of managing our food supply.”

Says Ahri.

“So you’re Master Rust!? Thank you for helping my younger brother! The numbness in his limbs was really bringing him down!”

Says the man while grabbing both of my hands.

“If there’s anything I can do just say it! I’ll do my best to help!”

Apparently his little brother was one of the people I treated yesterday.

“Thank you. Can I have a look around inside the food storehouse?”

“That’s it? This way!”

I follow him and head inside.