Volume 1 - CH 4

[Material-♪ Material-♪ Wondrous Material-♪Let's get them all-♪]

In this forest devoid of people, I am free to sing as much as I want while collecting materials.

[Lalala-♪ La?]

Stone, grass, tree branches......as I collected everything in my sight, I was greeted by the view of a cliff through the forest clearing.

Making a halt at the last moment, the ground in front of my feet collapsed and fell below the cliff.

[That was close......]

My face twitched involuntarily, and I made a right turn. This will teach me to not pay attention to my surroundings when I am gathering material.

[Ah, I spot a rare mushroom! This beehive seems like it will be a great material too!]

...The excitement lasted for a moment, and I resumed collecting materials. It's true that it's dangerous, but this forest is an ingredient paradise. I can't get enough of this.

◯ ◯ ◯

After exhausting all the resources, I could find, I sat down at a stump to take a break. The potato quiche I bought for lunch was delicious.

This is a digression but, in this world, there exist the same fruits and vegetable from my former world so I didn't have to worry about the cuisine not suiting my palette. Well, they are also vegetables that I have never seen in my life.

But still......it feels like I am forgetting something.

[Ah, the fairy stone!]

My obsession with collecting material almost made me forget about my original objective. Finishing the half-bitten quiche, I got up from the stump.

...Well then, my search for the fairy stone have brought me to the heart of the forest. As expected, the atmosphere feels different.

[Could this be it]

In this place where sunlight could barely reach, I noticed a stone glowing with a faint light underfoot.

Picking up the stone with one hand occupied by the recipe book, the page labelled 「Fairy Stone」 was automatically opened. It seems like there is no mistaking it.

[It can even appraise item and material, impressive]

While admiring the fairy stone, I kept in the bag of infinite capacity. There are still are few fairy stone scattered around so I will take whatever I can.

[Pl, please help me--!]

[...Ara?]

As usual I was enjoying my self-composed song while collecting material, which was then I heard a cry for help.

Turning around, the sight of the pair of adventurers who called out to me earlier entered my view. With a drastic change in expression, they started heading towards me. Huh? What is it?

[Ah, you are the alchemist from earlier on!]

[Oh, great alchemist, please help us!]

I was in a state of perplexation, which was when one of the men closed our distance to beg me for help. Ha? Aren't you embarrassed, asking the girl who you made your laughingstock earlier for help?

[Hey, wait a sec! There is no need to ask someone like that for help......Gyah---!]

The adventurer who was witnessing the sorry plight of his partner, was blown away by a mysterious attack to his back. Uwah, that looks painful.

Rolling through the floor from the impact, the man lost his consciousness. I took a slight glance at him and shifted my attention back to what is important, the three wolves that are glaring at us. Heh, I didn't think this forest would be this interesting.

[WA, WAH--！ WAH!!]

In contrast to the level-headed me, the other half of the pair gave in to his fear and ran towards the other direction whilst he screamed.

[Ah, that side is]

[Gyaaaa-----!]

I tried to warn him, but it was too late, both the final word of my sentence and the sound of something crumbling that followed afterwards.

[...Well, it's just desserts]

Without the slightest intention to check on him, I confronted the three wolves. As compared to that thin adventurer, this soft and pitiful girl seems easier to eat......was what their expression was conveying.

[...Very well, Mei the alchemist will be your opponent]

Saying that, I released the bomb.

...A thundering sound followed immediately after.

[Eeek!?]

I couldn't help but make a pathetic sound. That was how much firepower it had. The nearby trees were all mowed down by the shock wave, and the wolves all became charcoal.

[Ah......they became charcoal material]

Shortly after recovering from the astoundment, I thought positively and acted on collecting the trees and the wolf carcass.

Beast meat and silver fur? I don't really get it but, demon beast related material being difficult to collect is a classic trope. There isn't any harm in keeping it.

...Incidentally, the adventurer who got blown away is still breathing so if I report it to Richard-san he should be saved. Sometimes my kindness is almost frightening.

◯ ◯ ◯

Right after returning to the inn, I started crafting the all-purpose map.

I may say crafting but, the fact is its just throwing the old map and the fairy stone into the cauldron and it will do the rest. As I unrolled the map, I could see a depiction of my surroundings and a marker indicating me.

Can I see a bit more of the surrounding......while pondering that, I placed two fingers on the map out of habit and in response, the map zoomed out.

......Oh? Could this map be.

Once more I manipulated the map with my two fingers. This time, the map zoomed out all the way till I can see the stars. I got it, this is just like the application by a certain search engine technology company. So, this is what it meant by all-purpose.

If I wish to return to the starting point, it will do so as if real-time information about my whereabouts is relayed to it. The opposite is also true. It can display the peak of mountain and even the sea of trees. Information about the places of this world is accessible to me.

[Wa ha. This is kinda fun, I feel like I can do this forever]

Keeping my tools, I laid on the bed and looked at the all-purpose map.

[...Wait a minute. Could this map be real-time?]

As I was scaling and minimizing the map over and over again, coincidentally at one of those timing the name of someone near my vicinity was displayed. If I recall, this was the name of the owner of this inn.

[Sorry to disturb while you are resting. I would just like to ask what time you would like dinner]

...Immediately after, I could hear a voice through the door. It even keeps track of other people's location.

[Ah, let's see. In that case......]

I chose a random time while trying to hide my surprise. Could this map be a cheat item too I wonder.