CH 12

Episode 12 – The Second Day on Mount Cornello

When I opened my eyes, I was met with a violent stomach ache. I fell asleep right after eating a copious amount of barbecued meat, so I was feeling some pretty bad heartburn. I rolled over while trying to hold down the rising nausea from my stomach ache and spotted Ahmed still sleeping right next to me. I don’t really remember much, but I was pressured to continue eating meat until I literally collapsed… which probably led to these strange circumstances.

For the time being, I needed to carefully get out of here without waking Ahmed up at all costs. I was thinking it smelled like alcohol around here, and it turned out the bottles scattered around Ahmed were all empty bottles of alcohol, not water. Perhaps the reason I couldn’t remember much about last night was not just because I ate way too much, but also because I somehow got drunk off of the smell of the alcohol alone…?

I managed to get out of there without waking Ahmed up, and when I got to the area where the three of us were dismantling yesterday, I saw that Smash and Dion were already awake. It seemed like they were cleaning up, so I went to go greet them.

“Dion-san, Smash-san, good morning.” (Lewin)

“So, are you going to go collect plants again today?” (Dion)

“Yes, that’s what I intend to do…. Dion-san, so that means you heard I came to Mount Cornello to collect plants?” (Lewin)

I see. I wasn’t really self-aware about it, but Smash did say that my plant collecting speed was fast. Thanks to [Plant Master], I certainly was quick at sorting and collecting plants, but it was also such a plain and boring task that I honestly didn’t think there was much to show.

“It’s not really a showy technique, so you should try to not have too many expectations for it. Anyway, if that’s the reason, then by all means, please be my escort for today.” (Lewin)

“No no, I saw it yesterday, and it was seriously something out of the ordinary. I think it’s fine for Dion to expect something out of it.” (Smash)

And thus, unlike yesterday, I was to be escorted by Dion this time. Smash was staying in the base area to watch over Ahmed. He was always getting punched and bullied by her, so I really hoped he’d be alright while we were gone.

While I was searching for a place to start collecting plants for today, Dion and I struck up a conversation, and apparently he wasn’t as good at detecting enemies as Smash was. However, his fighting ability was stronger than Smash’s, and his greatest weapon was the bow that he always carried on his back. He said that he could one-sidedly shoot down monsters from range with his archery skills, and, aside from something crazy like yesterday’s Anchor Bear, he could kill most things in one shot. In that fight yesterday, where Ahmed was busy one-sidedly beating down the bear, he wasn’t able to make use of his strong points.

“Dion-san. I’m thinking of doing some plant collecting in this area, is that okay?” (Lewin)

“Eh? Here? There’s a few plants that look like Medical Herbs, but it’s mostly just weeds, isn’t it?” (Dion)

“I have my reasons, but I actually want to look through the weeds, so I think this place is good. Also, there appears to be quite a few Medical Herbs and Magical Grasses mixed in among those weeds.” (Lewin)

“…But wouldn’t it take too much time to go through all of those weeds trying to distinguish the valuable plants? No, I should just keep my mouth shut. Anyway, I’ll be keeping an eye on the surroundings, so go ahead and collect the plants without worrying about any enemies.” (Dion)

“Alright thanks, I’ll be counting on you.” (Lewin)

After saying my thanks, I immediately set off to start appraising and collecting plants just like yesterday. When I worked at the Healer’s Guild, I saw weeds as just annoying trash, but, ever since discovering the existence of Dumbbell Weed, I started seeing every weed as a hidden treasure. I wanted to hurry up and get my hands on another Dumbbell Weed so I could investigate the exact effects of the muscle strengthening.