CH 13

Episode 13 – Collecting Dumbbell Weed

This whole area was filled with an unusual amount of plants, so it took me about 3 hours to finish appraising and collecting everything in the area without any incidents. The results of my harvest were 84 Medical Herbs, 28 Magical Grasses, 3 High-grade Medical Herbs, 1 All-Herb, and 5 Linrin Weeds. Aside from that, there were several varieties of new unappraised plants, but their effects were all iffy, so I left them there. However, with the amount I picked just now, I managed to make about 1 gold coin and 6 silver coins, which exceeded yesterday’s harvest. I was still a little far from my end goal of 4 gold coins, but, according to my calculations, I was only about 9 silver coins away. I could probably get that amount before the end of the day at the rate I’d been going.

And now… I headed over to the plant that I marked out earlier. Arriving at the area, I once again confirm that I didn’t make a mistake appraising the plant growing in front of me.

[Name: Dumbbell Weed]

[Level: 76]

[Effect: Muscle Strengthening (Small)]

[Fertility: Very Low]

Yep! Without a doubt, this was Dumbbell Weed. After sorting through a ridiculous amount of weeds, I finally succeeded in finding one. I could finally use this Dumbbell Weed for myself, since I had had to investigate the exact details of its effects. At the moment, I knew that this plant was something that strengthens muscles, but it was quite possible that this was only a temporary effect. Either way, Dumbbell Weed would be extremely useful for me.

“Lewin-kun. Are you done with your plant collection?” Dion, who was keeping an eye out for enemies in the surroundings, called out to me. As I was inspecting this Dumbbell Weed, I was totally lost in my thoughts, grinning stupidly to myself, and forgot to report to Dion that I was done collecting plants in the area.

“Ah, sorry Dion-san. I’ve already finished collecting plants for now.” (Lewin)

“You were standing there without moving for a really long time, so I started getting a little concerned…. Anyway, that was seriously unusually fast.” Dion said with a twinkle in his eyes.

Unusually fast. Honestly, I totally forgot Dion was watching me so I wasn’t self-conscious at all. But, it was true that without [Plant Master], I wouldn’t have been able to have this unusual speed with appraising and collecting plants.

“Umm… Actually, the skill that I got from my Gift was Rare, so thanks to that I can appraise at this speed.” (Lewin)

I’m not really being modest… I just don’t have any true ability to be proud of at the moment.

“Er, is it okay if I examine some of the plants you collected?” (Dion)

“Yeah, of course. If you’d like, you can take some of them with you.” (Lewin)

I cheerfully acknowledged Dion’s request. When I opened my herb pouch to show the harvested plants inside, I caught a whiff of the nostalgic odor of the masses of herbs, which made me recall my time at the Healer’s Guild. The bag that I had just bought before coming on this expedition was already starting to turn green at certain spots, so I was kind of starting to regret using this bag for holding plants.

“Hoh, it really is filled with Medical Herbs and Magical Grasses… Instead of an escort commission, if you formed a party, you’d be able to get rich really quickly, you know?” (Dion)

“Forming a party would have been really difficult considering my circumstances at the time…. Ah! I separated the poisonous plants and put them in this next bag, so be careful.” (Lewin)

If I were to form a party, with my complete lack of combat ability, I’d end up becoming a burden after all. The only role I would be able to fill in a party would be specializing in plant and herb collection, so it would probably be impossible.

If I made enough money from this plant collection expedition, I’d like to try joining a party… but it probably wouldn’t be possible to become an adventurer in the first place thanks to Brandon.

After I finished showing Dion the plants that I had collected, we decided to go back down the mountain to where Ahmed and Smash were waiting. According to Dion, it would be fine to just proceed on to the next area, but I was a little worried about Smash who was left alone at the camp with Ahmed, so I suggested we go back.

We walked back to the camp while Dion held off any monsters with his archery. Upon reaching the clearing, I saw Smash and Ahmed’s figures in the distance. It seems Ahmed was rampaging and flailing around a wooden sword, while Smash was desperately fleeing for his life.

“Hey look, it’s Lewin! Where have you been?!” (Ahmed)

Realizing that we were back, Ahmed stopped chasing Smash and started approaching me instead. Because she was coming over, smiling while holding a wooden sword in one hand, I was a little wary of her.

“I’ve been out doing plant collection in the area. Are you feeling okay, Ahmed-san?” (Lewin)

“Huh? What do you mean?” (Ahmed)

“Yesterday, you seemed to be very drunk.” (Lewin)

“Ahaha! That’s an everyday thing for me. So what’s up? Wanna eat some more meat?” (Ahmed)

For some reason, she seemed to be in an even better mood than yesterday. And somehow, I was getting the feeling that Ahmed liked me a bit. I hadn’t done anything aside from eating meat with her, though?

After all this, I think I don’t want to eat meat for a while…