CH 51

Episode 51 – Meek Expression 

TL Note: These chapters were sponsored by Jessie. Thank you so much for your repeated support! I did my best to release all 3 sponsored chapters at once this time, so in total 4 chapter release today.

For this time’s plant and herb gathering, I went in a direction that I hadn’t gone before in the past. For last time’s harvest of plants and herbs with the [Azure Alliance], I had mainly gone in the 12 o’clock direction as I collected, so this time I decided to go in the 1 o’clock direction relative to the base location. If I went by this system in the future, I would be able to easily remember where I had already gone so I could avoid wasting time going through an area I already picked clean.

“Oh yeah, are you a mage, Porta?” (Lewin)

“Yup, that’s right. I’m an unusual class called a Buff Mage.” (Porta)

I hadn’t seen Porta fight yet, so I asked him out of curiosity. I hadn’t heard of a Buff Mage before…

“Sorry, I haven’t heard of the Buff Mage class before, in what way are they different from a normal mage?” (Lewin)

“Well, it’s said that normal mages, for example Black Mages, are fundamentally focused on attack magic like [Fireball] or [Ice Lance]. On the other hand, I’m a type of support mage that elevates the abilities of my own allies.” (Porta)

“Elevates…their abilities? So, directly increasing their power, is that right?” (Lewin)

“Yup. I can apply buffs to a target group, such as my allies, like increasing their physical strength, for example. Or, I could apply debuffs to a target group of enemies to do something like decreasing their movement speed.” (Porta)

Hoh. I didn’t know that such a type of magic existed. Anyway… with Porta in the battle, they could easily fight against opponents that were stronger than them. Perhaps with his buffs, even I could fight well too?

“Ah, don’t get your hopes up too much. It won’t make you explosively stronger or anything. At the most, your body will only feel a small increase in strength.” (Porta)

“No, that’s not true. With Porta’s buffs, I was somehow able to fight against an Anchor Bear before, you know? It’s probably something like a twofold increase in strength.” (Byrne)

“There’s no way it’s a 2x increase in strength… it’s definitely something like 1.1x, at best.” (Porta)

“A supporting role, huh? That strong of a class, and that’s all you pass it off for?… Anyway, Lewin, as you can see, there seems to be Magical Grass in this area.” (Byrne)

I had been a little preoccupied with Byrne’s meaningful chuckle just now, but I started to examine the area that was overgrown with vegetation. Since the last time I came to Mount Cornello ended in a failure, it felt like it had been a pretty long time since I last gathered plants and herbs. Perhaps, since it had been such a long time, the visible abundance of vegetation was like a box of treasure to me, lifting my spirits. I was hoping to find some Dumbbell Weed or some rare, previously unappraised plant, but… I also wondered if I would actually find any at all.

“Okay, then I’ll be concentrating on gathering plants and herbs for the time being, so I’ll leave the guarding up to you.” (Lewin)

“Got it. Leave it to me!” (Byrne)

For about 30 minutes, I steadily appraised and gathered as I went. Very soon, all of the Medical Herbs and Magical Grass in the surrounding area were picked clean. Looking at the abundance of Medical Herbs and Magical Grass in my bag with a sense of satisfaction, I noticed Byrne running over with great vigor.

“I wanted to wait until your hands stopped, but… hey, Lewin! What the hell?! Are these all Medical Herbs?” (Byrne)

“Huh? Yeah, they are. There are some other plants in the mix, though.” (Lewin)

“How is it even possible for you to gather plants and herbs at that speed? Between Medical Herbs and… see, this weed right here, how are you able to make a distinction that quickly?” (Byrne)

Byrne held a stalk of the Medical Herb I had gathered in one hand and a random weed from the surrounding area in the other and was comparing the two side by side. In my eyes, Medical Herbs were easy to distinguish; I could appraise them if I really wanted to make sure, but I could usually tell just by looking. But in any case, it was truly difficult for normal people to tell them apart. When I just started working at the Healer’s Guild, I couldn’t tell the difference for a while either. There were characteristics that allowed it to be distinguished, but I decided to just tell them that I was appraising it with [Plant Master].

“Actually, I have a Rare Skill, and because of it I was made to work for the Healer’s Guild. And… that Rare Skill has the ability to instantly appraise plants.” (Lewin)

“…I see!! That answers a lot of my questions. I was wondering how you were able to gather plants and herbs with such speed and how you were able to make a living off of this, but it all makes sense if you had a Rare Skill.” (Byrne)

After I confessed that I had a Rare Skill, Byrne nodded his head in understanding, as if he was satisfied with what he heard. Completely contrary to Byrne, Porta approached me with a grim face.

“Um, Lewin. Do you have a moment?” (Porta)

What’s with this meek expression on his face, as if he was going to ask me something? He looked really serious, so I started getting a bit nervous.

“Yes, what is it?” (Lewin)

“If it’s alright with you, would you please join [Iron Gear]?” (Porta)