CH 53

Episode 53 – Umami Effect 

TL Note: Sponsored chapter (2/3). Thanks Jessie!

About two hours after resuming gathering plants and herbs, I finished going through every single weed in the area and picked all of the useful plants and herbs clean. The spoils this time were 109 Medical Herbs, 34 Magical Grass, 2 Linrin Weeds, 2 Angel Grass, and 3 High-grade Medical Herbs. I had also found two new previously unappraised plant types. And most importantly, I managed to secure one stalk of Dumbbell Weed.

As always, I was super excited when I finally got my hands on that stalk of Dumbbell Weed. Since Dumbbell Weed looks exactly the same as a regular weed, I felt a strange thrill while rifling through all the weeds appraising them as I went, since any one of them could potentially be a Dumbbell Weed. Right now, I had two stalks of Dumbbell Weed in my possession. Incidentally, the one that I had picked from the last expedition had long dried out, so I turned it into a powder form. When I got back to Grezesta, I was planning to rehydrate it and ingest it as soon as possible. But, I had to come up with some sort of idea to improve its taste if I was going to drink something that bitter. It might make me stronger, but it had a level of bitterness that made your body feel sick afterwards.

Finally, it was time to appraise those two new types of plants. The first one had small green berries along the length of its branches, which I threw into my mouth whole. As usual, I swallowed it without chewing, and the results of the appraisal came out.

[Name: Peppercorn]

[Level: 5]

[Effect: Spicy Flavor (Medium)]

[Fertility: Medium]

[Origin: Mount Cornello]

Hmm… Another spicy effect. Last time I was on Mount Cornello, I ran into a few previously unappraised plants with spicy effects, but I didn’t have any use for them. I tried it once, but it was so intensely hot that it immediately made me start sweating profusely. I left them alone since it didn’t have much use against monsters either. Even Kreim Grass, which had the effect of Numbness (Minimal), seemed more useful in comparison. Thus, I decided not to collect the Peppercorn in the end.

Okay, it was time to pull myself together and appraise the second type of new plant, which had long, slippery leaves. Just like before, I tossed it into my mouth whole and swallowed it.

[Name: Glutamate Herb]

[Level: 32]

[Effect: Umami Flavor (Large)]

[Fertility: Low]

[Origin: Mount Cornello]

Oh!! It had an oddly high level. Also… umami?1 It was my first time seeing this effect. So I was guessing it made things more delicious…? I was pretty curious, and, since there was one more stalk growing near it, I decided to try it. Eating the entire thing seemed scary, so I tore it into appropriately sized pieces and put a piece in my mouth. Properly chewing this time, I savored the taste… and gradually, an abundant umami flavor spread through my palate. The leaves were a bit tough to swallow, but, the more I chewed on them, the more they leaked out that intensely delicious flavor which left me overjoyed with my findings.

Yum! This one could be quite useful, unlike the spicy flavor effect. I started searching around the area for more, but I couldn’t find any. The fertility did say “Low”, after all. Carefully storing away the remaining pieces that I had torn up, I decided to try boiling it in hot water tonight to see how it would taste. Thrilled that I was able to find a new type of useful plant, I returned to where Byrne and Porta were waiting.

“Lewin. Are you done gathering?” (Byrne)

When I regrouped with them, Byrne called out to me with a fidgety grin on his face. I wondered a bit why he was making that face, but then I replied.

“Yep, I finished collecting all the plants and herbs in the area.” (Lewin)

“Of course, I was the one who proposed the contract, so it’s all good with me… but shouldn’t you be talking to Nina and Lyra first?” (Lewin)

“Ah, it’s fine. I’ll definitely be able to persuade those two later, so let’s go through with this contract right away!” (Byrne)

Byrne had done a complete U-turn from before and was now totally enthusiastic about the idea. Looks like it worked out, haha…I couldn’t help but laugh a bit at the situation, but I was glad that Porta managed to get the point across to Byrne in the end.

“Um, I will reiterate once more. We look forward to forming a great relationship with you in the future.” (Porta)

“Then, per the details of the contract we discussed earlier, we’ll consider it signed. We probably won’t need to sign a physical document, but I will get in contact with you regularly regarding future quest commissions, so I’ll be looking forward to working with you.” (Lewin)

It was true that they were “adventurers” in name, but, when I was looking at the bulletin board in the Adventurer’s Guild earlier, it was pretty much only odd jobs and chores for low ranking adventurers. It would be a different story for high ranking adventurers, but low ranking adventurers had to take on those odd jobs and chores if they wanted to survive. So, if I could alleviate the financial burdens of the members of [Iron Gear] through this contract, they would be able to have more liberty with picking and choosing their quest commissions in the future. In return, I would be able to always have a steady, reliable party to escort me on future plant and herb gathering expeditions, so I strongly believed that this contract would greatly benefit both sides.