CH 54

Episode 54 – Astonishing Plant Collection Results 

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

After finishing up gathering plants and herbs, I returned to the base location with Byrne and Porta. At the base, the tents were already all set up, and an enticing scent was wafting over.

“Ooooh. Smells Nina and Lyra cooked something.” (Byrne)

“Thank goodness. It smells like they’re almost finished cooking too, so hopefully we’ll be able to eat right away.” (Porta)

Byrne and Porta wiped the drool from their mouths in delight. I could tell from the appetizing smell alone that the food was going to be really delicious. With people who could cook, we could have hot food even in the mountains. The meat that the [Azure Alliance] hunted and then grilled on the barbecue was good, but having a properly cooked meal had an appeal on a level of its own.

“Hey!! Welcome back, guys! It’s just a simple meal, but we prepared some soup and bread. Come, let’s eat!” (Lyra)

“Thanks for setting up the tents, you two. Whew, I’m really hungry from all the moving around we did out there.” (Byrne)

When she noticed we were back, Lyra stood up and called out to us while beckoning warmly. In response, Byrne and Porta made their way over and took a seat, but… I wasn’t exactly sure if they were inviting me to eat as well. She did say “you three” earlier, but I felt insecure, thinking that it might be a little early to assume that they were trying to include me in their circle. I didn’t want to jump to conclusions and end up coming across as too forward.

“Ah, I’ll find something else to eat, so don’t worry about me.” (Lewin)

After much deliberation, I felt awkward about entering their circle, so I decided to play it safe and eat separately from them. But as soon as I said that, Byrne turned around, grabbed me by my hand, and dragged me over.

“What are you talking about, Lewin? We signed an exclusive contract already, so we need to explain it to them while we eat.” (Byrne)

“No, well… is it really okay for me to be eating what you guys took so much effort to prepare?” (Lewin)

“It’s really fine. We aren’t those sort of people so you don’t need to worry about it. Like Byrne said, we have to properly explain the details of the contract to these two.” (Porta)

“You were gone for a while, huh! Did you get lots of Medical Herbs? I managed to find several nice outcrops of Medical Herbs in the area myself.” Lyra said while rubbing her fingers together with a playful money-grubbing grin. A place in this area where there were Medical Herbs? Last time I came, I thought I did my utmost to pick this area around the base clean of all the plants and herbs I could find, but maybe there were still some areas I missed?

“Lewin gathered a crazy amount of plants and herbs. How many did you get, Lyra?” (Porta)

“You wanna know? Porta, you really wanna know how many I got? Don’t be too surprised when I tell you… Ta-dah! I got 9 stalks! Aren’t I amazing?!” (Lyra)

Showing off her small herb bag, Lyra confidently bragged about her haul of 9 stalks of Medical Herbs. My jaw went slack when I heard how underwhelmingly few it was, but Byrne and Porta were happily praising Lyra nonetheless.

Ah… Now that I thought about it, an ordinary adventurer could collect on average 12 to 15 Medical Herbs per day. While setting up the base and taking care of other things, she was able to collect 9 stalks in just a few hours. From a normal perspective, this was already quite impressive. It was only because of [Plant Master] that my speed was abnormally accelerated.

“Lyra, that’s amazing! In that short of a time, you managed to earn an extra 3 copper coins!” (Porta)

“I know, right?! In two of the remaining three days, I’ll have the entire day to gather as much as I can, so I’m going to try my best! So… Lewin, how many did you manage to gather?” (Lyra)

“Umm… it’s a little rough to show it after what you’ve shown us, Lyra…” (Lewin)

“Don’t worry about it, Lyra is always like this. Besides, it’ll be easier for her to understand what we’re about to talk to them about if she sees firsthand how great you are, Lewin.” (Byrne)

After Byrne said that, I slowly opened my bag of plants and herbs for Lyra and Nina to see. Their jaws dropped to the floor in utter disbelief, and they stayed frozen like that for a long time.

“There are about 100 Medical Herbs, 30-ish Magical Grass, as well as a few other plants mixed in here and there.” (Lewin)

“You’re kidding me, right?! Why?! How did you manage to gather that much?! …They had to have already been in that bag from the start, right?!!” (Lyra)

“No, he properly gathered that amount today. Porta and I saw it with our own eyes.” (Byrne)

“………..This really is Medical Herb. Um, could you let me see another one?” (Nina)

“Yeah, it’s not a big deal so go ahead.” (Lewin)

After I gave my permission for her to examine another stalk, after a long while she started to slowly nod her head in understanding.

“This is also without a doubt Medical Herb… When you left from the base earlier today, I remembered that the bag was more or less empty, so I think that these really were all gathered today.” (Nina)

“If Nina says so, it must be true… Hey, how the hell did you do it?! Are you a professor of Medical Herbs or something?!” (Lyra)

“What the heck is a professor of Medical Herbs? To tell you the truth… I have a Rare Skill, which lets me appraise plants and herbs, and, because of it, I can do ‘high-speed gathering’.” (Lewin)

Just like that time I explained it to Byrne and Porta, Lyra and Nina nodded their heads as they were slowly convinced. It was convenient that calling it a Rare Skill was a convincing, easy way to explain it to them.