CH 139

Episode 139 – From Here On

TL: Decided to do one more chapter today to manage the pacing of the upcoming releases. 4 sponsored chapters coming soon!

After briefly hearing about the situation in the city of Seykoll from Kirty, we decided to continue the conversation at a later date since it was still late at night. After all, it seemed that Kirty had an even longer day than I did. Actually, I wanted to consult her about my ‘future’ from this point onwards, but I felt that it would be better to do so on a different day after having fully gathered my thoughts.

“Kirty-san, thank you for coming out of your way to see me and also for bringing that Top-grade Recovery Potion… Thanks to you, I feel much better now!” (Lewin)

“Fufu, don’t worry about it. Seeing you in good health makes me feel content as well. Also… I heard that you worked with everyone in retaking the city of Seykoll for free. You can think of that potion as a reward for your help.” (Kirty)

…One of these days, I should bring her a thank-you gift for giving me that potion that she paid for out of her own pocket.

“I’ll return the favor to you for this potion some other time.” (Lewin)

“I said you didn’t need to worry about it, but… oh well, it’ll give me a little something to look forward to.” (Kirty)

After that, I saw Kirty off as she left my room. To be honest, I got a terrible scare when I woke up, but I was really glad that she came to see me.

After making sure that Kirty went home, I crawled back into bed. Drinking that Top-grade Recovery Potion made the soreness in my body recede a lot within the past few minutes, so I thought I would be able to get a great night’s sleep, but… my head was running wild with all kinds of thoughts. Of course, most of those thoughts were related to what I was going to do from here on out.

Staying in Grezesta like this, learning swordsmanship under Kirty in the morning and evening, and learning potion brewing from the grandma at Elf’s Tears in the afternoon… And once a month, going plant gathering with [Iron Gear] and participating in the mock battle tournaments.

It wouldn’t be a bad idea to continue my lifestyle like this, the way I had been this past year. I’d been blessed by all the people around me, and with everyone’s support over the past year, I’d been able to grow in ways that I never thought possible. But at the same time, it was true that I was starting to see the limits within myself.

Compared to when I had just started this lifestyle, I was starting to notice my rate of growth decreasing. I’d been challenging Kirty almost every single day for the past year, but I still have never once been able to imagine myself beating her.

‘Talent’ definitely existed. Between an ordinary person who just had an interest in swordsmanship and someone who had real talent in swordsmanship, I had come to realize that there was just too big of a difference.

And, the pièce de résistance was the battle with the Venom Troll earlier today. It was not as strong as Kirty, but, in a one-on-one fight, I didn’t have any chance of winning. Since my physical ability was inferior, I would have just continued to be one-sidedly attacked if I didn’t pull out all the stops with my tactics.

There was Lyra and Byrne’s support, Nina’s [Anti-Heal], Porta’s [Bravery] and the various potions I used… Only after putting all of those pieces together were we finally able to make it an even fight.

Not only that, but there was the rumor that the Demon King’s Army was capable of artificially creating more of those Venom Trolls that I was forced to fight to the death against in such a bitter struggle. Most likely, if I continued on with this lifestyle, it would take me 10 years at the very least for me to reach a level where I could beat a Venom Troll on my own. I wasn’t sure if that could be considered fast or slow in regards to the rest of the world, but I could only see that as being too far too slow.

So on that note… and this was what I was thinking of consulting Kirty about, but the only thing that really set me apart from others was my Skill, [Plant Master]. The battle with the Venom Troll further reinforced that sentiment in me. Plants that inflict abnormal status effects or plants that increase your physical ability, for example. I felt that there were still so many plants in this world that I didn’t know about yet.

…That’s why I was thinking of leaving Grezesta.

Rather than staying within the vicinity of Grezesta, travel the world, find new plants and monsters, and gain combat experience. I also wanted to go to those Dungeons that the grandma and Kirty spoke of and obtain the plants and treasure inside.

Currently, I was satisfied with Dumbbell Weed, but I believed that it was more than likely that there was a plant out there in this world that was just as effective or even more effective than Dumbbell Weed. The biggest indicator for that was the fact that the muscle strengthening effect displayed in the appraisal was only (Small). The Immunity Grass being sold at Elf’s Tears was probably one of those types of plants I could find if I just explored the world.

This was still something I had only decided on somewhat vaguely, and it was by no means a sealed deal yet. But if Kirty supported me in this decision, I would be leaving Grezesta.

Another thing was that I wanted to see Ahmed, who had never come to visit me this entire past year.

After sorting through everything one by one, I was finally able to free myself of the thoughts that had been running circles in my head. For now, I needed to rest my body and get rid of the fatigue. And so, I fell asleep peacefully.