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Chapter 97 – Day 42 of Exploration
We drank the wild grass soup for breakfast while looking at the list of edible wild grasses that Jennifer had made.
“It’s the first time I’ve sweated so much, even though it’s bitter.”
Even after eating just a little, the sweaty effect was amazing.
“I think it could be increasing your natural healing power. I feel like my skin is rejuvenated.”
“It would be good as a trade item.”
Beauty products for women might be a little more expensive for the nobility.
The spotted grass, which looks unappetizing, is said to have a healing effect on paralysis, and the ivy leaves, which are often attacked, are said to be an anti-itch medicine.
“But there’s a lot of poison in it.”
90% of the list has a poison symbol on it. I’m surprised they haven’t all gotten sick from eating it.
“My tongue almost went numb, and there was also a plant that made my body turn bright red. I’m thankful for Lipa-kun’s stomach.”
“I just didn’t notice it until you told me. I usually find it quite tasty.”
What a handy tongue.
It seems that wild plants and spices like Japanese pepper, which could be used in cooking, are collected with their roots and grown in planters placed in front of the cave. Sylvia apparently made the planters from monster bones and wooden planks.
Sylvia also made the desk and chair in Hel’s room.
“You make everything so skillfully. When do you make them?”
“I-I-I’m free at night.”
It seems that monsters rarely come while she is on guard, so she works with the magic stone lamp lit because just sitting still makes her sleepy. There is almost no sign of monsters coming near the cave during the day, either.
“I think the monsters think this is human territory. At first, it was hard work to cut Lamia and dismantle the Haze Turtle.”
“I can’t believe you decided to live here all by yourself, Makyo-san.”
“I bought it, so I thought I had no choice but to live here. Thinking about it now, I guess I could have run away. Anyway, what were we talking about again?”
“The planter.”
“Yes, it’s impossible to grow vegetables in this place, but if we could grow wild plants, it would make a difference in our diet.”
If our lives can improve that much in the few days I’m gone, maybe I should take more trips.
“How was the underwater excavation?”
“I-I-I found a lot of alcoholic jars. Probably beer.”
Barley alcohol.
“So maybe the ancients drank cold beer and wine.”
Hel explained, holding a chilled glass.
“I thought beer was drunk through a straw?”
“Eh? I-i-is that so?”
I’ve only ever drunk mead and wine, and I don’t think I’ve ever drunk beer, but I think I’ve mostly drunk it out of a bottle. I hear the straws are made from dried barley stalks.
“Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever drunk alcohol out of a glass.”
“That’s because you were a hopeless drunk. Even in the Elven country, they drank beer through a straw because the malt would float. What about the bird people?”
“I don’t think there was a culture of drinking alcohol through a straw in the Kingdom of Cliff Garuda. They didn’t seem to mind too much if the grains floated to the top, but I’ve never drunk it, so I don’t know the details.”
It seems that the Meiju Kingdom and the Elf Kingdom drank beer through straws. However, there was no country that drank cold alcohol.
“I think cold alcohol is a bit extravagant. I’d like to buy a barrel of alcohol from the Academy and try it. But since some people can’t handle alcohol, let’s try to swap a bottle of beer and drink it together.”
Jennifer looked down and nodded several times.
“Did you find anything else?”
I asked Sylvia.
“T-t-there was a stone tablet in the remains of some kind of box.”
“It’s a strange magic circle. I’ve never seen one before.”
Hel told us as we looked at the pattern on the stone tablet. If it’s a magic circle, it must be some kind of magic tool.
“The ancients certainly made some strange things.”
We decided to leave the ancient magic tools until Hel figured out the magic circle.
“I think it would be good if we spent the morning gathering wild plants and doing some digging on the other side of the swamp. In the afternoon, the women should go to the migration forest. Lipa and I will do the digging.”
After explaining the day’s schedule, the night watch rested until the afternoon. Lipa, Jennifer, and I went out to check and collect the wild plants.
There weren’t many edible wild plants, but we actively gathered the ones that had effects such as sweat and stun, as we could use them for trade. Jennifer’s basket filled up quickly, and we separated the plants by species and bundled them together.
Later, when we dry them on the drying rack outside the cave, the moisture will be removed, and they will be preserved.
Monsters rarely attack. The Green Tiger is like a stray cat in the neighborhood and sometimes comes to me to be petted. The Rock Crocodile and the Haze Turtle also run away when they see me.
There is also a surplus of dried meat, so there is no need to hunt. However, the monsters will only go after Lipa, so I’ll support him as much as I can so that he doesn’t die.
“I’m sorry!”
Lipa apologized as I kept the King Anaconda away.
“Don’t worry about it. Everyone’s like that at first. Once you get stronger, they won’t come near you.”
“Yes!”
The imp teased me, pulling my ear away from the side where I was answering. As usual, the monsters liked me.
The basket and the drying rack were full, and the wild grass gathering was over. Jennifer and Chel had each made a rough estimate of the price of the wild grass.
I made a bento lunch for myself, with dried meat, freshly gathered wild grass, and Japanese pepper. I also made some for everyone else. The women were going on a short trip, so I also made some stir-fried meat and vegetables.
“This is unusual.”
Hel woke up and smelled the fried meat and vegetables I was making.
“Here’s your lunch. You must be hungry. I can’t go with you, so I’ll at least do this much for you.”
“That’s not the kind of thing you’d expect from the Lord of the demonic land.”
Hel stretched out in the sunlight, her joints and bones cracking.
“As I thought, a bath really does make you feel better when you wake up. I hope we can have a bath today, too, my lord.”
“Don’t imply that I should prepare a bath for you. You should be able to do that yourself.”
That’s what I said, but we’re going to have a bath because I have to do some digging. Let’s have them bathe in the leftover water.
Sylvia woke up, too, so the digging will start in the afternoon.
After lunch, Chel taught the women how to walk with magic power in their legs. She said they wouldn’t leave until everyone could do it because it would dramatically change their speed of movement.
“Well, we’ll go ahead.”
“See you later!”
Lipa and I made our way to the other side of the swamp.
We had broken through the second hill, and the ruins were now exposed. As we approached, the Lamia family ran away, so perhaps they were trying to make a new home there.
I used magic to search the ground and confirmed that there was nothing of interest. We decided to dig the next mound.
By the third time, I was used to it. I dug around the ground where it was growing, cut the spreading roots, and pulled out the whole tree.
Lipa cut off the branches and leaves and made a log. He was often interrupted by small monsters such as imps, bird monsters, and forest rats, but he was able to deal with them on his own.
There was a big flower monster wandering around, so I wrapped my fist in magic power and hit it as hard as I could, and yellow juice splashed out.
“Ugh, it stinks!”
Both Lipa and I were covered in sticky yellow juice.
The smell of the surrounding area, which was like a large amount of boiled down roses and rotten cam fruit, attracted the attention of a Vespa hornet and a butterfly monster, who scattered their scales.
I dropped the soup into the swamp and waited for the swarm of monsters to leave. Just then, a fire-breathing lizard passed by, so I caught it and threw it at the swarm of monsters.
The top of the hill lit up, and I could smell the monsters burning. The flying insect monsters burn well.
“Makyo-san, you don’t use magic much, do you?”
Lipa asked suddenly.
“I think I use magic, but it doesn’t seem like it to other people. I’m not good at releasing magic in a way that’s as obvious as Chel’s.”
“Oh, is that so! I’m sorry, I just thought it was cool that you hit the monster with your fists.”
“That’s my own way of using magic, too.”
“What? Is that magic?”
Since he didn’t seem to understand, I explained to Lipa.
“When I surround myself with magic power, I can run faster and my fists become harder. If I send magic power into the monster’s body at the moment I hit it, it will be blown away even more. If I surround myself with fire magic or ice magic, it will have the right effect.”
“H-huh…”
It seems like he doesn’t really understand.
“Anyone can do it if they practice.”
“I wonder if that’s true?”
I tried it by borrowing the bone sword that Lipa was holding and tried to wield it while surrounding it with magic power.
Boff!
A jet of water shot up like a soap bubble, and the big fish monster was blown away.
“I-I’m trying!”
The monster was still burning on the hill, and I ended up accompanying Lipa as he trained.
I watched Lipa concentrate on his work for a long time, and before I knew it, the sun had set. The excavation didn’t get very far, but we returned to the cave.
Lipa and I had dinner together, then took a bath. We talked about life in Cliff Garuda and my self-indulgent life as an adventurer.
“So you didn’t really do any adventuring?”
“Yeah, that’s right. I did all kinds of light work. Even now, I’m just managing my own property, so I guess I’ve never really had an adventure since I became an adventurer.”
“That seems like a big adventure to me. It’s strange.”
“People say that a lot.”
When I got out of the bath and went back to the cave, Green Tiger, who had been living in the forest near the entrance, had come to play with its child.
“What? Have you come to show me your child? What do you think I am?”
I waited for Chel and the others to return while I stroked Green Tiger’s belly, which was turned over and asked me to stroke it. Green Tiger’s kitten was playing with Lipa. Lipa was covered in scratches, but he looked like he was having fun.
Chel and the others returned late in the evening. Lipa was already asleep. As I dozed off in front of the campfire, the four of them came up the slope, looking exhausted.
“Welcome back.”
“I’m home. I’m going to sleep.”
“I’m going to sleep.”
Chel and Jennifer went straight to their rooms.
“How was it?”
I asked Hel and Sylvia.
“T-t-the monster was so strong that we couldn’t do anything. I was surprised that the monsters Makyo usually defeats are so strong. The level is completely different from those near the cave.”
Sylvia drank some cold water and spoke talkatively.
“It didn’t work well with Chel either.”
“Were the monsters that crossed over from the Cliff Garuda that strong?”
“No, it was around the Migration Forest.”
I didn’t notice because I was always running away from them, but it seems that the closer you get to the Migration Forest, the stronger the monsters get.
Hel and Sylvia took a bath, had dinner, and finally settled down.
“Makyo, listen to me before you go to bed.”
Hel stopped me as I was on my way to my room in the cave.
“This forest of migration is the place where the city of Midgard in the magic kingdom of Yggdrasil used to be.”
“But the last time we explored the underground with magic, there was nothing there, right…?”
“It disappeared. The city just disappeared one day, so the spirits are wandering around there. I’m sure of it because I heard it directly from them.”
I thought that place was a forest without ups and downs, but I can’t believe it.
“You don’t know why it happened or what would cause such a thing, do you?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Well, let’s just think that we’ve made progress just by finding out what happened in the past that we couldn’t understand. This is the demonic land. That means anything can happen, right?”
When I said this, both Hel and Sylvia nodded.
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