Chapter 7 – Herbalism Quest #3
“From here on, this is the area where monsters appear. I can’t give you a ride anymore.”
Time passed and the driver who was driving the wagon opened his mouth.
The time has finally come to get off the wagon and move on foot.
The place where the wagon ran was a wide plain.
In the plain, there was a dangerous area where monsters appeared based on a certain boundary. Unfortunately, the lake where the herbs grow was in a dangerous area, so it was impossible to travel by wagon to the end.
Of course, it’s not impossible at all.
If you pay an extra fee, the carriage will gladly enter the lake.
The extra charge was quite a bit of a stretch, so I was forced to use the walk.
Bronze level adventurers who could only make small amounts of money had no choice but to run with their bodies in this situation.
“I’ll show you the way. I got a map from Wendy.”
Ethan pulled out a crumpled map from her pocket. It was a map that detailed the path of the plains. As the party leader in charge of this quest, Ethan said that he received various tools from Wendy.
Usually, the most senior adventurer is in charge of the party.
Perhaps Edan has more experience as an adventurer than I do.
Even if he looks like Jammin, is he a veteran adventurer?
If you look at what it really looks like, it looks like a doggod who likes Minecraft.
Me and Rebecca followed Ethan as he walked away looking at the map.
A plain where no matter how much you walk, you can only see the ground dyed in green.
Ethan looked up from time to time to the sky, checking landmarks to orient her.
There was a guide, so I just had to clear my head and walk. Rebecca, who was walking side by side with me, had a slightly uneasy expression on her face.
“Are we on the right track?”
“With a map, you won’t have to get lost.”
“No, but… The person leading the way looks like a child, so I don’t trust him.”
“I’m not a child, I’m a halfling. Halflings have more sensitive senses than humans. They are a race that is very good at handling delicate tools and finding their way. You can safely follow them.”
“Yeah, right? Then it’s good.”
Rebecca shrugged her shoulders in embarrassment.
It was when Rebecca, having eased her anxiety, shut her mouth.
Suddenly, I heard an unusual sound nearby, so I paid attention.
The sound of shaking the ground coming from under the ground.
At the same time, I felt a slight vibration under my feet.
“This…”
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
I quickly warned Rebecca.
“It’s a monster!”
“A monster? You can’t see anything with my eyes?”
Rebecca makes a puzzled expression while looking around.
However, I knew that the monster had appeared even though I couldn’t see it. I knew at least the characteristics of the monsters that appeared near Yoensu. Calmly, she took out her crossbow and loaded the arrow.
“It’s a monster mole. It’s a tunnel digger!”
It was the moment I opened my mouth.
Pasasak!
A mound of dirt rose up and a mole jumped out of the ground. Mole, as big as any dog, looked at me and Rebecca, baring sharp front teeth.
Ethan shouted from the front.
“There’s a monster mole! Be careful not to get bitten by your front teeth! These rats will bite you and you’ll have a hole in your thigh!”
Monster Mole is a monster that lives in the plains near Joensuu.
These moles, which carry unusually large front teeth, attack their prey while digging burrows.
It’s annoying, but the monster mole that appeared next to us now isn’t one.
After the guy who appeared as the vanguard, several monster moles broke through the ground and jumped out.
“Uh, what should I do?”
“You just have to hit it!”
I fired a crossbow. Thanks to aiming at the point where they would break through in advance, the arrow hit the monster mole’s body. The other monster moles immediately lunged at me, but there was no need to back down.
It was because Rebecca quickly blocked my way.
Sreung-!
The clear sound of a sword.
The weapon Rebecca held in her hand was a curved sword. A sword similar to the saber used by knights. The curved sword, curved like a crescent moon, had a strangely wavy pattern on its sword face.
‘It’s a strange-looking knife.’
I watched Rebecca as I shot the arrow.
I was no stranger to swordsmanship, but I could tell that Rebecca’s sword skills were above average.
The sword she wielded was distinctly different from the recklessly wielded by ordinary people.
But Rebecca was struggling against her monster moles.
It was because, like a first-time adventurer, he knew nothing about monsters.
“What the hell are these rats! Why are their bodies so hard!”
Rebecca was puzzled when her monster mole didn’t cut through her knife. She thought of an ordinary rat and swung her sword, so it was natural not to cut her.
Monster moles have a set of points to target.
“Aim for the boat, the boat.”
I gave Rebecca some hinted advice.
“These moles don’t have a hard outer skin, but their belly skin is soft. That’s why targeting the stomach is the strategy.”
“Hey, how are you aiming for the belly when you’re crawling?”
“You can forcefully flip it over.”
It is better to show in action than explain a hundred times in words.
Coincidentally, there was a monster mole that fearlessly rushed towards me, so I pulled out a dagger from my waistband.
Of course, wielding a sword is something rookies do.
I kicked the monster mole that came right in front of me as hard as I could.
Hey hey hey hey!!!
A monster mole that emerged with a grotesque cry.
When it crashed to the ground again, the mole was in a state of collapse with its boat upside down. He deliberately kicked his side as if pushing it up, exposing his stomach.
“Gimoring, you bastard!”
I was able to stab the dagger and easily kill the struggling monster mole.
“Yeah, that’s okay!”
Realized, Rebecca kicked the monster mole. Although there was a bit of a clumsy side, the monster mole’s body movements are not so nimble. The monster moles, which were moving slowly, were hit by the kick and turned over, exposing their stomachs.
Hee hee!!
Hee hee!!!
Slow-!
Rebecca eventually succeeded in defeating a monster mole after a long fight. After me and Ethan killed three each, there were no more live monster moles around.
Even for a party with a mix of first-time adventurers, the battle ended without much damage.
Ethan opened her mouth as he looked around me and Rebecca.
“Take your loot. Let each one take as much as he has done.”
Then he crouched down on the floor and began to stab the monster mole’s corpse. The part Ethan uses the knife is the monster mole’s blunt tail. I took it for granted that he dismembered the body, but Rebecca, a beginner, didn’t seem to like it.
“Huh…? What is that kid doing? Why did he cut off the mole’s tail?”
“Because monster corpses become money. Monster moles sell their tails.
“Tail? Where do you use something like that?”
“The tails of monster moles can be used for medicinal purposes. People in this region say that decoction of tails is a folk remedy to reduce fever. If you sell them to general stores, you can get 2 coppers each.”
Of course, it’s a folk remedy, and when I actually tried it, it didn’t have any effect.
There is only demand because local people believe in medicinal effects like superstition.
At my teaching, Rebecca opened his eyes wide and murmured.
“Ahang…!”
The reaction was clear, so it was rewarding to teach him to ask questions.
For a moment, I felt an uncontrollable delight at Rebecca’s murmured words.
Her heart warmed when she saw a newbie adventurer who was happy to learn new things.
“Wait a minute. Can you repeat what you just said?”
“Why?”
“I just want to hear it.”
“Ahang-!”
“That, that’s enough. Hurry up and cut off her tail.”
Byubyu byu!
Ejaculation without erection is possible with the filthy smell that flows out!
I cut off the monster mole’s tail while trying to hide my twitchy mouth.
“Thanks for letting me know. Luke is kind.”
“I’m helping you because I’m a first-time adventurer. Adventurers in the first place have to know about japtem that can make money. It’s hard for a bronze-level adventurer to live on just the reward for completing the quest. I have to make a side income this way.”
“Okay.”
Taking the monster mole’s tail, the three adventurers, including me, started moving to the lake again.
*
It was not difficult to find the lake because it was a plain with an open view.
Around sunset, my party and I were able to reach Lake Mersil.
“This is Lake Mersil. This is the area where the moonlight plant grows. For now, it’s better to finish preparing for camp before it gets dark.”
“Camping? Are you going to sleep here? Wouldn’t it be better to just gather some herbs and go back to the city?”
“I can’t do that. Moonlight grass looks indistinguishable from other grasses until nightfall. I have no choice but to wait until the moon rises to dig for moonlight grass.”
“Well…?”
Rebecca tilted her head, but for now, she followed Ethan’s instructions. I knew about the moonlight plant, so I prepared for camping without saying anything.
Moonlightgrass is a grass that is difficult to distinguish from surrounding weeds until complete nightfall.
In order to collect moonlight grass, they are forced to stay overnight here.
“I’m going to build a shelter. Please bring me something like a stone or a tree branch.”
I and Rebecca gathered some things to cover.
Since Lake Mersil was a dangerous area where monsters appeared, they had to build a shelter to sleep safely.
Just like camouflage training in the army in the previous life, he piled up grass and soil around him.
Coincidentally, there was a suitable place where the ground was dry around, so I and the others decided to build a shelter there.
By the time the hideout was almost complete, it was getting dark.
Night when the moon rises.
It was the moment when pure white moonlight illuminated the ground.
“Ah-.”
It was only then that Rebecca seemed to understand why moonlight was a grass that could be harvested at night.
The grass that bloomed around the lakeside began to glow at once.
The grass, which had been no different from weeds until daytime, was shining brightly in the moonlight.
The characteristic of moonlight plant is that its leaves glow in a fluorescent color when exposed to moonlight. Because of that, the native place of Moongwangcho was wrapped in dazzling light at night.
Just like right now.
“Beautiful…”
Rebecca looked up at the glittering shore of the lake and put on an enchanted expression.
The women of the Midgard continent liked this kind of scenery as having a mood, but Rebecca seemed to be no different.
In fact, it is said that men and women get married easily where the moonlight plant blooms.
I stopped trying to give her a sneak peek at her witty words.
‘This is not the time.’
It was time to gather herbs.
According to the requirements of the request, you had to dig enough moonlight to fill the sack.
There is a lot to collect, so if you want to sleep properly, you have to start working quickly.
At some point, Ethan was squatting on the floor pulling out the moonlight plant, so I couldn’t stay still either.
He rolled up his sleeves and, in the same way, bent over and began to pluck moonlight plants.
“You have to pull it out gently so you don’t damage the roots, Rebecca. It’s good to dig up the soil around it with a flat stone or something.”
“Eh, can we do it like this?”
“Yes, you’re doing great!”
“Lol.”
I worked with Rebecca giving her light advice.
Edan had already brought the burlap sack for the moonlight plant.
“When Wendy taught me, I also received a burlap sack. You can fill this sack with moonlight candles. I’m saying this because I’m new to the party, but be careful not to let other grass or clods of dirt get into the sack. You might even get a pay cut.”
I pulled out the moonshine while humming.
Originally, such simple labor requires labor requirements.
Songs I listened to while doing assignments until dawn when I was a college student in my previous life.
Twenty years had passed since I came to this world, and my memories of my previous life were blurry, but I was still able to recall the notes of the song.
“Hmmmm~.”
“Why do you keep grumbling? Where does it hurt?”
“You’re singing.”
“Was that a song…?”
“Kuhm.”
I was embarrassed by Rebecca’s gaze and stopped humming her.
Is the modern beat too early for the inhabitants of this world? You wouldn’t even realize that this is a song.
It took about an hour to fill the burlap sacks.
It was time to tie the mouth of the bag with a rope and move it to the hiding place.
Suddenly, Ethan opened her mouth with a questioning expression.
“While digging for herbs. Didn’t you see the suspicious footprints?”
“Suspicious footprints?”
“Horses’ hooves were stamped all over the lake shore. I hadn’t heard of wild horses living around here… Maybe even horses that lost their owners wandered around?”
At Ethan’s words, I searched my memory.
Certainly, I have also seen horseshoes stamped into the ground by the lake. I was preoccupied with picking up herbs, so I just skipped it, but thinking about it again, I felt something strange.
“I saw it too. Horseshoe footprints.”
“Have you touched it? Didn’t it feel strange?”
“Yes… The area around the footprints was damp because of water.”
The places where the horseshoes were stamped had one strange commonality: the ground around them was damp with water.
The water was still on the ground, even though it would have been exposed to sunlight in broad daylight.
“It’s a strange set of footprints. Anyway, it’s nothing to worry about. We’ll move to camp. Before going to bed, we’ll have to decide the order of the night watch. Who’s going to stand first?”
As we moved to the campsite, my party and I decided on the order of our vigil.
It was time to circle the lake and arrive at the campsite. Now that it was time to rest, my party and I were somewhat relaxed.
However, when he tried to get inside through the grass covered with a screen, he heard a strange sound behind him.
Bubbling.
The sound of bubbles rising loudly.
Looking back, I noticed a large bubble rising in the lake. An unusual change was taking place in the lake, which had been perfectly quiet until just now.
“What is that?”
Soon, something broke through the foam and poked its head out to the surface.
When I saw the creature’s torso, I thought it was a horse.
A green-skinned horse with a mane on the nape of its neck.
Again and again.
But when the creature walked up to the ground, I changed my mind.
A fish’s tail couldn’t be attached to an ordinary horse’s ass.
Hee hee-.
The finned horse neighed lowly as it looked at me and my companions.
The horse’s neighing contained a clear hostility towards us.
