Vol 1 Chapter 6 (2/2)

「Nothing. By the way……Why do you need to subjugate such a large number of Smagobs and caterpillars?」

It’s a continuous quest, after all.

「Smagobs……Aah, Small Goblins are highly fertile. If they were left unchecked, they would grow and form colonies. If they weren’t regularly subjugated, they would damage the vicinity of the town and the villages.」

Fumu fumu.

「As for Green Caterpillars, they are also found in abundance. If they were left to propagate any further, there’s a concern that they would damage the forest.」

「Damage the forest?」

「Yes, it has exceedingly large appet.i.te. It eats all the plants which kills the bountiful forest. It is said that it can even eat poisonous herbs.」

……!?

「Poisonous herbs?」

「Eh, yes. Such as Neville gra.s.s which contains weak toxin. Green Caterpillar seems to be resistant to poison.」

「About this Neville gra.s.s, can you please tell me in detail?」

Sheena-san took out a picture book from under the counter.

It was a several cm thick book. If you were hit with it, you could even die.

「This book is used as a reference by the adventurers who receive collection quests……Neville gra.s.s……Here it is.」

The sketch shown to me depicted a gra.s.s the leaf of which was strangely curled. This was its only notable feature.

「Although there’s no Neville gra.s.s collection quest at the moment, there may be a quest later on.」

I see. Only if there’s demand, will there be supply. No one will pay for something which they don’t need.

Just you wait, caterpillar-chan.

Wait~ while I prepare your feed~.

A creepy smile surfaces on my face.

「……What’s the matter?」

「N-No, nothing, nothing at all.」

After receiving the Smagob and the Caterpillar subjugation quests and completing my preparations, I left for the south forest.

First target for today is Green Caterpillar.

According to the book, Neville gra.s.s grows in the south forest, so I started off with it.

I started collecting herbs in the forest.

I came across a few caterpillars but I hid myself and let them go past, giving priority to collecting the herbs.

《Neville Gra.s.s》――Both its leaves and roots contain weak poison. Ingesting it in large quant.i.ty is lethal.

I wonder if this much will be enough.

I collected 10, same as the number of times I can use the skill.

After walking for a bit, I confirmed the prey.

Its body looks just like a potato. So cute.

「Pigyuppigiii」

It noticed me and tried to close in but I immediately threw Neville gra.s.s in front of it.

The caterpillar stopped and started eating it without any care.

「Pigyu?」

「He~re, go on and eat. Is it delicious? Do you want more?」

It looked at me warily but then s.h.i.+fted its focus back to the food and started grazing Neville gra.s.s.

「Well, well. Was it delicious? It’s amazing, though. Can you really eat poisonous herbs without any problem? Alright then――」

What happened thereafter, I’ll leave it out. If I described it in detail, I would turn into a bad guy.

Animal rights……No, insect rights organizations would get mad if I did.

Neville gra.s.s was all used up.

Because there was still some time left, I decided to hunt five Smagobs, too, before returning.

I wiped the (caterpillars’) body fluids off my clothes with the help of tree leaves and headed deeper into the forest.

Alongside hunting, I will try to raise the skill level of Sword Arts, too.

Name: Seiji・Agatsuma

Race: Human

Age: 18

Job: Adventurer (Rank E-)

Unique: Scholar’s Knowledge

Skill(s)

・Thief’s G.o.dly Skill (Riot Grasper) Lv1 (5/10)

・Physical Abilities Enhancement Lv3 (4/150)

・Sword Arts Lv1 (8/10)

・Abnormal Status Resistance Lv1 (4/10)

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