Vol 1 Chapter 3.3 (2/2)

Van-san and Cyan-san both made a retort at the same time. Cyan-san, you didn’t deny the bullying part.

「Sorry for disturbingOjamas.h.i.+masu.」[3](Reene)

「Oh, welcome Reene. Thank you for the hard work, Wedge. After you finish reporting, please take a break.」(Cyan)

Wedge-san made a firm Knight’s salute and after saying, 「Until next time」,  to me, he entered another room. I wonder if he would write a report over there too. Perhaps there was plenty information from the talks of the n.o.bles in the examination room.

「Welcome Reene. Have you gotten used to your job as a Healer?」(Cyan)

「Yes, I have gotten the hang of it. I intend to have a horse riding lesson today.」(Reene)

「Horse riding, if only my hands were free.」(Van)

「Can you really be saying that your hands are free, Van?」(Cyan)

「Not at all. I am terribly sorry for this as a division commander.」(Van)

Van-san hurriedly excused himself, so that he wouldn’t be scolded by Cyan-okaa-san more than this.[4]

「Because I am free now, I will do it.」(Hugh)

Hugh-san, who was nearby, nominated himself. Un. It was easier to ask Hugh-san for this. I will do our best in learning. I have to be able to ride alone by myself soon.

“Ah, of course if Noel gets bigger, then I will ride on Noel”, was what I appended in my mind.

Actually today, when I said that I wanted to practice horse riding, Noel was jealous. It was unavoidable when I was traveling horseback with c.u.mont or the Knights, but he seemed annoyed since practicing horse riding looked like I was playing with the horse instead of him.

―― Noel ―― Ride ―― Noel ―― Fly ―― Noel ―― Fast ――

That the small Noel was jealous of the horse was really adorably cute. Noel is still a child, but it looks like if he had grown into adult, then I could ride him and fly.

―― More ―― big ――

Uh-huh, I will absolutely ride you when you have grown up. Until then, I will diligently continue the horse riding practice. I will be waiting until Noel becomes an adult.

And so, it was a long and grueling hour of practice. Hugh-san had been working really hard.

Although one might say it was difficult for an unathletic person like me to coordinate my body movements when riding a horse, even after an entire stound2 hours, all I could do was practicing mounting and dismounting the horse by myself and to have the horse walk at a slow pace. Still, it was major progress since I was finally able to mount and dismount a horse by myself.

✦✧✦✧✦

The next day, Fireday, after the clinic’s work had finished, I asked the Blue Knights to teach me horse riding again, and then on Waterday, I spent the whole day in the library.

Even if I had scrounged over all the magic books one by one, there was no clue about transfer or summoning magic.

But I became quite informed about magic power as a whole in the process.

For the people of this world, other than 「Magic Power」 or mana, which is MP, there is also something called 「magic quality」. Each magic quality had individual peculiarities like a voiceprint or a fingerprint and Gaia’s Note was able to perceive these individual differences. There was not differences in just the quality, there were also distinctions between in high and low magic qualities. Someone with higher magic quality would have greater results even if they used the same spells as another person. Perhaps it could be considered similar to the「INT」 or the 「Wisdom」 in the games.

This also applied to Gaia's Children, as they not only had high MP, but also high magic quality, which is why they could use powerful magic. In the past, a Son of Gaia had destroyed some countries with his fire attack magic. The term「high magic power」 means 「the numerical value of MP, which means their Rank is high」, and 「high magic quality」 means 「the power of their magic is strong」.

The quality would also influence the lifespan, too, and it seems that people with high quality can live longer than their peers of the same Rank.

Since from time immemorial, people with high magic power had conquered the lands, resulting in many royalties and high ranked aristocrats having high magic powers, and many of them had high magic quality, too. Because His Highness Leon had a really high magic quality, although Jin-san had said that he was just a Sixth Rank, he would probably remain be youthful until about 250 years old.

Humans with 「high magic power and high magic quality」 could cast many magics with high offensive power, so they are more useful by a wide margin than numerous ordinary magicians.

People with high magic quality seemed to be able to distinguish those with high magic quality similar to them. It seemed that this is also a species preservation instinct, that they would feel s.e.xual attraction to members of the opposite s.e.x that had high quality. That’s why high quality people would marry other high quality people, and produce high quality children. As the result, the Houses thrived and prospered.

Of course, they could be attracted to people with low magic power, too, so there were other couples similar to Van and his wife.

On the next day, Earthday, I met with c.u.mont and we headed towards the riverside on the south. It was the place that had the Macacari Leaf.

We left the city walls and headed south, and after travelling on horseback for a while, there seemed to be a large forest. Because c.u.mont had gone there several times before, I didn’t need to worry about getting lost.

Just like the last week, I applied a 「Protection Membrane」 and mounted the horse. After about thirty minutes had pa.s.sed, I could see the forest.

There was a road for a horse to travel on in the middle of the forest, but as we approached the river, there were big rocks scattered around and the terrain became worse, so the horse had to travel slowly. Because it was called a river, I expected that it would be small and have a gently flowing stream, but it was a great torrent with whitewater rapids instead.

Of course, we would walk around the river on foot.  「It’s a bit slippery, so be careful, don’t slip and fall.」 c.u.mont warned me again.

It was a mountain stream that had originated from the mountain deep inside the forest, and it had numerous small and large waterfalls. Since many people had come to pick up the gra.s.s growing on the riverside, there were something like an esplanade alongside the river.

It was a beautiful scenery that could become a tourist attraction. Clear air and the murmuring waters created an absolutely nice atmosphere. There were places where trees were densely grown and large moss-covered rocks gathered, where the suns.h.i.+ne couldn’t reach and the water splashed into the air from the fast flowing rapids, so the entire place was quite humid.

「There are many water monsters around this place, so don’t take your eyes off of the rivers as they could suddenly jump out from the rapids.」(c.u.mont)

「Un, I’ll be careful.」(Reene)

I will be completely fine since I had 『Search』 on. I hadn’t told c.u.mont about my skill yet, so I didn’t say anything.

「Macacari Leaves are growing up around the area beyond this waterfall.」(c.u.mont)

Even though it was called a waterfall, the size was small. The height was no more than one meter, but since the river was very wide, it felt like a Pet.i.te-Niagara Falls. I could hear loud pounding sounds and splashes coming from it.

When we were about to ascend the road beside it, I could see red markers appearing one by one in 『Search』. They were inside the waterfall.

「c.u.mont! They are in the waterfall.」(Reene)

c.u.mont stood up holding his sword and chanted. It was a Sword Magic. Flickering flames appeared and clad the blade. Aquatic monsters weren’t the subject of material gathering quests, after all. c.u.mont also decided to finish them off with one attack.

「Reene, could you lure them out?」(c.u.mont)

What should I do? It would be better if I could made them leave the water without killing them. Shall I let loose a weak lightning? Ah, but I can’t. I had decided that my attribute were fire and water.

『Ice Needle』

I tried to launch some ice needles near the red markers.

Immediately, fish, that looked like large-fanged flying fish, jumped out and flew towards us.

『Fireball』

The ones that came towards me were incinerated. Because they were wet, there were sizzling sounds. c.u.mont also slashed them down with a single sword slash.

「Three more are coming!」(Reene)

「Ok!」(c.u.mont)

『Fireball』

c.u.mont also moved in a way that wouldn’t make him lost his footing and brought them down without a problem.

It was finally over. Because they were small monsters, there were no cores.

After we ascended the waterfall, we would take a rest and then begin to search for Macacari Leaves.

I had studied about them in the 『Low Rank Monsters and Herbs Ill.u.s.trated Reference』. Macacari Leaves had a maple leaf-like shape and a deep blue color. A blue maple leaf. If you rubbed it, it would produce a sap that had a scent similar to that of mint and could be used as a poultice. It seemed that it was effective for bruises and the like. Five pieces of leaves were worth one Silver. So at the very least, I needed to find five of these.

When we found the herb, it usually had five or six leaves. It was written in the『Low Rank Monsters and Herbs Ill.u.s.trated Reference』 book to take only one or two leaves at a time, lest it would wither.

They wouldn’t purchase the small ones. So I would choose only the full-grown leaves.

We took our lunch a bit distance away from the riverside.

「So Reene could notice when monsters approached.」(c.u.mont)

As expected, he noticed it again. Should I say that it was a magic or that it was a skill? Oh, the term 「Skill」 was unknown in this world. it would be translated as “Arts”.[5] I was a bit worried, but I honestly answered by altering the truth just a bit.

「It was the Arts 『Search』 I’ll know if enemies are approaching.」(Reene)

「How convenient. How can you obtain it?」(c.u.mont)

「I obtained it quite easily. I deliberately searched for the enemy’s presence and whether or not they would come, and then I obtained it.」(Reene)

「Even I have always been doing that, too.」(c.u.mont)

「That’s also true.」(Reene)

Skill acquisition was something that some people could obtain while others couldn’t even when they did the exact same thing. I didn’t think was from a talent. If it was just simply perceiving presences, then surely c.u.mont was better.

Even among the Knights, none of them had it.

Even for 『Compounding』, I believe that the number of people who had this was low. Even if they had acc.u.mulated lots of work experience, it didn’t mean that they would obtain the skill. Not everyone could obtain the same skills.

This was just a conjecture, but I believed that whether or not a skill could be acquired by someone had already been decided from the start.

No one with low mana had skills. For people with 200 MP, there was few people with skills, but this doesn’t not mean that they don’t exist.

There should still some chances for c.u.mont. Furthermore, he was still 17 years old. It was still a growth period for him.

「Surely there would be an Arts that could only be performed by c.u.mont. So I think it will be good for you to study various types.」(Reene)

「I wish I had a fire Arts or something.」(c.u.mont)

「Yeah. It sounds strong. Cool and Strong, perhaps it will be better if it had a stylish name, too.」(Reene)

「What do you mean?」(c.u.mont)

「Like Dancing Flame, or Crimson Blade, or Inferno Bird.」(Reene)

I tried to remember the Chuuni names and mentioned them to him one by one.

By the way, Cyan-san’s skill was called 『Dance of Ice Flowers』. I haven’t seen him use it yet, though. Perhaps it was a very beautiful and strong skill. I wanted to see it for a bit. As expected from the 『Icy Prince』.

「Also, c.u.mont is light-weight, so speed-oriented Arts would also be good.」(Reene)

「Ah, the ones who battle with speed.」(c.u.mont)

「Un. How about an Arts that combines both fire and speed?」(Reene)

「Oh. That sounds nice.」(c.u.mont)

「It’s like c.u.mont’s own winning formula.」(Reene)

It was like aiming to pa.s.s the exam.

「An Arts, right? …… Yeah, that's true. I also need to try many things, too.」(c.u.mont)

「Un. This is just a conjecture, but if it an Arts that you could obtain, then you could easily perform it.」(Reene)

When the sun was leaning towards the west, we went down the mountain river and returned the way we came.

The horse we released in the morning was also safely waiting for us. It was thanks to the magic tool.

Today's results were only the Macacari’s leaves. Twenty two leaves meant two silver coins. As I thought, the income from gathering the Poison Cat’s cores on the gra.s.slands was larger. This was what we had discussed while travelling on horseback, when suddenly a group of Wardogs came out. The Wardogs had figures like large-sized shepherd dogs. They were agile monsters with sharp fangs. Five of its cores was worth 6 Silvers. The guild point for them was also high.

「Be careful, because these guys are fast on their feet.」(c.u.mont)

「Un.」(Reene)

「Since it’s just the four of them, let’s go with 2 for each.」(c.u.mont)

「Gotcha. Be careful, c.u.mont.」(Reene)

「No need to ask!」(c.u.mont)

At the same time as his reply, he unsheathed his sword and jumped high.

Meanwhile, I was the same as usual. The two Wardogs were burnt into oblivion with 『Fireball』.

I watched over c.u.mont, who easily killed the fast Wardogs. His body wasn’t big like the Blue Knights, but because of that, he was very nimble.

Just like with the Poison Cats, I incinerated the Wardogs that c.u.mont had killed.

If we were loitering around here too long, then we might encounter even more Wardogs. Wardogs were monster with the highest points amongst the F rank quests. We had discussed whether or not we should wait around a little bit longer, but we were running out of time today. We decided to do this at another time, and so, we mounted the horse and left the forest.

As soon as we left the forest, we encountered c.o.c.katrices. It was also a target monster for F rank material gathering. We were on horseback this time, so were able to evade them if we like.

「What a coincidence. Should we get them?」(c.u.mont)

「Un.」(Reene)

「Two for each.」(c.u.mont)

「Okay, 『Protection Membrane』.」(Reene)

Just to be on the safe side, I put another protection membrane on c.u.mont. After all, if the c.o.c.katrice successfully attack, then that means petrifaction.

c.u.mont helped me to dismount the horse.

A c.o.c.katrice was a monster in the shape of a giant chicken, but it was also fast on its feet. They rushed at us and jabbed their hard beaks at us . Their beaks were the materials that we needed to gather. I used 『Freeze』 on the two c.o.c.katrices in my share at the same time and then it was all over.

I looked at c.u.mont and he had also defeated them without any trouble. It was with a single hit.

c.u.mont's sword swung at the c.o.c.katrice’s neck quickly without losing its mark. Blood was splas.h.i.+ng. The body which had lost its neck fell after running for several steps. Whoa, I shouldn’t have seen it.

「Sorry, did it gross you out a bit?」(c.u.mont)

「Yeah. Sorry, for being an adventurer like this.」(Reene)

Since as expected, I couldn’t look directly at the work of removing the beak, I was waiting a distance away. It took more time and labor to remove the beaks than it did for the bee stingers, so the fee for c.u.mont would be 5 Coppers this time. Five c.o.c.katrice's beak will be worth 1 Silver. To gather five beaks, then I will need to hand over 25 Coppers to c.u.mont, so my share of rewards would be smaller than it was from the Killer Bees. But I should pay 5 Coppers for this task, right? Since it was b.l.o.o.d.y gorey stuff..

✦✧✦✧✦

The next day, we headed out to the gra.s.slands.

Poison Cats often appeared, so we were happy since it was easy to collect points.

Since none of us got injured today, too, I was able to keep my Healer profession as a secret.

Perhaps if it wasn’t a serious injury, then I’ll bring out a potion instead.

c.u.mont was easy to talk with and it was really easy to get along with him.

The money for the fees for retrieving the materials from the monsters – it wasn’t so cheap that it made me feel bad and it also wasn’t too expensive. Since our monetary senses of value were similar, this was another reason for our very good relations.h.i.+p.

He had treated me to tea in the guild when we had first met, but it was because he thought that he had s.n.a.t.c.hed the points from me. Since then we had been splitting the costs evenly, we paid for our own shares. After all, we were on an equal terms relations.h.i.+p.

Talking about trivial things and laughing, teaching me an adventurer’s know-how as my senior, even though the difference was ever so slight, and fervently discussing which food stalls had the most delicious Kukru, c.u.mont gave out a feeling similar to that of a school friend. Until now, it was only c.u.mont who gave out this impression, so I really treasured this moment. After all, Agnes was more like an onee-san.

After we went adventuring for two consecutive days, we headed towards the quest completion counter in the adventurer's guild while chatting about our good vibes towards each other. This time, c.u.mont ranking up to E-Rank. This wasn’t strange, considering that he started as an adventurer earlier than me and he was doing adventurer tasks every day.

「That’s wonderful, c.u.mont. Congratulations.」(Reene)

「Yeah!」(c.u.mont)

「Reene-sama is also close to a Rank Up.」(Staff)

The receptionist onii-san told me so.

「Reene would also have one soon. Good job.」(c.u.mont)

「Yay!」(Reene)

We received our rewards and then we exited the guild. We bought a Kecha at the food stall and had a Rank Up celebration.

「Cheers!」(Reene)

「Cheers!」(c.u.mont)

「Congratulations. Have you seen what the E-rank quests will be?.」(Reene)

「Oh, they aren’t that different from F-rank. E-rank quests will also call for collecting materials or medicinal herbs near Coltea. It’s still the same basic thing. The difficulty will start to increase when upon reaching the D-rank.」(c.u.mont)

「I see. And there will be escort and delivery quests for D-rank, and there may be tasks that would take a few days.」(Reene)

「Yes, E-rank quests are is still only single day trips.」(c.u.mont)

「Even though we were finally able to work together, this is just a temporary farewell.」(Reene)

「Yeah, the gathering locations are different between E–rank and F–rank quests. But you will Rank Up soon, right? Let's go together again when Reene becomes an E-Rank adventurer.」(c.u.mont)

「Un, you’re right.」(Reene)

I couldn’t say, “please wait until I Rank Up, so I could travel with you again”. Unlike c.u.mont, who was working as an adventurer every day, I had my Healer work and the research at the library. Three days a week was my limit. In addition, c.u.mont's goal was to become an S-rank. Beyond that point, there were gigantic monsters like the pseudo-Stegosaurus that had destroyed his village.

“I will surely be E-rank soon. Let’s meet again that time”, We exchanged this promise and parted away that day.

☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽

[1] A request is for 5 Poison Cat’s Cores. So Reene could finish 2 quests at the same time.

[2] The original is 人は見かけによらない

[3] CULTURAL NOTES: Ojamas.h.i.+masuおじゃましますliterally means ”I'm going to get in your way” or ” I will disturb you”, it is used as a greeting that you said when you enter someone else’s home. Like itadakimasu, gochisousama, ittekimasu, itterashai, tadaima, okaeri, and yoros.h.i.+ku onegais.h.i.+masu, it was phrase that was rather hard to translate literally into English. When you leave, you will say “Ojamas.h.i.+mas.h.i.+ta”.

[4] Cyan was just elevated into the mother’s position. Okaa-san is mother if you don’t understand j.a.panese.

[5] Actually, スキル(sukiru) and技 (waza), both basically mean Skill. So I changed it into Arts.

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