Volume 2 - CH 148

The carriage moved along with a rattling sound.

So far, no major monsters had appeared, so we were able to proceed in relatively safe progress.

The most important thing to keep in mind when monsters appear is not to let them attack the horses.

If the horses are attacked, you cannot move the carriage, let alone get away, so one person must always stay close to the horses to protect them from the monsters.

However, Alena’s skills are so excellent that the horses have never been in danger.

The horses have never been in danger, however, because Alena’s skills are so good that they are able to stop the horses before they come to us.

Star Horse seems to understand that it has never been in danger, and it seems to like Alena a lot, who is protecting it.

It has been a long time since we left the village, but both Alena and I are already familiar with defeating monsters.

If we see medicinal herbs occasionally, we stop by there and pick some to bring the herbs back to the village.

This is something that I do as well, and in this way I was able to collect many things that could be used as ingredients for recovery potions.

How do you identify the type of medicinal herbs if you don’t have an atlas? ……

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– Hipo grass –

Medicinal herbs grow in abundance in this world.

They are used to make recovery potions, but they have been overharvested around the nation, and it is now impossible to gather sufficient quantities of medicinal herbs without going deep into the forests.

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―Pozu Grass―

This is a poisonous herb that grows in abundance in this world.

It is easily mistaken for the Hipo grass because it looks very similar. Ingestion of a small amount is not a problem, and even if ingested, it will only cause a stomach upset.

The best way to identify it is by the purple discoloration at the base of the stem.

If you cut it off, it is very difficult to tell them apart, but it is still possible to tell them apart because the underside of the leaves darkens a little when exposed to light.

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I asked the Voice of Heaven to confirm that these were indeed medicinal herbs, so there was no mistake.

I was surprised to find that there were also poisonous medicinal herbs, but I was able to avoid them all with the help of the Voice of Heaven’s explanation.

I thank you for once, Voice of Heaven.

“Ouren, I picked it.”

“All right, I’ll check on that too, so please spread it out.”

“Yeees”

I ask Alena to spread out the herbs she brought me and check to see if they are indeed hipos grass.

It’s a little tricky to have the same words keep playing in my head, but I have to do it right because this is necessary.

It would be a shame to sell them poisonous herb.

Of course, they will check properly, but I still want to make sure this doesn’t happen.

It is said that the trust of others is important for an adventurer, and it is not good to stumble at the first step.

While I was sorting through all the herbs in the carriage, the two people sitting next to me and in front of me, resting their bodies, were glaring at each other like sparks flying.

“…”

“……Aniki”

“What”

“Why! Why is she in this carriage?”

“We’re going to the same place. Nothing wrong with that.”

“It may be the case, but…! But ……”

I understand what you are implying about, Reizen.

I also understand that you are not happy to sit in the same seat after so many arguments, but this is something that we should do for the future.

We need to gain trust in this kind of situation.

I hope that Reizen will be able to deal with these matters calmly, although I don’t emphasize it too much because he still seems to be emotionally driven in these matters. ……

Because that’s what I also meant by naming you 【Reizen】. (Just in case you forget, his name means : Gradually advancing from zero)

However, it was not only Reizen who was dissatisfied, but also Yurie seemed to feel the same way, who sat in the carriage with her mouth constantly pouting and a grumpy expression on her face.

Next to her is Rose.

Rose was listening to Reizen’s words with an affectionate smile on her face, but she seemed to be on edge, wondering when Yurie would get furious again.

“You’re too childish. Grow up.”

“I’m 18 years old this year.”

“Aren’t you just a kid, then!”

I just double-checked and you’re so young, Reizen!

I do think he just looks like he’s stopped growing at that age!

However, eighteen years old is still a young boy.

They will encounter many things that they don’t understand and things that are unreasonable, and I hope that they will not become emotionally attached to anything like this.

“Ouren! Monster!(Ahead)”

“All right, let’s go now.”

Alena told me about the approaching monsters, so I stopped sorting through the medicinal herbs and tried to get out of the carriage.

Before I could get out, Rose stopped me.

“Ouren-san!”

“Mmm? What is it?”

“Can you please leave this to us? I don’t feel comfortable letting you do this alone.”

“I see. Then, I’ll leave it to you.”

“Yes, I’ll take care of it. Come on, Yurie.”

Rose got out of the carriage with her staff and Yurie grumpily carried the battle-axe that was left next to her.

Since it was a good opportunity to watch the S-rank adventurers fight, I decided to go out and observe them.

Reizen didn’t come with me, but that didn’t matter.

I went outside to see what kind of monsters had appeared, and there were about six large grasshopper-like monsters in the air.

I didn’t want to look directly at them because they were about the size of a human being, which made them look so unpleasant. …… If I did that and they came at us, I wouldn’t be able to look at them, so I had to watch their movements carefully.

“Uchikage, what is that?”

“It’s a Buglegua, I think. They like to eat trees and stuff, so they must have come after this carriage.”

(Fui: バグレグア ; baguregua = Buglegua, or should I translate it as Bugleweed? It sounds like a Pokemon name somehow.)

I wondered if it was possible to get a bite out of a small piece of processed wood, as there were plenty of other trees around.

But apparently, they can’t eat any large trees that grow in the area.

The bark of the tree is the only thing that the Buglegua are unable to take a bite out of.

I wondered why they could gnaw on branches but not tree bark, but I decided not to go too deeply into the matter.

Normally, they eat small twigs and branches, but processed wood like this (Carriage) is a treat for the Buglegua, it seems.

“All right, Yurie, the usual, please.”

“Yes, yes.”

They both sighted the enemy and immediately readied the weapons they were carrying.

Yurie held her battle axe on the lower level and turned her body slightly to the side, using her right leg as an axis.

“… 【Flash Axe 】 “

When Yurie swung her battle axe, the Buglegua in her path was cut in two.

Apparently it is a skill that can send slashes flying, just like my skill, Tenwari.

I don’t know why they didn’t use that one when she was battling Reizen, but …… well, even if she did use that one, it wouldn’t have reached Reizen.

Yurie swung the axe three times as it was and accurately took out the Buglegua.

The Buglegua that was cut in two seemed to have died out convulsively.

Once the bug was cut in two, even though it was an insect, its high vitality would have been meaningless.

“Hmm! That’s it! Take care of the rest!”

“Well, ……, you’ve done this much, you can at least do all of it!”

“You want to show them what you can do, don’t you? Come on, let’s get on with it!”

“Busted, huh……”

They volunteered to take on the task of defeating it. Of course they will find out.

But I’m grateful that she volunteered to do it.

Rose seems to be a magician, and she might be able to use some magic.

Irza had taught me the difference between skills and magic, but in the end, I had never had the opportunity to actually learn it.

I don’t even know how to convert the magic power used for skills, and I have never even seen it before.

I thought it would be good if I could learn it in the Zenki-viillage, but there were no Oni to teach me because they are more skilled at close combat and other skills than at magic.

I’m interested in magic as opposed to skills, and the skills I have now could be made stronger.

I haven’t seen any magic yet, but I will watch the battle scene in the hope that Rose will use it.

” 【Water Ball】 , 【Rifle Water】 “

The name of an unfamiliar and familiar skill was mentioned.

A small ball of water appeared around her, and when Rose chanted Rifle Water next, its shape transformed into a bullet-like shape instead of a round water bullet.

The transformed rifle water bullet was then fired at Buglegua.

It was impossible to follow the speed of the bullet with the eye, the water had disappeared, and the next thing I knew, the Buglegua had collapsed.

“Hmmm, I guess I could do that one.”

“…… I won’t be surprised anymore.”

“Hmm? Did I say something weird?”

I don’t know if it can be fired at an incredible velocity, but the concept seems simple enough to visualize.

Perhaps if air is stored in the part containing the gunpowder by air compression, it would be possible to fire a water bullet like an air gun?

Well, it is easier said than done.

Even if I have the image in my mind, I don’t know if I can do it.

I’ll ask Rose to teach me later.

“All right! Shall we begin to dismantle it?”

“Alena will help you!”

“Buglegua has valuable eyeballs. Try not to damage them, okay?”

“Okay!”

The three of them went to dismantle the Buglegua.

It takes a long time to dismantle them, so in our case, we’d burn them with Reizen’s Explosive Fist before we go, but this time, those two hunted them, so let them do what they want to do.

“I guess we can leave it to those three here.”

“I guess so. But are S-rank adventurers like that?”

“Your voice is too loud, Ouren-sama.  Normally, you can’t make a slash flew like that. I think Yurie-dono has a very good handle on it. I don’t know much about magic, so I have no idea how great Rose-dono is.”

Hmmm. I guess I’ll have to learn some common sense first.

Let’s hear what they have to say along the way.