Chapter 14 Shocked By The Automatic Herb Collection
I defeated Ulger-san, a former member of the hero party, and officially became an adventurer.
After receiving some guidance from the receptionist Niina-san, I set out on my first quest.
"So, the first quest is... herb collection, huh?"
Me and the witch Mercury-san headed to the forest on the outskirts of the capital city.
Yes, the first quest is to find medicinal herbs.
It seems like all beginners start with this quest.
"I thought Leaf-kun would come up with something outrageous like subduing an ancient dragon from the beginning."
"You wouldn't do something like that, right? I know my limits."
"Limits... isn't that a story from Hero Village?"
"Yes, I was the weakest in that village!"
I come from a remote village called Dead End.
In that place, there were many strong people like the witch Granny Merlin and the swordsman old man Arthur.
Compared to them, I still have a long way to go.
But Mercury-san sighed as if exhausted and said,
"You know... that Grandmother Merlin and Grandfather Arthur are legendary heroes..."
According to Mercury-san, that village is called the [Hero Village], where retired great heroes gather.
But even after hearing the explanation, I couldn't really feel it. It's not that I doubt Mercury-san's words...
Granny and the others have been by my side since I can remember.
They are certainly strong and knowledgeable people, but somehow, I can only see them as elder people from the neighborhood.
Perhaps because they have been by my side for so long, or maybe because I have never seen the impact they have had on this world...
"By the way, why is Mercury-san following me?"
Since I received the request at the guild, Mercury has been following me from behind.
She lets out a big sigh and explains,
"I'm your [buddy]. It's a system called [Buddy]."
"Buddy?"
"Yeah. It means like a partner. When beginners join the Divine Gemstone guild, a veteran adventurer is assigned to them as an advisor."
"Like to take care of them?"
"Yeah. To make sure they don't do anything reckless and to teach them the basics of adventuring."
I see... so it's like a supervisor and an educator.
But it's a good system.
"With this, newbies won't make ignorant mistakes, right?"
"Yeah... that's right..."
Mercury-san seems to be looking at me with a piercing gaze.
What's with that look?
"I'm in a position like an external advisor...but it seemed like there was no one else who could take care of Leaf-kun, so I'll be accompanying for a while. Please take care of me."
"I see! I'll do my best not to cause any trouble, so please take care of me too!"
Mercury-san smiled awkwardly and muttered something quietly, "I'm already involved, but..." What could it be?
"Now, let's gather medicinal herbs. Even if you're strong, you start from rank F, so it's a reasonable job, I think..."
Adventurers have ranks.
It seems that adventurers in the capital city start from the lowest rank no matter how amazing their results are in the exam.
Then, depending on the contribution to the guild, the rank keeps increasing.
"Leaf-kun should have no problem picking up medicinal herbs."
"Well, picking medicinal herbs is quite difficult, you know?"
"Well, for beginners. It's hard to distinguish between normal grass and medicinal herbs."
What?
Mercury-san, what are you talking about?
"Mercury-san, just regular grass and medicinal herbs are as different as night and day."
"Well, it's not that extreme... Even some veterans can't tell them apart, and without the Appraisal skill, even I would find it difficult to distinguish."
Hmm, is it really that difficult? They're completely different though.
"Anyway, distinguishing between medicinal herbs and regular grass is not difficult at all. At least for me."
"Oh, really. Well then, let's see your skills in action."
It seems that Mercury-san is not going to say anything more and will just watch how I gather medicinal herbs.
I nod and extend my right hand.
"Come."
With just one word.
And then...
Small green lights begin to float around the area.
The light orbs float gently in the air.
The lights gather one by one at my feet.
Soon, when the lights disappear, a pile of medicinal herbs has formed.
"Alright."
"Alright, WHAT THE HECK!"
Whoa, that scared me.
Mercury-san, who was quiet next to me, suddenly shouts.
"What's wrong?"
"That's my line! What was that just now!? A special skill!?"
"No, it's not. I just called out to the herbs. Like, 'come here.'"
"Called out...?"
"Yeah. Since I was a kid, I've been gathering herbs. At first, I couldn't tell them apart from regular grass, but then my master advised me to listen to the voices of the herbs..."
And then, at some point, I started hearing [voices] from the herbs.
"Voices, you... isn't that just hallucinating?"
"No, but once I could talk to the herbs, I could tell the difference between herbs, regular grass, and even poisonous ones."
After that, I talked a lot with the medicinal herbs, and as a result, I became able to gather the herbs just by calling out to them.
"Hmm... maybe Leaf-kun was talking to a spirit."
"A spirit, you say?"
"Yes. It's said that all the substances in this world are inhabited by spirits. Like the spirit of the wind causes the wind to blow, and the spirit of fire causes fire. In Leaf-kun's case, maybe he was communicating with the spirit of the earth, which is the spirit of the plants."
"Even though it's a plant, it's the spirit of the earth?"
"Yes, because it's said that there are only six types of spirits in this world: earth, water, fire, wind, darkness, and light. There's no such thing as a spirit of plants, that's for sure."
Hmm, but it doesn't really feel like the spirit of the earth.
Even if I speak to the earth, it doesn't respond.
"High-level magicians converse with spirits to gain their power. Leaf-kun also gains power by communicating with the spirit dwelling in the medicinal herbs, and as a result, the herbs come to you automatically... maybe."
"Wow."
That's the reason. I didn't know.
"And what's with this mountain of herbs!?"
At my feet, herbs were still coming towards me continuously.
Several piles of herbs had formed.
"Um, these are herbs for submission to the guild."
"We don't need this many!"
"But the request was to collect as many herbs as possible."
Mercury-san said incredulously,
"Usually, newbies can't tell the difference between medicinal herbs and regular grass. If a newbie can gather 100 grams in a day, that's fine. It's strange to collect in kilos like this!"
"Oh, so everyone struggles with this kind of work?"
"Don't ever mention that at the guild. It could spark unnecessary conflicts."
Why is she getting mad...
it's such an easy task. Listening to the herbs, it should be easy to gather, right?
Well, if kind Mercury-san says so, let's stop talking about it in the guild.
It's probably a well-intentioned advice, and I don't want to ignore it.
"Okay."
"That's good. Wait! Are more medicinal herbs piling up!?"
A mountain of medicinal herbs keeps growing.
"Hey, if you leave them alone, medicinal herbs from all over gather on their own."
Mercury-san hesitantly plunges her hand into the mountain of medicinal herbs and activates the Appraisal skill.
"WHAAAAAAAT!? The quality of the medicinal herbs is S!? It's super high-quality medicinal herbs! Why!?"
"Well... It seems that calling for them to be collected results in better quality than picking them by hand."
Mercury-san mutters in dismay.
"I wonder if the spirits are trying to please Leaf-kun by raising the quality of the medicinal herbs...? Even so, it's abnormal to have fully automatic medicinal herb collection + greatly improved quality..."
"Wait, but if you're a Pharmacist, isn't this kind of thing natural for you?"
Mercury-san's veins popped on her forehead...
"THERE'S NO WAYYYYY THAT'S POSSIBLE!"
She shouted with all her might.
This person gets surprised over every little thing.
"A Pharmacist, basically, is like a lower-level version of an Alchemist! They're just good at gathering ingredients and making potions from herbs!"
"Huh? But master could do this kind of stuff just fine, though?"
"That's becausssse! That master of yours is weird!"
Huh, really...
"Master isn't weird, though?"
"I don't know! I'm saying he's abnormal!"
"He's a kind-hearted person, definitely not abnormal..."
"I'm not questioning his personality! I'm saying his abilities are abnormal!"
"Well, Master is amazing, though."
"YOU'RE AMAZING TOOOO!"
Is that so...?
But compared to master, I'm not that great, and the village elders, Granny and the others, are like, "Enough already!"
Mercury-san chimed in again.
Maybe this automatic herb collector thing was weird after all...
"Uh, so, um... is this weird too?"
"Do you still have something else to say...? I'm tired of all these comments..."
I bent my knees.
Bent my arms too.
"What are you planning to do?"
"I picked too many herbs, so I thought I might as well plant some."
"Huh...?"
From my bent-knee position, I raised both hands and jumped up, saying, "One, two~~~!"
Then...
Pop!
"They're growing!? The herbs!?"
Pop, pop!
Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop!
"Alright!"
"IT'S NOT ALRIGHHHHHHT!"
Whoa, that startled me.
"What was that just now!?"
"I just put back the herbs I picked, that's all?"
"Put back the herbs? What does that mean!?"
"Well, you see, I talk to the herbs, telling them to grow back, and then they do... um, they do grow back, right?"
Mercury-san held her head and squatted down.
"Oh... did I do something wrong...?"
Then she suddenly tensed up again, veins popping on her forehead...
"Something? Not just something! Everything! You've gone too far! SERIOUSLYYYYYY!"
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