Chapter 71

### Day 4, Midday - Finally Arrived at the Destination

We had heard it was a cluster of ruins, but it looked like an abandoned stone village. Thanks to the grass cutting, it wasn't buried in the forest but stood in a spacious, open area. There were collapsed stone houses, and in the center of the village, there was a dome-shaped building. It looked like two domes stacked on top of each other, as if a snowman had been squished. This one seemed to have only minor damage.

"There are two more ruins in a similar condition not far from here. It's believed that the three were built for some purpose."

As I dismounted and gazed at the scene, Lady Nylva informed me.

"Do they know what purpose?"

"No, they don't. There seems to be an altar-like structure in the central building, but so far, no one has been able to determine its age or purpose."

There's a possibility that monsters might be living inside, so we haven't entered the ruins yet. We're setting up camp in the open space where we can see everything. Lady Nylva stood beside me, her eyes sparkling.

"Ah, what a beautiful building."

I didn't find it particularly beautiful. It had no decorations, and it wasn't made of gold. But it was a rare architectural style in this world. Still, Lady Nylva seemed satisfied.

From what I gathered, Lady Nylva isn't really interested in history; she enjoys seeing ancient beauty or mysterious things that can't be seen today. Well, I find that exciting too. But to be honest, I had imagined something grand like a temple or a stone circle, so I thought, "Hmm, this is a bit underwhelming..." but I kept that to myself.

Lady Nylva eagerly opened her notebook and started sketching.

I moved away and joined in the camp preparations.

Everyone seemed to have processed yesterday's events in their own way, and today was back to normal from the morning. A couple of people were overzealous in trying to be helpful.

I'm not a counselor or anything, and I don't have the protagonist's ability to change people with casual words. I can't come up with clever things to say. I just think, "It'll work out somehow," every day.

"Reito, can we use these for dinner?"

Quen, who had been scouting the area, brought back a few birds. I gratefully accepted them. Wait, that's odd. Did I become the cook? Well, I want to eat something delicious, so it's fine.

"Karaage!?"

As I was preparing the birds, Rada came over with sparkling eyes.

"Ordinary skewers."

I don't want to fry things two days in a row. Rada looked a bit disappointed and went back to the tent. Hey, why don't you come back and help? Oh, I asked Rada to increase the production of healing potions. We can't afford to be unprepared.

I seasoned the birds with salt and pepper, skewered them, and started grilling. I began with high heat to crisp the outside, then switched to low heat to cook them thoroughly. Since I had some free time, I thought about making soup.

While peeling potatoes, I noticed Koushin talking with Nelgie. They seemed to be having a friendly conversation, or rather, Nelgie was practicing sword techniques. He was learning the adventurer's way of using a sword. Nelgie is a good person.

I threw the potatoes and carrots into the pot, filled it with water, and put it on the fire. Oh, I can make broth from the bird bones. Since it's early today, I'll give it a try. I switched to a different pot, washed the bones, and started boiling them. I added ginger to eliminate any unpleasant odors and thought I might have added some scallions. I adjusted the heat to prevent it from boiling over. Scallions, right?

"Rada, can you use the cultivation skill now?"

I called out to the tent, and Rada poked her head out.

"Even a little bit is fine."

"Can you grow this? Ruruya."

Before we came, I had acquired a magical plant. I heard it looks like scallions, so it should work.

"Sure, but watch, okay?"

Ruruya isn't lonely. It runs when it grows. I've only heard about it; I've never seen it myself.

I asked Pantas, who was free, to watch the pot and planted a few Ruruya seeds at the edge of the camp.

"Here we go!"

Rada placed her hands over the soil and started to hum. I couldn't see anything coming out of her hands, but she said she was using magic, which is invisible.

Soon, changes began. Green heads poked out of the soil and started growing rapidly, like a fast-forwarded video. It was pretty impressive.

What grew was definitely scallions. When they reached about 20 centimeters, changes started at the tips.

"Rada, stop!"

If the scallions grew into little monks, it would be a problem.

Rada quickly removed her hands, but the changes didn't stop. The tips rounded, and the roots started to emerge from the soil. I grabbed the head (or whatever it was) of the Ruruya, which was trying to run with its thin roots.

Snap.

It broke. The monk part remained in my hand, and the green leaves scurried away. As I tried to chase them, another one emerged from the soil.

"Hey, wait!"

I grabbed the second body (or whatever it was) and chased the first one. I saw the third one trying to emerge.

"Rada, catch them!"

"Huh!?"

I caught the first one and turned around to see Rada on the ground and Quen approaching with raised fur. Oh, cats can't eat scallions, right? Oh, Nelgie caught it.

What about the others? Looking at where I planted them, two scallions without the monk part were left standing.

Rada's cultivation speed was faster than I expected. Next time, I'll stop her earlier.

I asked the now standing Rada, "Are you okay?" She had tripped while trying to catch them, not from overusing magic.

"Hey, what's this?"

Nelgie brought the one he caught over.

"Sorry. I was going to use it for cooking."

The Ruruya in his hand was still. The one I caught also didn't seem to be moving. Do they die if they're away from the soil for too long?

"I was surprised. What is this?"

Quen also came over. Her fur had calmed down.

"It's a magical plant called Ruruya. Quen, should we avoid it?"

"Why?"

"Isn't it bad for cats to eat scallions?"

Quen's nose twitched.

"I'm not a cat."

"Eh?"

Well, she didn't introduce herself as a cat anthropomorph. But she looks like a cat...

"Sure, I get that a lot. I'm a fox."

"Eh!?"

Where's the fox element?

"Anyway, our diet is the same as humans, with personal preferences."

"I see. Sorry for the misunderstanding."

I remembered having a similar conversation with a guild employee. Quen chuckled at my bowed head.

"It's fine. There are few anthropomorphs around here, so I'm used to it. I don't completely lack the characteristics, though."

Still, I need to be careful.

Apparently, she was just surprised by the "scallions" running towards her.

I took a bite of the Ruruya. Yeah, it's scallions. After confirming with an identification spell, I tore the non-monk parts and added them to the pot. Thanks to Pantas, who had carefully removed the scum, the soup was clear. I decided to cook it a bit longer.

The monk parts can be eaten raw. I chopped them finely and made a salad-like dish. They are supposed to be nutritious.

In the end, the soup took too long, so I decided to save it for tomorrow. I put it in Lady Nylva's bag. Nelgie chuckled, saying, "Are you fearless?"

The skewers and the Ruruya monk salad were delicious.