Chapter 38

"Haa, I'm kind of tired."

"What's wrong? You seem more limp than usual."

"Aren't you going to hunt for magic stones?"

It had been over ten days since the reflection meeting. Since then, we had resumed hunting in the northern cave and were grinding for magic stones and leveling up.

Now, it was morning again, and we were deciding what to do today at the inn. I was feeling quite exhausted and couldn't get out of bed.

"Hmm, maybe we should take a break from collecting magic stones."

"…What?"

When I said that, they looked surprised and spoke up.

What? Did I say something that strange?

"Mr. Ohtaka, are you okay? Are you feeling unwell?"

"You don't have a fever... Should you take a universal medicine?"

Nole spoke to me in a disbelieving tone, and Estelle checked my forehead to see if I had a fever.

Hey, do I look that bad that I need to take a universal medicine?

"I'm fine."

"No way, for Mr. Ohtaka to say something like that, something must be wrong... Ifai! It's Ifai, right..."

Hey, hey, are you kidding? She raised her hands to shoulder height and made a gesture of exasperation.

I ended up stretching my cheeks, which I hadn't done in a while.

"Really, what do you think of me?"

"Hehe, Mr. Ohtaka is just not himself, you know."

"Muu... Thanks."

Did she sense that I was feeling a bit down and tried to cheer me up?

I feel like I'm getting back to my usual self a little.

Thinking about the unknown future really brings me down.

Drawing the job I wanted in the gacha... I can't help but think back to when I used to play GC.

The constant disappointment of seeing "Nope!" after the rainbow animation, and the despair of seeing the cost of the magic card.

But when I finally got what I wanted, the joy was overwhelming... Ah, I'm starting to want to do gacha again.

"So, what are we going to do today?"

"Hmm... How about we take a break and do some guild quests? We've only done monster hunts for our promotion quests."

Let's skip the hunting in the northern cave today and take on some other quests.

●

"Wow, this is a peaceful place."

"Indeed. I feel like my body is tingling."

"It's nice to be in a place like this once in a while."

We are now in a vast green meadow with a river flowing through it, offering a great view.

We went to the Adventurers' Guild and accepted a C-rank quest to gather herbs, which brought us here.

There's a forest nearby where the Siski grass we need grows.

There are often wolf-type monsters wandering in this forest, but they shouldn't be a problem for us.

Siski grass has white orbs attached to it. I've seen a picture, but I wonder if such a plant really exists.

The main habitat is in the forest, but it apparently grows a little in this meadow as well. We need to collect 20 of them.

"Hmm, this is quite a large area. It might take a while to find them all."

"Ah, I found some already!"

The meadow and the forest are quite large, so it wouldn't be easy to find them.

But when I thought that, Nole found some right away, making me almost fall over.

"Surprisingly, we found them quickly."

"Maybe it was just a coincidence?"

Nole happily picked the Siski grass.

At this rate, we should be able to collect them quickly. Once we're done, we can take a break here.

The sun is shining, and it's a very pleasant place. Perfect for a change of pace.

"…Yeah, it was just a coincidence."

"I can't find any at all..."

After searching for a few minutes, we found nothing except the first batch.

When you start off well, it always ends up like this!

It's often a rollercoaster of emotions, and I feel like I'm being teased.

"Hmm, I guess we have to go into the forest."

"Even though we accepted a peaceful herb-gathering quest, it ends up like this."

I thought we could finish without encountering any monsters, but it seems we have to go into the forest.

Fighting a few monsters would be fine, but there are many that will detect us once we're inside.

As we approached the forest, we noticed a small white creature crouched at the edge.

"Huh? What's that?"

"Ah, that's it!?"

"Do you know what it is, Nole?"

Nole was surprised and shouted loudly.

She always seems to know a lot about things. Maybe I should ask her about something next time.

"That's a Fortuna Rabbit! It's said that seeing one brings happiness, a very fortunate creature!"

"Aww, it's so cute."

She excitedly waved her hands up and down, more intensely than usual.

She seems very excited. I guess it's rare to see something that brings happiness.

Estelle also thought it was cute.

Looking closely, it has red eyes, long ears, and a curled tail... It's a rabbit, just as the name suggests. But it has a faint heart pattern on its body.

...Is this a normal creature? Is it not a monster?

But from their reactions, it doesn't seem to be.

"Ah... I'm satisfied just to see it."

"Something's wrong... Huh? What's going on?"

She let out a "Hau~" sound. I can't help but find it cute too.

I was watching the crouched rabbit, but then I noticed something strange.

It seems to be looking at us and trembling in fear, but it's not trying to run away.

"Ah... It's injured..."

"Wow, it's quite deep. Can we heal it with this?"

As I approached, it trembled and tried to run but fell again.

Nole went over to it, careful not to startle it, and examined its leg, which was injured.

I also went closer and saw a deep puncture wound, and it was bleeding quite a bit. It's amazing it managed to escape in this condition.

Nole watched the rabbit nervously.

Since there was no other choice, I decided to give it a potion to heal the wound.

I'm not sure if it will work on non-humans.

Nole took the potion and poured the liquid into her hand. She brought it to the rabbit's mouth, and it started to lick it.

After it licked enough, the wound began to glow and heal.

Wow, I've never had an external injury before, but potions can heal wounds too.

"Sure enough, it's a gacha potion."

"Really, it healed so quickly."

"Hau~ That's good. Be careful on your way back."

Nole stroked the rabbit once and stood up to leave.

The rabbit also stood up and followed her, hopping along behind her.

"Huh, what's going on?"

"Maybe it likes you?"

Nole caught up to the rabbit, which looked up at her with teary eyes.

"Hmm... Mr. Ohtaka?"

"No way."

She looked like she wanted to say something, probably that she wanted to take it with us.

But that's not possible. We don't have a place to keep it, and we can't bring it into the inn.

"Can't you... Can't you do something?"

"Is this a monster?"

"It's a Fortuna Rabbit."

"Oh..."

She kept pleading.

When I asked if it was a monster, she insisted it was a rabbit. Well, it doesn't seem harmful, so that's fine.

After a long argument, I finally gave in.

By the time we finished gathering the herbs, the sunset was already lighting up the surroundings. My change of pace didn't really happen.

By the way, I later found out that this rabbit can be kept as a pet.

It's quite intelligent and will become very attached once it likes you.

For now, I'll have to find an inn that allows pets...