Chapter 9

The path to the east from the village is wide enough for a cart to pass through.

On both sides of the road are vast fields. Round vegetables, like cabbages, are growing there.

In places where the black soil is still visible, they might be preparing to plant or have just sown seeds.

A few farmers can be seen working in the fields. It feels like a bright and lively rural area.

After walking for a while, we came to a crossroads.

"The path to the left is for farmers to reach their fields. We'll go straight," Mikelan explained. The path looks quite impressive.

Perhaps farm roads are more important to the villagers than the main streets.

"The eastern forest is also known as the Spring Forest. It's just ahead, look! ... This stream flows from a spring in the northern part of the forest."

"Is that so? It's a beautiful stream."

Before I knew it, my sister had taken Meera's other hand, and we were walking side by side. They were talking above Meera's head. Is it just me, or does Meera seem to be having trouble walking?

When the fields on both sides of the road disappeared, the path suddenly narrowed, becoming more like a trail.

A farmer was cultivating a wasteland, but since he was far from the road, we didn't greet him.

When the wasteland turned into a meadow, we could finally see the eastern forest.

The forest stretches widely from north to south. From the way it rises in some places, it seems to have quite a bit of elevation.

Just before the trail entered the forest, there was a square area about 10 meters on each side.

There were signs of a fire, and five slightly larger stones surrounded the fire pit.

"We'll have lunch here!" Mikelan said.

With that, we started preparing for lunch. My sister took off her equipment, unrolled her poncho, and took out a paper-wrapped package.

"Akito, could you make tea, please?"

I took out a pot and utensils from my poncho and started boiling water with solid fuel.

Mikelan went into the forest and came back with two sticks. What are they for?

Once everyone was ready, my sister took out black bread from the paper package and started distributing it. I also poured tea into the mugs and handed them out.

"Delicious! This tea is rare, but it's even better when we eat together."

Mikelan was munching on the black bread while drinking tea.

"By the way, is Aril located deep in the forest?"

"Not really. ... At this time, they're probably sunbathing in the forest clearing."

Hmm, sunbathing? Mushrooms usually dislike strong light. But more importantly, what does "at this time" mean?

"Is it difficult to harvest them?"

My sister also seemed curious, but her perspective seemed a bit off.

"It's impossible for slow people. It's easy for us, the cat people. Meera will be fine. ... How about you, Akito?"

"I'm not sure about the criteria, but I managed to defeat a Gator."

"Then you'll be fine."

After listening to their conversation, I was even more confused. Why do you need to be quick to harvest mushrooms?

"Um... Do we need to use a special method to harvest them?"

Mikelan turned to me as I joined their conversation.

"Not really. ... Have you never harvested them before?"

"No, I've never heard of Aril until today."

"Let me explain. First, surround the Aril. Then attack all at once. The Aril will be surprised and try to escape, so chase them and hit them with the sticks."

"Can Aril move?"

My sister was surprised and asked.

"They're quick. But we, the cat people, are even quicker."

Sure enough, this is a different world. There are some incredible mushrooms. But thinking about it makes it sound fun.

I imagined my sister chasing mushrooms on the meadow, shouting "Stop!" while swinging a stick, and couldn't help but chuckle.

When I glanced at her, she was covering her mouth and laughing at me. Hmm, did she imagine the same thing?

"Let's get going."

At Mikelan's signal, we put our equipment back on and got up.

As soon as we entered the forest, Mikelan started cutting through the bushes with a one-handed sword.

"Beating Aril with sticks is surprisingly tricky. Tie a bundle of twigs to the end of the stick and use that to hit them."

It's a good demonstration, but... Mikelan, that looks like a broom.

Still, I followed her example and made brooms for my sister, Meera, and myself.

What would others think if they saw us walking through the forest with brooms?

My enthusiasm is waning, but is this really okay?

The dense forest is quite dark, but Mikelan keeps moving forward.

I'm a bit worried about strange animals, but I remember that Mikelan is a far superior hunter. She must be paying attention.

Suddenly, Mikelan stopped.

"It's just ahead. ... We'll turn right, but be careful not to make any noise."

Mikelan whispered to us, and we nodded in agreement.

We slowly moved away from the path and into the forest. The area ahead became slightly brighter.

As we moved forward, we saw a small clearing where no trees were growing.

Upon closer inspection, a group of mushrooms, like enoki mushrooms, were sunbathing. They were a bit larger than regular enoki mushrooms. ... But can they really move?

"Got it. I'll go in the middle. Akito, you go right. Mizuki, you go left, and Meera stays here. When I jump out, attack all at once."

She said this in a low voice and then moved through the forest at an astonishing speed.

As expected of the cat people. She moved so quickly without making a sound.

We left Meera behind and started moving.

Since we are human, we moved slowly.

When we circled to the right and peeked through the trees, the Aril hadn't noticed us yet.

I could see the tip of my sister's broom peeking out from the opposite trees. She seemed to be in position. Now we just had to wait for Mikelan's signal...

Suddenly, Mikelan jumped out of the bushes on the right, shouting "Meow!" and swinging her broom.

The Aril were surprised and ran towards us. Their movements, hopping and jumping, were quite quick.

We also emerged from the trees and bushes, swinging our brooms at the Aril.

One of the Aril, surprised by me, changed direction and I hit it with my broom. ... One down? Or one collected?

I chased and hit more fleeing Aril with my broom.

I had a simple question: Is this really harvesting? But for now, I focused on chasing and hitting them.

When there were no more Aril running around the clearing, we stopped. Checking our results, we had more than ten.

Mikelan checked each one and put them in the basket Meera was carrying.

"This one is no good. ... This one is fine."

Curious about her criteria, I walked over to Mikelan.

"Akito, dig a hole quickly."

I was given a task.

My sister took out a folding shovel from her rescue bag and handed it to me.

I started digging a hole. The rescue bag seems to have similar functions to a backpack. Otherwise, it would be full with just this.

I dug a hole about 50 cm in diameter and 1 meter deep. Meera brought over the Aril we had discarded, and my sister also brought some.

"Quickly, bury them!"

Following Mikelan's slightly anxious instructions, I quickly threw the discarded Aril into the hole and covered them with soil, tamping it down with my feet.

"Hurry, let's get away from here!"

Mikelan picked up Meera and ran through the clearing at an incredible speed.

We didn't understand what was happening but followed in the direction Mikelan ran.

We ran for what seemed like a long time.

We used the fallen trees as a guide to keep running.

"There they are!"

My sister pointed ahead. Two people seemed to be working there.

When we finally reached them, we found a small stream. They were laying large leaves from the water's edge at the bottom of the basket and washing the Aril we had collected, placing them inside.

"You're being quite thorough. Is it because they're a product?"

My sister asked Mikelan, who looked relieved after finishing the washing.

"No. Aril is a favorite of the KuruKuru. If the Aril has even a small wound, the KuruKuru will smell it and come."

Mikelan explained while placing a few large leaves on top of the Aril in the basket.

What! ... Is this like a food chain? If so, what is the KuruKuru that loves such quick Aril?

"We have 7 usable Aril. We'll get the other 3 tomorrow morning in the sandy area below."

Mikelan stood up energetically and declared with a victory pose.

With that decided, we immediately started preparing for camping. Let's go gather some firewood!