Chapter 18

Summary of the previous chapter ------------------------------------------------------

Head towards the Dindel tree.

On the way, we discuss whether we can fight against bandits, but we arrive without any incidents.

We leave Toya behind and start climbing the Dindel tree.

The Dindel tree, compared to the cedars and cypresses commonly seen in Japan, has a twisted trunk and many branches.

It is relatively easy to climb without special equipment, but we still take turns holding the rope for safety.

" somehow, it's a strange feeling... like I can tell where it's safe..."

"Yeah, that's what being an elf is all about. Alright, we're almost at the top."

The wind is quite strong at this point, but strangely, there's no sense of fear.

The branches, swaying in the wind, are laden with ripe fruits, as well as green and yellow ones.

According to Diora, we're past the midpoint of the Dindel season, but this tree alone seems to have enough fruit to last for a while.

"Let's split up and start picking. Don't overdo it, okay?"

Haruka, who has re-tied her safety rope to a thick branch, points this out, and I nod and start harvesting from the nearest spot.

The fruit, shaped like a slightly squished apple, is heavier than I expected.

The skin is thick and sturdy, but a sweet and tangy aroma wafts up.

I check the color and start putting the ripe ones into my backpack.

There are so many fruits in this area that I don't even need to move around much.

In about 15 minutes, my backpack is full.

Taking a break, I look over at Haruka, who still has some room.

"Haruka, I'm done here. Want some help?"

"Yeah, I'm good too. If we fill them up, it'll be dangerous to come down."

Haruka looks at her backpack, shakes it lightly, and nods.

"Sure, that makes sense."

Crap, I filled mine up completely...

Should I take some out and secretly throw them away?

But before I can do that, Haruka turns to me.

"...Yeah, I knew. Move some to my backpack."

With a slight smile, Haruka points to her backpack, and I comply, moving a few Dindel fruits over.

We then securely close our backpacks and check the balance.

"This should be fine, right? Let's go down now. We'll leave the safety ropes tied here since we plan to come back for a while."

"But won't others use them? If they take the fruits, it'll be a problem, right?"

Honestly, with these ropes, it's much easier to climb.

Probably even non-elves could manage it.

"Yeah, but I don't plan to leave them hanging all the way down. I'll pull them up to a certain point. If someone still climbs up... well, it's fine. It's not like it's such a lucrative job that we need to monopolize it."

"You're right. Come to think of it, this Dindel harvesting isn't that profitable."

When you think about it, Dindel harvesting isn't that profitable.

There might be monsters, so it's a bit heavy for complete beginners, and by the time you can easily defeat monsters, there are better ways to earn money.

So, it's mostly taken on by adventurers who are just stepping out of the beginner stage, and there's almost no competition.

With less supply, the price should go up, but since it's not a necessity, there's a limit. This is probably the current market line.

Still, those who like it really like it, and it sells almost immediately in the market. Sometimes, there are even requests for harvesting.

But the rewards aren't that high, so most of the Dindel fruits in the market are collected by Dindel-loving adventurers who don't care about the cost.

"Hopefully, next year, we'll graduate from being beginners and take on more profitable jobs..."

"Before that, we need to survive, right?"

"Don't say such ominous things. Let's go down now."

I call out to Haruka and start descending first.

The descent is more like rappelling with the rope.

Since the Dindel tree isn't perfectly vertical, even without special skills, I can manage it.

As I slide down, I see something strange.

A net, like a field athletic net, is stretched between two branches.

Toya is lying on it.

"Hey, Naoto. Are you done already?"

"Yeah, there were a lot. But what's this?"

Stepping on the net, it feels quite sturdy.

"I thought it would take a while, so I made a resting spot, but it was a bit unnecessary, wasn't it?"

Toya had used the rope to weave it.

It took some time, and he just finished it.

"By the time I lay down, you guys were already coming down."

"Well, at least it served a purpose."

Toya points to a branch of another tree, where a gutted boar is hanging.

"You caught it?"

"Yeah, boars are almost no problem now."

At first, we relied on Haruka, but after a few days, we got used to it and could handle simple butchering.

Peeling the hide is still difficult, so we usually leave it to Haruka or practice under her guidance. The boar hanging there still has its hide on.

"Seems like you had some time to spare, Toya?"

Haruka, who had just landed next to me, looks at Toya with a slightly exasperated expression.

"Well, we'll be coming back tomorrow, so it's fine... just don't waste too much, okay? Ropes aren't cheap."

"It's fine. I didn't cut them, so they can be reused. And I re-tied this one too."

Toya points to the rope used to climb the branch.

The rope, which was tied to the branch, is now re-tied higher up, wrapping around the trunk and hanging down.

Hmm, this way, we don't need to rappel up like Toya did initially.

I see, he must have climbed back up this way after hunting the boar.

"Did you hunt the boar too? How many arrows did you use?"

"...13. I did manage to recover all of them."

Toya looks a bit awkward and avoids eye contact.

Considering that Haruka used only 3 arrows to take down a boar with just a bow, 13 is a lot... but for a beginner, it's not bad?

Ah, but he used my spear too. And from up in the tree, it wouldn't have reached the ground.

He could have just used his own sword once he was on the ground.

"Well, it's within acceptable limits. Some of them can be reused as is."

Haruka nods calmly while inspecting the arrows Toya used.

Incidentally, the arrows that can be easily reused are the ones that missed.

If they don't hit, they don't get damaged. It's obvious.

Of course, damaged arrows are also recovered and repaired. Simple ones are handled by Toya, who has the [Smithing] skill, and more complex ones are taken to the weapon shop.

Straight, well-flying arrows are expensive. They can't be wasted.

Small savings add up to a significant amount.

"Did anything else come?"

"No, just a Task Boar. But it seems to have come to eat the fallen Dindel fruits, so there's a possibility that more monsters might gather around here."

"Right. If we want to avoid danger, we should go back now..."

Haruka thinks about it.

One of the purposes of coming here was to try to defeat a goblin, but what should we do?

If goblins appear near the town, there would be a request to defeat them, but defeating goblins here would only yield a magic stone, which isn't worth much, so it's a bit tricky.

"Since Toya caught a boar, why don't we have a rare treat and go back if we don't encounter anything on the way?"

"Yeah... that makes sense. We'll be coming back tomorrow, so there's no rush."

"Great! It's been a while since we had it! I'm looking forward to it!!"

Since the first day, we've been eating pre-made meals to save time and money for the meat sales.

Thinking about the taste from back then... oh, drool...

"Then I'll handle the meat, and you two go gather firewood."

"Understood!"

We moved quickly.

We immediately entered the forest and collected branches.

There are plenty of dead branches in this area, which is less frequented by people than the forest's edge.

We gathered them a bit away from the Dindel tree and quickly made a fire.

For me, who has become quite adept at magic, this is no problem.

What? It's obvious? No, no, it's actually quite tricky.

If you just use 'Ignite,' it's like a candle and doesn't catch fire easily. If you make it too strong, it burns out quickly.

Right now, I've adjusted it to a level where it quickly catches fire on slightly thicker branches, but it would be even better if I could make a fire that can be easily turned into embers in the future.

If you're cooking in a pot, a flame is fine, but for direct grilling, you need embers, or it will just char the surface and take a long time.

You could carry charcoal instead of gathering firewood, but that's not practical.

By the time we finish, Haruka's preparation is also done, and she gives each of us two skewers, three to Toya, just like last time.

"Thanks, Haruka! You know me well!"

Toya also takes them with a smile and sticks them around the fire.

"Hey, Haruka. This is what we call belly pork, right? If we had a pot, could we make spare ribs?"

"Me too! I want to eat spare ribs!"

"We choose the cuts based on how easy they are to skewer. A grill or pan would work, but we don't have the seasonings."

"...Yeah, for spare ribs, you'd need soy sauce or something."

In my mind, spare ribs are best with a sweet and savory soy sauce flavor.

I think they would be delicious with other seasonings too, but with only salt, it would be a waste.

"Yeah, we have a bit more leeway now, so maybe we should consider buying some cooking equipment. Do they sell something like a canteen?"

"A canteen is a compact pot or pan for outdoor use. I haven't used one myself, but I've been camping before, and a regular one is fine. I guess people who like hiking buy them."

"If we start taking overnight requests, we should consider it. It will add to our load, though."

"It would be nice to have an item box, but that's up to Naoto, isn't it?"

"Ugh, I'll work hard..."

But I don't even know if such magic exists.

Time-space magic itself is rare, and not many people know what kinds of magic exist.

Among the known ones, 'Spatial Expansion' is one, and combining it with alchemy can create bags or boxes that hold more than usual. They are called 'Magic Bags.'

This is probably the best option for now, but getting a Magic Bag is quite difficult.

There are very few users of time-space magic, making them extremely rare and almost never available on the market.

Even if they were, we couldn't afford them.

In the end, we'll have to wait for my [Time-Space Magic] and Haruka's [Alchemy] to improve and try to make one ourselves. We haven't even found a starting point yet.

"By the way, it will take a while for the meat to cook. Why don't we try some Dindel?"

"Agreed! I've been wanting to bite into it while picking!"

Toya, who kept glancing at my backpack, nodded without hesitation.

I had noticed the sweet and pleasant aroma coming from my backpack while picking.

In this world, there are almost no sweets, so I haven't had any since coming here.

This aroma is almost violent in a way.

"Yeah, I've been curious too... a little bit should be fine."

Haruka must have felt the same way. She took out the fruit and a knife from her backpack without any objections.

"Let's... cut it open first?"

Not knowing how to eat it, Haruka cuts it in half.

We all look at the cross-section.

"Is this skin... probably supposed to be discarded?"

The skin is thick like an orange, hard to eat, and a mysterious red color, somewhat like a bell pepper.

Inside, the flesh is tightly packed and slightly yellow.

Strangely, there are no seeds, making it look like jelly poured into a skin container.

"What a strange fruit. Usually, there are seeds in the center, right?"

"Yeah... it does look easy to eat. Let's try a quarter each."

Haruka cuts the half into quarters and passes them to us.

I bite into mine, and a fresh sweetness and a pleasant tang spread in my mouth.

The texture is firm, like a peach... more like a plum?

The skin separates easily, and with no seeds, it can be eaten in one bite.

It has a smooth texture, giving it a more dessert-like impression than a regular fruit.

"This is delicious!"

"Yeah, it's easy to eat, and I can see why it's popular."

I look at Toya, who is smiling, and we both look at the last piece in Haruka's hand.

"What? You want to eat it?"

Haruka, who had been eating her share elegantly, notices our gaze and asks.

We nod naturally.

"Sure... since it's a special occasion, let's eat as much as we want?"

"Really? But one costs 2,000 to 3,000 yen?"

"Is it okay? They sell