Chapter 68

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

We decided on a strategy and entered the forest.

While gathering herbs, we searched for magic mushrooms.

We found a magic mushroom, collected the ones that could be sold, and left the area.

Continuing to search for magic mushrooms while gathering herbs, we found two fallen logs with magic mushrooms growing on them. At the second location, we even found a large mushroom over 10 centimeters, and we were all beaming with joy.

However, at that moment, my [Detection] skill reacted. From the size of the reaction and the direction of movement, it had to be a Vibe Bear!

"Enemy! Probably a Vibe Bear!"

"Whoa! Finally, it’s here! The reaction is... over there."

Toya, who first detected the reaction, quickly drew his sword and positioned himself to intercept the threat.

"Naoto and Natsuki, please. Yuki, you provide support."

"U-um, okay."

"Understood!"

Naoto and I positioned ourselves slightly behind Toya, to the left and right, while Haruka moved to a nearby tree, and Yuki stood by with her iron bar.

After a while, the Vibe Bear appeared between the trees.

"It’s big..."

Yuki muttered this. Natsuki, though silent, glared at the Vibe Bear with a serious expression, her spear at the ready.

"It’s about the same size as last time... just right. Haruka, Naoto, can you hold off on support for a moment?"

"...Sure."

"Can you do it?"

"Sure."

Toya moved as the Vibe Bear, which had been approaching cautiously on all fours, began to stand on its hind legs.

"Seiyyyya!!!"

A roar that echoed through the forest. The Vibe Bear paused, and Toya swiftly charged forward, his blue steel sword swinging down in a single, powerful strike.

Thud!

"Ugh!"

I couldn’t look away from the Vibe Bear. Toya’s sword embedded itself in the Vibe Bear’s skull, and its eyes popped out—no, let’s not go into the details.

In the next moment, the Vibe Bear, which had been trying to stand, tilted forward and fell to the ground with a heavy thud. That was it.

"Did we get it!?"

"Don’t set up a bad flag! I felt the impact. It’s not a monster; it can’t be alive in this state."

"But, I didn’t mean to set up a flag... it’s a standard line. You took it down so easily."

"Is it my fault!? —Anyway, with my skills [Roar], [Charge], and [Swordsmanship Lv.3], plus a high-quality sword, it would be a lie if I couldn’t take down a bear."

"That’s true, but... thinking about the trouble we had last time..."

One hit, and it’s a bit unsatisfying. I tried to stab it with my spear, but it didn’t move at all.

"Toya, you were strong! I was pretty scared."

"Yes, honestly, it was more than I expected."

"Of course, it’s your first time facing an enemy of this size. I think Natsuki could take it down with her skills, but you need to get used to the pressure. We’ve done this twice now."

"The first time was tough, and the fur was all torn up. This time, it should sell for a good price."

Saying this, Haruka took out a knife and began to skin the bear. She was quite experienced. Given the size, Naoto and I also helped.

"What about the meat?"

"It was cheap. Given the quantity, it did fetch a decent price, but..."

"Still, it would be a waste to leave it behind. It’s almost lunchtime. If we hunt Task Boars, we can only get two at most. Considering the number of people..."

"That’s true, and we’d have more to carry."

Today, we only gathered herbs and mushrooms, so our backpacks weren’t even full yet. We could probably carry it back if we tried.

"Should we butcher the meat? Can we eat the heart and liver?"

"Let’s take it to Aela. Since we have a magic bag, we can transport it fresh."

"That’s true. We can keep it fresh."

The butchered meat was packed into Naoto and Toya’s backpacks first, but it didn’t all fit, so we had to share the load among everyone.

"Should we just head back now?"

"Yeah, probably."

There was almost no room for a boar. Honestly, I was quite full.

Haruka and Natsuki had some room, but that was because they were using a [Lightweight] bag. Naoto and Toya’s backpacks, which had the [Time Delay] enchantment, were heavy.

"No, we can manage. I’ll carry it."

"I can carry it too, it’s not that heavy..."

Toya, who wanted to eat the boar, and Natsuki, who had room thanks to the [Lightweight] bag, said this, but they were carrying bulky items and couldn’t move freely.

"The problem is the restriction on our movement. Let’s head out of the forest and see if we can find something on the way."

"Sure. Naoto, try to find something."

"Only if it’s within my detection range. We didn’t detect anything on the way in, so it might be a bit difficult."

The number of Task Boars might have decreased, or the Vibe Bear might have had an effect.

In the end, just before we left the forest, a Task Boar reaction was detected at the edge of my detection range, and we hunted it before heading back.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Aela, sorry to bother you during a busy time."

"No, it’s still before noon, and I’ve already finished making lunch, so it’s fine."

After that, we followed Toya’s suggestion to run back to town for training. But, I think Toya’s real intention was to get back to town and eat some good food. He suggested going to Aela’s shop right away.

While I don’t have any particular complaints about that, the one who suffered the most from this "training" was me. Among the five of us, if we compare physical strength, Haruka is the weakest, followed by me or Yuki, depending on the species.

And yet, I was carrying the second heaviest load after Toya, which was tough. I should have let Natsuki take over when she offered to, but I was stubborn. Maybe we should aim for gender equality from now on.

"We brought some meat. Can you take a look?"

"Sure, no problem."

"The Task Boar is fine, but the Vibe Bear is the issue..."

"Ah, that one. If not handled properly, it can be quite smelly... let’s move to the kitchen."

Following Aela’s lead, we moved to the kitchen and showed her the Vibe Bear meat.

"With this level of freshness, it can be cooked well and will taste good. If you just grill it, it will be hard and difficult to eat."

Unlike boar meat, the preparation time is reflected in the price. The Task Boar meat was delicious even when just grilled with salt.

"The heart and liver are usually not eaten. Did you remove the gallbladder? It can be sold as a medicinal ingredient."

It seems we missed the gallbladder, which could have fetched a good price. The heart and liver, which Aela, an excellent cook, doesn’t eat, would have to be discarded.

"I see. Thanks, Aela. Do you want some bear meat? I can give you about 10 kilograms as a thank you. What do you think?"

When I asked for agreement, Haruka and the others nodded. Given the quantity, it was a cheap price for advice.

"No, no, I’ll pay for it! But, how about 20 kilograms of bear and boar each?"

"Sure. Just cut it up."

The total amount we received was 2 gold coins. It was a bit more than selling it to the guild but less than what Aela would pay at a butcher shop.

It could have been a bit cheaper, but Aela insisted, "It’s cheaper than a butcher shop." In return, we gave her the boar offal, which we couldn’t sell and had no place to cook.

In the end, the offal was served for lunch, and the lunch was free, so it balanced out.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Diora, can you buy these from us?"

"Oh, you’re early today?"

"Yes, we managed to take down a Vibe Bear."

We had spent some time at Aela’s place, but it was still just past noon. Compared to the usual time we finish hunting, it was a few hours earlier.

"Ah, if you bring back Vibe Bear meat, you can’t carry much else. But, did you find magic mushrooms?"

"Yes, quite a few?"

We’re not sure if our harvest is a lot or a little, but we found one over 10 centimeters, so we’re a bit hopeful.

"Let’s go to the back, shall we?"

Following Diora, who got up from the counter, we headed to the guild’s storage room. Usually, Diora handles the paperwork at the counter and takes the items to the storage, but seeing our five full backpacks, she changed her approach.

"Let’s start with the meat."

"Sure."

We placed the meat on the table in the storage room.

"The Vibe Bear and Task Boar, too. This fur is impressive, no damage."

It was a clean kill. There might be some cuts from the head, but Toya’s sword is designed to crush with weight, not to cut cleanly.

Diora didn’t do the appraisal; another man in the room weighed the meat and checked the fur, writing down the numbers on a board.

After checking everything, he explained to Diora, who then came back to us.

"Here you go. Vibe Bear meat and fur, Task Boar meat and fur, and tusks. Total: 30,600 rea. The fur is in excellent condition, so it fetched a good price."

"Next, the herbs."

As Yuki took out the herbs from her backpack, Diora quickly checked and noted the numbers.

The man also checked after Diora, but it seems Diora was responsible for setting the prices.

"That’s all? Total: 11,440 rea. As always, there are no incorrect herbs. You’re impressive."

"No, no, Diora checks everything thoroughly, doesn’t she?"

"I’m a professional—oh, you are too, in a way. My apologies."

Diora chuckled and bowed slightly. Probably, regular adventurers bring in some incorrect herbs. Without the [Help] skill, some herbs can be hard to distinguish from similar weeds.

"Well, Naoto and Haruka are elves, and Natsuki has knowledge of pharmacology, so we don’t make mistakes often."

In our case, thanks to our skills, we can gather even rare herbs that are not well-known, so we make sure to explain this to avoid suspicion.

"Right, Natsuki has knowledge of pharmacology... so you can make even more money from herbs."

"Next, the magic mushrooms."

We placed 35 magic mushrooms on the table, including one over 10 centimeters.

"Wow, so many... and such a large one. Haruka, did you go deeper into the forest?"

"No, we went about the same distance as usual, just before the deepest part with the Dindel tree. Is something wrong?"

"It’s not wrong, but it happens sometimes. In a good year, you can find many magic mushrooms even in the shallower parts of the forest. This leads to Vibe Bears coming out to the shallower areas, increasing the death rate for rookies."

Like in the original world, there are good years in this world too. While a good year for mushrooms is welcome, if it comes with Vibe Bears, it’s a disaster for regular people.

"But, Diora, are there other rookies besides us? I haven’t seen any."

"Yes, there are two groups. Their schedules for coming to the guild are different from yours."

We rarely come to the guild in the morning and usually sell our items in the afternoon or early evening, much earlier than when regular people finish work.

This is to allow time for training, but it does mean we’re different from regular adventurers.

We haven’t met them in the forest, but considering the forest’s size, it’s not surprising.

"By the way, Haruka, you encountered a Vibe Bear before. We should do more than just post warning flyers."

Considering we encountered a Vibe Bear within a few days, which is rare.

Thinking back, that Vibe Bear might have been out to prepare the log for mushrooms.

A bear that cuts down trees a year in advance to prepare for mushroom harvesting. It sounds cute, but in reality, it’s a fight to the death.

And we, who take the harvest, are the bad guys.

"Ah, sorry, I was supposed to appraise the mushrooms. The price is mainly determined by the size of the cap, as long as there are no major damages."

Diora took out a ruler and measured the caps, recording the sizes.

"However, the price jumps significantly if the cap is over 10 centimeters. They’re usually eaten before they get that big. It’s impressive that you didn’t pick any undersized ones."

That’s thanks to Toya’s [Appraisal] skill.

"Total: 46,300 rea."

"Wow! What about the big one?"

"That one is 12,000 rea. The others range from 800 to 1,300 rea."

Over 10 centimeters, and the price jumps tenfold! Even an 8-centimeter mushroom fetches 1,300 rea. The inflation rate is crazy.

"Can we cash out everything?"

"Sure, please."

We followed Diora to the counter and received 88 gold coins in total.