Chapter 29: A springtime tradition

When he presented this game to his father and mother, they took to it with great enthusiasm. Apparently, more and more children wanted to play horse racing and darts, and it was becoming a bit of a problem.

It seems that these games were what my parents wanted because they could turn it into a form of learning.  My proposal was a godsend. And it was soon commercialised.

When I suggested, “Why don’t you make a local karuta game or a sugoroku game?”, horse racing sugoroku was born. Sales are said to be brisk. They really love horse racing.

In this way, the money steadily increased in my pocket, but to be honest, I have nothing to buy. It would have been nice if the materials for the magic potions could be purchased around there, but that wasn’t the case.

The ingredients for the magic potion have to be purchased from specialised shops.

There are many magic pharmacists in the capital, so of course there are specialty stores. The old lady, a high-ranking magic pharmacist, could buy as many ingredients as she wanted there, but I, who was not qualified, could not buy any of them.

In that case, I had no choice but to search for the ingredients for the magic potion on my own.

“Lionel, I’d like to go to the Tradel River to collect some materials.”

When he found Lionel at the knights’ lodgings, he immediately approached him for advice.

“Would you mind if I ask what your purpose is?”

“I want the antlers of the river elk that you often see on the Tradel River. This is the time of year when the antlers are replaced by new ones, so the old ones must have fallen off.”

“Then why don’t we just get it for you?”

“That said, I think there’s probably a collection request from the Adventurers’ Guild as well.”

“I see, so it’s not good for us and adventurers to fight.”

“Exactly”

River elk antlers sell for a high price. They are a valuable source of income for adventurers. It would be a problem if the Knights, with their numbers, were to take them away. That is why it is necessary to give off an aura of “we are not here to collect such things” by going out there yourself.

“What are you going to do with the antlers of the river elk?”

“River elk antlers can be used as materials for intermediate recovery potions.”

“Then we must secure it by all means.”

It was thus decided to go to the Tradel River. There are few monsters in the vicinity of the Tradel River and it is a relatively safe place.

A few days later I came to the Tradel River with Gyre and Christopher, as usual. This river flows through the granary near the territorial capital and is a very important river. If this river were to dry up, the food situation in the Kingdom of Spencer would deteriorate rapidly.

“I’ve been here several times, but it’s a beautiful river.”

“This river is fed by melted snow from the Cassius Mountains, which is a place of great spiritual significance. It doesn’t attract monsters either.”

Hmm, it’s a strange water that monsters don’t come near. Does it have any special effects? Curious, I checked it out with the ‘Appraisal’ skill.

Cassius water: normal.

So that’s it. Apparently it’s not just water. I decided to take some home with me because I might be able to use it for something. That was an unexpected harvest.

“Can it be used for anything?”

Lionel asked as if he was interested.

“I don’t know. Maybe it can be used as material for something. I won’t know until I try various things.”

Having said that, I found myself a bit excited. I got a material that was not in the game. This material has unlimited possibilities. When I thought about that, I couldn’t help but get excited.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“Leave it to me. Come on, let’s walk along the river and look for the corner.”

Thus began the search for river elk antlers. We encountered some adventurers on the way. Perhaps they were after the same prey.

We greeted them with a ‘we’re just out for a walk’ kind of look so they wouldn’t notice us.

“They’re hard to find.”

“That’s right. River elk don’t shed their antlers every year, they just regrow young ones.”

“I see. That’s why it’s so valuable.”

We continued to walk around but could not find any. I did see a number of river elk, though.

“Julius-sama, can’t we cut off the horns after catching the river elk?”

“That’s the thing, Gyre. It’s like when you do that, some ingredient seems to fall out of the cut, so you can’t use it as a material.”

“What is that ingredient?”

“Well? I wonder.”

For reasons unknown, the antlers that were forcibly cut off did not help. Otherwise, the river elk would have been extinct by now. This may be another survival strategy.

Is it impossible to get river elk horns anymore? Just when I thought that, it seems that the knight who went ahead found something.

“Julius-sama! I found an animal’s horn!”

“Oh, please secure it. I’ll be right over.”

Have we finally found one? I’ve walked so far, I’d like to have at least one. I hurried towards it and found a fine river elk antler.

“These are definitely river elk antlers. Well done.”

“We did it. Now we can go home.”

Gyre sounded happy, as if he had reached the limit of his fatigue. I wonder if it’s good to say that. Your father Lionel is just around the corner, you know?

“Gyre, how dare you make such a noise on a stroll of this magnitude? Look at Julius-sama. He doesn’t look tired at all. You still haven’t trained enough. When we get back, we’ll do ten laps around the training grounds!”

Gyre gets teary-eyed at Lionel’s words. I know how you feel, but you should choose the right time and place for what you say.

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