Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 15: His First F-Rank Quest
The day after his promotion, Tauro immediately decided to accept an F-rank quest.
“So you’re going to attempt an F-rank quest.”
Nei smiled as she accepted the quest sheet and checked its contents.
“Oh? I’m surprised. Are you sure this is the one you want?”
Rather than choosing one of the monster-subjugation quests available at F rank, such as hunting One-Horned Rabbits, Tauro had selected an herb-gathering quest.
Tauro trained with his sword every day and knew the value of the short sword at his waist, so Nei had assumed he would be eager to hunt his first monster.
“Yes. There’s something I want to test, so I chose this one.”
Nei was surprised that his promotion hadn’t gone to his head, but she also thought that such levelheadedness was entirely like Tauro.
The guild had told him about a forest near the city where medicinal herbs grew wild.
It had also given him a sheet illustrating the herb’s identifying features.
Tauro decided not to rely on either. He had something else he wanted to test.
He wanted to try [Plant Appraisal], the new ability linked to [True Eye].
With a basket borrowed from the guild strapped to his back, Tauro entered the forest.
“[Plant Appraisal]…!”
He immediately focused on the Heera Herb specified in the quest and tried to search for that plant alone.
Labels appeared not only over the nearby grass but also over Heera Herbs growing farther away.
“Great! Just as I thought. This will make them easy to find and gather!”
Tauro began harvesting every Heera Herb he could see.
In only two hours, he gathered far more than he had planned.
By then he had ventured rather deep into the forest. Thinking that other medicinal plants might grow nearby, he used [True Eye] to search specifically for valuable herbs.
Labels appeared in several places.
“Poizu Herb, effective as an antidote…hmm?”
A thicket farther ahead began to shake.
With a distinctive chattering cry, a monster emerged. It stood about as tall as Tauro and had green skin, sharp eyes, fangs protruding from its mouth, and features unmistakably different from a human’s.
It was a goblin, and it carried a stone axe.
Tauro immediately concealed himself in the brush.
There was only one. If he took it by surprise, he might win.
In a fantasy story, this would be the moment when the hero defeated his first monster and made a spectacular debut.
“I do want to test this sword’s power…”
His grip tightened around the hilt.
“I’ll put Agility +5 to use—and run!”
Tauro bolted away like a startled rabbit.
The goblin was surprised when a child suddenly sprang from the brush, then could only stare as Tauro fled at astonishing speed.
Agility +5 was even more powerful than Tauro had imagined. His body felt light, and he sprinted much faster than usual.
In fact, he moved so quickly that the sensation bewildered him.
“If I can move this well, maybe I could have fought that goblin, even though they’re E-rank targets… No. Overconfidence is dangerous. If I die, it’s all over. Being cautious is the right choice.”
After reminding himself of that, Tauro returned to the city.
“Oh? You’re back early, Tauro. Have you already finished gather—wait, how did you collect that much!?”
Nei could hardly be blamed for her surprise. Medicinal herbs were piled high enough to spill from the basket on Tauro’s back.
The guild loaned adventurers baskets in case they happened to discover a large patch, but most people needed half a day merely to fill the quota of three bundles, or thirty plants.
Hardly anyone gathered enough to fill an entire basket.
“Did you find a large patch?”
“Something like that.”
Explaining [Plant Appraisal] would be troublesome, so Tauro simply went along with her assumption.
“How lucky! We’ve been running short of medicinal herbs lately, so everyone will be pleased.”
“By the way, I saw a goblin. Just one. I ran away from it.”
Adventurers were required to report any monsters they discovered, so Tauro told Nei exactly what had happened.
“What? A goblin in that forest? I’m glad you escaped. Goblins normally travel in groups, so there were probably others nearby. Thank you for reporting it.”
After hearing Nei’s explanation, Tauro was relieved that he had chosen to flee.
Thanks for the chapter. In a world where its easier to die and you’re not an OP MC, better safe than sorry.
I agree and it’s also good to see a story in which the MC is not one of those who kill 300 monsters in the first attempt and then arrive at the guild thinking that this is normal.