Episode 14: The items were easily collected

After returning to the inn and reporting to Aleria that I’d become an adventurer, we immediately head to the guild.

I was asked "Aren’t you tired, it was the final exam after all?", But when I answered "I'm okay since I slept well", I was told " It’s Yuki after all"

I wonder what she meant.

"Since I’ve become an adventurer, I want to defeat monsters and earn some money."

"Hmm, but E ranks hardly receive subjugation requests. Most do collection requests, I think it’s to help them understand how the guild works."

"That’s disappointing.  Let’s see, the reward for this quest is --- a silver coin. That's terrible."

"It's normal for ordinary villagers to earn more than E-rank adventurers. Let's do our best to reach D-rank and receive subjugation requests as soon as possible."

"By the way, what’s Aleria’s rank?"

"E rank, the same as Yuki!"

"Huh? then isn't it impossible for Aleria to get the quest?"

"I'm sorry for being so useless ..."

"No, no. How many collection requests does it take to get to D rank?"

"If you do it 10 times, you’d rank up immediately. I hear it's harder to rank up from D to C."

"Well, let's get 10 quests for the time being."

"You want to do 10 quests at once !?"

"Of course, we’ll prioritize those nearby, it’s more efficient to receive multiple quests and do them concurrently, well, it's a basic technique."

In the Netoge, I was thinking of how to complete the troublesome daily quest quota in a short amount of time.

Choosing a request that's easier to handle than the stated reward is also a good strategy.

"Since it’s Yuki! It certainly seems more efficient!"

"Then It’s settled. Let's get all the collection requests for the Carlon Plains near the royal capital. Let’s see, this one ….this and ... this ... okay, we’re good to go."

I peeled off 10 request forms and received orders for all of them.

All are requests for plants used to make potions.

The types and number of items to be collected vary depending on the request, but in summary:

・ Holy flower x 400

・ Blue herbs x 200

・ Red herbs x 200

Aleria says it'll be tough.

◇

The Carlon Plains stretches around the royal capital, once you step out of the gate, you’re almost already there.

"The Carlon Plain is too wide to cover."

"The guide book says that their general habitat is towards north from here..."

Adventurers who receive requests for the first time are provided a thick booklet containing a map of the area around the royal capital and information to help with quests.

I read the page for E-rank adventurers cause it contained information about the quest we received.

"It's too broad. The range is too wide if you just say north. Hmm, I wonder if there is a more efficient method."

I flip through the pages of the guide.

"By the way, is there information about the items we’re to collect."

"I think it's listed, but you can tell they're for making potions, right?"

"Yeah  but that's not what I’m looking for."

From the index I look up "Sacred Flower", "Blue Herb", and "Red Herb" respectively.

————————————————————

[Sacred Flower] …… It grows naturally throughout the kingdom. It grows by receiving magic power. It’s a material for making potions.

[Blue herb] …… It grows naturally throughout the kingdom and is especially common in forests. It’s a material for mana potions.

[Red herb] …… It grows naturally throughout the kingdom and is especially common in forests. It’s a material for vitality potions.

————————————————————

That was it after all.

"Aleria, we're heading to the forest. The closest one from here is the Carlon forest."

"Why a forest?"

"The guide says that blue and red herbs are common in the forest, and that sacred flowers grow when exposed to magic power."

"Oh, that's right!"

Aleria also seems to have noticed.

"Forests have more monsters than plains.-Rather, there’re no monsters in the plains. It’s more efficient to go to the forests full of monsters than the plains which receive less magic power. "

Monsters having magic power is something I just learned about, but I'm sure that’s the case.

Items that were difficult to obtain in the early stages of the game were easily obtainable in the second half, so I decided to collect only items available at the hunting grounds of the first half. Well, the Carlon Forest is relatively close to the royal capital, so there shouldn’t be any strong monsters.

"You’re right! But why does the guide tell us to go to the plains ..."

"E-rank adventurers can't accept subjugation requests, so I guess they thought they want us to accomplish the requests with as little fighting as possible. Ordinary adventurers would just believe it if it’s written in the guide."

"You’re probably right .... but."

She looked a bit uncomfortable as if she remembered something.

"My ... the bandits stole my weapon and it's still with them. I thought it would be okay since we didn’t have to fight."

That’s right, Aleria doesn't have any weapons now.

The Carlon Plains were supposed to be okay, as there are only monsters that wouldn't attack normally.

"Don’t worry. It's fine. If you're close to me, enemies can never attack us. I have that magic."

I have Barrier Magic Lv2.

Since adventurers of C rank or higher couldn’t break through it, We’d be fine even if it was a monster on the Carlon Plain.

All we have to do is calmly collect the quest items while safe from enemy attacks.

"If Yuki says so, I’ll believe it."

◇

30 minutes on foot. Although it was a bit far, we arrived at the Carlon Forest.

"Wow, it's amazing ...! There are so many Holy flowers and herbs! Isn’t this an all you can eat buffet!?"

"Great, it's just as expected. Alright, let’s pick up the herbs!"

"Yes!"

When we started, we were sometimes attacked by monsters, but thanks to the barrier magic, we were able to concentrate on collecting.

The monsters who realize that they can't get close to us eventually give up and leave.

"Okay --- that’s all for the requests. I think I’ll collect a little extra ---"

《You have learned the new skill “Alchemy”》

"Huh? what happened?"

"No, it’s nothing"

From the name of this skill, I came with a plan.

Maybe I can make a potions stronger than a normal potion ...?

Yosh, let's collect as many materials as we can!

While I and Aleria were collecting more items than requested ---

Pika!

There was a sudden lightning strike

The lightning continued, with its frequency increasing.

"Lightning...?"

"It's a lightning strike ... that's weird. It's too frequent."

"Oh, it stopped .... But the black clouds are still there."

And the next moment——

Ooooooooooooooo ………….

I heard a loud sound.

It sounds like a scream because of the barrier, but without it, it would probably be a roar.

"I'm going to take a look--Arelia, what will you do?"

"I'm also curious .... But what if it's a powerful monster ..."

"Let's check from as far away as possible. I don't think there are any strong monsters near the capital ..."

Just in case, I took out my magic sword, Berserk from the item slot.

After storing all collected items with item slot, we headed over to find the source of the roar.

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