Chapter 145: Terms of Exchange
On the condition that they introduce me to specialists in gathering medicinal herbs, I accepted the elders’ request. Even here, however, they begged me to demonstrate that I could fly.
In exchange for demonstrating my flight, I received permission to enter and leave Faranka directly from the front of the assembly hall.
This meant I wouldn’t have to pass through the entrance gate every time just to hide the fact that I could fly, and it would also shorten the time needed to go in and out.
When I stepped outside the assembly hall with Elder Vilasenka and Elder Kristinka, people who had heard that I would fly before the elders began gathering one after another.
Apparently the people who took care of the elders inside the hall had gone around spreading the news.
From now on I would be entering and leaving from the sky, but I didn’t want people making a fuss every time, so I figured I might as well give them a little show now.
“Elder Vilasenka, please tell everyone to remain at least twenty meters away. Anyone who comes too close will be covered in dust.”
Elder Vilasenka was probably seeing someone fly for the first time. He nodded eagerly and cheerfully told everyone to step back.
Feeling like a performing monkey, I created a slightly larger [Perforated Balloon!], sent the wind crawling along the ground to stir up dust, and slowly rose on a weak [Updraft!].
As I floated upward, cheers erupted from the onlookers surrounding me.
“Whoa, he’s floating!”
“So that’s Wind Magic.”
“I thought Wind Magic was useless, but you can actually fly with it.”
“Isn’t that the man rumored to have swung a dragon around and thrown it away in Roxanne?”
“Is that story actually true?”
“Well, flying and throwing a dragon are completely different things.”
“If he can fly, it wouldn’t be strange for him to travel alone from Roxanne to here.”
Hey, I can hear you.
Last time I came here it was supposed to be that I couldn’t fly, so stop saying unnecessary things.
I waved to Elder Vilasenka and Elder Kristinka and flew toward the rocky mountain.
* * * * *
“Impressive indeed.”
“Honestly, I never knew humans could fly.”
“When he visited before, he didn’t even hint that he could do that.”
“We only learned he could fly during the dragon incident. He must have been hiding it because people would make a fuss if they knew.”
“Perhaps once it became known that he was part of the dragon-slayer group—or rather, a warrior capable of throwing a dragon—no one dared challenge him anymore, so he stopped hiding it.”
* * * * *
From Faranka Village to the rocky mountain was just a short flight.
Hunting Golden Goats was easy, but to keep that fact from becoming obvious, I decided to spend two or three days gathering herbs around the area.
While gradually gaining altitude, I observed the surroundings and confirmed that no villagers or adventurers were nearby before landing.
Detection and Presence Sense picked up only wild beasts, so I summoned the spirits and let them play freely while I searched for herbs.
Herbs that also grew around Lynas posed no problem, but there were surely unfamiliar ones as well. I therefore used Appraisal on everything I found.
Every grass or flower I saw for the first time was checked.
[Appraisal—Grass]
[Appraisal—Grass Leaf]
[Appraisal—Basic Herb]
Hmm. It was a basic herb used for potions, one that also grew abundantly around Lynas.
Come to think of it, I’d never really learned the proper names of herbs. When I was taught before, they were just called things like “painkiller leaves” or “diarrhea grass,” based on their effects.
No wonder the herb names my sister wrote down didn’t make any sense to me.
Still, they apparently couldn’t be gathered around Lynas, and it was difficult even for the Adventurers’ Guild to purchase them.
While gathering herbs like anti-nausea plants, stomach ache herbs, and basic potion herbs one after another, I periodically checked my surroundings to ensure it was safe.
I placed a few of the collected herbs in my Rank 12-360 Magic Bag and the rest in my Rank 8-180 Magic Bag.
Anything else identified through Appraisal was sorted into those two bags as well.
Among the spirits floating freely around me, there was one that kept clinging to me as I searched for herbs, appraised them, and picked them.
One of those spirits must have been associated with Appraisal, but the slightly denser one… could that have been a herb spirit?
I’d heard that spirits attach themselves to magic and skills, but in Shinto they say that gods dwell in all things. I’m not a follower of Shinto, so I wasn’t sure what to think about that.
* * * * *
Inside the [Dome!], while bundling the herbs by type, I gently pushed away the clinging spirit—and realized something.
I had been trying to find a spirit associated with Appraisal, but when I found the Wind Magic spirit before, I had actually called out to it.
I asked the spirit clinging to the herbs, “What kind of spirit are you?” but received no answer.
I had never received an answer before, so I didn’t expect one. Still, I decided that the next day, while searching for herbs and using Appraisal, I would call out to the clinging spirit again.
When I first practiced Appraisal, I used it indiscriminately on everything. After being driven out of the city, however, I spent most of my time hunting and completely forgot about it.
Since returning to Lynas, I had encountered only herbs I already knew, so there had been no reason to use Appraisal.
Perhaps this was a good opportunity to improve my Appraisal skill again.
* * * * *
While searching a new location and appraising everything that caught my eye, several spirits clung to the herbs or leaves in my hands. Their pale yellow-green color made me think they were Potion Compounding spirits.
There were also faint spirits that were hard to see, so I tried asking them, “Can you help?” but again received no response.
[Appraisal—Grass]
[Appraisal—Grass]
[Appraisal—Bitter]
Hmm—bitter?
That was a result I’d never seen before. Maybe the little spirit was helping me.
I didn’t know exactly what “bitter” meant—well, I could find out by biting it—but I hated bitter things, so I decided to ignore it.
Later, most results were still just grass or herbs, but when I found one with densely packed leaves on its stem:
[Appraisal—Delicious]
Delicious? Curious, I took a bite.
It just tasted grassy.
Still, if it was judged “delicious,” maybe it would taste good when cooked.
…Wait. That definitely means the spirit is helping me, right?
If that was the case, I should bring back some extra and ask Elder Kristinka about it.
As I continued touching things and appraising them, one result appeared:
[Appraisal—Dangerous]
I quickly pulled my hand away, but after a while my skin began itching intensely.
When I hurriedly called for the Healing Magic spirit, a pale golden spirit appeared around my hand, and the itching gradually faded.
For a moment I thought, If you’re around, I won’t even need potions. But since it didn’t warn me beforehand, I decided I should still be careful.
* * * * *
After circling the rocky mountain over the course of a week, I stopped gathering herbs, hunted three Golden Goats, and flew to the place where I had previously seen the Sham flock.
Since the area contained many wild beasts, I quickly hunted two Shams, left at once, and flew back to the village, landing in front of the assembly hall.
People gathered when they saw me descend, so I slipped into the assembly hall and asked Elder Vilasenka to announce that I had returned.
“So you’re already back. And how did it go?”
“Three Golden Goats and two Shams.”
“Could you show them outside?”
Elder Vilasenka merely smiled broadly and headed outside, leaving me no choice but to follow.
A large crowd had already gathered. Elder Vilasenka casually asked me to lay the prey out, so I placed the two Shams and three Golden Goats on the ground, prompting a roar of approval.
“Oh ho! As expected of the man rumored to toy with dragons. With this much, the celebration feast will be lively indeed.”
“Celebration?”
“There are several weddings coming up, so we were planning to hold them all together. Living deep in the forest far from town, we must make celebrations lively or life becomes dull.”
“So in other words, you’re using someone else’s celebration as an excuse to have fun?”
“When you see only familiar faces every day, life lacks stimulation. Celebrations are among the few occasions when we can truly enjoy ourselves. Thank you, Lord Leon.”
“Yes, it would be difficult for the villagers to hunt enough of these themselves. We’re grateful.”
At some point, Elder Kristinka, the other elders, and even the village chief had gathered around.
* * * * *
While waiting for the herb gatherers to return, I continued going outside the village every day to collect herbs nearby.
After confirming through Detection that no villagers were nearby, I worked on improving Appraisal and occasionally felt as though its spirit was helping me.
There were actually quite a lot of plants around the village that appeared as “delicious” in appraisal.
Curious, I showed the plants—along with the herbs from the rocky mountain—to Elder Kristinka. She told me they were delicious when simmered or served as boiled greens.
The reason those delicious leaves grew so abundantly around the village was because people had brought them back with their roots and planted them randomly.
They weren’t cultivated deliberately, so anyone could pick them, but taking all of them was forbidden.
Even though they grew around the village, the area had many wild beasts, so villagers rarely went alone to collect them. That was why they had increased in number.
* * * * *
The herb-gathering party introduced by the elders consisted of eight members, including an Earth Magic user and a Fire Magic user. Their leader was Klanrenska.
He was apparently a distant relative of Elder Kristinka and a handsome man with a somewhat similar air.
“I heard from the elders, but it’ll be difficult for us to teach you everything. The area is vast, and herbs change with the seasons.”
“Elder Kristinka has already shown me some samples, so I intend to search using Appraisal.”
“Oh? You can use appraisal?”
“Yes. While waiting for you, I’ve been searching for herbs around the village.”
“Then you shouldn’t need our help, should you?”
“If I wanted to make money from it, that would be true. But I only want the amount my sister needs. If I wander the forest blindly, I won’t be able to gather them efficiently.”
“I see. And the Shams and Golden Goats are our payment?”
He nodded in understanding of my plan.