Chapter 310: Harvesting in the Forest of Enchantment
“Wait a moment!”
I called out to Rikyou, who was hastily trying to leave. If possible, I wanted him to resolve another issue as well. It wasn’t particularly harmful, but being constantly appraised didn’t sit well with me.
“…What is it?”
Rikyou turned back with a face that looked like he had just bitten into a sour bug, but Mei-chan also seemed to have a rather pale complexion.
“There’s someone here who appraised us. Could you please tell them not to spread it around?”
As I glanced around, Rikyou looked taken aback for a moment before placing a hand on his forehead and sighing. Some onlookers turned their gazes toward the person in question, who seemed to panic under the scrutiny. There were others who had done the appraising, but perhaps they were trying to keep it under wraps?
“Understood… Hey! You all heard that! Don’t go spreading it around if you appraised us!”
If I called out names individually, it would be easy to identify who had the appraisal ability, and there were likely some who were trying to hide it. Moreover, there might be those who had the ability but hadn’t used it yet. This was a safe way to caution everyone without knowing who had actually appraised us.
“I’m sorry. There are a lot of curious folks around…”
With another deep sigh, Rikyou finally dragged Mei-chan away deeper into the Guild.
“Well then, shall we head out too?”
“Ah, yeah, sounds good.”
Ivan stepped outside the Guild with a wry smile, and we followed suit.
“I’ll be going this way.”
“Ah, take care.”
“Ivan-nii, do your best!”
After parting ways with Ivan, who had taken on an E-rank request, we decided to head toward the Forest of Enchantment.
We passed by the land we had borrowed and made our way to the North Gate. The walls of the house were tall, but from a distance, we could see the second floor of the Camping House, so news of something new being built there would spread quickly.
Once we passed through the North Gate and stepped outside, we could see the trees thickening along the gently rising slope. It seemed that the Forest of Enchantment began just a few kilometers ahead. However, it was said that the stronger monsters lurked much deeper within, while the area commonly referred to as the shallows was quite expansive.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been to the Forest of Enchantment.”
“Yes, I wonder if my master is doing well.”
Although I had hunted in the Forest of Enchantment shortly after exiting it, this time felt like a true return after a long absence. It was said that the monsters in the mountainous regions were different, so I was looking forward to it.
“There are strong monsters here, right?”
Phonia huffed, her excitement palpable.
“That’s what I’ve heard, but let’s take it easy at first.”
“Okay!”
Since we were entering the Forest of Enchantment, I took the lead. While sending out appraisals around us, it seemed there was an abundance of edible items. Perhaps due to the restriction that only D-rank adventurers could enter this area, the easier-to-harvest items in the shallows of the forest might have been left untouched. They were probably low in value anyway.
“Can we eat that?”
“It seems so. I’ve never seen it before, so let’s try collecting some.”
That said, anything unfamiliar was fair game for collection. When I appraised a vine growing from the ground, I discovered that it bore edible tubers underground. It appeared to be different from konjac yam.
Using spatial awareness, I located the tubers underground and quickly unearthed them with Earth Magic. What popped out was a long, slender yam resembling natural yam, with several tubers attached like potatoes.
“Wow, amazing!”
Phonia raised her hands in delight, sniffing the air excitedly. Nil joined her, also sniffing the tubers. They must have a pleasant aroma.
“…I can’t quite tell?”
Rio was also sniffing along, but it seemed she couldn’t discern anything either.
Well, even with Enhanced Sense of Smell, I couldn’t figure it out. I knew that the enhanced sense of smell of a human couldn’t compete with that of a trained individual, so I decided not to pursue it further.
“Alright, let’s move on to the next one.”
We continued deeper into the forest while gathering various items. After a while, Nil made a strange face, and Phonia pinched her nose.
“It stinks…”
“Huh?”
Of course, even with our enhanced senses, we couldn’t detect anything.
“Is it that bad?”
“Well, it’s not unbearable, but it definitely stinks.”
It didn’t seem to be as bad as the Mole Balls we encountered at the summit of Fairy Valley. Before long, the smell reached us as well. It wasn’t overwhelmingly foul, but it wasn’t something I’d want to smell for long either.
“Could it be that?”
We finally spotted the source of the odor. There stood a gigantic flower. A thick stem rose from the ground, devoid of leaves. At about a meter high, a large single bloom blossomed. The flower’s diameter was nearly two meters.
From the center, ominous red-black petals spread outward, but the petals seemed to be a single piece, with no cuts, resembling an overturned skirt that drooped at the edges. From the center, a thick pistil-like structure extended straight up. The central part had a groove running from the base to the tip, which was pointed.
“Wait? Is that a Demon’s Tongue?”
I couldn’t help but blurt out the appraisal result, wondering if this was the true identity of the konjac.
“Wow, that’s incredible… It really does look like a tongue.”
Rio was equally taken aback.
“Are there tubers here?”
Phonia was also taken aback, but since we were here, we might as well harvest it.
“It seems so… Let’s dig it up a bit.”
What emerged was a tuber that was abnormally large, yet it was the same kind of tuber that had been said to be the ingredient for the Demon’s Tongue we had bought in the previous town.