At night, while Fran-san was making Stone Arrows, I shot practice arrows from a shortbow into a bundle of rolled-up grass. Just nocking and shooting an arrow is fine, but when it comes to shooting a second and third arrow in succession, this is quite difficult and I struggle with it.
Just because Bee-chan is here doesn’t mean it’s omnipotent, and if I don’t become able to fight Beasts under Bee-chan’s cover, I’ll likely end up dead. Besides, the procedure for Beast subjugation I heard from Fran-san is that it’s safest to first stop their movement, then surround them and attack from behind. Indeed, if I fight recklessly, I’ll probably end up running around instead of attacking.
I also want to have Bee-chan create a diversion, and in the meantime, make it a basic tactic to circle around to the back and attack their legs. Fran-san said that once she improves her skills as an Adventurer, she’ll eventually return to her village and join the Beast subjugation team.
When I asked if she had been doing things like carrying luggage for subjugations in the village, she told me it was subjugating small fry. She puffed out her chest, saying that only by going on big game hunts can one be recognized as a full-fledged man of the village. I don’t know what kind of Beasts “big game” refers to, but it seems Amadeus was right about there being many Beasts.
Well, I’ll help Fran-san improve her magic, and in return, I’ll have her teach me about the common sense of this world and the ins and outs of being an Adventurer. After about 10 days of practice, she became able to create Stone Arrows with just the word “Arrow.” Then, reflecting on the fact that defense should have come before offense, I decided to go back to making Shelters.
“Are you going back to making Shelters now, Shinya-san?”
“My bad. I forgot that defense should come before offense. Attacks are only possible when you’ve secured your own and your comrades’ safety. If you focus solely on attacking without ensuring safety, even if you don’t die, your comrades will.”
“That’s certainly true. I was so happy about my attack power increasing that I forgot about it too.”
“In your village, Fran-san, about how many people go out hunting?”
“The parties I used to accompany had five or six people, but big game hunts have around ten people.”
“Then, let’s start with making an emergency Shelter and a Dome for camping.”
I drew a circle about 2 meters in diameter on the ground, and then drew a picture that looked like the bottom half of an acorn.
“If it’s this big, eleven people should be able to fit if they gather together. A height of 3 meters should be enough, I guess.”
“Well, there are many humans, and even Wolfkin or Foxkin would fit.”
“Wolfkin and Foxkin?”
“Oh, right. Shinya-san, you didn’t have common sense, did you?”
This brat, that’s like calling me a complete idiot.
“I just don’t know because I grew up with a small family in the forest. But I haven’t met anyone like that until now.”
“There are a few in my village. According to my old man and the other villagers, this country is apparently difficult for non-humans to live in. It’s not that they don’t exist, but they say the treatment is bad in large towns, so they don’t go near them.”
“But they do exist, right?”
“Well, Beastkin are larger and stronger than us humans, so they come to small towns and villages to earn money by subjugating Beasts. I hear Elves often excel at magic.”
Beastkin and Elves, huh? It’s becoming more and more like a light novel world, but even with magic experts and strong individuals defeating Beasts, there aren’t enough hands? What kind of world is this? That old guy Amadeus went as far as to forcibly Summon people to solve the manpower shortage, so it must be dangerous, no doubt about it. For a creator god, he can’t even manage the world he made. Definitely a useless god.
From what Fran-san says, the Beasts we’ve encountered so far have been small fry, right? Though, we haven’t encountered any Beasts that would make Fran-san fearful, so let’s pray we don’t meet any from now on.
“Oh, I’ve heard there are quite a few Elves at the Apothecary Guild too, Shinya-san. They have extensive knowledge of Medicinal Herbs and compounding medicines.”
“Next time we go to town, maybe I’ll go buy some healing Potions for injuries. The arrow wound was manageable with a medium-grade Potion, but it would have been terrible without it.”
“Right. I’ll buy some medium and high-grade Potions too.”
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
After about three days, the emergency Shelter construction started to look decent. It seems Fran-san got the hang of manifesting magic from making Stone Lances, and she looked satisfied as its strength was as hard as stone.
With over 20 days of training, making Shelters, camping Domes, and Stone Arrows was no problem. Before starting Stone Arrow target practice, we decided to return to town to buy food supplies.
This time, we hadn’t gathered any Medicinal Herbs or hunted Horned Rabbits, so after going straight to the market to buy food, we headed to the Apothecary Guild. The Apothecary Guild on Tumble Street had a sign with a triangular flask and a Potion bottle, and was a stylish three-story building.
When I opened the door and went inside, a bell chimed in the distance, and the sound of footsteps approached.
“Welcome. Seeing as you don’t have any Medicinal Herbs, are you here for Potions?”
“Yes, I’d like some low-grade and medium-grade Potions, but I wanted to ask for more details.”
We were offered chairs in front of the counter, and Fran-san and I sat down side by side. I thought he was a tall, handsome man, but the tops of his ears were slightly pointed.
“Are Elves that rare to you?”
“Sorry. I grew up in the forest and have only ever seen humans. By the way, you mentioned Medicinal Herbs earlier.”
“Ah, we also buy Medicinal Herbs. That said, only ones more valuable than what Adventurers typically gather. The common stuff growing around here is how low-rank Adventurers earn money, so the Apothecary Guild doesn’t buy it.”
“What about poison for poison arrows?”
“If it’s Killer Bee or Poison Spider venom, it can also be used for medicine, so we’ll buy it.”
“Do you also sell poison to coat arrows with?”
“Of course, but it’s expensive.”
He shrugged and returned to the original topic.
“The other day, I was hit by an arrow in the shoulder and drank a medium-grade Potion. Do you have any Potions that work really well?”
“You see, Potions are classified into low, medium, and high-grade, but each of those is further divided into three sub-levels: high, medium, and low. Could I see that wound?”
When I bared my shoulder and showed him the wound, he asked how long it had been since I was injured. When I replied that it had been over three weeks, he chuckled and said it was probably a mid-level low-grade Potion falsely labeled as medium-grade. When I mentioned it tasted awful, made my tongue feel gritty, and made me feel sick, he pointed out that I must have bought it at the Adventurers Guild. He explained that the ones sold at the Adventurers Guild are low-quality items made by apothecary apprentices or unskilled apothecaries to earn some pocket money.
“Even if they’re a bit more expensive, if you buy from the Apothecary Guild or a skilled apothecary, they don’t taste that bad and are more effective,” he said, lining up Potion bottles.
Low-grade Potion (Low), 12,000 Dahla
Low-grade Potion (Medium), 20,000 Dahla
Low-grade Potion (High), 28,000 Dahla
Medium-grade Potion (Low), 60,000 Dahla
Medium-grade Potion (Medium), 120,000 Dahla
Medium-grade Potion (High), 180,000 Dahla
High-grade Potion (Low), 500,000 Dahla
High-grade Potion (Medium), 1,200,000 Dahla
High-grade Potion (High), 2,000,000 Dahla
Seeing the prices stuck on the bottles made my cheeks twitch, but if they’re effective, I should probably buy them. Incidentally, the awful-tasting medium-grade Potion I drank was said to have the efficacy of a mid-level low-grade Potion from the Apothecary Guild. He told me that if I had sprinkled a mid-level medium-grade Potion from the Apothecary Guild on the wound and drunk the rest, it would have healed much faster and cleaner.
“I’ll buy two of each low-grade, one of each medium-grade, and one low-level high-grade Potion. Even buying all that, it’s 980,000 Dahla.”
“You’re quite decisive, aren’t you, Shinya-san?”
“Fran-san, if you take even one arrow, your thinking will change. Even if it tasted awful, I was glad I got that Potion back then. Without a Potion, even if pulling out the arrow wouldn’t kill me immediately, I wouldn’t have been able to return to town and would have had to endure the pain while waiting for the Sub-Master and the others. Besides, it’s tribute from those guys, so I’ll use it without hesitation.”
When I placed 5 Gold Coins and 48 silver coins on the counter, the clerk who had explained things nodded.
He taught me that low-grade Potions have dots on the lid; one dot means low-level low-grade, and as the dots increase, it becomes medium, then high. Medium-grade Potions are distinguished by the number of thin horizontal lines, and high-grade Potions by thick horizontal lines. In other words, you can tell the Potion’s type by looking at its lid.
With that, he went to the back and started bringing out Potion bottles and lining them up. Perhaps he noticed the question mark floating above my head, as he told me, “Those are samples; they just contain water.”
So he wouldn’t line up expensive Potions in front of an Adventurer he doesn’t know, huh? As I was checking the lids and putting them into my Magic Pouch, Fran-san said, “I’ll buy the same amount,” which surprised the clerk.
Fran-san, having said that, took out a leather bag from her Magic Pouch and lined up Gold Coins on the counter. The clerk nodded once and then brought out Potions for Fran-san and lined them up in front of her too.
“Do you have any antidote Potions?”
“Of course, I have them, but one bottle is 80,000 Dahla.”
“I’ll take two of those as well, please.”
“You’re really going for it, aren’t you?”
“Even if I don’t use them now, they’ll surely be useful when I return to the village.”
“Keep in mind that Potions lose their effectiveness after about two years.”
“It’s a 3-60 Magic Pouch, so it should be fine for the time being.”
He listened and nodded, then asked, “Could it be that you two are the rumored pair?”
“The rumored pair?”
“The widespread rumor is that one of them is a Tamer with Divine Protection who commands Killer Bees.”
“Not this again. Do you really think someone can Tame mere bees? It’s true I’ve been granted Divine Protection, but my ability is only 1. The Killer Bees are probably Tina-sama, the Tamer God, protecting me because my ability is so low. There’s no way I could command several hundred bees, right?”