Ash Flower ① – The Sound of a Whistle is Heard.
I returned home, locked the door, and went to my room.
I carefully took the egg out of my pouch.
It wasn’t that heavy, but I could feel the weight of something inside.
Contents… I had a bad feeling. I carefully opened the container.
The container was filled to the brim with liquid.
There was no mistaking it. Shock, along with astonishment, ran through my entire body.
This transparent, yet highly viscous and faintly glowing liquid.
It was Elixir.
“………..Hah…”
It wasn’t just an Egg-shaped Container.
I wish it had just been a plain Egg-shaped Container.
At the same time, I was relieved that I’d noticed.
I’d managed to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Witch, Arifa-san, or anyone else.
“Phew… Now then.”
For now.
It felt like a waste to just throw the liquid away, so I poured it into the Crescent Vessel.
The Egg-shaped Container was empty once again.
Time to test it. I prepared an hourglass.
In this world, the concept of time exists.
But it’s not commonplace.
Still, there are various ways to measure it.
Fire clocks. Hourglasses. Water clocks. Sundials.
This hourglass takes about 10 minutes for all the sand to fall.
It’s not precise, but approximate is fine.
How long does it take for the Elixir to accumulate?
Either way, I know it will accumulate.
Whether this is an even greater threat will depend on how fast it refills.
Quite a few days have passed since I obtained and used it.
If it only refills over that long a period, then that’s fine.
But what if it had been refilling much faster?
I don’t really want to think about it.
Anyway, I stared intently at the Egg-shaped Container, which I had secured nicely in a wooden frame.
“………..Ah.”
From out of nowhere, a droplet welled up smoothly on the inside of the egg.
Droplets appeared all over the inner surface of the egg and collected at the bottom.
Faster than I expected.
Eventually, around the time all the sand in the hourglass had fallen, it became full.
So, about 10 minutes, then.
“…It refills in just 10 minutes…?”
This is astounding. I clutched my head.
It refills way too fast.
“No, wait. Maybe there’s a limit to the number of times it can refill.”
Clinging to that hope, I continued my testing.
10 hours later.
“…It refilled again…”
10 hours means 60 times.
I tested it this many times, taking breaks in between.
“…Is this Legendary…?”
There wasn’t even a hint of it stopping.
There’s no point testing further, wondering if maybe it stops after 100 times or something.
And this probably refills infinitely. That’s the feeling I get.
This is the worst. I threw myself onto the bed as if giving up.
Ahh, what is going on?
A Legendary item that refills with Elixir every 10 minutes is, no matter how you look at it, seriously bad news.
It’s definitely on the level of a national treasure. It’s not something an individual should possess.
But how should I get rid of it?
All sorts of the worst, most terrible possibilities came to mind one after another.
The most heinous is war. That’s also possible.
“………..Alright!”
For now, I’ll put the matter of the Elixir and the Egg-shaped Container on hold.
There’s no point dwelling on it. I shifted my thoughts to the next issue, one that is worth thinking about.
“…A Baggage Carrier, huh.”
That and odd jobs. Well, that’s not really a problem.
What worries me is what kind of party it will be, and what kind of people are in it.
“…I hope they’re good people.”
There aren’t many decent Seekers out there.
Only a handful are respectable. That’s my rule of thumb based on experience.
No use complaining about it.
I tucked the Elixir egg deep into my pouch.
The next day.
Holding the Herbal Encyclopedia, I immediately headed into the Forest to look for medicinal ingredients.
However, it wasn’t the Forest where the Witch lives.
It was a Forest on the opposite side, one I’d never been to before.
Since I’m here. I thought I’d explore the surroundings a bit.
There are no Dungeons near this Forest.
So I don’t think any Seekers would come in here.
Therefore, there should be medicinal herbs too.
Some time passed as I explored enthusiastically like that.
“…Hmmmm?”
I compared the wild grass growing here with the encyclopedia.
It’s a grass with a red tip.
That’s what the encyclopedia says too.
Redtail Grass. Easy to understand.
However, next to it is a grass with both ends red.
The shape is similar, but could this also be Redtail?
“…It’s not listed.”
It’s not in the encyclopedia.
In that case, should I leave it alone?
“It’s like with mushrooms.”
I remembered when I went mushroom hunting in my previous life.
Most of the many mushrooms I picked turned out to be poisonous.
I was surprised there were so many.
Incidentally, I occasionally gather mushrooms in this world.
I can’t tell which mushrooms are poisonous and inedible.
But I have the Relic [Danger Detection].
With that, I can determine if mushrooms are dangerous.
However, I can’t tell if they’re edible.
Some were harmless but tasted awful.
I used it on the herbs.
Both showed up completely white. Meaning, they’re harmless.
But that doesn’t mean they’re both Redtail Grass.
The Relic [Wheel of Fortune] also gave the same result.
My Relics can’t identify medicinal herbs.
“Still…”
This Herbal Encyclopedia. It’s honestly amazing.
Naturally, it’s not as comprehensive as those from my previous life.
Still, the sketches are detailed.
Not everything, but the distinctive parts are in color.
The polite explanatory text next to the sketches is also helpful.
I don’t know if it’s letterpress printed, but the characters are neat.
That kind of technology. Does letterpress printing technology even exist here?
I just don’t know.
There are far more advanced OOPArts and Legacies.
And Relics. There’s a strong possibility that such things substitute for developing certain technologies.
Well, I know the principles behind something like printing.
But since I’m not proactive about it, I don’t know if this knowledge will ever be used.
Like that, I gathered medicinal herbs while consulting the encyclopedia.
I proceeded deeper into the Forest, gathering herbs smoothly.
“—♪~♪~~♪~~~♪—~♪~♪~”
Suddenly, I heard the sound of a whistle.
It was a strange whistle sound. Cheerful, yet somehow dark and dissonant.
“Is someone there?”
No, obviously someone’s there if I can hear it.
Still, the words slipped out before I could stop myself.
And I became wary.
It might be a monster.
But a monster that makes a whistle sound… Was there such a thing?
Like the Pied Piper of Hamelin? But does something like that exist in this world?
“—~♪~~♪~♪♪”
Is it my imagination?
It feels like the whistle sound is gradually getting closer.
“Something feels… dangerous…”
When I tried to turn back, I was struck speechless.
Fog. Before I knew it, a thick fog had drifted in.
Something’s wrong.
I instantly activated my Relic [Danger Detection] at maximum— I couldn’t see anything.
Everything was black and invisible. Pitch black.
“—~♪”
Not good. I deactivated [Danger Detection].
When the pitch-black view cleared in an instant, I was speechless again.
The scene before my eyes was bizarre.
Foggy trees and grave markers spread out before me.
Countless decaying graves of various sizes were scattered throughout the Forest.
“What is this…”
None of this was here just moments ago.
Where on earth am I…? The whistle sound… I gasped.
That Forest.