Ch.20Chapter 20 – Seraphina Medimaker (2)

I followed Seraphina through the forest.

It wasn’t for any other reason than to retrieve her belongings, which she had abandoned while fleeing.

“What brings you to this forest, Mr. Kay?”

“I’m here on a guild request.”

I answered Seraphina’s question simply.

“And you, Miss Medimaker?”

“You can call me by my name. I came to gather some materials on my way to the capital.”

Seraphina said with a smile.

“You’re heading to the capital?”

“Yes. I’ve been walking bravely all the way from a distant countryside.”

“That’s impressive.”

I briefly agreed with Seraphina, who spoke with pride.

I thought to myself that she had done well to reach near the capital alone, regardless of where she came from.

“So, why the gathering?”

Seraphina answered my question.

“Well, believe it or not, I’m an aspiring alchemist.”

An alchemist, huh.

It’s a bit disappointing that she’s not a mage.

Putting aside that slight disappointment, I spoke to her.

“I suppose there are materials for alchemy in this forest.”

“That’s right. Like those herbs over there.”

After saying that, Seraphina quickly walked over and pulled out some plants.

“These are all medicinal.”

She smiled as she happily put the herbs into a small pouch.

Meanwhile, a blue cap came into my view.

It was the last Trent Mushroom.

As I drew my sword and tried to approach it, Seraphina suddenly grabbed me.

“Excuse me, are you trying to catch that?”

“Yes. It’s the target of my request.”

Seraphina’s face clouded slightly upon hearing this.

“So you were after that too, Mr. Kay…”

“Were you perhaps looking for that mushroom?”

Seraphina nodded at my question.

“Yes, the cap of the Trent Mushroom is widely used in medicine.”

“I see.”

Seraphina looked at the mushroom with regret, then turned her face back to me.

“But first come, first served. You can have it.”

“Then I won’t hesitate.”

I quickly approached and cut the stem of the Trent Mushroom.

With this, the request is complete.

‘Now I’ll be promoted when I return.’

Finally, is my life as a delivery boy coming to an end?

A slight joy washed over me.

I could feel my face relaxing involuntarily.

I thought that if it weren’t for my helmet, my foolish expression would have been completely exposed.

As I put the cap in my pouch, Seraphina was looking at me with a slightly envious gaze.

“…If I find another one on the way, I’ll catch it for you.”

I said that because she looked so envious.

“Really? Thank you!”

Seraphina jumped up and down with joy.

Thanks to the enormous things moving along with her, it was a bit awkward to know where to look.

After walking for a while, Seraphina pointed to a spot, seemingly having found her belongings.

“Ah, there it is. My luggage.”

Unfortunately, no Trent Mushrooms were visible while Seraphina went to retrieve her belongings.

So my promise to catch one for her was essentially nullified, but Seraphina seemed to have forgotten about it in her joy of finding her luggage.

And I had to swallow a gasp when I saw the spot she pointed to.

It was a massive backpack.

Whatever was inside, its volume was enormous.

Pouches containing water bottles and preserved food were hanging on the sides, and what appeared to be a wooden staff was attached to it as well.

On top of the backpack was what looked like a sleeping bag, rolled up.

“…Full combat gear?”

The words escaped me involuntarily.

For some reason, I felt seriously uncomfortable and started sweating.

It was like recalling a difficult memory I wanted to forget.

“Huh? It’s not that intense…”

Seraphina said that, but it wasn’t true at all.

It was already intense enough just by its size.

“What on earth is in there to make it so huge?”

Seraphina thought for a moment before speaking.

“Well, first there’s a household pot…”

From the first thing she mentioned, I decided not to listen any further.

A pot? Is it the kind of pot I’m thinking of?

“How on earth did you carry this…?”

I approached the massive backpack and tapped it once with my hand.

Clang-

A hollow metallic sound came from inside.

There really was a pot in there.

“I just carried it, that’s all?”

“Is that even possible?”

I was certain that carrying something like this would instantly destroy one’s back.

But Seraphina said with a calm face:

“This is actually quite light, you know?”

“Light, you say?”

I tried to lift it slightly, just to see.

I could lift it.

‘…Did she bring her entire household with her?’

I quickly put it down due to its tremendous weight.

Even though I only lifted it briefly, I felt like my back was strained.

“…You call this light?”

I said while making a fist and tapping my back.

We need to discuss the dictionary definition of the word “light.”

Seraphina laughed at the sight of me trying to soothe my back and said:

“Come on, Mr. Kay. I’m just teasing. Surely a man can lift this much?”

“…No, it’s really heavy. How did you carry it?”

It’s the kind of weight where I’d believe it if she said the bag had grown legs and walked here by itself.

Then Seraphina went to her backpack.

“Well, you see,”

She easily lifted it with one arm, grabbed the strap, and swung it around once.

-Whoosh!

With a more ferocious sound than when I swing my mace, Seraphina pulled the strap and put it on her back.

“I just carried it like this, simple as that?”

I felt like I’d seen something I shouldn’t have.

Seraphina was wearing that enormous backpack as if it were nothing.

The backpack was so huge that from behind, it looked like it had legs of its own.

‘…At this point, couldn’t she just swing the backpack as a weapon?’

I thought she could have easily dispatched weak monsters like Kobolds.

This girl with monstrous strength smiled and spoke:

“See? Simple, right?”

“…Let’s just say it is.”

That was all I could manage to say while trying to calm my back, which was still sending signals that it had been strained.

“Well then, Mr. Kay, thank you!”

“Take care.”

I said as I parted ways with Seraphina, who had her luggage on her back.

She said she didn’t plan to leave until she got a mushroom cap, so we said a casual goodbye.

As I walked slowly along the forest path, I was thinking about treating myself to something nice to celebrate completing my promotion request.

“…Huh.”

I don’t know where or how, but that enormous backpack I saw earlier was walking ahead.

It was definitely Seraphina.

I thought about pretending not to see her, but I approached anyway.

Since I wasn’t trying to hide my presence, the backpack noticed me and spoke.

“Oh, Mr. Kay? We just parted ways not long ago.”

“Indeed. I’m curious how we ended up meeting again so soon.”

The backpack was silent for a moment after my words.

“…Actually, I slipped while walking earlier.”

I immediately examined the backpack after hearing this.

There were dirty parts that suggested it had slid across the ground.

Some broken branches were still attached to it.

“So you slipped and slid all the way down here.”

“…It’s embarrassing.”

The backpack said.

“You could have been seriously hurt.”

My first thought was that she should carry a lighter backpack.

I moved around to the front of the backpack.

Only then could I see Seraphina.

It seems she had been turning her head to look at me from there, though I was amazed at how she managed to see me.

“So, did you find a Trent Mushroom?”

“Just now. It was right over there.”

Looking where Seraphina pointed, I indeed saw a huge blue cap.

It was the largest one I’d seen so far.

“It seems like a Trent Mushroom that’s lived quite a long time.”

“When it’s that big, does it have any special benefits?”

Since she had mentioned being an aspiring alchemist earlier, I asked, hoping to hear some interesting information.

Seraphina nodded and said:

“Something that size would be a delicacy if made into soup.”

So monsters can be eaten too?

But it has a blue cap—wasn’t it poisonous?

“…Didn’t you say you came to gather it as an alchemy material?”

When I quietly asked, Seraphina shook her head and said:

“If it’s for materials, size doesn’t really matter.”

“I see.”

As I acknowledged this, Seraphina began to stretch her arms.

“Well then, I must harvest that and head back.”

Seraphina approached the mushroom with sparkling eyes, mentioning that there were no parasitic monsters guarding it.

Then she spun her backpack around once and put it down.

It was truly a light movement.

-Thud!

‘Couldn’t she just throw the backpack at it for a quick and easy finish?’

The thought crossed my mind, but I didn’t feel the need to say it out loud. Seraphina took out the staff that was attached to her backpack.

It was a wooden staff slightly shorter than her height.

“Now then…”

Seraphina held the staff out in front of her.

White light gathered around her, forming a shining orb at the tip of the staff.

It was the same shining orb that had flown earlier.

Only now it was larger.

“Magic Missile!”

With her command, the shining orb flew straight at the stem of the Trent Mushroom and exploded.

As the stem exploded, I could see Seraphina triumphantly approaching the Trent Mushroom, which was now just a cap.

“Without guards, even I can take down something like this in one shot!”

I thought that even those guards could have been dealt with by swinging her backpack once, rather than using those shining orbs.

Seraphina and I parted ways at the forest entrance.

“Well then, I’ll be going now!”

With the huge Trent Mushroom cap attached to her backpack, Seraphina said she wanted to gather a few more herbs.

Since she said she would just wander around the entrance area and return soon, I didn’t feel the need to wait for her and left first.

As I walked, the sky gradually darkened.

‘I managed to finish safely today.’

By the time I passed through the gate and arrived at the guild, darkness had already fallen outside.

But since the guild was still lit, I opened the door without hesitation and headed to the counter.

I saw Nina at the counter.

She recognized me and greeted me with a smile.

“Welcome.”

“Miss Nina, working overtime?”

“Yes. I was wondering if you had successfully completed your subjugation, and here you are, finishing it today.”

Nina said with a smile.

“There must have been many parasitic monsters guarding it, but you returned safely.”

I felt a bit guilty at Nina’s words.

Somehow Seraphina had drawn the aggro of the parasitic monsters, and in the meantime, I had quickly taken care of the target. How could I explain that?

Feeling there was no choice, I opened my mouth.

“Well, it was nothing special.”

Now was the time to be shameless.

A little later, I had a brief interview with Nina in the guild’s reception room, and she took my guild card inside.

After waiting for a while, Nina came back and handed me a new guild card.

“With this, Mr. Kay, you are now an E-rank adventurer.”

I took the guild card from her and examined it.

Then I hung it around my neck.

“From now on, you can accept subjugation requests corresponding to E-rank, so please choose requests appropriate to your rank.”

“Understood.”

The guild had assigned ranks to each request.

You couldn’t accept requests higher than your rank, but lower ones were possible.

Still, I had heard before that it’s best to choose according to your rank.

‘Don’t interfere with the livelihood of lower-ranked adventurers.’

It was advice that taking one or two for some pocket money was fine, but taking too many would harm your reputation.

Thinking about this, I fiddled with my guild card and turned around.

“Well then, I’ll be going.”

“Yes. Good luck tomorrow too.”

After saying goodbye to Nina, I went outside.

I walked between the streetlights toward the inn.

‘At least it’s one step forward.’

If I continue taking requests, I should be able to make a decent living.

And someday, I might get involved with the magic tower.

“For now, I should celebrate today.”

I shifted my steps, thinking about buying some soft bread or something to eat on the way back.

So when I arrived at the inn entrance with some bread and other food items, there was a huge backpack blocking the entrance.

‘…How can we meet three times in one day…?’

Thinking it strange to meet without any appointment, I approached.

Seraphina noticed me right away.

“Oh, Mr. Kay?”

“…How are you here?”

A voice that seemed embarrassed came from her.

“I, um, don’t have much money…”

“I see.”

“So I looked around for the cheapest inn and ended up here.”

“…I see.”

“But even staying here… my wallet situation is quite precarious…”

“……”

Seraphina opened her mouth in a sad voice.

“From today, I’ll have to severely cut back on food expenses…”

Seraphina glanced at me slightly.

There was a sound from her stomach.

Apparently, she hadn’t eaten anything.

A moment later, Seraphina, her face turning red, opened her mouth.

“…Um… could you possibly share some of your food…?”

She looked at the food I was carrying with a pitiful expression.

A pitiful sound also came from her stomach.