episode_0073

“Wow, what a wonderful sword, a rare sight in this town.”

“Can you fix it?”

“I have been eating only Kalbap for 30 years. Trust me and leave it to me.”

Elden left the sword in the blacksmith’s shop, and when he heard it would take about two days, he borrowed a replacement sword.

It was a small sword compared to what I was using, but it wasn’t a bad sword to use as a makeshift sword.

Then, the three stopped by a herbal medicine shop next door.

“Is there a good herbal medicine for restoring vitality?”

Ariel asked the owner, as she was still ignorant about medicinal herbs.

“Recovery of vitality… Is it okay if it costs a little more? There are some that have amazing effects even if you boil and eat just one root.”

“Yes, it’s okay.”

“Then where should I look~”

The owner, whose beard reaches down to his navel and is tied up, twirls his long beard behind his back like a topknot and looks around at the medicinal herbs on display.

The herbalist, who had been repeatedly mumbling and drooling, soon clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“Oh, tsk. I guess it’s already sold. You old lady. If you’re selling it, at least tell me to say something.”

The herbalist was embarrassed by his confident speech, so he shouted at the back of the store for no reason.

Ariel asked him again.

“Do you have any stock?”

“As you know, winter is approaching and it is getting harder to climb the snowy mountains, so medicinal herbs are becoming scarce.”

“I see… Are there any other herbal medicine shops in town?”

Ariel asks just in case, although there shouldn’t be more than two herbal medicine shops outside of a city.

Although not as much as Elden, she also sincerely hoped for Lumiang’s recovery.

Although we didn’t interact, we were classmates at the academy.

As a classmate, I would sometimes stare at him because I was amazed at how passionate he was during class.

As a classmate, I was amazed by the pure passion Erincia showed, and at times envied it.

More than anything, Elden hopes for Lumiang’s recovery.

If Lumiang could regain his energy, Elden would be happy, and that alone would be reason enough to seek out and brew some herbs.

And for recovery, effective medicine was absolutely necessary.

Because I couldn’t get a doctor’s diagnosis until I could clearly understand Lumiang’s intentions and thoughts, I decided to avoid exposing him to outsiders.

The Mana Healing Scroll could only heal minor wounds.

For that reason, Ariel hoped for Lumiang’s recovery, but all she got in return was another nod.

“This is the only place in Rugen Village.”

“I see… . Then have a nice day.”

Finally, Ariel turned around with a regretful expression on her face.

Because I understood better than anyone what it meant that it would be difficult to climb a snow-covered mountain as winter approached.

Predators are dangerous as they search for prey with their eyes wide open, and the deep snow makes it difficult to identify them. For herbalists, the mountains of the northern ridge in November are just a part of nature out of sight.

It would be hard to obtain even if you ask for several times the price.

He was about to leave the store, but he had to stop when Elden, who had been maintaining silence, opened his mouth.

“Is there any other way to get that ‘amazing’ medicine?”

“Yes?”

“Didn’t you just say that? ‘In Rugen Village’, this is the only place. I’m asking because I wonder if there’s anyone around the village who sells medicinal herbs.”

“Ah… .”

At Elden’s sharp question, the old man stroked his long beard and looked somewhat embarrassed.

An old man who is hesitating and coughing loudly.

Judging from the fact that he was not good at hiding things, his business credibility seemed to be quite high.

Elden smiled faintly and flicked a silver coin at the old man who was bewildered like a child hiding candy, and with a ting! sound, the silver coin flew away briskly and landed in the old man’s hand, which he had hastily gathered.

“… ?”

“I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with the information fee.”

“Ah.”

The old man, who understood the meaning of the silver coin, smiled awkwardly and put the coin in his back pocket.

He was smiling as he glanced around the back of the store, seemingly happy about the sudden emergency fund.

A single silver coin would be enough to treat oneself to a feast at the best brothel in town and still have some left over.

The old man, who had patted his back pockets, approached Elden and smiled faintly, rubbing his palms like a traitor.

“Hehehe. Well, actually, there is someone who sometimes comes to buy medicine. Since he is not interested in worldly things, I pay the price of the item as he asks.”

“Oh. So there’s a place that steals the price of items… Is that what you’re saying?”

“Ah, haha. Well, what. Isn’t this a world where we help each other? If that’s the case, then I’m sure he has a ‘Red Leaf Mandragora’. Just don’t tell him that I told him to come.”

At the old man’s worried question, Elden nodded with a look of understanding.

“He is not interested in worldly things and is reluctant to have outsiders visit him. So, if what you told him gets out, he might not be able to punish him. ”

A sarcastic remark that accurately captures the true meaning of a few words spoken.

It was a very fiery and sharp style of painting, and the old man, whose true intentions were clearly seen through by a young man who seemed to be his grandson’s age, had to burst out in an embarrassed laugh.

“Hehehe! It’s hot, so I like it.”

“Where is it?”

An old man with a smile on his face gestured for Elden and his party to come over, and they followed him outside the store, where they had to see a snowy mountain located about 3km northeast of the village.

It was a fairly tall snow-covered mountain, not too far away.

“If you walk about fifty steps west from the entrance of the snowy mountain, you will see a sign on a wooden pillar. I made it. If you follow it and go up, you will come across a large cave. It is a place where people do not go because they think there are giant monsters living there, but a snowman lives there.”

Elden shaded his eyes with his hands as the sunlight poured down, looking at the mountains in the distance.

Hmm.

It’s a big cave.

Elden’s will weakened for a moment.

“Thank you.”

Of course, Elden had no intention of leaving a single silver coin as a donation, so he headed straight for the snowy mountain.

**

Thud thud.

Fortunately, the clear skies and gentle breezes made the journey comfortable.

The snow that had piled up along the way was not deep, so it was no different from walking on flat ground.

However, there is one thing that is awkward.

“It’s really okay.”

“Hey. It’ll be boring if you go alone.”

It was said that Ariel and I were walking down that road together.

The Render Inspiration had sent a message to Rachel at her lodgings, telling her that she might be late.

Of course it wasn’t uncomfortable.

I never got bored when I was with Ariel, who was always bright and cheerful, and we got along well and communicated well.

However, since it was the first time in 6 months that the two of us had ever gone on a ‘long’ trip like this, it felt a little awkward.

Don’t friends sometimes do that?

There’s something about the awkwardness that arises when we see each other as two instead of just four people hanging out together.

Even though I know that it’s not the awkwardness with that person, but the silence that comes between the noisy rhythm of four people chatting and the calm rhythm of two people chatting, I somehow feel like the air is sinking.

In a word, it is not adaptable.

Because for six months there were always four of us.

“Wouldn’t it be hard? You can go and come back alone.”

“Yeah! I have a duty to record this great path that the Blood Prince is taking~!”

“… … .”

How could I awkwardly deal with Ariel, who answered so cheerfully?

I couldn’t help but snicker at Ariel, who used all of her small facial muscles to say, “Strong!”

I had a pointless thought that maybe it was an obligation.

I think that without Ariel, our culinary expedition might have been quite dull.

Maybe that’s why.

Suddenly, that thought occurred to me.

I’m sorry I haven’t been able to thank you lately.

I suddenly told him a thought that occurred to me.

“Thank you, Ariel.”

“Huh? What?”

“Just, what. About all the things you do?”

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Ariel, who was born as the daughter of a precious countess and helped me realize my dream of a culinary journey, and who even volunteered to take on the role of a monster chef and write my biography, was a person for whom I was so grateful that even the praise of being a benefactor seemed pale.

It was to the point where I wondered what would have happened if I had put aside my chance encounter with her at the library.

I conveyed that feeling as it was, and Ariel stared blankly at me for a moment before quickly turning away.

Even though it wasn’t that cold, my cheeks turned red like apples.

“What, what. I do it because I like it, what.”

“By the way, has Count Elrond said anything? He must be worried.”

“What… I think you’re more excited when I tell you that you’ve made a precious friend?”

“Really?”

“Yeah! My friend asked me if I was a guy, so I said yes, and he said he wanted to meet me sometime, so I said I’d talk to him when I got a chance to go nearby.”

It seems that Count Elrond has been communicating with my youngest daughter more frequently than expected.

I was wondering if being free from the expectations of the family would make me a little indifferent.

‘Was it complete respect rather than indifference?’

what.

It seemed closer to reckless respect than complete respect.

Anyway, I was grateful that I could go on a culinary tour with my wonderful friend Ariel thanks to Count Elrond’s respect.

So there was no reason to refuse.

“Good. You said that Earldom of Elrond is in the Eastern Territory?”

“Yeah!”

“That’s good. After finishing the trip to the eastern part of the northern ridge, I have to go down to the eastern part of Silion. I’ll stop by.”

“Really?”

match!

Ariel clapped her hands in joy, so there was no reason to refuse.

Because Ariel being happy is something that should be done.

So we arrived at the entrance to the snowy mountain that the herbalist had pointed out, and we started climbing up the marked tree as he had told us.

and.

Got lost.

**

Meanwhile, Rachel was standing by the window, looking up at the moon worriedly as the two of them didn’t return until late at night.

Trying hard to deny the embarrassing thoughts that keep coming to mind.

It was the first time I remember.

During the six-month journey, Elden and Ariel did not return until late at night.

It was also the first time that the two of them had moved around alone for such a long period of time.

‘… Surely not.’

Maybe that’s why.

For the first time, a strange wariness settled over Rachel’s obsidian pupils illuminated by moonlight.

and.

‘Just come back.’

A strange(?) hatred.