Chapter 306

(306) Can I touch?

Translator: Tseirp

“By the way, Carol . Do you know about gallnut?”

“Yes . It is the raw ingredient for the ink used by Magic Journalist . Did Ririana-san bid you to buy some?”

“Yeah, Rurina told me that she would be able to manage the party system if she had a Magic Journalist note created and when I requested Ririana to make that note —”

At this point, I was no longer surprised at how Carol knew that Ririana was a Herbalist .

If she had an hour, it wouldn’t be surprising if she knew all their names, jobs, interest and favorite food .

… Perhaps if Carol traveled with me, I might have found information on Miri a long time ago?

That’s a shame .

” … Haru, what’s wrong?”

Haru, who was walking beside me, stopped and was staring at the side alley .

I looked to see if there was anybody but there was n.o.body there .

“No, I just smelled something nostalgic . ”

“A nostalgic scent? Now that I think about it, Haru was born in the Southern Continent, right?”

The Demon Lord castle was in a country further east from here in the Southern Continent . In a place called Kyupilas Hill, where there was now a large Cathedral built in its place .

“You might be smelling a scent that is unique to the Southern Continent . ”

“— Yes … maybe you are right . ”

Haru replied as if to convince herself before she nodded with a smile in the end .

She still looked expressionless from the side but I could tell . The corner of her mouth was angled up by a few millimetres . Well, her tail was not wagging that much so she was probably not happy because she was convinced but she was showing a smile to me instead .

“This way!”

I unconsciously frowned when I saw the shop that Carol led us to .

After all, there was a large net-like object hanging at the storefront .

It was similar to those used to make dried fish in a port town — the objects inside were .

Black, dried, curled up and unmistakably —

” … What are those? Are these by any chance —”

“Haru, don’t say a word more!”

“— Sea cuc.u.mber?”

“Like I said, don’t say … eh? sea cuc.u.mber?”

Sea cuc.u.mber as in those sea cuc.u.mber found in the sea?

Well, it’s true that I have never seen dried sea cuc.u.mbers . In the world of herbal medicine, it is known as a ingredient for nouris.h.i.+ng tonics .

I guess she’s right, there’s no way a storefront would —

“These are probably feces from Sugyu that only ate managra.s.s . Since they are used for medicine . ”

“I knew it! Or rather, do people actually drink feces? And aren’t managra.s.s toxic?”

I ate it once when I fought Milemia in the past but it tasted quite bad . (TL: I don’t recall this)

Even if they are Sugyu, I pity them for having to eat something like that .

“Sugyu love managra.s.s . That gra.s.s is toxic to humans but they are not to Sugyu . Not only that, Sugyu are not able to absorb the magical power recovery properties of managra.s.s so that aspect remains in their feces . Because of that, it can recover ten-times greater amount of magical power compared to eating managra.s.s directly and drying the feces kills the toxic ingredients so it becomes non-toxic . ”

” … Even if I’m told it recovers ten-times as much and is non-toxic … ”

I definitely still don’t want to eat feces . If I had to eat feces, I rather eat ten times the amount of managra.s.s and apply detoxification magic on myself .

“It doesn’t smell . ”

“It has been through deodorizing treatment to the point that even Haru-san can’t smell anything . Of course, n.o.body eats it directly like that but they seem to be used as an ingredient for medicinal liquors . ”

“It’s okay . Carol can make mana potions anyway . ”

“Carol still doesn’t have any recipes as a Herbalist though?”

“You’ll learn it soon enough . ”

I replied and entered the store .

The interior was a little dim .

Perhaps because the first thing I saw was p.o.o.p at the front, the ingredients inside looked decent .

If not for that, I probably would feel sick looking at the large quant.i.ty of roasted black newts hanging in the shop .

Managra.s.s were also present in bundles .

“Welcome . Please close the door quickly, there are many ingredients that are vulnerable to sunlight . ”

“Sorry . ”

The old lady behind the counter cautioned us so Haru, who was the last to enter, quickly but politely closed the door .

“You are new customers . Do you have your job certificates?”

“Yes, here . ”

Carol pa.s.sed her job certificate to the old lady .

The old lady looked at the certificate with a glance and pa.s.sed it back to Carol, probably without confirming it .

“So, what do you wish to buy?”

“For now, we would like to choose a complete set of compounding tools at our own discretion . Carol, about the money —”

“Ichino-sama, the money you gave me just now is sufficient . I’ll do the negotiations . ”

Carol said and started talking to the shop owner .

Well, I guess I can leave the purchases to Carol .

Even if I have the Thought Trace skill that is useful for negotiations, my negotiation skills as a whole do not even reach the base of Carol’s feet .

I looked around the shop .

“Oo, they are even selling all kinds of metals . ”

“Mercury … ? These can be used for medicine too?”

“It used to be seen as a medicine for immortality long ago but it is poison so it shouldn’t be consumed . ”

“It’s possible to become immortal?”

“That was the superst.i.tion held in the world I was from . Perhaps Miri would know more about immortality drugs . ”

I wished for an instant that Haru would remain forever young and beautiful but I also would like to see Haru grow up and gain adult charms .

I guess letting nature run its course is the best after all .

“Haru, do you have interest in becoming immortal?”

“No, I don’t . ”

“I see . ”

“Yes . If I become immortal, I will fall into despair when Master dies and will have to spend eternity that way . I won’t be able to endure that . ”

Haru is s-so cute .

Ah, shouldn’t I just propose to her . Or rather, I must marry her .

” … Haru . ”

I resisted myself from hugging Haru .

This won’t do . I must resolve the talk with Carol first .

The issue with Carol …

“Haru, I have a small request, do you mind?”

“Yes, anything for Master . ”

Yeah, I knew Haru would definitely say that .

After all, I was going to request something that I would normally never request for in a place like this .

“Could I touch your breast for just a moment?”

“Yes, I don’t mind . ”

… I didn’t think she would reject me but why was her tail wagging the most now .

“Ah … but my breast has become slightly bigger lately so I don’t know if Master would be fond of them . ”

… Why was she sorry for such important news?