Akuyaku Reijou ni Nanka Narimasen - Chapter 449 (Patreon)

Dungeon capture, gathering ingredients and the fighting Hero.
The next morning, we resumed the dungeon exploration.

Basement floor 21.

As soon as we opened the door, a fragrant green scent wafted in. It seems the next area was a forest.

"Since we're here, shall we do some gathering? Geraldin-san, scatter the surrounding enemies. Jend, follow along. You focus on self-defense."

"Huh? Got it."

"Alright, let's go!"

"Wait... wait, you are too fast! Wait!!"

Geraldin-san disappeared in an instant. Jend hurriedly chased after him.

"Now, Gora-chan, Sui, Arisa, can you tell us which plants are edible?"

"Leave it to us."

"Well, it can't be helped."

"Yes!"

"Huh? Aren't we moving forward?"

"We are, but I want to replenish the wild vegetables stock and such. Since there are many Beastmen, we should make sure we have enough ingredients and resupply."

"I see."

So, the search for ingredients commenced.

"Oh, I found a Matsutake-like mushroom!"

"It's poisonous."

"I'll take it as a souvenir for Niisama."

"It's quite rare, I'm sure Ru will be happy."

"Oh, I found colorful mushrooms!"

"They're poisonous."

Once again, a souvenir for Niisama.

"What about this spinach-like grass...!?"

"It's poisonous."

"Why are they all poisonous...!?"

"... Impressive."

"I'm not happy!!"

Rinka seemed to find only poisonous things. From something that looked edible to something clearly inedible, there was a variety of them. Since there were too many poisonous ones, in the end, Sui searched, and Rinka did the collecting.

By the way, Chita was suffering from amnesia, so gathering plants wasn’t suitable for him.

"Oh, how about this one?"

"This one is bitter."

"... What about this?"

"This is disgusting."

"... And this one!?"

"Fried, it tastes good."

"Hooray...!"

For some reason, Jash was finding only subtly flavored things. He's teamed up with Gora-chan. That's good. We'll make wild vegetable tempura.

I was paired with Dirk. Knights sometimes procure food locally depending on the situation, it seems, and he's knowledgeable about it.

"Oh, Rosarin, those are delicious."

"Okay."

We got a bunch of orange-like fruits. The taste is... pineapple? But it's delicious.

"Rosarin, those mushrooms are apparently a high-grade ingredient."

"Oh, really."

We got a bunch of mushroom-like shimeji. When I asked Sui later, it was indeed shimeji. Shimeji is tasty, right?

"Rosarni, those mushrooms over there and there are also delicious. I made soup with them before."

"Dirk, you are quite knowledgeable."

"I-Is that so..."

"I fell in love again."

"Eh... Th-thank you."

His tail swayed happily. Dirk, the knowledgeable one, being shy is cute. It's okay if it's just a little, right?

"Nya!?"

I captured his tail and petted it.

"Hey... stop... nyaa!?"

"Fluffy..."

"Rosarni-chan, let's save that for later, okay?"

"Sorry."

We were scolded, but afterward, we got a massive amount of mushrooms! By the way, there were a lot of eringi and maitake. There were also nameko mushrooms. Let's make miso soup.

Yes, tonight I want to eat everything mushroom-related. Mushroom soup, tempura, mixed rice...

By the way, while there were mushrooms that look like edible ones, there were also poisonous ones, so we had Gora-chan sort them out. Fortunately, the ones we picked were safe.

Thinking about such things, an hour passed while collecting.

"Oneechan, look at what we got~"

"Nyafu~ mission complete~"

It seems the Arisa and Mary pair, gathered a lot.

"Let me see?"

Sui checked the contents and made a serious face.

"Miracle Mushrooms, Wondrous Herbs, Rainbow Apples, Mysterious Mangoes, Divine Onions, Moon Fruits..."

"... At least S-rank... some even SSS-rank ingredients... amazing! Arisa-chan and Mary-chan are geniuses at gathering ingredients!"

"Oh my, you really are amazing. You did well."

"”Ehehehe."”

They were petted by me and Rinka, and the two were in a good mood. Yes, such cuties.

"My Lord! I hunted!"

"............ I'm tired."

"Whoa."

Giant Buffalo, Green Lizard, Mad Rabbit... all of them were big games.

"We've exterminated all the monsters on this floor. I brought back only the good prey."

The tail-wagging dog said... I mean, Geraldin-san.

"Good job. Look forward to dinner."

"Yeah, my Lord’s meals are always delicious!"

Patting the easy-to-pat tail... no, Geraldin-san. Well, he seemed happy when I patted him, appreciating his hard work.

"Jend."

"What?"

"What is it, Otousan?”

"... As an adventurer, you did great."

Though not straightforward, that's probably his honest opinion. Recently, he's been holding back too much when he's with us, but the real Geraldin-san is the type to take the lead in battles. He truly shines when he fights freely.

Jend has never seen the true heroism.

Hero Geraldin is lacking as a person. Some of it might be congenital, but I think most of it is acquired. In Wolfanea, he was a lone wolf. That's why he died in the original route. He didn't understand how to rely on others, always managing everything alone. The result of that was death.

Making him my servant was done with my reluctance, but sometimes I think it might have been for the best.

The lone wolf finally entered the pack after getting a master... seeing him happy surrounded by his current wife and children, I think truly believe that.

"Wahahahaha!!"

Now he's mostly an annoying old man, but maybe it was for the best. Maybe.

"Jend."

"What?"

"We will be gathering stuff for a while on this floor. During that time, you stick with Geraldin-san."

"... Why?"

"There are many things you can learn from him as an adventurer, right? Try to steal as much as you can."

"... I'll do my best."

Jend smiled wryly.

From floors 21 to 29, we were able to progress smoothly while gathering. However, Jend was looking exhausted. I didn't consider the difference in stamina with Geraldin-san. I'm sorry, Jend.

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