Rael’s gaze dropped. His outstretched hand stopped midway.

Eating it right away was not a good idea. I had collapsed before. Nothing serious happened, but usually, losing consciousness and collapsing like that meant death. I was lucky.

Things that grew in the forest should not be eaten carelessly.

After a moment of thought, he took the blue flower. He intended to hide it. He figured he could find out the flower’s identity once they reached the city. Since the alchemist was doing research, he thought he could subtly ask about it.

For some reason, he felt incredibly good. He was more excited about finding one blue flower than about combining all the herbs he had spent a day collecting.

Rael didn’t even know what kind of flower it was yet. It was strange.

In a way, it was an expensive capital city.

Even herbs containing a small amount of mana were quite valuable. Herbs containing mana to the point of dizziness would likely be much more expensive. It was a plausible guess.

After harvesting the herbs and returning, Dorian grumbled, annoyed about why he was so late. He went on about how he wasn’t there to harvest herbs and that they needed to leave quickly.

Although he grumbled outwardly, the corners of his mouth were turned up. When Rael showed him the basket, Dorian let out an unpleasant laugh.

He felt a bit down, as if he had only done good deeds for someone else. However, since he had learned about herbs, it was mutually beneficial. Recalling the blue flower hidden in his embrace, even that didn’t matter anymore.

He used magic whenever water was needed. In his spare time, he moved around and collected herbs. Contrary to Dorian’s warnings, there was no sign of any scary monsters.

The crossbow he had brought was useless. He wanted to experience combat. Perhaps because Dorian subtly ignored him, he felt even more rebellious. He wanted to defeat at least one Gnoll to shut him up.

As he fiddled with the crossbow, feeling regretful, Dorian told him to be glad he didn’t have to use it.

He wished a Gnoll would appear.

The more familiar he became with the water spell magic, the stronger that thought grew. Making water after every meal gradually became natural.

Searching for herbs every day also helped with his training. Now, the size of the water he created at once was considerable. If it used to be the size of a head, now it was the size of a torso.

He began practicing launching the water mass.

Every night in his dreams, the old man taught him about magic. Even things he couldn’t grasp before, he now understood a little.

His dream self seemed to understand quite a bit. It was probably because he was learning the foundational knowledge. In contrast, Rael would barely learn one or two things if taught ten.

He was so bored that he wished the old man would just show him magic demonstrations. Still, lately, he had interesting dreams. This was because the old man was talking about the secret to maintaining the water mass, as well as the trick to launching it. It might not seem like much, but controlling mana required immense effort.

The old man talked so much that Rael felt sorry for having thought of it simply. Among his words, Rael only understood the practical parts, but even that was a great help.

“If we keep bringing this much back every time, we won’t have anything to worry about, will we?”

He slung the sack over his shoulder. It had been empty, but now it was full.

Considering the sack was big enough to fit a protagonist, the amount he had collected was immense.

If it continued like this every time, he would become rich quickly.

Dorian shook his head.

“Even if we take all this, they’ll only buy a fraction of it. What they want is at most a few types.”

“Then shouldn’t we just pick those and take them?”

“Right now, we don’t know, so we’re just picking whatever we find and taking it. Someone else might buy them.”

“What about something like Karil?”

He shifted his gaze to one side. Karil was growing at the end of it.

“That doesn’t bring in much money. The villagers only paid for it because they needed it.”

“I see.”

“Sometimes there are special herbs too.”

“Special?”

“Ones that hold mana.”

“Are they expensive?”

“Well, I don’t know all the herbs. The really special ones are hard to find. They say there are herbs that mages seek, but I don’t know much about them.”

His heart pounded. He was definitely talking about the blue flower he had obtained earlier.

“Could I possibly get a book?”

“First, you should learn to read. If you can just read, you’ll have no trouble making a living.”

He thought that he should learn to read first when he went to the city. He worried about how much it would cost to find a teacher to teach him to read.

Once he learned to read, he would have to look at herbology books.

He also needed to get magic books separately. Learning only in his dreams had its limits.

Magic books were said to be expensive, and he felt uncertain about his future, wondering when he would save enough money to buy them.

To learn anything, he absolutely had to have money on hand.

For now, he put his worries aside. He couldn’t even properly use the magic he was currently learning. Other things were problems to consider carefully.

As he walked through the forest, a main road appeared. It was a properly paved road. It meant it was flat enough for carriages to pass.

If he just followed this road, he could go to the city. Dorian said they would probably arrive tomorrow. He was excited to see what the city would look like.

Rael had never been to the city in his life. He was, quite literally, a country bumpkin.

“Do we part ways as soon as we arrive in the city?”

“Not necessarily. First, I have to go to the alchemist to dispose of the herbs. If things go well, I might even get a commission and stay in the capital city for a while.”

“A commission?”

“What did you think I said? I told you I came because of the alchemist in the first place.”

“I thought you were here to take me.”

“Well, that’s part of it too. Anyway, I’ll be staying in the city for a few days. I feel like I’ve accumulated fatigue from sleeping outdoors for a long time. While I’m here, I’ll also check up on how those guys who ran away from the village are doing.”

“Those who ran away?”

“There were some who ran away from home to become mercenaries. Most of them are probably dead though.”

Dorian’s expression turned bitter. It was the look of someone who had received an unnecessary request. It wasn’t something to worry about right now, because something had appeared in the distance.

A grating barking sound penetrated in an aphrodisiac way. He thought he misheard, but he hadn’t. Something was standing in the distance, blocking the road.

“Gnoll!”

“Gnoll?”

Dorian lowered his stance.

One hand went to the hilt of the sword at his waist, and with the other arm, he raised his shield to cover his face. It was an ingrained movement.

“How many are there?”

“I think there are four.”

“You think?”

“I’m hearing it with my ears, so it might not be the Capital City.”

It was a distance where he couldn’t see with his eyes. Only blurry shapes were visible. If his senses hadn’t sharpened during that time, he wouldn’t have noticed them.

“Damn it! They’re coming.”

“What should we do?”

At that moment, the shapes began to move. They had been discovered.

“Get out your crossbow first!”

“It’s too far!”

“Just shoot!”

The crossbow was loaded. Rael aimed at the Gnoll. He aimed precisely for its head and pulled the trigger.

Thump

Whoosh-!

The bolt struck in front of the leading Gnoll. He had missed.

“What are you doing! Reload quickly!”

Dorian had, at some point, gripped the hilt of his sword. His face was rigid with tension.

Rael set the crossbow upright and stepped on the stirrup. Drawing the string wasn’t easy. It was even harder in such a desperate moment. It seemed to take twice as long as during practice, like wartime.

“Aim slightly higher and shoot!”

Dorian said. It was an urgent shout.

Rael picked up the crossbow and aimed it at the Gnoll. This time, following Dorian’s advice, he aimed slightly higher and pulled the trigger. His body seemed to be pushed back by the crossbow’s recoil, and a Gnoll plunged its head into the ground. It was the Castle Lord.

He stared blankly at the fallen Gnoll’s corpse. The Gnoll was holding something like a club. It really had a dog’s head, which probably explained its stupidity.

“Again!”

Dorian shouted. He hastily reloaded the crossbow. He shot again, aiming slightly above its head as he had been instructed. This time too, the Gnoll’s body bent and then collapsed. The Gnoll was clutching its leg. On closer inspection, a bolt was lodged in its knee. It was another hit.

Rael immediately reloaded. This time, no shouting was heard. He had already taken down two of them. He was excited.

This time, the Gnoll was closer. The fur on its face was practically a boil.

“Woof, woof woof!”

When the Gnoll barked, he almost dropped the crossbow because it was a Gnoll. He gripped it tightly, and his arm trembled. Fortunately, he was able to pull the trigger.

Thump

Thwack-!

The Gnoll fell. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a fatal wound. The Gnoll clutched its shoulder and tried to stand up. Just then, Dorian let out a roar and pushed away the Gnoll that was charging at the protagonist.

The Gnoll tumbled over. Dorian took advantage of the opening and plunged his sword into the Gnoll’s chest. It was a single strike.

The Gnoll, hit by an arrow, belatedly stood up. But it was no match for Dorian. The arrow lodged in its shoulder seemed to have hit a joint, preventing it from moving its right arm.

Even if it had been normal, it would have lost.

Before long, the Gnoll, with a blade in its neck, fell. Rael let out a long sigh. His legs were trembling. If he relaxed, he felt like he would collapse.

Dorian dealt with the Gnoll that couldn’t move properly. As he had confirmed earlier, there were four Gnolls.

Sticky blood was on Dorian’s blade. Only then did the realization hit him that they had fought for their lives. If there had been more of them, he would have fumbled and been beaten to death by a club.

Dorian, who had returned after dealing with the fallen Gnolls, clapped him on the back.

“Well done!”

He was smiling. Rael smiled back. He didn’t want to appear weak.