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We managed to pass the morning without anything of note happening.

Thinking about it, they usually messed up when monsters appeared. We were just resting normally so there was nothing for them to mess up. They seemed to have been warned a few times during their watches, but it wasn’t anything serious, either.

“Okay, we must arrive at our destination today, so let’s depart a bit early.”
“Gotcha.”

I explained today’s schedule while eating the food Finia made. Being given tasty food, they listened to our words properly. The only problem was that when it came to battles they forgot everything.

Once we cleaned up our camping spot, we headed right off to our destination. The Ligus potatoes we were looking for had a set growth area, so we could approximate the distance and time of arrival quite accurately.

There wasn’t really a proper road leading to that area, but as people were periodically going there to collect them, there was still a small, animal trail-like road formed.

However, they were hardly used so at present they were covered by thickets. We advanced while using natas to cut our way through them. With that, the three finally realized why I was telling them to bring natas yesterday.

“Holy cow. I’ve never seen bushes this thick.”
“There was nothin’ like this back in our fishing village.”
“My arm’s going numb here.”

They continued cleaning the way while sounding both impressed and exasperated. This was supposed to be their lesson, so Michelle and the rest were just observing them. They were still staying vigilant, but they were far more relaxed than usual.

“It’s so nice when there’s someone to cut the thickets for you.”
“Michelle, you’ve never even done it. I’ve been the one doing it for the most part.”

Cloud retorted to Michelle’s carfree comment.

He was right, though. Michelle, being a rear guard specialist, would never be tasked to take the lead and cut through the bushes. Cloud, who was tasked to stay at the front and stop the enemy was often entrusted with that, however.

In that sense, I should also be entrusted with it often, being a scout and all, but in my case, there was the problem of my stamina, so I couldn’t fulfill that duty.

In the first place, Raum had dense forests so the thickets were also quite tough. I lacked both stamina and strength, so I wouldn’t be as efficient as Cloud anyway.

“You’re strong so isn’t it fine, Cloud?”
“Having someone who can do physical work along is reassuring.”
“Not you too, Finia…”

Cloud slumped his shoulders. The trio, on the other hand, continued silently cutting their way through the thickets without complaining. As we continued on, the view ahead of us suddenly cleared out as the time neared noon.

There were ivies of a different color compared to the thickets growing thickly, and there were no large trees in the surroundings either. The ivies had wide leaves, making it clear that it was a completely different type of plant.

“We’ve arrived. Ligus potatoes should be growing around here.”
“Finally.”
“I’m spent…”

The three dropped to the ground. But the heavy labor was only just beginning.

The Ligus was a kind of mountain potato and had its roots spread deep underground. It was a root vegetable where most of its roots would turn into potatoes. In other words, they had to dig them up from that deep from now on.

We took the shovels out of the knapsack and got ready. This time we got the foldable ones, so if you connected the handle it could lengthen to about a meter. Its durability was a little unreliable, but since it was easy to carry, it was ideal for commissions like this where you had to dig the soft ground.

“Come on now, it’ll turn dark if you keep resting! Go and dig the potatoes.”
“Come on! Let us rest, big sis, will ya?!”
“Who’re you calling big sis. You have big bodies but lack training.”
“Should you be saying that?”

I sat on the portable foldable chair that had the Levitate cast on it, and had Cloud drag it along. In other words, I was carried here while sitting.

“If you’re gonna complain, should I bring out the punishment pole?”
“Soryyyyy!!”
“Oh well. As you can see, the muscles you use in daily fights and muscles for outdoor activities are completely different. I guess just that fact that you realized that is already a good gain.”
“Okaay…”

Making them work while totally exhausted would just increase the chances of them collapsing in the middle of digging up the potatoes.

It was necessary to not push them and let them rest.

“Can’t be helped. Let’s have a short break here, and might as well eat.”
“Aw yeah!”
“It’s not time to get so excited. Just rest!”
“Huh, can we just sleep?”
“You wouldn’t recover fast with that alone. You need a massage.”
“I don’t know how to go about that.”
“Can’t be helped…”

Finia had to prepare the meal, so we had to care for them with just the three of us.

“First, you have to loosen the center of your body before you work on your limbs. Starting from either side of your spine and shoulder blades.”

I gave the three of them, as well as Cloud and Michelle, instructions. These two didn’t know how to hold back on their massage, so I had to watch over them.

Thanks to that, they started leaking ecstatic voices.

“A-Aghhh, that’s the spot!”
“Stop your creepy moans.”
“I can’t help it. It’s impossible to hold my voice.”
“Good grief…”

Finia was holding back a laugh while watching us.

“Looks like they are enjoying it. May I ask for a massage too later, Lady Nicole?”
“Hmm? I’ll gladly do it for you. I’ll make you moan sweetly, gehehe.”
“Maybe I will reconsider it…”
“No need to hold back!”
“Ouchouchouch!”

Finia started sweating as she heard my yell filled with secret intentions. Man, I really haven’t shown my good sides to Finia at all. Since she knows about my real self, it always ends up turning into a lame situation.

It looks like I put in more strength in my grip as I yelled, Sebastian who I was giving a massage yelled in pain. Anyway, although there were some mistakes along the way, they still learned how to care for their bodies like this.

….I hope they did.