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The next morning, we bought hard-baked bread and skewered meat for lunch, then we divided the members into odd jobs group and herbs collecting group before moving. I plan to stick with collecting herbs for a while starting today. The members of today’s herbs collecting group were me, Kuro, Maricle, and Boman.

Cain sometimes did strange things if he was left alone, so we had to make sure he was with someone who could stop him.

I, Maricle, and Arle could stop Cain from being reckless. Arle would kick him with full power without any hesitation, so Cain couldn’t deal with Arle very well.

Cain would usually come with Maricle or me. Even so, Maricle was the one who gave the idea yesterday, so he was with me today.

Besides, one of today’s members, Boman, had a terrible habit of slacking off. That’s why he had to be with Cain or Maricle.

The last one, Kuro, was a black cat beastfolk. Her hair and eyes were black, often mistaken as Ren’s little sister when she was with her. Now that I thought of it, that’s actually a little strange since Ren didn’t have cat ears or a tail. Well, both of them often followed their pace. That might be why their aura could seem somewhat similar.

Then, as we moved, the gate came into view. There was already a long queue of adventurers and merchants at the gate. It should take some time before we could get out.

“I’ve been thinking about this since forever. Do you think there’s anything we can do with this long waiting time every morning?”
“It just shows how so many people are in the royal capital. Be it adventurer or merchant.”
“Uu, Triela, I’m sleepy.”
“Please bear with it.”
“Triela, I’m sleepy too…”
“Even Boman… Both of you, get ahold of yourself!”

Really, these two would try to sleep at every chance they had!

“Oh, kids. Are you going to collect herbs too today?”
“Ah, Gim. Good morning!”

This person was a dwarf warrior, Gim. Even if he was a dwarf, he could move very fast. A veteran Rank-C adventurer and a kind person who helped us in the Adventurer’s Guild on the first day we arrived in the royal capital. Gim introduced us to the inn we were staying at right now, even taking our income into consideration. The reason everyone in our party could stay together in one room was thanks to Gim’s help. Even after that, he kept lending us a helping hand. I’m really grateful towards him.

“How is it? Are you getting better in recognizing the herbs?”
“No, that’s still a long way off. But I’ve learned a lot from someone, so we might be able to make a little more income than usual.”
“Oh, that’s good to hear! I’m also not very familiar with herbs, so I can’t teach you anything about that! …By the way, what’s with Triela’s waist sword? I remember you said that you’re looking for someone to form a mutual aid contract with you, have you found them?”
“Ah… this is different. Many things happened…”
“Hmm? Well, I guess many things happen in life. Anyway, can you show me that sword for a while?”
“Ah, sure. I don’t mind.”

I handed Gim the sword with the scabbard. We were indebted to Gim and I believed he was someone I could trust. I’m not worried about him stealing it.

“Hoo… this is a pretty good weapon.”
“…Is that so? I knew it.”
“What’s with that reaction? This is your sword, isn’t it? You didn’t know?”
“No, I don’t really know how to look at a sword, so…”

…As I thought, this was a good sword even in Gim’s eyes. Ren said she made it on her own. If that’s true, then she’s…

I’ve always thought she was a weird one. Hmm…

“Well, you can learn it gradually. More than that, do you know how to use it? You can’t just swing it around randomly, okay?”
“I’m sorry, I actually have no idea about that too…”

The four boys had been swinging sticks around since they were in the orphanage. After Ren disappeared, they planned to engage in real battle and sparred with each other for real, but I was clueless about that. And this was what Gim told to me.

“Ah… I should’ve expected it, my bad. You aren’t aiming to be a swordfighter, so you should have no idea how to use a sword. Then, hmm… do you cook? You can’t cut vegetables and meat just by placing the knife on them, right? You have to move the blade like this to slice it properly. It’s the same as this. If you just swing the blade randomly, you might as well just use bare fists to hit your enemy with full power.”
“I see…”
“You might have heard people sparring with sword by clashing their weapon, but doing it all the time will chip the blade immediately. The worst case is that it will break. As long as your sword isn’t a legendary item, you won’t be able to use it forever. Since your current one is this good, you should take care of it properly, okay? …There are actually more things you need to consider, but we won’t have time to teach you everything…”
“No, thank you very much. I don’t know anything at all, so you are very helpful. It’s impossible for me to learn proper swordsmanship too…”
“Well, the orthodox knight’s swordsmanship is powerful, but it’s hard for the commoners to learn. The capital’s swordsmanship training center also costs money. It can’t be helped that adventurers’ way of handling swords is different, but I wish there’s something I can do…”

Apparently, Gim had taken care of novice adventurers like us in the past. He also said that a significant number of them died. I often heard that many novice adventurers died without knowing how to fight, so someone like Gim who took good care of people would have a lot to consider.

“Ah, we should be able to get outside soon. You guys should work hard too!”
“Yes! Thank you very much!”

The atmosphere became a little strange midway, but we parted from Gim and headed out, walking to the forest where we always collect herbs.

“…I think Gim cares a bit too much.”
“But thanks to him, we learn a lot of things. Beginners like us are still alive because someone like him exists.”
“You’re right. We have many kids with us. There’s also Boman.”
“I hope Boman can be a little more motivated.”
“…At least he’s still working if he’s motivated enough. It will be nice if he can see our situation in the long run.”