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I know that Maricle was always smacking Boman’s a̲s̲s̲ and had him do many things. Not only that, but he also stopped Cain’s recklessness and Ryu’s idiocy…

“Maricle, you also care a bit too much yourself. You can’t really talk about Gim like that, can you?”
“This is just my nature. Leave me alone.”

Well, that’s fine.

“Triela is the same. You stop Arle from overworking herself, curb Rico’s motivation, and carry Kuro around.”
“Ah…”
“I know you’re worried about them and I’m grateful for your hard work, but we’re the same. So don’t tell me off so much.”
“I know, I’ll be careful. Sorry, okay?”

Hmm, did I say too much? But he wouldn’t fix that part of him if I didn’t go that far. As I pondered how I should warn him about this, Maricle turned his face from me and muttered.

“…I’m aware of it. I’m trying to fix it.”
“Do your best.”
“I will.”

As we walked while talking about such things, we arrived at the forest. Let’s see, time to do our best in collecting herbs!

We looked for herbs around our usual spot without taking any break. This area was the shallow part of the forest, but we found quite a lot of medicinal herbs. That’s why it’s a relatively popular spot for beginners like us.

And for some reason, I heard it’s easy to grow and cultivate herbs here. I don’t really get it, though.

“Triela, I found it!”
“Ohh, good job Kuro! Well done!”

Kuro was good at finding herbs and nuts. Seems like many dog and cat beastfolk were like her. For that reason, Kuro often joined the herb collecting group.

“What should we do with this?”
“Umm, if I remember right, we should do this…”

Maricle asked me so as he looked at what I was doing.

In the book I read yesterday, this herb’s leaves should be the important part, so…

“For this herb, we should cut the leaves carefully like this so that they won’t break or crush, then we wrap them in a cloth like this… I think.”
“Hmm… Can we stack multiple layers when wrapping the leaves in cloth? We don’t have that many clothes with us, so separating each of them will be hard.”
“Hmm, it might get crushed if we pile them up too much, but as long as we keep the amount normal it should be fine, or that’s what I think…”
“I see… Got it. For now, we’ll cut it carefully so it doesn’t get crushed. This herb grows a lot here so it’s easier to find even for me. I’ll look for it over there with Boman. Triela, look for other herbs with Kuro. Hey Boman, we’re moving!”
“Oh…”
“Be more motivated.”
“Nn…”

…He’s a lost cause. Whatever, we’ll do our best here.

“Boman is an idiot.”
“Don’t be that harsh, Kuro.”
“Nyuu.”
“I know what you’re saying, still… Ah, this one can be sold with a high price… am I right?”
“But we can only sell it very cheaply all the time.”
“You’re right, Kuro. Hmm, I think it’s the root? And the stem part is important. Ah, it has no fruit or flower, but I remember reading that the fruit and flower can be used for something else…? Oh no, I can’t remember!”
“Let’s carefully dig up the roots for now.”

Kuro dug up the ground with a knife that was still in the scabbard. Right, that’s smart. If any part was important, we should just bring the whole thing back. Uu, I’m being played by the knowledge I had just learned… I had to get a hold of myself!

As I fought with my inner dilemma, Kuro finished digging out the herbs.

“Sorry Kuro, thank you.”
“Nnyu. Then what should we do with this?”
“I think we can wrap this with a cloth. It should be better to keep the cloth moist.”
“Water… over there.”
“Eh, over there? What happened?”
“There’s a smell of water.”

Then Kuro trotted in that direction.

“Wait! Kuro!”

But when Kuro stopped not far away, she plunged her head into the bush.

“Kuro!?”
“There’s water. Triela, here.”

Kuro beckoned with her head stuck in the bush, so I also peeked into it and moved to the back… There was spring water. It’s small, but as Kuro said, there was water.

“You’re kidding me… Kuro, you’re amazing!”
“I’m, amazing!”

Kuro, who already moved away from the bush, said proudly with leaves on her head. Seriously, Kuro was really amazing in times like this. To be honest, I think she’s the only one who could survive if left alone among us.

After brushing the leaves off Kuro’s head and praising her with head pats, Kuro squinted her eyes comfortably.

…She looked just like when Ren patted her head in the shade of a tree when we were still in the orphanage… I want to let her meet Ren soon.

Our herb collecting continued smoothly even after that. At noon, we met up with Maricle’s team at once and gobbled the hard bread and skewered meat.

I wanted to earn a lot and eat more of these skewers… That’s why I had to work harder.

After lunch, we split up again and continued to collect herbs until evening. Yeah, we collected a lot. But Maricle’s team wasn’t that lucky this time.

“There are times like this.”
“Sorry.”
“No need to sweat it! It’s less than usual, but if we can sell it at a higher price, everyone will know that the reference room is useful!”
“…You’re right.”

Maricle’s expression told me that he didn’t think it would go that well, but I feel like it’s not a bad thing to think positively. Because the mood would worsen if I couldn’t be positive.

…To be honest, I didn’t think they would sell at a very high price. After all, I could only do what the librarian read for me in the reference room. So the price wouldn’t change that much.

But my expectations were betrayed in a good way.

The purchase price was 5 silver coins altogether!?

Um, it was 4, 5… 7 times more than usual!? Eh, ehhh? Ehhhhhh!? You must be kidding me!!!!????