Chapter Ten: Berries Can Be Sweet or Sour
Hello, fantasy world; goodbye, daily life.
Yo. I’m Takanashi Rin, a carefree wanderer in a foreign land.
Right now, I’m walking toward the forest with Mr. Ville and listening to his stories. Apparently, he is an adventurer based in Ellarge, and this time, he happened to be on a solo journey for personal reasons when the unexpected incident occurred… That’s the summary.
Bad luck danced with him, I guess. My condolences.
Anyway, the town of Ellarge is on the other side of the lake… So after I finish this tutorial-like harvesting practice, we plan to head there.
The forest looks like located on slightly higher ground, and after walking for about an hour and a half, we came to a slight uphill. The road runs along the foot of that hill, which is about 3 meters high. At the top, there seemed to be a mixed deciduous forest with various types of broadleaf trees.
"Ahhh…! The air is so delish!”
"Air… is delish? Can you even fill your stomach with that?”
Oh dear… this air is so refreshing! Mr. Ville may have said something lacking in elegance, but I don’t mind!
Is it because of the lush, vibrant foliage that creates such a nice shade? The sun is quite high already, but the wind brings a pleasant coolness.
The borrowed leather mantle is indeed a bit hot, but the wonderful feeling of the breeze passing through makes up for it!
Burr, burr.
[Serene tranquility,
Seeps into the stomach,
The sound of insects]
A heartfelt haiku by Takanashi Rin.
"Hey, Mr. Ville, are you hungry already?”
"My stomach’s a bit empty, yeah.”
When I turned to Mr. Ville hearing this sudden stomach growling, he had a hand on his belly and was smiling wryly.
The destructive power of a friendly handsome guy is terrifying!
…Come to think of it, I’m feeling a bit hungry too… When you wake up early, your stomach tends to get hungry early too, right? Well then, I have a good idea. Maybe I should prepare some long-lasting snacks for us for times like this…
"Oh! There’s something good!”
"What is it, Rin?”
"Something’s growing over there! Looks like berries! See!”
"Berries…? Where?”
"Right there! Look, that tree over the slope! The red and dark purple ones!”
"Oh, those! …But can we eat them? Many wild berries are poisonous, you know?”
Looking around for something that might serve as a light snack, my eyes suddenly landed on a certain tree. Illuminated by the dappled sunlight, it had slightly greenish-white, red, and deep purple fruits. It looked exactly like a mulberry tree planted along the walking path in the park near my parents’ house!
Where is it? Mr. Ville searched eagerly, using his hand as a sunshade, but he still hadn’t found the tree. Hehehe… my food-seeking eyes had already spotted several similar trees!
Over there! I pointed, and finally, Mr. Ville seemed to get it. In the end, he even crouched down next to me, matching my eye level… Was it really so hard to find? And he muttered something slightly concerning… Well, indeed, wild plants often contain toxins… An upset stomach is fine but dying would be terrible…
[Halberry (Edible: Delicious)
A type of berry. Small grains come together to form a single fruit. The ones that ripen to a deep purple color are sweet and delicious.
Unripe green ones are very sour and too firm, unsuitable for eating.
The leaves are also used as herbal medicine and dried ones are sometimes brewed into medicinal tea.]
"Survival says it’s delicious, not poisonous, and we won’t die here, hooray!”
"Oh really? Let’s go pick them then!”
"Whoa, you are so fast! Wait for meee!”
The moment he realized they were edible, Mr. Ville’s excitement visibly shot up. He ran lightly towards the slope, and effortlessly jumped up, kicking the slope once and reaching the top in a single bound.
…Mr. Ville’s physical abilities are amazing…!
I can’t lose here either!
…Well, I don’t have that kind of physical ability.
But I was once a wild child, who excelled at climbing trees and revetment blocks, jumping off barn roofs, and sliding down handrails!
I must still be able to climb a slope…!
Keeping a distance that seemed sufficient, I took a run-up and… Here I go!
"You okay, Rin?”
"Sorry for the trouble…”
In the end, although inertia carried me halfway up, I couldn’t make it all the way. I used to feel like I could climb more easily back in the day… Could it be… my weight!? Is it my weight!? Even climbing desperately on all fours, when I lost balance just 50 cm from the top, I had to get help from Mr. Ville―Just as the soil crumbled underfoot and I was about to fall, he grabbed my arm and pulled me up.
With the shots of "Fight!" and "Heave-ho!" echoing in my head, I think I wasn’t too bad.
"Sorry, Mr. Ville! Was I heavy!? Is your arm okay!? Any pain!?”
"One or two Rins is pretty light. I’d be fine even if you were heavier.”
"Ehhhh… I don’t know what face to make in a situation like this!”
"Owww! Rin! That hurts! That hurts right now!!!”
If I broke an adventurer’s arm, it’d be terrible! I’d die! I thought, as I hurriedly checked the arm that pulled me up.
…Hmm. No tenderness or pain on movement right now, and no signs of inflammation either… So it should be all right?
Even when I tried to read Mr. Ville’s expression, all I could see was a nonchalant look. Moreover, just when I thought, "Is he okay?" I felt like he said something that a girl couldn’t ignore…
If I were heavier, I’d be a snowball, Mr. Oni… Darn it! Nice muscles you’ve got there!
Feeling somewhat irritated, I took the opportunity to examine him and pressed the brachioradialis muscle with my thumb. …Yup. It’s way more rock-solid than I thought!
Chuckling at Mr. Ville’s screams, I take out the plastic bag I had put in my sling bag and prepare to hunt the berries…
The translator’s corner
Mulberry… I have a mulberry tree near my house, so last summer I made mulberry jam for the first time. It was quite tasty, although a little too sweet.
Thanks for your hard work!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your hard work! Looking forward for more!
ReplyDeleteGod I love mulberries. I have a huge tree at my house
ReplyDelete