Published at 30th of December 2021 03:56:39 PM

480 A Short Rest

I place Aro and the others on my back and, with the black lizard by my side, we take to the skies, clearing the cliff wall and leaving the mandragora grove. The hades mandragora is fastened to my back with the nightmares silk.

[Hades Mandragora]: Value B+

It emits a peculiar yet appetite-inducing aroma.

Due to its scarcity and the uniqueness of its flavour, it is treated as an unparalleled treasure that cannot be substituted for by lesser ingredients.

However, as it is a monster that humans cannot hope to touch that only lives in far-off regions, it is unlikely for even the most foolhardy to attempt to hunt it.

Incidentally, a prince once ordered a hunt for a [Hades Mandragora], resulting in the deaths of a hundred soldiers.

Indeed, it seems that weve landed an extraordinarily valuable ingredient. Since its a rare opportunity, we decided to bring it back with us.

So as to avoid getting lost in the mist, well continue the rest of the way on foot. After passing over the cliff, I touch down and then lower myself to the ground to allow everyone to disembark.

First Aro descends, and then Volk, the nightmare, and finally a metre-tall winged thing in the shape of an egg.

Fuu, master-dono, I thank you. It was a nice ride.

Y- Yea

Yes, this is treant-sans [Tree Spiritisation] form. Its body is glowing green, and it has an appearance similar to that of a raran. It has wings, but no arms, and its legs are long and thin, so it looks somewhat like a chick. In place of a face is a long-nosed wooden mask.

Somehow, it seems treant-sans [Tree Spiritisation] doesnt continuously consume MP. It ate up quite a bit when activated, albeit not enough to be life-threatening Even though treant-san has [Flight], its not at the level where it could cross the cliff, so I let it hitch a ride on my back. However, its normal [Tyrant Guardian] form could not possibly fit, so it used [Tree Spiritisation].

However Its physical stats are halved in this form, so its unlikely to be useful in battle. Though it could be useful for getting through somewhere narrow.

Aro wraps her arms around the treant from below and lifts it up.

Its a little cute

Please refrain, Aro-dono

The treants legs flap uselessly. I-is that so? Thats cute to you? It leans a bit more towards the uncanny for me.

For the time being, well return to the waterfall cavern by foot. Volk, the nightmare, and the black lizard are already almost out of MP. Aro and the treant can recover theirs, but it seems theyve got a considerable amount of mental stress built up. So, Ill mark out the rest of the day for everyone to have a chance to rest.

Aro uses [Clay] to mold a ceramic pot and oven, and I fire them with [Scorching Breath] until they quickly whiten into porcelain In truth, I wanted to utilise [Alchimias Magic Earth], but this seems strong in itself, too. If I consider how its the magic earth made by an upper-class B+ rank lich and fired by the flames of an L rank dragon, I suppose thats to be expected.

I do plan to steal some [Alchimias Magic Earth] from the [Clay Guardians] later, but their tendency to explode without leaving a trace presents a challenge.

Aro, are you really okay? Youve been using magic constantly, havent you?

Im alright! This isnt combat, so I dont have to be on-edge, and besides, Im not tired yet.

Well, thats true. Even against lower rank monsters, its still a fight to survive. It follows that mental fatigue would accumulate much faster than physical exhaustion.

However, Aro is also extremely skilled. Its regrettable, but its far faster for her to create things with [Clay] than it is for me to knead them with my hands. On top of that, as she accumulates experience, I can see her start to obsess over the details of the shapes. However Aro, a work of art is like this! I wont recognize anything that isnt handmade, you know!

As I think that, I recite the word [Clay] in my mind while focusing on the ground. However, theres no response at all. Muu When I learnt [Rest] this way, I could feel it working. I guess this just means Im not suited for it

Dragon-god-sama, this too, please!

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Aro happily points towards an oneiros made out of earth. Oh, ohh, this is splendid! Its at the level where even the scales are reproduced. No way, [Clay] is able to be this elaborate?

Master-dono, I have also attempted making one! Please burn it!

In front of the treant is a lump of earth vaguely resembling an overturned bucket. Y-yeah, you tried, yup. No problem, leave it to me.

After that, we head to the sea to acquire some salt. I originally intend to go alone, but then Aro seems to want to come along as well. I check with Volk, but get his approval as he says Our combat strength now is sufficient to repel roughly three fenrirs even without Aro, and so take her with me downstream towards the sea.

At the coast, we extract salt from seawater with [Scorching Breath] and gather it into the porcelain pot.

The fenrir meat has started to go bad Or rather, its about to actually start rotting. I probably should have preserved it with salt right away to make dried meat. The silver lining is that weve now got the hades mandragora in place of herbs.

After returning to the waterfall cavern, we cut up the fenrir meat thats been drained of blood, and place it into pots together with salt and slices of hades mandragora. Umu, Ill hang it up again tomorrow after letting it sit overnight.

Irushia, would you mind roasting some more meat? I would like salt if you could, too.

Volks voice pipes up.

Sure. The mandragora slices are in that pot, so feel free to use them.

Aro, whod been listening in, carries the cut fenrir meat and salt towards the oven.

Sorry about that, Aro.

Volk calls out. Well then, I should head over to the oven too.

Master-dono, please let me handle it!

The treant shambles over to the furnace, swinging its giant body.

Left to the treant, quite a few will be undercooked. Well, that is fine for me.

Volk murmurs as he watches the treant move over. T- treant-san

Then again, this way of living isnt bad at all.

Volk gives a toothy grin.