Nicole and the Apothecary Family Live Freely
At night, we take turns keeping watch, but I was excluded.
“Nicole is the client, so make sure to rest well and take care of your health.”
Apparently, Aunt Dahlia would take the first watch, and Uncle Arthur would take over for the second half.
I gave them both a low-level potion along with some mint-infused spicy ginger candy.
“This candy is quite hot, so it should warm up your body and drive away sleepiness… hopefully?”
“What’s this? Some suspicious candy, huh?”
Aunt Dahlia laughed at me.
The next day, Uncle Arthur patted my shoulder and said, “Thanks to that candy, I stayed wide awake!”
Now then, starting today, we’ll enter the forest to gather medicinal herbs.
The basic plan is for Uncle Arthur to keep watch while I use my appraisal skill to discover medicinal herbs, useful materials, and monsters.
The areas near the entrance of the forest are usually already picked clean, so we move deeper in quickly.
By sharpening my focus and activating my appraisal skill, I soon spotted a slime.
There’s no time to waste on slimes, so if they don’t attack, I just pass by.
As we go deeper into the forest, I can feel the amount of mana in the air increasing.
Yes, this area feels good!
Markers indicating materials are floating all around my field of vision!
“I’m about to start gathering. No enemy presence within a 500-meter radius.”
“Understood.”
“If you give me directions, I’ll gather too.”
I searched for clusters of medicinal herbs that even Aunt Dahlia could easily gather.
“Please! There’s a cluster of antidote grass growing in the bushes shaded by trees to the left front from here.”
“Alright… Oh my, you wouldn’t find this just walking around normally!”
After parting the bushes, Aunt Dahlia joyfully exclaimed.
Antidote grass, as the name suggests, is used to make antidotes.
It can also be crushed and applied to wounds as a first-aid measure when bitten by venomous insects or snakes.
It tastes absolutely terrible, but you can chew and swallow it if needed.
A must-have for adventurers!
I also started diligently gathering herbs within Uncle Arthur’s guarded range.
Even while I was absorbed in gathering, Uncle Arthur effortlessly took down an approaching horned rabbit.
Occasionally, I looked up to check the surroundings for dangerous monsters.
Careful not to deplete one spot, we moved locations as we progressed.
I heard the sound of water, so I parted the bushes to find a stream.
Oh, there’s a cluster of medicinal herbs that help with heart disease!
I definitely want to gather these and bring them back!!
There doesn’t seem to be any sign of monsters nearby, so I ran down the slope of the bushes.
My skirt got caught, but I couldn’t worry about that while moving through the forest.
“Oh, nice! They’re growing healthily… Are there really no gatherers coming this far?”
Suspicion arose in my mind upon finding untouched clusters.
Perhaps there’s a reason why the locals avoid this place…
Looking closely at the surrounding water, I felt a large presence near some rocks a little further away.
Catching Aunt Dahlia ’s eye, she silently crept behind and drove her sword into the crevice of the rock!
Splashing water and resisting fiercely was a giant ghost salamander.
“It’s a big one! Though it looks creepy, its meat is incredibly tender and delicious!”
Aunt Dahlia dragged it onto the ground, stepped on its head, and thrust her sword deeper.
The monster salamander soon stopped moving.
“It’s called a Mountain Salamander. It camouflages itself as a rock at the bottom of the river and swallows prey whole. But this individual is still small, so it probably won’t attack humans.”
Hmm.
Though it could still swallow Alt whole.
“So, for this creature, humans are the threat, and it was hiding using camouflage?”
“That’s right. If it weren’t for Nicole’s appraisal, we would have passed by without noticing.”
We might not want to provoke it carelessly.
While discussing this with Aunt Dahlia , Uncle Arthur was peering around the stream.
“Oh, there might be more around here?”
Uncle Arthur looked at me happily.
He seems to be asking me to search for other individuals.
Since this is income for Uncle and Aunt, I figured, “Why not?” and carefully appraised the stream, discovering another one hidden among the rugged rocks upstream.
This one is considerably larger than the previous one!
“Over there! It’s hiding behind that big rock!!”
Whispering quietly, Uncle Arthur nodded firmly and sprang into action.
He circled around widely to approach and pulled out a harpoon from his magic bag, striking it in one swift motion!
I was impressed seeing Uncle Arthur use a harpoon in the forest!
The Mountain Salamander was bigger than Uncle Arthur’s height!
“Why didn’t this huge one show up unless I focused during appraisal?”
That puzzled me.
“Mountain Salamanders are rarely hunted… Maybe it’s a monster with stealth skills. Even so, if focusing allows us to see through it, Nicole’s appraisal skill is the real deal!”
Oh my.
I was praised!
Even after careful inspection, there were no more around, so I confidently plunged my hands into the water and carefully gathered the heart-medicine herbs, roots and all.
If I leave half behind, they’ll grow back from the roots.
Climbing up the other side of the stream and moving across the gentle slope, I discovered mushrooms among the damp fallen leaves and roots of dead trees.
I separated edible ones from poisonous ones and gathered them.
Poisonous plants can also be used for making antidotes, so I secured small amounts of those too.
After advancing half a day, we reached a hill with a good view and decided to take a break.
The sun was shining warmly, making me slightly sweaty, but a pleasant autumn breeze swept through.
I slowly savored bread stuffed with the innkeeper’s special sausage while enjoying the scenery.
Ah, I love the forest.
Being enveloped in the scent of the forest calms me.
Just as I was relaxing, a scream-like sound came from afar, startling me.
Uncle and Aunt immediately went into battle-ready stances.
I hastily shoved the bread into my mouth and washed it down with water.
“Can you move quickly?”
“I’m fine. The appraisal can’t see them, so they’re farther away.”
Whispering softly, both nodded silently and listened intently.
Was it a human scream or the cry of a beast? At this stage, it was hard to tell.
If a dangerous monster was approaching, protecting me—the escortee—was the priority. Even if humans were being attacked, depending on the situation, we might have to abandon them.
Those who venture deep into the forest do so at their own risk.
I reached into my magic bag and pulled out a bow and arrows.
I hadn’t given it much thought, but I noticed the shape of the bow in my hand was different.
Usually, it’s a simple wooden bow, but now I held a cool silver one.
Huh?
When did I buy this??
Curious, I tried drawing the string and found it oddly comfortable.
It felt like a trusted companion I’d used for years.
No, maybe even more than that…
As I pondered this, a flash of red appeared at the edge of my vision.
“Uncle! To the north valley, there’s a large monster presence! What is it? Two… no, one is seriously injured!? Three are under attack!!”
Blocked by tall trees, I couldn’t see with the naked eye from here.
Pointing desperately in that direction, I saw a black, massive figure through a small gap!
Uncle and Aunt seemed to have spotted it too.
“Trouble! It’s an orc! Did they lose someone!?”
“Hmm, young adventurers, aren’t they!?”
Tension ran through Uncle and Aunt.
What to do! It’s probably a party of girls.
There seems to be a mage; I saw flashes of fire several times!
“Fire magic is dangerous in the forest!”
I blurted out unconsciously.
Uncle stared at my face.
“What do we do? If it’s an orc, I can handle it! But if we help, we’ll have to cut our gathering short…”
Uncle was confirming with me, the client.
Should we abandon them and continue gathering, or help them ———
There’s no need to hesitate!
“Uncle! Who do you think I am! I’m a fully-fledged pharmacist! I carry high-grade potions with me!! I won’t give up on either!”
Standing tall and declaring this, I was met with laughter: “That’s Nicole for you!”
Uncle swiftly ran down the hill.
Following Aunt Dahlia ’s instructions, I climbed up a nearby large tree.
Strangely, my body moved lightly.
After confirming I had climbed onto a thick branch, Aunt Dahlia ran down the hill in a different direction from Uncle.
Both displayed remarkable physical abilities, running as if age was no factor.
I secured my body to a thick branch and readied my bow, just in case.
The arrows I pulled out from the quiver also gleamed silver.
The materials of the bow and arrows were conveyed through my appraisal skill.
Magic silver.
Not a weapon a village girl could possess.
What is this? Whose is it?