Chapter 18: The Manager of Herbs
No way!? Melissa and I ran over to get a closer look, and realized that it wasn’t an illusion.
「This really is an impressive amount. Well done, Melissa!」(Hitto)
「T-that praise is more than I deserve! Thank you very much」(Melissa)
Melissa rejoiced in a lively tone. Still, it was honestly an impressive feat. To think that there would be much Nankou Gra.s.s just sitting here untouched.
Is this what you would call a Hidden Spot? Well, in any case it’s a G.o.dsend.
I was just about to work hard with Melissa to harvest the Nankou Gra.s.s when――
「Hey! What the h.e.l.l are you b.i.t.c.hes doing!」
As we leaned over to pick some Nankou Gra.s.s, someone’s voice reverberated from behind.
Judging by the situation, were those words directed towards us?
While having a hunch that this would end up being troublesome, I stood up and turned around.
And the first thing I saw was―― As usual, a trio of men were standing shoulder-to-shoulder.
In addition, these Three all had the exact same face.
Maybe they were triplets? The Three all had rectangular faces with unkempt black beards growing out of them.
Their hair was also left to grow out in every direction. Judging by that, you can a.s.sume that they surely didn’t care about their outward appearance.
On their bodies was armor made of leather. In their hands: hatchets
I’m pretty sure that they are Adventurers, but they don’t seem very strong.
So, I wonder what exactly is making these guys so p.i.s.sed off.
「What are we doing? Just collecting some Nankou Gra.s.s over here to complete a request」(Hitto)
In any case, I nonchalantly answered the question.
By now Melissa’s movements have already stopped.
Well, it’s probably because the excessive scowls of those guys are starting to have an effect on her.
「The h.e.l.l’d you say? You b.a.s.t.a.r.ds saying that you’re trying to harvest what’s rightfully ours without asking first!? You little b.i.t.c.h!」(Triplet)
…… Huh? What’s theirs?
「What are you talking about? I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about, but are you trying to say that you have ownership over this Nankou Gra.s.s?」(Hitto)
「Yea, das right. Still, for you b.i.t.c.hes to accept that request and come here not knowing about us, you’re a newbie right?」(Triplet)
「…… Well, I just registered yesterday after all」(Hitto)
Although, the thing about being a newbie at collecting herbs and s.h.i.t like that is something you determined on your own.
「Hmph! No wonder」
「Seriously, newbies sure do some reckless things sometimes huh」
「Even after we keep tell’n da guys around here to absolutely not come near too」
The Triplets suddenly started talking about various things. But still, are these guys really that famous? Better yet, to be begin with.
「Before that, I’ve got a question. When you guys claimed that this Nankou Gra.s.s was yours, in other words, do you mean to say that you have ownership over this particular lot of forest land? You’re saying that you have the authority over it, right?」(Hitto)
「Don’t be stupid, dis forest ain’t belong to no one」
……No, in that case then I’m even more confused at what you said earlier.
「If this forest belongs to no one, then that means that this Nankou Gra.s.s doesn’t belong to you, right?」(Hitto)
「Huh? What, are you an idiot?」
「If he ain’t got it by now then maybe his brain melted?」
「Geez, does he not get it unless we explain it one point at a time[1]? This is why idiots are always…」
For some reason this kinda felt like one of those “Yare-yare[2]” moments, But I’m pretty sure that you’re the ones saying strange things, most definitely.
「Guess we got no choice, We’ll give ya a proper Lecture」
「Listen up, Open up yer ears and pay close attention!」
「We’ve been collecting Nankou Gra.s.s in this spot for over 4 years now!」
「And as a result of us only collecting this Nankou Gra.s.s!」
「We’re veterans who’ve climbed up to the rank of Manager[3]!」
「Earning the other Adventurer’s admiration and respect, We are called as!」
「「「THE GREEN THREE STARS!」」」
……For some reason, the trio struck a pose as if plucking herbs and smiled as if they were being photographed…… No, that’s not cool at all, you know.
In the first place, what’s up with that “Green Three Stars” thing. Tri-stars that are green-colored[4]? Nothing awaits you in the future except for being a stepping stone.
Nevertheless, to become Manager Rank by only doing this job…… No, that must impressive, I’m sure.
But, is that something to be proud of? There must’ve been something else for you to do.
「Well, in other words」
Ah, so you stopped posing huh. Wait, your faces are blushing. If it’s embarra.s.sing then don’t do it.
「This hunting ground for Nankou Gra.s.s is our holy ground where we’ve been harvesting for many years!」
「In other words, it’s our turf! Our territory!」
「Das why all the Nankou Gra.s.s in dis area!」
「It’s resounding proof dat it rightfully belongs to us!」
「And we ain’t gonna let other adventurers trample on dis soil!」
「Da only ones who can pick this Nankou Gra.s.s is us alone!」
「「「If you get it, then hurry up and get lost~! Get lost~!」」」
「G-Goshujin-sama……」(Melissa)
As expected, Melissa is making a nervous expression.
Well, in any case these guys really are a nonsensical bunch huh.
All the same, there’s no way to satisfy these guys
In short, ‘We’ve been harvesting here for years so it already belongs to us,’ is what these guys are trying to say, right?
Are you stupid!? If that was a valid reason, then anyone can go around saying ‘This is mine’ and ‘That is mine’.
Basically, what there’s no evidence to support what these guys are saying. It’s nothing but simple bullying.
If that’s the case, then I don’t have a reason to follow along with it.
That being said, these people seem like the type of guys who would give in if you honestly confronted them.
Here I should proceed rationally.
「I get what you’re saying. By the way, I have a question but, is it officially recognized that you guys have accepted this request?」(Hitto)
「? Ain’t that sorta thing is obvious」
「If we didn’t accept da request then why da h.e.l.l would we be doing this」
「Our job is to harvest these herbs, bring it to the guild, and get our reward.」
「I see, that’s good」(Hitto)
I showed the group a nice smile.
「Well then, that request―― Cancel! Cancel! Cancel!」(Hitto)
「Huh? What the h.e.l.l are you Cancel……」
「Hmm? Why are we here?」
「Nah, its for umm ‘that’, right? Uhmmm」
「What, did you guys come here without a reason?」(Hitto)
I casually asked the trio who looked like they had question marks all over their faces.
「Ah, yeaaa……」
「I see, then you guys don’t particularly have any problem with what we’re doing, right?」(Hitto)
「Hmm? Ah, yea, I guess so」
「I don’t really get it but…… let’s go home」
「Guess so……」
And with that, the trio trudged their way back to the city.
Yup, that worked out smoothly.
Incidentally, the thing that I used just now was [Request Cancel].
It was one of the Cancel Skills that existed back in the game.
Well, the effects a self-explanatory but it allows you to freely Cancel requests.
Now that I think about it, at first there were a large number of people who thought, “What’s the point of this Skill?”
However, one of the special features of this Cancel was that it allowed you to not take a Penalty.
A “Penalty” is a punishment a.s.signed when you fail a request, or if you otherwise give-up on it.
Unless you were extremely stupid, you wouldn’t go and acc.u.mulate a bunch of requests just to have them expire and make you have to pay a fine.
But if you used this [Request Cancel] then you could arbitrarily Cancel the request and not receive a Penalty.
……Speaking of which that Cat-Girl receptionist… She didn’t tell me about the Penalty.
Does this world not have it? …… No, for her there’s the very likely possibility that she simply forgot to mention it.
Well whatever, It’s fine as long as you don’t fail after all.
Well anyways, up until now is how the skill is normally used.
However, This Skill… If you hastily formed a Party and used it while on a mission then terrible things will happen.
Because of that, a terrible atrocity was born.
Unbelievably, this Skill not only affected yourself but also on other Players if used this way.
Basically, this meant that you could Cancel another Player’s request against their will.
There were certain valuable requests that would give you Rare rewards for completing them, But in the game it was still necessary for you to return to the Guild in order to receive your rewards.
Because of that, there were a portion of Cancellers who would lie in wait in front of the Guild, and they would ambush other Players who had just came back in high spirits after completing a request. They ran rampant and went around hara.s.sing people by Cancelling their requests.
And this became yet another reason as to why the already unfortunate job of Canceller became even further despised.
That being said, it wasn’t like you can Cancel a request whenever you felt like it. Requests like escorting and such can only be Cancelled when they just begin.
However, Cancellation will without a doubt work on subjugation types and harvest types. And since Rare rewards often come from these sorts of requests it was excessively wicked.
Well since it’s a Skill like that, I doubt I’ll be using it on guys who are earnestly doing their work.
But it should be fine to use it on people like that bunch who went around babbling about their own stupid and egocentric ideas.
「Alrighty then. With this we can harvest without any hindrances」(Hitto)
「Y-yes, that seems so…… Incidentally, was just now another one of Goshujin-sama’s Magics?」(Melissa)
「Yea, well, it’s similar to it」(Hitto)
「I thought so! As expected of Goshujin-sama! Goshujin-sama really is magnificent!」(Melissa)
Well if you put it like that then I’d feel a bit embarra.s.sed.
Well for the time being, Melissa and I proceeded to uproot and gather all of the Nankou Gra.s.s that was within the area that those guy were blabbering about.
There was quite a large amount but we just stuffed it all into the Magic Bag. This should be good enough to meet the requirements of the request.
Yup, Job Well Done, Job Well Done――
TL Extra note: Wasn’t what most of you were expecting, but at least these guys were hilarious.
Also I couldn’t help but read ahead since I was curious about something… Long ways to go before the finale.
My next TL goal is chapter 3X, really looking forward to it (Although, even that is far off).
1.
TL Note: The actual phrase here is “Do we have to explain from 1-10?” or something similar (Original: 一～一〇まで説明しないと駄目なのか).
I’m not exactly sure if this is a j.a.panese saying or not, so I just followed the context and interpreted it as “having to explain every detail from the beginning to the end”. Correct me if I’m wrong.
2.
TL note: Yare-Yare is an expression similar to “Goodness gracious” or “Good grief”. Since that could be misconstrued a bit (and because it sounds much worse) I went with the original expression.
3.
TL note: Manager is the 4th adventurer rank. One rank above the other three stooges (3rd: Amateur rank) and one rank below Zak (5th: Expert rank)
4.
TL note: “Green Three Stars” is said in English, hence why Hitto explain what it means in j.a.panese afterwards. Apparently it’s a Gundam reference to the black tri-stars.
Also, LOL.