h.e.l.lo folks, Agni here. Sorry for the late release, things gettin quite hectic here. As it is, I won’t able to keep up with one release per weeks so I’ll slowed it down (again). I know this story has quite slow pace but I hope you will continue to stick with me and enjoy this slice of life of our silly ridiculously OP gargoyle (^^).
Note: The number thingy is referred to notes (lol) below the chapter. It has nothing to do with story, just some comments from me and my proofreader Lithit when we were working on this chapter.
TLC: Reizenchuu
Proofreader: Lithit
Editor: JFB
Heading to the Village
I was in the middle of preparing for the journey, diligently packing meat into the bag I received before; I mentally cross-checked my list.
Wyvern meat, check. Beria"s hair, check.
Alright! I"m ready!
We walked towards the Goblin village to the west as we had a pleasant chat. It felt good. This is what they call having fun with your friends, right?
I had always wanted to do something like this.
There is just one thing though…and I really don"t want to admit it, but…
We’re walking way too fast!
It might just be me being slow, actually.
One can see Daidalian a bit ahead of me.
Well, since I don"t know the way, I"ll be behind him regardless.
If we look at our origins though, it"s only natural for him to be faster than me on land.
However, losing not only to a goblin, but a slime as well?
A slime doesn"t even have legs, how is it still this fast?
I wonder, what kind of structure a slime has anyway?
To them it may seem like they are walking normally, but for me it"s like I"m jogging.
I won"t even catch up to them if I don"t increase my speed .
I wonder whether it is fine to run.
With my short legs, running fast means I"ll have to move my legs briskly with shorter steps.
I"ll stand out, and that"s totally uncool!
There is nothing I could do though, I used to fight in the air after all.
Most water birds are seen as refined beauties as long as their bottom halves that are underwater aren"t seen. And I"m a gargoyle, besides my top half, nothing is beautiful about me.
Of course, in the case of an emergency, I would run without a hesitation.
But to be honest, if it were up to me, I don"t ever want to do so in public, and it"s late now to attempt to look cool as I have lost my wings.
I know these guys are different from those gargoyles though, they wouldn"t make fun or laugh at me.
Well, an "awful appearance" is one of the reason I don"t want to run, but it"s not the main one. Before was only an excuse to justify my reluctance. I"m a person with a small heart. The main reason is something completely different.
You may think, "what is this guy saying?", but recently, the number of eyes I have has increased. Every time I walk, that new eye throbs in pain.
There are demons who have eyes on their foreheads, but, I never thought I would gain an extra eye at such an advanced age.
It"s not an evil eye, but one just as cruel and brutal.
It"s the type of eye to bare its fangs only at its possessor rather than others; it"s even more wicked than an evil eye.
d.a.m.n. Why do I have such eyes?…
Seems like Daidalian hasn"t noticed yet…
There"s no way you"d grow a new eye? But it"s not a lie, my eyes did indeed increase.
These eyes, these calluses on my foot is…….
(TN: turns out that the eye he was talking about is a corn *facepalm*. Corns or calluses in j.a.panese is ウオノメ or uo no me, which literally translates to fish"s eyes, so author jokes is Albert talks again and again about eyes (目 or me) but in the end it was fish"s eyes a.k.a corns (uo no me ))
Since I was walking barefoot, the soles of my feet had gotten injured.
When I arrive at the town, I"ll make sure to buy some shoes…
I can"t treat the corns because I don"t have any recovery potions. (1)
"Come to think of it, didn"t you say there are edible plants in the western part of the forest?" I asked as we sauntered towards the village.
This information would be useful for my upcoming journey. There was still half a day of time before we would get there. I"d like to effectively use my time to broaden my knowledge.
"Yes, for example there are Pisa fruit, Torrent seed and Roche gra.s.s."
"Hee~~~"
I couldn"t learn anything just by hearing their names.
"Please explain more."
It was no use putting on airs in front of Daidalian, as he already knew my shortcomings, thus I obediently asked for a more detailed explanation.
A Pisa fruit is a red fruit about 3 cm in size that can be found growing on Pisa trees. These trees grow in large numbers in this forest. The seeds have to be boiled to make them tender and delicious, the crude one is hard and unsavory.
Apparently, children eat it as a snack.
Roche gra.s.s is used as raw material for medicine, it"s the kind of gra.s.s that only becomes more bitter the more you chew it.
So, not only is it not sweet, the more you chew, more bitter it becomes, huh?
I was told that because of the roche gra.s.s, the goblin tribe didn"t have to worry about colds and were able to preserve their health, but Daidalian didn"t seem to like it that much.
Who knows how adult goblins feel when they eat it on their own accord though.
Maybe they unwillingly eat it every day at the dining table in order to stay healthy.
Torrent seeds are the seed of the torrent plant, a kind of monster plant, where else could it come from?
After the monster"s extermination, they roast its seeds and consume them before they grow. The seeds have a deliciously crunchy texture, the only defect is its lack of a shelf life.
It deteriorates rapidly once roasted, but rapidly grows and turns into a monster when not.
The deterioration can surely be solved with preservation magic, but goblins can"t use magic.
Preservation magic doesn’t have any effect on living things, but when it comes to inanimate object like a roasted seed, it can be preserved without any problem.
After all, if everything was preservable through magic, achieving eternal youth would also be plausible.
Thanks to preservation magic though, Beria"s hair remains fresh.
There"s still no use for the hair, but still…maybe there is someone who would want this hair?
Maybe some kind of Demon Lord Hair Collector? (2)
"Once we arrive at the village, I"ll treat you to a feast"
Daidalian puffed out his chest, looking all determined like.
Err… you don"t have to push yourself too much.
While I was indeed curious, I didn"t want to eat bitter roche gra.s.s.
I"m not a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t after all.
"O-okay, I"m looking forward to it."
Honestly, his explanation makes me doubt it would be a delicious feast, but I decided to a.s.sent for now.
It would be rude to turn his enthusiastic offer down after he did his best to ask me.
Based on his high survival ability and also his cooking, it might turn out to be delicious feast after all.
We continued going through the forest with ease…
"Umm, if we don"t walk a bit faster, we won"t be able to arrive before sunset."
Eh?
Daidalian suddenly suggested an impossible task.
I have a hard time already following him, practically jogging, now he wants me to run?
Not to mention my screaming third eye.
"Moving in the dark is dangerous, so can you increase your pace a bit?"
I had to steer the conversation in another direction, or else end up needing to speed up.
It thought it plausible with my conversation skills. (3)
"Is that so… B-but Baumu is still recuperating, isn"t it better to retain the current pace?"
It"s not like I was in a hurry, and the night didn"t pose a problem for me either.
"Ah, y-you"re right, I forgot about Baum. Sorry, Baum."
Alright! He agreed.
"Bigibigi"
"Eh, you have been in perfect condition since yesterday, so don"t be worried?"
Baum transmitted his thought, shaking with a *purupuru* sound.
Stupid Baum! Don"t say unnecessary things, read the situation! (4)
"Bigiii."
"Right now you"ve grown so much you can run at twice your original speed and even lift 100 kg rocks?"
"Bigi."
Baum shook in full spirit, showing off his good condition.
Isn"t it fine to arrive at the village at night? I can"t really say that now though…
It can"t be helped then…
If I said my foot was sore so late in the game, they would make a fuss about it.
It"s a little painful, but I"ll hold it and run.
If it"s these guys, maybe they won"t laugh at my running stature.
"Bigi."
"So, "please hop on me Albert-san" … eh?"
Baum came to a halt and turned his head towards me.
Eh, aa…this fellow, ah no, this good person…
"Ba…um, y-you are…" (5)
He had noticed I"d already come to my limit.
I"m sorry I said you couldn"t read the situation.
You are the best; I"m the idiot one.
I wanted to tightly hug that transparent body with all my might. (6)
My impression towards Baum rose up to an interminable level.
"Ah…"
Daidalian seemed to finally notice I was not accustomed to walking on my feet yet, he made an apologetic face.
Capable of perceiving the situation as we walk, Baumu-sama is truly a man among men. I opted to indulge in his kindness.
Right now, right here, is the birth of a Slime Rider.
Baum"s elasticity provided outstanding comfort as I rode.
His ability to change shape made it possible to fit with my body. (7)
It"s a bit chilly though…
I"m really grateful.
"Even so, monsters really didn"t come out."
I, who became a Baum Rider, asked the question which had been bugging me for a few days.
"It"s strange indeed, around here should be the habitat of the lesser orcs, why is it so quiet?"
"Perhaps the monster didn"t come out because demon lord Beria came to attack with her army?" I hypothesized.
"Because a demon lord has come, the monsters that existed around the castle fled?"
"How should I put it, high level demons such as arch demons or werewolves, in the presence of these dangerous beings, other monster would run far and run fast."
"Therefore, we have a slim chance of encountering any escaping monster unless we move deeper into the forest."
"I…see."
"Considering it"s been a long time since you returned to the village, and we don"t know what the current situation around the village is, it would be better if we move with precaution."
"I-I understand."
Daidalian nodded meekly, becoming aware of the possibility that the village he used to live in may have well turned into a danger zone.
"Don"t worry, I"m here now, and the monsters that have been coming out have just been grizzly bears and lesser orcs."
"Y-yes, is this by any chance the reason why Albert-san is tagging along with…
I tend to be a random person in nature, but I still pay back kindness with kindness.
The opposite is possible too.
Have the monsters escaped deeper into the forest? Or is it due to any other cause?
As we were getting closer to the village, there were no indications of the existence of any monsters.
We only found a few lesser torrent monster plants.
We were able to safely arrive at Daidalian"s native village just as dawn broke, all according to plan. (8)
TN and PR notes (lol):
(1) Pr: I don"t know which bothers me more, the fact that rock monsters can get calluses walking through a forest, or the fact that doing the same wouldn"t give me calluses. TN: He has soft toes apparently <>
(2) Pr: I"m pretty sure you"re the only one that suicidal. TN: LMAO
(3) Pr: Skills?
(4) Pr: Wow.. Such skills. TN: Don’t you dare bully my cute gargoyle *smacks*
(5) Pr: I can feel his tears. TN: And here I am, struggling to decide my ship.
(6) TN: Nooo Daidalian is being NTR-ed!!! Pr: *Spits out drink* This is an emergency.
(7) TN: This sentence somehow p.r.i.c.kled my perverted mind <>< pr:="" you="" and="" me="">
(8) Pr:… Keikaku. TN: …..and he was the one who almost made it gone awry with his soft paws toes.