The sound of crackling fire echoed as Kaede stirred a steaming pot with her ladle.
In the pot are many mushrooms that were given to us in the village, and although they look green, they give off a very pleasant aroma that stimulates the appetite.
The forest is quiet at night, with Rosuke and Kuratan keeping watch over the place.
Chupi is perched on a tree branch, and Panda is happily being groomed by Frau.
A quiet dinner, the most relaxing time of day.
"I see you like it."
"Kyu~"
"You should thank Frau for brushing you like this every day."
"Kyu,kyui."
"Huh? It's only natural for my sweat to have a sweet smell this time of year... Besides, it's not like I sweat that much, right? Hey! Why are you looking away!?"
Frau was not only looking at Panda, but at us as well.
Kaede and I avert our eyes.
Frau's back has such a sweet smell that, if placed next to an ant hill, they would surely all crawl up her body in a second.
I never imagined that a fairy's sweat would smell sweet at a certain time of the year.
"The people of this village are very grateful to us."
"Yes... I felt a little bad when they insisted we stay a year with them. With a hero like that in this country, they must be desperate."
"You mean that party?"
The Heroic Sword of the Sacred Forest, led by the hero Zig, the most famous adventurer in the country at present.
His reputation is quite good, and he has already accomplished great feats.
Of course that is the reputation he has among the elves, but the opposite is true for humans and other races.
I don't think it's misinformation from what I witnessed before.
"Well, I must say it's impressive what an amazing beast they have. To be able to fly several meters high with multiple people on board, it's to be admired."
"Kyui!"
Panda was in Shock.
I looked at his eye as it started to tear up.
Panda jumped onto Kaede's chest.
"Frau, please think about Panda's feelings."
"My mistake, I'm sorry. The good thing about Panda is that he's not tall enough to fly. And you have a soft and fluffy feel to you as well as being delicious looking."
"Kyu~!!!!"
"Why are you crying again!?"
Poor Panda, his pride has been broken in every possible way.
The next day, we could not continue our journey due to it raining heavily since early morning.
We took shelter from the rain under a large tree, and stayed and waited while listening to the sound of rain fall.
"Kura~"
"Thank you, Kuratan."
Kuratan, who is protecting us from the rain, hands a ball of yarn to Kaede with one of his tentacles.
She was busy knitting something.
She really been getting into sewing and knitting lately, and since I told her how happy I was with the scarf she made for me, she seems to have picked up more impetus to go on.
"Hey, Kaede, can't you do something about that weird song?"
"What, was I singing that?"
"Yes, you were."
She refocused on her hands, and began humming as she wagged her tail.
Panda was behind her, chasing her tail with his gaze.
Frau is sitting on the branch of a big tree, eating cookies.
I squat in the rain while watching my friends.
Rainy days are great for strength training.
You get sweaty and clean at the same time.
I've always decided that weather like this is a workout.
"I see that the Lord likes to exercise a lot."
"Yes, the Onee-San who lived next door to me when I was a kid did it all the time, and that's how it became a habit for me."
"She had big breasts, didn't she?"
"How did you know!?"
"The only reason for the young master to go to the trouble of training in the pouring rain is because he loved to see his neighbor's breasts become visible through her wet shirt as it clings to her body... So every time it rains, those memories come to mind. Am I right?"
That's... That's right.
Does she have a detective job? Or is it that she can see the past now?
The reason I like breasts is because of my neighbor's influence.
My stay in town was short, but those muscle training days were one of the factors that shaped who I am today.
"Master... Do you like that person?"
"No, no, no! It's only because of her breasts... Damn it! What am I saying!? Frau!"
"Frau, the great detective, knows exactly what you're thinking."
"Frau-San, please don't do this again. Otherwise I'll take away your cookies."
"No! Not my cookies!"
What a horrifying fairy.
How dare she dig up my hidden past?
From now on I will treat Frau-San (28 years old) more carefully.
I stroked Kaede's head as she grew teary eyed.
We stopped at a small village on the way.
In the center of the village, the villagers had gathered and were discussing something with serious faces.
"If this keeps up, we will be annihilated. Still no news of the adventurers we requested?"
"No. At this rate we're going to starve to death."
"If only there was someone who could use spirit magic...."
Annihilated, starve, some very disturbing words.
"What's wrong?"
"That outfit, are you an adventurer? You've come to the right place! Hey everyone, the adventurer we requested has arrived!"
"Wait, I..."
One of the villagers grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the gathered people.
Without allowing me a chance to explain, the villagers surrounded me while saying things like; "only you can help us." and; "please get rid of them."
"Okay, just tell me what's going on."
According to the villagers, crop-eating monsters have been frequently appearing in this area.
As a result, they are in a critical situation.
The name of these monsters is 'Samegra'.
They're a type of vermin that moves along the ground at high speed.
I knew these animals well. Since they often appeared in my hometown and devoured the crops.
That's why I can understand their anger.
They are weak animals in terms of strength, but when it comes to escaping they are terribly fast.
It's not easy to get rid of them, even for experienced people.
"It's terrible. A lot of potatoes have been devoured."
"They do what they want."
"Kyui."
There were holes made by the Samegra all over the field.
Potatoes were left scattered all over the field, and other crops were also chewed up.
In addition, the roots seemed to have been bitten off, and all the plants had wilted and some had even turned a light brown color.
"Rosuke, go!"
I called Rosuke out from the seal.
"Get rid of any Samegra you find."
"Shaaaa!"
Curling his body, Rosuke dives into the ground and tracks down the Samegra.
Rosuke, who sees his surroundings with different senses, can also see the monsters lurking in the ground.
"Piggi?"
"Sha!"
The vermin escapes from the ground, crawling out of the hole as it screams.
But my beast was by far faster than it, and the Samegra was pierced through the body and then died.
One of them is already dead. Surely there are about more than thirty.
With Rosuke's help, the vermin began to dwindle in numbers rapidly.
The extermination will be completed soon.
Bogo
Bogogogogogogogo
The ground rises high
A shark-like dorsal fin sticks out of the ground.
Based on its size, I'd say it was the chief of the Samegra.
The beast started moving towards us at great speed.
"Here it comes."
"I'll let you guys handle this."
Kaede and Frau stepped forward.
The beast rose up from the ground and swung its sharp claws at them.
"I won't let you touch the Master."
Plink
Kaede froze the monster in an instant.
Followed by Frau, who struck it with her hammer.
"Hammer Breeeeeeak!"
With that, the Samegra boss was crushed.
It seems that the extermination of the monsters is over, and Rosuke has returned.
A total of forty beasts were annihilated.
It seems that there were more than we thought.
"We have finished our work, but a lot of the crops were damaged in the process."
"Sorry, it was Frau's fault."
Frau lowered her head in embarrassment.
I looked at Kaede, and she was also confused by the things Frau says.
"Hey, Frau, did you forget that you have the growth prayer ability?"
"Ah, yes, you can accelerate the growth of plants. But how effective is it on weak plants?"
"Leave it to me. Be prepared to praise Frau a lot."
A dazzling green light emanated from Frau's body.
The light fell on the plants and was absorbed by them.
Would it be enough to bring them back to normal?
"Master!"
"This...!"
The plants that were about to die regained their vivid color, and the withered leaves turned upward as if they wanted to stretch their stems toward the sky.
It was hard to believe that the plant that had been dying just a moment ago was alive again.
The crops that bore the most fruit seemed to have grown in size!
"Frau, your power is incredible."
"Very well done! You were amazing!"
"Hehe, I like that. Come on, praise me and pet me."
Frau was in a good mood, and even more so as she rubbed her head against my palm.
However, what just happened will get us a lot of attention. It will make us stand out more than planned.
We revived a field that was about to disappear in a matter of seconds.
Fortunately there are no villagers nearby.
"Let's quietly leave this place. I don't want them to find us here when they see this."
"That's so common of you, Master. Saving people without asking for anything in return."
"Thank you."
I wouldn't put it that way, but I guess it's okay.