Chapter 19: Chapter 18

I tried my best to prepare for harvesting in a new place as best as I could, but without access to the whole library, I was resigned to making less today. I wasn’t in dire straits when it came to money, but it’s always nice to have a bigger cushion. Don’t get me wrong, without a second income, I would eventually go totally broke- for now I just wanted emergency money. 

 

I didn’t realize it, but this path was the one I took to come to The Academy. That means I used to live up north. I guess that makes sense, the only really impressive mountains on the continent are pretty far up there. It must have been pretty hard to get here from there- after all it was why I needed money after all. It would be nice to remember things like this without a prompt, but I guess you can’t know what you don’t know. 

 

After breaking out of the thicker forest, there were still a few kilometers of farms and homesteads before you got to the unsettled areas. I can vaguely remember that those areas are left unclaimed to let wandering monsters have a path around the civilized areas when they migrate to or from here. Due to being almost on top of an aetherstream, the area around The Academy has a higher than average number of monsters and magical phenomena- but also makes it easier to use abilities and artifacts that require aether.

 

My goal was the wild area- while I might be able to find some useful plants on someone’s farm, they probably wouldn’t like me doing that. In that vein, I was amused that in places where orchards grew close to the road, it was common to see a bucket with a sign asking for a minuscule amount of money to pick some fruit. I of course threw some money in and grabbed some travel-snacks. It was pretty good, a weird citrus-y apple thing that might have been not quite ripe.

 

When I reached the prairies, I didn’t immediately wander off- although a decent walk from the city, it was likely to be picked over this close. As I walked, I pulled out my notebook to refresh myself on what I was looking for. Flower patches and stands of trees were what I was looking for: with a bit of searching you could find some plants with antiseptic or detoxifying properties. Another good find were Aetherbuds, a pearlescent flower that grew close to aetherstreams and absorbed a high density of the stuff- although they were extremely rare.

 

After I finished my second of the apple-things, I decided to turn off the road to the left and follow the edge of a grove. As I walked, I stripped a small amount of bark off a couple of small trees. When dried properly, it was easy to light and burned long enough to start some logs, which made it great for kindling. There was also one or two of a tree whose sap acted as a numbing agent and could be boiled down to concentrate the effect. Only the sap was sellable, but it was a good start to the day regardless. 

 

A few minutes after the end of the grove, I spotted someone crouching in a patch of longer grass. At first I thought they were looking my way, but as I got closer I realized they were one of the other people from the guild attempting to be anonymous and they were wearing their mask on the back of their head. I pulled up my hood and scarf before whistling to get their attention. I didn’t want them to be surprised by me gathering in the area, and also wanted to give them a chance to put on their mask before I got too close. Hearing me, they whipped around and drew the bow they had been holding- before relaxing when I waved and gestured I was heading off to a nearby path of flowers.

 

I guess they were out hunting some of the smaller monsters or animals that came through here. Similarly to the plants of the area, parts of the creatures in the area had medical or material value worth searching for. For the next couple hours, we did our own thing- only signaling when we were getting close to each other out of courtesy. I didn’t get as much as yesterday, but it was enough that it might be worth looking into this area more in the future. My incidental companion picked up a couple birds, rabbits, and a single very angry but small cow-thing that charged me out of nowhere. It was more amusing than threatening, but I still appreciated when they shot it.

 

As I was preparing to head back, the masked person came over and asked, “Would you mind if I accompanied you back to the city? I doubt you aren’t aware- but there have been some… recent issues that make traveling in a group preferable.”

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“I don’t mind.” I replied, subtly palming a dagger under my cloak- you can’t be too careful, “I just need to properly prepare the final bit of my harvest, should only be a minute or two.”

 

“That works out well, I should better secure what I caught as well.”

 

As we set off, I politely asked, “What should I refer to you as beyond ‘one of the other people attempting to remain anonymous in the Vigilanties’?”

 

With a chuckle, they said “Call me Mack- obviously not my real name. And you?”

 

“I go by Elly at the guild. Do you know much about this area?”

 

“I have a good amount of experience in these fields. Been hunting small game for a few years. Selling meat to butchers, claws and scales to the Vigilanties or blacksmiths, and the weird bits to alchemists. All-in-all, nice living for now. I’m guessing you’re new to most of this- although you do appear to know what you are doing better than most newcomers.”

 

“Thank you, my sources have been quite helpful in learning what to look out for and how to get it.”

 

The rest of the journey was filled with similar and pleasant smalltalk with many self aware pokes at the fact we’re hiding our identities. At the gate, we parted ways after broaching the topic of heading out again sometime later. Once out of sight, I finally put my dagger away- I knew from their attitude I wouldn’t need it, but walking with a stranger is like playing with fire. As expected, I made the least amount of money today when I turned in what I had gathered. It was still enough for a meal or two, so it’s not like I was going to go broke soon- and with a bit more studying and practice, I could probably find more things worth grabbing out there.

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