Poison, medicine, medicine, poison, poison, poison, deadly poison (yikes), culinary herb, poison..., let's save that second-last one for today's dinner.
"Ahahaha! We're going to swim in cash at this rate!" - Mira
"We're swimming in greens, not cash." - Alf
"No, I have heard that they are using green money in the worlds where Migrants originate from." - Noire
"For real!?" - Mira & Alf
"Well, she is not entirely wrong..." - Marcus Pollen
These monkeys are easy to train. It's only been a day since I did that little performance at the center of the village, and the monkeys have dedicated themselves to mastering the art of harvesting, and they have succeeded with terrifying results. We're sitting on a mountain of grass here. And some branches. And mushrooms.
As the only demon around with an encyclopedia about...practically anything in this world, and the [Identification] skill at a high level, it was up to me to sort the flora the monkeys brought back home during their trips to the forest. Rather...
"Why is only the Guild Master doing all the work here?!" - Garami
Alf and Mira, accompanied by Noire as well, were lazying around in bamboo sunchairs (I think it's bamboo?) while I was busy sorting out weeds from grasses! The chef can be excused, but those three can be used to look for the thieves in the forest alongside the monkey army!
"Hey, you can't blame us. None are familiar with this woodland environment. We'll just get lost or end up too exhausted for the potential great battle against the thieves." - Mira
"I lived in a port town close to a marshland, but forests are a new beast for me." - Alf
"No can do. I am only here to make sure Mr. Pollen stays healthy." - Noire
I know you got that special request from the Union Master, but that doesn't mean you can't multitask! And just how much is that elf in love with the Union Master's food? Is there something going on here that I don't know? If there is...then I prolly don't want to know the answer.
Swallowing my complaints, I continued sorting the weeds. Thankfully, the branches above the village make sunlight scarce, and we are getting closer to nighttime anyway, so I can freely summon as many Skeletons as my necro-counter stock allows me to. Bloom is making sure they're not doing any mistakes either. And the skill proficiency is sweet~. I can start considering developing my zombie goons~. Maybe even ghosts!
After I finished one pile of medical or poisonous plants, the chef started transporting them using that handy Extra Skill of his. Man, isn't it handy? However...
"Hey, Pollen. I just thought of something. Won't the Merchants' Union be filled to the brim with plants at this rate?" - Garami
"Oh, that is no problem. I have made a temporary contract with the Adventurers' Union. They are the ones who I am sending the plants to." - Marcus Pollen
"Huh? The AU? Is that possible?" - Garami
"Yes. Adventurers can be considered merchants who sell the spoils of their adventurers to the Union in the form of clearing quests. Speaking of which, Mr. Karion said it was fine to make your Guild take the honor of clearing the quests, but is that fine with you people? I forgot to mention it in my haste in retrieving my sweet Milo..." - Marcus Pollen
"No, no, that's alright. Rather, we should be happy that our rep's getting a boost, so thanks!" - Garami
We can rely on Pollen to send over the materials? Then, what was the point of allowing us to borrow the ship from the Union? Now I'm starting to get worried...
"You guys, spill it. Does anyone else thinks this is smelling?" - Garami
"Like on a sunny day at the port when the fish has yet to be transported to the freezers?" - Alf
"EEEEWW! And why would it smell? Couldn't that elf-what's-his-name just have forgotten about this guy's skill, or simply didn't know about it, when he offered the boat? Going back on that promise would have made him look pathetic." - Noire
That is sorta weird for the boss of the most skill-using skill users (read: adventurers) in the city. Maybe he didn't wanna admit he had forgotten about it. Or that he didn't know in the first place?
"Speaking of suspiciousness, I think I saw something yesterday." - Mira
"What was that?" - Alf
"A guy in full-plate armor." - Mira
"Full-plate armor? In this thick jungle? That is so wrong that even 'fashion disaster' won't be enough to classify it." - Noire
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
"When yesterday did you see this armored knight?" - Alf
"Around the time Garami did her big speech in this place. After Garami jumped off the branch and left me alone up in the tree, I saw a shadow on the other side of the village. Or, outside the village. That guy was walking around, but when he saw the village walls, he turned around. I don't think he saw Garami up in the air, but it was pretty far away, so I'm not so sure..." - Mira
"A man in armor? Why did you not mention that sooner?!" - Noire
"Hey, I was only paying a fraction of my brainpower on that guy! The rest was recording Garami's cool performance~. You looked like one of those rumored 'ninjas' from Wakoku!" - Mira
"Why, thank you." - Garami
So there are other humans here than us. Of course, the monkeys have some humanoid-shaped ones too, but they wouldn't be able to get their hands on armor. Not that I understand why that guy decided to walk around wearing such heavy stuff.
"It's impressive that you would notice that man. How high were you when this happened?" - Alf
"Higher than the walls here, that's for sure. And I have an eye for weapons and armor anyway. That helped." - Mira
"You do? I've seen you use swords and such, but never armor..." - Garami
Mira's adventurer outfit consists at most just a few gauntlets and leg guards. Other than that, she's not making any big effort in concealing that outrageously alluring body of hers...
"Do you know how difficult and expensive it is to get a customized armor for this chest?" - Mira
So said Mira while pushing up her ginormous boobs. Now I understand why Alf sneaked away to help the chef with sending the rest of the leaves. We need to recruit some more male members, or else things will end up too weird for the poor guy.
"Hey, what are you doing? Showing off?" - Noire
...Did Alf flee because of the no-male mood, or because he valued his own life?
"Not really. These babies keep on growing whether I like it or not." - Mira
"WAT!? That is so UNFAIR!? How is that even allowed?!" - Noire (the plank)
"I don't know. Genes? It could be that funky drink the women from the Lust District gave us when they were visiting the Envy District where we slum kids were living. I remember them because they were going about some sort of 'charity program', but we were in Solomar. Charity is a foreign concept there." - Mira (the bombshell)
"Are you sure they weren't trying to prepare some future candidates for their shops...?" - Garami (the one with common sense)
On a related note, Solomar is divided into 7 districts named after the seven deadly sins. Envy is the slums, while Lust..., I doubt I need to explain that one.
"You hear that? Noire, just join the red-light district if you want a curvacious body such as mine~. You'll need to be prepared for using it a lot though." - Mira
"*GRRRR*!! No way I am lowering myself to become a ****ing prostitute!" - Noire
"Now, now. Mira, stop flaunting and back down. And Noire, take this and calm down." - Garami
I threw a vial to Noire to make her shut up.
"I don't need any-! ...Hey, is this..." - Noire
"Some sorta Beautification Cream I once won. Never had any use for it." - Garami
"Now who's flaunting?" - Mira
"I'm serious. I can make more if I have the ingredients." - Garami
"You WHAT?!" - Noire
"For real. I've used three of those already to analyze their contents, but I should be able to replicate them with Alchemy now. Their quality wouldn't be that hot, but I'll fix that problem in time." - Garami
"Wooooow..." - Mira
"Is this a dream...?" - Noire
Hmm? Are they somehow impressed with my statement? I showed them some of the bottles with the prototypes of these replica goods, but they turned even more silent seeing them. Hey, it's not that impressive. I've yet to replicate that diet drink. And I'm too scared to touch the distilled Hydra Poison. I need to figure out a way to make them a little less dangerous. Removing the "distilled"-part would be a start.
But more importantly, Noire looks very intrigued by the potion bottles. Maybe...
"Miss Garami...are you going to sell these?" - Noire
Who are you calling "Miss"?
"Not really. Alchemy's bad with mass production, so these will be limited to those in our Guild-" - Garami
"I will join." - Noire
I wasn't even finished speaking! Is it the beauty cream? It has to be. Just how hungry is this angel for good looks?
"Eh, I mean, you people have quite the low number despite calling yourselves a Guild. And you lack a healer, a complete must for adventurers, so..." - Noire
"Just spill everything you know about Blot, and you're in." - Garami
"Yes!" said Noire as I accepted her request to join. But don't go and grab all the vials just yet! Geez...
"OHOHOHOHOHOOOOO!!" - Gorillas
What, are you guys celebrating our recruit? Hold on, why are the gorillas doing that? Or rather, they are all leaving the village with the appearance of wild berserkers ready for war. Weren't they scouting/preparing for the battle with the...thieves...
Mira quickly picked up her weapons and left with me to follow the primates that were leaving the village. Noire looked around cluelessly, but that's for the better. She and Alf can guard the village and the chef while we're away.
The monkeys were heading deeper into the woods, but it wasn't that hard to follow them. As mentioned, they are practically berserkers now, so they're leaving a nice trail after themselves. Following the path of destruction, we encountered a large river that was going through the forest. It must be one of the several ones that we could have sailed up through. Don't tell me they already found the perps.
The giant boss monkey is there as well, and when they noticed us, they proudly presented their "prey" which was trapped in a gigantic net made out of vines. They're strong with handcrafts as well, who'd guessed? As for the trapped individual...GLAVRAS!?
No, wait. That's wrong. It's one of those "Pure Lake Dragons", the same race as Glavras', but it's not the guy himself. Even so, it feels like I've met this guy before...
"Crap! First mind controllers, then monkeys, and now the poison thrower!! Why must my life be filled with so much misery!?"- Pure Lake Dragon
Huh? Does he know who I am? ...Oh, now I get it. It's "that snake" from back then. That boss monster who fled from the 7th floor before the big battle. He must have been teleported to this place. His race's been changed to whatever was closest to his Glavras-race as well..., which explains a lot for him to be of the same race as his Dungeon Master.
"Are those the first words you say to an old enemy, you stupid snake?" - Garami
"S-shut it! And why are you here?! Along with a bunch of primates! Did the fish people dump you?" - Pure Lake Dragon
"I was technically never on the same team as them. It's just a temporary partnership." - Garami
"O-hooooo!!" - Gorillas
Loud bastards...
"O~ho? We, legendary fruit, getting?" - Boss Monkey
"Sorry, but you're not getting that bonus just yet. I don't think this guy is the one we're looking for." - Mira
"But he may be a big hint." - Garami
I smirked as I looked at Mira's surprised face before looking up at the giant snake dragon still trapped in the monkeys' net. The guy is showing a complicated expression on his scaly face. Hehehe~, time for you to make up for the pain I had to experience back at the Water-Knot~.