Chapter 37: Competition
[Edited by Arthur300000]
[Vandalized again by Branya]
[ArchmageNaoki came to rescue the chapter]
"Heave-Ho!" "That's right, keep going!" It's five in the morning, and right now I'm helping my grandpa plow the field under the moonlight. Why? Well, you know, it's a personal reason.
Dinner yesterday was too delicious, I couldn't stop myself from eating. How can an already delicious fish improve so much? It's beyond my understanding. All I know is the world of cooking is quite deep. And, if you gaze into it too much, sooner or later you will need to burn some extra fat.
And for some reason, most of the fat in my body tends to go to my boobs. I lamented the fact that I couldn't go back in time to change it to a few sizes smaller. Woe unto my old perverted self.
There is also another problem. There is no internet here! None! Nothing! Not even a glimpse of a signal! Without much to do on my shiny new massage chair, my consciousness drifted off to dreamland in no time. Then I woke up too early.
Right now the only thing that was workable on my PC is just what resided in the "Reference Material" folder which occupied the majority of my hard drive. However, about the magic design program, they should have warned me beforehand that it needs an internet connection to operate. When the warning showed up yesterday, it was that there was no internet signal anymore. It made me feel cheated. God damn cloud computing!
"Be careful Kuro. Your hands might start getting rough." I was getting frustrated and used too much force, then my grandma who is picking up some vegetables on the nearby field warned me.
Her warning caused me to look back at my hands. They're still soft and without any blemishes. I don't know what's the reason, I also swung the sword a lot, but it seems my hands are still in perfect condition. I write it off as my body being magical and raised the hoe once again. The work is quite monotonous, so I sing to myself quietly.
♪~Everyone's counting on me~♪
♪~To cheer them up and give them lots of energy~♪...
♪~Pomf Pomf Komochi~♪ *Quack Quack Quack* A cockroach-sized duck came out from the flipped soil, followed by several smaller ones. They seem to be its children. Last time I pointed it out to Marcus's team, Peter told me they would call the exterminator, so I told my grandpa.
"Oh. It's the mini duck. That's good, just leave them alone, they make the soil fertile." My grandpa answered. So the duck is good on the field but bad in the city huh? I watched the ducks jump into another hole nearby before continuing my Pomf Pomf plowing.
With the field that I'm working on having a rectangular shape, it is more efficient to plow along the long sides of the field, this way I don't have to turn around so often. We also have a bit of competition on who can plow more before my grandma finishes cooking breakfast.
"Phew, this girl is too healthy, or am I just getting old?" My grandpa complained when he lost.
"Haa~, an old man shouldn't be able to do this much." I mean it. I went to all out and only won by a little margin. This old man is really strong. This is the first time that I've had to use my bear pattern handkerchief to wipe my sweat in this world. Well, it's not exactly a handkerchief. I don't really own one, but it's a cloth all the same.
"Wa ha ha ha, let's have a rematch again next time!" My Grandpa patted my back with his giant hand. The impact sent me a few steps forward.
"Anyways, what will you grow in this field?" The accomplishing feeling after finishing a job well done made me ask him about it.
"Oh, here I'm planning to expand the wiggling root field. Its price is going to skyrocket this year. Moreover, these are easy to propagate. All I need to do is just cut its stem and plant it just like that. Do you want to help me after breakfast?" My grandpa shows me the field full of wiggling tentacles. The dawn light made their movement eerier than before.
"No thanks, I've got something else to do." I ran to the house for breakfast. Damn it. All my efforts were just to expand the field of bad ending traps.
"Morning~" When I entered the house, everyone seemed to have woken up already. Oh, not everyone, Mr. Bobo is still snoozing on one of the tall cabinets. My sister yawns while climbing down the stairs, and with the dark marks under her eyes, she appears to have had trouble sleeping in a different place. Wait, she didn't have this problem during the field assignment. Is it something else?
My brother is preparing his fishing gear on the living room table, and he looked to be enjoying it. My mom and dad were laughing with Auntie Charlotte telling jokes in the dining room. The smell of breakfast filled the house. Even when I'm washing my hand in the restroom, I could still smell the scent of lemon, herbs, and fish. This time it's for the fish my brother caught to shine.
"Ara, good timing, I was about to call you." As I open the dining room door, my grandma took me to the seat and tied a napkin around my neck... I looked left and right and found that only Laurell has napkin around his neck. It quite annoying to be treated like a child, so I discreetly remove the napkin and place it on my lap, then I hold the fork and knife and wait for the food impatiently.
All the furniture in this house is big. Even the chair I sat on is tall enough for me to swing my legs. Maybe it was made to accommodate my grandpa's physique, but staying in this house reminded me of just how small I was.
"Here you go Little Kuro." My Grandma put the plate of pan grilled fish fillet with lemon butter sauce and fresh salad in front of me while patting my head. It even has a tiny flag on top of it. The fish tastes absolutely delicious, but eating fish every day made me want to try something else.
"Anyone want to go hunting in the magical forest with us?" Uncle Zeno asked. Perfect timing!
"Me!" Of course, I want to go. It's a good excuse to avoid that wiggling field. And I also might be able to acquire some delicacies from the forest.
"I think I need to sleep, please take good care of Kuro." My sister said drowsily while stabbing the fish fillet. What did she do last night?
"Nah, I'm going fishing, I found a good spot yesterday." My brother has already asked my dad to drive for him. My mom won't go anyway because it would be too dangerous for her in the forest, so she will just practice cooking with Auntie Charlotte. It ended up being just Uncle Zeno, Laurell, and me.
"Will you be alright? Should I ask Albert to accompany you?" My grandma looked worried. It's understandable, from her point of view It's just two kids and one adult.
"Don't worry grandma. Kuro is stronger than she looks. She could beat a third class monster easily." My brother reassures her. But what exactly is a third class monster anyway? Is it like the flying spaghetti? Asking right now might cause my grandma to worry even more, so I made a mental note to ask my brother later.
"Well, if you say so." My grandma let the subject go, but she still had a look of worry in her eyes.
"I'll be careful Grandma." I promised her, and she smiles.
"Have a nice day~" After finishing breakfast I waved goodbye to everyone who is staying at home. My grandma also gave me a lunch box filled with delicious looking rice balls.
I walked to the road and took out the car, which is now become shiny clean. Yesterday it looked dirty, covered with mud and dust from the road. The auto clean feature of my storage device is amazing. Well, it took several hours to clean, but at least I didn't have to scrub the car myself.
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While my dad is doing his daily car maintenance, I walk to the garbage disposal area nearby and dispose of all the trash from my hairclip. All the dirt and dust from auto cleaning function doesn't go anywhere. It's still inside the device, so I need to dispose of them while I have the chance. My brother also comes with me to clean up his storage device.
"Anyway, what is a third class monster?" I asked my brother.
"It's a rough classification of monster. Immortal class monster is like that wind dragon you saw yesterday. Usually, we'd need an army to take one of them down." My brother began to explain.
"Then there is the first class monster. Those are still hard to deal with. However, they are generally weaker than immortal class and don't live forever. Second class monsters can be taken care of by a group of elite adventurers. All of them have a large core inside their body."
"Wait, the second class gives large monster cores. What do I get when I kill a first class monster?" I asked.
"IF you managed to kill a first class monster," My brother put a lot of emphasis on the word IF. "You would gain around ten thousand to a million credits from its body parts alone. There is no core inside those monsters anymore. All its body parts generate energy by itself which is what makes them valuable. The strange thing is while first class monsters look perfect by itself, the immortal class turns back to have its core called immortal core again." My brother shrugged then continued.
"Third class is what you saw in the core area of the black forest. A full-fledged adventurer can handle most of them. What you called flying spaghetti monster, for example, is considered a weak third class monster. The fourth class monsters are something like those thunder wolves. One of them pose a minor threat but are dangerous in a pack. And the fifth class would rarely be capable of causing harm to a healthy adult." That means my current strength is about a second class monster, I think.
"Everything is ready, let's go!" My dad yelled from the car. I quickly disposed of the rest of the dirt and walked back. Uncle Zeno and Laurell also just came from the house in their full battle gear. Oh! Isn't that a bow and arrow? I miss those. I looked forward to seeing its performance in action. If it works well, I'll ask Uncle Zeno for one.
"Papa, I want to sit at the front." Laurell asked his dad, and Uncle Zeno looks apologetically at us. I shrugged. I don't really mind. I like the backseat better because I could get a better view there.
Along the way to the magical forest entrance, I wore the carbon fiber strap that I recently acquired, attaching my monster combat set over it. The set consists of a futuristic looking gun and a blue sword. The blue sword is my primary weapon because of its essential property, with the perfect weight for exercise. As I adjusted my combat attire, my brother gave me a quick briefing on the magical forest.
"The magical forests name comes from the fact that the magic power in that area is more abundant than normal. There are few local tribes and sentient creatures there that are on good terms with us, so you should follow Uncle Zeno instructions, and don't shoot everything on sight as you usually do." My brother instructed. That's mean, he could've just told me to avoid friendly fire. I'll limit my attacks to close range then. Maybe this is a good time to try out my improved Skyrim spells. I switched my gun for the one with high spell intensity gain.
"Ok, any suggestions for today's dinner?" I asked about the main purpose of this trip.
"Hmm, the most expensive product in the forest isn't from monsters. It's the magical truffle grown deep inside the forest." What!? Why didn't he tell me sooner? I could've brought Mr. Bobo!
"However, that isn't in season right now." My brother smirked. I swear, not a day goes lay without him teasing me. "You might want to go to the beast monster area and look for a sea urchin like thing there. It's called an earth urchin, and it's very popular in famous restaurants nowadays." Another monster with a problematic naming sense. Well, I noted it as my priority anyway.
"My wife is also good at cooking bird type monsters. You should try it." When Uncle Zeno suggested it, I saw Laurell wipe his drool from his face. The bird type monster it is then. Yesterday's scene came to life inside my mind again. That boy is also quite a gourmet. He stuffed my favorite dish in his mouth like a chipmunk and caused me to speed up my eating to compete with him. If anyone said elfs were vegetarian, I wouldn't believe them.
When we were getting close to the magical forest area, the scenery changed drastically. It was like I slipped into wonderland. A cartoonish looking mushroom in all kinds of colors, jumping in the vibrant green grassland everywhere. I wonder if I eat a red one, will my body become bigger? While I marvel at the scenery, a small pixie flies by and knocks the driver's window making my dad pull over.
"Good morning, officer, how may I help you?" My dad inquired. Huh? Is this pixie an officer? I almost tried to sneak behind her to see if I could fly using pixie dust like a boy who has the same name as a kitchenware item.
"Oh~ Good morning han-. *cough* good citizen. I came to inform you that the parking lot is currently being used for par- um, conference. So, if you want to visit the magical forest, please park your car near entrance B." Little pixie officer said coyly. Her face seemed to be flushed.
"Thank you office-"
"Annabel. Uhm just called me Anna." She interrupted my dad, and isn't that my grandma's name?
"Ok, thanks, Ms. Anna." My dad slipped a piece of a sugar cube to her. She took it quickly and spiraled away. I saw another pixie who was hiding in the bush nearby chase after her at full speed. I doubt it would end well, though. Note to self, a cube of sugar and photos of dad for bribing officers in the forest.
"Ok, here we are, enjoy the hunt. I'll be back to pick you up at four." Entrance B is only 10-minute drive from that pixie. My dad even walked out to open the door for me. I hugged him goodbye as usual. However, I sense some middle-aged women campers looking at me jealously.
The entrance of the magical forest is like an organized national park. There are a lot of campers with their tents here. The scent of their breakfast is still lingering in the area. Some people are still yawning, and some people have already packed their camp and gotten ready to enter the forest.
Uncle Zeno lead us to a group of short men who lazed around the campfire. They were really short, the tallest guys in the group only coming up to my shoulder.
"Good morning, Sir elf. How may I help you?" One with brown cowboy hat bowed to my uncle. His manners and attire are a bit strange. From his looks, I don't know if he's trying to be polite by wearing his suit or look cool with his cowboy hat. However, both of them at the same time and the mismatched coloured socks without wearing shoes, it looks nothing but strange.
"Morning, gnome, I want a guide for a one day trip. How much is the current rate?" The gnome looked at us one by one. I felt a bit uncomfortable by his scrutinizing like gaze. Eventually, he replied.
"Two for adult and four for a child, ten big silver coins in total." It was kind of strange to see children have to pay more than an adult. I took out four big silver coins, but Uncle Zeno wouldn't accept. He said my dad already gave him the money.
After my Uncle had paid him, Mr. Gnome gave me a booklet containing a rough map of the area and some guides about the area and the emergency routines.
"Alright, sir and madam. Where do you want to go first?" Mr. Gnome asked.
"I want to see the unicorn!" Laurell yelled. I looked at the map. Alright, unicorn glade is between here and the beast monster hunting ground.
"Certainly, ma'am." Mr. Gnome bowed.
"I’m not a 'ma'am', I'm a man!" Laurell complained. The gnome looked surprised, but he just bows and said. "As you wish, sir." while mumbling quietly, "Customer is always right."
The forest here looked more like a painting rather than the natural wood. Its color are cartoonishly vibrant. I touched one of the rainbow colored leafs to confirm whether it was fake or not. However, the tree pulled its leaf back and giggled like I was tickling it. The path we walked was filled with dry leaves. Even so, sometimes I spotted some leaves running away from our steps. Now I understand why my uncle needed a guide. There aren't any landmarks here. Even something noticeable like a big rock sometimes moves.
We encounter some hunters along the way. If not for the fact that those people were carrying weapons on them it would feel like walking in the park rather than hunting. I tried to look out for danger, but no matter where I looked all I saw were strange plants, moving inanimate objects, and cute bugs flying everywhere. The trees along the walkway aren't dense, so it was just walking through shaft after shaft of lustrous gold morning light and admiring cute bugs and hoping mushrooms along the way.
"Please do not harm the mushrooms! They are citizens who are under the protection of her majesty the fairy queen." Mr. Gnome warned me when I captured one of the red polka dot mushrooms hopping nearby. I released it and apologized to the mushroom.
After that, Mr. Gnome seemed to be observing my actions more than usual. I'm not a troublemaker, so why is he watching me? Well, it was just a few occasions like trying to taste the flying pudding along the way. Anyone in my situation would do the same, right? However, the event like this caused Mr. Gnome to glare daggers at me until we reached the Unicorn Glade.
Anyways, I discovered a few things. A trail of breadcrumbs disappears in a matter of seconds here, flying pudding is sweet, and fairy's dust can't make me fly.
"Wow~ Unicorns!" Laurell seems to like those horses so much. Well, they do look majestic and all. Their mane is impossibly white, and their horn made them looked more grandeur than any ordinary horse.
"A unicorn is-" Before our guide could finish his sentence, Laurell ran to one of the unicorns which already had one red haired girl with it. "... a magical creature." Mr. Gnome stopped explaining and mumbled. "Children these days, I should have charged more."
However, the unicorn let him touch wherever he wanted. Isn't a unicorn supposed to let only a pure hearted maiden touch them? Well, since that traps can do it, I looked around and spotted a free unicorn nearby. I walked over there. However, the unicorn neighed and stood up.
"Oh cmon, horsie, horsie. Meow, meow, meow, meow..." I tried to look friendly. I even rolled on the floor and showed my tummies, but that damn horse swung its head and sprinted away into the sea of lichen-encrusted tree trunks. Because of that, everyone in the glade looks at me with luke warm eyes. Then Mr. Gnome ran to me and said.
"My condolences, but it would be better if you refrain from getting close to them in the future." ... I lost to a trap somehow.