That night, I was treated to an empty treehouse at the outskirts of the village. Apparently, it belonged to an elder that passed away recently, but he had no children and a ton of leftover wealth—in this world, those were extra food, material for clothes, and fuel. The villagers planned to divide it among everyone, but since I contributed a great deal to protecting them from the Herakabuto attack, everyone unanimously agreed that it would only be right for me to receive it as my reward.
Yet, despite having the comfiest bed that I could find, I didn’t get a lick of sleep the entire night. And all of that…
[Would you like to check your stats menu?]
Was because of this stupid voice.
Ever since the meeting with the group the night before, it had gone haywire for some reason. Every five minutes or so, the same notification sound rang in my head, and I had no way to turn it off. Controlling it with my thoughts like before didn’t seem to work anymore, and as a result, I had received the most annoying alarm in the world.
Before the sun even rose up the trees, when night was still embracing the dense forest, and dew drops were still dripping from the leaves, my eyes were wide open.
”God damn it…” I rubbed my forehead in pain, shaking my head to rid myself of the constant ringing. With nothing else to do, I let out a sigh, grabbed the rope ladder near my “door”, and descended down the tree.
Thankfully, this one was nowhere near as tall as the center tree where the group’s headquarters were at, instead only about twice the size of the tree back in my old house. But it didn’t mean that climbing down was any less scary—only after my feet were touching the night’s grass did I dare to breathe out a sigh of relief.
To my surprise, as soon as I tried to take a step, a familiar voice called out to me.
“Yo. You’re up early, kid.”
“Midorikawa-san,” I turned around and gave a polite bow. “You’re up early as well. You’re even suited up and all.”
“I was never a daytime guy, shishi.” The man in green replied with a snide grin. “Oh, and drop the formality, kid; you’re one of us now.”
“You mean… Midorikawa?”
”Nah, some of us… actually, now that I think about it, might be all of us have a mouthful of a name, shishi.”
”Then…”
“Just use colors like how we address one another, duh.”
“Well… okay then… Green.”
It was a bit embarrassing to address him like that, if I had to be honest. Since it sounded so much like how kids used to address their super masked heroes back in the day.
“Now that’s the spirit!” The man, elated, slapped me hard on the shoulder, causing me to flinch for a second. Who would have thought that this guy was as much of a brute as Akabane? His limbs were so much slimmer!
“Ah, right, you still haven’t answered my question,” he continued. “Not a day person like me?”
”Ah, no. I just… couldn’t sleep.”
”Oh, I see…” rubbing his chin with a smug look on his face, Midorikawa nodded. “Must be exciting, huh? Your first expedition and all.”
”Y-Yeah, something like that.”
“Yeah I getcha,” the man nodded with a proud, smug look. “It was the same with all of us at first. Well, since I can’t force you to sleep anyway, how ‘bout we go for a round first? My treat.”
“A round… of what, exactly?”
With a big grin on his face, Midorikawa answered. ”Pearch, of course! We usually plucked out a basket full before going on expeditions, but take my word for it, kid, those fresh off the tree are the best.”
”Aren’t you supposed to save it?” Somehow, his carefree attitude grew on me as well. Even if it wouldn’t be something I’d normally do, I was ready to join Midorikawa on a little morning time fun.
At least, until the two of us were interrupted by a stern call-out:
”And what exactly were you two planning to ‘have a round’ at?”
”H-Hey, Red, buddy! Good to see ya! Ya see, the kid here really loved that Pearch he had yesterday, so y’know, I gotta give it to him more, being the good Senpai that I am, ya feel me?”
”What was that for?”
“Dang it, kid! Don’t you know how to follow a cue?”
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Needless to say, we got an earful from Akabane, and it was long enough for the sun to rise above the trees.
By the time we were done, everyone else had already prepared their belongings—their armors were spotless, weapons sharpened and ready to go. Yamabuki even carried an extra silk pouch, which was… surprisingly empty?
”Um… can I ask what that’s for?”
”Oh, this thing? I’m the medic of the team, after all,” when prompted, she flashed a friendly smile. “My combat power is actually quite low, but I have an ability that compresses food and nutrients into pills.”
Rummaging the pouch, the girl took out a small bead-like pill only around the size of a tiny marble. Before I knew it, she had already tossed it to me.
”One for you early.”
As Yamabuki did the same thing for everyone else in the team, I took a look at the pill again. Aside from its miniature size, it shone a clear amber color when shown under the sun, almost glistening like a jewel. There was a greasy and sticky texture on my fingertips where I held the pill, and a faint smell of sweetness wafted towards my nose when I brought it closer.
”Wait… Isn’t this?”
“Yup, Shinbachira honey,” with a nod, Yamabuki threw one in her mouth. “Don’t worry; it might be concentrated, but it went through me. They’re perfectly safe to consume—one pill has enough energy to last you the whole day, and even boost your senses to another level.”
”Do remember, Yakushi-kun,” Akabane added. “Right now, frankly, you’re useless to us. But your ability to work with your partner Omushi, as well as your calm and rational assessment of the field around you, those are the work of your eyes and brain. Take that as a stimulant so you can be on our level, even if for a short while.”
Basically, drink the pill or fall behind, I thought. Not like I wanted any other choice anyway.
”Keep an eye on things for me, Akari.” I patted on top of my head, while my hand threw the golden pill into my mouth.
”Kuri!”
As soon as the bead went down my throat…
”Wait, I don’t feel anything.” I concluded, turning towards Yamabuki to look for an answer.
”Of course you don’t,” shrugged the girl with a playful grin. “My medicine is special, after all. Even if the dosage is concentrated, the regulated toxins wouldn’t affect you one bit. No need to worry about being knocked dead like the other times you had a taste.”
“That’s nice to hear, but…”
“You should get used to it,” Akabane answered. “As much as we’d like your eyes and brain, it wouldn’t do if we constantly have to babysit you when you’re clocked out. It’s best to level up your ability bit by bit, until you’re finally ready to go even without the energy pills.”
“Now, with that being said,” turning to the rest of the team, the man raised his hand for an official order. “Troops, move out!”
“Yes, sir!”
*
Since I was on the team this time around, they didn’t just blitz their way through like maniacs like the first time we’d met one another. Instead, their formation was the same as last night—everyone followed a straight line, with Akabane being first to cut off branches and trees on our path. Aozaki and Kurogiri followed suit, acting as the muscles for the team to break off the stragglers from Akabane’s cleaning. Yamabuki and Midorikawa were in the lower rear, the former being the medic to treat the group whenever the need would arise, while the latter had the job to scout and protect the non-combatants at the end.
I was at the end of the line again. But this time, I had a clear role to fulfill, instead of just being extra baggage they had to protect.
“Fruit and water at eleven o’clock,” I sounded. “There’s a stream to our north-west.”
“Good, we’ll clear the area and see,” answered Akabane.
The pills did work, only to a lesser effect than I had expected from the honey that nearly took my life twice over. But even with a nerfed effect, I could still use my eyes and other senses more effectively than others, which made my role in the team a long-range scout. By turning my head around to constantly update information, I could draw out an accurate mental map of the terrain, as well as focus on where advantages spots were—the stream up ahead, for example—and spots where danger would lurk. Ambushes wouldn’t be an issue either, provided that I was sharp enough to suss out any attempt from likely predators.
Just now was what I could do to the best of my effects. As we were walking, I could hear the trickling sound of running water, as well as smell a rather sweet scent, but not too overwhelming like how flowers would be to attract incoming insects and birds. Hence, the most likely outcome was a fruit-bearing tree, and soil near a river.
As the sight of a stream whirling like a serpent appeared before us, sparkling in the clear, bright sun, I received another hit on the shoulder by none other than the overly-excited man in green:
“Shishishi, not bad for a first timer, kid! If this keeps up, I might even get to retire as scout from now on!”
Oh, right, this guy was supposed to be the scout before I came around, with his speed being superior at the job compared to anyone else.
“Well, in any case, let’s…”
A sudden familiar sound and scent hit me right as I was about to finish my answer.
This familiar chilling sound of buzzing wings.
This familiar scent of toxic sweetness.
It made sense as well—where there was food and water, there would be creatures. Of course they would have to be nearby. I was too focused on the river and fruit, on the prospect of an easy and relaxing break, that I didn’t notice a different set of information that was nearby. And now, my overconfidence in my senses would mean trouble for us.
“Hm? Kid, what’s wrong?” As he was the closest to me, Midorikawa was the first to notice the change in my expression.
There was no time to hesitate. They could come to us at any moment.
“Everyone, combat formation!” I tried to balance my voice to the best of my ability, just enough to inform the others without making too large a noise. “There’s a Shinbachira hive right in front of us, I think just about 100 meters more!”
To my surprise, however, everyone just let out a satisfied smile.
“Good job, Yakushi-kun,” nodded Akabane. “That’s our target for this trip.”
“... What?”
“Shinbachira is a very hostile species, and its honey is perfect for making our energy pills. Our objective today is to take down that hive to open for the village to expand.”
“But… What about our deal?”
“Hm? Of course, you’re free to try your way,” answered Akabane. “That is, if you can tell us the way to fight them without killing. Yakushi-kun, for this operation, you’re our commander. Show us what you’ve got.”