Chapter 76 – Let’s Go Gather Delicious Mountain Vegetables

---

I petted Hippolius thoroughly.

“That’s amazing, Hippolius. It will be a great help.”
“Kyuo! Kyuo!”

Hippolius wagged its tail happily and pressed its body into me.
While small Hippolius was cute, giant Hippolius was cute as well.
Besides, being bigger meant that there was more to pet.

The Adventurers looked at the trees in the materials yard and were impressed.

“Hippolius is amazing as always!”
“To carry ten trees of this size. It would take us several days.”
“Cutting them down would be hard enough. But to carry them as well.”

They said as they thanked Hippolius.

“Kyuo! Kyuo!”

It was good that Hippolius was so happy.

“We’ll cut off the branches and finish processing them!”
“Thank you!”

And so I left the rest of the work to the Adventurers, and decided to head out to gather some more mountain vegetables.

“Hippolius, Fio and Shiro will accompany me, but… What about you, Pii?”
‘Pii! Go too!’

Pii hopped up onto my shoulder and jiggled.
My shoulder seems to be Pii’s favorite spot to sit.
Pii was not heavy, and also massaged my shoulder, so it was a great help to me as well.

“Kuro, Roro, Ruru. What will you three do?”
‘Go! Go!
“Wuff.”
‘Together!’

Kuro was always so energetic.
Not just with words, but he would stand up on his hind legs as he pawed at me and wagged his tail.

Roro would bark to show that she wanted to go too.
She was the quietest among the demon wolf cubs.

Ruru looked up at me and wagged her tail.

“Alright, we shall all go then.”
“Wuff!”
“That being said, I don’t think you can follow us.”
“Wou-wou!”
“Wau!”
“Wuff-wuff!”

They were insisting that they could, but there was no way that was true.
That being said, they were also like medium sized dogs, so it would be difficult to carry them and run.

“…Hmm. Indeed.”

I took out some cloth and wood from my magic bag.
And then I used my crafting skill to create a basket that could hang in front of your body.
Then I put the three cubs into the basket.
As there were three of them, it was quite heavy.

‘Theodore. Want to ride on Hippolius’s back?’
“Hmm. …I need to get some exercise, so I think I’ll run.”
‘Okay!’
“Though, I will probably ride you on the way back.”
‘Kyuo! Tell Hippolius when tired!’
“Thank you. …Fio and Shiro. Do you want to ride on Hippolius?”
“Fio, run!”
“Wuff!”

Fio and Shiro wanted to run on their own legs.
For wolves, daily walks were very important. And so they wanted to run.

“Hippolius, please go at their pace.”
‘Okay!’
“Fio and Shiro. Have Hippolius carry you if you get tired.”
“Okay!”
“Wuff!”

Fio and Shiro answered energetically.
While Shiro might be fine, Fio was still a child. And so she would definitely not have enough energy.
And so I had to watch to make sure that she was fine.

Once we were prepared, Fio and Shiro began to run.
I then ran after them, and Hippolius ran alongside me.
Fio and Shiro were quite fast.

“You’re quite fast for being so young, Fio and Shiro.”
“Wuffu!”
“Wuff!”

Fio and Shiro wagged their tails happily as they ran.

“Of course, I know that you are the fastest, Hippolius.”

I said as I lightly patted the side of Hippolius’s stomach while we ran.

“Kyuooo!”

Hippolius chirped happily.
I was pleased to see Hippolius having such a good time.
It wasn’t just Shiro and Fio. Hippolius liked to run as well.

“Hippolius. You gathered a lot of wood for us earlier. So just tell me if you get tired.”
‘Still fine! But is Theodore tired?’
“I’m not tired at all.”
‘Okay!’

Hippolius was probably worried about me because I had built the dining hall.
Hippolius was a very kind dragon.

“Fio and Shiro. You can rest whenever you want.”
“Okay.”
“Wuff!”

After that, they would occasionally stop and sniff the ground as they continued.
Shiro was also marking the territory.
As for the cubs, they enjoyed the view from within the cage.
It was like a fun excursion where we all ran.

I was carrying three cubs in a basket, and Pii was on my shoulder.
And so I was starting to become tired. But as I needed exercise, it was just right.

We arrived at the hot spring, just as Fio and Shiro also started to be out of breath.

“Fio, Shiro. Where are the delicious mountain plants growing?”
“Over there!”
“Wuff!”

They pointed further ahead.
It was in a different direction from the place where we had gathered the medicinal herbs for Victor and the others.

“Let’s be careful, just in case.”
“Okay.”
“Wuff.”
“Kyuo!”

This was the area where we had encountered the false demon bear.
As Shiro would sense it immediately if it appeared, it was not too dangerous.
That being said, there was no harm in being extra cautious.
And so I also searched for nearby presences as we continued to walk.

Next Chapter

Hen na Ryu to Moto Yuusha Party Zatsuyougakari Relaxing Slow Life on the New Continent Shintairiku de Nonbiri Slow Life The Strange Dragon and the Former Choreman of the Heroes Party