Chapter 46 – Camping Debut
After Menew and the others arrived at the Yan Valley, they started to pitch their tents in a relatively safe spot that Adventures used as a campsite.
They had learned of this location at the guild. As long as you followed the rules, and had accepted a quest, then you were free to use it.
There were several other parties there as well. And judging by their equipment, they were likely after the lizardmen, who could be found in a cave near the top of the valley.
Menew’s party was after river lizards and rock lizards. These had a hunting level of around 20, and would not be very difficult. However, there should be a lot of them.
Apparently, their numbers had increased so much that they started to go down river, causing damage to nearby villages. And they were a threat to those who were not Adventurers.
As the Knights Guild had sent men to protect the villages, the Adventurers Guild had been asked to go to the source, and decrease their numbers.
Menew had been told to greet any other Adventurers at the camp, and so he went around to do just that.
However, after seeing his status, most of them looked at him mockingly. Or rather, they seemed to be provoking him. But Menew was not quite sure.
(Is it because of my level? Hmm. That’s quite harsh.)
That was about as much thought as he gave it before brushing it aside.
As he had experienced being bullied in his past life, he had learned to detect such words and then ignore them.
More importantly, his level had gone up to 10 while he was helping Totto.
He was happy about that. And so it didn’t matter what others thought.
This positive, self-centered way of thinking had taken root in Menew, making him indifferent. And so after going around the camp, the other Adventurers would say things like, ‘Oh? Is he trying to die?’ or ‘Maybe he’s trying to gather materials because he can’t afford weapons?’ and ‘Why doesn’t he just go home and drink his mother’s milk?’
But while Menew was not angry, the other two were different.
“Mr. Menew. Aren’t you angry? If you want, I can make some paralysis poison.”
“Why don’t we just hunt down all the lizardmen first?”
That was what they said as soon as they returned to the tent.
“Huh? We don’t need poison, I will just use fire magic. Lizardmen? Why? Do you want materials?”
Menew was so indifferent that their anger almost shifted towards him instead.
“Let’s do our best. I want to hurry up and move to a real dungeon quest!”
Menew said enthusiastically.
If an E-Rank Adventurer completes 1 D-Rank quest, then it is the equivalent of completing 5 E-Rank quests. However, if you fail, then there is a x10 penalty.
And so there were many who bit off more than they could chew, and ended up having to quit the profession.
If you were D-Rank, then a C-Rank quest was the equivalent of 3, and if you were C-Rank then a B-Rank quest was the equivalent of 2. After that, it was the same, but the penalty was still x10.
Menew’s party were E-Rank. And they were taking on four D-Rank quests… With just two more left in order to get a promotion.
Menew’s head was filled with thoughts of going to the dungeon. And so he did not hesitate to accept the harder quests.
Besides, E-Rank had so many gathering quests, which was not efficient. There were not so many requests, as it would affect the market. Also, it was time consuming. In the first place, both Menew and Ralph were combat types.
Totto would gather on his own, and he had Stan to protect him.
“Alright, let’s go then. What about you, Totto? Will you get some skins?”
“Yes, I will do that!”
Menew asked as he took out all of the camping supplies from his pouch. Totto nodded happily, and his eyes shone behind the thick lenses of his glasses.
He had lived in a small room for so long, but he was an alchemist at heart. And so his curiosity was immense.
“Menew. If you want materials, then you need to use a bow or shortsword.”
“True. You can only get crystals if you use magic.”
It had been that way when fighting the horde of hobgoblins. If you damaged the whole corpse, then they would turn into crystals.
He would have to kill them in a way that didn’t damage everything, like how Ralph did with a sword. Still, they would crystalize over time, so you had to carve away the materials before that happened.
And if they weren’t going to burn them, then they decided that Totto’s special demon luring potion would be effective, and so they spread it around an area that was far away from the campsite.
The river lizards liked being near water, while the rock lizards were found near boulders.
Menew used a bow that he had bought in advance, and Totto had a dagger for self-defense. And like that, preparations were complete.
Soon enough, their prey came slithering out.
“Ten…twenty… We only need magic stones for the report. With so many, can we save five for materials and burn the rest?”
“But lizard meat is delicious.”
“Physical attacks for all of them!”
Ralph said, and so Menew did not use magic. Apparently, he cared more about food now.
The monsters they were hunting were large lizards that were about 80 centimeters in length. They were similar to alligators, only faster and more intelligent.
They generally liked to make rocky mountains and riverbeds their territory. And since they evolved differently based on their habitats, they had different names as well.
Regardless, one by one, the lizards that were lured in were dealt with. Ralph was in charge of the rock lizards, which had hard scales and could camouflage themselves in the rocks. While Menew used his bow to shoot the river lizards that slithered out of the water.
One arrow for one lizard. He unleashed the arrows while targeting the spot between the eyes.
After three months of intense training, Menew had learned to use a bow, and he was able to shoot them down without ever being in danger.
Occasionally, he would hold the bow diagonally and unleash three arrows at once. Each arrow seemed to get sucked towards different lizards, flipping three over at the same time.
As they were being lured by the potion, their movements were simple.
After ten minutes of this, they killed the whole horde that was lured in.
Then in order to counter the first potion, they scattered a monster repellant. And then Menew and Ralph dragged all of the corpses together to make a pile. By then, Totto and Stan had returned.
As they would not participate in the hunt, they had gone to gather herbs. Totto’s basket was filled with herbs.
Perhaps due to there being so much magic energy pooled here, there was a small forest along the river. There, a great variety of plants grew. And while not to the same degree as the Mamia Forest, it was known for being a good spot to gather herbs.
Though, it was not efficient for Adventurers to gather while having a reference book in hand, while those who used herbs for a living were too scared of the monsters.
But since Menew and Ralph were fighting, Totto was able to gather them safely.
“Alright, I’ll start carving then.”
“Master Ralph, thank you.”
“Thank you!”
Ralph was the best when it came to carving up monsters.
There were a lot of materials. And so under Ralph’s guidance, Menew and Totto got to work.
It was much more difficult than the actual combat. Still, they separated the bones, skin, flesh and organs.
By the time they were finished, the sky was getting dark, and so they put everything into Menew’s pouch, and then they returned to the campsite.
(I guess we will have lizard skewers and vegetable soup tonight.)
“Meat! Meat!”
Totto was extra excited, possibly due to how hard the work had been.
“By the way, Totto. Why do you like meat so much?”
“…Once a month, there is a thanksgiving festival. And we were allowed to eat some of the leftover meat from the guests’ table. Because usually, we only got vegetable soup and bread. I was amazed by how delicious the meat was… And then I found out the meat outside was even better!”
“…Well, father is going to cook a lot then…!”
Menew said firmly and a little teary-eyed.
Ralph had been gathering tree branches behind them, but after that exchange, he seemed to move a little faster.
Totto looked a little confused, but said, ‘I’m looking forward to the lizard meat!’ and then he played with Stan.
Thanks for the chapter!