After taking down the alraune, we move to collect the nectar orbs.
They’re packed inside the bulb buried underground, so I dig it out with a shovel.
The bulb itself is about the size of a wine barrel, and weighs about as much as three adult males.
“I think it’s going to be hard for us to carry. Should we get other adventurers to help?”
“It’s not a problem, I’ll do it.”
“Eh?”
I stuff the bulb into a large barrel, and pick it up.
And Lela yells when she sees this.
“Loyd!? H-how are you carrying something so heavy!?”
“Hn? I’ve been working out lately. I’m like one of those people that are more muscular than they appear, but I’ve become pretty muscular, you know?”
“That’s great sensei!”
“Mister Loyd, why are you not telling them you’re using the Grow spell?”
Asks Iris with a puzzled expression.
You dummy, Iris! Saying that just makes it lame!
“Oh right, Loyd can use Grow.”
“But it’s still great how you can use that physical strengthening magic that none of us can use like it’s not a big deal.”
I take it from what Mars says that neither him or Lela can use Grow.
He tried to get me to teach him at first, but I guess at this point, he’s given up because it’s too difficult. That means I’m the only one here who can use Grow.
And that also means I’m the one who has to carry this big barrel.
【A certain mage’s point of view】
I’m an A rank adventurer from a party called Glorious Sun.
There’s something that’s been bugging me lately. I heard from a knight who’s a part of a chivalric order that the D rank adventurer Loyd is actually that famous incompetent exclusive mage.
The pathetic guy that ran from Miss Ruby’s atelier.
I can’t stand a guy like this being with my idol, Miss Iris.
I don’t know how he accomplished this, but that incompetent mage being with Miss Iris has got to be some sort of mistake.
I’m also a mage, but I’m definitely much better.
He’s probably all worked up because he’s with strong people like the B rank Mars and Lela. Those two are also pretty cheeky, so I need to teach them a lesson too.
And this is a nice opportunity to show them the power of an A rank.
“George! They’re finally back!”
“It’s time to teach those cheeky people a lesson with our fists.”
“Hehehe, you’re pretty nasty too.”
We wait by the entrance to the forest, until the incompetent Loyd comes back, but I’m taken aback when I see him.
He’s a mage, so there’s no way he’s muscular. He’s about as muscular as me, but he’s carrying a barrel that looks really heavy with one hand, and making it look easy.
“Yoh!”
Bam!!!
The impact clearly shows the mass inside.
“Ahh, I’m pretty tired, having to carry this thing for about five kilometers.”
“You don’t look tired at all.”
Says the swordsman.
“Nah, I’m tired.”
Wait wait wait. How muscular is this guy? Did he just say he carried this for five kilometers!?
What is he, a berserkong? N-no, I can’t lose to him.
He might be physically stronger, but I’m several times stronger as a mage.
We’re just getting started. This is where I turn things around.
“Hey, mage called Loyd!”
Just as I call out to him, I hear a scream far away.
“Kyaaaaaaah!? Everyone, we have trouble! An orc general is coming this way!”
Orc general!? That’s a monster that causes trouble even for an A rank party.
Why is an orc general so close to camp?
Then a twenty meter tall giant orc emerges from deep in the forest.
I-it’s huge!? How’s it that big!? Were orc generals always that huge!?
Loyd takes a step forward, and holds up his staff.
“Explosion.”
He says before the orc general is obliterated.
Everyone is dumbfounded, including me.
D-did he just take out the orc general?
Several adventurers saw it, so there’s no denying it.
The guy that just shot out a spell strong enough to destroy an orc general left me shocked.
“What did you want with me?”
“Ah, I wanted to tell you about the orc general.”
I quickly say that instead of the truth. I’m glad I didn’t actually pick a fight…
This isn’t that rumored incompetent mage. This Loyd is a master rank, and surely one of the top mages.
【Loyd’s point of view】
I cut the bulb with a knife, and out came a lot of nectar orbs, bringing with them a sweet smell.
Alraune nectar is very popular, so maybe it was drawn by the sweet smell in the air. Orcs have a sense of smell that’s thousands of times better than humans’.
That’s normally the kind of monster that should be in Area Zero, but if it’s something that can be blown away by an Explosion, it’s not a big deal.
I grab one of the nectar orbs, and it looks like a golden candy. And when I taste it, I find it’s really sweet.
It’s like tasting thick honey.
“You’re already eating, Loyd? We haven’t even split it.”
“It just looked so good.”
“There is a lot of it.”
Says Iris.
“It’s a high class ingredient, so we could sell it. I think the market price is fifty silver coins each, so we’ll be full of gold coins.”
Lela then puts them into a measuring container and distributes them.
The ratio is two for me, one for Iris, one for Mars, and one for Lela.
I’m getting twice as much as the others because of my big contribution with the support magic. If this happened before, I would’ve said no, but I’ve grown, and now I just accept it.
If the other person legitimately values me that way, I accept it. I think that’s progress on my part.
Now that we’re done with that, how about cooking?
We have these nectar orbs, so I want to make sweets after lunch too.
I look around the campsite, and see twice as many tents. This really is a popular hunting site.
And since it’s lunchtime, there are nice smells all over. Apparently some people are making curry.
Kuh! Royal curry is a crime! It just makes me want to have some right now too.
And apparently I’m not the only one. The other three agree, so we assign roles to everyone, and start making curry.
We have to make something that’s at least just as good as theirs.
We decide via a majority decision to make a pork curry that’s not too spicy, and get to work.
Iris is very interested in the Merzelia style curry, that only uses water from the vegetables, and asks a lot of questions.
And once we’re done, we enjoy our pork curry.
We have to wait for about an hour, because we’re full, but then I start making dessert.
I put thirty nectar orbs in a bowl, and slowly melt them into paste. It’s like melting chocolate.
Slowly, with temperature that’s just above human temperature.
It’s like this with chocolate too, but if we aren’t careful with this, it’s going to make it taste not as good.
Just spreading this on toast would make for an exquisite dessert, but I’m going one step further.
I mix it with Minerva flour and eggs to make dough, and after shaping it into donuts, I fry them in oil.
And then, the honey donuts are done.
Iris tries one right away, but how did they turn out?
“Fuaaah!? I feel like I could build the castle of Roland in one night!”
Iris suddenly speaks loudly. Sounds like my donuts can have that effect even on a saintess.
Oh dear, I’m very happy.
And watching Iris enjoy one so much makes Mars and Lela want them too, so I also give them honey donuts, which receive rave reviews.
“Hafu. Munch munch. It’s even sweeter and denser than honey!”
“You’re a good cook sensei!”
It sounds like they’re good enough to be sold in stores.
We’re spending the night here in the campsite.
In the afternoon, we all go fishing in the river, eat what we fish, and then put edible wild plants in a pot at night. We’re really enjoying our camping trip.
Everything is going according to plan too. It’s a perfect camping trip, if I may say so myself.
It’s not just Iris either. I’m having a lot of fun, and Lela and Mars also got to complete their quest, so it’s really not an exaggeration to say this is perfect.
The next day, we return to Minerva, and I go to the inn after saying goodbye to those three.
I sit on my bed, and wonder what I’m going to do tomorrow, when a scrap of paper hits the floor.
“What’s this?”
I pick it up, and my blood freezes when I see what’s written on it.
“The mushroom punchman quest.”
I feel like one of them just punched me in the stomach.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! This is terrible! I completely forgot!
I felt like the quest was done after the alraune went down.
The quest expires in two days. Has it been that long!? The Great Vidd Forest is far, so the round trip takes a week.
And since we stayed the night at the halfway point and got sidetracked a lot, it took two weeks.
My quest completion rate as an adventurer is a hundred percent, and the mushroom punchman is going to ruin it.
What’s with the name anyway? It sounds like a joke.
“This is bad, I’m going to fail the quest! I need to do something!”
I call my magic doll horse, and rush to the Great Vidd Forest.
I might just make it in time.
And next time, I need to prioritize my quest over others’. It’s been a while since I felt a deadline was chasing me.
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