TFCG 53

Chapter 53

The last few days in Silvagrove City passed by in the blink of an eye.

There was a festival — supposedly in our honor.

The Guild prepared extravagant food and fine wine for the occasion, but honestly… none of it was as delicious as the meal I’d shared with Ferdia.

They had surely used better ingredients, and yet somehow, it didn’t compare.

And as for the reward we were given—

“The members of the Hagion Hero Corps shall be permitted to freely gather lumber, herbs, and minerals from the forest.”

That was it.

Normally, one would have to pay a hefty guild fee to join or purchase a separate harvesting permit.

This had also been the same reward in the game.

Until now, even pulling a single blade of grass without authorization was punishable by law — we couldn’t touch anything.

What an ironic turn of events.

The same people who had refused to give us any information in the name of “protecting their rights” were now handing over a harvesting permit as a reward.

Well, they were probably thinking, “They’re just a few mercenary adventurers — how much could they really gather?”

“They just don’t know the terrifying power of my Gathering Speed Boost Set and my inventory…”

I intended to wring every last drop of profit out of that permit.

Thanks to the Goddess’s Blessing, the forest wouldn’t become barren no matter how much I took.

Which meant I could gather all kinds of rare materials that couldn’t be found on Mid-Isle to my heart’s content.

Of course, I wouldn’t distribute them on the market — I wasn’t about to disrupt the economy.

They would be used strictly for self-sufficiency.

After the festival ended, we still couldn’t return to Mid-Isle.

There was one last quest remaining — to hunt down the stragglers left in the forest and claim a modest reward.

Once that was done, my level had risen to 25.

That meant I’d gained ten whole levels since leaving Mid-Isle.

But the next region’s recommended level was 30 — I still had five to go before I could move on safely.

And so, when it was finally time to return to Mid-Isle, the entire town gathered in the Elmwood Plaza to see us off.

“Sis! Goodbye! You have to come visit again, okay?”

That was Shaun — the boy who was definitely developing a crush on Jennifer, the guildmaster’s granddaughter.

He waved energetically, one hand clutching Jennifer’s hand while she hugged a teddy bear in the other.

They looked… sickeningly adorable.

Cute, but in a way that stung my heart with a strange sense of defeat.

Even those little kids are in a relationship… and me?

Right now, my only companions were my pickaxe, axe, and hoe.

The tools of hellish gathering labor.

“Yeah! I’ll come often! So often you’ll get tired of seeing me!”

I’d make sure they regretted ever saying that.

Thanks to the Goddess’s Blessing, I didn’t even suffer from teleportation sickness anymore, so no matter how far the distance, traveling was no problem at all.

Beside me stood Ferdia.

In the game, he’d looked lonely after being dishonorably discharged, but now he was bright and lively — full of cheer.

It was a good sight to see.

This was the second person whose fate I had managed to change in this world.

The first had been the victims of the airship crash during the tutorial.

And now, Ferdia.

Step by step — if I kept changing things like this, then maybe… maybe I could save Adrian too.

“Farewell, Hero.”
“No need for grand goodbyes — we’ll see each other again soon enough.”

I wrinkled my nose and smiled.

After all, I really was planning to come back soon and strip the forest of all its resources.

Ferdia laughed heartily in response.

“All right, then. Let’s head back.”

Adrian’s voice was unusually solemn. The others wore similar expressions.

And it made sense — hellish motion sickness awaited them.

With Ferdia’s booming laugh echoing behind us, my vision went dark.

The cool sea breeze brushed the tip of my nose. The air was tinged with salt.

The gentle sound of falling water from a nearby fountain, and the cheerful chirping of familiar birds…

“…We’re home.”

The words slipped out without me realizing it.

It really felt like coming home.

When I opened my eyes, I expected to see the familiar fountain plaza, but instead—

[Title Acquired!]
You have obtained the title <Guardian of the Forest>.

A message window floated before my eyes.

In most games, there were titles that one could earn, and Edaphosia was no exception.

Some games gave bonuses or stat boosts depending on the title, but this one didn’t — it was purely cosmetic.

Still, back in the game, equipping a cool-sounding title like <Elaine, Guardian of the Forest> always felt good.

But here, in reality… it just made me want to crawl into a hole and die of embarrassment.

If people started calling me “Lady Elaine, Guardian of the Forest!” I’d never survive the humiliation.

I was about to close the status window in despair when—

“Ugh…”

A retching sound came from behind me.

I turned around to see Darren clinging to a bench, looking deathly pale.

He was the worst off, but everyone else wasn’t far behind.

“Ahh… poor things…”

A sigh escaped me before I knew it.

How pitiful — to suffer from motion sickness like that…

As someone who’d been born immune to teleportation sickness, I could only look upon them with gentle pity.

“Um… welcome back, everyone,”

said Belinda, stepping forward. She and the others who’d seen us off before we left were now waiting to greet us.

“Goodness, you all look like you’ve been through a lot. Your faces are so pale — well, not all of them, I suppose. Seems you ate well at least.”

Old Clemens shook his head with a mixture of pity and amusement.

Though their faces were pale, everyone’s skin looked noticeably healthier — glowing, even.

No doubt thanks to all the nutritious meals packed with herbs and mushrooms we’d been served by the Forest Guild.

“You should all rest at the dorms today. We can go over your report once you’ve recovered.”
“A wise decision, Captain,”

Belinda chimed in sycophantically.

The motion-sick group welcomed the order and staggered away toward the dorms.

“Ran toward” would be an exaggeration — they looked more like zombies shuffling to their graves.

Meanwhile, I stood perfectly fine — not a hint of sickness — and all our luggage was safely stored in my inventory. I had nothing to unpack.

“You’re not going to rest, Elaine?”
“Oh, I’m fine! I don’t get teleport sickness, and I feel perfectly refreshed after being treated so well before we left.”

I scratched the back of my neck, smiling awkwardly.

Craig, my instructor, gave me a broad grin and clapped me hard on the back.

“Well now, my student! You look different — stronger. Ready to learn a new technique?”
“Honestly, you’re such a doting master,”

sighed Johanna, shaking her head.

“Actually, yes — I’d love to start training right away.”

It was perfect timing.

Since I’d gained ten levels, I now had two pending training quests to complete.

No point wasting time — strike while the iron’s hot!

And besides, I had some questions for Johanna, who was still a little hard to read — and frankly, suspicious.

So, leaving Belinda and Clemens behind, I followed the two instructors to the training grounds.

“You’ve gotten quite strong in such a short time, haha! You should be ready to learn several new skills now.”

Craig’s eyes gleamed with excitement.

For a moment, I wondered if he, too, had some kind of status screen like me — his assessment was spot-on.

“Before that, tell me — how was the battle in the darkness? I need to know what areas you struggled with before we move on.”

He looked genuinely dependable as he asked that.

Unfortunately, that question was… a little tricky for me.

In the game, after every dungeon, this exact conversation would play out — my character’s mouth would move silently in a cutscene, and Craig would nod like, “Ah, I see!” before teaching me the next skill.

But here, I couldn’t just silently mime and expect him to understand.

So, I’d have to explain myself — somehow — even with my terrible speaking skills.

“Uh, well… let’s see… there were a lot of enemies coming all at once. It felt really different from fighting them one by one.”

I scratched my head as I spoke.

Of course, I already knew what skills he was going to teach me — so I could steer the conversation in that direction.

“And, um… I realized plant roots are tougher than I thought. They were especially annoying to deal with.”

I carefully recounted everything up through the boss fight.

“I see. In that case, I’ll teach you two techniques — one for handling multiple enemies, and one that uses the very plant properties you found troublesome.”