Chapter 28
Hamma, who was holding the stamina mushroom, accidentally dropped it.
His eyes, wide with panic, flicked between the fallen mushroom and me.
“Ha… hair loss?”
Then he raised his hand to feel his head. A few strands of white hair came off in his hand, and he screamed in horror.
“Kyahhh! Hair loss! Hair loss!”
I pinched my forehead and shook my head in disbelief.
Kaizen, who had overheard the commotion, clicked his tongue lowly.
“Serves you right.”
“No! No! Why me?!”
Hamma, shocked, grabbed his hair and hopped around frantically, making the whole place echo with noise.
“Calm down. If you eat it with the neutralising grass, it’ll be fine. Chew this quickly.”
I handed him a strand of lightly boiled neutralising grass. Hamma grabbed it as if it were sacred, devouring it completely. Even after finishing, he anxiously asked several times:
“R-Really, it’ll be okay, right?”
“I said it’ll be fine. Stop asking and go feed these to the beastmen.”
Fortunately, some sense remained, and Hamma followed my instructions, giving the stamina capsules to the collapsed beastmen.
Meanwhile, the village chief, observing from behind, cautiously asked:
“Miss Romi… If I’m not mistaken, you didn’t seem to recite any spell while preparing this food, did you?”
Sharp as ever. I nodded.
“That’s right. You don’t need any incantation. This alone is effective enough for recovery.”
This was a recipe I had often combined when fighting Hirata. The Power Berry restores physical energy, the Stamina Mushroom restores vitality, and adding Neutralising Grass combines the effects of both.
“So… even without Miss Romi’s help, we could make stamina capsules ourselves?”
“Yes. Anyone can, as long as they have the ingredients.”
I was about to explain the preparation process in detail when the relieved beastmen started reacting.
“Ahh… I feel alive again…”
“Warmma, suddenly I’m full of energy.”
“Ah… we troubled Miss Romi again, didn’t we?”
One by one, the beastmen got up, groaning a little, and the village chief looked on in amazement.
“Incredible. Even without cooking magic, the effect is this strong…”
Items inherently have immediate effects. I approached the five beastmen who had just risen. When our eyes met, they awkwardly smiled.
“Thank you, Miss Romi.”
“Save your thanks. Next time, if you feel faint, just rest. Otherwise, people might think I’m a cruel employer,” I teased.
Though I wasn’t even paying them. One of the beastmen sheepishly scratched their head.
“We want to build the village quickly so the hero can stabilise. That’s why we didn’t rest.”
“Exactly. If we rest, who’ll carry all the materials with so few of us?”
I glanced at Kaizen and silently sighed. The argument was valid.
Then Hamma spoke up.
“Then why not make a lot of stamina capsules in advance? We can eat one whenever we feel like we might collapse.”
The other beastmen nodded in agreement.
“Good idea. We never know when we might collapse, so preparing them ahead is smart.”
“Since we’re in the forest, we might as well gather ingredients now. I’ll pick Power Berries since I can climb trees well.”
“I’ll gather Neutralising Grass!”
Hamma, refusing to even look at mushrooms, disappeared instantly without waiting for a reply. Everyone burst out laughing at his antics.
While he gathered ingredients, I explained the stamina capsule recipe. The village chief even took out a notebook to jot everything down carefully.
“Okay, you all make the capsules yourselves. I’ll leave now.”
“Thank you for your help, Miss Romi.”
Just as Kaizen and I were about to head home, Hamma called out.
“Miss Romi!”
Less than half an hour after going to gather neutralising grass, he returned, hands full—but instead of grass, something else filled them.
“Guess what I found!?”
His excited face was framed by his open palms. Small stones were lying in his hands, and some were gilded…
My eyes widened.
“No way…”
“Is this… gold ore!?”
The village chief recognised it and gasped. Everyone else, stunned, couldn’t hide their excitement.
“That’s right! We’re rich now!”
“Really? Is that true?”
“Let’s see, let’s see!”
The amazed beastmen crowded around Hamma. A pot in his hand tumbled to the ground.
‘Jackpot…?’
Thanks to Hamma.
From that day onwards, the beastmen of Hanak Village were smiling all day.
Who would have guessed that the so-called Death Forest wasn’t deadly at all?
The forest, untouched by humans for ages, was truly a treasure trove. Beneath the forest floor flowed rich mineral veins, and above them, countless resources overflowed.
“Maybe we should rename it the Forest of Life instead.”
The beastmen paused construction to mine the ore. With the extracted resources, they sent strong labourers to help me at the village. Thanks to this, a project that would have taken months was completed in just a month. Channels, farms, grain warehouses, and an open-air kitchen were all finished.
“What a beautiful day~!”
I lay back on the porch, smiling with satisfaction. The sky was clear, enjoying early summer.
“To think I get to experience summer…”
This was my first true summer in Tales World. Normally, the latest I’d lived through was late spring.
“The sun is so hot…”
Even as my skin tingled from the heat, I felt happy. This moment was all thanks to the cooperation of the beastmen and Kaizen.
“Such a commendable one.”
“What are you calling commendable?”
Startled by the voice beside me, I jumped up. Kaizen was watching me intently, holding his hunting tools in one hand.
Where was he going? My eyes widened.
“When did you arrive? Amazing. You always appear like a ghost when I’m thinking of you.”
“Please stop saying things like that so casually.”
“Why? Did calling me a ghost offend you?”
“No… it’s nothing.”
Kaizen brushed his hand across my face and stepped back. His lower eyelids were slightly flushed.
“Hey, why are you backing away? Don’t just stand there—come sit here.”
I reached to pull Kaizen closer, but he quickly put more distance between us and said primly:
“Stop trying to touch me so recklessly.”
Oh, this gentleman… Why does he have so many rules? I just shrugged.
“So, why did you come?”
“I stopped by before going to the forest. What should I hunt today?”
I felt a little touched. Kaizen’s attitude had improved significantly compared to before. The previously lethargic boy was now much more active.
“Shouldn’t you be able to know what to hunt without being asked by now?”
Kaizen’s face stiffened. His hand holding the hunting tools seemed to tense, but I pretended not to notice.
Not that he’d actually hit me with them, but… what if he did?
“…You sometimes forget how difficult you are to deal with.”
“What do you mean? How am I difficult?”
“Did you forget the last time you brought a duck and I criticised you?”
“No… Hey, that was because you left the arrow in the middle of its body. I just want hunting to be done neatly, neatly.”
So that there would be no wasted meat.
“…Hmph.”
Kaizen’s one eyebrow twitched. I quickly nudged him and said,
“Anyway, any meat is fine. Just pick some wild mushrooms near the lake for the rabbits.”
“Ah, feeding the neighbour rabbits, I see. Understood.”
“Good. Be careful out there!”
Now, he goes out without complaint and hunts efficiently on his own. The reason he can do this is probably…
