019: growth

“Heyo! Let’s go get a snack.” Eleanora

Eleanora busts into my room without knocking like usual.

“Eh? Let’s get Bartolo to make something.” Al

“No, I think we should go pick some fruit.” Eleanora

What a diva!

“Then, do you mean the fruit from the trees behind the mansion?” Al

“No, from the forest where you’ve been building huts and stone houses.” Eleanora

The forest directly behind the mansion is both close and safe. There aren’t any big animals and no monsters. Animals in this world are small creatures like rabbits or sparrows. Since there aren’t any dangerous creatures, villagers will venture into the forest to pick things like nuts, strawberries, etc.

There’s also the other forest, which has boars, large snakes, and wolf monsters if you venture deep enough. From that forest, villagers will harvest tasty mushrooms, large fruits, and blueberries. It seems like the animals congregate where there is more food.

“We don’t need to go deep in there.” Al

“Yeah, let’s go.” Eleanora

Eleanora should be a sufficient guard for our venture. We checked with Nord and Elna before we left and found out that Nord had defeated a monster called Wind Wolf there yesterday. Lords have a duty to secure their territory again bandits and monsters. They usually handle it by employing knights, hiring adventurers or mercenaries, or organizing a militia. Nord has used the militia strategy, which works well since he was previously a strong adventurer. The area around Koriat Village is a safe place for travelers.

Eleanora and I head to the forest with a basket and cloth to hold the food we harvest. Of course, I’m the one carrying the basket. On the way, we wander near one of the houses I built.

“Oh look, Meg fruits.” Eleanora

“Where?” Al

“Over there” Eleanora

I look in the direction Eleanora is pointing… where?

“Can’t you see them, near the root of that tree?” Eleanora

I squint, but I can’t make them out. Meg fruits are red, right? They should stand out against the greens and browns. By the way, my eyes aren’t bad, I don’t need glasses.

Ah well, let’s go over where she’s pointing and see. We approached the tree that Eleanora pointed at. Eh, how far away is this tree? 20 Meters?

“Right there” Eleanora

“Oh, there they are.” Al

The fruits are indeed where she pointed, but we were a good 50 meters away from where she spotted them. In addition, the roots of the trees also had some reddish sections to throw people off. How did she see them? Does she have super eyesight or something?

I pluck it from to root to not damage the small fruits. There were plenty of plants, but I don’t want to grab too many of them. If you can’t eat it, then you shouldn’t pick it. It’s a mountain rule. When we finished picking up the Meg Fruit, Eleanora found another interesting plant.

“What’s this?”

She’s picked a strange plant that’s pitch black. It’s shiny when the light reflects off of it and a bit grainy to the touch. I’ve never seen it before, maybe a wild vegetable or mushroom?

“Korouni-dake? I rarely run into it, but it’s crunchy and delicious.” Eleanora

“Really, I hope it’s as delicious as you say.” Al

It went into the basket. After that Eleanora finds more of them, so they go into the basket too. There’s not a lot of them, is this enough to enjoy?

Then we look for other edible items while walking. This time, Eleanora is looking for a different fruit, we’re moving a bit deeper into the forest now. We’re looking for the fruit named Libra now, it’s a tan-colored peach-like fruit that is easily bruised. It’s difficult to collect since it grows up high in trees. When you eat it, it’s bursting with juice and tastes like a mix of juices. You need to be careful when it turns rotten, it gets a gel-like consistency. It’s a rare fruit that is rarely seen.

Eleanora asked me to let her know if you see a fork or spoon beetle for some reason. I’ve never heard of an official name for the beetles, maybe someone in the village knows? Those beetles are camouflaged to look like bark on the tree and aren’t easy to make out. I think I’ll take a break and lean on a nearby tree.

“Ah, I need a break” Al

Lean back and exhale exaggeratedly.

“Oh… it’s a fork beetle.” Al

It’s the guy who lives under the threat of big spoon. But isn’t that a bit weird? He’s got a fork on him, he should be able to retaliate by stabbing with his tines? I shouldn’t panic about a fork beetle, the aggresive one is the spoon, the female of the species. This fork beetle is a friend, kept in line by the female sex.

“Eleanora, I found a fork beetle.” Al

“Really? If so, there should be Libra in that tree.” Eleanora

“Why?” Al

“Fork beetles like to rest on trees where Libra grows. When I’ve chased fork beetles in the past, I’ve often found Libra growing on the trees.” Eleanora

“Oh, I see.” Al

When I look up, I can see a few Libra fruits growing on the tree, not many, but a few. Even so I’m afraid to brave the heights like Eleanora.

“Ok, grab a few!” Eleanora

“Eh? Me? Aren’t you going to get them?” Al

“It’s too high up, I can’t reach it.” Eleanora

“Eh? Can’t Eleanora climb up the tree like a monkey?” Al

“If you don’t drop that line of thought, I’ll hit you.” Eleanora

“Ok, I’ll get some.” Al

“That’s why I brought you along.” Eleanora

Eleanora is naturally overwhelming.

Jeez, just letting your brother do something dangerous. Is it natural for younger brothers to be controlled by their older sisters?

Girls aged between elementary school and junior high school are naturally stronger than the average guy of that age. Therefor, my sister, who is older and stronger and I have no way to win against her. The female creature can be reasonable, even if we reverse the difference in height and strength, they still have power. I feel like I won’t be able to win for the rest of my life.

While regretting my status, I lined myself up to be directly under the Libra fruits. Then I activate some Earth Magic to make a column under my feet to raise myself up into the air.

“I’ve got one” Al

“Just as expected, Al! Be careful up there!” Eleanora

Right now you’re most worried about the fruit, right? I’ll sink the column back down to the ground so I can hand off the fruit. After that I repeat the act to get three more Libra fruits.

“This is the last one, I always worry about what’s behind the leaves.” Al

I’ll move the leaves to the side to get the Libra fruit.

“Augh! Spoon Beetle!” Al

There was an aggressor hidden in the leaves. A ferocious female! Eleanora heard my shout and evacuated the area with the foraging basket.

The spoon beetle flutters its wings as a warning. Quick, quick, quick, I grab the Libra and throw it in my subspace, then use Earth Magic to drop my position back to the ground and dash away. I can hear the spoon beetle behind me trying to give me a punishment for invading her love nest. After several tens of meters, it strikes me that I could just Transfer a ways away to lose the spoon beetle.

Augh, I shouldn’t be so distractable, I just need to spend a little time to think before acting. I think I’ve grown up some.

Translation

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Do Better!

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