Chapter 21
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Nardan Jungle (1)
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Kirigumo looked shocked at the area I pointed out.
It was only natural.
Because this place...
"You're saying Manlenesia is in this death jungle overrun with toxic plants?"
It was practically a holy land of poison.
'Even in the game, this was a truly annoying place.'
Monsters that inflicted poison on hit lurked everywhere, ready to strike the moment you moved.
Just when you thought you'd made progress, a poison bog would appear.
And right after escaping the bog, you'd enter an area with plants spewing toxic mist.
To explore that region, you absolutely needed items to recover from status ailments, specialized antidotes for poison, or holy magic skills.
"Yes. After compiling the information from the imperial library, this seemed like the most likely spot for Manlenesia."
"But why would Manlenesia, which neutralizes all poisons, be in a place like this...?"
Because Manlenesia was a drop item from defeating the field boss of Nardan Jungle.
"That's exactly why it's here. Living creatures adapt to their environment and grow stronger because of it."
"...! So the pervasive poison in this environment forced it to develop a detoxification ability!"
"Something like that."
Kirigumo came up with a plausible explanation on his own, without me needing to elaborate.
"Thank you, Your Highness! Then I'll head straight to Nardan Jungle..."
"Hold on, Kirigumo. I have no intention of sending you alone."
Sending Kirigumo by himself would be a huge problem.
"It would be a disaster if my prospective tutor lost his life on the way."
"Your Highness, assigning a priest to my daughter is already a tremendous favor. I couldn't possibly ask for more..."
"You don't seem to grasp the situation properly. Well, I can understand—you've been preoccupied caring for your sick daughter."
Sometimes, a stern word was necessary.
"Kirigumo, what exactly can you accomplish alone right now? Even if you set out for Nardan Jungle, do you have enough travel funds? Do you have the money to buy the supplies needed to explore it? It's a full week by carriage from here—can you be sure your daughter will hold out that long?"
"Th-that's..."
Kirigumo couldn't properly answer any of my rapid-fire questions.
His mind and body were worn down, not just from his daughter's condition, but from the endless desperation.
So all I needed to do was present him with a viable path forward.
"What's your best option right now? Charging blindly into Nardan Jungle without a plan? Or borrowing the strength of someone who needs a talent like you?"
Kirigumo, lost in thought, looked at me.
His eyes held the same desperate hope he'd found when he first heard where Manlenesia was—the one glimmer in the darkness he could cling to.
"Your Highness... I beg you. Please help save my daughter!"
A father's plea, worrying over his only child.
"Alright. Shall we start preparing right away?"
I accepted readily.
No matter that I was a prince, I didn't carry supplies for every situation.
I spent three days instructing the servants to gather what we needed.
Plenty of antidotes, of course, plus talismans imbued with holy magic to delay poison as much as possible.
We packed camping gear and the like—small items went into the space pouch.
In other words, into the inventory.
"Wow, so this is an inventory..."
"Never seen one before, Amelin?"
"It's just... incredibly hard to make. And the summoning magic department's research lab is pretty far from the space magic one..."
My siblings and I each had one, though.
In the game, inventories were just mentioned in passing and shown as menu screens, so using an actual pouch felt strangely novel.
Though the shortcut warps from the game apparently didn't exist here.
During those three days, Kirigumo stayed at our estate, eating well and conditioning himself for the Manlenesia hunt.
I heard from Ridel that he even asked Gillek for a sparring match to sharpen his senses.
I was learning magic from Amelin at the time and missed it, but apparently Gillek won.
Though later...
"Kirigumo was quite skilled. Especially that evasion technique—it's tricky to deal with. It'd definitely be useful for Your Highness."
Gillek spoke highly of Kirigumo's abilities and the value of his technique.
During preparations, I visited Kirigumo's daughter, Tenka's room once.
The priest was in the middle of casting holy magic on her as she slept.
"How's her condition?"
"Ah, Your Highness. The herbs are working as intended; the coughing has stopped. But it'll return to normal in about twelve days."
"No danger to her life in the meantime?"
"Yes, that much I can guarantee."
"Good."
Riding Mikel would drastically cut travel time, so finding Manlenesia and returning should be plenty feasible.
As I thought that, Ridel asked me,
"Aren, you're not thinking of going on the Manlenesia search yourself, are you?"
"Yeah, that's the plan."
"...Why? Just send knights with that Kirigumo fellow if it's an expedition."
I understood Ridel's concern.
She wouldn't like her prince heading into a jungle full of poison.
"I want to see it for myself. That legendary flower, Manlenesia."
"Does it have to be in person?"
"That's what gives it meaning."
Besides, Nardan Jungle was the perfect place to test how much stronger I'd gotten.
Ridel sighed.
"Haa, you're not taking me, right?"
"Mikel can carry more than four people."
Amelin, me, Gillek, Kirigumo.
That was the team for Nardan.
"You've been neglecting your health lately, Aren. I'm worried."
"Sorry for worrying you, Ridel. But I'll definitely come back safe. If it looks dangerous, we'll turn right around."
Ridel puffed out her cheeks and raised a finger at my words.
"You have to keep that promise, Aren."
"Of course."
Ridel, who always smiled at me, puffing her cheeks like that.
I must have really worried her.
"I trust your word, Aren... but I still need to motivate you more."
"What do you have in mind?"
"If you come back safe, I'll show you something nice."
"Something nice? What?"
"Hehe, it's a secret. If you're curious, you have to come back safe."
Seeing Ridel's usual playful expression toward me made me smile.
"Yeah, I definitely will."
The day of departure arrived.
"You're really going, Your Highness?"
"How many times do I have to say it, Gillek? I'm coming too."
"Understood. Then I shall protect you with this life."
"Yeah, I'm counting on you."
"Your Highness, coming in person for our sake... You don't have to go that far...!"
"Not you too, Kirigumo. Besides, you already know I'm not lacking in skill."
He'd seen me sparring with Gillek during the three days at the estate.
"I know. But I don't know how to repay your kindness."
"Just focus on getting your daughter cured right now."
"If that's your will, Your Highness."
"Y-Your Highness! Saddle mounting complete!"
On the day Kirigumo arrived, I'd ordered a saddle for easier riding on Mikel.
Time was short, so it wasn't perfect, but it was better than riding bareback.
"Got it."
I moved to Mikel's front, pulled a hunk of meat from the inventory, and tossed it to him.
"Mikel! Let's do this!"
-Kurrrr!
Mikel caught the meat perfectly and roared energetically in response.
Thanks to the inventory, the fresh meat for Mikel wouldn't spoil—an unexpected bonus.
"Alright, everyone mount up."
I gave Mikel a treat as encouragement.
Amelin, me, Gillek, Kirigumo—we climbed onto the four-person saddle in that order.
"Mikel! Let's go!"
-Kurrraaaak!
Mikel spread his massive wings, and we took to the skies.
"Aren! Take care of yourself!"
"Yeah! Looking forward to that surprise, Ridel!"
And so we headed for Nardan Jungle.
Three days later.
We arrived at Nardan Jungle.
Most of the trip was flying on Mikel's back, so we avoided random encounters like bandits.
There was one minor incident where I accidentally glimpsed Amelin washing by a stream, leaving her blushing every time she saw me for a while after, but otherwise it was smooth sailing.
We landed near Nardan Jungle and did a final check before entering.
"Everyone have their talismans on?"
"Y-yes!"
"Right here."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Antidotes are in the inventory, so speak up at the first sign of trouble. Oh, should we leave Mikel here?"
"N-no, it's fine! Griffons have strong poison resistance!"
-Kurrrr!
"Mikel says not to worry!"
"Alright."
And so we entered Nardan Jungle, and soon I realized.
[Harmful poison detected invading the body.]
[Supreme Physique trait activates.]
[Poison in the body has been neutralized.]
It had been a while since I'd heard those alerts.
And just how absurd the Supreme Physique was.