Chapter 79: The Beastkin Priestess
Chapter 79: The Beastkin Priestess
Mana Grass, simply put, is grass with a high concentration of mana.
It’s a plant that is never found on the surface and only appears sporadically within the dungeon.
Apparently, there are quite a few things like this Mana Grass that exist only in the dungeon and not on the surface. Mages who would rather focus on research than dungeon-crawling, and nobles with a taste for the exotic, frequently post requests for adventurers to find these items.
This Mana Grass, in particular, is said to have outstanding healing properties, making it a high-demand plant sought after not just by mages and nobles, but by many others as well.
It’s also used as an ingredient for potions, so the temple even has contracts with large clans to purchase Mana Grass in bulk on a regular basis.
However, since Mana Grass can’t be reliably found in any one location, it seems the supply is always short.
That was the gist of Diana’s explanation to a bewildered Guwon.
For the record, while Diana was explaining, Leia’s eyes were sparkling as she clung to Guwon’s arm, nodding along.
Was the shortage of Mana Grass a pressing issue for her, too, since she was part of the temple?
Anyway, to put it simply, it was just the kind of grass that always shows up in games with a generic name like ‘herb.’
To be honest, I couldn't tell it apart from a common weed.
If Leia hadn’t said anything, I probably would have just stepped on it and walked past.
But now that she mentioned it… I think I could smell a faint fragrance?
“If it’s in such short supply, why don’t they just cultivate it on the surface?”
“If that were possible, the temple wouldn’t be going to such lengths to acquire it. It’s not just Mana Grass; all plants from the dungeon change their properties if you try to cultivate them. That’s true even if you try it inside the dungeon. Some interested mages are still researching it, however…”
Hmm. So it wasn’t going to be that simple.
“For something so rare, there’s an awful lot of it here.”
She said you couldn’t find it in a fixed location, and that it was impossible to cultivate.
But the entire floor of this wide, rectangular space was literally carpeted with Mana Grass.
“Mm. But I doubt it’s been cultivated. It’s growing too randomly for that.”
Diana’s tone made it sound like that was the only possible explanation.
I suppose if it was being cultivated here, it would mean monsters were doing it, not humans.
As a mage, Diana probably wouldn’t want to admit that monsters, with their inferior intelligence, had pioneered a field that humans had yet to conquer.
But whether it was cultivated or not, the fact remained that a massive amount of Mana Grass was growing here.
Could it be that the werewolves were so desperate to get into this area because they knew about this place where Mana Grass grew in abundance?
They had some intelligence, so they would have known that using this stuff would speed up their recovery.
Besides, judging from the orc’s reaction earlier, it was clear that they knew about this place, too.
Well, whatever the case, there was only one thing for us to do now.
“So… should we start by cleaning the place out?”
“Yes!”
“But do we just pull it out? I have never done this kind of work before.”
“Well…”
If Diana didn’t know, there was no way I would.
Guwon’s gaze naturally shifted to Leia.
“Ah, ehehe.”
Leia blushed slightly and laughed, as if embarrassed.
Right. She’s adorable.
No, that’s not the problem here.
What are we going to do? This is like having gold nuggets rolling around at our feet, but no one knows how to pick them up.
“Can’t we just gather it like we would any other plant?”
“And how do you gather other plants?”
“…I’ll show you.”
Sara spoke in a slightly bitter tone.
Ooh! As expected of Sara! Country folk really are different! …Is that prejudiced?
In any case, after watching Sara’s demonstration, the party immediately began to pick the Mana Grass.
“Not like that, like this. Here, give me your hand.”
Contrary to her initial bitter tone, Sara was quite passionate about teaching us how to pick it.
She was even giving me one-on-one instruction, sticking to me like a personal coach, as if I was doing something wrong.
“Hold it here with your hand, and then carefully use your knife like this so you don’t damage the roots…”
Well, all this naturally led to more physical contact, so I was enjoying myself.
Seeing how skilled she was at this, she must have done this kind of work often back home. And yet, despite being an archer now, her hands were perfectly smooth, without a single callus.
Without thinking, Guwon stroked Sara’s hand, which was resting on top of his.
“G-Guwon?!”
At the sound of Sara’s voice, Guwon snapped back to reality, realizing what he had just done.
Crap. There’s no way I can explain this one.
“What are you doing?”
“Uh, ah, no. It’s just, sorry…”
Sara pulled her hand away and spoke to Guwon.
“Try it yourself. …Yes, that’s it. You’re doing well now. Just like that. Keep doing that.”
After Guwon picked one, Sara said that and quickly went over to where Diana was.
Is this really okay? From my perspective, it’s not that different from what I was doing before…
Thankfully, she wasn’t angry, but it seemed the awkward silence between us since this morning was only going to get worse.
Come to think of it, Sara and Diana have been getting along really well lately.
I’ve often seen them sticking together like that.
It’s great that the party members are on good terms, and it’s not a problem, but I thought they used to bicker quite a bit at first. When did they get so close? It’s strange.
Anyway, the party proceeded to harvest most of the Mana Grass in the room.
We intentionally left a few behind, just in case.
If Diana was right and the Mana Grass was growing here naturally, taking all of it would be like cutting open the goose that lays the golden eggs.
“With this much, we’ll be able to save so many people.”
Leia said, her eyes sparkling.
It seemed her joy at seeing the Mana Grass stemmed from the thought of being able to help more people. She really was an angel.
“In that case, shall we sell this directly to the temple?”
“Really?! B-But the temple only buys at a fixed price…. You’d get more money selling it at a general store.”
And on top of that, she was considerate enough to be honest for the party’s sake.
What wouldn’t I do to make her happy?
“But selling to the temple means we can help more sick people, right? What does everyone else think?”
Of course, I knew they’d agree.
Neither Sara nor Diana cared much for money.
Besides, both of them were surprisingly considerate, so they would definitely agree to helping others.
“Yes. I think selling to the temple is a good idea.”
“Mm. Do as you wish.”
As expected, both of them immediately agreed with Guwon’s suggestion.
But why did they both have such reluctant looks on their faces?
“Th-Thank you so much!”
With the rest of the party’s approval, Leia wore a smile of pure bliss and threw her arms around Guwon.
Seeing her so happy made Guwon happy as well. Especially because of the massive breasts pressed against him, a magnificent sight unfolding just below his eyes.
However… why am I wearing this damn leather armor! If it weren’t for this! If only it weren’t for this! The frustration slightly offset his happiness.
“Ahem. Were you always such a selfless person?”
“O-Of course! Look at my name! My parents gave it to me, hoping I’d help others!”
“Wow! That’s so wonderful!”
Leia’s sparkling eyes stabbed relentlessly at Guwon’s conscience, but he forced a smile and endured it.
I’m not lying. Not really. Besides, whatever my reasons, what we’re doing right now is helping people, right?
“By the way, isn’t it time for a meal? I’m getting a little hungry.”
“Hmm. That’s true. Now that you mention it, so am I.”
I glanced around and confirmed that it was indeed already lunchtime.
“Wow, time flew by. Let’s have lunch here, then.”
This place was a perfect spot for a meal, as it happened.
It was easy to defend against surprise attacks, and we were hidden from view.
“Yes. Let’s get ready quickly.”
“Come on, hurry up.”
“Alright, alright.”
At Sara and Diana’s prodding, Guwon reluctantly separated from Leia and took food out of his inventory.
Leia must have been incredibly happy; now that I was standing apart from her, I could see her tail wagging so furiously that it was visible even through her clothes.
Seeing her this joyful just from being able to help others, she must be an angel.
“But this does mess with our plans a bit.”
“It does.”
The truth was, Guwon’s party had been planning to report the secret base they were using as a campsite to the guild soon.
They couldn’t reveal the secret passage that required a monster’s penis, but they had judged that it would be fine to reveal the secret base itself, which was just a path used by monsters.
Once the party moved on to the 2nd floor, they would no longer have any use for it. In that case, it would be more beneficial in many ways to report it to the guild rather than let the discovery go to waste.
The guild quest was still active, so if they turned in the map of this area along with the location of the secret base, they would probably receive a huge reward, and their reputation as adventurers would rise.
But now that they had discovered a place like this, simply handing over the information about this area felt like a waste.
What should I do?
I thought about it, but no clear answer came to mind.
Maybe I’ll just think about it later.
This was a problem to consider after we moved on to the 2nd floor anyway.
First, we had to focus on defeating the 1st floor boss.
After finishing their meal, the party left the Mana Grass room and decided to resume their exploration.
Guwon was convinced that place was the reason the werewolves had been so persistent in this area, but they couldn’t just turn back now.
There was no guarantee they wouldn’t make another discovery, and besides, his gamer’s instinct wouldn’t allow him to return with one side of the map left unexplored.
And as it turned out, not turning back was the right decision.
“It’s a complete pigsty.”
Guwon said, voicing the thoughts of the entire party.
Spread out below them, as they watched hidden in the trees, was an Orc encampment.
So this is where they were hiding.
It made sense. If the upper part of the 1st floor was goblin territory, the lower part was so full of orcs you could call it their territory. It was only natural they’d have a settlement like this.
Its location was on the opposite side of the secret base from the entrance to the secret passage.
Perhaps out of confidence that this was their own private world, the orcs hadn’t even bothered to build a palisade. They were simply gathered in a wide-open, sprawling space.
Thanks to that, the view was unobstructed, yet the encampment was so vast that its end was out of sight. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how many of them there were in such a large area.
What’s more, even though there were huts scattered about, I could see them vigorously engaging in their sex lives right in the middle of the street.
So this is why orcs have such a high reproductive rate.
All I could think was that I had just scarred my eyes.
The women of the party seemed to feel the same way as Guwon, their faces scrunched in disgust.
Even Leia wore a cold expression, which was all the more striking in contrast to her bright smile from before.
Seeing her like that, she looks just like she does when she transforms into a Gumiho.
The thought made Guwon’s member stir.
Son, what are you doing? I don’t have that kind of fetish.
In any case, disgusting sight aside, it was clear that we had found a good spot.
We had certainly reaped the benefits of an infinite respawn point up above.
It was a bit far from the secret base, but hunting here would be much faster for leveling up than wandering around.
As a bonus, we might even get a shot at a Transcendent Orc.
The only problem was that the area was so open. Could we manage to lure out just a few at a time…?
“I’ll give it a try.”
Hearing Guwon’s thoughts, Sara immediately stepped forward.
Oh? Does she have a plan up her sleeve?