Chapter 10: Morning Life
I then opened my eyes. What I saw wasn’t the location I met God, but the ceiling of my room at the inn.
The rising sun shined through the window pleasantly, heralding the arrival of dawn.
Seems like my consciousness has returned from the meeting with God.
I got up from my bed and walked over to open the window.
Then, as if carrying in the dawn-infused atmosphere, a gentle wind blew inside. My bangs floated up lightly, and I felt the caresses on my skin.
The wind seems to be saying ‘Good morning’ to me.
Gazing at the atmosphere outside from my room on the second floor, I saw that the villagers were already out and about. I can see families piling vegetables onto carts and couples tanning leathers in front of their houses.
So nice. Such a serene start of the day…
Back in my old world, mornings were always full of people and noise after all.
“Shuu-san, g’ morning!”
I was spacing out as I gazed at the peaceful ongoings, and a cheerful voice called out to me from below.
Shifting my sight downwards, I saw Nico who was holding a bucket looking up.
It’s been such a long time since I was greeted by someone after waking up in the morning, so I was a bit surprised. Maybe not since after I moved out of my parents’ house.
“Morning Nico. Waking up early and already working, you’re so impressive.”
“Early? The sun has already climbed up so high, it’s not early anymore.”
I see. In this world, the people are used to sleeping once it’s dark out and waking up early. It’s obvious they start their activities in tandem with dawn, or even before.
Hearing that from her, maybe I’m being perceived as a sleepyhead.
Somehow, all the fatigue I had from surviving my first day in this world and also talking to God afterwards made me sleep in today.
“Breakfast’s already done so come eat after you wash up.”
“Got it. See you there.”
After waving to Nico, I left my room and went down to wash my face at the well outside.
Feeling refreshed from the cool water, I took my seat in the dining hall.
“You finally woke up. Shall I bring your breakfast out now?”
“Sorry for making you wait. Please.”
After that, Anna-san came back with dishes on a tray.
“Here you go. Bread and tomato soup.”
“Ooh, looks delicious!”
What was brought out was tomato soup. It looks similar to minestrone.
Beans, mushrooms, carrots, bean paste, potatoes, spring onions, and other seasoning and ingredients were submerged in the tomato soup.
Combined, the sweet and sour fragrant of the tomatoes smells great.
Unable to stand the deliciously wafting scent and the pleasing colours, I grabbed my spoon and downed a mouthful.
Inside my mouth, the taste of tomato spread, and I could feel the different textures of numerous ingredients.
“Delicious!”
“Such an overstatement. It’s a simple dish you can find anywhere out here.”
Looking at my reaction, Anna-san smiled wryly. However, as someone who had a long history of living alone, this simple and gentle taste is what I long for.
How long has it been since I had a warm dish that is time-consuming to make like this in the morning?
I am deeply moved from getting to taste homemade food in a long time.
I’ll try soaking my slightly hard bread into the soup next.
The bread soaked up the soup in the blink of an eye, becoming bright red and nicely soft. Quickly, I put it into my mouth.
The soup didn’t use only tomatoes, but also contained other ingredients stewed in it. The flavour which seeped out of these ingredients gave a high quality taste to the soup even without directly eating the chunks of ingredients. Of course, it tastes even better when you eat the ingredients with the bread.
Continuing to enjoy the infinite combo of soup and bread, my breakfast ended sooner than I wanted it to be.
“It was delicious.”
“Thank you. What are you doing today?”
“Since Podan-san entrusted me with a request for a certain material, I will be going out to search for it.”
“Ah, so it’s what Nico told me yesterday. Beware monsters when you enter the forest, alright? Yesterday, our hunters were saying that the monsters’ activities are a bit irregular.”
“The monsters’ activities are irregular?”
“Like witnessing monsters outside their usual habitat. It seems like monsters are becoming more active.”
Since yesterday? That’s exactly when I was transferred here then.
It can’t be. Is the magic power released by me as the intermediary of God making monsters more energetic? That’s definitely not the case, right?
“Is that so? Then, I will be even more careful than usual in detecting monsters.”
“You do that. If a guest went off and died out of nowhere, I’ll have it on my conscience.”
Having joked about that while laughing lightheartedly, Anna-san collected my plates and returned to the kitchen.
Is that a different world joke? It wouldn’t be funny if it actually happens so let’s be careful.
After greeting Nico who was washing laundry in the garden, I set off to go outside the village.
Apparently, the forest where I was transferred to yesterday is full of monsters. Let’s aim for a different forest today.
At the village’s gate, it turns out that Roland, with a spear in hand, is standing guard today too.
“Yo, Shuu! Going out to collect materials?”
“Yes, I’m going to search for the Full Moon Flower. Do you know where it normally grows?”
If I could use Detection, I will be able to find one quite easily. Unfortunately, since I’ve never seen one before, I can’t do that.
If I know where it usually grows, I can use Detection in that area roughly and search for it.
However, since the forest is overflowing with materials, I would appreciate being able to narrow down the area I have to cover.
“Hmmm, I have seen it several times when I was a kid. I think you can find it in any of the forests around here.”
“Do you remember any common characteristics regarding the locations? Like, do they grow in shady areas or near any specific things?”
Once I asked for more details, Roland crossed his arms and groaned.
Since it’s a rare flower that is seldom seen, I understand his memories are faint. However, I truly want him to be able tell me something.
“Now, now. Please recall properly. If you give me good info and I can find the flower, it’ll be easier for you in the future to find one for Anna-san, you know?”
“……….please stop it with that realistic pressure.”
After waiting for a while for Roland who continued to groan, he finally told me, complete with creased eyebrows.
“If you really want me to say something, then I think they grow around relatively sunny spots…….?”
The Moonlight Grass that I appraised before said that it was a type of plant that grows by absorbing moonlight.
Hence, logically, the similarly named Full Moon Flower should be a plant that grows with the light of full moons.
What Roland told me about these flowers growing in sunny spots should be quite accurate if we go with the above theory.
“By the way, which one of the forests surrounding this village is the safest?”
I heard that the forest I was in yesterday was the most dangerous. Since Full Moon Flowers also grow in other places, let’s harvest them in safer forests.
“Hm, since the monsters are behaving differently, I can’t say for sure. However, it’s probably the one in the south since Blue Bears are rarely spotted there.”
While saying so, Roland pointed to a distant forest.
So that way is south of this village.
“Thank you. I’ll keep what you told me in mind and search in sunny areas.”
It’s plenty helpful even for a small pointer. Since it’s seldom seen, it must be really scarce. Let’s look for materials glowing in orange when using Detection in sunny places.
“Sure, I don’t know if it will help or not, but do your best to bring back useful information. For my sake as well, alright?”
After being seen off by Roland, I headed towards the forest located south of this village.
Peach Knight Translations 