Sozai Saishu 22

Chapter 22: Crescenka Nectar

“Oops, I can’t collect what I need if I play around too much.”

Playing with the mysterious creatures that are known as Walking Mushrooms, I realised that the number was gradually decreasing.

Some burrowed into holes at the base of the trees or escaped into the bushes.

Since the number seems to drastically decrease if I continue to play carefreely, I will start collecting now.

I grabbed the mushrooms at my feet with my hands.

Then, the Walking Mushroom shook its legs and resisted.

Surprisingly, its legs have quite a lot of strength. I thought I could put it in the Magic Bag as it is, but I can’t because it’s still alive.

“What should I do with this?”

It’s hard to put it in a bag or a pocket if it rampages like this.

Whenever I am troubled, it’s the turn of Appraisal-sensei.

【Walking Mushroom】

Edible mushrooms that grow in the forests. When enemies approach, they make full use of their leg-like mushrooms and escape. However, as its name implies, its speed is close to the walking speed of a human, so it can be easily collected.

Drying them under the sun increases the umami. More so than its main body, the small, leg-like mushrooms are more delicious.

Note that the power of its legs will be so strong that you will be surprised. At the time of collection, if you lightly pierce the crotch with a sharp tip, the legs will stop moving.

I used Appraisal while wishing for an efficient method of collecting Walking Mushrooms and the information I wanted was displayed on top of things I already knew.

In-inner legs, that, is it okay to pierce such a place?

The area around my crotch contains a certain important organ and also my butt, and I get cold feet imagining it. However, there’s no other choice.

I took out a wooden skewer I bought out from the Magic Bag.

Then, I gently pricked the crotch of the collected mushroom.

Suddenly, the legs that were pattering about stopped and became docile.

Putting it close to the Magic Bag, it was neatly sucked in.

That meant that it was either dead or in a condition of apparent death.

It felt like pricking a squid.

I wonder what kind of structure it has inside.

After that, I continued to catch mushrooms, gently pierce them with a skewer, and gently put them into the Magic Bag. Then repeat.

Although I only require 10 mushrooms for delivery, since it is edible, it would be a good idea to keep some for myself.

I collected about thirty pieces separately from the requested amount, and I could no longer see any mushrooms within my sight.

A normal person would give up, but for myself who can use Detection, just disappearing from my sight is not enough to let you escape from me.

“Walking Mushroom, Detection.”

Then, I saw that the escaped Walking Mushrooms were rooted back into the ground behind a group of trees as if they were free from danger.

“Unfortunately, I won’t let you go!”

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“Fuu, did I collect all the mushrooms yet?”

I grabbed the last Walking Mushroom displayed within my sight and stored it in my Magic Bag.

In total, I collected about a hundred of them.

I didn’t intend to collect so much at first, but it was so fun to catch the escaped mushrooms, and I merrily picked them up like a child.

Well, this mushroom is a delicious ingredient so it will be easily sold at the Guild.

I have a Magic Bag so it’s easy to store, therefore, I don’t have any problems.

Since I finished collecting the Mint Leaves and the Walking Mushrooms, what’s left is the Crescenka Nectar. [1]

Having moved away from my previous location to chase after the mushrooms, I need to use Detection to search for Crescenka Nectar again.

Then, at the location where I first saw it, only the nectar accumulated by Crescenka flowers were being displayed.

Smiling wryly at the strange sight, I decided to head over.

As I walked through the bushes, I could see red flowers blooming.

They were red flowers dangling in a row, growing on long stems.

【Crescenka】

It can store excess nutrients as nectar, and you can collect it by pushing your finger from the root of the stem toward the flower. Be careful not to press the flower part, as bitterness will be mixed in. The stored nectar is smooth and very sweet.

When I tried using Appraisal, the flowers were indeed displayed as Crescenka.

In any case, this seems to be the original flower where the nectar can be collected from.

Appraisal-sensei already taught me how to collect the nectar, so I will try it out immediately.

When I pushed my finger from the root of the stem towards the tip, an orange liquid came out from the drooping petals.

I lightly dabbed it with my finger and licked it.

“Sweet…!”

It doesn’t have the stubborn sweetness that entangles your throat but is smooth and moderately sweet.

Ever since coming over to this world, I have hardly eaten anything sweet, so the sweetness of Crescenka Nectar feels even more delicious.

I don’t have a sweet tooth, but it’s so delicious that I don’t want to stop licking it.

However, I can’t continue like this.

I took out a bottle used for collection out of my Magic Bag and collected the nectar.

The amount of nectar flowing from the Crescenka flower decreased when about a quarter of the bottle was filled.

As an experiment, I stopped filling the bottle and tried pressing the flower part strongly.

I placed my finger below the dropping nectar and licked it.

“Uwah, there’s bitterness mixed in.”

If you press the flower part, something like the green odor found in plants is mixed in.

No matter how sweet the honey is, this bitterness spoils it.

For example, if this is mixed in, the request will fail. It tastes horrible to that extent.

Let’s move away from the flower where the nectar has run out and proceed to the next one.

Pour the nectar into the jar correctly as taught by the Appraisal-sensei. The bottle was finally filled after the third Crescenka flower ran out of nectar.

As per the request, I need to deliver three bottles, so let’s store this full bottle into the Magic Bag for now. Take out a new bottle and repeat the process.

Approximately three bottles were filled with nectar, but of course, I didn’t stop collecting them.

It’s my precious sweetness. I have to collect it so I can eat it myself in the future.

Doing so, I could collect about two bottles of Crescenka Nectar for myself and all the flowers ran out of accumulated nectar.

Although I could use Detection to collect more, it is dangerous to enter deep into a forest that I have never explored before.

Since I was able to collect all three requested materials and am hungry, I will return now.

Use Detection with magic stones as the keyword to secure a safe route.

“I know. Let’s eat some bread with Crescenka Nectar.”

I came up with a good idea if I say so myself. From my Magic Bag, I took the bottle of nectar I just collected and the bread I bought out.

Since I bought it as a luxurious item, it is not a hard bread eaten as preserved food, but a fluffy white bread.

Cut the bread into slices, spread on the freshly harvested nectar, and chow it down.

“Yup, it’s delicious.”

Wheat-flavored bread overlaps with the gentle-tasting nectar; it’s awesome.

I feel like I can continue to eat this forever.

The fact that I can eat leisurely while taking a walk in the forest like this is thanks to God who gave me the Detection skill.

Firing out Detection, various materials were outlined throughout the forest.

I haven’t seen most of them, and here seems to be more abundant in materials compared to the forest near Ferumi village.

As I thought, if you come to a new location, you can discover new materials.

I was a little lonely coming to a town where I don’t know anyone, but with this, I now think that it was worth it.

Just by encountering new materials, my heart wouldn’t stop thumping in excitement.

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Translator’s Notes

1. Same kanji (蜜 = mitsu) is used for nectar and honey, so I decided to translate this word as Crescenka Nectar since it came from a flower. In reality, it can be used interchangeably.

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