Chapter 81

The Failure Alchemist of the Royal Capital

Let’s Go Gather Materials! #

New development. Daisy has gained weight, so she’s going out to exercise (not).

“I’ve gained weight…”

I mean, my belly, around the area below the navel, is a bit pudgy.

“Daisy-sama, have you gained a little weight?”

Mina asks hesitantly.

“Your cheeks are a bit plump too, Mina.”

I point it out to Mina as well, poking her cheeks with my fingers.

“I haven’t changed much, though.”

Marcus, responsible for errands, hasn’t undergone much change, perhaps due to the amount of exercise.

“Lately, I’ve been developing new dishes and just tasting them. I’ve been eating too much.”

Marcus says, comparing me and Mina alternately.

“You lack delicacy!”

Marcus gets smacked on both cheeks by both Mina and me.

At that moment, Mark and Letia arrive with Ryn. Next to Ryn is Leon, the lion cub, the sacred beast of hers.

Leon runs up to Leaf, and with his nose, he starts greeting her.

“Long time no see, Daisy! Huh? Did you gain a little weight?”

Even Mark, who says such things right off the bat, gets a jump and a smack from me.

“You shouldn’t say that to a lady you just met!”

Ryn gives a look of disbelief to Mark, who’s holding his cheeks. Letia nods beside her. Of course!

“That’s harsh. I finally had the time to go gathering materials and invited you.”

Mark pouts while holding his cheeks.

…Gathering materials!

“I want to go! I want to get ‘Sage’s Herb’ and ‘Soothing Moss’!”

I answer with excitement at the prospect of going on an adventure.

“Oh, you mentioned wanting those before, right? Did you find out where they are?”

Ryn inquires.

Yes, those were the materials I mentioned when talking with Mark, Letia, and Ryn before. Ingredients for an advanced mana potion! After that, I used the “Ingredient Encyclopedia” received from Her Majesty the Queen to find out where they grow.

“They seem to grow around the ‘Sage’s Tower’ and inside the ‘Mossy Soothing Cave.’”

Yeah, yeah, Letia nods while spreading the map.

“In that case, we can first go to the mountainous area northwest where the ‘Sage’s Tower’ is, and then head east along the mountains to reach the cave.”

While saying this, Ryn slightly bends down to make it easier for me to see, tracing the route with her finger on the map.

“If we go along the mountainous area, we might be able to gather good ore as well.”

Saying that, Ryn is also eager to come along.

“So, if the four of us are going, Daisy, do you have the equipment?”

“I have a robe for mages that I had tailored when I was eight. I made it a bit larger, so I should still be able to wear it. And if I wear riding pants, I can ride Leaf there.”

I say this, and Leaf, who was greeting Leon, comes over to me. With a sound, she transforms into the large form of Fenrir. Next to Ryn, Leon also turns back into the majestic adult male lion.

“Well, the two of us, along with Ryn, have the usual equipment for gathering materials. Can you go out tomorrow?”

Mark asks, and I turn back to where Mina and Marcus are standing.

“We’ll take care of the shop!”

“Thank you! Please take care while we’re away!”

That’s how it happened. Since leaving home, I’ve been eagerly waiting for the opportunity to go gathering materials.

Yay!

◆

The next day.

I’m wearing the robe I had tailored before, thin riding pants, and a shoulder-slung pouch. I had asked the spatial magician and the enchantment magician to make the pouch able to hold much more than it appears, and it’s my proud item that’s specially processed so I don’t feel the weight of its contents at all! So, I brought plenty of potion bottles in it!

As the assembly time approaches, Letia and Mark are on horseback, while Ryn and I are each riding our respective sacred beasts. Both sacred beasts have saddles to make it easy to ride.

The meeting place is in front of my atelier. My atelier is very close to the northwest gate of the royal capital, so it’s easy to leave the city from there.

What surprised me was Ryn’s appearance.

I’m used to seeing Mark and Letia in their usual adventurer outfits, but Ryn is wearing leather armor and carrying a huge hammer on her back.

“Um, Ryn. Is that your weapon?”

…No, can you carry that with your small (about the same size as me) body?

“I’m a dwarf! I have confidence in my strength!”

Saying that, she swings her hand (just one!) around her back, pulls out the hammer, and swings it around!

“Huh?”

Ryn winks with one eye closed.

…Even if you say that…

“Mina, Marcus, we’re going!”

“Have a safe journey!”

And so, at the gate, Mark and Letia process their adventurer guild cards, while Ryn and I use our commercial guild member cards as identification and leave the gate of the royal capital.

◆

“Wow!”

Exiting the gate, the surroundings are a spacious green grassland with only a highway, and the sky is clear with not a single cloud. Occasionally, a refreshing wind rustles through the grass at our feet.

Leaving the gate is the first time since gathering materials with my father and the others, so it’s been two years!

I stretch both arms to the sky in the liberating feeling.

“Daisy-sama, please hold the reins properly since it’s dangerous to get too excited.”

I got scolded by Leaf for being too excited.

“Yeah, yeah, hold the reins properly because we’re going to run from here.”

And so, standing to the northwest, we head towards the Sage’s Tower.

Ryn’s weapon was decided to be a hammer, with a straightforward image because she’s a blacksmith. However, the idea of giving a little one a large weapon has an unexpected and charming aspect that I like (´艸`)