Minya: "Yes, thank you! So it's a quest to gather medicinal herbs. It's the perfect quest for an F-rank adventurer. There's a quest to gather 10 'healing herbs' in the forest near town. The reward is 5 copper coins. What do you say?"
*Minya peeled one of the request forms posted on the bulletin board and showed it to Shirou on the counter.*
---
[Request Form]
- Request Rank: F
- Request details: Collect 10 "Healing Grass" in the forest near Astera.
- Reward: 5 copper coins
- Client: Adventurer's Guild
- Note: Weak monsters such as goblins and slimes may appear in the forest. Please be careful.
---
Minya: "Healing herbs are used as an ingredient in potions, so there's always a demand for them. I think it would be perfect for your first request. The forest is just outside the guild, right by the east gate."
*To repay the debt of gratitude I owe Vargas for helping me, I first need to earn some money. This job might be perfect for me, given my appraisal abilities.*
Shirou: "Would you still buy this even if I brought a larger quantity?"
Minya: "Yes, of course! The guild always buys healing herbs. Any more than the 10 you're requested to collect will be bought back for 3 iron coins each. The more you collect, the more income it will add to Shirou's earnings, so please do your best!"
*Minya replies with a smile. The more we harvest, the greater the profit. This is motivating.*
Shirou: "Understood. Then I accept the request."
Minya: "Yes, I understand! Please take this request form with you. Once you've completed it, please bring it to this counter along with the healing herbs you've collected. Take care, and have a good day!"
*Minya handed me the request form with a smile and sent me off cheerfully.*
*Having left the guild, I immediately headed towards the east gate. Showing my guild card to the gatekeeper, I was let through without any trouble this time. Outside the gate, a peaceful forest stretched out. The sound of birds chirping created a calm atmosphere.*
*Entering the forest and walking a short distance, I immediately spotted a medicinal herb with a familiar shape. Without even needing to examine it, I knew it was a healing herb.*
*I made full use of my appraisal skill. Appraisal could be applied not only to items and monsters, but also to sensing the presence of others in the surroundings. By sensing faint flows of magic and anticipating the presence of monsters, I skillfully avoided combat.*
Shirou: "Appraisal"
*A map-like image appeared in my mind, with red dots indicating the monsters' locations and green dots showing areas where healing herbs grew. Relying on this information, I chose only the safest routes and proceeded deeper into the forest.*
Thanks to this, he discovered healing herbs one after another without encountering a single monster like goblins or slimes. He was meticulous in selecting and collecting only high-quality herbs through appraisal. He carefully pulled them out, making sure not to damage the roots, and in no time his cloth bag was heavy.
*A few hours later, when I emerged from the forest, the cloth bag was bulging. It must have contained well over 100 sprigs of healing herb.*
*I returned to the guild in high spirits and headed straight for the counter where Minya was.*
Shirou: "Request completed. Here's the healing herb."
*When the cloth bag was placed with a thud on the counter, a large amount of healing herbs spilled out. Seeing this, Minya's eyes widened in surprise.*
Minya: "Eh... what!? Th-this many!? Shirou, did you perhaps collect all of them yourself!? And they're all in such good condition... You're incredibly efficient for a newcomer...!"
*Minya looked surprised and examined each healing herb one by one.*
Shirou: "I was lucky enough to find a place where they grow in clusters."
(It's too much trouble to explain, let's just leave it at that.)
Minya: "A cluster of them... and to think that such a large quantity was found undamaged... We were really lucky! It's amazing!"
*Minya seemed genuinely impressed. She showed no sign of doubting what was being said. She immediately took out her abacus and began calculating at an incredible speed.*
Minya: "Okay, first of all, the reward for completing the request is 5 copper coins. And as for the excess... wow, there are 152 in total! Each one is worth 3 iron coins, so the buyback price for the excess is... 456 iron coins! If we exchange that for copper coins, we'll get 45 copper coins and 6 iron coins."
*Mii excitedly announced the results.*
*Upon receiving the request, I headed towards the east gate, just as I had done yesterday. Carefully and safely. That was my current strategy.*
*Upon entering the forest, I immediately activated my appraisal skill. My appraisal level had improved since yesterday, yielding a wider range of more detailed information.*
Shirou: "Appraisal"
*In my mind, the green dots of healing herbs and the red dots of monsters are clearly displayed on the map. Not only that, but by focusing my attention on the red dots, I could even see their simplified status.*
---
[Appraisal results]
- Name: Goblin
- Level: 3
- Status: Wandering around
---
---
[Appraisal results]
- Name: Slime
- Level: 1
- Status: In camouflage
---
Shirou: (With this arrangement, there's almost no chance of us running into each other...)
*Even more efficiently than yesterday, I navigated the clusters of healing herbs while avoiding monsters. Selecting only the high-quality herbs and harvesting them efficiently had become second nature to me.*
*A few hours later, when I returned to the guild carrying the cloth bag bulging just like the day before, Minya greeted me with a look of exasperation, but also a hint of happiness.*
Minya: "Shirou, this is practically a daily routine now...! That's amazing! Okay, that's 165 for today. 5 copper coins for completing the request, plus 48 copper coins and 5 iron coins for the excess purchase. That's a total of 53 copper coins and 5 iron coins!"
*Shirou earned more than he did yesterday and nodded with satisfaction.*
"Condition met. Skill [Appraisal Lv3] has evolved to [Appraisal Lv4]."
Shirou: "(Okay... this is good.)"
```
Status display
- Name: Shirou Nishiki
- Level: 1
- HP: 100/100
- MP: 50/50
- Skill: Appraisal Lv4
- Title: Appraiser (hidden)
- Money held: 61 copper coins, 1 iron coin
- Equipment: None
- Item: None
....