Chapter 157: Chapter 142: Mushroom Picking

With the objective of the Battle Eagle nest, we departed from the town.

The habitat of the Battle Eagles is near the valley where we picked the Crystal Flowers together with Raizel. It’s apparently in the vicinity of the mountaintop. That being the case, I summoned Joule and others a short distance from the town, we got on Joule and Feat’s backs and moved towards the foot of the mountain at the fastest speed.

“Red~”

“Yellow~”

“Ohh~ this is a masterpiece.”

The leaves that were still verdant the last time we came were now in the splendid colors of Fall.

(The ground also looks great~)

As Joule said, the ground of the mountain was filled with colorful fallen leaves.

“Although it’s only Fall, it has genuinely become colder. The rest of the leaves will most likely fall in half a month too.”

“”Fall~?””

“That’s right. It’s still Fall. But, it will be winter by the time the remaining leaves fall.”

“”Winter~””

I can feel that it has gotten really cold recently.

(Hey, Niisama. There are many mushrooms over there, should we go get them?)

“N? Ohh~ you are right.”

When I looked in the direction Feat pointed, I could see many mushrooms such as petal mushrooms, rook mushrooms, red umbrella mushroom growing there.

Dizziness, numbing, sleepiness...... well, at least half of them were poisonous, but there were edible ones mixed among them.

“”Mushrooms, gonna get~!””

“Indeed. Since we have the chance, let’s pick mushrooms for a little.”

In the first place, the request hung there for two-three days already, so it’s not like we have to rush.

Therefore, it won’t be a problem to take a little time to pick some mushrooms here. Rather, it would be better to waste the time Joule and Feat gained by traveling on something else.

“”Yaay~””

(Let’s get lots! I want to try eating grilled ones!) (Joule)

(Oh my, wouldn’t soup be good as well?) (Feat)

(I think that stewing them together would be nice as well) (Bolt)

(I’m fine as long as it’s delicious!) (Vector)

(I also want to try eating various stuff!) (Mile)

When I approved the mushroom picking, the children scattered while rejoicing.

“Oy~ can you tell apart the edible mushrooms~?”

I called them back to confirm whether they know which mushrooms to pick, but Allen and Elena declared full of confidence that they know.

“”Saw in book~””

Ahh, I see. So it’s like that.

I have bought an encyclopedia before. Allen and Elena seemed to remember the contents which were written in there.

“You memorized them properly? How admirable you are~”

“”Ehehe~””

They smiled bashfully when I praised them.

(I also know which mushrooms can be eaten, you know~)

(Me too, me too! I can tell which are tasty!)

Then, Joule and Vector claimed that they can also distinguish the edible mushrooms.

“Is that so? Then, go and get some tasty mushrooms for us please.”

(I will do my best~!)

(Got it~)

When I asked Joule and Vector to do that while patting their heads, the two animals were obviously in high spirits.

(Allen, Elena, let’s go~!)

(Let’s go, let’s go?)

“”Yea!””

Then, they broke into a run together with Allen and Elena.

(My, my, they will probably pick lots of mushrooms since they are in such high spirits. Since I cannot distinguish the edible ones, how about I look for mushrooms that could be used for medicine?)

(Indeed. Also...... looking for mushrooms that can be used as sleeping drugs or anesthetics might be also good.)

(Agreed nano! Ah, I will pick the poisonous mushrooms too!)

Feat, Bolt, and Mile will apparently look for mushrooms with special use. But, still――

“Poisonous mushrooms too?”

(Yes, nano! Errm...... I think they can be used for pesticide(?) too. Each mushroom has...... eh, I don’t know how to put it in words, but the poisonous mushrooms should have their use too nano!)

“I see. Poisonous mushrooms certainly should have such use. Let’s see, it wouldn’t be a problem to assort them later, so do pick those mushrooms as well.”

(I will do my best!)

After that, we picked the mushrooms indiscriminately.

“Over here~”

(Ohh~ these are petal mushrooms. There’s so many of them~)

“Over here too~”

(Those are also tasty ones!)

Allen, Elena, Joule, and Vector smoothly picked a large number of edible mushrooms.

Mushrooms like Shiitake or Shimeji which I know very well, and mushrooms with red umbrella and polka dots that would appear only in manga. Additionally――

“”Ah!””

(Ohh? That’s a fluff mushroom! Allen, Elena, you found a rare mushroom~)

“”Ehehehe~””

They apparently found a rare mushroom. As expected of Allen and Elena.

(Ah, this is a mushroom which paralyzes the senses when eaten, no?)

(Yeah. If I’m not mistaken, humans use it to relieve the pain.)

(There are gloom mushrooms here!)

Feat, Bolt, and Mile have also found violet mushrooms, shocking pink mushrooms, and darkish, at a glance questionable mushrooms.

“”So many~!””

“I see. You picked quite a lot.”

A short while later, we picked a heap of mushrooms.

“Although I can store them in the Infinite Storage, this is way too many.”

“Obaa~sama.”

“Ojii~sama.”

“N?”

“”Present~””

By “Ojiisama” do they mean Matthias-san?

I don’t mind sharing the edible mushrooms with the Ruven House, but...... since when did Allen and Elena start calling Matthias-san “Ojiisama”?

Do they call Matthias-san like this on their own, or did Rebecca-san told them to call him like that...... either way, the other party is a Count though...... is that really okay?

No, Allen and Elena must be calling him like that since they got the permission though~

“...... Ahh, right. Let’s give some mushrooms to Matthias-san and Rebecca-san to eat.”

“”Yea!””

Right, right, let’s give them these three-colored truffles I completely forgot about too.

Truffles smell nice, but the taste well...... it’s not a taste you would eat normally, so we had no opportunity to eat them yet. Let’s eat them at the Ruven House!

“Now then, let’s have a meal soon and climb the mountain.”

“”Meal~!””

We enjoyed a stew full of mushrooms and began climbing the mountain.