Chapter 46: Forest Date
"I want to go on a little trip. Would you accompany me?" Beth asked me with a smile, wondering if there was something I could do in return for treating me.
Huh? Wait, is this a date invitation? The first one in my 18 years and 12 months of life?
"Shiro-san, are you confident in your legs and stamina?"
And she's so straightforward! I never expected such an innocent-looking girl to do this.
With my heart pounding, I followed Beth out of the town gate. Since this isn't military duty, we walked on foot. Apparently, slaves need a guarantor to leave the gate. When I went to Gen-san's place, Zagu was in that position, but today Beth signed the documents prepared by the guards.
Beth kept venturing deeper into the forest along the mountainside.
Along the way, Beth seemed curious to hear more about my reincarnation story. Honestly, there was no need to hide it at this point, so I told her almost everything. She might not understand things like the subway, but I explained how I was drawn by a vehicle similar to the ones I made out of clay in the labyrinth, and how I encountered a strange goddess. I went into more detail than I had shared with anyone before.
Beth listened quite seriously, saying, "I love fantasy stories," and whether she believed it or thought it was a well-crafted fiction remained unclear. She had this vibe of an SF geek girl, and I felt once again how close our wavelengths were.
Beth had told me stories about when she became a mage, and about how job changing works at the temple. As for the latter, Beth had no personal experience, but she shared her knowledge. The path through the forest seemed to have been deserted for a long time, with no traces of human footsteps and no presence detectable by my sensing skill.
I wondered if we were heading to a place where we could be alone together. Is it too cautious of me, or not cautious enough? I couldn't help but feel that way.
Beth stopped walking after more than thirty minutes from leaving the city gate. My eyes caught sight of a small, almost decrepit hut.
"Is this...?"
As a hideout from prying eyes, it seemed a bit too shabby. Since we had just fought undead creatures not long ago, my imagination began to conjure up unpleasant thoughts.
"This is the small hut where my grandmother used to live."
Huh?
Beth stood by the small stone near the abandoned hut and knelt down to pray.
I kneeled beside Beth without really knowing why, and joined my hands in prayer.
"Thank you. Let's go then."
With a nonchalant expression, Beth went around to the back of the hut and fetched a small basket-like container.
"What's that for?"
"Oh!"
Beth seemed genuinely surprised.
"...Didn't I tell you? We're going to gather medicinal herbs."
Ah, no, I didn't hear that.
"Um, then what about me...!?"
Amid an awkward silence, Beth suddenly started walking briskly. I followed her in silence.
Yeah, of course, it couldn't be anything else. Surely. Orz
Beth carefully walked through the forest, where the path was faintly marked by someone long ago but now seemed deserted. She searched the surroundings while walking, and in the thicket, she found small yellow flowers and started digging their roots.
"First one..."
And then she started digging up and picking plants that I couldn't distinguish from other grasses and flowers.
At some point, I began imitating her, digging up the plants she collected, and together we gathered a basketful of vegetation.
Entering the abandoned hut felt eerie, to be honest. Inside, it was surprisingly clean, or rather, mostly empty, but Beth skillfully removed part of the floorboard, revealing a hidden storage area resembling a cellar. From there, she took out several glass instruments resembling beakers and test tubes, as well as bottles of liquid and mortar-like objects.
"I knew thieves would ransack the place, so my grandmother used to store important things here."
Beth spread the gathered medicinal herbs on the floor and, with my assistance, began a series of incomprehensible actions.
"Wash these with well water, crush the underground stems, mix them with these seeds at a 4:1 ratio..."
And so on, she continued these incomprehensible tasks.
She also mixed in a powder she had brought in a small vial from somewhere. She said it was ground magic stone.
Finally, around the time the sun was starting to set:
"It's done!"
In front of a beaming Beth were several small brown pills lined up.
"What are these?"
Having stopped thinking and merely acted as told, I straightened my stiff back and asked. Beth proudly declared:
"These are mana recovery pills!"
So these pills can restore MP.
They looked like ordinary pills with nothing special about them... I suppose the ingredients are just various wild herbs and mountain plants. If they can indeed recover MP, then it means it's not pure biochemistry, and she must be using some kind of magical skill.
But seeing Beth's joy, I think my fatigue was worth it, and I believe they must really work.
Carefully wrapping several of the small pills in cloth, Beth put them in her pocket and neatly returned the tools to their original place in the hidden storage area.
Then, the two of us went back downhill towards the city. As the gate came into view from a distance, Beth held my hand, facing forward, and started speaking softly.
"I've been so scared... so scared that if I don't do something, I'll lose my mind. My grandmother used to make medicine, and I remember helping her... That memory..."
Her voice sounded troubled.
"Fighting monsters still terrifies me, and just when I thought it was finally over... I want to run away, I want to quit... I'm just a coward and a cheat."
"That's not true. Nobody wants to die; it's only natural," I said, still thinking that I had gotten involved in something unimaginable.
Especially considering that a seventeen-year-old girl is forced to fight monsters risking her life every day.
"You too, Shiro..."
"Yeah, I was unwittingly enslaved and dragged into the labyrinth without my consent. I was just an ordinary student."
Beth faced me, and I gently ruffled her hair with my free hand.
"So, I can understand how you feel... Yeah."
"Thank you."
She suddenly hugged me.
It wasn't a seductive gesture, but more like comforting a crying little sister.
But just when I was taken aback by that, she pressed her soft lips against mine and quickly pulled away.
"Thank you, Shiro-san. Thanks to you being with me today, I feel better... No, I gained a little courage. I think I can do something too. So, thank you very much."
She was still crying, but she was smiling.
From then on, we chatted about trivial things, laughing heartily as we returned to the city, and parted ways in front of the mansion.