Chapter 9: Neither Poison nor Medicine, but Gathering Herbs
And so, Shou and Falco’s life together began.
"Do I really have to practice sword fighting?"
"You’re stubborn. You saw the Sage, didn’t you?"
"I did, but—"
"He’s not just big. He’s also an excellent swordsman."
"He was really strong-looking!"
He had an impressive physique.
"Listen, healers don’t just stay in churches. In fact, those who do are mostly apprentices. Skilled healers often accompany hunters on expeditions. You saw Leon, right? Sometimes, potions just aren’t enough. You’d want someone to heal you right away if you were injured, wouldn’t you?"
"But I don’t want to fight."
"I get it. But still, having the strength to defend yourself is never a bad thing."
"Maybe I should just become a cook."
"Even then. Healers are often called upon, no matter their profession."
And so, Shou ended up training in swordsmanship.
It was mostly solo practice swings, with Falco occasionally acting as a sparring partner.
Each day, after waking up and seeing Falco off on his hunt, she practiced her swings, then hunted slimes, had lunch, took a break, and prepared dinner.
Her daily slime quota was thirty.
At 500 gil per slime, that was 15,000 gil a day.
In six days, she earned 90,000 gil.
After taking a day off, she made 360,000 gil per month.
Enough for two adults to live on.
Leon handled the currency exchange, and Falco secretly managed her earnings—just until spring, when Shou would be registered with the guild and able to store it there herself.
On the seventh day, Leon usually arrived—often bringing the Sage with him.
When they came together, there was no need to hide that Leon’s leg had healed.
That meant Falco could properly train with him, and Shou and the Sage would watch, healing any injuries as they occurred.
Despite his time away from battle, Leon was strong.
His fights with Falco were evenly matched and fun to watch.
Meanwhile, Shou continued learning healing techniques from the Sage.
One day, she brought up the topic of Leon’s healed leg.
"I thought Shou had some special kind of healing ability."
"No, Sain-sama. It’s about how you think about it. In Leon’s case, his left leg had forgotten its form, so I figured—why not copy the memory from his right leg? That’s why, strictly speaking, his current left leg is just a mirrored version of his right leg. It’s not really the original. But with training, it should function just fine."
"I see."
"This method works for symmetrical parts, but faces, for example, aren’t perfectly symmetrical. Even if I restored sight to an eye, it might not be exactly the same as before. And for things like the heart—there’s no second one to copy from."
"Even so, if healers adopt this perspective, the scope of what can be healed could expand dramatically."
"If this method is useful, please study it however you like. If specialists research it, they might make real breakthroughs. But I did feel like it consumed a lot of magic."
"That will also require research. I’d like to see results while I’m still around—hopefully within the next thirty years."
By the way, this entire conversation was happening while Shou was sitting on the Sage’s lap.
"It’s too cold to just sit and watch the training."
So he had plopped her onto his lap and wrapped her inside his robe.
Standard procedure?
Again?
Aside from healing, the Sage and Leon also taught Shou how to gather medicinal herbs.
"Since you’re already in the Northern Forest, I always thought you should collect herbs, Falco."
"The guild always says that. But if I’m going to spend my time, I’d rather hunt monsters—it’s more useful."
"Fair point. That’s why Shou should learn instead. Right, Shou?"
"Yes!"
Finally!
When it came to a world of swords and magic, herbs were a must.
In games, Shou had loved farming—growing herbs and berries.
There was nothing quite like the satisfaction of stockpiling 99 of an item.
The herbs in this world resembled Japanese mugwort.
They had jagged leaves, were soft and small, with white fuzz on the underside, and grew close to the ground.
"It’s winter, so they stay low to the ground. But even in winter, monsters appear, and the demand for potions doesn’t change. Kids near the towns work hard to gather herbs, but it’s never enough. Northern Forest has plenty of herbs, but it’s too dangerous for children, and for adults, it’s not the most profitable job. If you could collect even a little, it would help a lot."
"I’ll do it!"
"This small pouch—if you fill it, it’s worth 500 gil. Compared to slime hunting, the efficiency is much lower. The freshness isn’t too important. Even one pouch per week would help."
"I’ll do it!"
The pouch was about the size of her palm.
Filling it with tiny leaves seemed like a challenge.
She received ten of them.
This was going to be fun!
Starting the next day, Shou adjusted her schedule.
After sword training and slime hunting, she spent time before and after lunch gathering herbs.
The protective barrier around the cabin covered a wide area.
Dressed in a warm, well-fitted, yellow-green coat with a hood—her new favorite piece of clothing—she took a basket and stepped outside.
"I look like a farmer!"
Excited, she began her search.
Since the herbs grew close to the ground, she crouched down.
She glanced around—
There!
Wait…
The entire ground was covered in herbs.
Even in winter, the taller grasses had withered, but beneath them—
It was a sea of medicinal plants.
"Could it be…?"
She retraced her steps.
She had been walking on them.
Shou let out a long sigh before silently getting to work.
She didn’t pull the roots.
She plucked only the leaf tips and dropped them into her basket.
Before she knew it, she had a mountain of them.
Just one basket filled two pouches.
Since washing would damage them, she left them as they were.
"I barely moved a meter…"
When the weekend arrived, she handed ten pouches to Leon.
His expression went distant.
"Yeah… Shou, let’s make ten pouches your weekly quota."
With a thud, he dropped a pile of empty pouches into her hands.
Wait.
Wasn’t she reincarnated for a more leisurely life?
Why was her workload increasing?
Something wasn’t right.
