Securing new sources of income.
This is the second of two posts for today. Please be mindful of skipped sections.
“…Furie Grass?”
That day, Kousuke received a proposal from Schmidt.
“Is it possible to cultivate Furie Grass in some accessible floor of the Tower?”
“Yes.”
“Ah, I’ve heard of it too. They say it fetches a high price, and there’s a considerable bounty for discovering its growing grounds,” Gazelran, who was seated with them, chimed in.
“Yes. It’s a type of grass used in the compounding of a certain medicine, but its growth locations are limited, so it’s not normally circulated.”
“…Huh? If it’s not circulated, how do you know it’s a medicinal ingredient?”
“The recipe itself is common knowledge among pharmacists.”
If it’s commonly known but not circulated, there must be some reason.
“…This feels a bit shady, doesn’t it?”
“No, it wasn’t that big of a deal. I believe the place where that grass grows is very limited,” Schmidt explained.
“Yes, that’s right. Originally, it was a grass that grew naturally on the South Continent, but it drastically decreased due to adventurers over-harvesting it.”
According to Schmidt’s story, one of the reasons for this was that when adventurers collect medicinal herbs, they decided not to take anything below a certain amount.
Currently, the regions where Furie Grass can be harvested have been prohibited from free collection, and harvesting is conducted under strict management.
“…Based on what you’re saying, if it becomes harvestable from another location, you might incur some unwanted resentment?”
Schmidt shook his head at Kousuke’s question.
“No. If it were a different situation, that might be the case, but with this grass, that’s not an issue.”
“…Why?”
“The country that manages the medicine made with Furie Grass is called Smit Country, and this is the country that is offering the bounty.”
“…What do you mean?”
Wouldn’t they normally monopolize the profits from the medicine?
Especially if a nation is in charge of its management.
Schmidt, of course, answered Kousuke’s question.
It turns out that the disease that can be cured with that medicine is a kind of endemic disease peculiar to the South Continent.
When Furie Grass was available, they would compound the medicine and suppress the symptoms. However, with the current amount of medicine in circulation, they cannot produce enough to distribute to the general public.
This endemic disease is not life-threatening, but there is a significant difference in physical condition between being able to suppress it with medicine and not being able to.
Smit Country, the only nation capable of producing the medicine, receives requests from various places to distribute the medicine. However, they are already at full capacity just to supply their own country.
Naturally, if they only supply their own country, they will face criticism from other nations (even if it’s their own fault), so they are securing a certain amount for foreign distribution by sacrificing their domestic supply.
This, in turn, naturally leads to criticism from within their own country, putting them in a complete deadlock.
“…Haa, I see.”
Kousuke nodded in understanding after hearing the explanation.
“In short, that country alone cannot produce enough to monopolize the profits.”
“Yes, that’s right. When the Furie Grass grounds disappeared, other countries tried to cultivate it, but all their attempts failed.”
“…I see. …Gazelran, has that Furie Grass been found yet?”
Of course, this question was about whether it had been found within the Tower.
“Ah, I haven’t heard anything. But that Furie Grass itself is something modern adventurers have never seen. Even if it were there, there’s a chance they’ve overlooked it.”
“That’s true. …Hmm. But I don’t know the detailed distribution of each floor in the Tower…”
At his words, Schmidt and Gazelran wore disappointed expressions.
If they could find it, it would have been a potential new source of income for Crown, and it was natural for them to be disappointed.
“However, I’m thinking of checking in a slightly different way.”
Kousuke had only one idea for how to check.
“Really…!?”
“Well, they have their own circumstances, so I don’t know if they’ll answer properly.”
Kousuke replied, thinking of Eris’s face.
◇♦◇♦◇♦◇♦◇♦◇♦◇♦◇♦◇♦◇♦◇♦◇♦◇♦◇♦◇♦◇♦◇♦◇♦◇♦◇♦
As it turns out, after asking Eris through Silvia, he received a proper answer.
It stated that while it didn’t grow in the Tower, it did grow at the base of the Tower, outside its walls.
And so, Kousuke quickly moved to the entrance using the Teleport Gate and arrived at the base.
The members he brought this time were Kouhi and Mitsuki, Colette and Silvia.
The base of the Tower has a considerable number of high-level monsters, so Kouhi and Mitsuki insisted on coming along.
Colette was brought along with the expectation that she, being an Elf, would be knowledgeable about medicinal herbs.
Silvia brought Eris along with expectation, or rather, since Silvia could now receive Eris’s words without special concentration when carrying a Divine Tool.
According to Eris, it was thanks to continuously connecting, even for short periods.
Even Colette, as expected, did not know Furie Grass itself. So, Kousuke gave her a drawing based on the characteristics of Furie Grass that he received from Schmidt.
While occasionally fending off attacking monsters (Kouhi and Mitsuki), they explored the area around the Tower.
After about half a day of exploring the surroundings of the Tower, Colette finally found the target, Furie Grass.
As a precaution, Kousuke also checked with his left eye, and it was undoubtedly identified as Furie Grass.
Once found, the rest was Colette’s job.
She harvested the Furie Grass so that it could take root on the Tower’s floors.
After that, they would return to the Tower and plant it on the floors.
By the way, the floors designated for planting are the Second Floor and the Elf Village.
It is hoped that adventurers will be able to come and harvest from the Second Floor in the future.
The Elf Village was Colette’s wish.
She is thinking of developing medicine that Elves can use with Furie Grass.
Therefore, they harvested a certain number of Furie Grass, ensuring they wouldn’t wither, with the goal of making them grow in clusters.
After that, they returned to the Tower and first planted it on the Second Floor.
A barrier was set up beforehand to prevent monsters from damaging it, and they planted it within that area.
After that, they went to the Elf Village and handed the Furie Grass to the Elves.
The Elves were left to manage the location and other details.
Even Colette did not interfere in this matter.
Rather, she knew they would plant it in a proper place without needing her to intervene.
Although they planted Furie Grass on each floor, an unexpected happy event occurred.
They had anticipated that Furie Grass brought from the outside would be registered as an externally brought item, similar to the Defreya Clan’s Familia’s Treasure.
However, not only that, but it also became possible to install it as a growing cluster, just like other grass and flowers.
Name: Furie Grass Cluster
Installation Cost: 100,000 pt (Divine Power) ~
Description: A cluster of Furie Grass. The cost varies depending on the size of the installation. It was registered after being brought from outside and taking root.
The installation cost was the same as for other grass and flower clusters.
Since they didn’t know how large an area it would cover until they tried, they immediately proceeded with the installation.
The location was the area on the Second Floor where the barrier was set.
They installed it at the minimum cost, just in case other materials were needed for the other flowers.
Even so, it seemed to cover an area larger than the barrier.
With the creation of the Furie Grass cluster, this area would likely become bustling with adventurers.
However, since it’s unknown whether the distribution of Furie Grass will spread, it’s probably best to leave the method of harvesting to them.
Kousuke decided to entrust the management of this cluster to Crown, essentially handing over the responsibility.
Most floors below the Fifth Floor are barely conquered by adventurers.
This is because the monsters become weaker the deeper one goes, so it’s not considered particularly important.
2014/5/24 Correction of typos
2014/6/14 Correction of typos
