The day after arriving at the temple.
Kousuke, accompanied by Mitsuki and Wanri, wandered the field searching for wild herbs and medicinal herbs.
Since they still had enough meat from yesterday’s haul, their goal for the day was to find ingredients for cosmetics.
However, none of the members who went out to gather knew which herbs could be used for cosmetics, so they collected whatever caught their eye.
Kousuke used his left eye to check for anything poisonous, but even medicinal ingredients can sometimes be derived from poisonous plants.
Considering this, they couldn’t simply dismiss something just because it was labeled as poisonous.
However, Kousuke and the others had little knowledge of how to properly handle materials with such poisons, so they decided to forgo collecting them this time.
Silvia, who was actually making cosmetics, also mentioned that it was fine for now.
The area around the temple was home to such materials, which could be found with just a little wandering. Kousuke and the others were able to gather them without much difficulty.
“As expected, when there’s no human intervention, it’s easy to gather things,” Kousuke commented.
Wanri shook her head. “Onii-sama. That’s not quite right.”
“Huh? Is that so?”
“Yes. Even in areas where people don’t come on the floors inhabited by the foxes, few places have such a variety of things gathered together.”
Wanri often surveyed the floors where the foxes resided. Therefore, she had a general idea of whether the types of materials Kousuke had gathered were present on each floor.
By the way, the materials they gathered this time were only those that caught their eye, so they contained almost no rare materials.
“Is that so?”
“If you search, you might find some, but I don’t think they’d be this easy to find,” Wanri added.
“Oh,” Kousuke replied, nodding with admiration at Wanri’s little piece of knowledge.
Incidentally, Wanri was knowledgeable about medicinal herbs because many of them could be used directly for treating foxes.
While Kousuke and Wanri were chatting leisurely, Kousuke was actually casting a barrier using fairies.
Outside the barrier, Mitsuki was enthusiastically defeating any monsters that approached.
The monsters were on the 70th Layer, so if anyone else had been there, they would have been awestruck by the sight.
After all, Mitsuki effortlessly leaped into the air and defeated a large bird, whose wingspan exceeded five meters when spread, with a single blow.
To Kousuke, this seemingly impossible sight was quite familiar.
“Whoa. You really went all out,” Kousuke remarked.
“As expected of Mitsuki-onee-sama,” Wanri added.
Kousuke and Wanri, who had stopped gathering materials for a moment to watch Mitsuki’s battle, commented leisurely.
Mitsuki, who landed without incident, approached them with a wry smile.
“What are you two talking about? Kousuke-sama, perhaps, but Wanri, you could do it too if you wanted to, right?”
“M-me? Uhh, maybe if I turned into my fox form?”
Wanri replied, tilting her head, and Kousuke tilted his head in the same way.
“You don’t know?”
“Eep! Uhhh…”
Mitsuki smiled at Wanri, who was looking around helplessly.
“Well, that’s fine. More importantly, is the gathering finished?”
“Yeah. The ones around here are done.”
“I see. And after this?”
“It’s getting to be about that time, so let’s head back.”
Since they had only been wandering nearby, they would arrive back just in time for lunch if they left now.
Kousuke decided to return immediately, as there was no need to miss out on a proper meal they could eat.
Then, while Mitsuki was storing the monsters she had just hunted into her Item Box, Kousuke asked the fairies to dispel the barrier.
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Kousuke and his companions returned to the temple for lunch, but they found Silvia in the place that served as the prayer hall.
“Oh? Is your work finished?” Kousuke asked.
“I’m waiting for the reaction to complete right now,” Silvia replied.
Whether it’s cosmetics or medicine, there’s rarely continuous work.
Most of the time, there are periods of waiting, such as for the mixture to boil down, to cool, or, as in Silvia’s case, for a reaction to finish.
Silvia was using this waiting time to examine the murals on the walls.
“How were the surrounding materials?”
Silvia had been informed at breakfast that Kousuke and the others were going to explore the area to gather materials.
As the one actually performing the compounding, Silvia was naturally curious about Kousuke’s findings.
“Ah. They still have dirt on them, so I left them outside, but do you want to see them?”
“No. In that case, I’ll continue looking at the murals, so please go ahead and have lunch first.”
“Okay. Understood,” Kousuke said.
Kousuke was also getting hungry, so he appreciated Silvia’s suggestion. They readily agreed and headed to the dining hall.
When Kousuke and the others entered the dining hall, three meals were already laid out on the table.
“Welcome back,” Kouhi said, bowing her head as they entered.
Having seen them shaking off dust and washing their hands outside the temple, Kouhi had meticulously prepared their meals.
“Was it a bit late?” Kousuke asked.
“No. The meals for the others have just finished. Shurein and Floria are washing the dishes,” Kouhi replied.
“I see,” Kousuke said, nodding briefly before shifting his gaze to the lunch.
“Oh. This looks delicious. Let’s eat then,” Kousuke said, looking at Mitsuki and Wanri before taking his seat.
“Itadakimasu,” Kousuke said.
“Itadakimasu,” Mitsuki and Wanri chimed in.
As Kousuke finished his meal, Shurein and Floria also finished cleaning the dishes and joined the conversation.
“So? How was the area around here?” Shurein asked.
“Hmm. According to Wanri’s story, it seems quite well-stocked. We’ll be showing it to Silvia soon, but do you want to see it?” Kousuke replied.
“Let’s do that,” Shurein and Floria nodded at Kousuke’s words.
“In that case, I’ll wash the dishes, so you can go ahead,” Mitsuki offered.
“Thank you,” Kousuke said, thanking Mitsuki. He then finished the last of his tea and stood up.
“Well then, let’s go,” Kousuke said.
“Indeed,” Shurein responded.
“Understood,” Floria agreed.
“I’ll go too,” Wanri added, standing up from her seat as well.
When Kousuke and the others headed to the temple entrance, Silvia was already there, sorting the collected materials. They were being separated into those that could be used for the current compounding, those that could be used for future occasions, those that could be used immediately, and those that needed drying.
“How is it?” Kousuke asked.
“It’s amazing. I never imagined we could gather this many types of materials in half a day,” Silvia replied with a surprised expression.
“Which ones? …Indeed, this is impressive.” Shurein, though not as knowledgeable as Silvia, was also familiar with medicinal herbs. This was because they were often used in the favored magic of vampires.
“If you two say so, then we can expect quite a lot,” Kousuke said, looking at the arranged materials. Floria, who was at a similar level of understanding as Kousuke, nodded as well.
After seeing Silvia’s and Shurein’s reactions, it was now Mitsuki and Kouhi’s turn to go out and gather materials again. This time, they headed in a different direction than they had in the morning. There, they also set up a barrier, occasionally encountered monsters, gathered useful materials, and returned to the temple before sunset. Once again, Silvia let out a happy shriek as she sorted through the large quantity of materials Kousuke and the others brought back, and then it was time for dinner.
This became the daily cycle at Gazenran Tower for the foreseeable future. This was the flow of the day. Starting the next day, Shurein would join in sorting the materials, making things a little easier for Silvia. After exploring all four directions in the vicinity, Kousuke and the others also began working on drying the materials.
