“By the way, if you’re planning to harvest a mandragora, you have made the proper preparations, right? You’ve considered the impact on the surroundings too, haven’t you?”
Anriette asked this just as Allen was scanning the area in search of the mandragora. Of course he’d taken that into account...but something suddenly occurred to him, and before answering, he threw a question back at her.
“Hmm... What about you, Anriette?”
“Huh? I’m here for a completely different request! I never planned on harvesting a mandragora, so obviously I didn’t prepare anything.”
“I mean, I was wondering if maybe it wouldn’t affect you. Or maybe you’d be able to endure it.”
“As if I’ve got some freak resistance like that! What do you think I am?!”
Anriette shot him a withering glare, and Allen gave her a sheepish smile in return. To be honest, he had thought she might actually be capable of handling such a danger. At least, the Anriette from the original world should have had no trouble with that sort of thing.
Physically, she was supposed to be no different from a regular human, but the scream of a mandragora was likely closer to a curse than a simple sound. Given that she had once been a holy disciple, it wouldn’t have been strange if she had developed a resistance to it.
But it seemed that wasn’t the case in this world.
“Well, are you sure you’re okay with this?” he asked.
“Okay with what?”
“Not just talking about mandragoras, but actually helping look for one.”
They were currently searching for a mandragora because Anriette herself had suggested it. Allen had no reason to refuse and had gratefully accepted her help.
“Didn’t I say this already? You can’t understand what a mandragora is just by hearing about it. If I gave you a half-baked explanation and things went horribly wrong, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. And more importantly, I might get dragged into it too. Considering that, I figured it’d be faster and safer if I just helped you search.”
There was no hint of a lie in her tone, and Allen believed she meant what she said. But still, that wasn’t the only reason. Even if he had saved her life once, he was still a stranger to Anriette. If he died, it wouldn’t concern her. And if anything, the blame would fall squarely on Allen himself. He had come here without properly studying mandragoras. Anriette had simply provided the information he asked for. She bore no responsibility.
More than anything, adventurers lived and died by their own choices. Whatever happened to Allen, it should have been of no consequence to her. Even if she was worried about getting caught up in something dangerous, she could have just walked away. Maybe her own request here hadn’t been completed yet, but unless it was something urgent, she could always come back later. After they’d been ambushed by an unexpected monster like a cyclops, postponing her task certainly wouldn’t be unreasonable.
Under normal circumstances, Anriette had no reason to stay involved with Allen. And yet she did. That could only be out of kindness. Or maybe that thought had shown on his face, because Anriette gave him a sharp glare.
“What’s with that smug look? I’ve still got a job to finish, so let’s wrap this up already.”
“Yeah, yeah. I get it.”
Spending time with her wasn’t unpleasant, but considering their location, it wasn’t the kind of place they wanted to linger in. There’d be time to grow closer to her later. For now, the priority was finding the mandragora.
“Of course, I couldn’t actually identify one even if I found it,” Allen muttered.
According to Anriette, a mandragora was something that could be recognized at a glance, at least by those who knew what to look for. While its mimicry made it hard to distinguish from the surrounding flora, it grew by absorbing nutrients from the area around it, which caused subtle but telltale differences. If observed closely, those differences became apparent.
But so far, Allen hadn’t spotted anything of the sort. It was possible there simply weren’t any growing in the immediate area.
“I heard that if you search around this forest, it’s not too hard to find one,” he added.
“Let me guess, that information came from Vanessa, right? Then you shouldn’t put too much faith in it. Blacksmiths tend to have a good eye for materials. A top-class blacksmith can tell just by observation alone.”
He had only meant it as a passing remark, but apparently it had struck a chord with Anriette. Allen murmured a quiet “I see” at her explanation. So in other words, this task was easy by Vanessa’s standards. Still, from the way she’d said it, it almost sounded like Vanessa herself had come to this forest to harvest mandragora before.
As that thought crossed his mind, Allen wasn’t surprised. He hadn’t observed her closely, but she likely wasn’t only skilled at forging—her combat abilities were probably considerable too. This forest was known to be somewhat dangerous, but it was easy to imagine her handling it without trouble.
So then, why had she left this task to Allen? Probably because if he couldn’t manage something of this level, he wasn’t worth relying on in the first place.
“Still, it’s all about the eyes, huh?”
Allen did possess a special eye of his own: part of his Boundless Knowledge, a power that was useful for investigating and analyzing things.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t helpful in this situation. It was primarily designed for combat, and beyond that, it only worked on things he already had knowledge of. And since he didn’t know enough about mandragoras, he couldn’t use it to find one. That wasn’t a limitation of the skill itself but rather his own ability to wield it.
It had originally been a divine authority, and as a mere human, Allen could only access a portion of its power. If he could use it to its fullest, finding a mandragora would be trivial...but there was no use wishing for what he didn’t have. He’d just have to rely on good old-fashioned manual searching. However, as he was thinking this...
“Oh. Found one faster than I expected.”
At the sound of her voice, Allen looked over to see Anriette crouched on the ground, staring intently at something. At first glance, it looked no different from any other grass in the area.
“Is this it?” Allen asked.
“No doubt about it. That’s a mandragora.” Anriette spoke with certainty.
To Allen’s eyes, it still didn’t look any different from the other plants. Or...wait.
“If I look closely, it’s faint, but I think I see a trace of magical energy.”
“Oh? So you can at least pick up on that. Technically, it’s not just magic. It’s got all sorts of stuff mixed in. And there are plenty of plants that carry a bit of magic, so that alone isn’t enough to tell it’s a mandragora. But in this forest, there shouldn’t be any other plants like that, so if you spot one here, it’s almost definitely the real thing.”
“Huh...”
A breath of admiration slipped from Allen’s lips. He was used to learning things from Anriette, so that in itself didn’t surprise him. But still, he found himself unexpectedly impressed.
“What’s with that look? You think it’s strange for me to know this kind of stuff?”
“No, it’s not that. I don’t think it’s strange or anything. I was just thinking that you’ve been teaching me a lot.”
Strictly speaking, Anriette had already done more than enough by simply locating the mandragora. There was no reason for her to go out of her way to teach Allen how to identify one. And she understood that too. Her expression stiffened slightly as she turned her gaze away.
“I’ve told you this over and over, haven’t I? You saved my life. If just helping you find a mandragora is enough to repay that, then it’s like saying that’s all my life is worth. I’m saying my life isn’t that cheap. That’s all.”
“I see. Thanks.”
Allen didn’t need to ask to know that wasn’t the whole truth. But when he thanked her anyway, Anriette simply frowned even harder. All he could do was smile wryly at the sight.
“I said I’m doing this for my own sake, didn’t I? So why the hell are you thanking me? Quit saying dumb stuff and hurry up and harvest it already.”
She had a point, so Allen turned back toward the mandragora. He had the feeling he could probably endure it on his own just fine, but with Anriette nearby and the uncertain effects it might have on the surroundings, it wasn’t worth the risk. Better to take proper precautions.
Parallel Wisdom: Magic—Distortion.
In an instant, Allen deployed a barrier, isolating the area around the mandragora. If he pulled it out under these conditions, there shouldn’t be a problem. With that in mind, he reached out and tugged.
There was no scream. He had expected it to go smoothly, but even so, he let out a breath of relief once it was over. When he looked over at Anriette, he noticed an expression of surprise on her face.