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After Nasuo and the others fled in tears, my stomach growled.
“Come to think of it, I haven’t eaten anything since morning. Guess I’ll look for lunch.”
At this Royal Capital Pioneer Academy, everything was self-sufficient, so you had to secure your own food.
“In that sense, having a house in the forest—a treasure trove of food—might actually be pretty convenient.”
Muttering to myself, I headed deeper into the woods.
Then I found a tree bearing fruit.
“Nice, this is a good start.”
Right now I was a Ninja, light on my feet like a monkey, so climbing trees was easy.
I plucked the fruit from the branches and slipped it into my uniform pocket.
Venturing deeper into the forest, I found mushrooms growing in the shade beneath thick trees.
“Looks like this one’s edible.”
Thanks to Ranger Survival, I could tell poisonous mushrooms from safe ones.
Still, to be safe, I checked it with the Appraiser Appraisal skill.
“Huh, so you can eat it raw.”
I popped the freshly picked Rushroom into my mouth.
It made a crisp crunch with every bite.
“Yeah, good texture. With seasoning, this would be even better.”
Chewing as I scanned the dim forest, I noticed mushrooms dotted everywhere.
That settled it—today’s lunch.
“All right, I’ll gather mushrooms and throw myself a mushroom party.”
I tore off a large leaf by the path, folded it into a pouch, and attached handles with plant vines.
I slung the bag over my arm like a shopping bag and strolled through the forest as if browsing a market.
Whenever I found a tasty-looking mushroom, I appraised it, and if it was edible, tossed it into the bag.
Then I found a ridiculous mushroom.
“Quality Level 30!? That’s an ultra-rare item! All right, let’s see if there are more!”
That discovery got me completely hooked on mushroom hunting.
Then, in a sun-dappled clearing, I found mushrooms growing in dense clusters like a field.
Red and blue carpets spread across the ground, and atop them stood a group of students.
At the center was a girl in a purple robe, tilting her head as she held a mushroom.
“Hm, these mushrooms have the same shape, but completely different colors… are they edible, I wonder?”
A small man among the group popped his head out.
“Akemi-san! The red ones are poisonous, yans! It’s always been that red mushrooms are poisonous, yans!”
“Oh my, is that so, Shibusu-kun?”
“Heh-heh, this Shibusu is a Thief, yans! Please trust a thief’s intuition, yans!”
“Hmm, is that so? Then shall we take the blue mushrooms instead?”
“Wait.”
Unable to watch any longer, I spoke up, and the whole group turned toward me.
“Oh… you are… Leopin-kun, aren’t you?”
The girl called Akemi possessed a mature allure hard to believe for someone our age.
Purple hair, skin like freshly fallen snow, long lashes, and moist lips.
Just being glanced at sidelong by eyes marked with a beauty mark made my chest burn.
Her sweet, breath-tinged voice sent a shiver through me, like she was breathing into my ear.
“The blue ones are a poisonous mushroom called Gut-Dropper. If you eat them, you’ll suffer severe stomach pain and hallucinations. The red ones are edible mushrooms called Gut-Riser.”
Shibusu cut in angrily.
“Akemi-san, don’t believe a word that dropout Leopin says, yans! He’s just spouting nonsense to ruin your reputation, yans! Because he’s at the very bottom, all he thinks about is dragging others down, yans!”
“Shibusu, you’re the one talking nonsense. Choosing wild mushrooms by intuition is out of the question.”
“Shut up, yans! Akemi-san, this guy’s been a liar since middle school, yans! Please believe Shibusu, yans!”
Shibusu was a former classmate of mine from Class 1-20.
A yes-man who sucked up to everyone.
Akemi let out a thoughtful “Hmm…” then said,
“Very well, then I shall… Since we’re here, I’ll choose the red mushrooms.”
She winked at me.
Shibusu protested, eyes bulging.
“W-what!? You’re really going to believe a dropout like him…!?”
“Hehe, Leopin-kun’s eyes didn’t look like they were lying.”
“Th-then, Akemi-san! I’ll take all the blue mushrooms back with me, yans! Don’t come crying later, yans!”
“Oh my… that can’t be helped. That’s the fate you chose. All right everyone, please gather the red mushrooms.”
At her words, the men around her moved like worker bees.
They were probably her entourage, captivated by her charm.
Akemi didn’t help them at all; instead, she approached me with a bewitching smile.
“Hehe, I’m Akemi Reerururubaransu from Class 1-06. It’s a mouthful, so everyone just calls me Akemi.”
Being spoken to by a peerless beauty made me shrink a little.
“I see. Judging from that robe, you’re a production-type mage?”
“Hehe, I’m an Alchemist. Alchemy uses mushrooms a lot, so I was put in charge of lunch mushrooms. But while I use them for medicine, I’ve never eaten them, so I didn’t know which were safe. Thank you for telling me, Leopin-kun. As thanks, perhaps I could…”
“No need. I couldn’t just let a classmate eat poison.”
“Oh my, you’re an odd one. Most people would lie to students from other classes to raise their own class’s rank…”
“I’m in the Special Training Class. Rank doesn’t matter to me.”
“Ah, right, that’s true. Then which would you like?”
“Huh?”
Akemi pulled a small pouch from within her robe.
Written on it was “Salt.”
“You can have this, or else…”
She pointed, with a manicured finger, to lips ripe as fruit.
“I don’t quite get it, but if I can choose, I’ll take this one.”
I pointed without hesitation at the pouch.
I’d been wanting seasoning anyway.
Akemi looked a little surprised, then chuckled.
“Hehe, you really are interesting. Every man wants my lips and ends up doing whatever I say… You’re the first who didn’t want them. …All right, here you go.”
She stepped closer and pressed the pouch of salt into my hand.
Then she leaned in, a sweet scent drifting—
…chu.
She kissed my cheek.
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