ASDP Chapter 12

“Really, I’m sorry. You don’t have to worry about the conversation of my grandfather and the landlady of the restaurant.”
I came with Theo to the entrance of the mountain with an unbearable feeling.
In the end, after that, my grandfather was defeated by the landlady. My grandfather, who said never to touch his granddaughter while grinding his teeth, is just a grandchild idiot who forgot the story about the saint and so on.
I’m well aware that I don’t have a personality that is easy to be liked by people, and I’m sorry for Theo even though my grandfather said I didn’t understand men’s hearts. It’s fortunate that Theo didn’t laugh and nodded his head. If he hadn’t dealt with it seriously, even if it’s only on the surface, I’m sure he would have been in absolute trouble with my grandfather.
If it’s my grandfather’s argument, it’s better not to be taken seriously, but when he’s told that it doesn’t concern him, he gets angry, he’s a grandchild idiot.

“No. That. I don’t care, but… On the contrary, I would be more distressed if I force my help and become a nuisance.”
“That’s okay. It would be helpful if I could get the help of Mr. Theo, a knight. I’m just really sorry. And I don’t think Theo’s treatment will take that long, so if you leave, I’ll be fine. The reason why the landlady is impatient with me is because she wants me to stay in this village. She want me to get married and set down roots in this village.”
“Oh. Compared to the city, there are fewer young people in the countryside.”
“There’s that too, but I think she is worried that there’s no successor to my grandfather’s clinic.”
I say with a sigh.
“The successor?”
“Because it’s in the countryside, there is no one who wants to be a doctor here after leaving the magician’s school. My father doesn’t want to take over because he and my grandfather don’t get along.”
If they were close in the first place, we would have lived together. You’ll understand when you can’t do that.
Besides, my father’s work is very prosperous in the royal capital, so if he quit, it will be inconvenient. However, neither of them is a job that can be done with one hand.

“In the land where the temple is not built, the clinic is the lifeline, but my grandfather is also getting older.”
I think everyone will be relieved if I say I will take over, but the doctor’s job is to be prepared to take care of people’s deaths. Whether you can do that or not. If that’s not possible, the successor should be left to someone my grandfather knows.
“It must be difficult.”
“Yeah. I think the landlady doesn’t just like that, she also likes to set up arranged marriage meetings. According to the landlady, only about 30% of people can get married for love without doing anything, and she is the type to say that the countryside will perish if left alone. Anyway, don’t really worry about it.”

I regained my composure and pulled out a piece of paper from my bag that had my collection schedule written on it. Theo also leans in and we look at it together.
“I picked all the leaves around here, so next is these mushrooms. Also, I want something related to nuts.”
“I’m sorry. Even if I read the name, I don’t seem to know which plant it is.”
“It’s okay. Because it’s not something you learn in the knighthood department. I tell you what I want to pick, so I want you to harvest together and pay attention to the monsters around us. Then, Mr. Theo also wear the goggles, a mask, and gloves.”
I decided to collect them together, so I asked him to use his own knight’s clothes, but I prepared the collection gloves, goggles, and masks.

“Collecting is different from defeating them, so it’s better to protect yourself properly. Well, it looks subtle, though.”
“Thank you for taking the trouble to prepare it.”
Theo put on goggles and a mask without being reluctant. Some people don’t like to wear these things saying they’re lame, so I’m grateful that he didn’t object to it at all.
Even so, Theo always says thank you. I’m sure he was raised well.
“You’re welcome. Well, let’s go inside. I went to the mushroom place yesterday, so it’s okay. Ah. If you wear a mask, it will get hot, so if it’s hard, tell me before you fall down. We’ll take a break.”
I have my own temperature-adjusting earrings, but I didn’t plan to collect with others, so there’s only one. The magic tool that can cool your body during the break has been packed in the bag, so you have no choice but to deal with it before you get sick.

If you go inside, fluorescent trees that don’t seem to be very gentle on your eyes will welcome you.
“I wonder why this tree is this color.”
“Certainly, it’s a very conspicuous color. The place where I went with the saint for purification before was full of plants of similar color, so I thought it was something like this.”
“I wonder if this color makes it harder for insects to eat it?”
“…I didn’t have that idea.”
Certainly, the natural enemy of trees is insects.
It is grateful that it sucks and pollinates the nectar of the flowers, but on the other hand, if they eat too much of the tree trunks and leaves, it will eventually wither. If if has poison, even the pollinating insects will not come close to it, and if they don’t eat it at all, it will become extinct.
So wear a color that they don’t like and reduce the damage…
“It’s amazing, Mr. Theo. Could you be a genius? Wow. I’ve never had that kind of thought before. Eh. I’d like to look into it.”
“It’s just a random idea.”
“But I can’t think of that idea. Can you collect a few leaves as well?”
“Which one do you want?”
When I got excited and pointed to what I wanted, Theo tore it off and offered it to me.
“Thank you! I’ll study it carefully.”
I don’t like insects, but I’ve come up with experiments that I want to try out, and it’s getting fun.

“I’m glad you’re happy.”
“Well, let’s finish the errands in a hurry this time. First of all, let’s start with the running mushrooms. It’s usually hidden in the shadows of the grass.”
“The mushroom is…”
“Yeah. There’s no doubt that it’s growing on Theo’s head. It’s just a prerequisite to run. But according to the story of Theo earlier, this running may also be an evolution to protect itself from the enemy and to spread the spores to places where there are no other mushrooms.”
I thought it was in the shadow of the grass because it liked damp areas, but there is also a possibility that it’s there to hide.
The mushroom that grows on Theo’s head doesn’t change even if it’s exposed to sunlight. There is no sign of withering, so you may think of it as a type that evolved to be able to hide.

“…You can’t eat this mushroom, can you?”
“It’s poisonous, so you can’t eat it even if it doesn’t run. But my father tells me that even if it seems like an unnecessary thing that humans can’t eat, it has a different relationship for the trees, so we should only take what we need.”
My father said that the vegetation in the mountains is closely related, so it’s not good for humans to judge that they are not necessary without permission. It’s different from the crops that humans increase and grow.
“I wonder if it’s around here…”
I looked at the leaves quickly and saw a mushroom near a fluorescent purple caterpillar.
Ugh. Again?
This caterpillar doesn’t do anything. The color is a disgusting choice, but there is no poison or anything. I know, but when I see it, I get nervous.
Even if it’s not fluorescent in the first place, even if the size is smaller, I don’t like unpleasant things.

While taking a deep breath and trying not to touch the caterpillar as much as possible, I reach out to the mushroom. However, I guess the mushroom sensed my presence and ran away to the caterpillar.
Hey, hey.
Why do you dare to go there?
Even though I’m half crying inside, I desperately reach out to catch it. When I thought I managed to catch it, the caterpillar touched my hand.

“Hiya.”
I withdrew my hand in a hurry, but because of that, I let the mushroom escape again.
I hurriedly reached out to grab it again, and before that, Theo caught it. The mushroom, who was moving its legs, threw out its feet lazily, as if it had come to terms with it.
“Eh? Is it dead?”
“It’s okay. Mushrooms are bacteria, so they won’t die at this level.”
My heart is still pounding. Even if it’s touched by a caterpillar, it doesn’t have mucus, and it’s from the top of the glove in the first place. Still, I was somehow worried and wiped my hands on my robe.

“I’m sorry if I’m wrong.”
“Yeah. What?”
“Maybe Amelia doesn’t like insects?”
I stared at Theo, who quickly saw through the weakness that my ex-boyfriend didn’t notice at all.

If it’s that obvious and her ex-boyfriend never noticed, then he clearly didn’t pay much attention to her at all.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading!