ASDP Chapter 13

What I’m not good with. That’s [bugs].
But only my relatives know it, and others don’t know it.
Even if I see an insect, I will freeze or try not to touch it as much as possible, so as not to scream in public. I only have one parent, so I have to take care of myself, so no matter how much I hate it, if insects enter the room, I was in an environment where I had to deal with it myself.
That’s why I can mend it, and even now I should have caught the running mushroom as normally as possible. It’s true that I was touched by a caterpillar and panicked and made the mistake of letting go of the running mushroom, but that’s all. But I think anyone would be surprised if they were touched by such a big caterpillar.

“Um…”
“I’m sorry if you were hiding it. If it’s a misunderstanding, that’s fine, but if you’re not good with insects, I thought I’d collect them.”
“No. Let me see. It’s not that I can’t touch it no matter what. I was a little surprised just now, but that…”
I’m not hiding it.
If I want to touch it, I can do my best.
If it’s really bad, I shouldn’t touch it at all, so my dislike is just selfishness.

“I’m here now, so it’s not a time where you really have to touch it, and if you think it’s good that I’m here, it’s worth coming. Amelia has helped me a lot, so I want to return the favor.”
“Well, I’m certainly not good with insects, but… Well, I hate it without a reason why. It’s not that I’m hiding it, I can’t run away just because I’m not good with it, so I’m just trying to be as normal as possible.”
I’m told that he wants to return the favor, and while I’m fluking, I explain that my dislike of insects is not a big deal.
“Amelia is great.”
“No. No way. It’s not great, or rather, I think it’s normal. In the first place, if I was okay with it, there would be no problem.”
Unexpectedly praised by Theo, I wandered my eyes suspiciously.
Originally, if I was good with insects, I wouldn’t bother anyone. That’s why it’s my fault that I’m not good with insects, and it’s natural to do it by myself, and it’s not something to be praised for.

“Everyone has something they’re not good with. There’s food I don’t like too. In that case, I secretly put it on Alfie’s plate.”
He laughed at me, and I laughed at him too.
It’s like a child putting food you don’t like on other people’s plates.
“Is that okay with Mr. Alfie?”
“Of course, because I give him what I don’t like, I also give Alfie his favorite sweets as a bribe. And one of Alfie’s special skills is that he doesn’t have likes or dislikes in food. Basically, if it’s not harmful to your body, he can eat it without showing the other party that it tastes bad, even if the cooking fails a little and is burned.”
“That’s amazing.”
The special skill of not having likes and dislikes is a little strange, but it is certainly a special skill that you can eat it without being noticed by the other party even if you eat failed cooking.
“But does he have a chance to show off his special skill?”
“It’s the time of the saint’s cooking. Just because you’re a saint doesn’t mean you can do anything. How many seniors have become corpses because of the cooking of a certain saint? But only Alfie is okay. That’s why everyone will leave it to Alfie’s iron stomach at such a time. However, Alfie also has a personality that can’t refuse requests, and even if he doesn’t like it, he can’t refuse, so I tell people around him to give him what he likes, and I stop it when he’s too reckless.”
That’s… what can I say, the saint who makes corpses with cooking is amazing, and Alfie is also amazing. But I want him to take care of his body a little more.

“Well, it’s like that, so rely on me for today. I came all the way here to help you, but if I’m not helpful it’s the same as not being here, right?”
“Thank you. But it’s my job, so I want to do what I can do too. If you do everything just because I’m not good with it, it’s the same as me not working, right?”
It’s the first time since my father that someone has been so concerned about me.
I think Theo is a really good person. But it would be wrong to be spoiled and ask him to do everything.
“I understand. Then tell me that you don’t want to touch this. I’ll send it flying far away.”
No matter how you think about it, “flying” only sounds like a method of grabbing it by hand and throwing it. Theo seems to be quite the bold type. Well, there are a lot of knights like that.

“Ah. The fact that you are not good with insects means that you were really scared when we were attacked by bees. And yet, thank you so much for helping us.”
“I’ve already heard enough thanks, so it’s okay.”
How many times have you been thanked?
It’s rare to be thanked like this, so it feels uncomfortable.
“It can’t say it enough.”
“Yes, yes. I got it. Theo is the type that seems to be good to women…”
He is generous, naturally protects the other person, not condescending, and sincere. He has a fearless face and doesn’t look bad. Now he’s growing mushrooms, wearing goggles, and wearing a mask, so you can’t really tell what he looks like.

“No, I’ve never been popular?”
“Ah, you’re the type that doesn’t notice?”
It’s fine if it’s here, but it’s a good type not to get close to if you see it in the royal capital.
It’s not strange if someone thought of themselves as his girlfriend. The difficulty of love is enough with an ex-boyfriend.
“That’s not true. Basically, there are only men around me. The only women I know are relatives or saints, but the saint I escort is engaged to a prince.”
…Engagement with a prince?
As a person who knows a saint who recently broke off her engagement with a prince and ended up with her ex-boyfriend, I can’t believe it. The world may be surprisingly small.

“If the engagement with the prince were to be broken off, would you want to date the saint?”
“No. It’s not to my taste.”
Theo, who says it once and for all, doesn’t seem to be lying. I feel delicate whether I’m happy or not when I hear that not everyone likes a saint.
Maybe it’s because I like the story that the saint is not naturally liked by everyone, and at the same time, I am reminded that I am only a person who was not chosen in the end.
I hate myself for dragging things on forever, so I swallow my sigh and change the topic.

“Oh, please harvest the laughing mushrooms there too.”
“Laughing… it certainly sounds like laughter.”
Theo carefully looks at the mushrooms that are making a sound as he plucks them.
“Why can you hear a voice when they don’t have a mouth?”
“It seems that the whole body is shaking and making a sound, what do you think?”
Crying mushrooms also have no mouth. Mushrooms get their nutrition from mycelium, and even if they have poison, they don’t eat humans, so they don’t need a mouth.
“In the first place, it’s unclear if mushrooms are plants or monsters. Because it’s a fungus. If I can confirm what will happen after the maga disappears, it seems that we will be able to decide which classification to divide it into.”
Plants return to normal, but monsters do not return to normal.
So if the running mushroom doesn’t run, it’s a plant, and if it’s running, it’s a monster. Even if you don’t see it running, the mushroom is short-lived, so there is a good possibility that it will wither before you find it.

“I’ve already picked the blue mushrooms, so all that’s left is the nuts. Shall we go to the area where I always pick it?”
On the way, I move forward avoiding the insects that come out unexpectedly.
I really don’t like the caterpillar monsters hanging by threads. There is an urge to flush everything with water, but when the environment changes, abnormalities occur in the trees, so you can’t be too reckless.

After a while, I arrived at the place where the fruit-bearing plants were clustered.
“There’s a lot of fruit around here.”
In a place with more colorful fruits than usual, Theo looked up and raised his voice in surprise. It’s a strange sight that there are so many trees growing fruit even though it’s not an orchard.
“What I want is that green fruit. It’s something that is soaked in alcohol rather than using it as it is, so it’s not poisonous, but it’s better not to eat it directly because it’s sour. Also, let’s have this red fruit as well.”
“It’s like this, isn’t it?”
“It’s a sight that can’t be seen in ordinary mountains. However, some people think that it doesn’t matter if there is only this much, but my father says you shouldn’t take more than the necessary amount. There’s a reason why there are a lot of nuts here all year round. I think this fruit is probably the monster’s meal. There is a balance in place so that it can circulate in the mountains properly, but if you break it, monsters will come to the village. So Theo, please keep this place a secret. I don’t want people who want to harvest a lot to come here.”
Theo’s behavior showed that making a lot of magical power makes you hungry.
That’s why the trees dare to prepare food called fruit so that they don’t become food themselves. It’s just a hypothesis, but I think that’s why the village has been able to coexist with maga so far.
Theo tightened his face and nodded at my words.

I still laugh every time I picture a handsome knight with a mushroom on top of his head.

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