Blue-Moon Weed

Early the next morning, Rienta was preparing breakfast.

Today's meal was noodles, with sausage and fried eggs.

Fern settled a sleepy-eyed Frieren at the table and came into the kitchen as well.

"Rienta, I told Lady Frieren about the Seed Mice."

"Mm."

"Then let's prepare some seeds as bait today and give it a try."

Rienta didn't understand Frieren's obsession with collecting all kinds of magic.

Likewise, he didn't understand Fern either.

Breakfast was simple, and Rienta and Fern finished making it quickly.

Fern set out the food, and its aroma dispelled Frieren's lingering sleepiness.

Rienta ate his portion.

He glanced at Frieren and Fern eating quietly, and seemed to understand a little.

Frieren was an elf with a long life, so she didn't care if a single task took her years or even decades.

Fern was human, and a lifespan of about a hundred years was indeed rather short by comparison, which was why she sometimes seemed a little impatient.

What about him, then?

Rienta absentmindedly put food in his mouth.

That was it.

In Fern's eyes, he was her brother, an ordinary person just like her.

But because of his panel, deep down he had never regarded himself as an ordinary person with a short lifespan.

Rienta felt that something seemed a little off about his current state of mind.

Whether during the years he spent studying magic in the cabin or after setting out on his journey.

Something wasn't quite right.

"Sorry, Fern."

Her brother's sudden apology left Fern somewhat at a loss, and she looked at Rienta in confusion.

"Why are you apologizing all of a sudden?"

Rienta didn't answer. He finished his breakfast in a few bites.

He stood up and said, "Let's aim to find the Blue-Moon Weed within a week!"

"You're full of enthusiasm, Rienta," Frieren said, taking a sip of tea.

Following Rienta's example, she put down her teacup and said, "Let's do our best together."

Fern looked at the two, suddenly fired up, and was speechless.

"Rienta's saying things I don't understand again."

"And so is Lady Frieren."

After cleaning the used dishes and cookware, Fern said to Rienta:

"The plan is to buy some seeds from the old apothecary first."

"Then the three of us will set out bait in the forest."

"Lady Frieren has a tracking spell that can lead us to the Seed Mice's nest."

Rienta looked at Frieren in surprise and said:

"Lady Frieren, you're so knowledgeable!"

"You even know a practical spell like that."

"Hehe~" Frieren's face was full of pride.

"Are you only realizing that today, Rienta?"

"Of course not. I knew how extensive your knowledge was from the first time we met, Lady Frieren."

"You have a way with words, Rienta." Frieren was getting a little carried away.

Watching them, Fern put a hand to her forehead and said, "You two!"

"It's time to go to the old apothecary's house. Come on."

Rienta stopped flattering Frieren and followed her after Fern, who had already set off.

At the apothecary's house.

The old woman took out a bag of seeds and handed it to Frieren. "These are seeds from a species closely related to Blue-Moon Weed."

"If you really can't find any Blue-Moon Weed, use these instead."

Frieren put the seeds away and said seriously to Fern, who was standing beside her:

"Rienta's idea has a good chance of working."

"But if we still can't find it,"

"I'll stop looking."

"After all, it isn't just my time being wasted."

Even Frieren had noticed how impatient Fern had seemed while searching for the Blue-Moon Weed.

She patted the seeds hanging at her waist and said:

"Let's go, Rienta, Fern."

The three arrived at the edge of the forest, where Frieren divided the seeds into three portions, one for each of them.

"Then let's follow the plan."

Rienta and Fern nodded and flew off in different directions.

There weren't many seeds, and Rienta soon set out bait in three places.

He didn't know any tracking magic, so if he found signs of a Seed Mouse, he would still have to get Frieren.

But Rienta didn't encounter a single Seed Mouse all the way until evening.

He began to suspect that his guess had been wrong.

After all, Fern had encountered two Seed Mice when they first arrived.

Back at the cabin they had rented, Rienta asked Frieren and Fern how things had gone for them.

Like him, they hadn't found any signs of Seed Mice.

Fern had already prepared dinner, and the three of them were eating.

Seeing that Rienta was a little distracted, Fern said:

"Rienta, it's only the first day. There's no need to rush."

"That's right." Frieren cut off a piece of fried meat and put it in her mouth, then said indistinctly:

"Don't worry, Rienta."

"We'll look for another week, and if we can't find it, we'll use the seeds from the related species."

Hearing their words of comfort, Rienta stopped dwelling on it and focused on the dinner Fern had prepared.

"Yeah, let's continue tomorrow, then."

On the second day of the search for the Seed Mice, they found nothing. Other animals ate the bait.

On the third day of the search, they still found nothing.

Rienta thought his guess had been wrong. After all, this was a real world—how could it be like an anime or a game?

On the fourth day, a Seed Mouse carried off the bait Fern had set out.

"..."

"Well done, Fern!"

Frieren smiled, patted Fern on the head, and praised her.

"Thank you, Lady Frieren." What puzzled Fern was why it had taken four days to encounter a Seed Mouse.

Rienta, meanwhile, was eager to find out whether the Seed Mouse could actually lead them to the Blue-Moon Weed.

"Lady Frieren, please cast your tracking spell."

"Mm." At that, Frieren reached out, summoned her staff, and cast her tracking spell.

The magic revealed the Seed Mouse's footprints, leading deep into the forest.

"Then let's go see the Seed Mouse's safe house."

Frieren walked ahead, leading Rienta and Fern into the forest along the trail.

On the way, Fern asked Frieren, who was focused on tracking the Seed Mouse:

"Lady Frieren, why do you collect magic?"

"Simply because it interests me," Frieren replied mildly, without looking back.

Rienta and Fern exchanged a glance. Both of them thought of Frieren's strange spells, which were occasionally very useful.

"..."

"I find that hard to believe," Fern said.

"It really is just an interest."

"I simply used to live a more idle life."

Fern's question brought back memories for Frieren.

Thinking of the hero party's reactions the first time she cast Flower field magic in front of them, she said with a touch of reminiscence:

"It's just because there was once a fool who was willing to praise the magic I collected."

"What a boring reason."

"I suppose it is."

"..." Rienta felt a little out of place. He opened his mouth to say something, trying to join their conversation.

Fortunately, a dilapidated tower appeared before the three of them, and Rienta breathed a sigh of relief.

The trail from Frieren's tracking spell continued all the way to the tower.