Before long, Kiana and the others arrived at a place where cacti grew in clusters.
It was a small oasis in the desert.
A great number of cacti and other plants grew there.
Kiana and the others had come here specifically to gather cacti.
"Mm..."
Kiana put on gloves, carefully pulled the spines from the cactus in front of her, then snapped the cactus off with force.
"Mm..." Kiana put the cactus she had snapped off into her game inventory and muttered, "This gathering mission isn't that hard..."
"But why does the reward seem so high..."
Kiana muttered to herself.
"Kiana, don't slack off." Bronya said, "Hurry up and gather the cacti so we can return and complete the commission. It's dangerous to stay here too long."
"Mm-hmm..."
Kiana muttered, "What's the big deal? It's just a gathering mission..."
As she spoke, Kiana suddenly noticed a cactus nearby.
It looked rather strange.
It seemed as though a chunk were missing from it.
"?"
Kiana curiously reached out and touched the missing section.
"This shape..."
Kiana carefully looked around.
There were not only such gaps, but some cacti had even been snapped in half, while others had been crushed flat.
Looking closely... Kiana felt that these gaps looked somewhat like... bite marks?
"Mei! Mei!"
Kiana called out to Mei nearby. "Come look at these!"
"Hm?" Mei walked over while carrying several cacti with their spines removed. "These... look like bite marks from some kind of herbivore."
"Maybe creatures from the desert came here to forage?"
"Is that so?"
Kiana patted the spineless, damaged portion of the cactus.
"But these cacti probably can't be gathered anymore, right..."
"Yes, that's right. The commission requires plump cacti..."
As Mei spoke, Bronya also walked over carrying a pile of spineless cactus slabs. "Sister Mei, I've