Rising from the Slum City of Reincarnation in Another World ~ Gathering, Hunting, and Living a Slow Life by Eating - Chapter 73

Rising from the Slum City of Reincarnation in Another World ~ Gathering, Hunting, and Living a Slow Life by Eating

Chapter 73   Exploring Exis Falls

We arrived right in front of the majestic Exis Falls.

“It’s so beautiful, and look, there’s a fairy!”

“The particles of the waterfall’s water are floating around here, creating a refreshing atmosphere.”

“And there’s a field of flowers, meow!”

The waterfall was wide, with cascading water spreading out like a white curtain on both sides. Slightly to the left, there was the main waterfall where the majority of the water flowed from the upstream river. Below the main waterfall, there was a deep pool, with the water appearing like a plentiful and transparent blue spring.

“Huh? A fairy just now?”

“Yeah, I caught a glimpse of it, meow.”

Whether the fairy was visible only to Minya or if we simply missed it remained a mystery. We quietly scanned the surroundings, as if searching with wide eyes, but we couldn’t find any trace of it.

The riverbed was dotted with river algae and aquatic plants, growing here and there. And there were several fish, about 15 centimeters in size, swimming around, resembling trout.

Beneath the wide expanse of the waterfall, the riverbank was spacious due to the accumulated debris from the collapsed soil. This particular area took on the appearance of a spring flower field.

The mist-like water particles made the temperature feel significantly colder. That’s why, in this spot alone, it still felt like spring.

“This must be a field of rapeseed flowers!”

Even Minya seemed to recognize the rapeseed flowers. They bloom abundantly with yellow flowers during the early spring.

Interestingly, rapeseed belongs to the Brassica family, and its seeds can be pressed to produce rapeseed oil. However, it seems that it’s not effectively utilized. In this world as well, olive oil is widely regarded as the go-to oil, with some areas near cities having vast olive orchards.

While rapeseed is cultivated to some extent, it’s on a smaller scale. Perhaps that’s why rapeseed oil isn’t commonly circulated.

Rapeseed, turnips, daikon radishes, and broccoli are all part of the same family as rapeseed flowers. Chinese cabbage, kohlrabi, bok choy, and komatsuna are also part of this group.

So, if you were to dig around, you might even find small daikon radishes.

Numerous butterflies of various species fluttered around, almost mistaken for fairies. Yellow butterflies, white butterflies, swallowtail butterflies, and even blue butterflies.

“This is truly a paradise on Earth, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it certainly is.”

Lania and I relaxed and enjoyed the surroundings, while Minya and her little sister, Ciel, ventured into the flower field.

“Oh, what’s this?”

“Oh, yes. I know this one. It’s called Mericurius.”

“Really?”

At our feet, there was a unique flower with a single blue blossom.

Appraisal:

【Mericurius – Medicinal Herb – Excellent Quality】

And to top it off, it was of excellent quality.

“Oh, so this is a medicinal herb?”

“Yes. Um, it’s worth a gold coin.”

“Oh no, what should we do?”

I looked around. Sporadically, oh, there’s a whole cluster of them on the opposite bank. Not just one or two.

“Wait a minute, they’re growing in abundance.”

“Yes, if we were to gather them all, it would be worth a platinum coin.”

“A platinum coin?”

“Yes. But if you were to collect them all, you’d be resented for eternity.”

“I can imagine.”

Destroying a whole cluster like that would be a complete crime.

“Do adventurers know about this?”

“They probably do. But these are precious medicinal herbs.”

“I see.”

“And I’ve heard that transportation is quite difficult.”

“I see.”

In other words, you would need an item box with no time passage. However, very few possess the skill for an item box.

You could buy a magic bag with gold coins at the guild, but there would still be time passage involved.

“Should we take about five plants back with us?”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

Carefully, Lania and I harvested the Mericurius plants. Lania taught me the proper method of collection.

It seems that we should cut between the roots and the leaves, just like with lettuce.

“Oh wow. How many gold coins would this be worth?”

“Are you giving me an evil smile?”

“Yeah, an evil smile.”

Lania smirked. Even though Lania intended it to be an evil smile, her face was so cute that it looked incredibly adorable.

Feeling embarrassed, I averted my gaze.

In the flower meadow, a golden-haired elf girl and a silver-haired nekomimi girl were playing.

What is this…

Butterflies fluttered around Minya and Cial, who were surrounded by flowers. The soft sunlight reflected off the water particles from the waterfall, creating a sparkling effect.

It was like a painting, or rather, it looked like heaven.

This is incredible. The scene is reminiscent of Shangri-La or Utopia.

I want to settle down here. I want to live my life, constantly gazing at this view and smiling.

“Hehehe, they’re so cute.”

“Oh yeah, incredibly cute.”

Lania commented while looking at where I was gazing.

They’re both adorable.

I drank water from the river.

It was incredibly clear, icy cold, and delicious.

I should be fine, probably. Everyone around here uses this water as drinking water, and I’ve never heard of any toxins.

“Minya, Ciel, it’s time to go.”

“Yeah, got it.”

“Okay, meow.”

I called them back and started climbing the cliff.

I took out some dried meat as an emergency snack.

That’s all we have for lunch today.

We continued munching on the dried meat while moving, shortly after we started our journey from the cliff.

We could still hear the sound of the waterfall nearby. We were still quite close to it in this area.

“Oh, hey, this place seems slightly elevated.”

It was Lania who noticed.

Indeed, there was a small hill there, about 10 meters higher in elevation.

Feeling curious, I decided to climb up and have a look.

There was a conveniently open path that seemed like a straight ascent.

I climbed straight up.

Finally, I reached the summit.

“Oh, look at this.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

Both Lania and I noticed it and exchanged glances, acknowledging the significance.

“What is it?”

“I wonder, meow.”

Minya and Ciel had question marks floating above their heads.

“Oh, look at these stones. They seem to have some angular shapes. I think it’s an ancient site.”

“Oh, you’re right!”

“I see, meow.”

The two of them looked around, nodding in agreement.

Upon closer inspection, there were stacked stones with distinct angles. While not perfectly sharp, they showed signs of weathering over the years. Though covered in moss, they had an unnatural appearance that differed from nature.

On the ascent we took earlier, there were clearly man-made structures resembling stone lanterns on both sides of the summit, visible from the approach.

“Some kind of sculpture, perhaps.”

“That seems likely.”

They resembled square stone pillars, resembling lanterns.

Further back, there was a stone-paved path with no trees growing within it, providing a view into the distance.

In the center of the stone path, there was a pyramid-like stone structure about 2 meters tall. It was clearly of human origin.

Directly ahead, the summit of Mount Helhorn was perfectly visible.

In Japan, there are similar examples of this. In various parts of eastern Japan, there are shrines such as Asama Shrine that have miniature mountains resembling Mount Fuji scattered about.

“It’s probably a trace of ancient mountain worship.”

“Do you think people lived here in this area too?”

“Well, it’s hard to say if it was just a shrine or if people lived around here.”

“That’s true.”

Lania and I pondered over the possibilities.

Hmm, it’s nice to have some knowledge to engage in discussions like this.

“Minya, this might be a type of ancient church.”

“Oh, really?”

“It could also be an Elf shrine or sanctuary, perhaps.”

“I see, that makes sense.”

While Minya and the others’ homeland lies beyond this mountain, there could have been Elves who lived on this side, paying their respects. It adds a touch of romance to the story.

And so, we returned to our home in the Exis Forest.

Once again, we arrived safely.

Since it was already late afternoon, we hurriedly made our way to the Adventurers’ Guild.