The Reincarnated Lizardman Wants a Hamburger

After that, we continued to fulfill guild requests and gather ingredients through exploration.

The second location was the habitat of wild Three-legged Fowls.

It was a wild monster colony I discovered when I received a request to exterminate an Awakening Species Three-legged Fowl.

Our target wasn’t the meat but the eggs.

After all, meat usually doesn’t go into desserts.

While there’s no guarantee that wild eggs are of higher quality than those from farmed Three-legged Fowls, the colony was well-hidden, and the environment seemed better than most farms.

If the environment remained unchanged, the eggs from this colony would likely be of higher quality than those available in the market.

Soon, guided by me, we arrived at the Three-legged Fowl colony.

“Here we are. This is where escaped Three-legged Fowls gathered and became wild.”

“Such a secretive place for a Three-legged Fowl colony…”

“Then, first, we need to figure out how to collect the eggs…”

However, Yuri and Liche didn’t wait for me to finish and confidently stepped forward.

“Don’t worry! Since Kurt guided us here, leave the rest to us! This time, I’ll show you my true skills!”

“Even if magic is restricted, they’re just Three-legged Fowls! I won’t make any mistakes this time!”

“Ah, no. Let me explain first…”

“Let’s go!”

“I’ll show you my skills too!”

…

“Kyaa, kyaaak! We just need a few eggs! Wait, don’t bite my hair!”

“Huh, why!? When I saw villagers doing it with Clairvoyance magic, it looked easy! Ouch! It hurts!”

“…”

And, as expected, the two were helplessly swarmed by the Three-legged Fowls.

Still, clinging to their last shred of pride, they endured the pecks and claws without asking for my help.

…I saw this coming.

To us, it’s just a few eggs, but to the Three-legged Fowls, each one is their offspring.

Unless we use force, barging into a wild Three-legged Fowl colony without any prior knowledge to steal eggs is utterly foolish.

They wouldn’t suffer major injuries, but they’d definitely struggle.

So, we needed to lower the colony’s guard and divert their attention…

“Sigh… Wait a moment.”

Eventually, I sighed and threw myself into the colony to help them.

…

“Kuh, kuh… I didn’t expect the Three-legged Fowls to resist so fiercely.”

“…I think I’ll appreciate the value of ingredients more when cooking egg dishes from now on.”

In combat, they wouldn’t break a sweat against such weak opponents, but outside of combat, they were just academy noble girls and a frail recluse aspiring to be adventurers.

Somehow, we managed to gather wild eggs, but the two looked utterly exhausted.

I, too, felt mentally drained.

But we couldn’t stay like this forever.

“Snap out of it. Next is a proper combat request, unlike today’s tasks.”

“Right. But next is a Predatory Water extermination, so we need to stay sharp…”

“Don’t worry. If it’s combat, that’s my specialty.”

“I, I’m confident in straightforward combat too!”

At my words, they regained their energy, determined to show their true skills this time.

…

The third ingredient we aimed for was the fruit of the Predatory Water.

While Predatory Water fruits were somewhat expensive in the market, they were still obtainable, though often not fresh.

Unlike farmed Three-legged Fowls, dangerous monsters like Predatory Water had to be hunted in the wild, leading to unstable supply and lower-quality market goods.

Moreover, Predatory Waters were rare monsters with very few individuals.

Thus, this Predatory Water extermination request was a welcome one for me.

By completing the request, I could earn achievements, rewards, and even fresh Predatory Water fruits as a bonus.

I could make dessert for Arisa and use the leftover fruits for personal cooking.

Maybe I could make jam with Predatory Water fruits…

And so, we arrived at the location to obtain the third ingredient.

“Kurt! Don’t interfere! This time, we’ll defeat the Predatory Water on our own!”

“Ah, sure…”

Something feels off…

And then,

“My new technique! The second one! Tyrant’s Afterglow Fist! Yaaah!!”

“Yuri! Thanks for creating an opening! My magic incantation is almost done!”

As the battle began, the two showed impressive determination, perhaps to make up for their earlier blunders.

Despite lacking half their usual team, the two alone displayed overwhelming combat prowess.

The Predatory Water was relentlessly beaten, unable to recover.

While their combat performance was commendable…

“Judgment of the Everlight Family!”

Soon, an unusual light burst from above Liche’s head…

Kwa-kwa-kwang!!

“No! My Predatory Water fruits…!!”

Seeing her magic not only destroy the Predatory Water but also damage the fruits hanging from its vines, I felt tears of blood streaming from my eyes as I screamed.

…

“Ahh! All the fruits here are crushed too!”

“…Same here.”

“So…”

“Ohoho…”

“There’s a saying, ‘Too much is as bad as too little.’ Ever heard of it?”

“In the end, after searching the entire Predatory Water, we only got a handful of fruits?”

“Sorry!”

“Honestly, it’s more strange to expect the fruits not to get damaged during combat… Cough, cough!”

“…”

Their combat was excellent.

Only their combat.

The problem was that their fighting style didn’t consider the spoils of war.

In the end, despite defeating the Predatory Water, we only obtained a minuscule amount of its fruits.

“Sigh…”

Even though we didn’t engage in intense physical activity, I felt mentally exhausted.

Our party had Mari, but excluding her, the rest were experts in adventuring and monster ecology, so we could manage.

Arisa really led this reckless group well.

Even more so because these two weren’t bad in combat, making it worse.

Liche aside, Yuri showed tremendous growth for a trainee.

But their inflated egos, mismatched with their shallow adventuring experience and knowledge, kept leading to mistakes.

“Honestly, your combat skills as adventurers are excellent, but your knowledge is a mess from the basics. You need to learn more about what adventurers need to know.”

“Sorry…”

“Tch…”

Yuri hung her head in shame, while Liche swallowed her frustration, having no retort.

But looking gloomy now won’t help.

Today’s requests were a mess.

Almost ruining a request by nearly killing a palm goat.

Getting surrounded and beaten by a Three-legged Fowl colony.

Only managing to salvage a fraction of the expected Predatory Water fruits.

“…Maybe it would’ve been faster if I gathered the ingredients alone.”

“Th-that’s not okay!”

“Right! That’s unacceptable!”

They raised their voices in protest at my words.

“Actually, we knew we lacked knowledge and experience as adventurers.”

“But even so, the reason we’ve been able to adventure safely until now is because Arisa guided us well.”

“Right. Arisa’s personality makes it hard to notice, but she’s actually very considerate and meticulous. Maybe we’ve been relying on her too much.”

“That’s why, while Arisa is feeling down, we wanted to cheer her up with our own strength…”

Ah.

No wonder.

They were stubbornly refusing my help all day.

I thought it was just their inexperience making them reckless.

But looking back, they didn’t want to rely on others’ help to gather ingredients, wanting to comfort Arisa on their own.

The results weren’t great, though.

Guess I can’t get mad now.

“Sigh… Alright, let’s head back.”

“Huh!? Ah, no! Kurt! We’ll do better on the next request!”

“Right! We’re still full of energy!”

“That’s not it. We’ve gathered the essential ingredients, so let’s head back. If we take on more requests, the day will be completely wasted. Plus, if we’re any later, the market will close, and we won’t be able to buy other ingredients.”

At my explanation, the two sighed in relief.

“Okay! Let’s go back!”

“We’ll definitely make delicious food for Arisa!”

And so, the three of us returned to Astram with the ingredients we painstakingly gathered today.

Honestly, I was worried about forming a proper party after seeing Arisa’s group.

Turns out, it was unnecessary worry.

We formed a better party than I thought.

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