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Chapter 184: Question and Consultation

「I don’t have fire so no tea. What’s up? 」
The climate is getting hotter so he doesn’t use the fireplace in his room. He probably uses the shared fireplace or the stove if he needs fire, like brewing tea or something. Retze’s fireplace is clean.

「There’s something I wanna ask. Reid, that guy, is he weird? 」
I asked what I wanted to know while thinking I should clean mine too.

「Ahh…. So you were at Dinosso’s place yesterday, huh. He’s strange, sure is, but Chris told me that it’s the influence of a unicorn spirit. I can’t See, so I’m not really sure whether that’s true or not, but other than that, Reid’s a pretty decent guy. 」
Eh, but that’s also weird for a horse, isn’t it?

The spirit’s form and appearance influences its nature. Uh, or maybe it’s the other way around, like, the nature of the spirit shows in its appearance? I don’t really get it, but rose spirits normally wear rose dresses, while spirits that don’t really have a physical form like light, darkness and wind, will usually take on whatever image they are interested in.

It’s a mystery whether their nature is influenced precisely because they’re projecting the object they’re interested in, or whether the influence is already there so they’re keen to take on that particular form. Anyhow, it’s also one of the reasons why many spirits take on a human appearance when appearing before people.Flower spirits in particular take the appearance of the humans they admire, or so I was told.

So, if it’s really a unicorn spirit WITH a unicorn appearance then it’s understandable that his nature is kinda drawn towards that sort of preference, but no, it’s a horse head reverse centaur, for crying out loud. Besides, if it really does have a unicorn appearance, then it’d prefer hanging out with other unicorns or horses for sure.

Well, I can’t really say for sure, we also have Dinosso’s ‘dragon’ — fire spirit after all. Riche? Oh, Riche is my watchdog.

Spirits that have mixed bodies tend to meddle and play pranks on humans, though usually not out of malice. That’s what I read from the books in the library. Then what about that one with a horse head and human body?

「Back when Reid interacted with Tina — how does he compare to Dean just before meeting me? 」
I only met Reid once, and Tina hadn’t been brought up at all during our conversations.

「… It did feel something similar to that time with his sister, but it’s just a hunch. I was also one of the affected guys, so I can’t really say. 」
Retze frowned, looking annoyed.

「…. 」
「…. 」

We sink in silence for a while.

「$#!t, that’s creepy. 」
Retze vigorously scratched his head and spat those words out.

I was hesitant to ask Dean about it for fear of bringing that issue up and riling him, so I decided on Retze since they’ve been long-time pals. Right, they’ve been friends and both are adventurers, so it’s a given that he also met Dean’s sister, huh.

「I’ve been avoiding Reid so I haven’t seen him in action. Anyway, I should just wait for him to come back for now, huh. 」
「Don’t go overboard on your own, alright. Tina’s parents are both Gold ranks, Chris is also a Silver. 」
「Yes. 」
Oh, right, come to think of it.

Let’s consult them while waiting for Reid’s return. Will it be alright to just leave everything to them after talking about it? But how do I bring up the topic first?

「Let’s go drinking downstairs, shall we? They’re gonna hold a grudge if I ate by myself, and if I’m not mistaken Dean also got his hands on some good wine. 」
Retze took the basket I brought.

「It’s fine with me, but someone’s taking a bath downstairs. Ah, and I also wanna search this room for porn stuff. 」
It’s something you do in your friends’ house, or so I read from a manga before.

「Save the trouble. 」
Retze mumbles something like ‘naked and door’s unlocked — he must be talking about Dean, before pulling a book from under his pillow.

「Erotica? 」
「Nah. You seem to like this kind of stuff. 」
I flipped through the pages and found out it contains information like types of grasses that can repel insects, the opposite type that can attract them instead, plus some warnings on how to mix, prepare and handle those plants.

「Yeah, it’s insect repellent so I get why you said I might be interested, but why give it to me? 」

「There are a lot of times when the plants mentioned can be useful for luring monsters that feed on those insects. You can say the opposite; if the insects got shooed away then the monsters won’t appear either. So insect repellents aren’t just for the sake of avoiding being stung, got it! 」
「Heh~ 」
Am I really an open book? All I did was to research a bit for an insect repellent cream that I can apply when I go to the woods.

Many monsters, particularly the small ones, tend to camouflage themselves when hiding, although I can easily spot them with 【Search】. Among those monsters, some can be used as ingredients for making medicine. The Healer’s Guild commissions the Adventurer’s Guild to collect them.

I got a feeling that he’s diverting me from the erotica’s existence, but yeah, he’s right, I am interested in stuff like this. It’s just that I never thought of collecting mosquitoes, gnats and leeches after what I suffered from them right after being teleported to this world.

「Is it alright if we go hunting somewhere together again? Ah, and can you help me assemble some furniture together, we can do that when it rains. 」
「You already know how simple my hunting style is. I’m fine helping you, but it probably won’t rain this season. 」

Ahh, come to think of it, this place doesn’t have rainy seasons unlike in Japan. Canum has more frequent rains than Nalluahdid or the place where my house is, but it won’t be raining that much from now until winter comes.

It’s cooler in the woods than at home, so he’ll probably hunt more actively. Seems like the plan to get some help is at an impasse.

「No plans for expedition this year, and only a few commissions during summer, so I’ll help you once every three days as usual. With wine and snacks, of course. 」
Not sure if it’s written all over my face again, but yeah, laborer, gotcha!