三个女人的秘密工作生活

Chapter 82: Gathering materials in the Split Mountain part 2

"What a smart move you did there, Kayn," Natas can't help complimenting Kayn's strategy. With Gilbert helping them, their job would no doubt become simpler.

"That was child's play," Kayn nonchalantly responded. What he did before was nothing special. He simply made a deal with Gilbert that allows the two of them to benefit while also making sure that Old Chief George's interest won't get hurt.

Kayn wipes the sweat on his forehead before going back to his task.

Currently, they are at the location of the first material written in the list — one of the ravines in the Split Mountain.

The first material they have to gather is called Mountain Side Root. Just like what its name implies, it is a root of a plant that broke to the side of a cliff or ravine. The reason why a Mountain Side Root is considered a material is that the soil found in such places is actually very strong due to them receiving mana just like the soil on the surface. So, for a mere root to destroy them, it could only be under the condition that they contain mana as well.

"I didn't know that Mountain Side Root is a material used to brew Minute Endurance Potion," Kayn said while using a dagger to cut the root. In the past, he used such roots to climb a mountain. Never did he expect that it would be a material used for brewing a potion.

"It's not the root that Alchemist uses to brew Minute Endurance Potion, it's actually their sap as it contains minerals that enhance endurance," Natas explains.

"Who are you talking to young man?"

"I was only talking to myself, Mister," Kayn gestures his hand to a man who is also collecting Mountain Side Roots with him.

Just like what Old Chief George said before, there are indeed other people who collect the materials he had listed. And it's not just a few as he had observed a considerable number of them over the distance, hanging on the ravine just like him while collecting the Mountain Side Root they have found.

Thinking about it, just the first material alone already has these many people trying to collect them, let alone the others. And there's twenty-nine more to go.

He can already imagine just how difficult it would be for him if he fails to deliver all materials within three days and has to repeat the same task once again.

"Make sure to be careful down there. The lower you are, the more dangerous it is. And also, it would become harder for you to breathe,"

"Understood," Kayn nodded his head before going back to cutting the Mountain Side Root.

Fortunately, the people who gather these materials for a living aren't as bad as Old Chief George described them to be. It's probably because of the latter's first impression of everyone that clouded his judgment.

He had made conversation with the Mister just now, and the latter said that whoever finds any materials in the Split Mountain first gets to keep it for themselves. That's always the rule in the Split Mountain.

Albeit, the Mister also warned him to be careful of the people from the Tenderfoot Village, as they tend to get overly aggressive if ever the quality of the material found by someone is to their liking.

Regardless, as long as it isn't he could just go and gather them as he likes.

With one last swing of Kayn's dagger, the Mountain Side Root dropped onto the basket he is carrying on his waist.

"Finally," Kayn exhaled in relief. At long last, he has finished gathering all Mountain Side Root that he needed — exactly 10 pieces as each piece weighs one kilogram.

"I'll be going first," Kayn bid farewell to the Mister nearby him.

"Take care," The Mister waved his hand.

Quickly, Kayn climbed upward while using the rope that is attached to his waist to support him and the basket he is carrying.

At the top, Gilbert is pulling the rope to hasten Kayn's climb. No one is currently on top, so it is okay for him to help the latter.

"Good job down there," Gilbert throws a wet cloth to Kayn.

Kayn easily caught the cloth and began wiping the sweat on his forehead, "It wasn't that hard," Looking to his side, he saw Natas casually flying back up, and soon he landed beside him.

"Where's the next one?"

"It's not far, just a few tens of meters to our front,"

"Let's go!"

Just like that, with Kayn gathering the materials and Gilbert pointing in the direction of their location, the duo was able to complete one material after another on the list while at the same time not encountering any sort of trouble.

They met a lot of generous and kind people who were also gathering just like them, made some short conversations to gather more information about the Split Mountain and expand their knowledge of the materials they are gathering, and made some promises to meet again to get to know more of each other.

However, that is about to change soon…

"Be careful, those people are from the Tenderfoot Village," Gilbert immediately warned Kayn as he saw a group approaching the location of the material they are about to gather.

Looking in front, Kayn immediately notices a group of five men wearing clothes that are not meant for gathering but instead for fighting. One of them is wearing heavy armor, two are wearing light armor, and the other two are wearing robes, respectively for a Mage and a Priest.

"Are they here to gather materials or to hunt monsters?" Kayn can't help but wonder.

"They are notorious for stealing materials in the Split Mountain. That is why they don't wear ordinary equipment in fear of the people from the Green Horn Village suddenly retaliating against them. The good thing is, they only target the materials and not the people that are gathering them. There were only a minority of cases where someone died after fighting with them. The majority of the time, the victims would simply get injured,"

Kayn already knew about that. So, he didn't pay any more attention to the group from the Tenderfoot Village after briefly observing them as he proceeded to start collecting the materials on the ground.

The next material on the list is called Twin Mushrooms. This is a type of mushroom that grows in pairs and once eaten it will boost one's vitality to a small degree for a few seconds. If one eats multiple Twin Mushrooms at the same time though, it would instead give an opposite effect, which is lowering one's vitality.

Fortunately, the Alchemists were able to discover a way to make one digest multiple Twin Mushrooms without experiencing a drop of vitality, and that is by extracting its essence and combining them together through alchemy. From then on, Minute Regeneration Potion was created.

"Just make sure to gather the ordinary Twin Mushrooms so that they won't bother you," Gilbert kindly reminded Kayn before walking away from him and jumping on top of one of the trees to rest.

Kayn nodded his head before proceeding to start gathering ten kilograms of Twin Mushrooms.

Although he isn't the type of guy that tends to distance himself from trouble. But because he has something more important to deal with right now, he won't try to mess around and stuff. As long as the group from the Tenderfoot Village doesn't bother him, he also won't bother them as well.

Kayn peacefully gathered the Twin Mushrooms he spotted on the ground.

Occasionally, he would make some short conversation with the other people around him just like he did before. This time though, he is doing so not only to know more about the Twin Mushrooms and the Split Mountain but also so that he would not become an easy target.

He remembered quite clearly Gilbert telling him that it is easy to identify people who are new in 'The Bridge' because of their age. Since he is young, the group from the Tenderfoot Village might think of him as an easy target. To avoid that, he thought of pretending like he is familiar with the people around him.

"They are gone," Natas informs Kayn.

Hearing that, Kayn can't help breathing a sigh of relief.

It wasn't only him that did so. The others around him similarly breathed in relief as well.

Finally, he can gather without worrying about the group from the Tenderfoot Village. If they had lingered any longer, there's no doubt that he would be delayed to the next location.

"Wait…"

Suddenly, Natas' tone of voice changed, "It seems like they only pretended to leave,"

Looking at his peripheral vision, he notices Gilbert being on high alert while on top of the tree. He was no longer resting but has switched to the signature battle position of the assassin subclass. With both his knees bent, one foot forward and the other backward, his arms on the hilt of his daggers, and his body leaning closer to the tree.

As if he noticed Kayn looking at him, Gilbert muttered using his mouth, "Run away…"

After saying that, Gilbert immediately distances himself from his initial position.