Chapter 5: Growth
"Slaves. I could have gone the mercenary route, but I decided to buy a slave." Naofumi sighed.
He sat down at his desk and took out a bag of supplies he got from the apothecary. "The world is basically ending. Even if I refuse to fight these waves, I still have to fight other monsters in the pursuit of securing a comfortable life, so I can't truly be in the wrong for doing this, right?"
He waited for an answer as he poured some liquid and herb into a mortar. When he didn't get one, however, he looked over to Sakura, the bird already fast asleep on the bed. "I should start talking to people who speak," Naofumi complained as he let out a yawn. Finishing up his work, Naofumi contained the liquid he was working on and got in bed.
Later in the morning, he is woken up by Sakura pecking him on the arm. Knowing the routine by now, he got up with a huff and placed her food on the desk to eat.
"Let's see if I got this done correctly."
Small Medicine Shield conditions met.
Small Medicine Shield
Equip Bonus: Medicine Efficiency Up
Naofumi pumped his fist in the air before putting the remaining medicine in a glass bottle. He remembered the medicine shop owner telling him that he could make some minor recovery potions from the herbs he had been gathering, and ever since he's been attempting to make them, with this attempt making his first low-quality potion.
"If what the man said was correct, I could easily sell these for a large amount. And this shield form just makes it even more potent. Basically free money." Grabbing his cloak, Naofumi removed the barricades and opened his room door.
"I should grab more herbs to make another one. Especially one with much higher quality than this one. Alright, Sakura, let's head out!" Naofumi called.
"Gua!". Sakura chirped as she jumped on Naofumi's head, sending him off balance a bit.
"Whoa, not to be rude, Sakura, but you're getting pretty heavy, and a lot larger too."
"Gua!" Sakura pecked at Naofumi's head, but to no avail.
"Alright, sorry, just expect no extra food tonight. I'm not trying to make you fried chicken." Naofumi chuckled before clasping his chin.
Shit, now thinking of housing, I never really thought of a place to keep her once she's fully grown. Maybe I could try staying outdoors or finding a stable? Most ranchers don't pay attention to the exact number of their flock, right?
Naofumi looks up to Sakura, waiting for an answer, but she just gives him a confused look.
"You're no help. Also, another thought occurred. I need to deal with the slave problem too; maybe then I can have someone to properly tell my ideas to." Naofumi says, walking out the door with Sakura in tow.
/~/
In the forest, Naofumi used his leaf shield to gather herbs for his blend while Sakura wandered off to kill stuff in the nearby area. She has grown enough to the point where she could pretty much do anything here in a few hits but still refused to get her feathers dirty by avoiding the messier monsters.
Though her talons have gotten sharper. So sharp that Naofumi believed she could finally start killing things without making a huge fuss about cleanliness. But that'll still take a few more days before that becomes a reality. Only another argument in favor of getting a slave.
"I wonder if I'm feeding her wrong; her growth is definitely off the charts… or… I'm feeding her right?"
Naofumi watched on as Sakura decimated the balloon population once more. A few even tried to run at the sight of her, but were immediately chased down and popped for some exp.
"...hold on. If she likes food, then maybe." Naofumi grinned as an idea formed in his head.
"Hey, Sakura!"
"Gua?"
"If you kill an Usapil, I'll cook it for you!"
"GUA!"
The bird became motivated and ran over to Naofumi immediately. The two ended up sneaking around the forest until they found their target, a white ball of fluff, completely unaware of its impending doom. Sakura was eager to strike, but Naofumi shushed her before moving in himself. He wasn't sure if she could solo it yet, so to be safe, Naofumi leaped out of the bush and tackled it to the ground.
With an easy kill in her hands, Sakura leaped out and attacked the rabbit with all her strength, pecking at it violently. At one point, she even made an attempt to pick up a stick and attempted to stab the rabbit, but she quickly saw how ineffective it was and decided to continue pecking at the rabbit.
22 Exp gained
In just a few seconds after her decision, the rabbit that was struggling to escape stopped moving. With a scream confirming its death, Sakura jumped up and down to celebrate before shuddering and attempting to wipe the blood off her feathers.
She's such a clean freak, but she did kill it stupidly fast, for more exp too. Finding them, though, is a pain.
Grabbing some vines around the area, Naofumi made a few snare traps and hid in a bush.
A couple of minutes later, a lone Usapil stopped by, happy about the carrot it just found. Once it got close enough, however, Naofumi pulled the vine and caught it within the snare.
"Alright, it worked." Dropping Sakura on top of the trap, she shuddered at the thought of getting more blood on her face but immediately started pecking. If it's for a decent meal, then it's a sacrifice she had to make.
"Okay. I'll start breakfast; that'll attract more of these rabbits to the trap. Sound like a plan?"
"Gua." Sakura nodded as she continued killing the creature.
While gathering sticks around the area, Naofumi took out his knife and began preparing the rabbit to cook. He had a better understanding of the shield system after he bought some tools. He could use any of the tools, even knives, but only for utility reasons. If he had the intention to attack something with it, it would just shock him like usual. Dead creatures also didn't count as attacking, so he could cut into them all he wanted with no issue, allowing him to skin the rabbit he had now.
Usapil Leather Shield Conditions Met
Agility 3
Usapil Meat Shield Conditions Met
Agility 3, Cooking Skills 1
"Agility, huh? You can make me more dexterous but not able to attack," Naofumi grumbled. "Also cooking skills? I mean, I'm already decent, so I guess some extra wouldn't hurt.
Grabbing the rabbit meat, he tosses it into a pan to let it simmer with some other spices. He also began a stew with the meat Sakura brought back. She'd gone out of her way and hunted a lot more rabbits, ignoring his trap entirely.
Although he knew exactly what she was saying. He could infer that she wanted him to cook everything. All five rabbits she killed and dragged back, within the time it took him to set everything else.
Sigh. "Filolial are weird."
/~/
After finishing his cooking, Naofumi made a bowl for himself and five more for Sakura to eat. As Naofumi guessed, Sakura immediately tore through one of the bowls before turning to another and eating through that as well. He could only imagine how much food she could eat before she even understood the concept of being full, but he didn't have the time or money to figure that out.
Picking up the remaining soup, he poured more into her bowl before packing away the rest of his stuff. By the time he finished, Sakura drank through the entire pot of soup but was saddened that there was nothing left.
"You've already had enough. Now let's get a move on."
/~/
These herbs are very good in quality. But I need a few more supplies before I can start turning them into medicine. The apothecary should be opened by then, so I'll go there before heading back ou-
Naofumi's train of thought was cut off as he realized the area he was passing. Elhart's shop. After a bit of thinking, he finally decided to go inside and meet with the blacksmith for the first time in a while.
"Oh? You're back?"
"Yep."
"Gua!" Sakura chirped as she leaped over to the counter. Despite never even seeing him before, Sakura still felt friendly towards the guy, unlike most people he met within the city.
"So she finally hatched… and she's growing quite fast too?"
"Trust me. That's more a pain than a joy."
"Gau!" Sakura cried out.
"So what brings you here? Do note, I don't have food for the chick."
"Don't bother; she already ate enough. I just wanted to ask you about something.
"Sure, what is it?"
/~/
"A slave, huh? Did the world finally corrupt you or somethin?" Erhard asked.
"I just wanted to hear your thoughts before I went through with it. Honestly, I didn't see much of an issue with it, assuming this world's laws and my situation. But since you do live here, I think you'll have a better say than a person who talks to birds for some reason."
"That is quite an odd and specific description, but personally I don't utilize slaves. Only nobles and other restaurant owners buy them whenever they need servants or something."
"So I shouldn't get one?"
"I never said that just that I don't really care. Others might, but they're just hypocritical."
"People are like that in this world too I see." Naofumi sighed.
"With your status at the moment, most would think you're either torturing it or just using it as a sex slave. That or a revolution, but that's a long story. Why are you trying to buy one in the first place? I thought Sakura would have done the job just nicely, possibly even more effectively, assuming how strong most monsters are.
"That may be true. She has been a huge help these past few days. She's just so stubborn and high-maintenance." Naofumi kicked his legs up on the counter. "Besides, even if she were an adult, she'd still be limited to what a monster can do; also, it wouldn't hurt to have some extra party member to assist in combat and other important activities, usually the ones that require hands to do."
Naofumi then looked behind him to see Sakura sleeping in the corner.
"She's still a baby after all. Not much she can do now."
"Then if you have a valid reason to get one and have no ill intent, why go through the struggle of asking me during my work hours?"
As Erhart says this, a man walks through the door only to exit immediately after seeing Naofumi.
"Because having at least one person I can actually talk to is the only thing keeping me sane."
"I'm still not joining your party kid, but I'll still be here if you need."
"Fair enough." Naofumi chuckled as he got up.
"See ya, kid." Elhart waved as Naofumi left the store.