Inside the mushroom hut filled with glass bottles and glass fragments.
Little Black¹ curled up lying on the fungal bed.
The wound on her shoulder had long since healed, but it would take several days for the scales to regrow.
A puffshroom appeared outside the mushroom hut.
Although this puffshroom emanated a sweet honey fragrance, Little Black remained unmoved.
She even went "crack-crack" crushing several precious glass bottles, turning over to avoid looking at it.
Left with no choice, the puffshroom could only leap with all its might.
The mushroom house was somewhat tall, and it failed to jump up.
With another leap, it barely managed to reach the edge, struggling and wiggling its way up.
The puffshroom ran two circles inside the mushroom house, filling the entire room with honey fragrance.
Little Black's nose twitched from time to time, but she still made no movement.
The puffshroom simply moved closer, its mushroom cap swaying back and forth in front of Little Black—
Swaying closer and closer—
Finally pressing directly against her mouth, rubbing back and forth.
Little Black originally wanted to push the puffshroom away, but after her tongue extended and licked the honey on the mushroom cap... she couldn't help but lick it two more times.
It was somewhat delicious...
Before long, Little Black very pragmatically embraced the puffshroom like an octopus and began gnawing around its edges.
Three more identical puffshrooms jumped in from outside, circling around Little Black and waiting for her to eat them one by one. For a moment, the mushroom house was filled with a delicious atmosphere.
Phew—
Thanks to the Mimic Vine Demon that provided the flavor, indeed, getting something sweet was absolutely right.
After soothing Little Black, the scene still needed cleaning up.
The puffshrooms scattered spores in the bombarded areas, letting the fungal carpet regrow.
A chubby otaku puffshroom wobbled to the edge of the swamp area.
Thick fungal tendrils reached into the pocket on its body, quickly pulling out adventurers.
One lump...
Two lumps...
...
All were thrown into the swamp.
This incident was still his own fault—blame himself for imprecise language, unable to anticipate this group's plans in advance.
Although he had started learning Common Tongue from Dylan, plans couldn't keep up with changes.
If he had known, he would have let Little Black stay in the mushroom forest for a day, or let her go play on the sixth level.
Also blame himself for not keeping constant watch, having focused his attention on the scout's side.
But what could be done about it—who told Dylan's side to trigger a plot event...
---
Under the sound of cicadas, a wheat-skinned maiden stood beneath a great tree by the forest's edge.
Her coarse linen skirt hem swayed gently in the wind, her arm basket filled with various wild fruits.
The maiden's gaze suddenly collided with Dylan's as he rode past.
Dylan pulled the reins, turned his horse around, and approached the maiden.
"Sir Knight?"
The maiden retreated two steps somewhat timidly.
Seeing this, Dylan—who was being called "Sir Knight" for the first time in his life—could only dismount, maintaining distance to avoid frightening the girl.
Without explaining that he wasn't a knight, Dylan asked directly:
"Young lady, I just wanted to ask, is your village nearby? I hope to replenish some water."
As he spoke, he patted the water bag at his waist.
After looking at Dylan several times, the maiden pointed to a small path.
"Thank you, young lady."
"Thank you, young lady."
Having confirmed the direction, Dylan mounted his horse and hurried over.
No choice—if the puffshroom on his back didn't get some water soon, it would probably dry up.
"Why did Sir Knight say it twice?"
...
Under the villagers' puzzled gazes, Dylan stuffed the wilted backpack from his back together with a wooden bucket and lowered them both into the well.
The village chief beside him worried that something in the pack might contaminate the well water and originally wanted to say something.
But seeing the longsword at Dylan's waist, he chose to swallow his words.
About two minutes later, Dylan turned the winch and pulled up both the bucket and backpack.
The backpack now looked considerably more plump.
Dylan first picked up the scout, shook it vigorously twice to shake off most of the water, then strapped it back on.
Only then did he fill all the water bags with water.
Really unexpected—he had originally prepared three days' worth of water with some to spare, but the scout had used up most of it.
Fortunately, after this resupply, he could hold out until Norweide, where he could buy several more water bags.
Right!
Dylan felt his pocket, pulled out several copper coins, and pressed them into the village chief's hands.
"This is payment for the water, please accept it."
"This is payment for the water, please accept it."
After Dylan left, Lin Jun's voice came through his mind.
"Dylan, I have to remind you—you just said the same thing twice again instead of translating it for me to hear."
"Ah? Like that..."
Dylan scratched his head embarrassedly.
Speaking the same sentence consecutively with his mouth and in his mind was quite easy to mix up.
Whether the boss could actually learn Common Tongue this way was questionable...
Returning along the small path, distant calls could be heard ahead.
Dylan craned his neck—he saw no figures, but spotted a grass basket and scattered wild fruits on the ground not far away.
And... a horse tied by the roadside?
That village girl?
Dylan urged his horse to go a bit faster.
As the distance closed, the unclear sounds gradually became distinct—the maiden's muffled cries for help.
Following the sound, in the bushes not far from the roadside, he discovered a knight pressing down on the maiden who was struggling desperately beneath him.
Not a fake knight like Dylan—this person had a coat of arms embroidered on his clothes.
Though Dylan didn't recognize whose it was, undoubtedly this was a genuine knight under some noble's command.
It's just that what he was doing now wasn't very "knightly."
The maiden's upper garment was torn to shreds, bruises on her arms and face. Though her mouth was covered, when she saw Dylan, her tearful eyes suddenly brightened.
The noble knight naturally also noticed this passing mercenary.
This burly fellow said nothing, but those sinister eyes were undoubtedly warning Dylan not to meddle.
"Oh? Dylan, you want to meddle?"
The boss's voice came through his mind—was it his imagination, or did the boss seem... quite interested?
"Should I interfere?" Dylan asked.
"How would I know? I'm just a backpack.
Though if you meddle, it might delay the journey."
"..."
Delay the journey—in other words, Bella would face one more portion of danger...
Seeming to see that Dylan kept staring without leaving, this nearly two-meter-tall giant grabbed the maiden's hair and stood up.
His hand moved to the sword sheath hanging on his horse.
"What, old man, you looking to die?"
Heh—
Why did everyone call him an old man when he was only 45...
Dylan dismounted, and as he landed, the longsword at his waist was already gripped in his hand, the blade pointing directly at the noble knight.
"You really going to meddle?"
Indeed, he shouldn't interfere.
Had he become less cautious after growing stronger?
But... this girl looked about the same age as Bella...
Dylan took a deep breath and spoke: "How about just leaving like this, everyone pretending nothing happened?"
"Ha!"
He seemed amused by this adventurer's ignorant audacity.
"A wild dog dares bark at me?"
The noble knight flung his hand, throwing the girl to the ground.
With his other hand, he drew a knight's sword larger than Dylan's longsword.
"Struggle all you want with your toy sword—I'll make you watch yourself get chopped into mincemeat!"
As his blade turned horizontally, he grinned savagely while pressing toward Dylan.
...
...
...
"Translate quickly! He's making threats, right? This is exactly what I want to learn!"
---
T/N:
¹ Little Black’s Chinese name is Xiao Hei (小黑)
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