The Goddess Granted Me the [Hatching] Skill and Somehow I Became the Strongest Tamer, Commanding Mythical and Divine Beasts - 5

After walking for several hours away from the town, they entered the forest.

Along the way, they passed through a plain off the main road, but they encountered no goblins as expected.

Since the footing became rough, they proceeded cautiously to avoid tripping.

They walked for about half an hour…

“I can’t find any herbs.”

They had been exploring for hours into the forest. Still, there was no sign of herbs, and impatience started to set in.

(Come to think of it, if they were easy to find, the reward wouldn’t be that high…)

As the receptionist had mentioned, other adventurers knew where herbs grew naturally and came regularly to collect them. Conversely, if one didn’t know those locations, finding them wouldn’t be easy.

In that case, they had no choice but to persist patiently.

They would wander through the forest, note down where they found herbs, and gradually increase efficiency by revisiting those places regularly.

“I can’t complain and give up, especially for Celia’s sake.”

For saving their life, their parents had given them expensive medicine, and Celia had given up studying abroad to repay their debts. They couldn’t make their family unhappy because of them.

They gathered their resolve and continued their herb search.

“At last, I’ve found it…”

About an hour of wandering later, they finally discovered herbs growing right in front of them.

“With this, I’ve secured today’s earnings.”

Even finding one piece meant earning as much as a regular day’s work.

Coming this far from town made it hard work, but that was just the luck of the draw.

As they reached out to pick the herb…

“…!”

“Whoa!”

Something moved on the ground, and they were surprised to see a palm-sized purple-spotted caterpillar.

This caterpillar was called a “Magic Worm,” which stored magical power within its body.

Though not particularly strong, its silk was imbued with magic, making it even used in fine cloth.

It seemed you could capture and breed them to extract silk, but surprisingly delicate, they quickly died from stress if their living conditions changed.

While recalling this knowledge about Magic Worms…

The Magic Worm continued to feed, leisurely moving around and munching on leaves. On closer inspection, the leaves were herbs, and after finishing eating, the Magic Worm headed towards the herb they were about to pick.

“I won’t let you!”

If it ate this herb, they’d lose today’s earnings.

They swung their sword, feeling a hard sensation as the Magic Worm was sent flying.

“That was close…”

It was the first time they’d learned that the Magic Worm’s main diet was herbs.

Could it be that they hadn’t found any herbs in the forest all this time because of this little guy?

“Ew… it’s laying eggs…”

Purple eggs the size of wheat grains were stuck to the herb. They brushed them off with their hand and crushed them. If these hatched and ate the herbs, they wouldn’t be able to collect any in the future.

Nature’s competition was harsh indeed.

“Well, I managed somehow today. I guess it’s time to head back…”

They sighed and looked up at the daunting situation ahead.

“Welcome home, big brother.”

After cashing in at the adventurer’s guild, receiving eggs at the poultry farm, and taking off their equipment in the barn, they returned home, and Celia ran up to them.

“Huh? Don’t you smell more sweaty than usual?”

Celia sniffed and brought her face closer to them.

“Since I worked a bit harder today, can I take a bath first?”

“Yes, I’ve used magic to heat water for you. Please relax and relieve your fatigue.”

The bath wasn’t something found in every household. Using magical tools to fill it with enough water to soak one’s whole body seemed extravagant.

When Celia mastered four-element magic, she decided to build a bath in the house. Compared to drying off with cloth, being able to warm the entire body helped ease fatigue.

“Should I wash your back for you?”

Celia teased with a sidelong glance.

“At your age, there’s no way you’re getting into the bath with your little sister. And don’t make jokes like that, Celia.”

“Okay.”

When I scolded her, she returned happily into the house.

I soaked in the bath Celia prepared, then afterward, we had dinner with our parents and sister, chatting and laughing.

—

“Now, has everyone gone to bed?”

It was midnight when I got up from bed and turned on the magical light. To avoid alerting my family, I minimized the light and took eggs from the drawer.

“Using this will definitely make me tired…”

It was a skill given by Goddess Muse, after all. It’d be a waste not to use it.

I used the skill “Hatching” on the egg and felt fatigue rapidly accumulating.

“Pant, pant… that should do it…”

“Peep, peep!”

A yellow fuzzball looked up at me. I hurriedly covered its beak, but the chick started to struggle, so I cradled it in my hands.

The chick pressed its head against my finger, curling up and beginning to sleep. Its body was warm, its down fluffy and comforting.

Watching the chick like that,

“Brother, are you still awake?”

There was a knock on the door, and Celia called out.

I quickly pulled up the sheet.

“Brother?”

The door opened, and Celia came in wearing frilly pajamas.

“Is everything okay?”

“No, I felt waves of magic coming from your room, so I got curious.”

Perhaps reacting to the magical device, she looked around the room curiously, tilting her head in wonder.

“I’m just feeling a bit alert. I’ll go to sleep soon.”

“Is that so? Then, is everything alright?”

As Celia left, I breathed a sigh of relief. The chick crawled out from under the sheet and chirped softly, but fortunately, no sound leaked through the sheet.

“For now, I should put this one in the chicken coop tomorrow morning…”

While they currently bought eggs from the market, they used to keep chickens in the past.

After a disease wiped them all out, they had stopped keeping them, but if they could hatch with this skill, maybe it was time to start again.

“If it grows up healthy, maybe it’ll save us from buying eggs.”

That could contribute a bit to the household finances. I believed that steady efforts like this would eventually yield results.

“For now, I’m tired… I should go to sleep…”

“Peep.”

I moved the chick to beside my pillow and gently stroked it, and the chick responded with a chirp.