“You will!? Thank you so much. If you are with me, Mr. Takumi, then I won’t be scared even if we’re attacked by orcs again!”
“Hahaha. Well, I didn’t do anything!”
“But I think it must be because of your power that Leo is with you.”
“…Hmm… You think so?”
All I did was feel sorry that she had been abandoned on the side of the road. And so I had taken her home with me.
But Leo was nodding her head as if she agreed…
…I was starting to get used to the idea that Leo understood words and could communicate with me.
“What kind of herbs were you looking for?”
“They are called Ramogi. They look like…”
And so Ms. Claire told us what they looked like, and Leo and I started searching for them.
I had thought it when she explained it to us, but perhaps she was talking about artemisia capillaries.
It was said that they grew near rivers and could help lower a fever.
However, Ms. Claire called it Ramogi, so maybe it was different.
She said that her younger sister had become ill and bed-ridden. And a doctor had told her that a herb in this forest that would help with her symptoms.
That being said, I was pretty sure that you could just go to a drug store and buy something for a fever…
But since Ms. Claire said that she wanted to search for it, I would go along with her.
“There doesn’t seem to be any here…”
“…But I heard that they grew around this river.”
Leo must have become bored of searching, as she was now playing in the river.
And since Leo was so big, searching for small plants didn’t really suit her.
It did cross my mind that a dog might be able to use their sense of smell…but then again, she couldn’t search for something if she didn’t know what it smelled like.
And so it was best for Leo to play on her own for now.
I had never been able to take her to a river before.
However…we had been searching for awhile now, but we were not able to find any plants that matched her description.
I looked down as I walked and squated every time I saw something similar. But since I wasn’t used to this kind of work, my back was starting to hurt a little.
I arched my back in order to stretch, and then saw that Ms. Claire was doing the same.
Her back must be hurting as well.
It’s what happened when you did something you weren’t used to.
After stretching, our eyes met and we chuckled before returning to our work of searching for the Ramogi.
I was walking down the river while searching for them, but since this was proving to be fruitless, I decided to sit down and rest for a while.
As my hands touched the ground and I slowly lowered myself, I thought once again about the features of the Ramogi.
The stem was hard like wood, its leaves were covered in fluff, making it look white. You were supposed to pick the flower directly from the stem and use it for medicine…
I looked at my hand which was on the ground. Between my fingers, I saw a plant that matched the description of the Ramogi I had been searching for.
Five of them had sprouted from the ground and started to grow. As I sat there in shock, flowers began to bloom from the plants, which looked like small trees.
“…What is happening…?”
This shouldn’t be possible. A plant had sprouted and suddenly grown right in front of me…
And yet I knew what I had seen.
Yes, this must be a dream.
But this was not the time for that. I had to go and tell Ms. Claire.
“Ms. Claire! I’ve found some Ramogi!”
I shouted, and then Ms. Claire, who had been searching a short distance away, came running.
Leo also came out of the river, and ran towards me while shaking the water from her fur.
“It’s this, isn’t it?”
As Ms. Claire approached me, I pointed at the Ramogi.
“…Yes. There is no doubt about it.”
“So we’ve finally found it.”
“Yes. Thanks to you, Mr. Takumi. I am so grateful!”
“No, not at all. It’s because you searched so hard for it.”
Ms. Claire was thanking me with great emotion, but we had to pick the flowers from the Ramogi first.
And so Ms. Claire and I picked the flowers from all five of the Ramogi stems.
Ms. Claire carefully put them into a leather bag and then bowed once again.
“Mr. Takumi, thank you so much for your help. Thanks to you, I was able to find the Ramogi that I came here for.”
“Hahaha, it’s nothing. I’m just glad that I was able to be of help.”
“Now, I must take this Ramogi and return at once. But…”
“My horse ran away after the orc attacked me…”
“Ahh… So, I suppose you’ll have to walk?”
“I have no choice… But I want to return as soon as possible…”
“Well, there’s no point in worrying about what you can’t change.”
“Hm? What is it, Leo?”
Leo started barking suddenly, and then she sat down with her back towards me and Ms. Claire.
Did she want us to ride on top?
“Leo. Are you going to carry us?”
But could she really carry people…
Well, her back did look big enough to carry four or five people.
“Ms. Claire. Would you like to ride on Leo?”
“…On a Silver Fenrir… Are you sure?”
Leo barked as if to say that it was fine.
Claire seemed to make a decision upon hearing this. She gulped once and then bowed again.
“…If you don’t mind, great Leo, I would be honored to.”
And so it was decided that we would ride on Leo.
First, I got onto Leo’s back and held onto her neck.
…But I had no experience riding horses or any other living creatures.
Judging from what I had seen up until now, Leo was capable of running with tremendous speed, and so I would have to hold on tight if I didn’t want to get shaken off.
Claire then followed me and got onto Leo’s back.
As she leaned forward and held onto me, I could feel her chest press into my back, and my face grew hot.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Takumi.”
“N-not at all. It’s fine. Let’s just go !”
Ms. Claire didn’t seem to mind.
I was the one that felt shaken and a little embarrassed.
Leo barked as if to say, ‘Are you on? Then let’s go,’ and she started running.
“Leo. Do you even know where to go?”
Apparently, not. She stopped immediately and looked a little disheartened.
So she had gotten carried away with excitement.
If you don’t know your destination and the direction you’re headed in, who knows what place you would end up?