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Chapter 46 – To Bear Territory
I ran behind Fio and Shiro, and Hippolius followed after me.
Judging from the Appraisal skill I was using while running, there were a decent amount of plants in the area that could be used for food.
Though, this merely meant they were edible, and not that they tasted good.
In order to check the taste, I would have to do a more thorough appraisal or eat them myself.
Regardless, if there were a lot of edible plants, that meant we were less likely to die of starvation.
After running for some time, Fio and Shiro stopped.
“Here!”
“Wuff.”
“Let me see.”
“Wuffu!”
Fio and Shiro pointed at some grass that was a dark green color.
Before touching it, I lightly used my Appraisal skill. It seemed like there was no harm in touching it.
And so I touched it directly and then activated the skill again.
“It is a herb. But
not for an antidote.”
“Wuffu
”
“Wuff
”
Fio and Shiro were disappointed.
And so I patted them on the head. Then I gathered the grass anyway and stored them in my magic bag.
“That’s good. Thank you.”
“Wuffu.”
“Wuff.”
“This can still be used to treat wounded or sick people. It’s a good find.”
“Wuff-wuff.”
“Wuff.”
Fio and Shiro wagged their tails happily.
“Let me know if you find any other herbs that are growing in the area.”
“Wou!”
“Wuffu!”
And then Fio and Shiro seemed to talk to each other before running off again.
I suppose they knew of a different gathering point for herbs.
“Wuff.”
“Oh, it really is a herb.”
“Wuffu!”
They ran around and this was repeated a few times. But we still could not find anything that could be used for an antidote.
“Is there anything else?”
“Wuffu
 There is.”
“Really?”
“But
 Bear.”
“Wuffu
”
Fio looked troubled as she held her tail with both hands in front of her.
Shiro then licked her face as if to cheer her up.
“So, you’re saying that the herbs are growing in this bear’s territory?”
“Yes.”
“I see. It’s fine if you don’t want to get close to the bear’s territory.”
“Mmm.”
“Hippolius and I will go and look for it. You two can wait at the base.”
“Theo, Hippo, go?”
‘Go! Hippolius will go with Theodore!’
Hippolius’s tail wagged enthusiastically.
As Fio was a Tamer, I didn’t need to translate in order for her to understand.
Though, because Hippolius was not Fio’s familiar, it would not be clear sentences.
But she would understand individual words and their meaning.
It would be very difficult for the average Tamer, but Fio was a genius.
“Wuffu! Fio go!”
“You want to come too?”
“Go! With Theo and Hippo.”
“Wuffu!”
I suppose she wasn’t scared of bears if Hippolius and I were there too.
That’s what Fio and Shiro thought. And I would have to live up to their expectations then.
That being said, my job was that of a non-combatant. And so it would be best to avoid fighting altogether.
“Let’s erase our presence, just in case.”
“Wuff.”
“Wuff.”
Fio and Shiro nodded their heads together.
Immediately after, their presence became weaker. They were very good at it.
They had probably been doing this when out hunting, or when they had to move while hiding from strong enemies.
But it was also sad that they had to do such things so often when they were still just children.
As I started to feel bad for them, I petted Fio and Shiro on the head.
And then their tails, which had been in the front, went back to normal.
Though, they were still not wagging them.
While they were a little nervous, it did not seem like they were afraid.
And so I spoke to Hippolius as well.
“Can you erase your presence too, Hippolius?”
‘I can! Kyuo!’
Apparently, this was Hippolius’s idea of erasing their presence.
Loud snorting and looking at me with a smug expression.
But Hippolius’s presence had not been erased at all.
“
I see. Perhaps you can practice later.”
“Kyuo?”
I gave up on trying to search for the medicinal herbs while erasing our presence so that the bear wouldn’t find us.
Instead, I would use a more traditional method of avoiding bears.
Be extra loud and a way of warning them.
It would be better if the bears just ran away.
And if they charged at us, I would just have to meet them with force.
But judging by what Fio and Shiro had told me about demon bears, it would probably charge at us.
“Hippolius. I’ll be counting on you if we have to fight.”
‘Leave it to me! Kyuo!’
I petted Hippolius. And then I turned to Shiro.
“Shiro. If we get attacked, then you have to take care of Fio.”
“Wuff.”
And then I put Fio on Shiro’s back.
“Focus on Fio’s safety rather than attacking. You can leave the rest to me and Hippolius.”
“Wuffu.”
After that, we continued farther in, while Fio and Shiro led the way.
I continued to activate my appraisal skill.
“There are a lot of edible plants here
”
“Kyuo.”
“I see. You want to eat some too, Hippolius.”
While I mostly thought of Hippolius as eating meat and fish, they actually ate almost anything.
“Next time, after this problem with Victor and the others is solved, we will search for some tasty grass as well.”
“Kyuo!”
Hippolius wagged their tail happily.
Perhaps Hippolius wanted to eat plants, since we’d been eating so much meat recently.
“Still, it’s great that there are so many edible plants here.”
“Kyuo.”
I purposely raised my voice as we moved, but I didn’t sense any bears approaching us.
Perhaps they were scared, since we had Hippolius, a high-ranking dragon with us.
As I thought of such things, Fio and Shiro stopped.
“Here!”
“Wuff.”
In front of them, various plants grew all over the ground.
“Thank you.”
I then activated the appraisal skill.
It was a kind of medicinal plant. It could probably be used for digestive medicine.
But I could not make an antidote with it.
“This will be useful after they take the antidote. That’s a great find.”
“Wuffu!”
“Wuffu!”
Fio and Shiro wagged their tails happily.
And so I gathered the materials for the digestive medicine and put them in my magic bag.