There Are Too Many Bugs in the Academy

Episode 20

8. The Alchemist of the Basalt Forest (2)

Long black hair that ran down to her chest. The gray eyes that twinkle reflected in the light of the luminous moss are looking straight at me.

At first he thought it was a monster, but as his vision gradually returned, the outline of a person appeared clearly.

If you look closely, you can see that it is the school uniform of Ortana.

It must have been that they got lost and flowed all the way here, or they were students who knew this place from the beginning.

“I don’t know anyone here but me, how did you come to know…?”

A soft but clear voice.

Because it is a joint venture, the sound of the voice resonating all over the place creates a very mysterious feeling.

Like a forest elf.

Wait, elf?

I noticed the shape of the ears protruding between the shiny hair. The slightly pointed one looks much longer than the average person.

Pebak Elf, in this world’s language, it was the Artel race.

“Is that Artel?”

“Um, no.”

“Huh? Those ears then…”

“I’m a harp.”

Half-elf, a hybrid of human and Artel, who is simply called a harp here.

Only then did I understand the combination of dark hair and long ears.

Pure-blood Artel doesn’t have black hair.

“How did you find it here?”

“I came in looking for black blood vinegar.”

I shrugged my shoulders casually and answered.

“If it’s a burrow in a huge tree like this, black bloodweed might be blooming.”

“That’s right. Yeah, that’s right. That’s reasonable.”

Perhaps it was an appropriate answer, she nodded.

“Then, did you just come for a walk?”

“Yeah. Here, my favorite place.”

Artel is a race that originally communicates with the forest.

In the forest, there is no fear of getting lost, and the living creatures always express their friendliness to Artel.

In addition, this is the place where it is said that Freya, the princess of Artel, who participated in the old demon king expedition in the movie, returned to nature.

So, it was not unusual for her, who is half Artel, to have special feelings for this place.

“Uh, um…”

In the sudden silence, I scratched the nape of my neck.

“Then it doesn’t matter if I gather it? I need black blood vinegar.”

“Yeah, but you can’t take too much. The circulation is disturbed.”

“Circulation?”

“Black blood plant grows by receiving the energy of the forest. It can only regenerate when that energy remains to some extent.”

In short, take it in moderation.

There was no problem at all because I was planning to collect only about 5 of them from the beginning.

I was going to take three to the herbalist, and sell or store the other two and use them usefully when learning alchemy in the future.

Of course, if Camilla finds a few more, it’s a great prize.

“Okay. Is it okay if I only take five?”

“Yeah. No problem.”

“Then I’ll pass for a while.”

He passed by the dark-haired Artel and moved to the black blooded colony.

It was because it was directly connected to the outside, and the gentle breeze was refreshing.

square square.

Shrug.

While enjoying the vivid energy of the forest, I started collecting black blood vinegar with the gathering tools I brought with me.

Almost all parts of black blood vinegar are used as valuable medicinals, but the most effective part is none other than the root.

How well the roots are collected is a measure that determines the value of black blood vinegar.

If all the small roots are saved, the value of 150 Kelly may double in some cases.

As I was about to use my brush to shake off the dirt on the roots of the black blood vinegar, Artel came up to me and squatted down next to me.

A sweet fruity scent wafts through the fresh air.

“Why, why?”

“I know how to gather black blood vinegar. It’s amazing.”

For a moment, there was life in her eyes, which looked particularly fierce.

Is it interesting to see that the tone of his voice, which had been languidly drooping, has risen slightly?

Aside from her interest, in fact, there is no way that the player doesn’t know how to gather Black Blood.

It is this Black Blood Plant that can provide the most efficient supply of funds in the second half.

When it comes to cost-effectiveness, how can a Korean gamer who will survive death not master such technology?

“Are you an alchemist?”

“no.”

“Then where did you learn it?”

I can’t say I found out while playing the game, so I had to come up with a plausible reason this time too.

“Well, my parents were herbalists.”

“ah-ha, I see.”

She said nothing more. He just sat there quietly by my side until my gathering work was finished.

It’s still a quiet space, but it seems strangely strange to see a girl who seems to be her age sticking to her side and exhaling colorful breaths.

‘He’s a bit of an odd character. I’m used to something.’

I thought of the Artel races I saw in the game.

There was never a kid who was described as Hafartel.

‘Then, is he a newly added character like Kim Tae-hoon and Yoon So-young? There was no sewing machine for that.’

That moment.

Suddenly, the contents of a certain quest flashed through my mind.

Ortana’s epic quest that occurs during the summer vacation of her sophomore year.

‘The boundary between life and death’.

Apart from the Liberation Front, this is a quest to prevent evil spirit magicians from entering the island through the deep sea and summoning the raid boss, Thanatos, the lord of the abyss.

And at the end of that quest, there was an unfortunate NPC who was kidnapped by magicians and sacrificed as a living sacrifice.

The victim was Ortana’s third year student, Illyana Noel, the black-haired Artel.

The current Ortana sophomore, Artel with beautiful black hair.

If so, maybe?

“……excuse me.”

“yes?”

“Is your name Illiana Noel?”

At the words that she threw away in case she didn’t know, her eyes lit up with surprise.

“how did you know?”

I was at a loss for words at the reaction so obvious.

* * *

Lord Thanatos of the Abyss.

Among users, it is a raid monster that is evaluated as a stronger boss than the final boss of the title, ‘Giant’s Foot’ Galelum, the commander of the Liberation Front.

The pattern is messy, and above all, the number of colleagues who can participate in the raid is smaller than the final episode of the main scenario.

The fact that Aidan’s specs aren’t that great, as it was an episode that took place during the summer vacation of his sophomore year, also contributed to the formation of the vicious difficulty.

Those days when I had to retry for two days and two nights to break that was really terrible.

The setting was that he was barely able to defeat it because of the special magic and blessings of the high priests of the temple, not Aidan’s ability.

Whether in the work or among users, it has a status that is almost equal to that of the Demon King.

And it is Illyana Noel who is sacrificed as a sacrifice necessary to summon such an anomaly.

It was that innocent half-artel.

An evil necromancer rules her heart, which was writhing painfully on the altar painted with the magic circle of curses.

It was a truly heartbreaking scene from the player’s point of view to be swallowed up by the energy of death and finally descend as Thanatos’ whole body.

“Twitch.”

Without realizing it, I was bitten by the scene I remember vividly.

A character with a much more unfortunate ending than Bernax.

The only scene where you can see what she is like is just before she is sacrificed and after the battle of Thanatos is over, the ghastly corpse is all there is.

It’s something I can understand that I couldn’t easily recall.

‘But why did I have to be Illyana? There must be many other children. It doesn’t seem to have anything to do with Thanatos… … .’

A small question suddenly came to mind, but for now, it doesn’t really mean anything.

If Aidan, who is the main character, does not perform the preceding quests, no tragedy will come to her.

The subject of this world is Aidan, not me. Her fate rests purely on Aidan.

‘But Aidan is preparing well, right?’

With that thought in mind, Illyana immediately called out my name and asked.

“But what do you think?”

Are you expressing your friendliness, or are you calling people that way? A person who cannot read thoughts at all.

“It’s nothing. I’m leaving now that the gathering is over. What will you do, Illyana-senpai?”

“Aha… And don’t just call me Illyana. I feel weird…”

Hafartel wiggled his fingers as if tickled. I changed the name again and asked.

“Then, Iliana, what are you going to do?”

“I want to go too.”

With those words, I carefully wrapped the finely collected black blood vinegar in a cloth, got up from my seat, and headed for the exit.

“Wow…!”

Come out of the burrow carefully so that the furoshiki does not get caught anywhere.

“Soundbite.”

Unlike me, who had a hard time getting out, Illyana came out without much difficulty.

She has a different body type from Camilla, who is flexible but has a strong body. Even the white forearms look soft and feel like they will feel better when you touch them.

As I was thinking a little rude thought, my eyes met Illyana’s eyes.

“why?”

“Um! Hmmm! It’s nothing.”

I diverted my questioning gray eyes and walked in the direction I had left Camilla.

Soon, her signature lively voice is heard from among the trees.

“Sanwoo! Where are you? I found two! Now I just need to find one!”

It doesn’t disappoint, either.

“Camilla! Here it is!!”

After shouting out loud to announce the location, Camilla appeared from among the trees after a while.

“Uh-huh, where have you been? You must’ve had trouble finding it.”

“I was busy collecting a lot of black blood vinegar. I’m sorry.”

However, the condition of the black blood vinegar she was holding in her hand was very strange.

Seeing that the leaves are droopy and not lively… … .

It must have been dug in the wrong way from the time of digging. There are hardly any small roots left?

“Hey, didn’t you dig this as I told you?”

“Huh? Isn’t that just being fired?”

“……”

“Eh, why? What’s wrong?”

Camilla slowly looked into my eyes. I took a deep breath and answered her.

“You have to carefully dig up the roots. And if you run with both hands, of course it won’t be damaged? Look at this.”

I showed her the black blood that I had collected. It is so full of vitality that no one can compare it with the withered Camila’s.

“Ah, ah…”

“I can’t help it. It won’t matter much to the herbalist anyway. This is enough to sell.”

He also took the black blood vinegar that Camilla was holding and wrapped it again in a cloth. This way, at least it won’t get any worse.

Then Camilla’s gaze finally shifted to Illyana.

“But Sanwoo, who’s next to you…?”

“I’m Iliana-senpai, a sophomore in Ortana. We met by chance while gathering.”

After a brief introduction, Illyana bowed lightly and greeted her. Camilla also politely waved goodbye.

“hello.”

“Yeah. Nice to meet you too. But Sanwoo. Show me that black blood vinegar again.”

Illyana pointed to the bundle with her first finger.

“Why is this?”

“hurry.”

She urged her in a soft voice.

‘What’s going to happen?’

As she casually unwrapped the package, Illyana suddenly pulled a clear liquid out of her pocket and poured it over the black blood vinegar.

“Ugh!! What are you doing!!!!”

“The potion of preservation. It will come alive now.”

As soon as the words were finished, the leaves of the black blood plant that Camilla was carrying began to recover.

The dark green leaves are vibrant, and the drooping stems are straight.

Changes occurred not only in Camilla, but also in the black blood plants I had gathered.

As if planted in the ground, the petals glisten in the soft light, and even the plump swollen roots.

Previously, if it had been only an advanced level, it had now changed to a state that would be evaluated as almost the highest level.

I had no choice but to open my mouth at the formidable effect.

“If you can make potions like this…! Illyana, what’s your alchemy grade?”

Illyana answered my question indifferently, as if nothing had happened.

“master.”