Chapter 26. Day 4
The Medical Mushroom appeared in the hideout.
After regenerating the apple I was holding, it started sprinkling pink liquid on the apples that others were eating as well.
【Mysticism】─ 😐
【Pururu】─ “What the heck? When did it come here? Did it secretly follow us?”
【Yumi】─ “Maybe it just came to heal us? After all, those apples are technically living things.”
I shared the same thought.
It seemed that the mushroom had come because it perceived the summoned apples as injured beings and came to heal them.
It must have some sort of sensor that detects the injured.
【Pururu】─ “But aren’t those apples already dead? Could it possibly resurrect them too?”
【Yumi】─ “They’re still alive.”
【Pururu】─ “?? How can they be alive when they’ve been eaten?”
【Yumi】─ “Yes. I’ve observed that they only die after you take two or three bites.”
Before long, all the summoned apples had regenerated.
The monsters were happy to have more food, and Rizenova was staring at the apples in disbelief.
The Medical Mushroom looked around.
Then, it spotted the Poison Apple.
［Squeak…］
It quickly averted its gaze.
It must have lost interest because it sensed that the Poison Apple was already dead.
［Squeak!］
The mushroom waved its tentacle-like appendage at us in a friendly manner.
Then, it leisurely floated toward Passage No. 8.
【Pururu】─ “Goodbye, kind mushroom!”
【Mysticism】─ 😇
【Yumi】─ “Geon, are you just going to let it go? Aren’t you going to catch it?”
Of course, I planned to catch it.
I couldn’t miss such a good opportunity.
The creature I had been looking for, which was nowhere to be found, had come to me on its own.
I took another big bite of the apple I was holding.
At that moment,
［Squeak?!］
The Medical Mushroom spun around in surprise.
It was the reaction I had expected.
It wasn’t going to leave after seeing an injured “being.”
The mushroom hurriedly flew back to me and stopped right in front of me.
［Squeak!］
With a concerned look in its eyes.
Once again, it began to drip its pink liquid on the apple.
Its entire focus was on the apple.
【Pururu】─ “I thought the mushroom would resent you, but it’s surprisingly calm.”
【Yumi】─ “It seems like it doesn’t care about who caused the injury, only about healing the injured.”
The mushroom’s cap.
There was a red circular spot visible on it.
Without hesitation, I reached out and placed my palm on the spot.
［Squeak?］
There was no resistance.
The mushroom just stared at me blankly.
‘Looks like I don’t need to restrain it with Dog Spider’s web.’
This mushroom was friendly to all living things.
That’s why I didn’t use any forceful methods.
There was no need to restrain or forcibly tame a creature that was already at its highest level of friendliness from the start.
That would only backfire and make things difficult.
【Pururu】─ “The mushroom is really well-behaved.”
【Yumi】─ “Indeed. It’s very docile.”
‘Let’s see, the speed of color change…’
I checked the spot.
The color of the spot had turned completely green.
The red part was nowhere to be seen.
“… What the heck.”
【Pururu】─ “What?”
【Mysticism】─ 🤔
“It’s only been 10 seconds, but it’s already completely tamed?”
【Mysticism】─ 😮
【Pururu】─ “?? Really? That was fast.”
【Yumi】─ “It’s probably because it didn’t have any hostility towards you.”
【Pururu】─ “Maybe it secretly wanted to be tamed by you. What a shameless mushroom.”
It took me two minutes to tame Dog Spider.
And that was before it had even fully hatched from its egg.
But the Medical Mushroom took only 10 seconds.
This meant.
It had no trace of hostility towards any living being, didn’t guard itself against anyone, and was always ready to be tamed by someone like a tamer.
Of course, there might be another reason…
But honestly, I didn’t care about the reason.
What mattered was that I tamed it quickly.
［Squeak!］
【Pururu】─ “What an easy monster. Lol.”
【Yumi】─ “Can’t you be a little more polite?”
【Pururu】─ “It just got tamed by a simple touch. If that’s not easy, I don’t know what is.”
【Yumi】─ “There are other ways to describe it, you know? You could say it’s an ‘easy catch.'”
【Pururu】─ “Is it even female?”
【Yumi】─ “Its body is pink, so it’s probably female, right?”
【Pururu】─ “Stop being so biased.”
【Mysticism】─ 😠
The Medical Mushroom floated around me with a bright smile.
And just like that, I gained a fourth monster companion—my healer.
***
“Oh! This monster is very obedient to you. Did you use your ability to tame it?”
Rizenova asked while stroking the mushroom.
I nodded in affirmation.
I had already told him about my taming ability.
There was no reason to hide it.
The Medical Mushroom quickly became friendly with the other monsters too.
It had a naturally sociable personality.
“Mushi.”
［Squeak?］
“We met earlier, didn’t we?”
I asked to confirm whether it was the same mushroom that had healed my finger.
［Squeak!］
The mushroom nodded affirmatively.
It wasn’t a different individual after all.
【Pururu】─ “Hey, Geon, check if that mushroom has any junk.”
【Yumi】─ “Sigh.”
Such pointless curiosity from my assistant.
I checked for a moment, but there was no sign of anything resembling genitals.
【Yumi】─ “You’re really going to check that…”
【Pururu】─ “So, does it have one?”
“It doesn’t have any genitals.”
【Pururu】─ “Lol, so there are monsters without genitals too. That means it’s neither male nor female.”
【Yumi】─ “Of course. It’s a mushroom. Mushrooms reproduce by spores.”
【Pururu】─ “But this is a monster, so it could be different. And didn’t you just say it looked female?”
【Pururu】─ “Anyway, Geon. Now check that Rizenova guy too.”
【Yumi】─ “Why on earth would you check Rizenova?”
“Why?”
Yumi and I asked at the same time.
Then Rizenova leaned in and asked.
“Did you call me?”
“No, I was just talking to my assistants.”
“Ah, I see.”
I had briefly explained the existence of my assistants to him.
Otherwise, I’d look like a lunatic talking to myself all the time.
【Pururu】─ “I’ve been wondering what Rizenova’s gender is. His voice is so neutral.”
【Yumi】─ “He’s probably male. He doesn’t have breasts.”
【Pururu】─ “?? Are you out of your mind?”
【Yumi】─ “Why are you swearing all of a sudden?”
【Mysticism】─ 😠😡🤬
【Pururu】─ “See? You pissed off Mysti by saying no breasts means not female.”
【Yumi】─ “Mysti is a girl?”
【Pururu】─ “Probably? Based on how she got jealous last time, she seems like a girl. Anyway, apologize for your earlier statement.”
【Yumi】─ “I’m sorry.”
【Mysticism】─ 😠
【Pururu】─ “By the way, I’m not small.”
【Yumi】─ “So, Pururu is a girl too?”
【Pururu】─ “Stop asking about my gender. A guy can be big too.”
【Yumi】─ “Pururu, are you a girl? Pururu, are you a girl? Pururu, are you a girl?”
【Pururu】─ “Shut up. Stop spamming.”
While my assistants were arguing in the chat.
I cautiously asked Rizenova about his gender.
I was curious too, after all.
To my question, Rizenova responded.
“I am genderless.”
“Oh. So your species doesn’t have genders?”
“Not exactly. My species has males, females, and genderless individuals.”
I see.
That answered my question.
【Pururu】─ “So, not a girl.”
【Yumi】─ “Good to know.”
【Mysticism】─ 😀
“Your species doesn’t have genderless individuals?”
“Not as far as I know.”
“Interesting. You must be curious about the uniqueness of being genderless, then…”
Once Rizenova started talking, he didn’t stop.
He went on and on about things I hadn’t asked about.
Apparently, the chance of being born genderless in his species was less than 1%.
Genderless individuals were usually strong and lived long lives.
And so on.
I had to listen to this information, even though I wasn’t particularly interested.
It wouldn’t have been polite to ignore him since it was my question that started the conversation.
When Rizenova finally finished talking.
［Squeak~］
The Medical Mushroom waved its tentacles and began floating toward Passage No. 8 again.
“Mushroom, where are you going?”
［Squeak?］
“You’re not going to heal other creatures, are you?”
［Squeak? Squeak!］
It seemed like that was exactly what it intended.
Even though it had been tamed by me, it still planned to roam the labyrinth healing the injured.
“If you heal anyone and everyone, you might end up healing our enemies too. From now on, don’t heal anyone except for us. You’re our companion now.”
［Squeak.］
“If you understand, come back here.”
［Squeak.］
The mushroom slowly floated back to me.
“From now on, don’t leave my side. Got it?”
［Squeak, squeak?!］
【Pururu】─ “Why is it blushing?”
【Yumi】─ “Why would its cheeks turn red…?”
【Mysticism】─ 😡
At my words, the mushroom nodded its cap.
That day, the Medical Mushroom didn’t leave my side for even a moment.
***
Day 4 in the labyrinth.
Once again, no monsters attacked while we slept.
It wasn’t that monsters couldn’t step foot here.
After all, some wandering monsters had found their way here before.
We could never let our guard down since wandering monsters could come at any time.
‘I should set up some barricades at the passages one of these days.’
With that thought in mind, I set out for exploration again.
Today’s exploration area was Passage No. 8.
The goals were to map out the area, secure food, and search for the Drifters.
Naturally, Rizenova accompanied me.
Even though I had given him the Execution Sword as a gift and he could’ve taken a break from exploring, splitting up to search would help us find the Drifters more quickly.
I also promised to give him the Transferable Return Ticket whenever he wanted it.
More than anything, I was in a good mood after taming the Medical Mushroom so easily.
“Let’s meet back here at noon.”
“Yes. Take care.”
Rizenova and I exchanged farewells at the fork in the path and then went our separate ways to continue exploring.
Aside from the addition of the mushroom to my group, the team was the same as yesterday.
Currently, Mysti was the only assistant watching me.
【Mysticism】─ 😐
After about an hour of exploring.
As I walked aimlessly, a small opening in the cave wall caught my eye.
【Mysticism】─ 😶
I slowly entered the opening.
Beyond it was a small chamber.
There were no luminous stones in the room, but it wasn’t dark thanks to Magma Slime’s presence.
‘What’s this place?’
An unfamiliar energy filled the chamber.
It didn’t feel like magic, but rather something closer to a psychic power.
I cautiously moved further inside.
Then, I noticed shelves lining the walls.
They were made of stone.
Displayed on the shelves were what appeared to be various body parts of monsters.
And,
［Screech?］
［Yes…］
［Squeak…］
There were also two human fingers.