Chapter 5. Making use of the days of observation to work.
***
Once the two were back, Amber gave Jake a fresh set of clothes and told him to clean himself.
After he was done, she dragged him into her bed and told him to sleep.
Jake, whose body was worn out, couldn't break free from her grasp and fell asleep next to her.
…..
The very next morning at Amber's home.
He was already awake before the clock hit five on it. Looking around, he found Amber's room quite big for one person.
"Haaa. This woman really went to sleep with a man she met a few days ago." He couldn't help but think about Amber's actions.
Letting him sleep right next to her, in her own room and even locking all exits to make sure he wouldn't run away.
Still, he was grateful for it. Leaving that aside, he stood up and got ready to go to the forest. He plans to find some herbs in the forest and sell them to the pharmacy and alchemist in the town.
The first thing he needs to do is to leave this place. Going towards the door he found a thick lock on it.
"She really went and put a lock on the door to keep me here!?" Scary if he was being honest, what kind of woman would lock herself with a man in her own bed?
"But what's the point of locking it when you just leave the key in the open?" The key to the lock was just on the small table next to the bed.
Picking it up and going back to the door, he prepared himself to leave the room.
"Hmmm?" Weird, the key in his hand should be able to open the lock, but for some reason, it won't even go in. Bending over and peeking inside the keyholes, he found it neatly flat.
"Is that supposed to be like that?" He asked, putting the key before his eyes. The key had ups and downs, having its own unique design, just like a normal key should.
Pondering whether he just missed the keyhole before, Jake put the key back into it. Again, he could not push even the tip of the key inside.
"Yup! This is her Zero skill." There was no other explanation for this. If this was not the work of her Zero skill, then what else?
Should he give up and go back to sleep since he doesn't have a way to get out of here? Or maybe wake up Amber in her sleep and tell her to open the door for him.
Both options have their own strength. But both were dismissed for him. One thing about him, the moment he wakes up, he cannot go back to sleep for the next hour or two.
Now, here left inside the Amber room with her. Jake could only wait for her to wake up and finally open the door.
Bored, he had nothing on him to entertain him; if this was on Earth, he would at least have a phone to use and find a way to entertain himself.
Now in this world, he could only gaze at Amber's sleeping expression to pass the time. "She's really beautiful though." He muttered, covering her with the blanket to keep the cold away.
— — —
In the end, he waited for Amber for two hours till she woke up and was finally able to leave the room. After a small pep talk and breakfast, the two separated and made their way to their own work.
Amber works in the adventurer guild, helping the receptionist keep track of the work papers and organizing them.
Jake, who was still unemployed, has no proper place to call a work office or building.
He could only watch as the two of them separated in the center of the town, as Amber went to the East gate, where the adventurer guild is, and he went to the west gate, where the forest is.
Going towards the west gate, he found Allen and Roth already there guarding. Once he was on sight the two said at the same time: "Another day of observing?"
Which he replied with: "No, not today. I'll plan to gather some herbs and sell them to those who need them." Continuing his walk outside the gate.
The two glance at each other before calling him out to give him something. "Here take this at least," Allen said, giving him the Pouch of Water.
Roth pulled out a dagger on the side and gave it to Jake, too. "Use this to protect yourself there." Taking them, Jake gave them a nod and made his way to the forest.
Watching the man who did nothing for three days straight and only watched people returning from their hunt, both wondered if he was gonna be alright.
Unbeknownst to them, Jake wasn't simply watching people come back to the town to see the adventurers in the last three days for nothing.
He was in fact observing and taking all necessary information about what had worth and could be sold. An example of this is the look of the herbs being sold and used by the people.
In which direction are the strong monsters and where are the normal beasts? These two were his goals for observing the last three days.
Now that he was taking on the forest himself. He knew what he needed to take and harvest in the forest and which direction he should avoid and which one was safe.
"The giant walls of the town circled the entire place. If we consider the town as a clock, then the west gate is 9 o'clock. On the same side as 9, there are 7,8,10, and 11."
In these five directions, he ranks which one was dangerous and which one was the safest. From the people coming back, he found that 7 had the most herbs collected with little harvest of beast meat.
8 had minimal herbs collected, but were rich in beast meat. People coming back from this direction carried at least ten horn rabbits every day.
9 was balanced, both in herbs and beast meat. Occasionally, there are other things people bring back, for example, goblins, wolves, and even remains of sky monsters.
10 and 11, were the most dangerous. People coming back from this direction are either knocked out, being carried by their team, or even covered in wounds and blood.
A no-go area for him to take. This was the only thing he could do, since he had no money to buy a map of this place. Simple yet effective for him.
"Let's see. I obviously took 7 as it's the safest out of them all." Muttering those words, he found something within his sight. Moving forward towards it, he found a small sign with a 1 on it.
"So I'm already in danger rank 1." The people of this town had placed this sign as a ranking system of the forest. Each sign covered 20 meters at best; the deeper you go, the more dangerous it is.
"I see, so I need to walk for five minutes straight after leaving the gate before I get to this area. Since this is the start of rank 1, I should start now."
Without wasting any more seconds, Jake started roaming around the area to find them herbs.