After quickly gathering information about the mushrooms to collect and the monsters that had appeared at the forest entrance with Lisbeth, we entered the forest together.
Initially, I offered to go first, and she agreed, but then suddenly cried out "Ah!" and insisted on going ahead herself.
Though puzzled, we switched places and headed towards the possible mushroom-gathering area.
Her face seemed slightly flushed; perhaps I was mistaken?
The mushrooms to be collected were energy mushrooms used to restore stamina and vitality.
It's said that drinking tonics made from them is quite effective when fatigued.
As for the monsters—this forest isn't particularly monster-prone, but occasionally you'll see forest wolves, forest boars, red foxes, and other monsters.
These names, borrowed from Earth animals, caught my attention; perhaps it's some kind of automatic translation skill?
These creatures themselves aren't particularly dangerous; what we really need to be wary of are the occasional griffins. Griffins aren't normally found in this type of forest, but young individuals sometimes briefly stop over once or twice a year, only hunting briefly before returning. Therefore, there's no need to worry excessively.
The last reported victim was said to have occurred ten years ago.
However, several unfortunate individuals have indeed been seriously injured or killed by griffins in this forest, so caution is advised.
Furthermore, it was added that if a particularly large griffin uses its abilities, one should try to escape at all costs.
Griffins of that caliber are far beyond the capabilities of novice adventurers to handle in numbers.
It would probably require carrying Lisbeth at full speed to escape.
"Lisbeth, are there any rivers or anything like that in this forest?"
"There's a small spring a little further on. Why are you asking?"
"Ah~ It's troublesome to bathe in this body, so I thought I'd wash myself before continuing if there was a river. It'll save time."
"No wonder the stench of wild animals kept wafting over when I brought you here… Get away. It's disgusting."
This bitch?
While patrolling the forest and talking, he suddenly turned and glared at Lisbeth, who had said he smelled bad.
Lisbeth walked straight ahead without even looking at him.
Although her cloak concealed her figure, with each step, the cloak swayed, revealing glimpses of her white-stockinged legs and her buttocks covered by her skirt.
Although he glared angrily, he suppressed his restless impulse upon seeing her back and looked around the forest again.
Feeling awkward for some reason, and struggling to find a topic of conversation, he suddenly remembered that Lisbeth was a magician and asked.
"Speaking of Lisbeth, since you're a mage, I'd like to ask if you know anything about the Humanization skill?"
"Humanization skill? What, you want to become human?"
"Sort of...this appearance isn't really convenient for living among humans."
"Hmm...I'm not entirely sure of the details...I vaguely remember reading in a book that monsters, after becoming divine beasts, can learn it as their Ethel quantity increases?"
"Oh...it can be learned as long as the Ethel quantity increases?" That's something to look forward to.
My Ethel quantity, as confirmed when I received my adventurer card, while I don't know the exact required number, is supposedly comparable to a hero with an unlimited quantity.
Considering that even Lisbeth, hailed as a genius mage, only has around 12,000, judging from the quantity alone, the condition should already be met, right?
"Any other conditions?"
"Hmm...I don't know the details. It's said that even the divine beasts couldn't give a specific answer. Maybe living a long time will naturally allow me to master it?"
Ah, wait a minute. This...I'm pressed for time right now. If the condition is living for hundreds of years, that's truly hopeless.
"Actually, some mythical beasts do take around 50 years to learn to speak and acquire anthropomorphic abilities, so it's not absolute. After all, the principle hasn't been explained, and no one can know for sure."
"I really hope the condition isn't living a long life…"
"Um… although it's uncertain, it might be a type of skill that monsters acquire through training. I don't know if you can learn it. Okay, we're here." I glared at Lisbeth, who added an extra explanation at the end, and a slightly open space appeared ahead. The ground was covered with moss-like weeds, and green mushrooms were sprouting everywhere.
"I'll gather them. You're in charge of carrying the bag and checking for monsters. If a monster comes and you don't spot it, you'll get the worst rating and I'll never hire you again. You'd better figure it out."
Lisbeth said this, placing the bag and wand in front of me, and began picking mushrooms deeper in.
This woman has a terrible personality… My gaze was involuntarily drawn to Lisbeth's legs and swaying chest as she squatted to pick mushrooms.
No, no.
This is the first task; I need to concentrate.
I shook my head and looked around.
Although I carefully surveyed the surroundings, there was nothing unusual, only the occasional rustling sound of Lisbeth moving about.
I quickly grew bored and, staring at the mushrooms at my feet, asked Lisbeth:
"Lisbeth, I've heard these mushrooms are very effective at relieving fatigue... Do they work even when eaten raw?"
Lisbeth glanced at me briefly, then smiled slightly and replied:
"Want to try some? It's a shame they don't work when eaten raw, but our quota is almost up."
Hmm.
Really?
Even if they don't work, trying one shouldn't hurt, so I chewed one.
Ugh... it only tastes like earth. This mushroom isn't very tasty... After chewing three more mushrooms, I looked around again. Just as Lisbeth was about to wake up, seemingly after the event was over, I heard a whooshing sound somewhere. Looking around, I caught a glimpse of the sky. "!? Lisbeth! Something's flying over there!?"
"Wh-what!? Could it be?!" Lisbeth rushed to me, grabbing her wand from her bag and looking up at the sky. "...! It's a griffin!" The dot-like object in the distance gradually grew into a recognizable size as it flew towards me. A monster with a hawk's head, a strange lower body, and white wings—exactly as I had imagined—appeared.
"Of all times, when Ars wasn't here…!" The griffin flew rapidly towards Lisbeth.
Its target seemed to be Lisbeth, not me.
I nimbly stepped in front of Lisbeth, about to swing my forepaws at the oncoming griffin…
"Gah!" It changed direction with incredible force, soaring back into the sky.
Speed aside, the way it could fly was astounding.
"Chirp chirp—!" The griffin in the air let out a strange cry, seemingly preparing to swoop down again.
The information I'd heard about griffins mentioned that once they lock onto their prey, they never give up.
Since Lisbeth was being targeted, it meant that thing had to be taken down.
"Tch…! Lisbeth! Can we blast it to the ground!?"
"How will we know if we don't try! But it looks small! Flame Shot!" With the shout, a magic circle appeared before Lisbeth's wand, and several fireballs shot out.
But the griffin easily dodged the fireballs and swooped straight at Lisbeth.
"Where do you think you're going, you little devil!" Just as I blocked Lisbeth's path, this time the griffin seemed to have anticipated my movement, suddenly changing direction and approaching from the side.
Unable to keep up with the rapid turn, I could only swing my hind legs towards where it came from.
"Take this roundhouse kick!" Although I felt a slight glancing blow to the griffin, it didn't seem to cause any real damage. However, Lisbeth didn't miss the opportunity; I saw her constructing a magic circle.
"Fireball!" Before the words were even finished, a fireball larger than a human head, generated from the magic circle, slammed directly into the griffin's torso, which was inches away. With a violent explosion, the griffin screamed and tumbled to the ground.
"Chirp! Chirp! Chirp—!" Witnessing this, I rushed forward and kicked the griffin hard in the head as it tried to get up.
The griffin's neck snapped with a crack, and then Lisbeth finished it off with several fire spells at the convulsing griffin.
"Ha... no wonder it's a divine beast, its stats are top-notch. But judging from the griffin's lack of use of its size advantage and its lack of skills, it's probably a cub less than a year old."
"Wow... its movements were so agile just now, and it's a cub?"
"If we raise it for another year, its size will double. Once it uses its skills, we have no chance of winning, right? Its speed will be much faster too." A griffin only half my size is a cub, and it's already grown to that size in less than a year. I heard its speed will also increase; if it gets any bigger, we're completely out of luck.
"Ha, but because it's a cub, it won't fetch a good price. Of course, if it gets any bigger, we won't be able to catch it..."
Hmm.
Cubs don't seem to be worth much.
I looked at Lisbeth with slight regret... "...!!! Lisbeth! Behind you! Behind you!!!"
"What!? Ahhh!!!" Suddenly, a huge green boar-like monster leaped out from behind Lisbeth and pounced on her.
Did she have honey on her back?
Even the mad bull gets targeted the same way.
Lisbeth tried to dodge, but crashed into a tree and fell to the ground.
I charged straight at the boar that was attacking her and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick.
The boar flew several meters, twitched a few times, and died.
That back kick was fucking powerful.
"Hey Lisbeth. Are you alright?"
"Ouch, my hand is scraped... That monster bastard..." As Lisbeth clapped her hands and stood up, I gasped.
The buttons on her shirt had popped off at the chest, presumably from being snagged by a branch when she hit the tree.
Lisbeth's breasts, already so large that even peeking through her clothes was exciting, became even more arousing as her shirt burst open, revealing her snow-white flesh and pink bra. My unbidden erection bulged out of my crotch.
No! "Though I cried out in my heart, when I saw the inside of those swaying, enormous breasts, Mazagi didn't even consider penetration. If it weren't for that cloth covering her, Lizbeth would probably have seen that ferocious, thick horse penis too. I wanted to look away, but my mind, forced into abstinence for over two months, refused to obey, staring intently at Lizbeth's chest.
When Lizbeth stood up, she seemed to instantly sense my gaze, suddenly freezing… After standing there for a long time, blushing, she covered her chest and ran towards the half-burnt griffin carcass.
'I…I'll dissect the griffin…!'" Watching Lisbeth run off, I took a short breath and decided to move the boar.
Even while moving the boar a short distance away from Lisbeth, who was dissecting the griffin with a scalpel, Mazzag didn't have the thought of interfering.
............ After the dissection, we found a nearby spring. It was both to wash the blood from Lisbeth's hands and, as I said, to cleanse her body.
While Lisbeth washed her hands, I closed my eyes, trying to push the excited Mazzag back in and silently recite the Heart Sutra, but to no avail.
Not only that, my body grew increasingly hot, and I even started to feel that if there were a female monster in front of me, I would pounce on her immediately.
"I'm...I'm done washing. Now you can go in."
Lisbeth said, still blushing, holding a small towel to her chest.
Right, water.
A cold shower should calm this restlessness.
Just as I was thinking of going in, I suddenly realized I was still wrapped in a cloth.
For a moment, I forgot I was erect and said to Lisbeth:
"Lisbeth?" "Help me untie the cloth wrapped around my body."
"Uh...uh!? Ah, okay..."
Lisbeth, startled by the call, rushed over and began to untie the cloth.
As she bent down to untie the bag tied to my leg...
"Eek, eek..." Lisbeth cried out instantly, but my feverish mind couldn't register the sound.
At that moment, all I could think about was jumping into the cold water to calm down.
As Lisbeth untied the bag with trembling hands, I leaped into the mountain spring.
While reciting the Heart Sutra in the icy water, although my penis was still erect... But things seemed slightly calmer.
After repeatedly immersing my head in the spring water, I felt a little clearer and turned to look at Lisbeth.
She was sitting against a rock, head bowed, her fingers fidgeting nervously.
Just as I was wondering if she was unwell, I realized that although my mind was clearing, my body was still burning hot.
Even though I was soaking in the cold spring, my body felt like it was boiling. Just as I was puzzled, I suddenly remembered the mushrooms I had chewed before catching the griffin—supposedly, they had restorative and aphrodisiac effects.
"Uh… Lisbeth? Those mushrooms… eating them raw would definitely have no effect, right?" The moment I called out to Lisbeth, she trembled violently, stammering for a moment before finally speaking.
"Then… I'm sorry…"
"What?"
"Actually, that mushroom… its effect is quite strong when eaten raw… it's said that eating it raw for one night will keep you awake… it's used to dilute the effects for medicine…"
...Wait, what did you say?
Could it be that my body is so hot because…
"Uh… just one?" I think I chewed three or four…
"Well… I didn't expect you to eat them like that… Because raw food doesn't taste good, I thought you'd only eat one or spit it out… I just wanted to tease you a little…" In other words… I thought it was because of the abstinence I'd had for over two months that my body was so aroused and I couldn't calm down… but it was actually because of the mushrooms?
And it was to tease me?
This…this… Lisbeth, you bitch!!! My once calm mind began to heat up, and as the distorted feminine consciousness dormant within me awakened, I involuntarily burst out of the spring.