Rafe, as if fearing for any misunderstandings to occur, started explaining, "Saintess! It was my idea for a few mbers of the pharmacy team to join this trip. It is mostly because I would like to learn more from you about dicinal plants and how to identify edibles. Since there were four of us, two will join you today then on your next trip, the other two will accompany you."
I smiled at Rafe in understanding but did not say anything further. The more people joined the group, the more people will be able to learn things from and at the sa ti, more hands to carry things!
On the other hand, Darth interrupted our conversation, "From now on, I will accompany you every ti you go out to do so tasks for the church. Well, as long as that other guy is not around you that is. I will be with you when he isn’t hovering around you." It was a statent, not in anyway asking for my permission or that from Rafe.
Rafe slowly turned his head towards Darth’s direction, a frown showing on his face. Clearly, this is not sothing that they talked about or agreed on beforehand. I understand why Rafe disliked Darth’s idea since if they were to follow what Darth wanted, the next ti I go out, only one other person can join (either Eshmun or Jace) out of the other two remaining mbers. Darth has decided on his own that he would be my main stay companion for these foraging trips.
Not wanting to ddle on how they do things on their end, I simply nodded once to Rafe and then to Darth then I turned around to walk towards the paladin that was assigned as the leader or guide for this trip to the forest. I asked him for his na as a polite gesture but the guy’s face turned red before stuttering to say, "Ned".
I asked Ned if we are still waiting for anybody and he confidently replied that everybody has arrived and are accounted for. He assured that we can leave anyti if I want to. He said in a military report type of speaking that our group has a total of 24 people for this mission: 15 paladins, 6 foragers, 2 pharmacists and then , the saintess.
Since everyone’s ready to go, we finally left the area of the temple right after we had breakfast which should be around 7am. It was predetermined that we will go towards the eastern direction (to the right side if you are facing the temple) to start our mission. Everybody brought their own back baskets, pouches, packed food and water since I told them that we will be out the whole morning till late in the afternoon. Two of the paladins even have three-wheeled carts with them. We will only be returning to the temple right before sundown to make most out of the daylight.
We went through the forest in a semi-circle formation with the outer half circle composed of 10 paladins, behind them, another five holding the backline. The two that were pulling the carts are in the back group.
They were then followed by the 6 foragers forming a circle to cover each one’s back and to cover all angles. The pharmacist were next and I am holding the rear alone as per my request though Ned didn’t like the idea at all.
I did not stop them from following the formation that they have used and thought to be best fitted for these forest missions. As for , I will simply be stretching my senses to map the area around us and detect any useful or dangerous things to protect this little human party of mine.
Since we are in the middle of a carved mountain, we first had to go down the stone steps I created to get to the bottom of the mountain before finally walking towards the east. It was ti-consuming but necessary. I could teleport but it removed the fun from the exploration part of this trip.
Right from the periphery, I started pointing at trees, shrubs and so wild grass while identifying their nas. I simply told them if it was useful or poisonous and edible or dicinal at least.
Surprisingly, from those small pouches around their waists, the foragers and the pharmacists started scribbling their notes like so diligent students. So of them were even drawing how the plants looked like with great precision. So also took samples of leaves, fruits, flowers, seeds and even a whole plant with them for studying and replanting. I let them do whatever they want as long as they do not slow down the party too much.
This cycle of stopping, short lecture, foraging and walking continued for several hours throughout the day. We occasionally had to rest since human stamina is quite limited and they need to take a breather, to eat and drink at least.
Ned said that it would take about 3 hours of regular paced walking for us to reach the borders of the territory to the east. With the stops that we are making, it would surely take about 4 hours, more or less. We can just cover as much ground as we can today.
We encountered a few small and dium sized edible ga that the paladins swiftly dealt with. They are quite skilled in butchering too so there isn’t much that I need to do. They preserved the skin to make leather or fur coats, cut the at in ready to cook chunks so it will be convenient to carry them and for the kitchen staff to cook later, gave the alchemy parts to the pharmacists and even kept the bones separately since they said it made delicious broth. I just nodded my head and left them to their own devices.
We stole eggs from bird nests, dug up root crops, harvested fruits and berries, gathered seeds for planting and brought back seedlings. We also did not forget to take every dicinal herb we encountered to make the trip worthwhile.
After reaching the borders, I discreetly buried the barrier stones right on the edge. I excused myself, saying I need so bathroom break while they were resting but I actually went through the boundary line connecting from the mountain to the point where the party was resting. It is one of my important tasks besides mapping the area. I also had a great ti discreetly taking so of the things this human party is placing inside their back baskets to make space for more items.
I wanted to giggle as I was wondering why they never thought of how weird that their baskets were not filling up even after foraging nonstop till we reached the edges of the territory. Surely, their bags aren’t space-enchanted storage bags. I checked it, they were regular baskets, the kind that was weaved from dried vines and leaves.
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