Chapter 220 Herb Gathering
As she approached the opening, she noticed some streaks of red and looked at them warily while carefully maneuvering around the crumbling bits of wall to avoid scraping herself. Em followed closely behind her, and behind Em, Ren and Sam were lifting the wood back into place, this time in the opposite direction. Aleshia noticed that the wood was cut in a way that allowed it to fit securely into the hollow crack of the wall, ensuring it wouldn't fall out unless twisted beforehand.
Upon exiting the hole, Aleshia noticed something odd. As she recalled her first view of the city and its walls, she couldn't remember seeing a forest so close to the city. As she pondered this, Ren made an announcement.
"Alright, everyone," Ren said, taking on the role of team leader. "We've received our quest from Daniel, and we need to make sure we claim our rewards by the end of the day. When the sky turns orange, we'll return as quickly and safely as we can. Since we're a smaller group, we must always stay together like a proper adventurer party," she said, reminding everyone.
Without realizing it, Aleshia started to clap after Ren finished her speech, and soon the others joined in. Once the applause died down, Ren seemed to remember something and began distributing the blades and knives they had taken from the thieves among the four of them. Em and Sam slipped their weapons into their straps while inspecting the well-worn but sturdy knives.
As they searched the forest landscape, Sam and Em focused on the ground while Ren and Aleshia scanned their surroundings. It seemed that Daniel had informed Ren about additional quests, but he had only shared the herb-gathering quest with Sam and Em. Aleshia was confused by this until they began collecting the herbs they found. Em and Sam were keenly attentive, skillfully gathering petals, collecting nectar, and uprooting herbs and flowers by their roots. Occasionally, they used a dull knife to cut the stems.
Aleshia was starting to understand why he hadn't informed them. She reasoned that he might have thought their minds would be too preoccupied with the other quest. If that were the case, they wouldn't be able to work as smoothly with everything else weighing on their minds. While they were gathering herbs, Ren cautiously surveyed her surroundings, trying to spot any danger before it had a chance to attack. Believing she should follow Ren's lead, Aleshia began doing the same and asked Lucia to do the same as well.