Chapter 3: The water of the Earth is the treasure of that world(3)

“Everyone has fallen.”

“There are no survivors.”

“Good…”

Lisa Martinez, took a deep breath.

The raiders had attacked them.

And, they failed.

“I thought we were going to become chunks of meat this time… but we somehow managed to do it.”

“It was weird to lose.”

Water is life.

To the people living in this world, that word had more meaning than just letters.

People live with chronic dehydration.

Muscles tremble, headaches occur, and fatigue is felt.

That was such a natural phenomenon that there were far more people who thought ‘dehydration’ was a normal condition.

Such people drank water.

Also, they drank it without holding back.

There was also a base that could serve as a shelter called the ‘trading post’.

The raiders who pursued them rushed in blindly, unaware of such a situation, with their eyes blinded by the meat.

The rangers were able to kill all the raiders without a single death.

“But, with this, the mission is-“

“Mission.”

“Yes, mission…”

Lisa bit her lip.

Their mission was to build their base in this area and make contact with the locals to establish a cooperative relationship.

But their numbers have dwindled.

Most of the supplies that would be used to negotiate with the locals were also lost.

But they couldn’t give up.

“We will continue the mission.”

“How are you going to negotiate with the locals?”

“We use water.”

Still, they had unopened water bottles left.

“With this?”

“Of course water is very precious… but this will not be enough.”

No matter how precious water is, it cannot be completely absent.

Because people cannot survive.

About 2 liters of water.

Of course it’s precious, but the absolute amount is insufficient.

Anyone would be grateful to receive this, but it’s not enough to make the settlers believe in and follow the Rangers.

“This is clean water.”

“And it’s sealed.”

“Hmm…”

“If we can continue to trade with him… it’s like securing a water source.”

“We can use this as bait.”

The population carrying capacity of this world depends on water, not food, space, and power.

Conversely, if there is enough water, other goods can be somehow covered.

People gather where there is water, not where there are good houses or abundant food.

“Got it!”

Lisa bit her lip.

And, she felt gratitude towards the ‘man in the video’.

To the person who generously gave 10 liters of water for a trivial ring.

‘Please…’

She prayed that his ‘grace’ would continue.

****

“Okay, gatherers, move this way.”

“All the monsters have been dealt with, but don’t touch anything strange and keep safety in mind!”

I entered the gate.

The mana concentration was thick.

Certainly, it was a place where ordinary people could not enter.

“From there to here, please collect the green grass.”

“If you try to sneak it into your pocket, you may be caught later, so be careful.”

“Yes!”

I quickly got a new job.

After submitting my resignation, I was able to leave the company not long after.

The work I was assigned to was not very important.

There was no reason to entrust a new employee with a short career with an important task that ‘requires handover’ from the beginning.

It was a pity as an office worker, but it was good to be able to concentrate on a new job right away.

After receiving safety education, I immediately entered the gate.

My job was to dig up herbs inside the gate.

“Okay, let’s start!”

With the voice of the foreman, the gatherers and I rushed towards the bushes.

The resources inside the gate, even trivial grass or stones, had tremendous value.

But only a few awakeners could enter here, so of course, even if not as much as hunters, these ‘gatherers’ or ‘miners’ could also make a lot of money.

‘Later, it would be nice to sell these.’

Of course, it wasn’t something I could do right away.

In order to obtain permission to collect dungeons, you need a connection with the guild.

And right now, I didn’t have a way to prove my worth to the guild.

‘But…’

If I could build up transaction records by selling water like now, contact the fantasy world, and bring back precious materials.

It wasn’t impossible to make a profit by selling the precious supplies of the earth and the gate again.

‘Well, the money I’m making right now isn’t bad either.’

At least, I made more money than when I worked at the company.

Considering that it was a daily job that didn’t require me to work every day, and the work intensity was much lower than when I worked at the company, it wasn’t bad just for this.

“…Huh?”

As I was going through the bushes, I found a red ribbon.

‘There seems to be… magic?’

Gates sometimes dropped ‘finished artifacts’, but most of them were in treasure chests that could only be obtained by defeating boss monsters.

It’s a human object.

It must have been something that a hunter, who had cleared the gate before the gatherers came, had.

‘…Let’s keep it for now.’

Thinking that I could return it to the owner later, I took the ribbon.

****

“Where do I report lost items here?”

I spoke to the blunt-looking employee.

“What did you lose?”

“You won’t find it.”

“We have to open the gate again… If it’s not something very precious, it’s better to just forget about it.”

“It’s not something I lost, it’s something the hunters lost.”

The employee frowned.

“Ah, just take it.”

“What?”

The status of hunters is soaring.

Awakeners like me, who do ordinary chores, also make a lot of money.

Naturally, hunters who fight against monsters have an overwhelming annual salary and social status compared to me.

“Does that make sense?”

“The hunters are, how should I say it… they are picky.”

“If you have lost items, they would have contacted us right away.”

“…They might not know they lost it.”

“Then there’s nothing we can do.”

The employee smiled desolately.

“The problem with this situation is… Hunters sometimes intentionally throw things away in the gate.”

“What?”

“If you pick something like that up and get involved in something strange, it becomes a headache for us.”

“Sigh…”

I sighed deeply.

‘Still, it’s not like it’s evidence of murder, it’s just a ribbon.’

“Nothing bad will happen if I give this…”

“If you really want to return it to the owner, call them yourself.”

“What?”

“The hunters will come out soon.”

“Ask them, and if they don’t have it, take it.”

I nodded weakly.

‘Should I really take it?’

“Should I get it appraised?”

I was tempted, but I still didn’t want to just take this red ribbon.

“Sigh…”

The hunters began to come out one by one.

I swallowed my embarrassment and shouted.

“Is there anyone who lost a red ribbon!”

The hunters looked at me with a puzzled look.

“Why is that person suddenly doing that?”

“I don’t know, maybe they picked something up?”

They didn’t particularly despise me or praise me.

They just passed by, thinking, ‘Oh, something like that happened.’

I shouted several times, but no hunter approached me.

‘Did they really throw it away?’

I’ve done enough.

I don’t know how much this is worth, but no one will blame me if I put this ribbon in my pocket now.

Just as I was about to turn around, someone called me.

“Excuse me…”

A young-looking hunter carefully called out to me.

“Yes.”

“Are you looking for a ribbon?”

“That…”

I showed her the red ribbon in my hand.

“Is this yours, hunter?”

She definitely looked younger than me, but a hunter was still a hunter.

I didn’t want to get into trouble by speaking informally.

“Yes.”

“That’s mine…”

“I picked it up while gathering.”

“Here you go.”

“Yes…”

The girl took the ribbon.

‘Well, it must have been a precious ribbon.’

It seemed like there were some emotions swirling inside her, so I didn’t bother to talk to her.

I slowly backed away.

It was time to go home.

“W-Wait a minute!”

The girl urgently called out to me.

“Yes, yes?”

“Wait.”

“Th-Thank you… Coffee, a cup.”

“Are you okay with that?”

The girl grabbed me with a voice that sounded like she was about to cry.

****

Arrogant.

Shin Yuhwa couldn’t express her disgrace with any other word.

‘It’s easy.’

‘I can handle it by myself.’

Shin Yuhwa, an academy student, participated in monster subjugation as a field trip.

Most of the hunters there were E and D-rank hunters.

As the best prospect, she thought she could subdue the monsters of such a low-level gate by herself.

-W-What? Why magic all of a sudden!

The fire magic she was proud of was blocked so easily at the most crucial moment.

-Oh!

It’s a magic freeze.

A phenomenon where a mage-type hunter cannot exert their abilities due to the irregular movement of magic in the gate.

It happens often, and it’s not a very dangerous or terrible thing.

It was just a minor problem that could be solved by stopping the magic manifestation, resting for a few seconds to reorganize your magic, and then using the magic again.

But she was too impatient to think of that.

Yuhwa forcibly pulled up her magic and tried to use it, but the magic did not respond to her call.

Only after the lost magic went out of control did she run away.

She shamefully turned her back on the low-level monsters and ran desperately.

-Didn’t Shin Yuhwa say she would take care of it alone?Well, it didn’t work out.She’s still a student.

But, no dangerous situation occurred.

Other hunters came running.

Shin Yuhwa survived, and there were no casualties.

Her ‘field trip score’ would be cut to a terrible level, but she could save her life.

-I…

But that incident shattered Shin Yuhwa’s pride.

-Maybe I wasn’t qualified to be a hunter in the first place…Her high pride fell even harder.

-I lost the ribbon.

It was a ribbon given to her by her mother, who was a famous hunter.

A precious artifact that enhances fire spells, which ordinary hunters would never touch even once in their lifetime.

It was her mother’s will.

A proof that Shin Yuhwa was qualified to inherit it.

So, Shin Yuhwa could accept the fact that she lost the ribbon without any problem.

-It was something I wasn’t qualified to have in the first place.Of course, it had to disappear…

She didn’t even try to find it.

She thought it would disappear.

It was something she shouldn’t have.

An arrogant and insufficient hunter, no, a woman who couldn’t even become a hunter, wasn’t qualified to have it.

Shin Yuhwa cried and cried.

She felt that her dream had disappeared, and that she wasn’t worth pursuing that dream.

Then, she met that man.

-Is there anyone who lost a red ribbon!

He was holding the ribbon that no one was looking for with an indifferent expression.

As if telling her that she was still qualified to receive this ribbon.