Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody

Satou here. When I was little, especially when visiting my grandfather's house in the countryside and got burned, instead of using over-the-counter medicine, I remember cutting open aloe plants growing in the garden and applying them to the burn to heal it. It was a folk remedy, but it worked quite well. I wonder if aloe grows in this another world too.

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"Where are we going~?" "To where?"

"To the harbor. I heard there are various rare fruits being sold, so we're going to take a look."

I answered Pochi and Tama, who were holding my hand and suddenly asking.

It takes just over 10 minutes to get from the inn to the harbor. According to the innkeeper, there isn't a regular market, but there are several food stalls and stands selling to sailors and laborers, so we're just going there to browse.

Mia and the others seemed interested too, but since Arisa was scheming something with them, I left them at the inn. Liza wanted to come as a guard, but since the security seemed poor, I had Lulu and the others stay behind as escorts. Nana didn't particularly mind either way, but because it was dangerous, I left her behind. There are many walrus tribe children at the harbor we're heading to.

The houses in this town are mostly single-story with good ventilation, probably because the temperature is close to eternal spring. Though they're not quite elevated houses, they're all designed to be about 30 centimeters above the ground. The roads are dirt, with weeds growing on the shoulders. There are also sparse vacant lots.

The people walking around the town are generally lightly dressed, with short skirt lengths. Women over their 20s wear longer skirts, but still short enough to show their ankles. Minor girls mostly wear skirts above the knee. Men are less particular; many are shirtless or wear boldly open-collared shirts. Upper elementary school children often wear tight, belly-exposing shirts. It seems these are just worn-out clothes that no longer fit properly, not just fashion. Younger kids are about half wearing oversized shirts, and the others are almost naked, though they do wear waistcloths. They run around barefoot energetically.

Suddenly, Tama let go of my hand and ran to the roadside, picking some weeds growing there and came back.

"Found Ninigi Grass~!"

Ninigi Grass is an herb with antipyretic properties. However, when simply prepared, it retains mild toxicity and can't be used directly; it needs to be refined into a magic potion. Therefore, it's not widely recognized as a medicinal herb. The toxicity mainly causes stomach upset, so diluted it can be used as a mild laxative.

But Tama remembered it well, even though we've only found this herb two or three times during our journey.

I took the herb from Tama and, via my bag, stored it in my storage. While praising Tama, I searched for "Ninigi Grass" within a one-kilometer radius. It seems this herb grows abundantly like weeds around this town. It's not used often, but I might as well stock up a bit.

We found a vacant lot where Ninigi Grass grew in clusters, so I had Pochi and Tama gather some. I searched around, but besides some mugwort look-alike useful for stopping bleeding, there were no other useful herbs. The mugwort look-alike had red veins on its leaves but otherwise looked just like mugwort. I warned the two not to pick it. Probably, this herb is commonly used by locals.

As Pochi and Tama gathered Ninigi Grass, nearby children approached and started collecting it too, placing it on the mat I had spread on the ground. Maybe they think it's some kind of game?

When about half the Ninigi Grass was collected from the vacant lot, I declared it done and gave the children a small payment each — one low-value coin. It felt a bit cheap, but according to an auntie I befriended during food aid in the Duke's Capital, that's sufficient. The children were very happy to receive the coins.

"Hey, big brother, what are you doing making kids gather poisonous herbs? Planning to slip it to some damned lord?"

"It can be used as a laxative, but when refined it becomes an antipyretic."