Chapter 52: Forest Food

It was terrible.

Most of the time, they simply wandered through the forest for hours, scavenging whatever edible things they could find along the way. Berries, wild plants, mushrooms, and even bugs made up the bulk of their meals. If they were lucky, they might stumble across a dead animal that hadn’t started to rot yet.

Nine days out of ten, they went to sleep with empty, rumbling stomachs, sometimes having nothing more than a few bitter leaves or pieces of tree bark to chew on in an attempt to dull their hunger.

Even though Gopuro was the designated hunter between the two and sometimes went after small animals or tried his luck fishing in shallow streams, most of the time he came back empty-handed, tired and defeated.

That meant something as simple as this berry bush was practically a treasure to them. Even if the berries tasted absolutely awful, they were still a rare delicacy in the eyes of the two goblins.

No wonder they had reacted so strongly when they first saw the fresh meat I’d given them...

To these goblins, fresh, delicious meat was basically a treasure.

And that made me feel even worse about killing so many goblins before. Back then, I’d simply regarded them as greedy monsters who were willing to kill even their own kind for food.

But now, after learning just how valuable a piece of meat could be to them, I couldn’t help but feel a little guilty.

After all, even humans could do terrible things when they were starving.

Throughout history, there had been famines so severe that some people had even resorted to trading their own children for food.

But... what was done was done. There was no point dwelling on it too much now. Instead, I needed to focus on becoming a good lord for my citizens.

Just then, Gopuran suddenly noticed something clinging to the bark of a nearby tree.

A bug.

A big bug!

It was round and glossy, about the size of a small leaf. Its hard shell shone a bright orange, dotted with tiny blue spots, making it look like some kind of giant fantasy ladybug with an unusually vibrant color pattern.

But before I could even fully process what I was looking at, she had already snatched it off the tree trunk with surprising speed...

...and eaten it!

CRUNCH!

CRUNCH!

"Mmmmmhhhh!"

She moaned in delight, her eyes half-closed in pure satisfaction.

Then she licked the green, slimy bug juice oozing from the crushed insect onto her fingers as if it were the most precious and delicious thing in the world, savoring every last drop.

Urrggghhhhh!

I shuddered internally.

At the same time, I was so freaking glad that [Vassal’s Eyes] didn’t come with a synchronized sense of taste!

Otherwise, that would have been a disaster.

Because back in my previous life, me eating bugs?

Yeah, not gonna happen! Not even in a million years!

Hell, just seeing a cockroach in my room was enough to scare the shit out of me, especially when the damn thing suddenly flew straight at my face!

But... errr... well, protein is protein, I guess!

*****

After that little snack, Gopuran moved on, and we continued exploring deeper into the forest. Barely ten minutes later, something genuinely interesting caught our attention.

A faint purple glow shimmered near the roots of a massive tree.

It was coming from a tiny mushroom growing right on the body of a dead rabbit.

"Gopuran, look!" I exclaimed.

She had already noticed it too.

"Big Boss, it a Purple Cap!"

Her voice was filled with excitement as she hurried over.

Using a broad leaf from a nearby plant, she carefully wrapped the mushroom before picking it up, making sure it never touched her bare skin. Her movements were surprisingly cautious and precise, as though she were handling something incredibly valuable.

"Gopuran, this purple mushroom is edible too?" I asked.

Up close, the thing looked even cuter, almost like a tiny cone-shaped gummy candy stuck on a toothpick. Except this one glowed softly, with tiny purple and white specks glittering across its surface in the dim light.

No wonder Gopuran had gotten so excited. From her reaction, I honestly thought it might be some kind of rare delicacy.

However, Gopuran shook her head.

"No, it’s poisonous!" she said. "Eat this mushroom, you will be paralyzed!"

"Oooh!" I exclaimed. "But if it’s poisonous, why are you picking it up?"

"Well, it’s for hunting!"

Eh? Hunting...?

I wondered for a moment.

Right!

I quickly understood what she meant.

By extracting the poison somehow and spreading it onto the tips of their spears or daggers, these goblins could turn simple weapons into deadly poisonous tools. That way, even a small wound could potentially paralyze their prey.

Very interesting indeed.

I wondered just how potent this mushroom actually was.

"So... can it... paralyze a Horned Wolf?" I asked.

"Yeah!"

Gopuran answered confidently.

Damn...

I could hardly believe it.

This tiny little mushroom, barely the size of Gopuran’s pinky finger, had enough poison to paralyze a bull-sized wolf?

If possible, I’d love to study this mushroom later. Mainly, I’d want to see whether I could grow or cultivate more of them, since it could become a very valuable addition to my arsenal.

"Alright. Be careful, then. Don’t put it together with your food."

"Yup!"

Since it was poisonous, Gopuran didn’t simply toss it into her pouch. Instead, she carefully wrapped it in two more layers of dried leaves before...

...stashing it into her hair bundle.

I had to admit, her creativity was pretty impressive.

We then moved on and continued exploring the area.

And just like that, somehow, this goblin girl had turned the entire scouting quest into an exotic food tour.

Tree bark, suspicious berries, glowing mushrooms, more bugs...

She literally had an appetite for everything!

Through her expertise, I was learning a surprising amount about this ecosystem: what was safe to eat, what to avoid, and what could be turned into a weapon.

Still...

If someone abandoned me here alone, I would rather starve to death than eat any of those gross, creepy bugs!