Chapter 6

What I witnessed was a desperate blonde Elf woman trying to protect her campsite and a flower the size of a human head spewing flames at her.

A blonde woman and a flame-spewing flower? It sounds like a scene straight out of a place where you’d find mushrooms that make you grow taller if you eat them.

The plant was spewing intense flames from its buds on either side, reminiscent of a flamethrower.

The name of that plant? The Boiling Oil Mimic Plant.

The Boiling Oil Mimic Plant, also known as the Mimic Flower, disguises itself as an ordinary plant to deceive other creatures.

Its appearance resembles several flower buds growing from a single root, reaching up to a person’s waist. At a glance, it looks like a cluster of blooming flowers.

However, only one of those buds is real. The rest are fake, serving as hunting mechanisms to catch prey.

The other buds’ role is to store oil and emit a fragrance to lure insects like bees or butterflies, trapping them in the scorching hot oil to devour them.

It’s a rare plant, hard to find in this area, so I didn’t recognize it immediately.

“Kyaaah! Help me!”

Hmm. It’s such a rare plant that I got lost in thought for a bit.

But she seems genuinely in trouble now, so I should really help.

*Crunch*

I moved behind the Mimic Plant, grabbed its stem, and squeezed it tightly.

The Mimic Plant’s oil isn’t stored in the fake buds but in a hidden oil sac within its roots. It releases oil through the stem when needed.

By gripping the stem tightly and blocking the oil flow, the flames stop almost immediately.

Well, I could’ve just snapped the stem, but still.

The Mimic Plant, with its stem broken, writhed on the ground, still spitting fire, but soon ran out of oil and slumped over.

I took out my canteen and splashed water on the burning areas.

“Playing with fire in the jungle is dangerous, you know.”

“Th-thank you for saving me… Eek! A monster! Please don’t eat me!”

I save her, and she calls me a monster?

That’s outright species discrimination. Apologize.

Even by Lizardman standards, I’m considered quite handsome, so this hurts.

If she kept calling me a monster, it would’ve gotten annoying, but thankfully, she quickly regained her composure and apologized.

“…I’m sorry. You saved my life, but I panicked…”

“Don’t worry about it. Lizardmen are a rare species, after all.”

“Thank you for saving me. I’m Marisia. You can call me Mari.”

The beautiful blonde Elf, who looked as fresh as a batch of fried potatoes, introduced herself.

“I’m Kurt. By the way, Boiling Oil Mimic Plants aren’t usually aggressive. Why did it attack you?”

Mimic Plants primarily prey on small animals like bugs or mice, so they don’t usually attack larger creatures like humans.

Their only means of defense is igniting and spewing the oil they store, which is essentially a one-time use of their hunting resource.

Not to mention, if the surroundings burn down, they lose their hunting grounds and could starve, so they only use their flames in life-threatening situations.

At my words, Mari giggled and scratched the back of her head.

“Well, I finished my camping trip and woke up hungry this morning.”

“So?”

“So, I was wondering what to eat for breakfast when I saw this flower I’d never seen before. I thought, ‘What if I make a salad out of this?’ and tried to pluck it, but it just spewed fire at me.”

What? Is she an idiot?

Thinking of eating a plant she’s never seen before in the middle of the forest?

Even in my past life, that would’ve been considered reckless, but in this world, where unknown creatures could be monsters, what Mari just did was beyond stupid.

“This is my first time seeing an Elf in person, but are Elves usually this… unintelligent?”

“Ah! That’s species discrimination! Apologize!”

“…Oh. Right. Sorry.”

“Ahem! I’ll forgive you. And it’s not like I just randomly tried to eat that flower. There’s a reason for it.”

Well, even so, trying to eat a flower you’ve never seen before must have some reasoning behind it.

Even a Lizardman who hasn’t fully shed their skin wouldn’t do something like that.

“Oh? What’s the reason?”

“I’m training to be an adventurer. So, as a prospective adventurer, I approached it with curiosity, as an adventurer should!”

Maybe I shouldn’t become an adventurer.

For a moment, I thought the average adventurer might be as clueless as this airheaded Elf, and my desire to become one melted away like ice cream left out in the sun.

“You’re looking at me like I’m pathetic…”

“No way. It’s probably just hard to read Lizardman expressions since it’s my first time seeing one.”

“Hmm… Is that so?”

“Probably. Anyway, the problem’s solved, so I’ll be on my way.”

“Ah! Wait! You saved my life, so I should repay you somehow…!”

“No need for repayment.”

Honestly, she doesn’t look wealthy, and even if she gave me something, it’d probably be something ridiculous.

Besides, since reincarnating as a Lizardman, I’ve grown accustomed to their lifestyle and don’t have much desire for material things.

“I can’t just let it go!”

But Mari refused my refusal and rummaged through her bag.

However, all she pulled out were random trinkets, nothing of real value.

Not that I’d be interested even if she did find something valuable.

“Hic… I don’t have anything worthy of repaying you…”

“…I didn’t save you expecting repayment, so don’t worry about it.”

Honestly, I have a feeling that getting involved with this idiot will only lead to more trouble.

But Mari kept pouting and digging through her bag.

No matter how much she searches, she won’t find anything I want.

“All I have are a few potatoes…”

“That’s it!”

“Kyaaah!”

At the mention of potatoes, I reflexively shouted, startling Mari so much that she fell backward.

But a clumsy Elf falling over wasn’t the important part.

Who would’ve thought I’d find potatoes here?

In the Lizardman Village, potatoes don’t grow, so I haven’t had them since reincarnating into this world.

I’d heard rumors that potatoes exist in this world, but I never imagined I’d find them so soon after leaving the village.

Wait, I shouldn’t jump to conclusions.

Not all potatoes are the same.

Even in my past life, vegetables with the same name could have vastly different characteristics depending on their specific varieties.

If these potatoes aren’t what I’m hoping for, I’ll just be disappointed.

I took a deep breath, calmly cut off a small piece of the potato Mari handed me, and examined it closely.

“Ouch. You scared me.”

Hmm. The moisture content is low, and the starch seems sufficient.

No, in fact, this is quite impressive.

In this world, there’s no concept of selective breeding, yet the quality of these crops isn’t far behind the selectively bred ones from my past life.

Thinking about it, when wild animals can breathe fire and people can smash rocks with their bare hands through training, high-quality crops aren’t that surprising.

What’s more important is that the variety and quality of the potatoes Mari gave me exceeded my expectations.

And with the Boiling Oil Mimic Plant nearby…

Now, it’s possible.

*Gulp*

“Marisia.”

“I told you to call me Mari.”

“You haven’t eaten yet, right?”

“Not yet… Why?”

“Good. Let’s have a meal. I’ll cook.”

Today’s breakfast menu: Fried Potatoes.