Works had wet himself in terror from the sheer intimidation, and when he came to his senses, he found himself in an unfamiliar place.
It was a grand room with a lavish red carpet.
And a huge chair.
It was like the inside of a royal palace, an audience chamber... though he'd never actually set foot in one.
A place utterly, absurdly out of place for him.
The strap holding the sword at his hip came undone, and it clattered to the floor with a clang.
"What in the world?!"
Guards rushed in, drawn by the noise from the audience chamber—there were no guests or ceremonies scheduled, so it should have been empty.
"Who goes there—a thief?!"
"Ugh, that smell... you wretched fool, to break into the audience chamber and soil it like this!"
Works was captured.
After being interrogated—tortured, even—for how he had infiltrated the palace, he would be quietly executed.
However, since Works himself had no idea why he was in the palace, he couldn't answer even under torture, and his method of infiltration was never determined.
For the time being, palace security was tightened, and all the soiled carpets were replaced.
Since it was quickly determined from his guild card that Works was an adventurer, the enormous carpet replacement costs were billed to the royal capital's Adventurer's Guild, and the accountant's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
◇◇◇
After relocating that rude adventurer—the one who'd called people filth—to a more fitting place, I told the receptionist I'd take on the spirit herb gathering quest.
When she asked me, "Where did that adventurer disappear to?" I simply replied, "He probably ran off in shame."
Well, I'd gone and accepted the quest, but where on earth would I find spirit herbs?
Apparently, spirit herbs had been found before in the southwestern forest near the royal capital, so I decided to head that way.
When I arrived at the southwestern forest, I found a few adventurers and herbalists hanging around.
It looked like there might be some kind of trouble brewing again, so I gave them a wide berth and ventured deeper into the woods.
I wandered along at a leisurely pace, scanning the plants with my Divine Eye.
"Weed," "Weed," "Weed," "Weed."
Occasionally, "Herb."
I even came across some "Evening Primrose" here and there, but not a single Spirit Herb in sight.
After examining so many plants with my Divine Eye that it was practically numbing, and just when I was about to pack it in and head home, it finally clicked.
Why not just use Reverse on the weeds?
Sure enough, the surrounding weeds transformed into "Supreme Herbs" through Reverse.
These are ingredients for the highest-grade potions.
I could probably make a killing with just these, but it's not like I'm strapped for cash or anything.
If I were an alchemist, this could've been the start of some legendary potion-grinding arc.
I tried reversing several weeds, but they only ever became Supreme Herbs or Premium Herbs—nothing else.
Wait, if they're all just plain weeds, why are the results different? Curious, I took a closer look at each one.
"Robust Weed," "Strong Weed," "Ordinary Weed"... "Unremarkable Weed"... Wait—this is it!
When I used Reverse on the "Unremarkable Weed," it flipped into a "Spirit Herb."
So even "Weeds" have some kind of ranking system, huh.
Good lesson learned today.
Anyway, I got what I came for, so I'm calling it a win for the day.
Now then, shall we head back?
And so, as I emerged from the forest and made my way toward the highway, I witnessed the scene of a noble-looking carriage overturned, with a girl being dragged away by a man.
◇◇◇◇◇◇
Skills: [Reverse] [Divine Eye] [Sword God] [Gentleman Thief] [Dark Magic] [Rock-Iron Magic] [Holy Magic] [Space-Time Magic] [Scorching Magic] [Freezing Magic]
Rank: Bronze
Thank you as always for reading 😊