Whether it was Yuji’s persuasion or something else, the boar, which had been lying on its back, finally pulled itself up. However, it remained frozen in a deep bow before Yuji. Its body was trembling slightly, but I figured it was best to pretend I hadn’t noticed...
Facing the cowering boar, Yuji scratched the back of his head with a troubled expression and spoke in a gentle tone.
"Ah, please don't be so formal, Inoshishi-kun. Like I said before, we just want to take a look around the mountain."
"...Bumo."
The boar raised its head and peeked at Yuji with a hesitant gaze. Man, its eyes were incredibly clear... It looked like a being that had attained enlightenment and accepted everything in the universe.
Yuji flashed a wry, troubled smile at the boar’s intense gaze and gave its head a light pat as he bid it farewell.
"We have no intention of trashing the place, so don't worry. Just turn a blind eye to us for a bit. We’ll clear out as soon as our business is done."
"Bumo..."
"Yeah. As long as you guys don't come at us, we won't lift a finger against you. I promise. If you can, I’d appreciate it if you could let the other little ones know."
"Bumo!"
Upon hearing Yuji's words, the boar nodded so vigorously I thought its head might fly off, grunting its response with immense spirit....Okay, it definitely understands human speech. Even if it doesn't understand the vocabulary, the intent is certainly getting through.
I stared off into space for a moment at the sheer absurdity of their interaction. In the meantime, the negotiations(?) seemed to have concluded successfully. The boar bowed to Yuji several times in a parting greeting before sprinting off into the forest at full speed. It was probably rushing off to advise—no, warn—its fellow animals. "They're untouchable! Strictly off-limits!" or something like that.
"Well, for now, it ended peacefully... right?"
"Ah, yeah. Good work, Yuji."
"Good work, Hirose-kun. That made for quite a sight, you know?"
"Ah, er, g-good work?...Also, Kokonoe-kun, I’d be very happy if you could, well, set me down now?"
"Eh? Ah, sorry. I’ll put you down right away."
The situation had settled peacefully, more or less. We all let out heavy sighs, feeling a wave of mental exhaustion. How did our mountain survey even turn into this?
After the boar vanished, we set out along the mountain path to continue our inspection, draped in a slightly awkward atmosphere. As expected of a mountain that hadn't seen proper maintenance for decades, the irregularly grown trees stretched their branches in every direction, blocking our path and making for a difficult trek. The undergrowth was also quite tall—likely a seasonal thing—making it hard to see our footing. Since the ground wasn't packed down, it was a mix of hard and soft patches.
It could certainly be called a good environment for a training ground, but if we were to use it seriously, we’d probably need to clear out the area around the plaza where the old hut stood, or it would be too much of a hassle to use.
"It was hard to tell from a distance, but these steep slopes just keep going, don't they?"
"Yes. But this side is actually one of the gentler ones," Yuta-san replied. "On the opposite side, there’s a cliff—smaller than the one we encountered earlier, but still a cliff."
"Now that you mention it, the documents did mention a cliff. Is it really that small?"
"It’s a slope that collapsed during a landslide. Unlike the rocky cliff from before, it’s more of an earthen cliff. The surface crumbles easily, so I wouldn't recommend trying to climb down it."
Listening to Yuji and Yuta-san's conversation, I pushed through the undergrowth as I climbed the mountain path. Since encountering the "Lord," we hadn't run into a single wild animal. The boar must have done its job well.
It really helped not having to see animals exposing their bellies with faces full of utter despair every time we turned a corner. That sight was honestly a bit too much for my conscience.
"So it's an earthen cliff. Does that mean the soil quality of this mountain is prone to landslides?"
"It’s not particularly unstable," Yuta-san explained. "But I heard that in the past, heavy rain sent a massive amount of water into a crack caused by an earthquake, which led to that specific section giving way. Regarding the soil quality, they said most of this mountain is clay-based rather than sandstone-based."
"In that case, can we basically assume it's resistant to collapsing?"
"I think you can generally assume that. However, if you're thinking about constructing buildings, it would be best to conduct a survey beforehand and avoid any spots that look like they might crumble. Safety first."
Since it had collapsed once before, it would be foolish to assume it wouldn't happen again. To ensure a minimum level of safety, maybe we should install some basic retaining walls or concrete guards?
Well, if we pick the building site carefully after a thorough investigation, those might not even be necessary.
"Well, I'll cross that bridge if we decide to buy the place."
"Right. We're still just inspecting the first property, so there's no point in drawing up blueprints yet."
"Yes. But it will serve as a reference, so please keep providing that kind of information."
"Of course. Feel free to ask me anything that catches your interest."
The inspection continued in a surprisingly peaceful fashion, but as we scoured the mountainside, we stumbled upon something unexpected.
In a corner of a slope that was somewhat dim but still caught patches of sunlight, we found a cluster of pine-like trees.
" " " "..." " " "
We all stood there in stunned silence, staring at the sight before us. Right there, near the roots of the trees, a massive number of mushrooms that looked exactly like Matsutake were sprouting from the ground.
Just at a glance, weren't there at least forty or fifty of them?
"Y-Yuta-san. Th-these are..."
"Could they be... Matsutake?"
Confronted with such an unexpected sight, Yuta-san's cheek twitched as he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand over and over. He clearly couldn't believe his eyes. Neither could we.
Finding mushrooms in the mountains isn't exactly rare, but this was on a completely different level.
"Does this mountain produce Matsutake?"
"No, no, I certainly knew there were pines here! But I had no idea they were actually growing..."
"I heard on TV that the peak season is early autumn, but I guess they can grow at this time of year too..."
"Well, early autumn is just the peak, so it's not impossible to find them out of season, but... seriously?"
Yuta-san and his colleagues knew about the pine forest, but the fact that it was a Matsutake goldmine was news to them.
"But they're right here in front of us. A literal mountain of Matsutake-looking mushrooms..."
"Yeah, they... they certainly are. It’s right there, but I still can't believe it."
For a while, we gazed at the mushrooms with blank expressions. Once we finally regained our composure, we set to work on the verification process. We couldn't just stand there gawking forever.
First, we decided to pull one mushroom(?) out of the ground to inspect it.
"The appearance is... definitely a mushroom," Yuji noted.
"No kidding, Yuji. We know it's a mushroom! The question is whether it's a real Matsutake!" I snapped, retorting to his overly confident tone.
"It can't be helped! I'm not an expert! How am I supposed to identify wild mushrooms just by looking at them!?"
"Then why are you acting like you know what you’re doing!? It's misleading!"
"It’s about the vibe! The vibe!"
He had a point, but I really wanted to tell him to stop acting like a pro if he didn't have a clue. It’s true that you can't identify wild mushrooms on the spot unless you're an expert. Every year, you see news stories about amateurs picking mushrooms and dying of food poisoning. I suppose it was better than him acting vain and declaring it a Matsutake without proof.
While Yuji and I were having our comedy-skit-style argument, Hiiragi-san and Yuta-san were examining the mushroom with deadly serious eyes.
"The appearance and the scent... they’re definitely Matsutake."
"You can tell, Hiiragi-san?"
"Yes. They look almost identical to the ones my family's shop handled before. However, since I’m only looking at them with an amateur’s eye, I can't be one hundred percent certain. I strongly recommend that we don't eat them yet. We should take samples to a professional testing facility first. Poisonous mushrooms that mimic edible ones are very common."
"You're absolutely right. Let's collect a few samples and let the experts decide. Amateurs who act on half-baked knowledge almost always end up regretting it. I'll inform the landowner about this, even if it's after the fact."
While Yuji and I were messing around, the two of them had come to a sensible conclusion. We had a plan for the mystery mushrooms. It was a perfectly logical decision, so Yuji and I had nothing to object to.
Even if they were high-end delicacies, eating unconfirmed mushrooms was a gamble we weren't willing to take.
We had stumbled upon a potential treasure, but after collecting the samples, we resumed our inspection as planned. However, the nature of the survey had shifted. What was originally an inspection of a remote mountain with terrible accessibility now had a different meaning—if that treasure turned out to be real.
The location was certainly inconvenient, but as we’d proven, for an explorer, it was just a slightly rugged hike. For an explorer, it was a mountain with "okay" accessibility that happened to have a treasure trove... I wonder if they'll still be willing to sell it?
"It was quite a find, but I wonder why it hasn't been discovered until now?"
"It might be the timing," Yuta-san mused. "If they all grow before the usual peak period, people who come looking during the peak would find them already withered. Or maybe animals like that boar we met earlier have been eating them all."
"Ah, I see. As long as they aren't poisonous, mushrooms are a great food source for them. The mountain seems to have plenty of trees, so I don't think they’re starving, but safe food is always a luxury."
"True. But if that's the case, if we humans were to selfishly harvest every last mushroom..."
That probably wouldn't end well for anyone.
"They’d lose a major food source and be forced to leave their territory to scavenge... right? If they can find other food in the mountains, that’s one thing, but otherwise, they might start wandering into human settlements."
"Into human settlements... Having that bear or the boar show up in town would be a nightmare. That wouldn't benefit anyone."
"Yeah. If we do decide to harvest the Matsutake(?), we should probably compensate them somehow. Like planting more acorn trees to balance it out."
"Certainly."
Yuta-san nodded in agreement with Yuji’s suggestion of compensation. If their food disappears, animals have no choice but to descend the mountain to survive. Conversely, as long as there’s plenty to eat in the forest, they have no reason to step into human territory. Of course, giving them too much creates its own set of problems, so finding the right balance would be the real challenge.
After another hour of trekking through the woods, we finally circled back to the plaza where the old work hut stood.
"Well, I think you’ve seen the main parts of the mountain... what are your thoughts?"
"It fits our criteria, and I think it's a very interesting property," I said. "The trek here is steep, but for an explorer, it's well within manageable levels."
"It needs some work, but the fundamentals are solid," Yuji added. "The wild animals are present, but we don't see that as a deal-breaker."
"I don't have any major issues either," Hiiragi-san said. "If the forest road is improved to make it more accessible, it could even work as a property for the general public. Though the maintenance costs for that would be astronomical..."
Overall, our evaluation of the first property was quite high. The journey to the mountain was grueling for ordinary people, but for an explorer with a decent level, it was barely an inconvenience. We’d had a few too many run-ins with the local wildlife, but since we’d reached a reconciliation(?) of sorts, it should be fine. Coexistence... though I had a strong feeling the animals would be the ones declining that offer with tears in their eyes.
And although it wasn't confirmed yet, we’d found a potential goldmine. If those mushrooms were the real deal and could be harvested annually, the yield might actually cover the cost of buying the mountain.
"I'm glad to hear such positive feedback. As the one who recommended it, it’s a relief," Yuta-san said.
"Honestly, you’ve introduced a fantastic property right out of the gate. My expectations for the next two are through the roof now..."
"Haha, I pride myself on finding properties that don't disappoint....Well then, shall we head back before it gets dark?"
" " "Yes!" " "
A lot had happened, but the first inspection was officially over. We ended up carrying Yuta-san on our backs again for the return trip. Instead of the way we came, we took a route that bypassed the cliff by following the ridgeline. The path was smooth, and we reached the top of the cliff we’d jumped down from earlier in less than ten minutes.
On the way back, I felt the bear’s presence nearby, but since I figured showing our faces would only stress it out further, I skipped the greeting and we headed straight for the parking lot.
Moral of the story: never eat a mushroom you don't recognize. That’s the only way to live a long life.