Spring fieldwork was finally finished.
Technically, there was still plenty to do, but finishing the tilling with the Universal Farming Tool felt like a major milestone. I held a small banquet to thank everyone who had helped out, then immediately pivoted toward preparing for the Village Parade.
Given that we had the Outside Parade looming on the horizon, I personally wanted to get the local one over with as quickly as possible, but it wasn't that simple. Since residents from Village One and the other settlements were participating, I needed to check the progress of their own farm work first. Naturally, we were also inviting the Giant Race and the Lamia Race from the Northern and Southern Dungeons, so their travel time had to be factored into the schedule as well.
The Civil Official Girls would likely have a date finalized within the next few days. It would probably be in about three days, so while I kept myself mentally prepared to start at a moment's notice, everyone else continued with their individual tasks.
I had plenty of my own chores to attend to, but I prioritized building the transport carriages for Zabuton's Children. I wanted to have them ready well in advance rather than panicking at the last minute.
Two minor incidents occurred before the Village Parade could begin.
The first involved one of Kuro's Children, a young wolf who began suffering from a terrible stomach ache after eating a mushroom. I panicked at first, worrying that a poisonous variety had somehow cropped up in our cultivated patches, but after looking into it, I learned he had snacked on a wild mushroom growing in the forest.
Didn't anyone teach him that wild mushrooms are dangerous? Apparently, they had, but he’d snuck a bite of one once before and felt fine, so he’d assumed it would be okay this time too. Do they only become toxic during certain seasons?
"Village Head, I found it. It was this: a Fake Egg Mushroom."
Ria, who had been investigating the cause of the pup's distress, presented a single mushroom to me. It was whitish-brown with the classic domed cap one typically associates with the fungi. I recognized the look immediately. We didn't grow them in the village, but they were sold in the shops at Village Five and Shashato City.
"That’s an Egg Mushroom, isn't it?" I asked.
"The real ones are," Ria clarified. "This is a clever imitation."
I see. So the mushroom the pup had snacked on previously was a genuine Egg Mushroom, which was fine, but this time he’d accidentally eaten the Fake Egg Mushroom.
"It seems that way," Ria said.
"Just how potent is the poison?"
"It's a lethal toxin. One bite is enough to kill you."
I looked over at Kuro's Child, who was currently whimpering in pain.
"I suppose I should be impressed that he’s getting away with just a stomach ache," I muttered.
"Quite," Ria agreed.
I decided to issue a stern warning to the rest of Kuro's Children. Mushrooms were dangerous, and they were strictly forbidden from picking and eating them on their own. I also wondered if I should send word to the shops in Village Five and Shashato City. If there was a poisonous look-alike for one of their products, people needed to know.
"Ah, I think they'll be alright," Ria said.
"How so?"
"The distinction between Egg Mushrooms and Fake Egg Mushrooms is fairly common knowledge, so the proper precautions are widely practiced."
"What precautions?"
"Grilling them. The toxin in a Fake Egg Mushroom is neutralized if it's cooked thoroughly over a fire."
I see. So as long as you always grill your Egg Mushrooms, you'll be safe even if a fake one slips into the batch.
"Exactly. Though, apparently, genuine Egg Mushrooms taste much better raw, so there are still occasional victims who like to gamble..."
I wasn't quite sure how to respond to that.
"Ahaha," Ria laughed weakly.
"By the way, is there an actual way to tell them apart?"
"Right here." Ria pointed to the stem of the fake mushroom. "If you look closely, you’ll see these small nodes. If it has nodes, it’s a Fake Egg Mushroom. If the stem is smooth, it’s a real Egg Mushroom."
Now that she mentioned it, the nodes were clearly visible. However, you’d never notice them unless you knew exactly what to look for.
"I see. Better to just stick to grilling them, then."
"I agree."
Regardless, I decided to send a reminder to the shops in Village Five and Shashato City. It might be seen as meddling, but I wanted to do what I could to prevent any unnecessary deaths.
As an aside, I did try to heal the pup with a World Tree Leaf since he was in so much pain, but Kuro and Yuki stopped me. They insisted that a fool who ignores orders needs to suffer the consequences. They believed he wouldn't truly learn his lesson unless he felt the pain.
That seemed awfully harsh, but they were the parents. Still, it was a deadly poison. Even if he seemed stable now, his condition could take a turn for the worse at any moment. I asked if they’d let me use a leaf if he were actually on the verge of death, and they relented.
In the end, I had to leave it to Kuro and Yuki. The pup looked at me with eyes full of despair, but I couldn't step in. Sorry, little guy.
The second minor incident occurred in the Ranch Area.
Now that spring had arrived, the horses were running about with newfound energy. A male Unicorn joined in their gallop, but he ended up tripping. In the fall, he snapped his horn—the very symbol of his kind.
He didn't seem to have sustained any physical injuries from the tumble, but he spent the rest of the day staring blankly into the distance. Perhaps looking at anything closer brought his broken stump into focus. Originally, his horn had been about eighty centimeters long, but now only about fifteen centimeters remained.
The stallion tried his best to remain stoic, but it clearly wasn't working. He couldn't even walk in a straight line. Eventually, his hind legs gave out and he collapsed, sobbing uncontrollably. The shock was just too much for him.
I tried to console him by pointing out that he still had fifteen centimeters left, but that only seemed to make things worse. My mistake.
I retrieved the broken portion and tried to see if I could fuse it back on, but it was no use. I did learn that Unicorn Horns are hollow, which explained why they were so structurally prone to snapping.
"Does it grow back?" I asked.
Apparently not. It would stay that way for the rest of his life. It might grow slightly, but it would never be pointed again; it would always look like a broken pillar. That seemed far too pitiful. I wondered if a World Tree Leaf could do anything.
At the mention of the leaf, the Unicorn’s eyes went wide. He stared at me with desperate hope.
"All right, all right. Let's try it. But don't get angry if it doesn't work, okay?"
In the end, after he ate a single leaf, the horn grew about five centimeters. Better yet, the tip was pointed again. I wasn't sure what the biological logic was behind that, but it was probably best not to overthink it. It was still much shorter than his original horn, but it finally looked like a proper Unicorn Horn again.
When he ate a second leaf, it grew another five centimeters. At this rate, he could probably restore it to its full length if he kept eating.
"What do you want to do? Want to keep going?"
He shook his head. Apparently, he was satisfied with the current length. While he’d been proud of his long horn, it had also been a bit of a nuisance. He decided to accept the shorter version.
"Fair enough. Just try not to trip again, okay?"
I was about to leave the stallion to his grazing when I realized Lu was standing right beside me. She was clutching the broken segment of the horn.
"If they can regrow them by eating World Tree Leaves..." she whispered, "does that mean we have a practical way to harvest Unicorn Horns infinitely?"
Apparently, a Unicorn Horn is a dream item for anyone involved in magic research.
Run for it, Unicorn! Gallop faster than the wind and try not to trip!
It was a small incident, all things considered. Later on, male Unicorns from all over the world who had broken their horns started gathering at the village, but that's a minor detail. On the bright side, they all brought their broken horn fragments to offer as payment for the treatment, which put Lu in an excellent mood.
As for the wolf pup with the stomach ache, he reportedly made a full recovery just in time for the Village Parade. That was a relief.
World Tree Leaf (Readily available in the village) vs. Unicorn Horn (Incredibly rare since they don't normally grow back)