「Haa… Can we slow down a bit?」
「Ehh—!」
The three of them all refused in unison to slow their pace.
Ever since I started chasing after them, we hadn’t taken a single break before heading straight into climbing the mountain.
Technically speaking, we were supposed to be here for mushroom picking…
「Looks like just farming isn’t enough to build stamina.」
「Being a chef sure is tough.」
Meanwhile, Haruki was effortlessly hiking up the mountain, looking as fresh as ever.
Yeah, he probably forgot our actual objective too.
The three of them were more excited about climbing the mountain than finding mushrooms.
「Hey, aren’t you guys here for mushrooms?」
「Hah!?」
See? They’d completely forgotten—trying and failing to play it off.
Not a single one of them met my eyes.
Dori was busy searching for acorns, Yuri kept staring up at the sky, and Haruki had his eyes wide open in shock.
「Naoki, you actually remembered?」
「Oi, I’m not grandpa.」
「Hahaha, just kidding.」
Did Haruki think I had dementia or something?
If I hadn’t said anything, this trip would’ve turned into nothing more than a hike.
「Alright, first things first. Be careful—some mushrooms are poisonous.」
「Eh!?」
Dori and Yuri exchanged glances.
We used to do this a lot as kids, but since it had been a while, we had to stay cautious.
「The one you need to be the most careful of is the Kaentake.」
「It’s one of the most dangerous kinds—it’s so toxic that even touching it can cause severe skin inflammation.」
I pulled out my phone and showed them a picture of the Kaentake.
Since there was no signal in the mountains, I had saved the photos beforehand.
「See this red, finger-like growth? That’s the Kaentake. Its flame-like appearance is another defining feature.」
「Red hends!」
「Yeah, so be careful of any… well, fingers.」
Dori and Yuri studied the image carefully, burning it into their memories.
Kaentake wasn’t something you saw often, so I doubted we’d run into it.
What worried me more was making sure Dori and Yuri didn’t wander off and get lost.
It was common for people to go missing during mushroom picks.
「Stay close to us at all times while looking for mushrooms, got it?」
「Yeah!」
「And don’t follow any strange animals!」
「Yeah!」
Dori and Yuri both raised their hands while listening to my warnings.
I wasn’t sure if they were actually paying attention, but as long as we all stuck together, there shouldn’t be any issues.
As long as Haruki and I didn’t end up getting lost ourselves, that is.
「Ah, now that I think about it, the Fertilizers gave me an app like this.」
—Mushroom Identification Encyclopedia—
Since both wife, Sakura, and Yuri were members of the fan club, they apparently got helpful information from there.
As expected of the Fertilizers.
There were a lot of eccentric people among them, but they seemed to be highly competent.
However, there was one problem.
「Wait, isn’t there no signal out here? Won’t it just not work?」
「Ah, right.」
Sure enough, deep in the mountains, the app refused to load.
The one Haruki introduced was an app that could instantly determine whether a mushroom was edible just by taking a photo.
It was developed under the supervision of someone with an identification skill, so it could recognize nearly all known mushrooms except for newly discovered ones.
The world had certainly become a convenient place.
Back in the day, foraging for mushrooms was a life-or-death gamble.
People had to be mindful of how much they ate, blanching them beforehand to remove as many toxins as possible.
「Alright, I’ll hand you both small knives—be careful not to cut yourselves.」
「Okay!」
I handed small knives to Dori and Yuri.
When harvesting mushrooms, pulling them out entirely could prevent them from regrowing.
That’s why it was basic practice to carefully cut them at the base, leaving the mycelium intact.
And so, our mushroom pick began.
「Matsutake mushrooms grow near red pine trees, which are a type of conifer.」
「Komiper?」
「Yeah, their leaves are sharp and needle-like, so they’re easy to recognize.」
「Mmm… ken’t see!」
Dori tried her hardest to look at the leaves, but the trees were too tall for her to see them clearly.
But our goal was to find matsutake mushrooms.
「Mushrooms grow on the ground, you know?」
「Ah!?」
Dori hurriedly shifted her gaze downward.
We carefully scanned the ground for matsutake.
When I glanced back, I noticed Dori touching the ground as if she had found something.
「Dori, did you find something?」
「Yuri-chan!」
「Yuri?」
In Dori’s hands was a pinecone.
Right, Yuri had been called Pinecone all day today.
Looked like Dori remembered.
「Matsutake won’t grow where there are a lot of fallen leaves or pinecones.」
「Really?」
「Yeah, matsutake prefer nutrient-poor soil. They’re mycorrhizal fungi, so they only grow near living trees.」
When too many fallen leaves or pinecones accumulate, they form a thick layer of humus, which prevents matsutake from growing.
Since mycorrhizal fungi live symbiotically with trees, you have to search near living ones to find matsutake.
「Mmm, Papa, wat this one?」
「This is…」
There, growing in a cluster, were several matsutake mushrooms.
I picked one up and put my knife to it—
『UWAHHHHHHHHH!』
Suddenly, the matsutake let out a loud scream.
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