Mission Name: Gathering Herbs
Mission Type: Chore
Mission Rank: D
Mission Goal: Collect a basket of herbs
Description: One of the local owners of a herb shop have hurt themselves when they fell down some stairs. The owner would usually go out in the afternoon to pick herbs from the training fields, but because they can't walk they are looking to hire someone to do the job for them. Swing on by the shop to collect a basket and a book of herbs before heading off to the training fields. Return only once the basket is full.
Payment: 10,000 Ryo
Requirements: Genin +
Dandelion root was easy enough to harvest. The yellow flowers they were known for, and the puff once it became later in the season, could be found nearly anywhere. Despite how much they looked like flowers, they were apparently just friendly little weeds -- although, the distinction had never been clear to Chigetsu between what was a flower and what was a weed. While he
wouldn’t go as far as to call them beautiful, at least, not in the same way most other flowers were, they certainly had a sort of simple charm to them. Apparently they had some sort of medicinal properties or something too, or at least they must if Chigetsu was being sent off on an errand to collect them.
“Aughh…” A brainless groan would leak from Chigetsu’s mouth as he set down the bundle he had collected. It was all absolutely covered in dirt, but hopefully that would be fine. Or would he have to find somewhere to wash them all…?
“This is a pain… A pain~ Collecting flowers is dumb~” His complaints would come out in a sing-song voice, as if he were reciting a child’s rhyme. There was nobody around to hear his complaints of course, with Chigetsu having chosen to look for herbs in the emptiest training field he could find. The idea of having anyone else see him on his hands and knees in the dirt, rooting around for weeds, was far too embarrassing. He had a reputation to maintain, after all! The idea of having a prestigious reputation filled his chest with a bit of pride for a second, only to quickly deflate. He didn’t really have much of a reputation, or at least not a positive one. Still, he didn’t want to be seen doing something so menial. This was the sort of chore he’d normally pay someone else to do, or his clan would take care of for him…
The list that he had been given would be glanced at. With it were a series of crosses, each made as he collected a reasonable quantity of what was listed. Despite his displeasure with the job, Chigetsu had at least the good sense to leave the easier options for last. Ginseng, Licorice, Shinso flowers… He had collected those all first, and they laid smushed now at the bottom of his nearly filled basket.
At the very least, Chigetsu would be able to claim a pretty nice payday after this. The motivation of wealth was the only thing that gave him the energy to continue with menial tasks like this. It was… well, he didn’t remember how much ryo was being paid for it, but it was probably a good amount! Enough for some nice wine and caviar, or something nice… Maybe some sushi? The thought of going out somewhere extravagant to eat after this filled his head with images of kaiseki, soba, sashimi, and sukiyaki, which was nearly enough to make him drool. In fact, he did drool a little bit.
Wiping at his mouth as he stood up, Chigetsu would set off with his newly found motivation. The last thing he had to collect now was some water lilies, which were littered across lakes and ponds in the same way that dandelions are across fields of grass. Apparently the flowers were good for something, or maybe it was the roots? He could barely remember. Brushing a bit of the dirt off his knees, Chigetsu would scurry off in search of the nearest pond, river, lake, or whatever. In Kirigakure, that wasn’t a particularly difficult ask either, and thus it wouldn’t be long before he had come across one that was absolutely teeming with the aforementioned water lilies.
This created a new problem, of course. With his knees already covered in dirt, there would be no doubt that he would end up coated in mud from the waist down if he dared to wade into the pond in order to collect any of the lily flowers. Even kneeling down around the edges would be at least a little messy. Setting the herb basket down, Chigetsu would take a moment to think. Shying away from the water was pretty uncharacteristic of his clan, but the idea of being covered in mud wasn’t exactly a pleasant one, especially if he would have to return through the village in order to deliver this all. He could only imagine all the eyes that would be on him.
For this reason, Chigetsu would attempt to collect the flowers through standing as close to the edge of the pond as possible and then awkwardly bending over at a sharp angle in order to pluck the flowers off their lily pads. He would get a handful like this before a stiff breeze came and nearly knocked him over in his imbalance. Chigetsu would wobble backward and end up landing back on his butt in the grass beside his basket. He was lucky to not have just fallen straight into the water, but still, it was a bit frustrating. The three lily flowers that he had collected would be dumped straight into the basket. While it wasn’t exactly completely full, Chigetsu made an executive decision and decided that it was full enough. He definitely wasn’t going to risk falling into the pond again and getting covered in mud and scum. Instead, he would get up and begin off towards the direction of the herb shop that had given him the mission, rushing off at a brisk pace.
[Exit]
