Ham Hunting

"Off to hunt ham!"
At Arisa's cheer, we teleport off--.
"Looks like it's drizzling."
"Nn, rainy season, ripe."
I guess the ham we're looking for is something that can only be found during rain.
But I still don't know what ham hunting is supposed to be.
"Destination."
After walking a little bit, we come across an open field filled with bright red flower buds.
I can see some hydrangea-like flowers blooming in the distance.
"Snail~?"
"So many nanodesu! Today is fried snail day nanodesu!"
"It's been so long."
The beast-girls discover snails in the bushes behind a tree, and they begin gathering them.
"Are they edible?"
"Humans generally don't eat them, but boiled snails with a bit of salt were like a feast for us during the rainy season."
Lulu curiously asks Liza, and Liza has a nostalgic look on her face as she explains to Lulu how to cook them.
Escargot is fairly well known, but I would rather not eat snails just due to personal bias.
"I came over here since I heard voices, but it looks like it was just Satou's party."
"Teacher nanodesu."
"You're energetic as always, Pochi."
Pochi's elf instructor, Porutomea-san, walks up to us in the middle of the rain.
Today, she's wearing a thin one-piece dress made from elf-silk rather than her usual armor. It suits her, but her clothes are drenched from the rain since she has no umbrella.
It's clinging to her body and slightly see-through. It makes me feel a bit immoral to look at her like that, so I dry her off with some Convenience Magic.
"Satou, did you all come for the ham hunting too?"
"That's right, Porutomea-san. You too?"
Porutomea-san nods at me and says "Call me Poa."
"Yeah. They bloom right after the rain stops, and the fresh ones are delicious. Look, it's starting--."
Bloom?
Is ham something that blooms here in the elf forest?
She points to one of the buds. As it gets hit by a ray of sunshine through the clouds, it blooms into a rose-like flower. Apparently, the ham is the name of the petals of that flower... Why is it called ham...?
"Lovely."
"Beautiful~?"
"Super pretty nanodesu."
Mia, Tama, and Pochi happily gaze at the blooming flowers.
"Pochi, follow me!"
"OK nanodesu."
Poa-san takes out a knife in one hand and starts harvesting the flowers. The rest of the girls follow her lead and start gathering them too.
"Satou, try one."
Poa-san gives me a handful of the rose-like flower petals, so I try taking a bite.
The flavor is exactly the same as dry-cured ham.
And it's very good.
"It goes great with Brownie Wine."
Poa-san says that with a smirk on her face.
That's just what I was thinking too.
"I'm drinking with Shiya and the others later. Satou, you're coming too."
"I would be happy to accompany you."
"Now then, time for the main event of ham hunting. Here it comes."
--Main event?
"Big one~?"
"It's the ham monster nanodesu."
In front of Tama and Pochi, a giant rose-like flower creature pops up and starts whipping its vines around.
According to my AR Display, it's classified as a phantasmal beast rather than a monster.
"Don't attack the main body! Cut off the petals to calm it down! The petals are of superb quality, so don't damage them!"
"Understood!"
At Poa-san's orders, Liza activates Mana Edge and starts cutting off the petals with a sparkle in her eyes.
She usually has trouble activating it, but her appetite seems to have allowed her to do it smoothly this time.
And so, after a short fight, we succeeded in acquiring the high quality ham.
Because of how good the ham was, there was an unfortunate side effect. For a while afterward, the girls were licking their lips unconsciously whenever they saw a normal rose.
As a side note, this is definitely the best snack to go with Brownie Wine.