That Time a Shut-in for 300 Years Continued to Make Antiques , but All of It Turned out to Be Cheat-Level Magic Tools - Chapter 26

Now, it was a walkable distance, so we headed to the forest on foot, foregoing the use of a magical vehicle.

“…You really don’t have much stamina, do you?”

“Well, I’m generally not the type to go out much.”

Alecto was already gasping for breath, using her staff as if her life depended on it. We had only walked for 30 minutes.

“Members of the Magic Guild often lack physical strength.”

“But still, you’ve been accepting guild jobs and collecting herbs before, right? How did you manage to gather magical herbs with such little stamina?”

“Yes, I can manipulate plants a bit with magic, so that helps…”

I see. So she used magic to collect magical herbs. But that makes it even more puzzling. I can’t imagine there being a problem with the herbs she collected using magic.

“Anyway, once we find the Aloy Herbs, I’ll do the collecting. I’ve been told about a colony this time…”

“What are you saying? Did you really take that story seriously?”

“Eh?”

“Alecto-sama. That man was the type to forge contracts. It’s only natural to assume he wouldn’t kindly tell us about a colony.”

“Eeeeeh! Wasn’t he thinking of me?”

“Your head is truly filled with happy thoughts.”

“Mmm, it’s rude to keep saying ‘you, you’! I’m older than you, after all!”

She was scolded as if she were a child. Damn, I’m actually a thousand years older than her.

“Then, Alecto it is. Alright, alright.”

“You’re dropping the honorifics!”

“Anyway, let’s put aside the colony for now, and focus on collecting efficiently to give that guild a taste of their own medicine.”

“Collecting efficiently, huh? But this forest is frequently visited by other adventurers for Aloy Herbs, so finding it can be quite tough.”

“Even so, you managed to get 500 bundles, right?”

“Yes, I was lucky that time.”

Luck, huh? Well, if she could find 500 bundles, I could easily find ten times, no, a hundred times that amount. Though, whether that much actually exists here is another matter.

“First, we need to pinpoint the location of the Aloy Herbs.”

“Okay. So, where do we start from? Oh, but Edson-kun, you mustn’t stray too far from your sister. It’s dangerous.”

“Stop treating me like a child! Also, there’s no need to move. I can find it right from here.”

“Eh? What do you mean?”

“Like this.”

I activated the portable MFM. A translucent screen appeared above us, and Alecto was excessively amazed by such a trivial thing.

“What is this exactly?”

“It’s a magical tool. It displays a map of the surroundings.”

“A map of the surroundings!? What is this? I’ve never seen such a magical tool. Where did you get it? Could it be an artifact from a dungeon?”

“Don’t be silly. Don’t compare it to something as low-level as artifacts.”

“Low-level? Artifacts?”

Alecto blinked incredulously, looking down at me as if she had seen something unbelievable.

Did I say something strange? Artifacts are relics from the past found occasionally by adventurers in dungeons they explore as a hobby. Most are magical tools created by ancient people. While some adventurers might be proud to find magically imbued weapons, most of those are merely antiques with little practical use.

It’s understandable if one collects them as a hobby, but using such things as magical tools is unthinkable. Especially to be compared to this is frankly offensive.

“This is something I made. It seems it hasn’t caught on around here yet, but in the cities, it’s a common enough item.”

“Eh, is that so? I’ve never been, but cities must be amazing…”

Well, I haven’t actually been to one either, but it must be so.

“Alright then, please show us where the Aloy Herbs is growing.”

“Understood. Searching the magical database.”

“SHE TALKED—!”

Annoyingly loud woman.

“Settle down. It’s normal to have a voice guide.”

“I don’t know anything about such normalcy…”

“Master. After all, this magical tool is not widespread here.”

Hmm, when she puts it that way, I suppose so. Explaining everything in detail is such a hassle.

“Anyway, with this, we can grasp the surrounding terrain, and find where the Aloy Herbs is growing right away.”

“It’s too convenient, it’s scary…”

What are you saying? What’s wrong with being convenient? If this kind of magic tool were to be widely used, it would reduce the dangers of harvesting magic herbs. It would also allow us to know the locations of monsters, thus reducing their damage.

“Now, it seems the search is complete.”

“Can you understand it with this?”

“Yes, the circles indicate all the Aloy herbs. Hmm, as I thought, there are quite a few adventurers here to collect Aloy herbs.”

“Can you even tell that?”

“Yes. The white dots clustering around the circles are intelligent beings, in this case, humans, so they’re likely adventurers. I can even tell their approximate strength.”

“…It’s all so amazing that I can’t quite keep up.”

“No, don’t give me those teary eyes…”

It’s not like I said anything particularly difficult.

“Then, Master, shall I go and collect this Aloy herb right away?”

“No, it’s a waste of time for us to go collect it ourselves.”

“Eh? But magic herbs won’t walk over here on their own, will they?”

Don’t look at me with those pitiful eyes! Anyway, I’m taking out a magic tool from my bracelet that is useful for times like this.

“I’ll use this.”

“…Where did you bring that out from now?”

“From this bracelet. It’s an infinite storage ring.”

“Infinite? Eh? Eh?”

“Ah, never mind! Just know that there’s a variety of things inside this bracelet. And these are the Seven Change Dolls I made, small magic automatons.”

“Oh, how cute! You’re still a child at heart, huh? Hehe, playing with dolls.”

“It’s not a game! I’m going to have these dolls collect the magic herbs!”

“Hehe, it’s the first time I’ve thought of you, Edson-kun, as childish. But this is work. It’s not time for playing house.”

She behaves as if she’s dealing with a child, raising her index finger.

“Just stay there and watch.”

I began taking out various magic tool dolls from my bracelet.

“It’s not time to play, but oh well, just for a little bit, right? I’ll borrow one.”

“Don’t touch!”

“Eek!”

Alecto flinched when I shouted. Really, he should stop meddling.

“Wahh, Mei-san’s Master is such a child yet so scary.”

“Master has a bit of an S streak in him, you know.”

“A child with that trait does make one worry about his future. We need to raise him properly.”

“Shut up.”

When will he stop treating me like a child? And what’s with Mei’s comment about having an S streak? I didn’t realize I was seen that way!

“Sigh, just line up, all of you!”

At my command, the dolls I took out lined up in front of me.

“Alright! Numbers!”

“1!” “2!” “3!” “4!” “5!”

“Good, abbreviate!”

“50!”

Right, there are 50 in total. No need to check each one.

“Do these dolls talk… wow, amazing!”

“That’s because they’re magic tools. Understand? It’s basically like a small golem, get it?”

“Golem, I see… but golems are more like mud figures.”

That’s an old-fashioned golem for you. They can only follow simple commands and are pretty crude in material. Nowadays, they’re full of flaws and hard to find uses for.

“These magic automatons can literally transform into seven different forms to operate. I’ll omit the full details, but for now, they’re in Explorer Mode.”

At my command, the dolls transformed into a form suitable for explorers. This mode makes it easier to search and collect specified items.

There are also other modes like Warrior Mode for combat and Sage Mode for magic, which can adaptively change according to the situation.

“Alright, split up and collect the Aloy herbs indicated on this map. However, avoid going to this area in the west. Also, try not to overlap with other adventurers, and if you encounter monsters, deal with them and strip their materials to bring back.”

“Roger!”

That should cover the Aloy herbs without any issues.

“Um, why did you exclude this area?”

Alecto asked, puzzled about the area I had excluded from the map.

“Forgot? That’s the cluster area the guild staff told us about.”

“Oh! Right. So that’s why you didn’t send them there.”

“Right. And now, we will go there ourselves.”

“Eh? We are going?”

“Yes. Since they took the trouble to inform us, let’s see what kind of trap they’ve set up for us—”