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 27

We three headed to the colony site that the guild staff member had mentioned. According to the portable MFM, the location he spoke of indeed had a massive growth of Aloy herbs, and there were no adventurers in sight.

At first glance, it seemed like a hidden gem, but there’s no way he would show us such a place without reason.

Regardless, we moved forward. We reached the indicated spot without any trouble. There were no issues with the location itself. It wasn’t difficult to gather herbs there; in fact, it was more open and easier to see around than other areas.

“Perhaps he really told us out of kindness.”

“Do you not know how to be suspicious?”

“Ah—You said ‘you’ again! That’s it!”

Alecto started harvesting the Aloy herbs while pouting. It felt anticlimactic, but for now, there were no problems—wait…

“Stop! Hold on!”

“Ehh? Why? Oh, you mean to ask that doll for help, right? But, it’s nice to try gathering these ourselves.”

He said, standing up and waving his finger up and down.

“That’s not it. Look around.”

“Around? Ah!”

It seemed Alecto realized too. Mei had already sharpened her gaze and was ready.

As if to surround us, monsters began to appear. They were medium-sized, about as big as adult dogs, with a very distinctive appearance. Their bodies seemed to be formed from a collection of plants, and their heads were flowers. The petals were closed, giving the impression of a giant bud.

“This is definitely a Plant Dog…”

“That’s right. You’re quite knowledgeable.”

“Well, I am older than you, after all.”

He puffed out his chest proudly, though he’s much more childlike than me.

“But, I didn’t think they were this aggressive, they seem really angry…”

“Of course. From their perspective, we’re villains who came to steal their precious food.”

Plant Dogs eat magic herbs. The Aloy herbs growing here are their important food source.

“What should we do…”

“There’s only one thing to do—fight.”

I took out my appraisal glasses and checked the Plant Dogs just in case. Their name was indeed displayed as Plant Dog, and their threat level was 2. For reference, the Black Wolves we defeated on the way here had a threat level of 4.

So, in terms of strength, Plant Dogs are inferior to Black Wolves. However, they are numerous. About twenty of them have appeared, making Alecto quite nervous.

“There are so many!”

“Yes, and they have a troublesome nature of rampaging near magic herbs when humans are around.”

“Maybe it’s better to flee than to provoke them unnecessarily…”

“No, we need to deal with them here. Once they’re seen by humans, they’ll start ravaging the Aloy herbs in this area.”

It’s understandable for the inexperienced to be hesitant, but Mei and I can handle it. Nevertheless…

“If you can use your plant-manipulation magic, Alecto, try to take care of as many at the back as you can. Mei, please support Alecto. I’ll take care of the ones in front and to the sides.”

“Understood. I’ll do my best.”

“F-fine, since it’s come to this, I’ll go all out!”

It seems Alecto was motivated. I pulled out my rifle from the bracelet and switched the magazine to one filled with HR bullets.

The bullets I loaded were—Weedkiller bullets. I applied pressure to the trigger, and the fired bullet hit one Plant Dog in the head.

The supersonic bullet penetrated, lifting the monster’s body and flipping it over. One was down, but the real effect of the bullet was just starting.

As the Plant Dog fell, the spot hit by the bullet burst open, releasing white smoke that quickly engulfed the Plant Dogs in front.

“Guuu…”

The moans of the monsters could be heard as they fell one after another. The smoke had an effect of drying out plant-based monsters, reversing osmosis in their bodies and depleting all their internal moisture, effectively killing them.

This technique only affects the magic in plant-based monsters, so it does not harm other plants—quite a clean magic bullet.

I attacked the Plant Dogs to the left and right with the same bullets, and swiftly finished off 15 of the 20. No matter how many there are, if you know their weakness, it’s easy to end it quickly.

Now, how did Alecto do in the back? I turned around to check.

“I’ve captured two Plant Dogs!”

“Good job, Alecto-sama.”

“No, you haven’t defeated them yet…”

Alecto was quite pleased, but the Plant Dogs caught in the extended vines were still struggling to escape.

Three more had died near Mei. Well, I can guess what happened. Mei likely swiftly dealt with three that leaped at her first.

The remaining two were probably observing, and Mei, sticking to support, created a situation where the Plant Dogs hesitated to attack, allowing Alecto to use his magic.

However, capturing them was the result. If the goal was to capture them alive, it would be one thing, but for such opponents, it would be quicker to defeat them outright.

“Could it be that you don’t know any offensive magic?”

“W-well, I prefer research, so I only know enough magic to defend myself…”

I see, that’s something I should have checked from the start. My mistake.

So, I had no choice but to finish off the two captured Plant Dogs with my Maifle. Now all twenty are dealt with.

“That’s an amazing staff… I know there are staves with magical effects, but I’ve never seen anything this powerful.”

“It’s not a staff. It’s a magical rifle, a Maifle. Don’t compare it to such antiquated tools.”

“Maifle? That’s another new word for me…”

His eyes started spinning. Is this woman really the only master left in the magic guild? Is the guild really okay with this?

“It’s somewhat sad, isn’t it? These monsters only wanted to protect their favorite Aloy herbs…”

Alecto remarked as he looked over the withered Plant Dogs.

“What? What kind of foolish thing are you saying?”

“W-what’s with that look of disgust? You’re so rude, even though you’re just a child!”

Even though he says that, his simplistic thinking is indeed frustrating.

“Listen, just because we tried to collect these Aloy herbs, twenty Plant Dogs showed up. Think about what that means.”

“They must have been really hungry, huh?”

“You should quit being a magician.”

“Why would you say that? That’s harsh!”

“It’s not harsh!”

Honestly, use your head a little.

“Lord Alecto, Plant Dogs consume magical herbs like Aloy grass to exceed the magical capacity of their cores, and through this process, they produce and scatter seeds, which then spawn more Plant Dogs.”

“So, eating the magical herbs increases their numbers?”

“That’s right. Aloy grass is quite robust in reproduction, but if the number of Plant Dogs continues to grow, it will eventually exceed the reproductive limits. These creatures establish territories and operate within them, but naturally, if the Aloy grass is depleted, they will move to new territories. In other words, if left unchecked, this forest will just be overrun by Plant Dogs.”

“Oh no! That sounds serious!”

Finally, he gets it. It took this long for him to understand.

“So Plant Dogs are not to be pitied; ideally, they should be culled quickly. If twenty of them appeared here, it means their numbers have increased significantly in this area.”

“That’s serious! We must inform the Adventurers’ Guild right away!”

“What? Are you still talking about that? Ah, your thought process is truly blissful.”

“Hehe, it’s not that bad.”

“Lord Alecto, the master wasn’t complimenting you.”

Truly a blissful one.

“The Adventurers’ Guild probably knows there are Plant Dogs here.”

“Eh? But then why haven’t they taken any action?”

“That is… well, typical of a lazy Adventurers’ Guild. They probably think it’s not a big problem.”

“But surely they won’t increase that quickly, right?”

“That’s right. The twenty that showed up here are just an anomaly. There won’t be any more. Let’s move on quickly.”

“Eh? We’re still going?”

“Of course. We have a chance to get a lot of Aloy herbs. Let’s keep going deeper.”

I urge Alecto to hurry along, but… of course, what I said was a lie. And Mei, as expected, quickly understood my intentions.

The Adventurers’ Guild undoubtedly knows that culling is necessary and probably had a plan. That’s why they informed us about this place.

Hmm, they even prepared a watchful eye, such hard work. But saying it like this will keep them from intervening any further.

Let’s make the most of their scheme then.

◇◆◇ side？？？

“They went towards the back…”

“This wasn’t part of the plan. What should we do?”

“What can we do, really…”

We were called by the guild leader for a special task. Apparently, a woman from the magical guild has come around here and might cause trouble, so we were told to keep an eye out.

We were also told that if things went south and they were in a pinch, it couldn’t be helped and we should lend a hand.

The day after tomorrow, a large hunting party was scheduled to be formed here. It was undesirable for unrelated groups to come and do as they pleased in this area.

So, it was arranged that if such a situation was discovered, we would report back to the guild. If that happened, it would interfere with the hunting party, and those people would be subject to appropriate punishment. I don’t think a fine of 10 or 20 gold coins would suffice, and if the habitat was damaged, they would also be fined for that.

But, something unexpected happened. Those people managed to defeat the Plant Dogs effortlessly and collected the Aloy herbs.

Honestly, this puts us in a tricky situation. Our orders were to monitor anyone from the magical guild that comes here and, if they were in a pinch, to help them and bring them back to the guild.

However, they weren’t in any trouble, and the habitat wasn’t disturbed. Essentially, there was no role for us.

Moreover, they just went further in. We thought about stopping them, but that wasn’t our mission.

The guild leader had strictly told us to help only if they were in a pinch and not to do anything unnecessary… Maybe we should just report back what we’ve observed.

“Alright, let’s head back.”

“Really? But is that okay?”

“It can’t be helped. Besides, with their skill level, they could probably escape even if they encounter more Plant Dogs deeper in.”

“…Or maybe they’ll just end up defeating them all.”

“Haha, no way.”

We laughed it off. A hunting party of 50 was due to come. There are that many Plant Dogs deeper in. The most they could probably do is get surprised by the numbers and run back at best—.