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 38

“Kyaaaaa! What is this, it’s amazing! What is this, it’s amazing! Soooo amazing, what is this!”

“Such a noisy woman.”

I felt my eyes narrow at the grating voice. Really, how many times does one need to repeat how ‘amazing’ something is before they are satisfied?

After hearing from that man, I promptly decided to head to Binel Mountain. Checking the map, it seemed it would take over an hour on foot, so this time I decided to rely on the magic carriage. No sooner had I shown it than, true to form, Alecto fainted in a ridiculous pose screaming, “A magic beast!”

No choice but to carry her and drive on, and midway she regained consciousness and started all this fuss.

“That’s why I’m telling you it’s a magic carriage!”

“A magic beast called a ‘Madousha’?”

“Ah, I’m sick of that old joke.”

My head started to hurt. I held my forehead and explained. She misunderstood that I had tamed a magic beast, but as a magical tool master, she really needs to at least understand this much.

“So, it’s like this magic tool. Got it?”

“Not at all.”

“Alright, Mei, let’s dump her somewhere.”

“Understood.”

“Don’t understand! I-I was just joking. I sort of get it now.”

Kind of, huh.

“So this is, like, an amazing carriage but as a magic tool!”

“…Not exactly wrong, but can’t you put it a bit better…”

That’s why you’re a disappointment.

“Master, we will soon enter the target mountain.”

“Incredible! Much faster than a horse-drawn carriage!”

“Of course. But let me tell you, Mei is one of the safer drivers.”

Looking at the speedometer, we’re doing 80 km/h, but if we wanted, we could easily surpass the speed of sound.

“But, Edson-dono made it, why doesn’t he drive?”

“Be quiet.”

He wanted to, but couldn’t.

“The road is getting rougher, so don’t bite your tongue.”

That was directed at Alecto. The mountain road isn’t as well-maintained as the highway and is bumpy, although from my perspective, even the highway isn’t praiseworthy.

“Understood! I’ll be careful—ouch! I bit it!”

She’s biting her tongue as she speaks. Despite the bumps, the suspension is well-made, so it’s quieter than any horse-drawn carriage on the highway; I don’t understand why she reacts like this.

“Master, a pack of mountain wolves.”

“Annoying, just run them over.”

“Understood.”

“Eeeeeeeeh!?”

With Mei’s driving, the drooling pack of mountain wolves was forcefully scattered.

“I think there were about twenty…”

“Only twenty, you mean.”

Such things, no matter how many attack, wouldn’t even scratch the vehicle.

“Master, a group of big-horn boars is charging from ahead.”

“That’s serious, big-horn boars when excited can easily scatter even armed caravans. We should flee.”

“…Really? Run them over.”

“Understood.”

“Eeeeeeeeeeeh!?”

Such a fuss over nothing. What are they panicking about? Those slightly larger boars, their horns shatter on impact, and the boars themselves are sent flying.

“I’m too shocked and tired to be surprised anymore.”

“You’re too easily surprised.”

“By the way, are the materials good?”

“They’re not the target materials.”

Neither big-horn boars nor mountain wolves carry useful materials. Even their magic cores are weak and poorly suited for magical applications.

“It feels like a waste. But something feels odd.”

“Oh, you noticed?”

“Of course, it’s strange enough that even I can tell.”

“Hmm, you’re finally using your brain a bit.”

“Yes! This contradicts what that client said.”

“That’s right, despite claims that the monsters here are less dangerous—”

“Yes, the monsters here are—”

“The monsters that appear are too strong!”

“If he spoke that way, you’d think there are many dangerous monsters, not too weak!”

“……Huh?”

What is she even saying? The monsters now are strong, huh?

“No, no, those were too weak. Just small fry.”

“That’s not true at all, those were monsters that even capable adventurers need to deal with. Ah, probably Edson-kun doesn’t know because he’s still a child. That’s so childish of you.”

“Alright, Mei, let’s toss her out on the way.”

“Yes, Master.”

“No, don’t!”

It’s all because you keep saying foolish things.

“Master, we are approaching the summit soon.”

“Ah, thank you, Mei.”

The MFM clearly displayed the location where Esuihhi grows.

The summit is almost entirely rocky. Surrounded by high mountains, it feels somewhat oppressive.

We stopped the car and stepped outside. In front of us, there were purple flowers. That must be the Esuihhi.

“Could it be that those growing over there are…?”

“Ah, that’s Esuihhi.”

“Got it. I’ll go pick some.”

“That’s fine, but be careful.”

She scurried towards the Esuihhi with a fluttering pace. Utterly careless.

“It’s okay. I can pick that much myself.”

“However, Lady Alecto, that magic herb is…”

Mei began to speak, but by that time, Alecto had already approached the Esuihhi quite closely, and as expected, that’s when the intended creature appeared.

“KEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

“Huh? Hieeeeeeeeeeeeee!?”

The creature, a giant bird-like monster, attacked from between the surrounding mountains. Covered by shadows, Alecto finally noticed it and flipped over in a ridiculous way.

Certainly, it was a giant bird-like monster, but still, she was overly startled. Such an exaggerator.

“Well, as expected, the Shokuyoku appeared. Let’s hunt it properly.”

◇◆◇

side???

“So, did those people take on the request?”

“Yes, they believed us quite easily and everything went smoothly.”

“I see. Ha ha, foolish people. That request is by no means easy. Of course, you’ve rigged the request document, right?”

“Yes. It’s well-adjusted, so there should be no problems. But as expected, being attacked by the Shokuyoku, they’ll have no choice but to run.”

“That’s right. One of them might die, but the first one it targets will be the child. Seeing that, the remaining two women will definitely flee. Then, using their failure as a reason…”

“They’ll end up in debt, right? As expected—”

◇◆◇

Side: Hazan

There was something that had been troubling me for a while. It was about that young lad, Edson, whom I had attacked due to a misunderstanding.

Ultimately, it was my fault for being deceived by those swindlers. I did report them to the guild, though.

Since then, they likely had their adventurer’s licenses revoked, as I haven’t seen them around.

Despite it being a misunderstanding, it was something that should never have been forgiven.

That’s why I told him to let me know if he ever needed anything, as a way to apologize. But he hasn’t said anything since.

It hasn’t been that long, but I’m still concerned. I feel like I need to do something to ease my mind.

It was then that I heard rumors about that monk and his maid. Apparently, they had a dispute involving Aloy herbs with our group. It turned out Frog was trying to cover up some misconduct, but I never expected them to expose a guild staffer’s corruption.

I had a feeling they were no ordinary pair, and it seems my judgment was correct.

“Have you heard? Those three from the guild, I heard they’ve headed to Binel Mountain now.”

My ears perked up.

“Hey, Binel Mountain at this time? Seriously, why?”

“They said they went to gather Esuihhi.”

“Really? Going for Esuihhi now? That’s practically suicidal.”

“Tell me more about that!”

“Uwaaaahhhhh!”

I was hooked by the adventurers’ chat at the guild and pressed for more details. It seems that the monk and his companions had recently headed to Binel Mountain.

Foolish, that mountain becomes more dangerous this time of year as Shokuyoku begins to roam.

Shokuyoku is known as a gluttonous monster, causing big-horn boars and mountain wolves to change their habitats due to its presence.

Moreover, with Shokuyoku affecting their hunting, the monsters in that area become more likely to attack humans.

While individual mountain wolves aren’t very powerful, they become troublesome when agitated. And hungry big-horn boars enter an excited state, significantly boosting their attack power.

A single charge from them could easily scatter a squad of knights holding large shields.

And the worst scenario is if they reach the summit. Especially since Shokuyoku, that monster, attacks anyone who goes after Esuihhi without question.

And that monster particularly favors the flesh of human children. That monk would be perfect bait.

But I’m not one to stay silent upon hearing this. Now is the time for me to act! I leave town and rush towards the mountain at full speed.

“Hang in there, Edson! Don’t you die before I get there!”