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 39

“GYAAAAAA—I’m gonna be eaten!”

From above, a terrifying creature approached, and Alecto let out a pathetic scream. Aren’t you supposed to be able to use magic?

The creature, known for its unusually large mouth, began to extend three tongues from it.

This monster skillfully uses its tongues to snatch and devour its prey. If nothing is done, Alecto will likely become a victim of those tongues as well.

However, it would be hard to sleep at night if I abandoned him here.

“Hey, your favorite food is over here!”

I deliberately raised my voice to stand out and moved towards the creature. As soon as it recognized me, it flapped its enormous wings, altering its course towards me.

“Just as planned.”

I readied my Myrifle, aiming at the creature’s mouth. As it opened wide, I tightened my grip on the trigger.

The bullet flew into its mouth, penetrating the upper jaw, ravaging the bit of brain matter, and exited through the skull.

The creature, having its life taken before it could attack me, flew over and crashed to the ground, raising a cloud of dust as it slid to a halt.

“Hoeh…”

Alecto, whose knees had given out, was sitting on the ground, turning his baffled face towards me.

“Shshshsh, sheeeeee!”

“Quiet down!”

Suddenly letting out a bizarre cry.

“Wh-what’s happening? I don’t understand!”

And he’s biting his words in his panic, too.

“Come on, you know. Haven’t I shown you before? I took it down with this.”

“But, isn’t that a smoke-producing staff?”

“No! It’s not a staff. It’s a magic weapon that works like the revolver I lent you, changing effects with different bullets.”

“Hoehhhh, was Edson-kun such an amazing child?”

“Alecto-sama, you’re slow on the uptake.”

Mei seemed a bit exasperated. To be honest, I was just doing what seemed natural, nothing particularly amazing.

“Hmm, but why did it change targets midway?”

“Because the Shokuyoku prefers the flesh of children. It’s infuriating, but given my appearance, I thought it would come after me.”

“I see, so it went after the child-like figure. What a terrible monster.”

“But thanks to that, you were saved. Don’t pat my head!”

I brushed off his hand as he patted my head, looking disappointed.

“But taking it down in one shot is impressive… What kind of effect was that?”

“It was a DK bullet. You know Damascus? It’s made from that. It can’t carry complex magic effects, but its simple power is greater.”

Effective even against magic-resistant foes. This time, I wanted to take it down quickly without much damage, so I used this.

“Yes, it was quite a clean takedown. This will make excellent material for a magic bag.”

“Eh! This will?”

“Yes. The Shokuyoku has a voracious appetite, and its stomach is highly elastic. Perfect for a magic bag. Moreover, it continues to eat and unconsciously creates a virtual space in its stomach to store what it can’t fit. This means it’s suitable for spatial magic, and its magic core will be useful.”

Magic bags are crafted by creating a spell formula that manipulates space. Normally, you’d need more for significant effects, but for a bag with about 1000 kg capacity, this is sufficient.

So, with just this Shokuyoku, we’ve got all the main materials we need.

“Hoeh~ To think we’d get such a material while just out gathering magic herbs.”

Tanabota… Speaking of which, there’s a famous anecdote about this. In a village, there was a young man named Tanator who was infatuated with the village’s most beautiful girl. One day, he finally decided to confess his love but tripped while running towards her due to nervousness, causing his hand to catch on a button of her clothing and exposing her ample bosom. However, this led to him having to take responsibility, and he ended up marrying her. That’s how the saying came to be used when unexpected luck happens.

“By the way, the original saying was ‘When Tanator tried to confess to the most beautiful girl in the village, he tripped, causing her button to pop off and her bosom to be exposed, and just when he thought it was all over, he ended up having to take responsibility and got married.’ It was shortened to ‘tanabota’ because it was too long.”

While thinking about such a disconnected story…

“I’ll tell you, this is neither coincidental nor trivial. I knew this from the beginning.”

“Eh? You knew?”

“Yes. Esuihhi grows near the top of the mountain. Those who aim for it are prime prey for Shokuyoku. That’s why Shokuyoku tend to mark the areas around where Esuihhi grows as their territory.”

“Eh! Then it was indeed dangerous here!”

“Yes, this is an excellent hunting ground!”

“…Um?”

Huh? Alecto looked perplexed. After all, what about this place isn’t dangerous? It’s basically for your magical tools that we’re doing this.

“Anyway, that’s the situation, so we’ll hunt here for a while.”

“Eh? What about the Esuihhi?”

“Are you stupid? Weren’t you listening? The important thing is the materials we can obtain here, namely the Shokuyoku. The Esuihhi is just a bonus.”

“Eh~…”

What’s with that disappointed look? I certainly don’t want such a look directed at me.

“Anyway, here’s the plan. First, you wander around in front of the Esuihhi like you always do, acting foolishly.”

“Acting foolishly, that’s harsh! Is there even any meaning to that?”

“There is. The Shokuyoku will attack you.”

“A live bait! That’s awful! If the opponent likes children, then Edson should be the decoy!”

“Are you an idiot? If I’m the decoy, who will take it down?”

“I will.”

“Impossible.”

“Uh, then maybe Mei-san…”

“It’s not that she can’t, but in terms of handling the Myrifle, the master is far superior.”

“That’s how it is.”

Well, actually, I’m confident I could take down anything that comes at me as a decoy, but if I do it too often, there’s a chance that the monsters will become more cautious. On the other hand, this guy doesn’t look strong at all, seems gullible, and probably wouldn’t be suspected of anything.

“My skill is undeniable. Don’t worry.”

“What if I get eaten?”

“I’ll offer a moment of silence.”

“That’s it!?”

He continued to grumble, but eventually, he was convinced when it was decided that Mei would definitely protect him. He doesn’t trust me, but he trusts Mei, huh.

“KEEEEEEEE!”

“DOHHEEEEE!”

“KEEEEEEEE!”

“HYAAAAA!”

“KEEEEEEEE!”

“APYOOOOO!”

Since then, we caught Shokuyoku amusingly often. And Alecto repeatedly flipped out in a comically exaggerated manner, genuinely, not just pretending. It’s hard to say he should get used to it, but seeing how the Shokuyoku never became cautious because of it, it might be a kind of talent.

“Uuuuu, I’m tired of being surprised. Are we still going on?”

“Let’s see, well, we’ve hunted about 50, so that should be enough for now.”

“You hunted that many!”

We could still hunt more, but it seems we’ve exhausted the Shokuyoku in the area. Monsters will reappear over time.

“Well then, might as well gather the Esuihhi now.”

“It feels like the means and the ends have been switched…”

What is he talking about? The goal was always this.

Anyway, as we approached the Esuihhi…

“WOAAAAAH! We’ve reached the peak! Hey! Are you okay, Edson!”

Someone loudly and boisterously dashed towards us. Hmm, who was this man again?