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 50

“Forest monkeys! There are many of them. Be careful!”

“Hmm, this creature isn’t our target. I don’t have much interest, but the magical core might come in handy.”

“Master, the fur of this creature is also fairly durable. It could be useful in the future.”

“I see. Then do your best to hunt them.”

“So carefree!”

Hazan shouted. The irritating cries of the monkeys echoed through the dense forest. Numerous monkeys were visible in the trees, their fur blending with the surrounding greenery. They were large for monkeys, but still small enough to perch on the branches.

However, their numbers were overwhelming—about 30 of them, perhaps.

“We’re completely surrounded.”

“Indeed. Well, do your best.”

“Why do you sound so indifferent!?”

Alecto was unusually jittery, surprised by my calm response.

“Basically, Mei and I won’t move. We’ll step in if necessary, but you and Hazan will handle this.”

“No, no, no! I’m not a fighter at all!”

“That’s why I lent you the revolver. You know how to use it, right?”

“Six bullets in here, thirty monkeys—doesn’t add up!”

“Why are you speaking in fragments?”

Alecto, holding the revolver, was in a panic. Honestly, what does he think the magical HR bullets are for?

“I’ve already explained the features of the bullets, haven’t I? And there are spare bullets. Just do it properly.”

“But, but…”

“Brace yourself, lady! Here they come!”

“Ukikikikiiiiii!”

The forest monkeys moved all at once. They leapt from tree to tree, swapping places with each other, and hurled stones and Iwayashi fruits at us. The outer shell of the Iwayashi is unusually hard—it’s literally like a rock.

Mei and I watched from a safe distance. Occasionally, projectiles from the monkeys flew towards us, but Mei knocked them all down with her hands.

“You!”

Hazan unleashed his sword magic, using it as a shield to block the incoming objects. But, as I pointed out before, it has the drawback of obstructing his view, and as expected, a few monkeys jumped down and got behind him.

They leapt at him, claws outstretched.

“Too naive!”

But Hazan seemed to have anticipated this. He dispelled the magic, spun around, and slashed with his sword in one swift motion.

Originally, he had the strength of not just one man, but perhaps ten. With that alone, he was able to slice through the monkeys all at once.

Hmm, using his weakness as bait—clever. He may be a muscle-brain, but his combat sense is nothing to scoff at.

“The fur is ruined now.”

“Yes, it is.”

But not thinking ahead is still a minus…

“Eeek! Eeek! Eeek!”

Alecto kept running away. I’d like to commend him for dodging, but the monkeys were clapping and making noise, clearly playing with him.

“Alecto, running away won’t solve anything.”

“I know, but there are too many…”

“Lord Alecto, remember the spells we studied together.”

“Spells? Oh! Right, um, the green eyes upon the earth, guard—”

Alecto began chanting, then placed one hand on the ground.

“—Plant Magic: Green Guardian!”

As the chant completed, the ground swelled up and vines writhed up like tentacles, encircling Alecto.

The vines caught the flying rocks and prevented them from hitting Alecto. That’s the effect of this magic. The vines that sprouted protected the user.

“Did Mei teach you that?”

“Yes, I thought it might be useful.”

That was the right thought. Thanks to that, Alecto could focus on attacking while leaving defense to the plants.

“Hey! Hey!”

Although his cries lacked energy, his aim wasn’t bad. The bullets he fired from the revolver exploded upon impact with the monkeys, emitting radial bursts of electricity and frost, catching not just the targeted monkeys but also those within the effect radius.

The revolver, a portable magical gun, has less power than the magical rifle Myrifle that I usually handle, but if used skillfully, it can take out four or five monkeys with one shot.

Alecto was worried about the mismatch between the number of monsters and bullets, but at his current pace, he might finish this battle without needing to reload.

“Ooooraaaaaaah!”

“KiKi!?”

Even Hazan, with his great sword, resorted to cutting down trees in his typical forceful manner. The fallen trees crushed some monkeys, and those that fell were turned to rust by Hazan’s sword. Well, he does whatever he wants. And after a while, the battle ended.

“Hmm, 15 minutes. That took quite a while.”

“No, that was pretty fast, wasn’t it? Haah, haah.”

“Ugh, I’m glad we managed to defeat them.”

Hazan seemed to be breathing heavily through his shoulders, appearing quite exhausted. Well, he always goes all out.

Alecto probably wasn’t physically tired, but he seemed mentally drained.

“Hey, hey, it’s not over just because we defeated them. The battle isn’t over until we collect the materials.”

“You demon!”

“Let us rest a little…”

I gave them a 30-second break. Then Hazan revived with a shout and began skinning the materials. He has high recovery powers.

“Alecto, make sure you do it properly.”

“Ugh, but I’ve never done dissection before…”

“Then use magic. Plant magic can be useful for dissection if used properly.”

“Eh? Is that so?”

“Good grief, don’t you even know that? Mei, teach him.”

“Yes, master.”

Mei taught him the technique on the spot, and he managed to grasp and master it quite easily. From my perspective, he still has a long way to go, but he has been extensively trained by Mei in spellcasting. If it’s plant magic, which he originally excels at, he should learn it without much trouble.

“Wow, cute!”

“This is Little Green magic.”

A plant that looked like a doll and started dissection was born. The flower blooming on its head was a charm point.

The busy and earnest working figure was indeed quite adorable.

“It’s handy to have such magic. But, it’s cute! Can I have one?”

“It will disappear when the magic wears off.”

Even this man thinks such things are cute. He looked disappointed when he heard it would disappear.

It seems that the material collection is finished now.

“About ten magical cores were ruined. We only managed to collect ten pelts. We need to think more about how we kill them.”

We came here to collect materials, but it’s pointless if we ruin them. Especially Hazan, who is too rough for a B-rank adventurer.

“It’s quite tough. But I still have many things to reflect on! I have a new goal now!”

“Why don’t we hire many adventurers like Hazan-san to collect materials?”

“Where would the funds for that come from?”

“…Ah.”

As always, there’s a gap in his thinking. Even if we had a budget, we currently can’t trust the adventurer’s guild enough to accept their work, and we are trying to reclaim jobs from the magical guild.

Hazan is trusted because of his personality; I would never consider hiring other adventurers.

“Will Edson-kun also fight next time?”

“Neither Mei nor I usually fight.”

“Ugh, but, it must be scary for Edson-kun too when so many monsters appear, right?”

“Don’t be silly. Let me tell you, if it were Mei and me, we could take down those Forest Monkeys in less than 10 seconds.”

“Eeeeeeeeeeeek!”

“Whoa, seriously…”

They were quite surprised, but if it were us, that’s just how it would be regardless of the number. However, if they rely on our power, they won’t be able to do anything without us in the future.

We need the magical guild to become independent. That’s why I’m leaving all the material gathering to them.

“Alright, let’s go. We haven’t found our target creature yet.”