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

As expected, there are many monsters around this area. Although they aren’t our primary target, we can gather various materials.

We continued hunting down the monsters that appeared one after another as we advanced, but along the way, Alecto suddenly screamed.

—

“Eeek! Something is wrapping around meee!”

“It’s just a Trent. Calm down, and you can handle it.”

“Eek! It’s got me all tied up, and I can’t move… Hey, it’s touching me in weird places!”

—

She pleaded for help with a tearful face. Honestly, what a helpless woman. Trent is just a tree monster, after all. It’s not even that fast, so it captures its prey by extending its branches and tightening its grip.

—

“Good grief, Mei.”

“Yes, Master.”

—

As soon as Mei moved, the Trent was sliced in half vertically. It died instantly. The usable materials from a Trent are its bark and magic core, but with a clean cut like that, peeling off the bark should be easy.

—

“Your brother’s maid is truly amazing… I could barely see what she did.”

—

Hazan let out a groan of admiration. Well, that’s only natural. Mei is no ordinary maid.

—

“Phew, thank you for saving me.”

“Alecto, you should at least learn how to distinguish a regular tree from a Trent.”

“But they look exactly the same until they start moving, don’t they?”

“That’s not true. A Trent is a monster, after all. If you watch closely, you’ll notice subtle movements.”

“…Edson-kun, can you really tell the difference?”

“Don’t underestimate me. I have a magical device that helps me identify them.”

“That’s cheating!”

“It’s not cheating! If you’re frustrated, then make one yourself.”

“Mmmrrr…”

—

By the way, I don’t really expect her to actually learn how to identify a Trent. I’m just planting the necessity for her to create a new magical device herself.

—

Besides, there is a rough way to avoid Trent. Trent is a monster with a thick trunk but not much height, resembling a shrub.

—

Of course, there are trees of that type, but they’re not common on this mountain. So, as long as you avoid those trees, you should be fine. Trent isn’t a particularly aggressive type, after all.

—

Afterward, we encountered monsters like Hornet Flies, King Anacondas, and Poison Lizards, which Alecto and Hazan dealt with, but we still hadn’t found our target monster. We ended up climbing quite high, far past the mid-point of the mountain.

—

By this altitude, the greenery was thinning out, and more bare rock was becoming visible.

Hmm, we should be encountering it any time now.

—

“A-Are we still climbing?”

“I’m fine physically, but the monsters here are more vicious than those near the base. The guild even warns that adventurers below C-rank risk their lives by coming here.”

“Is it really that dangerous?”

—

According to the distribution maps I checked at the library, I didn’t think the monsters on this mountain were that strong.

—

Just as we were talking about this, a massive shadow descended from above, landing with a thud that dented the ground.

—

The creature then turned its majestic horns and face towards us, snorting loudly and letting out a low growl.

—

“Bruuuuh!”

“Eek! It’s a cow! A gigantic, jet-black cow!”

“Damn it! This cow is—!”

“Oh, yes! This is it! The Heavy Bison, our target!”

“Whattttttt!?”

—

I couldn’t help but get excited, but what’s with the reaction from these two? Oh, I see, they’re just surprised that we found our target. I get it.

—

Hmm, but it really is a big one. A regular cow weighs around 500 kilograms, but this one must be ten times that. Its body size is so massive that a regular cow would look like a newborn calf in comparison.

—

It has two slightly curved horns growing from its head. It also has spiky protrusions like horns coming out of both shoulders.

—

Its eyes are bloodshot, and it looks ready to fight.

“H-Hey, brother! This monster is the kind that requires at least two B-rank adventurer parties to take on!”

“Hmm? Is it really that tough? Let’s see…”

—

I checked through my appraisal goggles, Search Lens, but… this guy’s exaggerating.

—

“It’s not that bad. The threat level is around 10.”

“I don’t really get it, but how dangerous is that?”

“Shokuyoku is at threat level 6.”

“The difference of just one level triples its combat power, right?”

“So, in other words, it’s incredibly strong, much stronger than Shokuyoku!”

—

Hmm, well, at least this thing can’t fly.

—

“Don’t be so tense. This isn’t really advice, but all you need to watch out for is its charge using its horns and its ability to cast magic that increases its weight or yours. As long as you’re careful of that, you’ll be fine.”

—

“Whoa! My weight suddenly increased—Guoooh!”

“Eek!”

—

What are you doing, getting hit right after I warned you, B-rank adventurer…?

—

“It jumped! And now it’s heavy! My body feels heavy too!”

“It’s trying to crush you by increasing its own weight.”

“You’re too relaxed!”

—

Even Alecto got hit by the magic, huh? Good grief. For the record, it seems like the magic tried to affect me and Mei as well, but my clothes aren’t cheap enough to succumb to such magic.

—

The same goes for Mei. Her magic resistance is flawless.

—

“Well, this won’t do. Mei, reset the situation.”

“Yes, Master.”

—

Mei kicked off the ground, leaped into the air, and punched the Heavy Bison, sending it flying.

—

“Bruuuh!”

—

The monster slammed into the right wall, bounced off, hit the left wall, and finally dropped to the ground. But it only paused briefly. The vital spots were missed, so the damage shouldn’t be too significant.

—

In the meantime, I used my magical device to dispel the effects of the magic on Hazan and Alecto. That should do it.

—

“Ah, I feel lighter now.”

“Same here. But wow, Mei-san is unbelievable…”

“This isn’t the time to be impressed. Reset the situation, and do it properly this time.”

“Eh? Didn’t we defeat it?”

“Naive. That was just a temporary retreat. The damage isn’t significant, so it’ll come at us again soon.”

“Wh-Why would it do that…?”

“Naturally. There’s no point if we’re the ones who defeat it. I’ll support you enough so that you don’t die, but you two are going to keep at it until you can kill it yourselves.”

“You’re too harsh for a kid!”

—

Tears welled up in Alecto’s eyes, but that’s nothing new. I’m not listening to complaints.

—

Hazan, on the other hand, didn’t say anything. His shoulders were trembling. What’s this, is he actually angry?

—

“H-Hahaha, this is fun! As expected, brother! So, you’ve prepared the perfect training partner for me, huh!”

“No, it’s just to make sure you gather the materials yourself.”

“Let’s do this! I won’t betray your expectations, brother! The young lady and I will take this on!”

“M-Me too!?”

“Brace yourself, young lady!”

—

Hmm, as usual, they’re simple-minded and don’t really listen to what I say, but I can appreciate their strong spirits.

—

“Alright, let’s do this! Wait, heavy again!”

“Me toooo!”

—

“Learn from your mistakes, you fool!”

—

In the end, it took about four more tries. By that time, they seemed to have grasped the timing of the monster’s magic. Alecto used her revolver to disrupt the magic, and while the Heavy Bison was distracted, Hazan closed the distance and landed a series of sword strikes, finally defeating it.

—

“We… We did it! We took down the Heavy Bison!”

“It feels like a dream…”

—

Yes, it seems their hard work made the victory that much sweeter.

—

Afterward, we collected the materials—the hide, horns, and magic core. I especially wanted this hide. It’s perfect for a magic bag.

—

“Now that we’ve got what we came for, and it’s getting late, let’s head back.”

“Finally, we’re going back.”

“Even I’m getting tired…”

—

After a short rest, we began our descent. When I reminded them not to forget the formation once we returned, Alecto looked like she was about to cry again, but in the end, we all made it back to town safely.