CH 30

[Collecting Material is also Difficult]

I held my sword in front of the flood of a flock of dozens of Madness Boars.

If I wield my sword like I just did previously, it seems like I can defeat the Madness Boars without damaging my sword.

Dozens of Madness Boars rushed my way all at once while knocking down Mana Woods one after another.

“I’m going!”

I dodged the flood of the dozens of Madness Boars with quick movements and slashed them with my sword without stopping.

“““Bumoooooooooo!”””

Smelling the blood emitted from their comrades, the other Madness Boars get even more agitated.

To avenge their hurt comrades, the Madness Boars didn’t hesitate to rush towards me and thrust me with their tusks.

“Oops, it seems it would hurt if I was hit by that, so I’ll avoid it.”

I dodged the flood of Madness Boars one after another with my lightened body.

“Frick, the ones we will brought back are only the Blood-Sucking Mushrooms on their head, okay. As for the body, I want to have them for lunch, so please cut off their heads cleanly, and drain the blood.”

An order to process the Madness Boars for lunch came from Gawain, who was carefully cutting up the blood-like deep red color umbrella part of the Blood-Sucking Mushroom from the head of the first Madness Boar that was cut off.

“Okaay, I’ll do my best.”

By the way, I’m hungry…

Since I keep activating the Body Strengthening magic, I’m also quick to get hungry.

However, I don’t think we can eat up all of them.

The portions that we couldn’t eat up can be applied with Weight Saving magic and loaded on the Wyverns before we return, huh.

And it’s a waste to leave the pelts and tusks.

In order to have the flood of Madness Boars that was crowding towards me for our lunch, I swung my dull sword, and cut off their head with the shockwave.

“Huu, Gawain-sama, it’s done.”

The Madness Boars who attacked me and lost their head, dyed the ground deep red with their spilled blood.

The flock of Madness Boars became unmoving dead bodies.

“Thank you for your hard work. You sure have cut off their heads cleanly. With this, it seems that we can get enough Blood-Sucking Mushrooms. Now then, since we’ll be having them as our meals, roast them whole with your magic to make it quick. And I’m fine with having three y’know.”

“Eh? As it is? Is it fine not to process it?”

“We don’t have time after all. Since we’ll have to eat quickly and go to collect the next material.”

“Haa… I see. I’ll be full with just one, so I’m going to roast four.”

I lined up four bodies of the Madness Boar neatly, and took out the salt that I always had in my pouch and sprinkled it a lot.

It’s not a pretreatment, but with some saltiness, you should be able to taste the umami.

I chanted Firewall magic toward the Madness Boar that was lined up neatly and sprinkled with salt.

The Firewall was activated, the Madness Boar is wrapped in flames, and after a while, the scent of roasting meat tickles my nostrils.

The smell made my belly growls and asked me to replenish my nutrition.

“I’ve finished harvesting the Blood-Sucking Mushrooms. I got these for you. If you sell these tusks, you can turn them in for money, right?”

While I was roasting the meats, Gawain, who had harvested the Blood-Sucking Mushrooms from the heads of the Madness Boar, gave me a large number of tusks.

Although I didn’t take the request to subjugate the Madness Boar, if I bring these materials to the Adventurer’s Guild, they will be taken over at the value of the market price, so there is no loss.

“I’ll gratefully accept it. It looks like the meat is roasted, so let’s have a quick lunch and go to collect the next material.”

“Ou, let’s do that. The next one is a bit ridiculously hard and quick guy, and we’ll have to capture it alive.”

“Hard and quick guy, huh…”

“Well, it’s mealtime now. Let’s eat.”

Gawain said so, and he cut the still hot Madness Boar with his knife and started to bite into it.

I also imitated Gawain and decided to give my hungry body the roasted meat of the Madness Boar.

After lunch, I called the Wyvern, who I named Dimol, who had stopped on a tree and waited obediently, tied the piled up like a mountain and lighted bodies of the Madness Boars to it, and moved to the next place while flying low at the height of the trees so that we wouldn’t be shot down the Grand Fortress Turtles.

If you just looked at him, Dimol absolutely shouldn’t be able to fly though…

He sure flies normally… I wonder if Noelia would be surprised if she saw this…?

About 10 Madness Boars tied up on Dimol’s back, but because they’ve been lightened, they’re only weighs as much as I am.

“Dimol, is it not heavy?”

“Kueee!”

It seems that the weight is not so heavy for Dimol, who has a bigger body compared to other Wyverns.

While flapping his wings lightly, he was flying in the low altitude.

“When we get home, I’ll share the meat with you, so look forward to it.”

“Kueee!”

When I said that and stroked his neck, he cried as if he understood my words.

“Well then, we should be able to see the ancient ruins where the last material, the biometal creature ‘Metal Slime’, is in a bit. Oh, there it is. Look there.”

At the point where Gawain pointed at, a half-collapsed stone ruin was visible.

When I was in Royal Capital, I heard some stories about them from an ‘Excavator’, adventurer who specialized in investigating, exploring, and excavating ancient ruins, and it seems that those places were left behind from a civilization that prospered before the kingdom was formed.

It seems that most of them have collapsed, but sometimes excavated items such as ancient documents are found, and it seems that they sell such items to collectors and earn a living that way.

By the way, I have never entered such ruins.

The reason is because Alfine, who mainly chose the request, didn’t like dark and narrow place, so we never took subjugation request inside a ruins.

While thinking so, we arrived in front of the ruins and got down.

“After that, if we are done catching the Metal Slime in there, are we finished with the material collection?”

“Ahh, if you catch about two of them, I should be able to use it as one piece of metal. Don’t lose sight of them because they’re silver colored slime. They usually hang around the entrance, but――there they are.”

When Gawain pointed to the front of the ruins, silver, soft and flabby objects were moving around.

“They are sensitive to people’s presence. So, it’s better to get close and capture them immediately.”

I nodded silently, then held my breath and approached the Metal Slimes at the entrance of the ruins.

It seems that they haven’t noticed me yet.

At this rate, can I catch them…?

When I got a little closer, I unintentionally stepped on a twig under my feet.

“!?”

“I’m discovered!?”

The Metal Slimes who noticed my presence started to move to escape all at once

At this rate, they will escape.

I immediately started the chanting of ‘Stone Wall’.

“Become a stone wall and manifest at the point where my finger points out. Stone Wall.”

At the end of my chanting, a stone wall of the Stone Wall that I activated in front of my pointed finger began to rise.

The way out of the escaping Metal Slimes was blocked by a high stone wall.

“There is no way out of there y’know. Give up and get caught by me.”

The Metal Slimes that were wobbling in front of the stone wall didn’t seem to have given up yet, and when they found a gap in the wall, they began to escape at full speed toward it.

“I won’t let you! Become a stone wall and manifest at the point where my finger points out. Stone Wall.”

A new stone wall was created and surrounded them so as to eliminate the gap, and the retreat of the Metal Slimes was cut off.

“With this, there’s no more way out for you guys. Give up.”

The Metal Slimes who were surrounded by the stone walls huddled together and were trembling.

I feel a bit of pity, but …

It can’t be helped.

I got down into the stone walls, and managed to capture the Metal Slimes that wholeheartedly didn’t want to get caught and were running from place to place, and put them inside the leather bag.

“Huu, we’re finished with this, huh.”

“Thank you for your hard work. Now that we have collected most of the materials, I should be able to start making it from tomorrow. I think it will be an outrageous sword, so look forward to it.”

On the stone walls, Gawain grinningly laughed as he watched me chase around the Metal Slimes with my strengthened body.

I beg you, please make me an ordinary sword…

While thinking so, I tie the leather bag tightly so that the Metal Slimes who were rampaging inside can’t escape, and I dispel the Stone Wall magic.