CH.182 Chicken Game with Cockatrice

CH.182 Chicken Game with Cockatrice

“Brian, the dress that your summon wears, is it a maid outfit of some kind?” Paulina asked after we were done with the deer and were moving to where the cockatrice had been.

“Yes, it is. I mean, she is a maid, so she wears a maid outfit.”

“It was quite a bit more glamorous than what is standard. Do you know who designed it?”

“No clue.”

“I see. Would it be possible for us to copy the design?”

“I don’t see why not. But hers is a bit ... custom from what I would describe as the ‘base model’.”

“Base model? So there are different versions?”

“...” I shouldn’t have said that, but now that I did, I guess I have to share more or I would be seen as even more questionable. “Yeah. Hers has all of these claw looking things on it and that isn’t exactly normal. I can try telling what the ‘normal’ is later.”

“Thank you. That will be a great help.”

I wonder what kind of help? Sure you’ll get a new design for a maid outfit, but so what? Well, I’m not complaining as I do prefer it over what they wear at the moment, but still. All you’ll gain is a new design to use a bunch of money on.

(Laura, can the goblins draw up a more ‘normal’ looking maid outfit?)

(They might be able to. But why not just use her dress as the design?)

(Because it isn’t the classic french maid outfit. I won't corrupt something so amazing. Hmm. Laura, can I change my clothes in the factory like Fantasia does?)

(You should be able to.)

(What about your clothes?)

(As long as I don’t resist it, yes.)

(Then would you mind if I use you as a dress-up doll this evening?)

(... sigh ... I suppose it will be fine, if it is required.)

(Since when can you sigh?)

(Always. I just never did it before.)

“Remember, don’t look at its eyes. A cockatrice can petrify you if you do.” Paulina was warning Alice and Ria before she let them fight the bird.

I was all ready to leave it up to Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, but those two were all like “our turn”. And as Paulina allowed it, I’m not going to say no at this point.

As for petrification, well, it is what you think it is. Turning you into stone. But it actually isn’t deadly. Well it is, but also not. While it does turn you into stone, you don’t actually die instantly or anything. More like you are coated with a thin layer of nearly unbreakable stone. You inside will keep on living until you starve to death. No idea how you would breathe, but I also don’t want to think about it. The petrification curse can then be lifted by different kinds of magic. The most used one being Holy magic, a magic that is basically exclusive to the church. It is specialized in healing, purification and curse lifting, making it nearly useless in actual combat, but great for most healing purposes. As for why it was only for the church, well apparently to learn it, you needed a title priest or priestess. Or at least apprentice priest or priestess. But losing the title could lead to losing the skill, so you couldn’t just go for long enough to get the skill and bail.

Then again, light magic could do basically everything that Holy magic can, it just isn’t quite as mana efficient. But I guess then you have the attribute problems to worry about.

“Let’s go!” Alice yelled out.

We had just been beamed down from B.E.S. Big Core and she was ready to take down the cockatrice. My monsters were standing by, ready to support the duo, in case something went wrong. Brian currently has BLS envoy, Kitchen Dragonmaid, Bistro Butcher and Vampire Sorcerer summoned. As well as the Big Core.

“Master, are you sure we should let them fight that thing alone? I know they could if we blinded it first, but petrification can be a true threat.” BLS asked.

“I would agree, but they said they could do it. And if something happens, you’ll step in. And petrification isn’t lethal. And Guardian Angel Joan can heal it.” I listed off reasons I let those two try to fight.

“They can do it if Alice uses the correct spells.” Paulina said.

“Oh? Do you know a plan they should use?” I asked.

“Shade can blind the cockatrice and prevent it from using its petrifying eyes. This would cut down the bird's biggest strength making it basically a lower C-rank monster.”

“Well, let’s hope Alice realizes that.”

Ria had, in her classic style, rushed in and with a use of a Flicker Step, she had mounted the cockatrice. Riding on its back, she didn't need to worry about its eyes, but she also couldn’t get a bite into its flesh, as the thick coat of feathers was in the way. She was trying to rip them away, but the cockatrice wasn’t making it easy. She really needs a weapon to make that process faster. I should go check up on the blood iron manufacturing process.

Taking advantage of the situation, Alice casted Dark Bullets as fast as she could, without actually using the quick cast skill. I could really see the difference as she kept casting them. They were getting progressively more powerful, thanks to her Magician’s Power skill. The first one didn’t do much to the bird, but by the time Alice was casting her sixth, the bird had turned to face her and was ignoring Ria, still clinging to the bird's back.

“It's going to petrify her.” BLS said.

“A...” I almost called out to her, but kept it in my mouth. If she doesn’t realize what to do by herself, she won’t grow like she should. I can tell her Paulina’s strategy after the fight.

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Now, we just head back to the guild and report on our success.

“Eh? You completed it? In one day?” The same guild employee that accepted us taking the quest was there when we came to report the completion.

She didn’t at first believe us, but as I began pointing out detailed information on all of the monsters near the road, and with Paulina vouching for me, she had no choice but to accept.

We made sure to report all of the forest deer we took down and the guild bought them from us for a good price, so I saw no reason to take it to a speciality shop myself. We did lose about 5% of the sale price we could have gotten and that is assuming we would have been able to haggle a good price for the meat. And as money is not an issue for me, I let it go. They also picked up the hides of the two forest bisons, but as the horned bison was still in one piece and Paulina wanted it like that, the guild didn’t get anything from it. For the cockatrice, the guild wanted the monster core and some materials that can be used for weapons, like the feathers that are used for arrows, the claws and the beak. Even its eyes were bought by the guild as they could be used for a potion that counters petrification. And as the eyes are usually destroyed first for safety reasons, they were decently valuable. The cockatrice meat stayed with me, but Paulina did say that her father would likely be willing to buy it. And if not, we can just visit a high class butcher store.

As for the monetary rewards, I let Alice and Ria share the bison reward between the two of them and the road safety reward was spread between the three of us. Sure the girls didn’t take down the horned bison, but they did kill the cockatrice. And as that wasn’t a direct request, but part of the safety check, I thought giving them a little extra would be nice.

And as I said, I really don’t need the money.

“Oh. It’s Brian and Miss Alice.” As we were about to leave the guild, we ran into a group of adventurers we know.

A team that used to be four people, now seemed to be five.

Saber Fang. The adventuring party we ran into on our trip to here from Alewatch. But unlike before, they had a fifth member. Alex, our previous companion, had apparently joined their team.

“It’s because Tye couldn’t let someone with those summoning cards go.” Vivien, their archer and ice mage, said.

We ended up having a quick chat with them and they told me that they would, again, be heading for Alewatch to dive into the dungeon. Alex was a little ... not happy that he would be heading back, but with the dungeon there he accepted that it would be a good idea.

As we had the time, we joined them for some ... not so refined afternoon drinking. Well, Alice had something she had brought with her and Ria was drinking blood, but for the rest of us, it was either beer or cider.

“Brian, can I bother you for a second?” Alex asked in a very proper way during our break, turned late lunch.

“Sure. What is it?”

“... not here, if possible.”

“Do you have a better place in mind?”

“Yes. This way.”

Alex dragged me outside to a quiet spot. Well, quiet is relative, but there weren’t any obvious spots where someone could overhear us from.

“So, what is it?”

“... my Card Summoner leveled up.” He said.

“oh? Nice. You are the second that has happened to, as far as I know.”

“Second? Really? Someone got it first?”

“Yeah. Christina decided she wanted to be first. But what happened? Did you do something strange?”

“I’m not sure. But I did use that Elegant Egotist card to summon the Harpie Lady Sisters. Then that glass-like thing appeared around the card. After that fight, while I was checking my HP, I noticed the skill had leveled up.”

“Oh? I see. Thanks for the info.”

“Of course. No problem.”

“Let me give something for that. Give me a sec, I’ll look what I have.”

“No, no. You don’t have to.”

“It’s fine. I gave you Harpie Lady, Harpie Lady 2 and the Sisters, if I remember correctly?”

“... yes, you did.”

“Okay, then here. Harpie Lady 1 and Harpie Lady 3 so you can fill your lineup. Also, give me the others for a second. I’ll also put a toploader onto them.”

“Sure. Here.” Alex traded his three cards for the two new ones.

I put a toploader onto the OG Harpie Lady and Harpie Lady 2 just fine, but I couldn’t do it with Sisters, as it had been summoned previously, so I returned it to the collection with Compulsory Evacuation Device, put the sleeve and toploader combo onto it and then gave it back to Alex with another copy of Elegant Egotist.

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“You’ll have to summon it again with the spell, but I think that should be fine with you.” I did in fact include a toploader with the Elegant Egotist this time as well, just in case the Sisters die and he has to re-summon them.

“Yes. Thank you for this.”

“Don’t worry. I appreciate the info.”

After our meal, my team, we really should register as a team, instead of being this temporary squad, left the guild and returned to the Sawyer manor.