Shut-in Magician - Chapter 45
Chapter 045: Subjugating Three-Eyed Bears at Royer Mountain
Shiu often talked with Agricola on their journey.
He had a strong image of being a stubborn dwarf, but he also liked to learn new things and was a studious person. He listened carefully as Shiu talked and asked questions eagerly.
They talked about things that interested them all the way to Royer Mountain.
Agricola also helped with producing magic tools. The time inside the carriage hadn’t been a waste of time for Shiu, but Kiahi and Laetitia quickly dropped out of the conversation.
Gladius and Kirch, who took turns driving the carriage, also didn’t join in on the conversation.
Gladius even asked seriously, “What language are you speaking in?”
They arrived at the base of the mountain in the afternoon. The reason they’d arrived earlier than expected was because they didn’t stray off the road.
First, they set up a base camp and set up a tent. After that, they put up a magic tool that set up a barrier in four corners around the tent. Shiu also helped out and used their work as reference for adventurers.
“This is very authentic.”
“Is this the first time you’ve done something like this, right Shiu and Agricola? You can see how adventurers work.”
“Okay, got it.”
Shiu always worked alone so he never set up camp. He could teleport 1)changed transfer to teleport…, so it was meaningless. His spatial storage was also a strong formation in a certain way.
This was the first time he’d done something with people other than the times with the geezer. His foster father had taught him everything he knew in order to survive alone in the mountain. He also told him about his adventurer days. But the geezer was originally a shut-in, so he taught Shiu things that could be done alone.
This time, they had came to ‘test the blade’ of the repaired Tonitrus, but they’d also taken a quest from the guild since they were going to be here anyways. They’d also reported that Shiu and Agricola would be tagging along. Agricola had little experience with adventurers and this was also the first time Shiu was acting with a group. The two were like guests and the party intended to show them how a party should act.
“Let’s climb?”
Kirch said as he set the pace.
Gladius, who came second in strength, followed after him, next was Agricola, Laetitia and Shiu. Kiahi was at the end of the queue.
Laetitia had no endurance nor strength, thus she buffed her body with magic. Shiu concluded that she did this while working. She often said that she was too lazy to run around the city, but she had enough magic to do so.
Even if the place was a piece of cake for Shiu, it was tough for Laetitia.
Shiu had this impression because he’d grown up in the mountain. The party was heading towards the foot of the mountain. It was a shallow place which could be called a forest. Shiu thought that it would be easy to walk there, but the others quickly got fed up with walking.
Climbing was hard and the bumpy terrain was difficult to walk through. But, Shiu had expected mountains to be like this and wisely remained silent.
They had accepted a monster subjugation quest from the guild. The main monster they had to subjugate were Stone Bears, but they also had to subjugate Three-Eyed Bears if they saw them. Each monster was about four to five metres long.
The tail would be used as proof of subjugation, so they could do whatever they wanted with the rest of the monster parts.
Shiu thought that it would be great if he could get drops from the Three-Eyed Bears. The Stone Bears were tasteless and weren’t tasty at all. Three-Eyed Bear meat was delicious and the drops also sold for a high price.
He secretly obtained information from《EVERY DIRECTION SEARCH》and found out that the Stone Bears were moving. We won’t find any Three-Eyed Bears at this rate, he thought and Laetitia sensed something at the same time. Spirits were selfish, so they wouldn’t tell Laetitia everything that happened, but they were still useful. She was liked by the tree spirits, so she had an advantage in the forest.
As a result, they reached the Three-Eyed Bears.
The subjugation began immediately. The party showed Shiu and Agricola how they fought. Shiu and Agricola asked if there was anything they could help with, but the party said that they wanted to search for the monsters themselves, so there was no need.
First, the scout Kiahi lured the Three-Eyed Bears from their nest and Laetitia attacked them with magic from behind. Kirch was the rear guard and Gladius finished them with his sword.
They cooperated well with each other and Shiu could tell that they were used to fighting.
They were light on their feet and Kiahi and Kirch were in perfect harmony, probably because they were twins. Laetitia didn’t hesitate to support them even though they alternated places often and moved very fast. The arrows that she released hit where the twins wanted it to. Gladius was swinging his large sword around, but his killing hit was top rate.
They found Three-Eyed Bears one after another after that and continued to subjugate them.
They cooperated with each other in their respective areas of expertise, but they also had the offensive power to deal the finishing blow.
Kiahi and Kirch weren’t only scouts, they could also cast FLAME JET using fire and wind magic.
Laetitia could cast recovery and buffs on the party members, but she could also use her bow to attack.
Gladius was a swordsman. He looked cooler than he usually did. His job, swordsman, specialized in combat, but he could also use fire magic as well. The attack where he shrouded Tonitrus was the best. In addition, Tonitrus was covered with thunder, so Gladius could also use a thunder attack.
However, Shiu wished that he wouldn’t use a thunder attacks on a relatively safe mountain.
“Gladius! Are you trying to cause a bushfire!?”
Everyone panicked and extinguished the fire. Then wasn’t FLAME JET just as bad? Shiu thought, but Kiahi and Kirch were keeping it at a moderate level.
Gladius couldn’t narrow down the range of his attack and gave it his all when using magic. Tonitrus was better than he’d expected and he gave them an excuse, “It was an accident.”
They began dismantling the monsters as soon as they’d cleared the area.
They skinned the bears while Gladius checked the condition of Tonitrus. The other monsters would gather here if they didn’t do it fast, so everyone participated in the dismantling process.
Shiu would usually use spatial magic to do this, so he could finish it quickly without having to worry about the smell. But doing it this way was good practice as a 『normal magician』, so it was fine. Shiu had done this when he was younger without magic, so he was going back to doing what he used to. He was used to it so he dismantled the bears faster than Kiahi and the others.
Shiu was surprised by how many mistakes Laetitia made during the dismantling, but he didn’t have time to talk to her every time this happened. Shiu continued working while answering, “Yes, yes,” to any of her questions, but it really bothered him while they were working and he took control.
“Tia, it’s messy if you cut it like that. Put it to the side if you can’t do it, it would be wasteful since the innards of the Three-Eyed Bear is worth a lot.”
“Ah, alright.”
“Kirch, you portion the meat that I’ve dismantled. I’ll skin it. Ah, stop Kiahi! You’re ruining the skin!”
Everyone was completely exhausted by the time they’d finished dismantling.
“How do you usually do this?”
I don’t think they’re suitable for subjugations if they get this exhausted by it, he thought. They gave him excuses when he asked.
“It’s fine as long as we get the subjugation proof. Then we can just burn it and bury it.”
“What a waste!”
“Even if you say that, we can’t carry it all after dismantling right?”
“Ah, you’re right. Then, you can carry it now with a magic bag.”
“…… I’m not suited for dismantling.”
“Me too.”
“I also hate it. It’s annoying. Just getting the monster core’s good enough.”
“I do like eating Three-Eyed Bears though.”
Gladius was the only one who spoke with his eyes sparkling. He began drooling as he looked at the dismantled meat. Shiu sighed and spoke as if he was instructing a child, “I’ll let you eat it later.”
It was getting late so they stuffed the dismantled Three-Eyed Bears into the magic bag and quickly descended the mountain.
By the time they’d reached the base camp, it was already late at night and Shiu stopped them from eating hard bread. He thought this would happened and had cooked something beforehand. As usual, he pretended to take food out from his magic bag when he was really taking it out from his spatial storage.
Everyone was deeply moved when they saw a freshly made pot of soup and shed some tears.
“Eat the salad too! Eat slowly! I’ll grill the bear meat in the meantime.”
“Okay~!”
They stuffed their food down even though Shiu had told them to eat slowly. Gladius was the main culprit, but the others weren’t much different. Shiu glanced at them before setting up his impromptu kitchen. He took an iron plate and net out from his spatial storage and set them up.
He took the softest boned ribs out and marinated it with sauce and alcohol. He still hadn’t completed the soy sauce yet, so he made western style grilled meat. Still, he had a soy sauce-like sauce on hand, so he boiled that with fruit juice and vegetables. This should taste delicious.
Meanwhile, he took out the cooked rice and made some rice balls.
He had radish marinated in sweet vinegar for a palate cleanser.
Everyone glanced at what Shiu was doing because they were curious, so Shiu decided to grill the meat, even though it was a little early for that.
He put the boned ribs onto the net and a nice aroma filled the air.
“Wow, it smells delicious!”
“What’s this sauce? It’s the first time I’ve seen it.”
Kiahi and Kirch approached him and stared at the meat. Gladius was sitting close to Shiu from the beginning, so he ignored him. Shiu placed the next piece of meat onto the net and turned them over.
“Alright, it should be done soon since it’s cut up into tiny portions. Give me your plates. I’ll put it on there.”
“Okay!”
“Who likes it rare? This part’s soft, so it’s delicious even if you don’t cook it thoroughly.”
“Ah, I want mine well-done!”
“I’ll have mine rare! You can even give it to me raw!”
He ignored the idiot Gladius and plated everyone’s food.
“Eat your veggies as well!”
“You’re act like a mother!”
Kiahi ate his greens while laughing. Gladius choked on the meat and Agricola passed him a drink while smiling wryly. Kirch and Laetitia smiled while their mouths were stuffed with food. Everyone looked like they were having fun and Shiu was also having fun.
“Help yourself to the rice balls. The baked rice balls are also delicious. Ah, I can take out some bread if you want some.”
“Nah, it’s fine. This is also delicious. This might suit my tastes. Right, Kirch?”
“Yup. It keeps you satisfied.”
“I like rice too.”
“I ofso lye dis won, buh I dun wnt rce.”
“Don’t talk with your mouth full of food.”
Gladius made Kirch angry.
Agricola also ate fast as not to lose to the others and would occasionally help Gladius who would choke every so often.
Shiu also looked after them while eating with his hands. It was bad mannerism, but he let it slide since they were having a BBQ outside.
He had already fed Feles earlier so he was already sleeping by the time they’d descended from the mountain. Even now, he was still sound asleep, but his nose twitch so he could still smell the food. He didn’t get agitated at all during the hunt and was calm the whole time. Shiu couldn’t wait to see how he would be once he’d grown.
References [ + ]
1. ↑ changed transfer to teleport…
Translator: Blushy
Editor: HSM
