Chapter 61 - Episode 4: I Shall Decide with Darts
Greetings! I am Violia Nico Fortesia!
I have currently come to the forest in the outskirts of Elsemarin.
Today, I shall capture some nice monsters here that are easy to breed and moderately strong!
Then, I shall multiply them and scatter them in the neighboring country! The neighboring country, suddenly attacked by swarms of monsters, will buy weapons and medicine from us! I shall make a fortune! Ohohoho!
...It is a bit faster to get here if you exit through the collapsed underground passage. Yes. Digging that hole was not in vain.
We are currently strolling through the forest at night, each of us carrying an illegally modified Spatial Bag in one hand.
Many monsters become active at night, so it is more efficient to hunt them then. However, the possibility of humans being hunted also increases, so Giovan-san is staying behind to watch the house. Ohohoho.
"Where should we aim?"
"Slimes have a disappointing level of strength, so it seems more likely that extermination agents would sell better than weapons. If we could prepare a large amount of slime exterminant, that would be an option... but in terms of doing something about our stock of weapons and medicine, it is best to use monsters that are strong and easy to multiply."
Slimes are convenient because they multiply like idiots, but their strength is indeed an issue. No matter how hard you try, a slime is just a slime.
"...In that case, something like goblins? They breed fairly quickly."
"Even so, it would take several months, would it not? ...That would take far too much time."
Should I call it the limit of living organisms? It inevitably takes time for a creature to give birth, for the offspring to grow, and then to give birth again. Especially if they have a form close to beasts.
"Then how about plant-types? Like Ropers?"
"There are not many plant-type monsters that require weapons to deal with..."
After all, like Ropers, plant-type monsters hardly move on their own. You can just attack them from a distance with fire arrows or something and be done with it.
Of course, I think they could be used to, say, plant a large number of them to turn an entire area into barren land and cause a food shortage... but hmmm, regardless, they lack immediate effect!
"A monster that is neither animal nor plant? Does such a thing exist?"
"They do. Well, these are technically animals, though. ...Yes, in places like this."
When I flipped over a nearby stone, as expected, a giant caterpillar was there.
"Eek..."
"Oh, Keeb. Are you perhaps... bad with bugs?"
"H-Huh? No way. I'm not particularly bad with them."
Your knees are shaking, you know. Yes. Well, since he is trying his best to act tough, I shall say nothing. Ohohoho.
"With these, two weeks is enough to multiply them splendidly."
"That many...?"
"I have multiplied them before. I know."
Killer Worms are enormous caterpillars about as thick as a human torso. I pick one up with a 'yoisho' and put it inside the bag.
"I would also like the adults if possible. If we have Killer Moths, they will multiply truly well."
"Why have you multiplied things like this before?!"
"It was to extract their poison and drink it..."
These caterpillars do have poison, for the record. One caterpillar can take down a deer. Humans are also often taken down and killed by them.
Well, these things are slow, so there are plenty of ways to crush or kill them as one pleases. However, they are much more troublesome than slimes. Especially if they come in a large swarm, one would truly have to slash them away with a sword.
"Now! The forest is full of good monsters! Start gathering them at once!"
...And so, we began our monster collection.
The forest is wonderful. It is a treasure trove of monsters. In particular, insect-type monsters, which are usually trivial, are very useful from the perspective of causing trouble for people.
Just by strolling through the forest for a few hours, we obtained a considerable number of monsters!
"I have gathered insect-type monsters, focusing on eggs! Killer Worms, Army Wasps, Poison Ants, Venom Mantises, and so on. Oh, I found about seven Venom Mantis eggs! If we hatch all of these, it will be something catastrophic!"
"Almost all of them are poisonous insects..."
Even if they are poisonous, I can just touch them with my bare hands and toss them into the bag! The poison of small-fry monsters does not even qualify as a snack for me!
"Whoa, scary, scary. ...Ah, I found a big beehive, so I picked that up. Army Wasps? Is that what they're called?"
It seems Chesta-san, like me, picked up some insect-type monsters. Well, unlike me, he does not have poison resistance. It seems he could not gather as many as I did.
"Indeed. Bringing back the whole nest was the right choice. Those have a queen inside the nest... and they store plenty of larvae and pupae inside as well."
"When you put it that way, it's gross..."
By the way, those are quite delicious if you boil them. Well, they do not escape the realm of bizarre food, though.
"...It doesn't have to be insects, right? I picked these up."
"Oh, Demon Rats?"
What Keeb-san picked up were rats. Enormous rats. They are about the size of a dog. Also, their teeth are sharp.
"These also multiply fairly quickly, right?"
"Well, not as much as insects. ...We could release the insect-type monsters first and then drop the rats later. Yes. Let us stockpile what we can."
Even so, he really is bad with bugs. In that case, it might be cruel to make Keeb-san touch insect-type monsters. I shall excuse him from that in the future.
"I guess I'm last. I couldn't bring back that many, though."
Doran-san said that as he thrust his hand into the Spatial Bag and... pulled one out.
...A Ghost.
"Ah—that direction was also an option..."
"What is that?! What is that! Why can you grab it?!"
"I put on a silver ring."
Ghost is, well, a name for convenience. I have no idea if it is actually a phantom or not.
But the characteristic of a Ghost is that its body is transparent, it floats, and it is a monster that cannot be touched. They are generally docile monsters, but aggressive ones will attack with magic.
Such Ghosts can only be defeated with magic or silver weapons. ...It seems Doran-san is wearing a silver ring now. It is a good example of a Ghost becoming tangible when touching silver.
"This one will multiply."
"They certainly will..."
...And above all, these things multiply. They multiply quite a lot. ...Provided the conditions are met.
"Magic power and grudges, was it?"
"That's right. They supposedly multiply a lot at the sites of old battlefields or execution grounds."
It is a slightly special condition, but that is how Ghosts multiply. Or rather, how they spawn.
In the wastelands of old battlefields, remnants of combat magic often remain, and Ghosts can be born from that.
And naturally, if there are already Ghosts there, the speed at which they multiply is on a different level. We shall aim for that this time!
"You or Keeb provide the magic power. After that, I thought we could multiply them if we put the air from the plaza in Elsemarin's noble district into the Spatial Bag."
Ah, come to think of it, over a hundred people were poisoned to death there all at once. I am sure Ghosts will multiply there. Yes.
"So, the insect-type monsters can be used immediately. In fact, if we leave them for too long, they might overflow from the bag..."
Especially the Venom Mantis eggs I picked up! Hundreds or thousands of Venom Mantises are born from a single giant egg. I sometimes hear stories of children finding them in the forest and accidentally bringing them home, only for them to hatch and cause a disaster.
"With this, we have enough numbers. Now it is a matter of quality..."
"...Well, they don't really escape the realm of vermin."
That is true. They are much better than slimes, but insect-type monsters are mostly small fry after all. We have the numbers, but at this rate, they are easy to counter.
"I still want something big! Like a dragon!"
"The one we're keeping at home is off-limits, okay? It's still a kid!"
...When I tried saying 'dragon,' Chesta-san reacted sensitively.
Yes. It seems Chesta-san has taken a liking to our baby dragon. When he is not high, he often plays with it. When he is high, well, you can imagine.
"I know that. ...Therefore, how about we capture a new dragon from somewhere?"
It does not have to be a dragon, really. But if there is not at least something big, it will not feel like a war!
"...So, am I staying behind again?"
"You are the stay-at-home caretaker. Ohohoho."
And so, we return once and entrust the Spatial Bags to Giovan-san. After all, what is inside are living things. They need food and water. So I shall leave it to Giovan-san.
"Yeah, yeah, I got it, I got it. I'll be the caretaker while continuing the procurement, so go on and don't worry."
"It helps that you are quick to understand."
Now that we have his consent, we shall head to the Guild immediately.
There, we shall look at several subjugation requests and scavenge for information on the appearance of big game. And then... we shall split up and go on a big game hunt!