Volume 2 Chapter 10.2 (1/2)

Volume 2 Chapter 10.2

「So what kind of monster was this squirrel anyway?」

「Remember all the squirrels we beat down on our way here fer dinner? Them there squirrels’re like two meters tall. They seemed to have a colony of about a hundred so I made sure to catch the whole herd with one pom.」

「That was quite the sight to behold……」

「But ain’t it efficient?」

Her comment practically disregarded, Archem could only make a dry, awkward smile. She was particularly well-suited to attack these unusual monsters, and yet they had been defeated without even giving her a chance to shine. Of course she would feel a little desolate.

「By the way, the meat’s edible but the innards’re a little odd with their usage ‘n the bones ain’t really suited fer soup stock so I left ‘em. Now, the pelt seemed like it could fetch a purty penny so I made sure to take all the safe parts.」

Everyone just stared dumbfounded at Hiroshi for his insistence on stripping monsters of everything they had. Makoto and Mio had also obtained some slime mold from the midboss, but they hadn’t taken away nearly that much. Haruna and Tatsuya, on the other hand, never made an effort to gather anything from monsters.

「I took a buncha other stuff too so it’s work when we git back.」

「Speaking of ingredients, how much can you make using evil ent oak?」

「Right, so if ya want a bow, it’d be 3 ranks higher than that of a hunter tree. Then in terms of furniture, you could use that stuff fer a thousand years.」

Presently, the only wood-made weapons in their team were bows, whereas every other wood item tended to be furniture or tools. If they got their hands on better metals, then they would have to also get good wood supplies for hatchet or ax handles, but as of right now, there wasn’t any problem with regular wood material. Haruna’s rapier or Makoto’s longsword happened to have metallic handles, with leather wrapped around the grips without any wood whatsoever. Tatsuya’s staff was a short iron weapon that was refined with a high magical frequency, so that one also used no wood.

「Speaking of wood, do you think we could make a loom？」

「Sure we can, but we’d hafta seriously strengthen auto-repair and resistance about three times. Only after two days can we even manage to make enough spirit cloth for a set of clothing.」

Spirit thread had always been a concern in terms of storage. Haruna had been wondering how to produce more, but all she got was an unsatisfactory answer.

「Incidentally, how much time does it take to make them?」

「If it’s just weavin’ then ‘bout 10 minutes. They get purty darn worn out durin’ that time so the rest of that time is used fer repairs.」

「……Yeah, I dunno if it’s worth it.」

「Yup, might not be. If ya mess up on shuttles, it’s not like ya keep ‘em. Plus it ain’t exactly carrying size.」

It was truly a bothersome affair striving to go after the highest quality materials. Come to think of it, there had been similar issues with processing magical steel, so it was probably reasonable that trying to process superior materials using tools made from inferior materials would end up this way.

「Anyhow, I’ll think ‘bout what to make after we git back to the village. Right now we gotta eat.」

「Yeah.」

Simply agreeing with Hiroshi’s words of postponement, they said “itadakimasu” and then got straight to eating. Other than the seasoning used, it was a simple meal that anyone could make, but its simplicity was precisely what gave it its delicious flavor. Surely the oktogarls must still be making a racket, but when they looked, the oktogarls had suddenly gone off to their posts, not leaving a single trace of them behind.

「You know, if they didn’t play tricks on us, those kids would be pretty great kids.」

「They are great kids, as long as you don’t mention anything weird in an association game.」

As expected of a god’s pets, their nature was truly benign. Although they spoke in annoying tones and were oddly mischievous when it came to their curiosity, their pranks were more on the level of something a dog or cat might do, so there were usually no problems if you just let it slide.

「But wow, this squirrel meat is delicious.」

「Just keep in mind this might not taste the same as them real life varmints.」

「True.」