Chapter 27 : Deforestation is Illegal
「Uhh… one minute, no, thirty seconds. If only I can distract the Beetolfs for thirty seconds」
「If it’s possible, you will do something?」
「Yes. I have a blunt weapon skill that might work」
While we were speaking, the swarm of Beetolfs got closer and closer.
When I noticed it, the number had increased to five.
It might be impossible to deal with them while protecting Mira-san.
「Ah! That’s right! Mira-san, do you still have zero potion?」
「Un. But what are you going to do with it?」
I hurriedly opened the bottle lid right after Mira-san gave it to me, and then I poured the potion into three tolf mushrooms I got from Mira-san.
After that, I threw them into the swarm of Beetolfs.
They changed their direction from us to the mushrooms and swarmed it.
「I see. Hanna, you’re smart」
Tolf mushrooms can only grow in places with high magical power.
That means, the Beetolfs love things with high magical power.
Zero potion can absorb surroundings’ magical power.
And the tolf mushrooms soaked with zero potion would be a perfect bait to attract the Beetolfs for a moment.
Those giant beetles might be able to feel the flow of magical power, not like me.
But I have wisdom!
Well, first, I have to apologize because…
I will destroy the environment a little!
「Uryaaー!」
I hit the trunk of a big cedar tree that was growing near me with my hammer and felled it splendidly.
「Blunt Weapon Skill :【Timber Conversion】! 」
And I hit the fallen tree to activate the skill.
Then the bark of the tree peeled off, and the tree was turned into hundreds of wooden boards automatically.
I repeated it five times with five big trees, and the result was a large pile of wood.
The essence of blunt weapon skills is to ‘change’ what I hit with a hammer.
If I hit the ground with a hammer, I can change its shape.
If I hit iron with a hammer, I can make weapons and armor.
If I hit the air, I can harden it into transparent stakes or nails.
It sounds like a great skill, but it has a weakness: I have to hit the object with a hammer.
It took me a lot of time than I thought to process multiple objects.
Meanwhile, the Beetolfs were done with the tolf mushrooms I threw, and they rushed toward me again.
「Khh!」
As I thought, I didn’t have enough time.
When I held my hammer and braced myselfー
「Beetle-sanー! Over hereー!」
Mira-san shouted with a loud voice. This was my first time hearing Mira-san make such a loud voice.
And then the Beetolfs turned to Mira-san and rushed toward her.
Of course, it wasn’t because the Beetolfs reacted to Mira-san’s voice.
In Mira-san’s hand, there were tolf mushrooms that seemed to had been soaked with zero potion.
Found a new food, the Beetolfs instinctively rushed toward Mira-san.
Mira-san closed her eyes, bracing herself.
But it’s okay. Thanks to her attracting the Beetolfs for a moment, the preparations were finally completed.
「Blunt Weapon Skill :【Giant Cage】! 」
As if hitting a baseball, I swung my big hammer multiple times toward the pile of wooden boards andー
Gan! Gan! Gan! Gan! Gan!
ーmade them fly toward the Beetolfs.
The Beetolfs were getting closer to Mira-san, but I won’t let them go any further!
I made the wooden boards thrust the ground and surround them, making a big hemispherical wooden dome.
It completely surrounded the Beetolfs and eliminated their escape route not only to the left and right but also to the top.
And from here, it’ll be an easy job.
I’ve confirmed from the previous attack that the mycelium, which were controlling the giant beetles, were weak to heat.
「Blunt Weapon Skill :【Smith Forging】! 」
I gently hit the dome with my hammer that glowed bright red.
The fire violently burned the dome, but the thing I built wouldn’t collapse easily.
By the way, I learned this kind of design from Boss.
「Hanna, you’re amazing. If I ignore those manly skill names, the way you fought was really cool」
Although she was expressionless, Mira-san’s eyes were sparkling.
But, please, don’t talk about the skill name again.
Bamー! Bamー!
The bumping sounds heard from inside the dome.
It seemed they were trying to break through the dome.
「Ho? They are desperate」
Eventually, a Beetolf made a hole with its horn and broke through the dome.
However, its entire body was covered in flames and its movements were clearly slowing down.
I have to kill it quickly.
「Hanna, can you defeat it?」
「Atabou desu! (of course) Blunt Weapon Skill :【Heavy Smash】! 」
I smashed the burning Beetolf with my hammer and crushed it into pieces.
The mycelium that were nesting inside its body still struggled. They were desperately stretching the threads to regenerate, but eventually they were exhausted by the heat and died.
It won’t come back to life, right? Right?
I had a hard time, but with this, I finally cleared my first quest.
After confirming all Beetolfs were dead, I climbed up the mountain again to recover the Magic-seal Jar.
After that, Mira-san and I returned to Mira-san’s shop.
♦
When we got to the shop, I washed the Magic-seal Jar from mud.
There was something like ancient letters written in the jar.
「Mira-san, do you know what’s written here?」
Actually, I learned about ancient letters at adventurer school, but I wasn’t good at it, so I had no choice but to ask Mira-san.
「Umm. Let’s see… “In front of ‘that person’, a sword is no longer a sword, a spear is no longer a spear. All sharp weapons are powerless. Thus, only blunt weapons are superior to sharp weapons”…….I wonder what it means」
Mira-san tilted her head. She read it fluently, but she couldn’t understand the meaning.
Sharp weapons?…… It means sword, spear, axe, ect, right?
The word ‘sharp weapons’ is also the antonym for ‘blunt weapons’.
And because such weapons cannot be used, use blunt weapons instead, it said?
I tried to guess the meaning, but I felt like I was encouraged by the words.
However, the one who needed encouragement right now wasn’t me. It was Mira-san.
She was completely depressed.
She couldn’t sell the legendary mushrooms she got after all this trouble.
Because she didn’t want to sell something that could turn an insect into such a giant monster to people.
If heated, the mycelium would die and we could safely eat it, but the ‘growing taller’ effect would also be lost.
「There’s no way I can collect enough money until tomorrow…」
「Un. No way」
「……Hanna, isn’t it at times like this you should soothe me…?」
「Well because, there’s nothing we can do about it, right?」
「I know…」
「Mira-san, I believe you’re gonna be just fine. Even if you can’t collect the money, the fact that your medicines are amazing doesn’t change! All you have to do is to tell people」
「But…… I’m expressionless, a poor talker, no one know what I’m thinking….」
「This again, huh. Mira-san, you know? After being with you this whole day, I can now understand what you’re thinking」
「…..Really?」
「Yup. Also, now I know Mira-san is a strong and brave person」
「But Hanna, I was just protected by you the whole time…」
「Is that so? You also protected me, you know?」
「Eh…?」
Mira-san tilted her head, but if she didn’t attract the Beetolfs that time, my plan would have been ruined and I might not be able to defeat them.
I have come to really like her after all that happened today.
And I won’t let her lose the shop she cherished so much just because she couldn’t get enough money to pay those jerks!
「I got a brilliant idea. Mira-san, you wanna hear it?」
I proposed a plan to her.
It was a ridiculous plan, but it was the only way to save her shop.