I never thought I'd see the day when going to school would be so much fun… It was something I couldn't think of before. That's why I feel a little lonely on holidays.
"…But, we have to capture this forest as soon as possible."
"Woof!"
It's time for me and Night to proceed with the exploration as far as we can this weekend so that we can come and go as freely as we want in the depths of the forest. And if I meet an enemy that I have never seen before, I will fight aggressively with all I can.
…Once this forest has been conquered, let's go to the outside. It's a different world, so I want to enjoy it.
"Alright… Let's go!"
I regained enthusiasm and headed for the depths of the forest with Night.
Along the way, we fought not only with the goblin general and devil bear but also with the orc king, Night's destined enemy. He was attacked by surprise by the orc king at the last time, so this time, he fought and beat it in a relatively solid state.
By the way, Night's level had improved so far, and his status had also risen so that he was able to take on and defeat the orc king alone. Immediately after the successful revenge, Night let out a howl of triumph and looked very chivalrous. But it's cute.
After dealing with a familiar monster for a while, I finally found a monster I had never seen before.
"Oh, that's…"
The monster I found was looked like a deer with two huge antlers that seemed to be made of crystal. Moreover, the color is different, one is a crimson crystal, and the other is an azure crystal.
As I was admiring the beauty of it, Night quietly tapped my foot.
"Woof?"
"Ah, sorry. I just zoned-out…"
It's dangerous. In this different world, if I let my guard down, I might die instantly…
With renewed vigor, I appraise the monster.
[Crystal Deer]
Level: 630
Magic: 15000
Attack: 10000
Defense: 10000
Agility: 15000
Intelligence: 15000|
Luck: 3000
I mean, crystal deer? The name was just like what it looks. Well, it's good because it's easy to understand…
More troubling than that is its level and stats. It's a higher level and stats than the S-class monster, orc king. Besides, looking at these stats, it seems like it is a magic-user…
"Now, what should we do…?"
"Woof…"
I looked at Night as he was making the same gesture of thinking as I was, and then I suddenly felt a gaze. I turned my eyes in that direction and saw the source of trouble was the crystal deer looking at me.
"H-hey… are you kidding me? Night aside, I'm using my [Assimilation] skill…"
I don't know why, but it seems that it knows exactly my existence and are on the alert. No, it's too early to be pessimistic. It was good to know that [Assimilation] wasn't a perfect skill at this stage. Besides, since I was found like this, there was no way I could take it by surprise, so I had to fight it fair and square.
I let the [Absolute Spear] appear in my hand and jumped out with Night.
"Kuaaaaaaaaaaa." the crystal deer let out a war cry.
"Is that really the sound of a deer?"
At the same time we jumped out, the crystal deer rushed in with a strange squeal. The crystal horns are sharp, and if we hit by them, we'll be helpless.
Night and I each dodged to either side and after Night landed, he immediately jumped on it.
"Woof!"
"Kuaah!"
A steamy black thing was rising from Night's body, showing more movement than usual. Even when I first met Night, he had almost spewed this steamy black thing, but that time it was incomplete, and the orc king had gotten him. Even so, the current Night is at a level where he could easily defeat even the orc king, let alone the goblin elite, by raising this black steam.
Such Night swung his sharp claws at the crystal deer, but the crystal deer quickly turned its head to catch it with its horn. At this point, the crystal deer before us was more of an enemy than the orc king.
But…
"You're not fighting with Night alone!"
I also put out a spiral thrust with the [Absolute Spear]. In response to the wind-covered spear, the crystal deer countered with a flame generated from between the horns.
"What!?"
As I thought, it used something like special magic! However, I never thought it would come from between the horns, instead of shooting it from the mouth… Even though I was expecting it, I still hadn't gotten used to the magic attack, And I was a little exposed by the flames.
"It's hot!"
"Woof!?"
"I'm fine!"
Night was surprised and tried to run to me, but I stopped him and rolled on the ground, escaped from the flames. Fortunately, thanks to the clothes the wise man-san left behind, my body wasn't damaged, but my unprotected face still felt hot.
As I moved away from the crystal deer, Night jumped again.
"Woof!"
"Kuuaaaaaaa!"
"Wha-!?"
Then the crystal deer, instead of flames, came spouting a fierce stream of water.
"This guy has two magic powers…!"
Not knowing the nature and special characteristic of magic, let alone how it was treated in this world, I was surprised that the crystal deer used two magic. No, it would be strange to decide that only one magic can be used in the first place… I have to reflect on that.
Having the crystal deer unleashed a fierce stream of water, Night immediately stopped his attack and left the area. That's not a simultaneous attack, but it's going to be tough if we don't separate the roles properly.
"Night! Isn't there anything you can do to make an opening on this guy?"
"…Woof!"
With a slight thoughtful gesture, Night jumped to the crystal deer with a dependable reply.
"Woof!"
"Kuaaaaaaa!"
Instead of lunging head-on, Night used his quickness to bewilder the crystal deer as he approached. The crystal deer also threw flames and water streams at him to keep him away, but it was very difficult to catch the quick Night as he was still a child.
And then──
"Gaaaa!"
"Kuaaaaaaaaa!"
Night bit the base of the crystal deer's throat. Fouled, the crystal deer screamed in agony but immediately went on a rampage, trying to shake off Night. But it's made it much less wary of me.
"There…!"
"Kuuuaaaaaaaa!"
This time, instead of using the spiral thrust, I just plunged the spear straight into the crystal deer's neck. Night, who was quick to sense that I was going to attack, moved away from the crystal deer. And when the spear cleanly pierced the crystal deer's throat, I slashed up the tip of the spear!
"Kuuaaaaaaa! Kua, Kuuaaa…"
The crystal deer that fell down while raising blood splatters quickly disappeared as a particle of light.
"W-we won, huh…"
"Woof…"
It's not really a hard win, but it's mentally exhausting… I was almost burned for a moment, but thanks to my clothes, it wasn't a life-threatening situation. Still, it underscored my poor fighting skills and inability to respond.
…Well, since I've been living in an environment where there is no combat, so it's only natural, but…
"As we go to the deep inside of this forest, we have to be more and more flexible… though that's a great training exercise until we go out of the forest."
"Woof."
Apparently, Night felt the same way I did, so he nodded and barked once. After I patted him, I moved on to check the drop items.
[Crystal Deer Fur] :: Crystal Deer fur. It's very comfortable and very popular among royalty and nobles. It has some cold resistance, but the effect is very small.
[Crystal Deer Meat] :: Crystal Deer meat. It goes well with a variety of dishes. It's very easy to eat because it has little fat and fresh.
[Crystal Deer's Twin Antlers] :: Crystal Deer's antlers. The horns are special crystals called [Flame Crystal] and [Aqua Crystal], which are traded at a very high price. It can be transformed into a magical weapon called [Magic Weapon]. (T/N: The name is just simple as that 〔´∇｀〕)
"Isn't this amazing?"
I was shocked when I got a material that looked more valuable than I expected. The fur is certainly silky and comfortable to the touch, but not as good as Night's. However, it makes sense if it's said to be popular among royalty and aristocrats. And the meat looks very tasty from what I read in the description. I'm happy.
And now, the problematic horns. If the description is believable, it seems it's traded for a very high price in this world. What's more, I don't know how, but it can be transformed into a [Magic Weapon].
Well, it's still something I don't need, so I'm going to cash it in.
"Well, the next one is the magic stone, which is one of the objects to be redeemed."
I appraise the magic stones in the same way.
[Magic Stone: Rank S] :: A special ore that can be obtained from magical beasts.
"As I thought, it was an S-rank."
If you go to the hinterland, S-class monsters will be your basic opponents. Be that as it may, this means that we've got a lot of money again. Hooray…Jeez.
The amount of money is too much, so I'm getting it every time with a sense of trepidation. Poverty is too attached to me. Honestly, if I put it in the bank, they'd be suspicious of its source, so I'm really glad I had an item box, I really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.
"…Now, what the heck is this…?"
"Woof?"
Night and I are tilting our heads to look at the object in front of us. Because what we have in front of us is a cube the size of the palm of my hand.
"What is it…?"
As I tilted my head, I appraised it, and it reads:
[Ultra-Luxurious Portable Outdoor Bath Set] :: A rare drop item that can be obtained from the Crystal Deer. A bath that you can take with you. You can easily enjoy various types of baths, such as cypress, stone, jacuzzi, and electric baths everywhere. You can also choose the effect of the tub. The bathtub and water are always clean, so no cleaning or maintenance is required. It also has privacy protection and can be wrapped in a special veil that is not visible from the outside.
I didn't even pause to tsukomi at the drop items. No, why is the crystal deer drop item a bath in the first place? What's the connection? Don't tell me it's a bath because the crystal deer uses fire and water to make hot water? If so, it's a complete waste of ability! Well, it's peaceful, and I like it, though!
In the meantime, I can't say anything without using it, so I picked up the bath set. Then a translucent board appears in front of me. There was an entry to select the type and efficacy of the bath and whether you want to use the veil or not.
At first, I selected without a veil for confirmation, then the cube emerged from my hand, and a magnificent hinoki bath appeared in front of me.
"…It's amazing…"
"…Woof…"
It was a hinoki (Japanese cypress) bath with a super high-class feel, and it was large enough to hold about five people.
"Wow… I'd love to go in, but it's too dangerous here…"
After trying the veiled version and other baths, I put the bath set in the item box. With the veil on, I couldn't really see the presence of the tub from the outside, but I could see the outside from the inside. It's too hi-tech. And when I want to put it away, it's back in the palm-sized cube again and returned to my hand—what a handy feature.
Lately, the rare drop items have been daily necessities… no, baths are too big to be daily necessities. Still, there are many things that are useful in everyday life. I used to think I'd rather have a piece of equipment like an accessory, but now I'm happy with this one.
Today, besides the Night's one, I was delighted that I was able to secure my share of the [Brush of The Pig King's Hair] obtained from the orc king… And I was even happier to get this bath set.
….Alright. I decided and called out to Night.
"Night. Why don't we explore a little more and then go home and warm up in this bath?"
"Woof? Woof!"
I was determined to move on with my exploration today, but these expressions. I hope you'll forgive me. I couldn't resist the bath… I'm Japanese, after all…
With Night's approval, we went back to the house to enjoy the bath after exploring a bit more.