CH 123

Chapter 123: Out to do fieldwork

3 days after coming back to Volton Town, the miasma sensing magic device have yet to be completed. Rather, it hasn’t progressed by even 1 mm.

There are several problems. There’s no miasma in Volton. Kaede, Tsubaki, and Titan who are monsters don’t have that miasma tainted magic power. Whether that is because the disposition of their magic power changed when I tamed them, or if it’s because they’re not afflicted with miasma that they became my familiars, I don’t know. That’s why, since there reasonably isn’t any miasma at my mansion, we decided to go out for fieldwork.

If magic power is thick in monster nests, it’d probably be ideal for researching miasma.

From Volton, we headed to a place in the direction of Wedgefort where there’s a small monster nest.

Despite going to a monster nest where monsters run rampant, everyone was in a picnic-y mood.

We made packed lunchboxes. Also, having been a slave since she was born, Lulu-chan was excited for her first picnic.

「…… Well, it’s not a picnic though.」

「Takumi-sama, let the two of us do our best at fieldwork.」

「………… right.」

Only Laeva and I were in work mode though. Maria and Akane were having fun chatting with Lulu-chan. Since there’s a lake by the small monster nest we’re going to, they’re apparently going to go fishing. I think the fish they’ll catch are probably not normal, but since monsters have a tendency to be delicious, they’re raring to go. They’ll probably be fine if Kaede and Maria are there. The duty of being Laeva and my guards were undertaken by Sophia and Titan. Well, regarding Sophia, she rarely ever separates from me.

「Waaa~~! So pretty!」

I could hear Lulu-chan’s spirited voice.

Although the lake isn’t that big, it had a really beautiful scenery. If it wasn’t close to a monster nest, it wouldn’t be strange if it became a scenic tourist attraction.

Tsubaki, unfastened from the carriage, was all carefree by the lakeshore. Few monsters in this monster nest would dare approach the Dragon Horse Tsubaki.

Moving without feeling his weight, the 3 meter tall Titan was patrolling our surroundings to suppresses the monsters. Sophia was devoted to guarding diagonally behind me.

「In the monster nest where magic powerーー or maybe I should call it manamagic source ーー where mana is dense, it’s difficult to specify a location where miasma is thick.」

「Mana, is it? It’s a nice name. Isn’t there miasma everywhere?」

「Well, that’s how it is though.」

We could sense magic power with the Magic Perception skill. Since Sophia’s and mine was high, we’re able to identify an individual by their magic power to some extent, and could measure a monster’s strength. And so, we were being careful of the magic powers we sensed were different from people’s magic power.

Because we could vaguely perceive the unpleasant magic power we call miasma, we have no option aside from this.

「Will we catch Horned Rabbits?」

「We could. Catching Goblins and Orcs has never crossed my mind, but it’s tolerable if it’s Horned Rabbits.」

Orcs stink but orc meat is delicious so the Adventurers Guild buys the meat. However, goblins are only stinky, and aside from its magic stone, it has no useful parts. That’s why I’ve never considered catching it willingly.

「Alright, let’s catch and examine Horned Rabbits.」

「True, I have a feeling it’s better to examine the conditions in surroundings with no miasma.」

Laeva and I searched for Horned Rabbits. The horned rabbit is a monster that’s aplenty everywhere, so we found some after a little bit of searching. Having caught them without killing them, we joined back up with Maria and the others who where having a picnic by the lake.

「Oh, Takumi, you’ve investigated enough already?」

「Yeah, we caught horned rabbits, so we’ll bring them to the workshop to examine them.」

「Ahh, so you didn’t catch them to eat them.」

When Laeva and I returned to where everyone was shortly after, Akane asked about the Horned Rabbits she saw us carrying.

「Kaedeee! Please tie these horned rabbit up so it can’t run away!」

「Okaay! Leave it to meee!」

Kaede nimbly spun her threads on the caught rabbits. After that, Marnie prepared lunch and called us.

「Master, let us have lunch.」

「Roger, we’re coming.」

Carrying the rabbit tied up in Kaede’s thread, we moved to the spot where the table and chairs were laid out. Sandwiches, beverages, and grilled fish caught from the lake were served.

With a face full of smiles, Lulu-chan started the conversation.

「Takumi-sama! I caught lots of fish!」

「That’s amazing, Lulu-chan. Was fishing fun?」

「Yes! It was my first time fishing! Catching lots is really fun!」

Since everyone was at the table and Lulu-chan didn’t seem like she could wait anymore, we decided to eat lunch without delay.

「Itadakimasu.」

「「「「「 Itadakimasu!」」」」」

There’s a Barrier MD installed just in case, but I asked Titan, who doesn’t need to eat, to watch our surroundings, so we’re enjoying our lunch under the blue sky.

To have a picnic in a monster nest, others would question our sanity, but thanks to Tsubaki’s presence, Titan’s patrol, and the threads Kaede had laid out, monsters wouldn’t approach. Well, even if they come out, the monsters in this monster nest don’t stand a chance against us, so we could eat lunch at ease.

That day, we took a small break after lunch before heading back to Volton.

Having returned to Volton, Laeva and I immediately made a cage for the horned rabbits and began our observation.

Bringing the miasma afflicted monster into the town with no miasma was the right decision. When Laeva and I focused, we were able distinctly sense the miasma. So we could reproduce this in a magic device, days of repeated trial and error continued for a short while.