Chapter 103
After being attacked by eight Harpies, we reached the vicinity of the underground district's exit without a single further assault. This place was right in the middle of a dense cluster of Harpy nests, yet the fact that we still had not been attacked was eerie in its own way.
"If this is a scheme meant to string us along until the very last moment, whoever devised it has nerves of steel."
"Don't say things like that."
If that was the case, it would be extremely troublesome. However, I felt it would be unnatural for them to lie in wait for a surprise attack while exposing their nests to this much danger. They might have been driven into a corner so badly that they had no choice, but...
"Ah... We can't see what the nests are like from down here."
"We'll have to go up to the roof, or we won't get anywhere."
Jigoro and Gengoro said that while repeatedly glancing in my direction. Their movements were exaggerated to the point that they could hardly be called furtive. They were obviously hoping I'd do it, weren't they?
Most of the building entrances were collapsed and blocked, and climbing the stairs one by one would be a hassle, so they wanted me, the one who could fly freely, to do it. What lazybones. Well, I was willing to do that much.
"It can't be helped. Cal, shall we go take a look?"
"Grr!"
I jumped onto Cal's back, and the two of us soared into the sky. I could fly by myself, but Cal seemed to be going through a phase where he enjoyed flying with someone riding on him—not just me, either. So unless it was an emergency, I had taken to riding on his back.
Cal took off with such effortless grace that he did not seem to notice me riding him at all. I might look light because I was nothing but bones, but all the additions I had made had pushed my weight above the average for an adult man. Considering that, one could truly appreciate the strength of the Dragon Race.
"Well, I don't see any Harpies in the nests. Looks like they really were wiped out."
"Grrr?"
In an instant, we flew higher than the building's rooftop and surveyed the state of the nests from above. There was not a single shadow that looked like a Harpy. Apparently, this flock of Harpies had gone extinct as of today. May they rest in peace.
"Let's confirm it anyway. Cal, land on that building."
"Grr!"
We landed on the building directly below us and decided to examine one of the nests there.
Harpy nests had the classic shape of circular, bowl-like depressions. However, since Harpies themselves were large, their nests were large as well. Each one must have been about the size of four and a half tatami mats.
"I didn't notice until we got close, but... how should I put it? It looks like some kind of mad avant-garde art."
Just as No. 18 had said, the Harpies had apparently gathered anything in the city that they could put to use and used it to build their nests. Tree branches from throughout the city and large iron pipes like those used for road signs were ordinary enough. But there were also human and monster bones, Golem wreckage, and even things that seemed to be Androids.
If you're wondering why I can't say so definitively, it's because the outer coverings had peeled away, exposing the inner framework and artificial muscles. That was actually one of the better-preserved examples. Others consisted of only an upper or lower half, and some were even more grotesque, having lost everything above the upper jaw and been reduced to nothing but a lower jaw.
To put it plainly, it was in terrible taste. If my bed had looked like this, I'd be seeing it in my dreams.
"Oh, this looks like a weapon. And are those glass and gemstones?"
While inspecting the nest materials, I found several items that looked like firearms and bladed weapons. All of them were in poor condition and covered in Harpy feathers, but perhaps they could be reused after being repaired. I had no idea about this sort of thing, so I would leave it to Iris and No. 18. For now, I collected them.
There were also pieces of glass, precious metals, gemstones, and other shiny objects embedded in the nests. Were they meant as decorations? I had heard that crows collected shiny things, so perhaps it was something similar. I might as well collect these too.
"Hmm? Is this an egg?"
Finally, when I looked at the center of the nest, I noticed several eggs lying there. Their shells were white with black speckles, like quail eggs, and each was about the size of a basketball. It was certainly an egg from a monster.
Hmm, an egg. Living creatures could not be placed in the inventory, but I had been able to put Cal's egg in there. Perhaps it was possible to take these home as items too. First, I would use 【Appraisal】.
――――――――――
Harpy Egg Quality: Good Rarity: S (Special Class)
A high-grade food ingredient: a Harpy egg. Since it is unfertilized, it will not hatch.
Because Harpies are ferocious and form flocks, stealing their eggs is extremely difficult, and they are rarely seen even on the market.
It has nourishing and invigorating properties and can be used as an ingredient in panaceas.
――――――――――
Oh! This was quite a rare item! I could not eat it, and medicine would only deal damage to me even if I used it, though.
However, selling these should provide a decent source of funds. Starting tomorrow, I would be participating in the event, while the three women would be traveling to Huaguo with the Birdian merchants. Any items they could convert to cash would come in handy in an emergency.
"Grrr..."
As I held the egg in my palm and looked at it, Cal stared at it with an intensely covetous expression. As a test, I moved the hand holding the egg to the right, and Cal moved his head after it. He did the same when I moved it to the left.
"...Do you want to eat it?"
"Grr!"
Ugh! D-Don't do this! If you look at me with such shining eyes, how am I supposed to refuse? I-I can't keep spoiling you like this! Besides, these are items Iris and the others can use to raise funds! We can't waste them...!
"J-Just one, all right?"
"Grrr!"
No... I'm such a pushover. There was no way I could refuse when Cal looked at me with those sparkling, pure eyes. I was sure this was how fathers who spoiled their daughters came to be...
After receiving the egg, Cal actually tossed it into his mouth, shell and all. Then he chewed it with his fangs, making a loud crunching sound. Talk about wild!
"GROOOOAR!"
"Is it really that delicious?"
Cal gave a roar that sounded extremely pleased. Until now, he had devoured enemies in battle almost as an afterthought, so I had assumed he liked meat. But he looked so happy eating eggs. Could I somehow arrange a stable supply of eggs?
"Hey! Brother! How's it going?!"
Oh, Jigoro had grown impatient and was calling for me. He probably wanted me to hurry down and tell him what I had found. Good grief. All right, I supposed I should go down.
◆◇◆◇◆◇
After confirming that the nests were safe, Cal and I carried everyone up to the rooftops one at a time, and then we split up to begin rummaging through the nests. It took us about two hours, but we managed to finish collecting every useful item from all the nests.
We ended up fighting Harpies three times along the way. Since they had been carrying fruit, small birds, or insects in their feet, they had probably been away from the nests gathering food. They were not even numerous enough to form a flock, so we dispatched them with ease.
Of the items we collected, about fifty percent were monster bones, about thirty percent were Golem and Android parts and wreckage, and about twenty percent were jewels and other shiny objects. The remainder consisted of weapons, eggs, and the like. We had found a fair number of weapons, but they were all in poor condition, so this was what remained after selecting only the best ones.
"Iris, No. 18-dono. What do you think? Can any of this be used?"
"Hmm, I don't know the details of how guns work, but the parts seem to follow the same specifications. So if we cannibalize the parts, we should be able to make some usable guns."
"I believe Iris-sama is correct. If we use the item in the best condition as a base, it should be possible to restore one handgun and one sniper rifle."
"Oh, that's good. It means No. 18-dono has more options available to her."
When I said that, No. 18 made a conflicted expression and shook her head.
"As I mentioned earlier, my visual system is malfunctioning. Therefore, I cannot perform precision shooting. The handgun could serve as a secondary weapon, but I would probably be unable to master the sniper rifle."
"I see... That's a shame."
It seemed that what No. 18 had been looking for were optional parts for a machine gun. Since she could not perform precision shooting in the first place, she probably fought by spraying bullets with a machine gun. What a difficult situation.
"Then can I make this long gun a souvenir for Shii-chan? She'll be thrilled!"
"I do not mind. My request was always going to be rewarded with the access key. Since I have effectively transferred the right to freely take the city's relics home, please accept one sniper rifle as an advance payment."
For Shio, who had come from VRS, it might indeed be the best souvenir imaginable. But after coming to a sword-and-magic fantasy game, was it really appropriate to be dealing in iron and gun smoke—military hardware?
"What about the Android parts? Could they be used to repair No. 18?"
We had obtained quite a large number of Golem and Android parts. I had wondered whether we could use them to repair No. 18, whose body was beginning to wear out.
"Sorry, I don't know."
However, Iris continued, sounding disappointed.
"No assistance is kicking in to tell me what to do or how to do it. I don't know whether my Skill level is too low, whether I lack the necessary Skill, or perhaps both."
Even Iris, who had acquired production Skills indiscriminately and was steadily leveling them up, could not do it? In that case, it would be safe to assume that it was currently impossible for any player.
"I'm sorry, No. 18-dono. It seems we were unable to strengthen your combat capabilities after all."
"No, finding even one handgun is more than enough. I had thought there was little chance of finding a proper weapon."
"We were just trying to see how well our coordination worked, anyway."
As Jigoro said, our primary objectives had been to assess No. 18's combat capabilities and confirm whether we could coordinate effectively with her as part of the team. As far as coordination went, the enemy numbers had been much lower than expected, so the results were inconclusive. However, we had at least been able to make a basic assessment of her combat strength.
The guns had respectable power, and their bullets were fast enough to deal substantial damage to anything that could not evade them. However, No. 18's visual system was not fully functional, so her aim was inevitably imprecise. She seemed to compensate for that with her rate of fire.
With friendly fire enabled in the current environment, this was fairly dangerous. There was a high chance of stray bullets hitting us. Therefore, we would have her focus mainly on an enormous target that she could not possibly miss—in other words, the Harpy Chief.
"There is nothing more we can do here. Let's return to the building, take a break, hold a strategy meeting, and then challenge the boss."
"Understood!"
Now we could challenge the boss without leaving anything unresolved. Ah, no. There was one thing I still needed to confirm.
"No. 18-dono, what should we do with these nests? Should we burn them?"
The Harpies' nests had lost their owners, but that did not mean another monster might not reuse them. There was also a chance that another flock of Harpies would come from somewhere and settle in them. I was hardly an expert on monster ecology, so I could not say for certain.
"...Please burn them. And do so spectacularly."
"Hmm? All right."
I had no idea why she had added 'spectacularly' as a qualifier, but I would follow the client's instructions.
"Activate Star Magic Array, Magic Bomb!"
I flew into the sky and repeatedly used 【Explosive Magic】 to blow up the Harpy nests occupying the building rooftops one after another. Fragments flew everywhere with loud explosions, and the wood used to build the nests caught fire and began to burn.
"..."
The Harpy nests began belching thick smoke in an instant, and No. 18 stared at them with a blank expression that revealed not the slightest emotion. Her beautiful face, its shadows deepened by the glow of the flames, struck me as somehow frightening.