Chapter 92
Afterward, we spent the time until night on training and production, then decided to head to ‘The Ancient Ruined City.’ The party was the original lineup: me, Iris, Jigoro, Genjuro, Ruby, and Kar—a total of five people and one beast.
Shio still wasn't high enough level to come along, and she also had to train with the Birdians for the Trial of the Azure Moon. “I'll catch up before long, just you wait!” she had declared. That girl really did seem like she would catch up soon.
Putting that aside, after descending to the ground west of Birdy Perch, we headed west under Jigoro and the others' guidance. The area around the rocky mountain where Birdy Perch stood was covered in grassland, but after traveling west for a while, we began to see what appeared to be an asphalt road.
The road was riddled with cracks, and weeds grew wildly through the gaps. Still, the obvious traces of artificial construction told me that our destination was close.
“Here it is.”
“So this is ‘The Ancient Ruined City’...”
After walking along the road for several dozen minutes and casually hunting the occasional monster below level 20, we reached a circular city surrounded by reinforced-concrete walls.
Nearly all of the city's buildings had collapsed, apart from a few that could still be called skyscrapers. The only buildings that retained their original forms were two- and three-story structures.
Even those buildings were mostly covered in vines, while weeds flourished through cracks in the ground just as they did in the road we'd followed here. As a result, almost none of the city's former splendor remained. It was a city that had truly become ruins—in other words, an ancient ruined city.
“The enemies here are probably troublesome... but this atmosphere isn't bad. No, to be honest, I quite like it.”
I looked down at ‘The Ancient Ruined City’ from a hill a short distance off the road and found myself muttering that. It wasn't merely a deserted ruin; nature had gone beyond that stage and begun to encroach upon it. The fact that it was the middle of the night, with the moon hanging in the sky and making the scene feel mysterious, was probably another factor.
“It's good that you like it, but let's hurry up and get our rematch, huh?”
“...Yeah, you're right.”
I could see this view whenever I wanted. Exploring an unknown area took priority. Personally, I was reluctant to tear myself away, but it couldn't be helped. Well then, shall we go?
◆◇◆◇◆◇
Naturally, the walls of ‘The Ancient Ruined City’ had a gate through which people could enter and leave. It was thick and made of metal, and must once have been strong enough that even weak monsters couldn't scratch it. But that was a thing of the past. After years of deterioration, the gate had collapsed miserably, leaving the entrance open for anyone to pass through.
“The moment you take even one step inside, the Harpies will start targeting you. Be careful.”
Ruby was the one who warned me. Harpies were apparently fiercely possessive of their territory: they used the ruined city's walls as their boundary and repeatedly attacked anyone who entered the area inside them, but stopped pursuing them the instant they fled outside. In a way, perhaps they were meticulous by nature.
“Understood. I'll be ready to fight at any moment.”
Keeping Ruby's warning in mind, I passed through the gate and entered the ruined city. Jigoro and the others had already searched the interiors of the buildings around the gate while avoiding the Harpies, so we had no need to go inside them now. We had already decided on our destination for this expedition.
“All right, then let's head for the tallest building towering in the center, just as planned.”
The building at the city's center was one of the few high-rises that had retained its original form. A massive building reduced to ruins was intriguing enough on its own, but it stood in the center of ‘The Ancient Ruined City,’ where an obviously advanced civilization must once have flourished. It had surely served some important role.
In that case, it was reasonable to assume some kind of treasure lay sleeping inside. Even if it didn't, there was a chance the area boss was there. The odds of making the trip for nothing should be low.
“Whoa, they're already here!”
What!? We hadn't even been inside the ruined city for a full minute, and they had already sensed us!?
“Gog! Gog!”
“Gehhh~!”
A green-feathered bird and a red-feathered bird appeared. However, neither was an ordinary bird. Their heads were those of ugly humans. These must be the Harpies I'd heard about. Time for 【Appraisal】!
――――――――――
Race: Harpy Lv35
Job: Storm Mage Lv5
Skill: 【Gluttony】
【Fangs】
【Claws】
【Storm Magic】
【Flight】
【Capture】
【Ambush】
【Coordination】
【Small Stature】
【Wind Resistance】
【Fire Weakness】
Race: Harpy Lv38
Job: Flame Mage Lv8
Skill: 【Gluttony】
【Fangs】
【Claws】
【Flame Magic】
【Flight】
【Capture】
【Ambush】
【Coordination】
【Small Stature】
【Fire Resistance】
【Water Weakness】
――――――――――
Oh? They don't have many Skills, and they're lower-level than us. However, their magic has already evolved, and they seem to possess some rather troublesome traits. Specifically, each individual has different weaknesses.
Presumably, the element opposing the magic they can use is their weakness. To deal with them perfectly, we'd need a party capable of using every element.
Actually, they can still take damage without hitting their weakness, so we might not need to assemble every element after all. Even so, a party biased toward a particular element would have a very hard time.
“Magic Circle Deployment, Spell Adjustment, Fire Lance. Next, Magic Circle Deployment, Spell Adjustment, Water Lance.”
“Gegyaaah!?”
Thanks in part to 【Precision Mana Control】, the magic I cast flew straight toward the Harpies while homing in on them. Apparently, they hadn't expected to be attacked first, because both Harpies took the spells head-on—and died on the spot.
“Huh...? Wasn't that a little too easy?”
“Yeah, I never told you? Those things are so feeble that any attack that lands is enough to kill them outright. Kar's attack merely grazed one of them, and it fell apart.”
Come to think of it, when I'd read their statuses earlier, they had possessed the Skill 【Small Stature】. If I remembered correctly, it was a Skill that made its user weaker, and Goblins had it too. That was probably part of the reason.
“It was only easy because there were two of them. ...Oh, look. Here they come.”
Following Genjuro's gaze, I saw a flock of Harpies flying through the sky. I couldn't determine the exact number, but I estimated there were at least twenty of them.
A flock of that size could rain magic down on us all at once. For Jigoro and Genjuro, who specialized in close combat, they must have been a terrible matchup. That wasn't the case for me, however.
“I see. Then let's overwhelm them with numbers as well. Star Magic Circle, Remote Activation, Spell Adjustment, Summon Evil Spirits.”
“Kyahahahahahahahahaha!!!”
“!?”
I summoned countless evil spirits using 【Spirit Summoning】 to launch an indiscriminate attack right in the middle of the Harpy flock. It wasn't my imagination that there were more of them than when I'd summoned them before, and that each one seemed stronger. That had to be thanks to the increased Skill level and the necklace Iris had made. I could never thank her enough!
“Gegigigyaa!”
The Harpy flock nearly fell into confusion when the evil spirits appeared, but a shout from an especially large individual restored their composure. Then they began destroying the evil spirits one after another with well-coordinated movements. Physical attacks had no effect on the evil spirits, but magic was their weakness, so they took considerable damage. They were being wiped out one after another!
The leader's superb command was what made that possible. Sometimes they scattered to evade the evil spirits' attacks, and sometimes they concentrated a barrage of magic on a single target to finish it off. However, our preparations were complete.
“Judging from the colors of their wings, they seem to use only the four basic elements—earth, water, fire, and wind. In that case, we'll brute-force them with an element that is neither a weakness nor a resistance. Magic Circle Activation, Black Field. Then Magic Stone Absorption, Star Magic Circle Remote Activation, Spell Adjustment, Dark Wave!”
If their weaknesses and resistances were all over the place, then all I had to do was hit them with magic that was neither. Besides, when all was said and done, 【Dark Magic】 was my strongest offensive option. I might as well make use of it!
“Gegyoaaah!?”
The Harpies were struck by my magic and came plummeting down one after another. Perhaps it was because of 【Small Stature】, but my enhanced magic dispatched them with ease.
“Gegya! Gigigya!”
Oh, it seemed the individual that looked like their commander had survived. That one clearly wasn't an ordinary Harpy. Well, let's use 【Appraisal】 on it.
――――――――――
Race: Harpy Leader Lv42
Job: Commander Lv2
Skill: 【Gluttony】
【Fangs】
【Claws】
【Storm Magic】
【Flight】
【Capture】
【Ambush】
【Command】
【Coordination】
【Wind Resistance】
【Fire Weakness】
――――――――――
A Harpy Leader, huh? As its name implies, it possessed the Skill 【Command】. That had to be the source of its leadership ability. It had also lost 【Small Stature】, so it seemed to be a reasonably strong opponent on its own.
“Is that all? Tomoe Magic Circle Activation, Fire Lance.”
“Gegaaaaah!”
However, it had taken the same attack as the other Harpies and lost about eighty percent of its health. So even calling it strong would be overstating it; it was only somewhat tougher. Just as expected, it fell after three Fire Lances pierced it.
“Enemies like that become small fry when they have their fellows around, huh?”
“Which means they'd be tough without Izaam around.”
In a contest of magic alone, I thought I could go toe-to-toe with the top-tier players, thanks in part to my equipment. That wasn't mere conceit. As the leader of a clan packed with such strong personalities, I had to be capable of at least this much.
“It's only because I'm a good match for the Harpies. More importantly, let's get the harvesting done quickly. There might be more coming.”
“That is true.”
“Let's get it done in a flash!”
Genjuro and Iris nodded and began harvesting the monsters. There had been twenty-four Harpies in the flock, including the Harpy Leader, and most of the loot was magic stones imbued with the same element as the magic they could use. There were other things we could harvest as well, though...
――――――――――
Harpy Droppings (Fire) Quality: Good Rarity: R (Rare Class)
Harpy excrement. It carries the fire element.
When used as fertilizer, it can sometimes produce crops with special effects.
――――――――――
Straight-up feces. I couldn't help but feel considerable resistance to putting it into my inventory. However, the item's description was far too enticing to discard, and after weighing practical benefits against my feelings... I decided to take it home despite my reluctance.
None of us possessed—or planned to acquire—the Skills 【Agriculture】 or 【Horticulture】. So I thought we'd take this to a farmer in Birdy Perch. We might someday gain a companion who enjoyed producing food, and it couldn't hurt to see how an expert would put it to use. Well, that was counting my chickens before they hatched.
Having obtained an unexpected item, we continued our exploration. The conquest of ‘The Ancient Ruined City’ had only just begun.