Ch.159Wild Boar Hunt

After joining up with Seti, who had been guarding the carriage, we pushed through the forest heading southeast and discovered a fairly large tree broken at thigh height.

The surrounding bushes and grass were trampled and scattered in disarray, and footprints twice the length of my hand were embedded here and there.

“Wow… looks like traces of that boar monster.”

“Seems like it. The scent is faint, but still lingering.”

“The hoof prints are nearly 30 centimeters long. It might have grown larger when transforming into a monster, or maybe it’s a special variant?”

“A special variant… Hey, Paloma was your name, right? Do you have any detailed information about this boar monster?”

Paloma, who was walking at the front with Seti, shook her head in response to my question.

“Nothing is known except that it’s enormously large and runs fast. No one has properly fought it yet.”

“Why is that? Isn’t it too dangerous to leave a monster that appears near the village unchecked?”

“We’re not like the Elves or Cat-folk who travel far to hunt. If the boar came to destroy our fields or village, we’d fight it, but there’s no benefit in taking the initiative to eliminate it at our own risk.”

“Ah… so you don’t want to create unnecessary trouble.”

It seems the Baekto tribe’s basic policy for dealing with monsters is not to actively hunt them unless they threaten their agricultural livelihood.

“Anyway, this is as far as I can guide you. The pond that Granny Chainy mentioned is about 15 minutes straight in this direction.”

“OK, so you’re heading back to the village now?”

“I’ll wait here. You don’t even know what Peta flowers look like, right?”

“Ah, that’s right… Well, take it easy then.”

“Good luck to you.”

Leaving Paloma, who had fulfilled her role, outside the boar monster’s activity area, we continued deeper into the forest following the tracks.

As we got closer to the pond, broken trees appeared more frequently, and occasionally we began to find trees with blackened, charred breaks.

“These are burn marks. Does that boar monster breathe fire or something?”

“If it did, there would have been a forest fire… and the Baekto people would surely know about it.”

“It might have a special electric attribute ability. Magic-generated lightning can scorch objects it strikes, but rarely spreads into fires.”

“Lightning… thinking about the power of Lightning Bolt, I definitely don’t want to take a direct hit.”

Even though Jessica’s Heal Touch can recover most injuries, death by high-voltage electrocution is beyond treatment.

If we encounter the boar monster, it would be best to overwhelm it with fierce attacks before it can use its special ability.

“If the monster appears, let’s deal with it quickly. As soon as we start, Phyllis will use Lightning Bolt… wait, would electric magic even work on a creature that uses lightning itself?”

“It depends on the case, but generally monsters that wield electricity often have resistance to it themselves.”

“That’s troublesome. We can’t freely use Fireball in the forest either…”

“No need to worry. I’ve prepared for such cases by developing a new spell with Jessica’s help.”

“Oh? What kind of spell?”

“Hehe, I’ll demonstrate when we encounter the monster.”

Just as Phyllis lifted her repeating rifle with a meaningful smile, we saw a flock of birds suddenly take flight from the forest in the distance with a rustling sound.

“Is it the monster!?”

“Seems like it’s noticed us. Pigs have an extremely keen sense of smell.”

How would a ferocious boar monster, known to trample and kill every visible animal, react to unfamiliar scents entering its territory?

The answer came through the sounds from up ahead.

The rumbling of the ground, the crushing of undergrowth, the snapping of solid trees, and the fluttering of birds’ wings.

Though not directly visible, all my senses told me something massive was charging toward us, shaking the earth.

“At first, focus only on avoiding its charge. Choose your attack timing and method based on your own judgment. I’ll try to target its legs to take away its mobility.”

“Got it. Everyone be careful.”

“…It’s coming.”

Right after Seti’s voice resonated deeply, a massive boar form, easily three meters tall, burst through a large thicket ahead of us.

The giant boar charged ferociously toward Seti at the front, breaking trees in its path with a splintering crash.

“KWEEEEEK!!”

“Dodge!”

It felt like a 4-ton truck suddenly appearing in an alley.

The boar’s tusks, as large as buffalo horns, crackled with blue-white sparks as it charged toward us.

After dodging the lethal attack by diving to either side, we unleashed guns and magic at the boar, which had stopped after breaking several large trees.

“Stone Bullet!”

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

Stone bullets and white magic bullets hit the boar’s rear thighs.

It was an attempt to rob it of mobility and block its charging attacks, but the Stone Bullet lacked penetration power and couldn’t inflict significant wounds on the boar’s coarse hair-covered hind legs.

The magic bullets from the single-action revolver, with enhanced velocity and destructive power, successfully embedded in the boar’s skin, but the enemy was too large for the damage to be substantial.

But our offensive wasn’t over yet.

“Haah!”

*Slash!*

“KWEEEEK!!”

As Seti’s spear left a deep gash in its hind leg after leaping from the ground, the boar let out a painful scream and swung its ferocious tusks at Seti.

*Clang!*

“Huh…?”

Seti’s expression contorted as the spark-laden tusk collided with the spear blade with a sharp metallic sound.

The current in the tusk seemed to travel through the blade and wooden shaft to reach her body.

“Seti, are you alright?”

“Yes. Just startled for a moment.”

Seti staggered slightly upon landing, but the damage from the electric shock didn’t seem too severe.

The giant boar, with a large wound on its right hind leg, tried to close the distance for close combat with its huge tusks despite dragging its limping leg, but—

“Piercing Incinerator!”

*BANG!!*

When a vermilion bullet from the side struck its flank, the boar flinched momentarily, then began rolling on the ground, rubbing its body while letting out strange cries.

“KWEEEEEK! KWEEK! KWEEEEEEEK~~~!!”

“Now, Seti!”

“Got it! YAAAAH!!”

*Slash!*

Seti leaped high, spun her body once, and descended like a comet. Her spear blade deeply cut the giant boar’s neck, and after a few wheezing gasps, the giant boar’s limbs went limp.

“That’s the end.”

“Well done, Seti. Phyllis, that was amazing! What was that spell?”

“Piercing Incinerator. It burrows inside the body and instantly burns the surroundings with high-temperature waves. It’s a fire attribute spell, but can be used without risk of fire, and unlike Lightning Bolt, there’s no danger of damaging the magic stone.”

I see, a spell created to compensate for Fireball’s weaknesses.

The solution being rather cruel—cooking the target’s insides—is a bit concerning, but… as long as it’s not used on people, I suppose it’s fine.

“Now, it’s time to extract this huge boar’s magic stone…”

“How about using Seti’s dagger to remove materials? Materials from a lightning-attribute monster should sell for much more than just the magic stone.”

“That’s a good idea. It would be nice to take the hide too, but…”

“Is that possible? This carcass must weigh at least several hundred kilograms.”

I don’t know the proper weight of a boar, but the giant monster corpse before us must weigh at least several hundred kilograms.

Even with the four of us combining our strength, it would be impossible to flip it over and skin it.

Even if we somehow managed to skin it, carrying that heavy fur back to the village would be no small feat.

“…Let’s do this. Jessica and Seti will stay here to guard the monster’s corpse, and Phyllis will collect Peta flowers with Paloma and take them to the village. I’ll go back to where the carriage is and bring just Ancestor, then we’ll start the material extraction work after that.”

“That sounds good. The monster’s body should last until then if we don’t remove the magic stone.”

After dividing our roles, we dispersed to collect Peta flowers and bring Ancestor for the full-scale material extraction operation.

First, we cut off the tusks and skinned the head, then drilled holes in the skull to pass a rope through, running it over nearby trees so that when Ancestor pulled the rope, the several-hundred-kilogram body was propped up against a tree.

After that, Seti, who was skilled in animal handling, calmly skinned it.

“Thank you for your help.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. You eliminated the monster by the pond, so we’re the ones who should be grateful. I’ll make sure to tell everyone not to carelessly pick the Boingo grass so the Grand Workshop people won’t have this problem again.”

Loading the large boar hide and two tusks onto Ancestor, we rejoined Lady Linda, who was waiting at Granny Chainy’s house, and prepared to return to the Paracelsus Grand Workshop.

Lady Linda’s complexion looked noticeably haggard, as if she had been thoroughly scolded by Granny Chainy while we were away.

“Three years of research results… my greatest masterpiece…”

“Don’t lose your mind and let’s get going. You need to make Mina’s medicine as soon as we get back to the workshop.”

“Ah, about that… it’s getting too late today, so perhaps starting tomorrow would be…?”

“Hahaha, what kind of joke is that?”

Just like our journey here, it would only take three hours to return, so what could possibly be “too late”?

We practically stuffed Lady Linda into the carriage and set off on our return journey to the Paracelsus Grand Workshop.