23. I Can Just Beat Them, Right?

I was walking through the rolling meadows with my two companions, Helene and Io.

My primary objective, of course, was hunting mountain oxen to cash them in. But between the strange behavior of the local fauna and our detours, I had only managed to hunt a single animal today, which meant I hadn’t made nearly enough money yet.

Behind me, Helene and Io were deep in conversation.

「So he really took on a force of a thousand men all by himself?」 Io asked, her voice laced with awe. 「Yes,」 Helene replied, sounding almost proudly accustomed to it by now. 「Nearly half of them broke formation and fled, but most of the ones who stayed behind ended up abandoning their posts because they suffered severe psychological trauma…… Though honestly, I’m not surprised.」 「I can completely believe it. Kakeru-san wiped out hordes of monsters and even brought down Sandros completely on his own.」 「Sandros? You mean Sandros, the ancient King of Hell?!」 「Yes! So a thousand ordinary soldiers is nothing by comparison. Kakeru-san is just incredible.」

Hearing them chat so amiably behind me, I was glad to see the two of them had hit it off so quickly.

That was all well and good, but we still had a major problem: I couldn’t find a single mountain ox anywhere. We had been scouring the plains for quite a while now, yet the meadows were completely devoid of them. The moment those beasts had spotted me earlier, they had bolted as if their lives depended on it.

I didn’t really want to admit the obvious, but……

(I think you’re officially being blacklisted by the local wildlife, Eleanor observed dryly in my mind.) 「Maybe I overdid it a little bit…」

I couldn’t argue with her logic. I must have established a reputation as an apex predator far too terrifying for even reckless, aggressive mountain oxen to approach.

After walking a bit further into the foothills, we finally spotted a mountain ox in the distance. But right before we could reach it, a group of about ten heavily armed mercenaries emerged from a nearby trail, moving to intercept it.

It was a shame we’d been beaten to the punch, but what happened next was even more shocking. The moment the mountain ox made eye contact with me standing further down the path, it completely ignored the mercenaries right in front of its snout, spun around in a blind panic, and sprinted away at top speed.

……Yeah, this was hopeless. I wasn’t going to find any game out here today.

⸻

Back in the city, I returned to the Andreu Trading Company accompanied by Helene and Io. I explained the bizarre situation to Andreu, detailing how every mountain ox in the region now ran away the second they laid eyes on me.

「Good grief……」

Andreu wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief, wearing a deeply complicated expression.

「It is true that Yuuki-sama may have gone slightly overboard, if I may speak candidly. In just the past few days alone, you have single-handedly accomplished the work of a small army.」 「If wild game is going to avoid me like the plague, I suppose I won’t be hunting mountain oxen for a while.」 「Indeed.」 「So, do you have any other high-paying work I can take on? Preferably something lucrative.」 「Well, there is one thing that comes to mind……」 Andreu muttered, falling into a thoughtful silence with a serious look on his face.

After pondering for a moment, his gaze drifted past me, landing on Io standing behind us.

「You are Io Akos, a Rank-C adventurer, if I recall correctly. And you specialize in lightning-attribute offensive magic, yes?」 「Y-Yes!」 Io nodded, her cheeks turning slightly pink as she answered.

Andreu’s expression seemed to say, Why did you have to bring a mage like her right when this job popped up?

「Are you currently forming a party with Yuuki-sama?」 「Yes, we are!」 「Well then… it’s not that there aren’t lucrative jobs available, but only under the condition that you have a reliable lightning magic user in the party.」 「You’re acting a bit evasive about it, Andreu-san.」 「Because the risk factor is exceptionally high, to put it bluntly.」 「Let me hear the details anyway.」 「Very well. The job involves mining Orikudite ore.」

Mining?

It sounded like a standard gathering quest, nothing inherently life-threatening. But the moment the word left his lips, I heard Io let out a sharp gasp behind me.

「Andreu-san, isn’t that a bit too extreme for a standard commission……?」 「I am well aware. But Yuuki-sama explicitly asked for something that pays exceptionally well.」 「That is true, but still……」 Io looked over at me with a heavily troubled expression.

Her reaction only made me much more curious about what mining Orikudite actually entailed.

⸻

An hour later, the three of us warped directly to the foothills near the mountain ox meadows and continued on foot toward the towering, craggy peaks looming in the distance.

「Orikudite is the name of a rare magical mineral found exclusively deep within those mountains,」 Io explained as we walked. 「Magical? You mean it’s artificially created?」 「Not exactly. There is a bizarre high-tier monster called an Orikuto that nests in the deep caves up there. It constantly leaks a dense, thick miasma of magical energy—so concentrated that the mana practically materializes. That ambient magic coats the surrounding cave walls and dries solid over time. Orikudite is formed from thousands of overlapping layers of that hardened mana.」 「I’ve actually seen processed samples of it before,」 Helene chimed in. 「Because the elemental density of the Orikuto’s released mana shifts from day to day, the overlapping mineral layers form breathtaking, complex patterns resembling a natural rainbow. It’s considered an exquisite and deeply mysterious gemstone.」 「I see.」

I tried visualizing it in my head. Based on their descriptions, it sounded somewhat like the colorful annual rings of a ancient tree, petrified into gemstone.

「Just how valuable is it?」 「Extremely,」 Io replied. 「The ore itself fetches an absolute fortune precisely because harvesting it is notoriously difficult and perilous.」 「To put it bluntly, an Orikuto is completely immortal,」 Andreu’s warning echoed back in my mind. 「Immortal?!」 I couldn’t help raising my voice in surprise. 「Not only are their crystalline carapaces exceptionally durable, but they also possess instantaneous regeneration no matter how severely they are damaged,」 Io elaborated. 「Their sole fatal weakness is electricity. Striking them with lightning magic causes their biological functions to lock up completely, paralyzing them long enough for miners to chip the ore off their bodies.」 「Ah, I get it. We have to paralyze it with lightning and then harvest the Orikudite while it’s immobilized. So that’s why Andreu recommended this job specifically because Io was on our roster.」 「Yes. Without a lightning magic user in the party, attempting to mine Orikudite is essentially a suicide mission.」

That severe, huh?

It made complete sense. In high-level adventuring, taking on specialized monsters required a strict composition of specific elemental counters and tactical roles. Against an Orikuto, lightning magic wasn’t just a bonus—it was the only viable key to victory.

「Alright, leave the engagement to me. I’ll keep it pinned down and create an opening for you to cast your lightning, Io.」 「Yes! Understood!」

While the vanguard pinned the target down, the spellcaster would strike the weak point with elemental magic—it was a textbook, orthodox party tactic. Io answered immediately with firm resolve.

「And take these, Helene.」

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a handful of my stored Magic Balls (Black), handing them all over to the princess.

「What are these?」 「Disposable offensive magic items. They activate automatically the moment you throw them at a target. Use them however you see fit if things get messy, Helene.」 「I understand. I’ll make sure to use them well.」 「Alright, let’s go do some mining.」 「Yes!」

After finalizing our strategy, we pressed upward into the rocky, steep mountain paths.

Before long, a peculiar atmospheric shift washed over the area. There was a strange, eerie radiance hanging in the air—a brilliant, luminous green tint that saturated the surroundings. Strangely enough, despite looking so unnatural, I felt zero physical discomfort or toxicity when breathing it in or letting it brush against my skin.

「Is this it? The Orikuto’s ambient aura?」 「Most likely,」 Io nodded nervously, her hand resting near her wand.

A short distance ahead, the rock face of the mountain suddenly looked entirely different from the surrounding stone. It was as if a vibrant, iridescent layer of liquid glass had been painted directly over the raw cliffside.

Just as we realized we had found the nest, the stone mass shifted.

「It’s an Orikuto!」 Io shrieked in warning.

「Alright, let’s get to work!」

I tightened my grip on Eleanor’s hilt and dashed straight toward the lumbering crystal beast. As I closed the distance, I glanced back at my companions for a fraction of a second.

Both Helene and Io were staring forward with wide eyes, their expressions completely devoid of doubt—filled instead with absolute, unwavering trust in my strength.

「Eleanor.」 (What is it now?) 「I’m going to take this thing down cleanly. Lend me your power!」

I grinned, determined to not just meet their expectations, but shatter them entirely.