The first hunting site was a rocky mountain near the ducal estate.
Following the map’s markings, I scaled the sheer cliff face—and sure enough, a cockatrice was waiting at the top. The map’s accuracy was a lifesaver.
Peeking from behind a rock, I saw the cockatrice standing alone, unaware of my presence.
If I had to describe its appearance, it was like a giant, ugly chicken.
“Big Brother, can I hunt this one?”
“Hmm… But cockatrices make my skin tingle.”
“……Master…… That’s their petrifying venom……?”
Thanks to Kanade’s deadpan remark, I finally understood.
Apparently, meeting a cockatrice’s gaze petrifies you on the spot. Even its breath is lethal, carrying the same petrification effect.
So that’s why I felt that tingling sensation whenever I hunted one before.
“Ah, I see! As expected of Big Brother! With your mighty physique and magic, something as trivial as a cockatrice’s petrification is nothing to fear!”
“……Cockatrice venom isn’t that weak…… I think……?”
“Well, just to be safe, let’s avoid eye contact and the venom. I’ll handle this one—Suzuha, watch closely so you can take the next one.”
“Yes!”
And so, I hunted the cockatrice.
At the end of the day, it’s just an overgrown chicken. Nothing special.
I closed the distance swiftly, chopped off its head with a bare-handed strike, and that was that.
“All done, everyone.”
“W-Wow, Big Brother! I couldn’t even see your hand move!”
“……A mere hand chop, yet the cut is flawless—it didn’t even crush the cells……! Not even my knives could achieve this……! Utter defeat……!”
“Kanade’s perspective is way too niche.”
“Unyuu~!”
“You praising me too, Unyuu-chan? Thanks.”
With that, we butchered the cockatrice on the spot and turned it into grilled skewers.
Bitter, but delicious.
Also, Kanade asked for the cockatrice’s venom, so I handed it over.
Probably for insecticide or something. As expected of a capable maid.
*
The next location was a bandit hideout.
“Um, Big Brother, we can’t eat bandits, okay?”
“I know!?”
If I just hunted monsters and left the bandits alone, the ducal butler would skin me.
The map’s markings circled a section of dense forest—
clearly the bandits’ territory.
“Big Brother, unlike monsters, bandits run away. Annoying, right?”
“Really? Monsters run from me all the time.”
“That’s just you.”
As we debated, Kanade suddenly spoke up.
“I have an idea.”
“Kanade?”
“Decoy operation.”
“How’s that work?”
“Suzuha walks through the forest with her chest exposed. Instant bait.”
“ABSOLUTELY NOT!?”
Suzuha shook her head violently. Yeah, fair.
“No need to worry. We’ll kill every last bandit anyway.”
“Then you do it, Kanade!”
“Also valid. Understood.”
“WAIT, NO!?”
I stopped her just as she began loosening her maid uniform’s collar.
“But the decoy plan could work. Suzuha, you’d be fine even if bandits kidnapped you, right?”
“I’d never lose to mere bandits, but… being separated from Big Brother……”
“I’ll be watching from the shadows. If things get dangerous, I’ll jump in immediately.”
“B-Big Brother saving me—APPROVED!”
And so, we executed the decoy plan. It worked hilariously well.
Every single bandit hideout afterward fell for it without fail—seriously, it was like shooting fish in a barrel.
Out of nearly fifty hideouts, Suzuha got “snatched” within three minutes every time. It was that effective.
At first, she messed up her “resistance acting” and accidentally snapped a bandit’s neck before we even reached their base, but even accounting for those mishaps, the subjugation went smoothly.
Suzuha and the others were extra motivated, eager to move on to the next monster hunt.
And so—
We slaughtered monsters, I cooked the meat, and we feasted like kings while crushing bandit strongholds. The result?
In just one month, all eighty-eight targets were wiped out.
9
Returning to the Sakuragi Ducal Estate to report, the butler was floored.
“I-Impossible……! To clear everything in a month……!”
“Uh…… Was wiping them all out bad……?”
“Not at all!?”
I’d worried he’d be mad about us hogging the monster meat, but he praised our efforts. Phew.
As for Yuzuriha-san—
“Ahh, I missed you……! My partner……!”
“What happened?! You look terrible!?”
“That tyrant of a butler forced me into acting head duties—mountains of paperwork……! And being apart from you for so long gave me withdrawal symptoms…… Uuuugh……”
“R-Rough time, huh?”
Some parts were confusing, but she’d clearly suffered.
Then came good news.
“Master. The maids from Maid Valley brought updated intel.”
“Ah, right. I compiled the ducal house’s findings as well.”
“Thank you!”
After reviewing both reports, three key facts emerged:
Orichalcum forms when high-quality mithril over-saturates with ultra-pure magic.
It has medicinal properties and is used in Elixirs, the ultimate panacea.
It possesses anti-magic effects.
“Hmm…… Feels like we sort of understand, but nothing concrete……”
“Still, Big Brother, we did learn why the orichalcum vein formed!”
“Suzuha’s right. Your brother’s magic—combined with the Wandering Silver Haired Vampire’s power—created an ultimate fusion of light and dark energies. That supercharged magic then merged with the adjacent mithril vein. Frankly, no one but him could replicate this.”
“Even I couldn’t do it again if asked.”
Still, every scrap of intel helped.
No leads on the Wandering Silver Haired Vampire this time, but we’d keep searching.
＊
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
And now—where are we headed?
To an onsen, of all places.
How did this happen? Well, it started when Yuzuriha-san suddenly bowed to me.
“My apologies. Our butler grossly underestimated you……”
Turns out, they never expected me to clear all eighty-eight sites so quickly—the reward preparations were way behind schedule.
“Oh, I don’t need a reward.”
“Nonsense. The ducal house commissioned this, and you perfected it. Refusing payment would tarnish our honor!”
“Seriously, it’s fine……”
I mean, after gorging on monster meat and taking a reward? The guilt was real.
But with time to kill until the reward was ready—
“Big Brother, the onsen! I came to the duchy for this!”
“I wholeheartedly agree. At the estate, Sebastian just dumps work on me.”
“Kanade also agrees. ……Onsen means back-scrubbing. Back-scrubbing means maid. This is steamy logic.”
“Unyuu~!”
And so, we set off for the hot springs.
After three days of travel, we reached a remote mountain onsen.
“It’s ridiculously secluded, but the water’s the best—and it has the longest history.”
True to Yuzuriha-san’s boast, it looked like a lake of pure hot springs. Vast, pristine, with water constantly flowing from the source—
It was what is known as a natural flow-through hot spring.
Perched high in the mountains, the view was breathtaking.
The milky-white water screamed “luxury onsen,” and my excitement skyrocketed.
“Alright, ladies first. I’ll join later.”
As the only guy, this seemed obvious—but everyone just blinked at me.
“Big Brother, what are you talking about? No one else is here. Let’s go in together!”
“W-WHAT!? This isn’t a mixed bath!”
“Actually, it is? See the sign?”
“Oh…… ‘Mixed-gender bathing. Swimwear required.’……”
“Well, since it’s just us, going nude is fine, right?”
“ABSOLUTELY NOT!?”
Suzuha was family, Kanade was my maid, and Unyuu-chan was a child—but Yuzuriha-san? No way. She’s the duke’s daughter.
I silently pleaded for her to veto this—
“O-Oh…… I see…… But among warriors who’ve faced death together, gender is irrelevant…… So bathing with Suzuha’s brother is…… fate……!?”
“NO, PLEASE DISAGREE!?”
In the end, I enforced a swimwear rule.
Everyone looked disappointed. They really didn’t get it.
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