第１７８３堀：もう一方の魔物研究所 (Part2)
"I understand that. After all, the Weed monster corps and Aslin’s subordinates are on equal footing. Though, they are at a disadvantage since they can't use weapons."
"Well, they can't beat Steve and his group, can they? They’ve been trained directly by Big Brother, so they’ll do anything to win."
"……True. When you tell them not to be picky about their methods, the collateral damage goes far beyond what a typical monster would cause."
Exactly.
Steve and the others, having been trained by Big Brother, will do absolutely anything.
Of course, their orders limit them, but if they were truly unleashed, they wouldn't just manipulate the terrain—they’d break the enemy’s spirit, too. That’s why the level of destruction they leave behind is on a completely different scale compared to monsters that just rely on brute force.
"Setting that aside, we’re still lacking information on the monsters from the New Continent, aren't we?"
"I suppose so. But since we and Wazfi-chan have only just started our investigations, it’s still too early to give up."
"That’s true. This kind of research is always a slow, steady process. Though, whenever I’m with Yuki-san, things tend to open up and move along quite quickly."
"I know, right? When Big Brother is around, problems get solved in a flash. Well, sometimes things move at a leisurely pace, too."
"Usually, it’s just 'leisurely' for everyone else, though."
As we were chatting, the laboratory door opened and someone stepped inside.
It was……
"Ah, there you are."
"Oh, you’re here."
It was Firia-chan and Narjia-onee-sama.
"What brings you two here?"
"I thought you were busy checking the monster materials?"
As blacksmiths, the two of them were tasked with investigating how to effectively utilize monster materials, while simultaneously testing their hardness to figure out the most effective ways to attack them. Even though we’re in the same research facility, they usually stick to the forge, so it’s rare to see them over here.
"We came because we’ve finished the initial appraisal of the materials."
"That’s right. Since Aslin-chan’s team is working with live monsters, we figured it would take a while, so we decided to come to you instead."
I see. My work does take quite a bit of time, after all.
Still……
"I understand, but are monster materials really something you can appraise that easily?"
Yeah, just as Milly-onee-sama said, there are factors like durability, how they react to mana, and how easy they are to forge—it shouldn't be something you can just figure out in a snap, right?
"I said 'initial,' didn't I? We have the details to work out later, but we’ve managed to determine the approximate rank of the materials."
"Ah, I see."
Milly-onee-sama nodded, satisfied with Firia-chan’s explanation. I think I understand what she means, too.
"There are some striking features, like their toxins, but those can all be neutralized with magic. There are also hides that could be repurposed for armor or even daily goods, but well—at best, they’d be classified as high-end luxury items. The top-tier monsters might provide materials suitable for the gear used by high-ranking adventurers, but that’s about it."
"Huh. So, the poison is actually useful?"
"It’s not that it’s useless, but… it’s more of a 'same-level-only' kind of thing."
"Oh. So it’s completely ineffective against us?"
"Pretty much. We already have gear and skills to resist poison, and I don’t think any of them can surpass that. It’s not impossible that such underhanded tactics could be the deciding factor, but… would you really try that against Yuki-san?"
When Narjia-onee-sama asked that, Milly-onee-sama immediately shook her head.
"No way. Against Yuki-san, poison is only good for a surprise attack; it’ll never be the deciding blow. He’d probably just smile and nullify it."
"Yeah. That sounds exactly like Big Brother."
He’d probably even comment on the quality of the poison.
"It’s all based on the premise that the poison actually takes effect. So, it’s something that Kirika-san’s intelligence unit or the military scouts could use. I heard from Eris-san that the scouts in Oer use things like that, at least."
"Firia and the others won't be using them as a main tactic. Oh, but Tori-neesama and her team might find them useful for capturing monsters."
"I see. Paralysis toxins would certainly be convenient for capturing monsters."
"But wouldn't it be faster to just put them to sleep with magic?"
"……"
The three of them fell silent at my remark.
Oops, did I say something I shouldn't have?
It seems investigating the ecology of these monsters is going to take some time. And the same goes for the interrogation.
I thought Wazfi and Hivia might have been better suited for this, but Aslin is more than enough on her own. After all, it’s been decided that the other side is better equipped for the task of dismantling and analyzing the monsters.