Chapter 151: Camping Plant

Hatoken experienced some Technical Difficulties.

Chapter 151: Camping Plant

“It’s going quite well.” (Naofumi)
“Right. For me to make this much progress in just 2 days, could I possibly be a genius?” (Rat)
“Naofumi-sama…” (Rafatalia)

It’s been two days since then. Rafatalia is facing me with a serious face.
I think I overdid it as well.
I had tried to modify the Bioplant with Rat’s help. Because of this, quite a few people are watching our work.
Having a specialist really helps.

Rat has already been registered as one of my slaves. I have set the crest to punish her if she tries to lie to me.
The punishment has been set to the highest level. Based on the severity of her actions, she may die.
I can’t be negligent. Though for now, she seems to be satisfied while being immersed in research.

The real work starts from here on out.
First, I modified a Bioplant seed to be more like the original monstrous variety in order to grant it sentience, and registered it as a monster under my control. I handed it over to Rat for research purposes.
Rat takes out some complex machinery and begins to perform further modifications on the plant.
There was the danger that it may have been able to break the seal, as Firo did, but this time it was a success.
As we plant the seed, the Bioplant begins to come to life and move as commanded.

The Bioplant we tried to make today was one that would be able to act as a house.
We’ll be getting more slaves soon, so it would be useful if we could speed up the building process.
Which is why we began working on this interesting project.
The experiment was a success. As long as we issued the order, the Bioplant would take the shape of a house.

The new creation was dubbed, ‘Camping Plant’.
Rat went off and arbitrarily named it on her own. I don’t really care so I’ll leave the name as is.

Flowers bloom to form an effective roof, and as long as we give a specific layout, the plant can take on the form of any building.
The flowers absorb light during the day, and can emit magic light at night if needed.
The slaves had high adaptability, so they readily moved into the dangerous-looking house.

I planned to use them for temporary lodging, but Kiel enthusiastically claimed the house as her own, so I guess it is what it is.
Are you sure you want the house of your dreams to be one built so easily?

A strength of these houses is that they can be easily cleared with herbicide and rebuilt if they got in the way.
This makes them exceedingly easy to manage.
And… Rafatalia is currently questioning me on the influx of green houses in the village.

“I’m sorry.” (Naofumi)
“About what?” (Rafatalia)
“The village you lived in now looks like the dwelling of an evil sorcerer.” (Naofumi)
“Well… there’s nothing we can do about that… I understand. I just thought that you were trusting Rat too easily.” (Rafatalia)
“I think she’s the one trusting me way too easily.” (Naofumi)

She had been staring at me intently while I modified the plant.
I thought that our methods of modification were the same, but it seems that she has taken a great interest in my general modification method. I think she called it ground-breaking or something.
(TL: as in how he can change entire attributes without taking the steps leading up to that into account)
Even if you say it’s ground-breaking, it’s the Shield’s capabilities so I can’t really help her on that.
It seems I can only make general modifications, so I have to leave the finer details to Rat.

The next thing to work on is a plant to produce medicine.
It seems that this will be quite difficult.
Up ‘til now I have made no progress in this field.

By the way, the prototype house we made was carnivorous.

I continually cautioned Rat not to enter it, but Firo and Taniko suddenly rushed in only to get eaten. Rafatalia and the rest had to cut it open and rescue them.
The villagers have been eyeing me with strange looks since then.

I also had Rat check the identity of the Monster eggs we had collected.
Additionally she checked the growth of the monsters I had under my watch. I explained my Monster User Shield’s ‘Growth Correction’ ability, and she began examining the Legendary Shield with zeal.

It seems that the Monster User seal had awakened, but I didn’t get any extra growth enhancements from it.
I was hoping for something that would raise my monster’s intelligence.

“I had heard that the Hero of the Shield’s monsters had abnormal strength. So this was the cause?” (Rat)
“Probably. And I’m quite sure the other heroes should be able to unlock these abilities as well.” (Naofumi)

It’s not like I had this function from the beginning. The others should be able to unlock a Slave Series and Monster Use Series as well.
It’s even more likely that they will be able to get weapons that allow modification of plants like the Bioplant.
However plants like this are hard to come across.
I’ve only ever seen them in the Bioplant’s origin town, and this one.

“I won’t claim to be an expert, but I’ve never heard of such abilities coming from the other heroes.” (Rat)
“I see.” (Naofumi)

To put it bluntly, we don’t get along.
However from what I’ve heard, the Seven Star Heroes are supposed to be good people.
It seems that modifying monsters goes against the Church. Such straight-laced heroes probably wouldn’t delve into such subjects.
I don’t really want to trouble Rat further, and I honestly don’t care so I won’t ask what sort of people they are.
… If you look at this village objectively, how many laws are we breaking?

Now then, our food supply has become quite steady. The taste is also guaranteed, and it seems that Rat will be able to produce some variation in the fruits.
I’m leaving the training of the monsters to the slaves, and my peddling enterprise will soon be able to start in earnest.
The slaves have all passed level 30, so our fighting prowess isn’t a problem either.
In just a few days, we’ve made quite some progress.

“I was able to create a research lab so easily. This seed really is miraculous.” (Rat)

Rat’s lab… it is a large building made of Camping Plant.
She had brought lab equipment with her from the start, so it seems that the lab is now usable.
From the building, I can hear the screams of a monster. It’s reminding me of a few Science Fiction stories.
At that moment, I had a few doubts about letting her set up shop here.

By the way, Taniko and Rat have become rivals in their treatment of monsters.
Taniko believed that monsters should get strong through battle and experience, while Rat opted for strengthening them through modification. Their opinions often clashed.

Due to their differing ideals, they often argued. It appears that they hate each other.
However, Taniko’s education is severely lacking so most of the time it seems that Rat is just toying with her.

“Then I shall work on the Bioplants until I get bored. After that, do you agree to assist me in my goals?” (Rat)
“Yeah, I also hold an interest in Monster Modification.” (Naofumi)

If we have monsters that can stand on equal footing with those brought by the wave, then fighting will get a lot easier.
I need to scrape a fighting force together no matter what, so modification may prove to be a useful asset.
I learned from that incident with the Spirit Turtle that having more comrades is always useful.
If they’re strong then even more so.

It seems there was a Balloon egg mixed in with the rest.
No… It wasn’t an egg. It seems that a hibernating Balloon had been mistaken as an egg and carried off.

According to Rat, Balloons usually fly. They break off from a larger being called Balloon Legios, and can henceforth freely float in the sky.
If you see a strangely colored object in the sky, it is probably a Balloon Legios.
Though Balloon Legion rarely come to the ground, the numerous Balloons born from come down quite often.
They become completely independent after separating from the Legios.

After the Balloon awakened, I quickly had a monster seal placed on it, and it is now my subordinate.
As the Balloon levelled up, it got bigger as if it were being inflated. I tied it to the carriage and attached a banner onto it.
With this, it is connected to the carriage and will receive a portion of the EXP gained by Firo, who is pulling it.

The banner on it read ‘Hero of the Shield’s Peddling’
Its monster name appears to be Ad Balloon.
What sort of bad joke is this?

It seems that Ad Balloon had previously been cared for by a human.
I’m a bit afraid of a large floating balloon-shaped monster, but… (TL: Balloon is usually in English, in this line it is said in Japanese.)
Taniko readily mounted the Balloon and rode it into the sky with both arms outstretched. Seriously, what Valley did she crawl out of?
It’s really slow, but I guess I can assign it to guard duty.

I hold Balloons in high esteem.
I haven’t forgot my debt to them from when I first fought Motoyasu.

“You are hereby deemed Test Subject #1.” (Rat)
“Garu!” (Ad Balloon)
“Quiet.” (Naofumi)

Perhaps due to the Shield’s influence, this monster seems to possess a higher level of intelligence than other Balloons

“… Now then, I will be leaving for peddling.” (Naofumi)
“Understood.” (Rafatalia)
“Then I will be continuing with my research. If you need me, you can find me in my lab, Count.” (Rat)

Count… That’s right, I got a title.
I had completely forgotten.

“Hmm? I had heard that you were a Count. Am I wrong?” (Rat)
“No, you’re correct.” (Naofumi)
“Anyways, if you have any business, please stop over.” (Rat)
“Yes, Yes. Oh, and remember that just because I’m not here doesn’t mean you can cause trouble.” (Naofumi)
“I know. I won’t do something that foolish.” (Rat)
“I wonder.” (Naofumi)

I think about how to produce a medicine generating Bioplant as I call Firo over. I get on the Carriage and set out for the neighboring village.