Chapter 19

"Sure thing!"

Hagizawa threw the mushroom bag he made himself at the Aquamarine Horn Rat.

Still, it's a colorful rat, red, green, and blue.

It would be fun to collect them.

I wonder if there's a way to tame them?

Unfortunately, I don't have the ability to control monsters.

"Squish!?"

Pepe brushed off the spores... That's it. The hamster was washing its face, but it started running as if the effect didn't work.

"I'll observe for a bit!"

"Alright!"

We used the shield to catch it and observed.

"Squish! Squish!? Squish..."

Eventually, the Aquamarine Horn Rat started to move in a paralyzing way, as if its eyes were slowly rolling.

It was a hassle to keep it contained, but it took quite a while for the effect to kick in.

The immediate effect was weak.

"Wow... Does a self-made item work?"

"I wonder. The next one is a Mushroom Bomb I made with my ability."

He twisted something capsule-like and threw it at another Aquamarine Horn Rat.

The Mushroom Bomb exploded in front of the Aquamarine Horn Rat, which was blown away and fell on its butt.

"Squish—Squish..."

The effect appeared immediately, and it started convulsing... and died.

It was a bit gruesome.

"Looks like the ones made with the ability are more effective."

"Seems so. The self-made one just replicated the mushroom's attack, so it took too long for the effect to show."

Moreover, it only worked on the weakest monster, the Horn Rat.

After confirming, we finished off the Horn Rats.

"It's a tricky problem. It would be nice if it were cheap to use."

"It would be great if we could make medicine, but we can only try to imagine it..."

We brought books from Japan, but the plants and such in this world are different, so it's hard to tell the differences.

It's difficult to find something useful from Japanese items that don't have magical elements.

Moreover, it's hard to pretend we have them.

Even with snacks, it's getting suspicious to keep hiding them in my bag.

People would wonder how many snacks I bring to school.

If I overdo it, I might lose something as a person before it's even a matter of kindness.

"Even if we figure out the combination, it doesn't seem like mixing them will work..."

"Moreover, the creation process might be the issue, but it seems to reduce a small amount of magic power."

"Really?"

Hagizawa nodded at my question.

"Yeah, trying to create something without using the ability reduces magic power. It might have something to do with concentration."

"Hmm..."

"We need to figure out what this 'point' is."

"Maybe it's like breathing life into an item, and items without points have no effect."

It could be possible.

What are points used for? So far, it's said that production-type ability users use them.

But there might be other uses?

It seems suspicious.

The criteria are unclear.

"Maybe. After all, it was just a repurposed mushroom spore."

"Either way, we have to level up gradually... The mystery might be solved later."

"Yeah, and how are Meguru and Itsu doing?"

Hagizawa... don't flirt with girls.

"No problem. Let's get stronger together quickly."

"Yeah, that's right."

So, after finishing the experiment, we spent two hours leveling up while searching for Metal Turtles.

Metal Turtles are just hard grunts, so they feel like bonus monsters.

We managed to find and defeat two in two hours.

"Man, these things are hard... Even the weapons used by Tani and the others can't cut through them."

"The experience and points are normal, but they're this hard. They're purely for materials."

"Lucky we could defeat them thanks to Kosei."

"Yeah..."

Moreover, they're a good monster to defeat during breaks.

"Oh, level up!"

"Me too."

Itsuki and I leveled up to level 5.

Level Up!

Ability Expansion! You can now perform Point Transference!

Point Transference?

"What kind of ability expansion did you get?"

"It would be nice if it was a good ability."

Hagizawa and Meguru asked Itsuki and me.

"Um... Weapon Magic Power Replenishment?"

"What's that?"

"Um..."

Itsuki started trying it out by looking at the items.

It seems to make the staff glow faintly.

"Ah, I see. It seems to replenish the magic power residing in the item."

"Like repairing?"

"I'm not sure. I don't really understand."

To be honest, I don't understand what magic power residing in weapons means.

Moreover, Itsuki can already restore people's magic power.

"I'll try it on everyone's weapons."

Saying that, Itsuki started restoring the magic power in our weapons.

The power residing in weapons... maybe it's a skill the player group can use, but it might be unnecessary for us now.

"What about Kosei?"

"Um, wait a bit. It's better to see what Itsuki's expansion does first, right?"

"Sure, I think I can explain while using it..."

It might be better to experiment before explaining.

Considering past experiences, it might be a strange ability, and I might be laughed at.

I don't think anyone here would do that, but there might be a way to handle it.

To be honest, the expansion ability you get at level 5 seems to be a bit underwhelming.

千里眼 (千里眼), Weapon Magic Power Replenishment, Point Transference.

Let's experiment before saying anything.

I called up the ability list and selected Point Transference.

I thought points were like money, but I'm not sure.

Points → Money

Money → Points

...?

What is this item?

"Um, it's a bit complicated, so I want to try it out."

"Huh? Okay, but is it dangerous?"

"It should be fine. It's not a combat ability."

I tried Points → Money.

The text changed, and a selection item appeared.

Yen

Dollars

Euros

...?

I tried selecting Yen, and a holographic calculator appeared with the points I had.

I silently selected 10 points.

An hourglass appeared. The conversion time was... quite long, about 30 seconds.

After 30 seconds, a 10-yen coin appeared in my palm.

This...!

So, it's an ability to convert points into money!?

I tried converting the 10-yen coin in my hand back into points.

The hourglass reappeared, and I started to explain but stopped.

Wait... What would happen if I explained that I can convert money into points?

To be honest, the only way would be to convert everyone's money into points to get weapons made by Morishin.

Even if I convert points into money, they can't use it since they can't return to Japan.

But... what if I change my perspective?

I can return to Japan alone from this world.

I've been using my allowance to bring snacks for everyone.

Here's the idea.

Everyone is excited about the new ability.

There's no way to verify it right now.

It might be better to mislead them.

So, I decided to say something that would solve the immediate problem and be convenient for me.

"...It seems to be an ability to fetch items from Japan. The ability name is Transfer Trade."

"Whaaaaat!"

Hagizawa exclaimed excitedly.

It's the expected reaction.

I think it's a convenient ability for us.

"What does that mean?"

"Literally, it seems to consume points or money to purchase items from Japan. A list of items appears."

...I'm not lying.

If I transfer to Japan and use Point Transference to convert points into money and buy the items, it works.

"It seems to take a lot of chanting, so it's not possible to fetch items immediately."