Capturing The Ice Deer

Ice Heatland.

Commonly known as the Land of Hell, it was a harsh region where massive monsters roamed beneath a scorching sun, with endless deserts and barren rocky mountains stretching across the landscape.

Yet when night fell, the temperature plunged below freezing, and ice-type monsters began roaming the land.

Our current request was to capture an Ice Deer, a deer-type monster that appeared only in Ice Heatland at night.

Ice Deer were characterized by their silvery-white fur and diamond-like antlers. During the day, they existed as a different monster called a Sand Deer, distinguished by reddish fur and black antlers.

At night, they transformed into Ice Deer. The antlers of an Ice Deer fetched an incredibly high price.

They measured between two and three meters in length. Even at the shoulder, they easily towered over me.

Their branching antlers were said to shine with an otherworldly brilliance.

Yuri and I had been walking through the blizzard for an hour.

Snow stretched as far as the eye could see… It was hard to believe this place turned into a desert during the day.

Xenoric, the God of Creation, certainly had made a strange place.

Yuri, still unused to walking through the snow, slipped and landed on her backside.

“You okay, Yuri?”

“I’m fine.”

“There’s a rest cave nearby, so how about we take a break?”

Caves were scattered throughout the rocky mountains of Ice Heatland.

Their locations were even marked on maps distributed by the Adventurers’ Guild Hall, and adventurers used them as rest areas.

We took shelter in one of them and decided to rest for a while. I cast defensive magic over the cave entrance to keep the wind from blowing inside.

Once I lit a lamp, the interior of the cave brightened.

“Warm Wind Magic (Warm Wind).”

When Yuri chanted the spell, the cave grew warm. In no time at all, it became as comfortable as a proper room.

It warmed up our chilled bodies too.

Because this spell lasted for quite a while, it consumed a considerable amount of magic power, yet Yuri remained completely unfazed. She must have possessed an enormous amount of magic power herself.

“The ground is cold, so sit on this.”

What she took out of a Storage Ball and spread across the ground was a cushion. It was remarkably comfortable to sit on.

“It’s a cushion stuffed with Demon Sheep wool. Their wool makes really comfortable cushions.”

“Th-That’s amazing. Demon Sheep wool has such an ugly color and rough texture that it can’t really be sold as fur.”

“But if you stuff it inside fabric that feels nice against the skin, it works really well. I made a mattress too. If you put it beneath your bedding in a tent, it makes sleeping much more comfortable.”

“You made all of this yourself?”

You could sell this stuff to adventurers if you turned it into a product!?

Couldn’t she become rich even without being an adventurer?

Then again, mass production would probably be difficult. Demon Sheep were not exactly easy to capture whenever you wanted, and they were far too vicious to raise as livestock.

While I was turning those thoughts over in my head, Yuri skillfully began taking firewood, a pot, and pre-cut ingredients out of a Storage Ball one after another and started making a simple soup.

This must have been how she supported the Hero’s party during their travels too.

Traveling across even the harshest lands became comfortable when Yuri was with you.

“Here you go, Roy. It’s ready.”

Yuri smiled as she handed me a cup filled with soup.

Even though we were in the middle of a job, I could feel myself getting carried away again.

Ahh… this soup really hit the spot. And it was unbelievably delicious.

I even felt like strength was welling up inside me… Maybe she had added restorative herbs? Medicinal herbs had a distinctive smell and usually were not suited for cooking, but I hardly noticed anything unusual.

As I curiously sniffed the soup, Yuri answered as if she had read my mind.

“That herb doesn’t have much of an aftertaste. Quite a lot of it grew near your house. If you dry it and grind it into powder, you can use it in cooking too.”

“Huh. I had no idea that herbs like that grew near my house.”

“The area around your house is actually a treasure trove of medicinal herbs, Roy.”

I-I had no idea.

I had never really cared much about medicinal herbs. I had always figured you could just buy medicine when you needed it.

And I certainly never imagined you could use herbs like this in cooking.

My body was warming up too. With this, I probably would not even need to cast Warming Magic on myself, and I should stay warm for quite a while after going back outside.

Just as I finished drinking the soup, I heard a keehn, kee-hn cry from outside the cave.

That was the call deer-type monsters used to summon their companions.

“There’s an Ice Deer nearby.”

Once outside, we looked around.

Fortunately, the blizzard had stopped, but snow covered everything around us.

Keehn… Keehn…

From the south.

Yuri and I ran toward the sound.

Perhaps sensing us approaching, the Ice Deer abruptly stopped calling.

We stopped as well and looked around once more.

There were rocky mountains everywhere.

Ice Deer fed on moss growing on rocky mountains, if I remembered correctly.

“Roy, over there.”

Yuri pointed toward the top of the tallest rocky mountain.

At its summit stood a creature with silvery-white fur, blue eyes, and branching antlers that glittered brilliantly.

The Ice Deer spotted us and charged down the rocky slope.

Here it comes…!!

“Kiiiiiiiiii—!!”

The Ice Deer released a hostile screech, and countless shards of ice came flying toward us.

Despite being a monster, it could use ice magic.

“Defense Magic (Full Shield)!!”

The instant Yuri chanted the spell, a translucent dome enclosed us.

The ice shards bounced harmlessly off the dome’s surface.

When the Ice Deer realized its magic had failed, its blue eyes began glowing red. Then it charged straight at us at tremendous speed.

All right, time for a contest of strength.

I grabbed the Ice Deer by its antlers and stopped its charge head-on.

It pushed against me with tremendous force, but my feet did not move an inch.

“Yuri, now!”

“Got it! Binding Magic (Restrin)!”

When Yuri chanted the spell, several glowing ropes wrapped around the Ice Deer’s four legs.

Once the deer could no longer move, I stepped away and took a Storage Ball from my bag.

“Storage Magic.”

When I chanted the spell, the monster was drawn into the Storage Ball.

If we killed it, we would only be able to harvest its antlers once, but if we captured it alive, its antlers would grow back even after being cut off.

If it could be properly tamed, its owner could obtain a set of high-quality antlers every year. The problem was that taming one was extremely difficult.

It was an A-rank monster, after all.

It would almost never become attached to an ordinary human, and there was a high chance it would attack anyone who approached it.

Even its living environment had to remain below freezing, because otherwise an Ice Deer would immediately transform into a completely different monster known as a Sand Deer.

Sand Deer antlers were highly valued as weapon materials, but they did not sell for nearly as much as Ice Deer antlers.

“Roy… stopping an Ice Deer’s charge head-on is ridiculously impressive.”

“Is it? That was nothing.”

“An Ice Deer’s charging force is several times greater than a dragon’s, you know?”

“W-Well… maybe that Ice Deer just wasn’t feeling very well?”

I answered Yuri’s question with an awkward laugh as I tried to brush it off.

I see… It might have been effortless for me, but apparently it was not something an ordinary person could do.

“Well, I’d like to head back to Encris, but it’s already late at night. There’s a castle farther ahead, so it might be better to stay there.”

“A castle?”

Yuri’s eyes widened, and I grinned.