Published at 16th of January 2021 03:18:47 PM
Chapter 119
Departing from the small town, I proceeded up the mountain road with Sharlsan . According to her, we shouldn’t encounter any monsters until we’ve crossed the first mountain, though wild animals are still around . The wilderness wasn’t full of monsters, and that could be said to be because of adventurer’s constantly hunting them . As a result, monsters tended to move their nests frequently . Though, they constantly gather in areas with magic ore veins so one still has to be careful .
Magic ore carried magic power like magic stones . But attributes within the stones found within labyrinths weren’t always the same . Magic ore, when it came from the same vein, would all be the same attribute . It was still unknown how the veins were created, only that they tended to be found near where monsters concentrated and where labyrinths could appear .
And again, all the more reason to conquer the labyrinths . There was a saying regarding natural magic springs . If a labyrinth died near a body of water, it is said that all the nearby water sources would produce magic water instead of regular water . .
Sharle-san lectured me this world as we walked .
“Schwartz! It’s about time to shorten the travel time!”
“I don’t mind . So, are we going to start running?”
Sharle-san’s expression implied something else .
“We are not running! It’s through — here!”
Swish! In the direction where she swung her arm so splendidly that I could hear it, was a small path next to a cut tree and the grass was somehow shorter . Zooming out the map floating in my sight, there was indeed a small path there . Was this some sort of animal trail?
“Is that an animal trail?”
“Yes, it is . There are spots on the mountain road where the trails connect . We can shorten the travel time if we take this shortcut!”
Certainly, the zigzagging road would naturally increase the distance needed to cross the mountain . If there was a shortcut that didn’t stray from the direction we were heading, then it was possible to shorten the time .
“Let’s go, follow me!”
I followed Sharle-san from behind as we stepped onto the animal trail . It seemed to be a fairly straight path, if a bit steeper than the main road . I don’t know how long until I actually tired myself out but I adjusted accordingly .
“You got good stamina for a D ranker . What’s your weapon?”
“My weapon? Just a pair of daggers…”
“Daggers? That’s a surprisingly modest weapon . Are you a speed-type fighter?”
“True… I do use my speed a lot when I fight . What about Sharle-san? It seems you don’t even carry a weapon?”
Sharle-san, who walked ahead of me, only what looked like tool bags on her hips and a bag on her back . There was no indication that she was carrying any weapons – could she be a mage?
“Me? Right, take a look over there . ”
“Wild animal?”
“Today’s dinner . ”
Sharle-san put down the slightly larger tools bag off her waist and took out a curved bow that looked like a Yumi . The shape looked similar to a japanese bow but the top part had a metal plate with a transparent jewel placed embedded in it . Even though she took out the bow, she didn’t take out any arrows . She stood still in an upright shooting stance . When she drew the bowstring, her right hand which held the string began to glow .
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That’s — a magic weapon? As soon as I identified this, she released the string . At the same time, a faint light leapt from her hand and the bow in the form of an arrow . It flew true and struck the deer in its torso .
“What do you think? This is my weapon . ”
“A magic weapon?”
“Yep, a magic weapon called the ‘Attribute Bow’!”
I see . Instead of arrows, the bow shot mana . I suppose that’s not the only ability the bow has, but that’s enough to know for now .
“Schwartz, you said that despite being a D rank, you didn’t know how to properly process an animal’s carcass?”
“No, I don’t . ”
“Then allow me to show you how to do it properly!”
Dragging the deer’s body off the trail and Sharle-san took out a dagger from her toolbag . She then cut its carotid artery and showed me how to drain the blood . While we waited, she prepared to store the dismantled skin and meat . In addition to what we were eating tonight, she’d apparently planned to sell the remainder to the mining village we’d pass later on .
When the blood had been drained, she stabbed the dagger into the deer’s throat, then cut downward carefully so not to damage the innards . She showed me how to remove the bone and split the pelvis, take out the organs and separate them into edible and inedible portions . She proceeded to clean the edible portions with water magic, while I dug a hole in the ground where the inedible portions would be thrown into .
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After being washed, the edible portions were left in the air to dry for a while before storing . Sharle-san then used water magic to clean the deer’s stomach cavity now that its innards were out . Magic was really convenient, isn’t it? Not only was it suitable for battle, people also seemed to have simplified it to be used in daily activities .
Once the washing was done, it was time to skin it . She first ran her dagger in a circle around the neck and limbs, then peeled the skin a little along the opening across its stomach . At that point, she jung the body by tying it on the neck of a sturdy tree . Finally, she started to peel the skin off by hand; smoothly — just like that? Anyways, she made it look so easy .
Now that the skin was off completely, the deer looked grotesque with its red flesh . It was covered only by a thin film-like lays of white fat . Now that I thought about it, to some extent, not much of the body was wasted when properly dismantled . It’ll take too long to completely dismantle it, so she cut some sirloin parts for our dinner tonight .
Sharle-san then chilled the body with magic before dropping it from the tree and storing it inside her toolbag . What we didn’t eat would be sold to the butcher in the mining village . The hide could be sold in the next town . And with whatever we didn’t take buried in the ground we returned to the animal tail and resumed our journey .
Perhaps due to the anticipation of today’s dinner, both Sharle-san and I actually walked a bit faster . Speaking of sirloin, I knew that it was the most delicious portion of both beef and pork . Though, I never had deer sirloin before, I had a feeling it’d be delicious . Both of us intended to reach the rest area on the mountain top .
Without heart as one, we rushed through the path, taking every shortcut we could along the way .
“Sch, Schwartz! Wait, wait a moment!”
“What’s wrong, Sharle-san?”
“Y, you, don’t you even feel tired at all?”
“I’m not tired yet . ”
Eh?! But we’ve been running for almost an hour though? You said you were a D rank, but why do you have the fitness level of an A rank!?”
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“My rank? It’s just because I haven’t completed any requests at all, so my guild points haven’t gone up . Setting aside from the so-called ‘comparable to A rank’, you should be able to tell that I’m far from a newbie adventurer from the way I move . ”
“Like someone who couldn’t even process a hunted animal could talk about that –”
“People… Have their own strengths and weaknesses . ”
“In other words, you’re saying that you’re a muscle brain! Seeing that you haven’t used any magic so far, I bet you aren’t good at magic at all! There are a lot of skill oriented principles that eschew the use of magic for heavy warriors . For a light warrior to do the same, you must be very confident in your physical prowess . ”
“By the way, thanks to all that running, the rest area is already in sight . ”
Looking up to the end of the mountain path, several wooden houses and huts came into sight . That should be the rest area .
“Fuhh, just a little more! Schwartz, you can cook, right?!”
“I can’t . ”
“I leave the cooking to— eh?”
“Eh? Don’t tell me Sharle-san can’t cook as well?”
The resting area was just ahead . Both of us couldn’t help but stare at each other as we stood in the middle of the path . My heart was filled with anxiety . Will we be able to eat the delicious meat tonight…?