Chapter 73

Vote (1)

Now that I'd dealt with the troublesome core, it was about time to prepare lunch.

Though calling it "preparing lunch" was a bit of an exaggeration. All I really had to do was go up to the river and check for fish.

If there weren't any, I'd eat smoked meat. If there were, I'd eat fish.

I had no idea how many fish might've been caught while I was busy fighting the Guardian.

'If I'm lucky, maybe two?'

Wonmo had just woken up too, so all of us headed up to the river together.

I wasn't sure about the sloth, but this was Wonmo's first time coming with me.

As long as he stayed glued to my side and didn't cause any trouble, it should be fine.

Splash! Splash!

"Kkyuu! Kkyukkyu!"

"Yeah, yeah. Just wait a little."

Luckily, there were two fish caught in the trap.

Those strange red fish never stopped being fascinating. Not only were they huge, they tasted amazing too.

Even as I hauled up the fish trap, I kept a close eye on Wonmo in case he tried to enter the river.

The moment he went into the water, the golden frog family might come rushing out, so I had to be careful.

Rustle—

I had almost finished pulling up the trap when I heard bushes shaking nearby.

For a moment, I thought Wonmo had touched them, but he was right beside me.

Which meant there was a good chance it was some other animal.

Pretending not to notice anything, I continued retrieving the trap.

Then, just as I'd pulled it all the way up and the fish inside began thrashing violently—

Rustle! Rustle!

The sound from the bushes was much louder than before.

I immediately grabbed my sword and shield and turned toward the noise.

Wonmo seemed to sense something was wrong too, because his fur stood on end as he went on alert.

"Kying. Kiik."

"Kkiing. Kking."

The animals emerging from the bushes looked surprisingly familiar.

Their bodies were soaked with water, making their fur appear dark gray overall.

Their faces somehow managed to look cute while still possessing a distinctly wild quality.

They had long bodies and viciously overgrown claws.

"...Otters?"

Otters appeared in front of us.

And there wasn't just one.

There were several.

Their neat, intelligent-looking faces were cute enough that I almost lowered my guard.

But where was I?

The Forest of Four Seasons, where even frogs were absurdly dangerous.

I immediately tightened my guard again and stared at the group of otters.

There seemed to be about five or six of them.

'And why the hell are they so big?'

They were on a completely different scale from the otters I knew.

Maybe it was partly because they were standing upright, but even then, they reached past my waist.

With claws that vicious and an entire pack gathered together, I couldn't help getting tense.

Flop! Flop!

Amid the standoff, only the fish in the trap continued thrashing around.

One of the otters turned its gaze toward them.

It seemed to have its eye on the fish.

Apparently, they'd come here to steal them.

'Look at these damn bandits.'

Not a chance.

I wasn't giving them anything.

I activated my mana.

The mana that had been drained by the Guardian had already replenished itself.

That was only possible because the Forest of Four Seasons was so rich in mana.

"Kkiiek? Kkeeek?"

"Kiiiiing."

As I gradually released my presence, the otter pack began preparing themselves too.

Two remained in the rear while the three in front lowered their bodies.

"Kyaaaaaah!"

The otter I assumed was the leader bared its teeth and threatened me.

Otters usually had a cute image, but this one must've been an American otter or something.

Once it bared its teeth, there was nothing cute about it. It looked every bit as vicious as any other carnivorous beast.

Well, fish were their main diet, so I guess they really were carnivores.

'Everything I've encountered so far has been alone, but these guys are a pack. I need to be even more careful.'

One mistake and I could get surrounded.

I had no idea what would happen if those claws or teeth landed on me.

"Fastbo, you protect Wonmo. I'll be fine."

"..."

And the most reliable one here was the sloth.

At my request, Fastbo slowly climbed down from my back and onto Wonmo.

I had a shield, so I'd be fine.

Wonmo, however, was still inexperienced. He needed Fastbo's support.

"Kyaaaaaah!"

The largest otter bared its teeth and charged.

Its target was unmistakably me.

Despite being enormous for an otter, it approached at a speed that didn't match its size.

Then it swung its vicious claws and attacked.

Clang!

Not a chance.

I had the shield I'd received from Praise the Sun.

The instant its attack ended, I swung my sword without hesitation.

Whoosh!

An unsettling sound reached my ears, and I immediately raised my shield again.

It was closer to instinct than conscious thought.

Ting! Tang!

Something hard struck the shield.

The impact wasn't particularly strong.

But the fact that something had been thrown at me was what mattered.

I checked the object that had fallen beneath my shield.

'A rock?'

It was a rock.

A big one about the size of my fist.

I barely had time to wonder who had thrown it before the leader otter charged again.

It leaped high into the air and came flying straight toward my face as if trying to pounce on me.

It seemed to be planning to tear me apart with those sharp claws.

Too late.

Thunk!

I raised my shield and easily blocked the leader otter's pouncing attack.

But I didn't stop at merely defending.

Before it could get away, I swung the shield violently.

No matter how large the otter was, being shoved away like that sent it flying.

"Kieeeeng!"

The leader otter flew away with a cry that sounded strangely pathetic compared to its ferocious appearance.

Before it could return, I planned to deal with the other otters first.

When I turned toward Wonmo and Fastbo, I witnessed quite the spectacle.

"Kkyukyaaaaa!"

"Keeeeeng!"

At some point, one otter had already been split into three sections through the torso, spraying blood everywhere.

Another had been completely subdued by Wonmo.

Every time it tried to resist, Wonmo pecked it with his beak and tore it with his claws.

It was a complete victory.

Looks like Fastbo had properly done his part.

Swish! Slash!

He was even casually catching flying stones or slicing them apart with his claws.

His performance was genuinely impressive.

But wait.

Were the otters seriously throwing rocks?

"Keeeeeng! Keng!"

"Kyaaaang!"

They really were throwing rocks. The two that had stayed in the back were hurling them nonstop.

Do otters normally have that kind of habit?

Whatever. This was my chance.

The moment the otter grenadiers prepared to throw another volley, I charged forward.

Startled, the grenadiers hurriedly threw their rocks, but every single one bounced off my shield.

Once I reached them, I swung my aura-covered sword from the inside outward.

Whoosh!

There wasn't even a clean slicing sound.

All I heard was the refreshing whistle of the blade cutting through the air.

The combination of the Heavenly Demon's Sword and aura could cut through almost anything.

Thud. Thump.

Since the otters had been standing upright, their upper and lower bodies separated cleanly.

With that, the ones throwing rocks from a distance were all dead, and Wonmo had torn apart the otter he'd subdued as well.

The only one left was the leader otter I'd sent flying with my shield.

It still hadn't returned.

Rustle!

Speak of the tiger and it appears.

Far too late to make any difference, the leader otter pushed through the bushes and revealed itself.

But what good did that do?

Its entire pack had already either been chopped apart or torn to pieces.

"KIEEEEEEEEK!!!"

The leader otter roared as though it couldn't believe the carnage(?) spread out before it.

Then it glared at me with bloodshot eyes and charged straight at me.

Its speed was still surprisingly fast for something that size, which caught me slightly off guard.

But it wasn't much of a problem.

An attack from an enraged beast was actually easier to dodge, so I didn't even need my shield.

Slash!

The leader otter threw itself forward and attacked with its claws.

It was a strike driven entirely by emotion.

Before twisting my body aside, I planted my sword upside down directly in the path of its charge.

Both of its feet were already off the ground.

There was no way it could avoid colliding with the blade.

Shhk!

Just as I expected, the leader otter's body passed straight over the upturned sword.

It crashed face-first onto the ground afterward.

Its body had also been split vertically in two.

Charging at me that fast had completely backfired.

It had practically killed itself.

'That's what you get for trying to steal someone else's stuff.'

I snorted and started cleaning up.

If I left the corpses here, other animals might pick up the scent and come over.

I threw the otter corpses into the river and roughly covered the bloodstains with dirt.

Since most of the bodies had already been neatly chopped apart, cleaning up wasn't particularly difficult.

"Let's go."

"Kkyuu!"

"First thing when we get back, we're cleaning those claws."

Both Wonmo and Fastbo had blood on their claws.

There was a river right in front of us, but with the golden frogs around, it was safer to just return to the shelter.

I carried the still-thrashing fish back with me.

Now all that remained was an enjoyable lunch.

I gave one of the fish to Wonmo.

Naturally, I didn't forget to remove the inner core buried among its organs first.

"Eat this and I'll give you honey afterward, okay?"

"Nyamnyamnyam."

Apparently, he couldn't even hear me over the sound of eating.

I patted Wonmo on the head and started preparing my own fish.

'When am I ever going to use all these inner cores?'

The inner cores were steadily piling up inside the elixir bottle.

I wasn't even sure I'd be able to use them all.

I'd start consuming one a day two days from now, but I was a little worried that might still count as taking too many.

'First, I should post about this on the gallery.'

I figured I should let everyone know about the otter attack.

There had even been grenadiers throwing rocks, so I wanted an explanation for that too.

Good thing I'd taken photos of the aftermath.

I censored the more gruesome parts.

***

Title: Taught These Robber Bastards a Lesson

Wild Grylls

(Photo of several otter corpses lying around)

These bastards tried to steal my fish, so I personally taught them a lesson.

But do otters normally throw rocks too? I was a little surprised because they actually split into a front line and rear line ;;

└ Heavenly Demon: The otters this Lady knows do not look like that. I have never seen one so vicious-looking.

　└ Wild Grylls: I thought they were cute at first too, but apparently not.

└ SwordMaster: Are those really otters? What kind of otter looks like that? ;;

　└ Wild Grylls: I think it's because this is the Forest of Four Seasons.

└ Passing Dwarf: Didn't Fastbo get caught trying to steal your fish last time? Why'd you let him off?

　└ Wild Grylls: Fastbo was trying to steal it. These bastards were trying to rob me by force.

　└ Passing Dwarf: Be honest. What if every single one of those bastards had been as strong as Fastbo?

　└ Wild Grylls: I'd hand over the fish and run like hell lmaoooo.

　└ Passing Dwarf: Don't you have any pride?

　└ Wild Grylls: (Photo of Fastbo looking perfectly serene) This bastard is stronger than me. My pride got crushed ages ago.

　└ Passing Dwarf: Lmaoooooooooo.

└ Lmaoooooooo.

└ Yeah, I can see why your pride got crushed lol.

└ This bastard is weaker than a sloth lmao.

└ Allfather: Otters do have a habit of throwing pebbles. However, this is the first I've heard of them using stones in combat.

　└ Wild Grylls: So the Forest of Four Seasons really is the weird part, right? Otters normally don't act like this?

　└ Allfather: They are known as the thugs of the river. Despite their cute appearance, they're capable of killing crocodiles.

　└ Wild Grylls: Otters are? ;;

　└ Allfather: They're terrifying creatures regardless of how friendly they can be toward humans.

└ Just think about Wonmo. Something that cute could still eat you.

└ Don't underestimate the wilderness.

└ A human can die just from getting kicked by a deer, lmaooo.

I see.

So otters were just fucking strong.

If I'd gone there alone, I probably would've had two choices: give up the fish or die.

Thank goodness Wonmo and Fastbo had been with me.

That had actually been a pretty dangerous situation.

'Nothing is ever easy.'

Even before taking the Forest of Four Seasons into account, the wilderness itself was an extremely dangerous place.

I sighed inwardly and started cooking the fish I'd cleaned.

The fish gradually turned golden brown on top of a huge cast-iron pan.

The fish was so large that even the pan had to be enormous.

***

Title: Delicious Lunch

Wild Grylls

(Video of the fish sizzling as it turns golden brown)

Today's lunch.

The lunch I can eat again and again without ever getting tired of it.

└ Heavenly Demon: It certainly makes one's mouth water. Is it truly that delicious?

　└ Wild Grylls: I only season it with salt, but it's seriously amazing. It'd probably taste even better if someone who actually knew how to cook prepared it.

　└ Heavenly Demon: If the opportunity arises, I would like to ask for one fish. Would that be acceptable?

　└ Wild Grylls: If you want one, I can send you one right away. But since trading gets locked afterward, I'll send it when we trade for the fasting pills.

　└ Heavenly Demon: Is not one of those fish your own food supply?

　└ Wild Grylls: It is, but you're the Heavenly Demon, so I don't mind.

　└ Heavenly Demon: Never mind. It may negatively affect your survival. Forget what I just said.

└ SwordMaster: Could you put just one bite up on the auction house?

　└ Wild Grylls: I'll just send you some later when I catch another one ;;

　└ SwordMaster: But then it'll be difficult to trade when I actually need it. Just put one bite up.

　└ Wild Grylls: It feels a little too shameless to sell such a tiny amount. I'll just give you some later.

└ Passing Dwarf: I tried that stuff last time. It's fucking delicious. You get a fever immediately after eating it, though.

　└ Isn't that a bad thing?

　└ Passing Dwarf: Nah. The next day you're bursting with energy. I'm still full of energy right now, lol.

└ The more I look at it, the more I want some. Can't you put it on the auction house?

└ You can't list living things. And it's not like Grylls can cook it for everyone.

└ Couldn't he kill it and list it immediately afterward?

└ Time still passes even when something's listed on the auction house ;;

Everyone sounded jealous.

I roughly understood the feeling.

There were videos you occasionally saw on YouTube where people cooked whatever they'd just caught out in the wilderness.

For some reason, those videos were strangely addictive, and I'd found myself browsing through them before too.

'All I'm doing is grilling it, but the fish itself is huge.'

Still, regardless of that, I couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.

It was practically impossible to give everyone a bite.

Once I completed a trade, I couldn't trade again for twenty-four hours, which made things inconvenient in all sorts of ways.

'I might as well ask the head mod while I'm at it.'

I immediately made a post and asked the head mod.

└ Don't Abandon the Hero: No! It would be one thing to remove the restriction for everyone, but giving special treatment to just one person would be unfair!

　└ Wild Grylls: Then what about the Heavenly Demon?

　└ Don't Abandon the Hero: She's a moderator! Are you planning to become a moderator too, Mr. Grylls?

　└ Wild Grylls: ;;

Once again, I was reminded that the head mod was a young old-fashioned hardass.