Chapter 33 - Taking Life
The next day, I was on the way to the forest with Dan.
"Dan, why didn't you tell Dad about the carpentry tools?" (Gail)
"Pops is a former party member of Master Arnold. I though it would be better to hear from him directly instead from me. Things went well, didn't they?" (Dan)
Just as I expected. Dan is quite tactful.
"Yeah, Pops would start a company and sell the tools there, claiming that he invented them." (Gail)
"And he made sure Young Master would receive your share of the profits too, correct?" (Dan)
"You know him well." (Gail)
"Pops is clever, but he isn't cunning. He always finds the best solution for a problem." (Dan)
"You really trust Pops, huh." (Gail)
"He helped me a lot when I was an adventurer, and when I decided to quit, it was Pops who suggested me to go to Master Arnold's place." (Dan)
"Didn't you say it was a coincidence?" (Gail)
"Yeah, it was a coincidence that Master Arnold was looking for people to hire, but I'm sure Pops knew about it." (Dan)
Dan laughed.
Yeah, I'm sure Pops was working behind the scenes for Dan.
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My sword training was going well, and I could almost perfectly perform vertical slashes.
"Let's eat before we move on to the next stage." (Dan)
"Huh? Isn't it too early? It's not even lunchtime yet." (Gail)
"From today onward, we'll hunt for our lunch." (Dan)
"Hunt?" (Gail)
"Yeah, there should be something we can catch around here." (Dan)
Dan picked me up and started walking deeper into the forest.
"Our target are small animals that won't attack us, so don't worry. Just in case, you can watch from the top of a tree." (Dan)
"I can't climb a tree." (Gail)
"It's okay. Now, hold onto my back." (Dan)
Dan carried me on his back and climbed up a tree.
Come to think of it, bears are good at climbing trees, right?
"Don't fall off, okay?" (Dan)
Dan said that and made me sit on a tree branch before climbing down. Then he crouched down and skillfully made his way through the nearby bushes. He seemed to have prepared a small bow and arrows.
*swoosh*
Dan suddenly shot an arrow, stood up, and started walking towards where the arrow had flown. Then he came back holding something that looked like a rabbit.
"This doesn't have a strong smell and tastes like chicken. I think Young Master can eat it without problem." (Dan)
Did he go out of his way to hunt something that I could eat?
"How do you eat it?" (Gail)
"Just sprinkle some salt on it and grill it. It's better than dried meat, right?" (Dan)
Yeah, I’m starting to get tired of dried meat.
Dan carried me back to our training spot and started butchering the rabbit, but then he suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" (Gail)
"I forgot to bring water." (Dan)
"Should I create some?" (Gail)
"Magic?" (Dan)
"Yeah, but I might not be able to produce much." (Gail)
"No one here except us, so it shouldn't be a problem. I will be counting on you, Young Master." (Dan)
Ugh, that's gross....
I instinctively looked away from Dan who was butchering the rabbit.
Even though it's already dead, it's a cute-looking rabbit. I feel a sense of aversion.
"Is this your first time seeing an animal being butchered, Young Master?" (Dan)
"Yeah." (Gail)
"People can't live without eating. Monsters can't live without eating either. The one who wins the fight gets to live. That's how we survive. We can also be eaten by strong monsters. It's the survival of the fittest." (Dan)
"I know that, but...." (Gail)
"To make the skewers you ate the other day, someone had to butcher an animal like this. You should at least know the process." (Dan)
"That's true. It's important to appreciate the lives we have taken." (Gail)
"If you understand, take a good look. You're gonna have to learn to do it yourself later." (Dan)
"Okay." (Gail)
I watched the dismantling process while holding my breath.
"Now then, please wash the blood off." (Dan)
I started producing water with magic.
"That's impressive." (Dan)
After that, Dan tried to start a fire.
"I can start a fire, too" (Gail)
The firewood instantly caught fire.
"It's convenient to have Young Master around. Hahahaha...." (Dan)
Dan cut the meat into bite-sized pieces, sprinkled some salt on them, and stuck them on tree branches. Then he lined them up around the fire and wait for them to cook.
"It would be handy if we had something like a stove here." (Gail)
"That's right. We will be doing this from today onward, after all." (Dan)
I wonder if there's anything I can do....
"Let me try something." (Gail)
First imagine a barbecue grill stove made of bricks.
Pile up the earth and make it solid so that it forms an enclosure.
Now pour my magic power into that image.
The ground rose up and became an enclosure.
Solidify, solidify, solidify....
I continued pouring in my magic power until it became the shape I imagined.
"It's done!" (Gail)
"You can even do something like this, Young Master?" (Dan)
Dan was surprised to see the barbecue grill stove I made using magic.
"If you could make it so that the firewood could be kept off the ground, that would be perfect." (Dan)
"I'm running out of magic, so I will do it tomorrow." (Gail)
"No problem. After all, we are not going to use it today." (Dan)
The rabbit was cooked while I was doing that.
"You're right, it has a light taste like chicken. It's not smelly and delicious." (Gail)
"I've told you. In addition, the meat was fresh and Young Master washed off the blood perfectly." (Dan)
The two of us finished eating the whole rabbit. Then, after a short break, I resumed my training.
Next is horizontal slash.
I swung my wooden sword from right to left, left to right.
"I guess I'll have to increase the difficulty of your training." (Dan)
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On the way home after training.
"It would be convenient if we had an iron mesh to grill meat on that stove." (Gail)
"Yeah, if we had an iron mesh, we'd just cut the meat and put it on." (Dan)
"I wonder if Pops would make it for me." (Gail)
"You can find stores that sell it, so why don't we just buy one?" (Dan)
"Okay, let's buy one before we go to the forest tomorrow." (Gail)
"Let's do that. I'm looking forward to tomorrow." (Dan)
The two of us got excited thinking about what we would hunt and eat tomorrow.