“Fuuh, what a mess…” I said.
After wrapping up our exploration in the Aphrata Mountains, we headed back home for a while to bring back our achievements. The steep mountains underfoot changed to gentle plains, and when the defensive fence of Bidden Village came into view, the tension suddenly dropped, and fatigue rushed in.
“As I thought, it’s heavy, heavy…” Kuruni muttered, carrying the two saber boars she killed.
“I’m sorry, I’d be happy if you could keep it up a little longer,” I said.
Yeah, it’s usually tough to carry even one animal, but you could say it’s possible if you had the power to carry boulders.
However, even Kuruni seemed to have a hard time lifting two saber boars, and her face showed a slight shade of fatigue. It’s possible to have one per person, but it’s a desperate measure because it won’t be possible to guarantee our safety on the way back.
“It was a pretty tough situation,” Henblitz said, his expression cool in contrast. “If the location was better, it could have been used for training the Knights.”
“I don’t really want to recommend that, though…” I said.
He’s probably tired, but at least he doesn’t show it on his face. Furthermore, he even considers the possibility that the Aphrata Mountains are suitable for training.
My personal opinion is that we should stop there. It’s not like I’m underestimating the strength of the Knights, but the reason lies in the bigger picture.
There is always the danger that any state intervention in the Aphrata Mountains could erupt in trouble with neighboring countries. If the Kingdom of Rebelis adopts a policy that they should secure the mountain range even if it means taking that risk, it can’t be helped.
However, when the danger is revealed, it is the people who live close to the border who are likely to pay the price. In other words, Bidden Village also bears that risk. If possible, we would like to avoid being involved in the ravages of war without our knowledge.
“By the way, what are we going to do with this?” Kuruni asks as we go up the road to the village.
She probably means the saber boar.
“Let’s ask the villagers to remove the blood and butcher it,” I said. “Maybe tomorrow’s dinner will be a little more luxurious.”
“You mean meat?!” Kuruni said. “That sounds sooo nice, suddenly I’m really motivated.”
I’m neither an adventurer nor a hunter, so I don’t know how to drain the blood from animals. It may be possible to imitate it to some extent, but if you think about ruining the material, it’s hard for me to want to get my hands on it
So it’s best to rely on experts for this. Unless you’re extremely talented, there’s a limit to what an individual can do. After all, it’s good for people to recognize their limits.
“But what do you think? Is this pretty dangerous?” Henblitz asked.
“Yeah, I think it’s pretty dangerous…” I said.
In the end, after killing the first saber boar, we came across three other stray saber boars until we returned to the village.
I don’t know if it was fortunate or unfortunate that it wasn’t a herd. Should I be glad that we didn’t get attacked by a group in such a place, or should I lament that I only encountered them separate from the rest?
But in any case, what I can say is that the saber boars have traveled to a much shallower part of the mountain range than usual.
If this happened to be an accidental occurrence due to the birth of many saber boar piglets this time, I can still accept it, and although the amount of work will increase, it can be dealt with. But it’s scary when it’s not the case.
In such a situation, before talking about borders, if we don’t put in a large amount of fighting power, monsters may invade from the base of the Aphrata Mountains as a starting point. As expected, it’s the worst of the worst, so I want to believe that that is not our fate.
“For now, let’s go back and take it easy,” I said. “I plan to explore again tomorrow, so plan around this.”
“Roger-dodger!” Kuruni said.
“Affirmative, Sir,” Henblitz said.
Well, putting aside whether or not we can find the reason, it’s no reason to stop reconnaissance and exploration at this point. If I think it’s finally too dangerous, we’ll retreat, and I’m thinking about evacuating the entire village, but I don’t have enough information to make that decision.
So I will continue my search tomorrow. It’s physically exhausting to climb mountains every day, but if there’s no one who understands even the bare minimum of geography, you can’t even explore. There is no substitute for this, so I have no choice but to go out there myself.
“Oh, if it isn’t you, Beryl?” an older man called out to us. “What’s the matter, back from a hunt?”
“Oh, Mr. Rob,” I said. “Hello. It’s good we ran into you here.”
And while we were discussing such things, we arrived at the village’s defensive fence. The older man calling out to us had a thick beard and looks about the same age as me or a little older.
Mr. Rob is a hunter who has been living in Bidden Village for a long time. He’s a steady hunter who doesn’t push himself too hard, and although he doesn’t have many opportunities to bag big catches, he’s quite skilled at hooking small ones, and occasionally big ones.
“Huh? Hahaa… do my eyes deceive me or is that a saber boar?” Rob asked.
“It is,” I said. “I was wondering if I could ask you to butcher it.”
I was thinking of leaving the disposal of the saber boar to Mr. Rob, so it all works out.
If anything, this village is mainly farming, so there aren’t many hunters like Mr. Rob. If you dive into the Aphrata Mountains, you can expect good results, but the danger is greater than the reward, so even hunters don’t go there. Naturally, the number of hunters and hunting in such an environment has decreased, and now he covers the meat situation in Bidden Village, except for the ones purchased from merchants.
“Alright, I got it,” Rob said. “Carry it over to the hut over there.”
“Thanks for the help,” I said. “Kuruni, can I leave it to you?”
“Roger-dodger!” Kuruni said.
With Rob-san’s approval, I decided to have Kuruni carry the saber boars to the designated location.
If this were something like Baltrane, there would be a specialized importer, a transporter, and a butchering company. But in a rural village like this, you can’t expect anything of that kind. So basically it depends on individuals who have these specialized skills.
The same is true in terms of the fighting force. There are Knight Orders in the capital, and the Kingdom Garrison is deployed in the main urban areas, but in the countryside, there is no choice but to somehow raise the strength to defend itself.
We have a swordsmanship dojo, so we are blessed with strength, but even so, compared to a group specializing in military strength, both the quantity and quality pale in comparison. At most, they can drive away a few small species and beasts, and the current situation is that if the opponent is a horde of monsters, we’re defenseless.
It is true that some of our people from the dojo have excellent martial arts skills.
However, in a battle between numbers against numbers, it is surprisingly difficult for an outstanding individual to play an active role. Such things are just fairy tales and legends, not real. A real genius like Lucy might be able to overturn the slight difference in strength, but even so, there will be a limit to what we can do then.
So the only thing we can do now is to reduce the number of threats with people who can fight.
This time it’s not a human-to-human war or conflict, so it’s still easy there. Even if there are some hordes of opponents, it is unlikely that they will form a large, well-controlled army. It means that there is still a possibility that humans can win.
“Well then, I’ll leave these behind!” Kuruni said.
“Ah, that’ll do it,” I said.
Kuruni rushes to carry the saber boars to the hut designated by Mr. Rob. She says she’s kind of tired, but she’s still really energetic.
“… Carrying two saber boars on her back? This girl is amazing,” Rob said, blank-faced.
“Haha, she’s one of the disciples I’m proudest of,” I said.
I think you will be surprised when you see it for the first time. Even for a large adult, it’s usually difficult to hold and walk with one saber boar corpse.
“Well, it’s a blessing to have a strong gal like her,” Rob said. “I’ll deliver the meat later.”
“Thank you very much,” I said.
The saber boar meat is a little tough, but if it’s thoroughly cooked or prepared, it’s completely edible. This is where I’m looking forward to the menu from tomorrow. I’m sure the Old Lady will take care of that.
Rob continued to mutter his thoughts about Kuruni as he followed her to the hut.
I think he’s probably able to take care of things like removing blood from now on. I’ll ask him to keep the tusks and skins as they are for labor, and if the opportunity comes, I’ll have him sell it, too.
Speaking personally, my pockets are quite heavy. If the people of the village can spend even a little easier, nothing would be better.
“By the way, will it be the same members tomorrow?” Henblitz asked.
“No, Landrid will be joining us tomorrow. The dojo will be closed,” I said.
Tomorrow, in addition to me, Sir Henblitz, and Kuruni, Landrid will also participate in the exploration. Taking the disciples to the Aphrata Mountains is dangerous, so tomorrow will be the maximum number of people who can be mobilized. I don’t think it’s impossible for the Old Man to go, but as expected, his physical strength is declining due to aging and his back seems to be in bad shape.
Landrid has participated in subjugating saber boars several times in the past, so he should be able to grasp the geography to some extent. I want to take a slightly wider area than today and get information all at once.
Besides, he was a brilliant adventurer until recently. He’s probably the most used to marching in the mountains among us. Let’s hope for a lot.
“I see, that’s reassuring,” Henblitz said.
“Indeed, he’ll be a great help,” I said.
Of course, I can’t let my guard down, but neither Henblitz nor Landrid are amateurs who would let their guard down in a place like this. It would be best if we could strike down several groups tomorrow, but even if that wasn’t the case, I would like to at least grasp the size of the herd and the rough nesting grounds, or rather, wherever they have been gathering.
Today’s reconnaissance should have given both Henblitz and Kuruni a sense of what the Aphrata Mountains are like, so tomorrow will go much more smoothly.
“Master! I’m going to take a bath!” Kuruni called out.
“Oh, sure,” I said.
Kuruni left with the saber boars with a dash and came back with a dash. Seems she wants to go wash off the dirt and fatigue from exploring the mountains now.
Well, if you carry those kinds of things on your back for a long time, the smell will rub off on you. I think that the beastly smell is a situation that women want to avoid with a passion.
Besides, it’s not easy to bathe in Baltrain. There are public baths if you want to, but they cost money and are usually crowded. In that sense, being in the countryside close to a free water source is one of the few advantages over the city.
“Then I’ll go back first,” I said. “I have to report to the Old Man and Landrid.”
“Yes, understood,” Henblitz said.
After seeing Kuruni running off, I returned to my house.
It was a bit unexpected to come across a series of saber boars in a shallow mountain, but it’s still not to the extent that I can’t deal with it. I just hope it doesn’t cause more trouble.
