Volume 2 - CH 145

The area was getting darker and instead of the sound of birds, we could hear the sound of numerous insects.

We build a campfire in front of the carriage and proceed to cook another hot pot meal.

The meat of a large Red Boar is cut into small pieces, and many of the high-end parts, such as the tenderloin, are cut off and put into the pot.

I thought that shabu-shabu would be good if it was a hot pot, but I was a little unsure if I could do shabu-shabu with this fellow’s meat, so I decided to just throw the meat in the pot as usual this time.

If it was sliced thinly, I could grill it and barbecue it, but unfortunately, there was nothing that could take the place of a frying pan, so I had to give up on this one graciously.

Although the cutting board is provided by Reizen’s pneumatic shield, and the knife is provided by me with my sharp water blade, there is no tool for cooking the meat. I promised myself that when I went to the Kingdom of Salettana, I would look at the cooking utensils and such.

I want to eat good food.

By the way, I followed Uchikage’s instructions and stripped off the Red Boar’s skin and tusks, as they are very valuable.

With this, we would have no trouble earning money for a while.

I heard that the skins and tusks could be bought at the Adventurers’ Guild or at an armorer or crafter store.

I was looking forward to seeing how much I could get for the skins and tusks as I stirred the pot, which smelled delicious.

“Ouren, are you finished?”

“A little more. The meat will be more tender if I cook it a little longer.”

” Got it.”

Alena is already waiting with her bowl and fork.

I know you are impatient to wait, but I don’t think you will be able to bite off more than you can chew if you eat it like this.

“Gununununu…”

“Let’s see, Reizen-dono. You’re supposed to scrape off the skin with the oil, right?”

“The skin is too wrinkly and difficult to do. ……!”

Reizen is in the process of being taught the tanning process by Uchikage.

Since the platform was created by the Land(Earth) Spirit, there were no problems with the work.

The progress is extremely slow, and combined with the fact that Reizen is clumsy, it doesn’t look like it’s turning out very well.

Perhaps because my past self used to do this, somehow I already knew how to do it, and I was able to do it just by having Uchikage teach me once.

I wonder why I have such knowledge, but since it is useful ……, I should send a [Good Job] to myself in my previous life.

I heard that guilds and crafters will give you a very good price if you tan the hides when you sell them.

It will take two more days to get to the Kingdom of Salettana, and if it rots by then, it will be useless, so they say it is better to do the tanning work in these spare time.

It’s cold now, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to rot yet, but I’m giving Reizen a good workout because it means to gain experience.

Speaking of which, …… the skill when I defeated the …… Red Boar. Tenwari (Heaven Split).

It consumed 100 MP to use once.

Indeed, the compensation is too light for such a strong skill, but I have enough MP to execute Tenwari about 12 times now.

But after seeing the power of this technique, I wouldn’t be able to use it casually.

” Alright, I think it’s done? There you go, Alena.”

“Yay!”

“You two, come here. It’s done!”

The two of them came over here and each of them started to prepare the dish as they liked it.

This time it is a wild boar hot pot, but …… I wonder if it will turn out well?

With chopsticks, I pick up a piece of Red Boar meat.

I let it cool down a little before putting it in my mouth.

I was told that the meat of boar is tough, but it was not at all. On the contrary, the meat fell apart in my mouth as if it had been stewed a little too long.

The meat was very tender, and the flavor was rich because it had a lot of juicy fat.

The miso was a perfect complement to the meat. I kept on chomping down on the dish, thinking that the miso was one of the best things in food culture.

“Delish!”

“Yes. I thought boar meat was tough, but …… it doesn’t seem that way. Is it because it’s from the tenderloin?”

“Red Boar meat has a reputation for being tender and tasty. It’s often used in high-class cuisine. I never thought I would be able to eat it here.”

I never thought it was that good, either. Let me tell you, I didn’t think my skills were that good either. Gimme a break.”

I know I did something dangerous and I’m reflecting on it in my own way.

I will be careful of those red monsters from now on.

“……Hmm?”

“… Ouren-sama? What’s wrong?”

“There are… two people.”

I have been deploying the haze at any given moment since I have more MP to spare lately.

The range is small if I want it to last a day, but I can now extend it to a radius of 10 meters.

I could see two …… shadow-like silhouettes moving within it.

The two of them were moving in a somewhat strange movement,……, though I think they were quite skilled since they were not caught by the Uchikage’s presence detection.

The first thing to do is to make sure that everything is in order.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that they are not holding a weapon.

If they were going to attack us, they should not have put away their weapons.

“What do you think?”

“Well, …… since I didn’t detect their presence, maybe they are not hostile toward us. …… But let’s remain vigilant.”

“Got it.”

Then there was movement from both of them and one of them climbed a tree.

The other one seems to be coming towards us.

I wish they would stop moving so suspiciously because it makes me feel uneasy, but since I don’t know what they are thinking,……, it would be better to be ready for battle at any time after getting this far.

The first thing I did was to take a look at the Hakuryuzen  in my hand and put it on my shoulder.

Uchiage kept on pretending that he was taking care of his claws by looking at it.

“it was delicious……”

“Hey! Aniki! Please hunt Red Boars again!”

“Hunt them yourself.”

Alena and Reizen didn’t seem to notice the other party yet.

Well, we’ve been eating a lot of hot pot, and that’s not a bad thing, but I’d like them to be a little more …… vigilant.

“Aaaa ………..!!!!”

“!!?”

Suddenly, a voice rang out from the forest and someone was seen running from the direction of the voice.

Alena and Reizen were startled by this, and Alena drew her dagger and Reizen took his barehand stance.

Me and Uchikage, who had already been on the alert for a long time, were not surprised, but like the two of them, we were ready with our own weapons, waiting for the other to appear.

“Hey, hey, hey! It’s not good!”

“I said no! We have no choice! We’ll have to go to them directly!”

“Calm down! Please! They’re extremely strong people, so don’t do it! Please! Please, I beg you, for this life!”

“I don’t know how many times you’ve said that in your life! You can’t use that word every time!”

It sounds like a fight has started.

Hearing their voices, the tension seemed to break, and we slowly relaxed our posture.

Finally, two figures emerged from the dark forest.

One of them was moving forward toward us, and the other seemed to be trying desperately to stop her.

They were both women, one carrying an axe on her back and her equipment was very spectacular.

She was a strong-willed woman, and she was dragging one of the women toward us at this very moment.

The other woman is desperately trying to stop her, but she is overwhelmingly outnumbered by the difference in size.

This person seemed to be a magician, wearing a black robe and holding a large staff in her hand.

“Hey, you bastards!”

“…………”

“Stop ignoring me!”

When you say that, who are you talking to ……?

And, should I answer you when you ask me that?

I looked at Uchikage and he gave me a small nod.

I don’t really want to get involved with them, but I don’t think they’re going to back off either, so I’ll just listen to what they have to say for now.

“Uhmm, can I help you?”

” 【Can I help you】 my ass!? What a way to talk to this S-rank party lightning bolt member!”

“No! Stop it! Why are you provoking them?”

As you can see from this sequence of events, the one who seems to be the easiest of the two to talk to is the magician lady.

She is very young for an S-rank party, but are they ……. really an S-rank party?

I mean, me and the others have only just formed the party, and, I hate to say it, we haven’t accomplished a single request yet.

So I don’t know anything about other parties, and me and Reizen are just reincarnated people.

There is no way we know the names of the S-rank parties in this world.

“… Thunderbolt? Never heard it. Uchikage, have you heard of it?”

“…I don’t know.”

“Huh? You people have managed to get around in this world without knowing that!”

“I’m begging you, please stop.”

Somehow…… I’m starting to feel sorry for the magician lady.

When I think about the fact that she has been pushed around like this before, it makes me really feel sorry for her.

I mean, if anything, I’d really like the girl to explain the situation to us. ……

“Sigh…. so? You came here for something, didn’t you? Tell us what you want. Don’t worry, no one cares about your reputation anyway.”

“……! …………!?”

“As I thought, they’re angry… you idiot, Yurie…”

The woman called Yurie was red-faced and trying to say something, but she seemed to be unable to get the words out of her mouth because of too much blood in her head.

Well then, good.

Let’s talk to this magician girl and see what she had to say.

“Ah, ……, I’m not mad at you. So, you came here for something, right? Could you tell me about it?”

“Ah, erm… you guys… could it be…”

“Hmm!”

Suddenly, Yurie swung the axe she was carrying on her back at me.

I could not avoid it, and I was hit by it.

However, …….

“Nice one, Reizen.”

“Aye-“

The attack stopped at my shoulder.

There was no pain, no itch, thanks to Reizen’s use of his skill Substitution on me.

Reizen didn’t seem to take any damage from the axe attack, and although he looked cool, he was glaring at Yurie with a sharp look in his eye.

“Wha-!?”

“Yurie you idiot!”

A dry slap echoed through the quiet forest.