Chapter 118

Dag dak dag dak…

The carriage peacefully left the Elf Village and wandered through the forest, which fell within the domain of the World Tree.

After moving for a while…

When the Elf Village was no longer in sight and we had walked a bit further…

We noticed the sun had reached the center of the sky, and without anyone saying a word, we all began to look tense.

It felt like the emotions of a girl meeting her long-awaited lover…

The excitement that had been slowly building since we left the Elf Village had now swelled to the point where our hearts felt like they might burst. By the time we finally arrived, we were so overwhelmed with excitement that we even forgot to speak.

Gulp…

“Um… Kurt. It’s about time…”

“…Huh? Ah. It’s already that time, huh.”

At Mari’s cautious words, I pretended not to know and awkwardly stopped the carriage.

Gulp…

“Then, let’s stop here for today…”

“Hehe… hehehe…”

Karina cautiously looked around, while Serena let out a silly laugh.

That’s right.

Today was the day we would finally eat meat after leaving the Elf Village.

In the Elf Village, even when we ate together, the smell of roasting meat made it impossible to have any meat dishes.

Considering we had stayed in the Elf Village for more than a day or two, this was a long-awaited moment.

Replacing meat with tofu for a day or two was one thing…

But how could anyone give up meat entirely?

This was truly our first meat meal in a long time.

And we didn’t even need to hunt for the meat ourselves.

Aisia and Mari had hunted some meat for a competition, but since it meant nothing to Aisia, I ended up taking it, preparing it, and letting it age properly.

In one corner of the carriage, there was plenty of meat, aged in a sauce made from soy sauce and fruit, as well as purely dry-aged meat, sorted by type and cut.

We didn’t need to hunt; we just had to take out the richly aged meat from the corner of the carriage and grill it at mealtime.

Sorry, Aisia, but our mood after leaving the Elf Village was absolutely perfect.

“Meat… it’s been so long…”

“Kurt! What’s on the menu today?!”

“Ah. For lunch, let’s keep it light with soy sauce bulgogi sandwiches.”

“Hehe… meat… yay…”

“Eating meat dishes near the Elf Village… it feels like we’re committing a sin!”

Our behavior, eating meat after so long, was like that of criminals indulging in dangerous drugs.

Thankfully, there were no other humans within my sensory range.

If other humans had seen us, they would’ve screamed, thinking we were outright lawbreakers.

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But Kurt’s assumption was only half right.

Far beyond Kurt’s sensory range…

A human was watching the group through a remote-viewing magic spell.

“Kyaaah! Criminals! They’re criminals!”

“We need to call the guard captain! They must be dangerous humans who’ve been exiled from society after getting hooked on some hallucinogenic drug!”

“Look at those sinister smiles and greedy eyes! They’re definitely hardened criminals!”

“I swear on my career as a guard, those eyes have definitely killed at least seventeen humans!”

It was a group of human guards who were using magic for remote patrols from their guard post.

Though they weren’t physically moving, the remote patrols using magic were just as tedious as regular patrols.

So, when travelers appeared in their view, it was only natural for them to observe more closely, both as part of their duty and to relieve boredom.

But no matter how curious they were about the humans entering their territory, they were just travelers passing through the forest with a carriage.

Observing them wouldn’t reveal anything particularly exciting or interesting.

Just as the guards were about to lose interest and shift their gaze elsewhere…

The travelers began acting suspiciously and overly excited.

The sudden change in atmosphere naturally made the guards tense, and they started closely observing every move of the travelers.

At that moment, the guard captain, summoned by her subordinates, arrived.

With the calm demeanor of an experienced guard captain, she reassured her subordinates.

“Everyone, stay calm. It’s not certain they’re heading here. They might just pass by.”

“Captain…!”

“But what if they don’t?”

“Then we’ll handle it according to protocol. But we’re not even sure if they’re criminals yet, right? If they’re innocent, we might end up antagonizing them for no reason. So, let’s monitor them carefully.”

“Got it!”

“Leave it to us!”

At the captain’s words, the two guards, filled with a sense of duty to protect the kingdom, glared at the suspicious adventurers through their remote-viewing magic.

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…

Unaware of the eyes watching them, Kurt’s group continued their journey.

“What’s for dinner tonight?”

“Tonight, it’s teppanyaki bulgogi!”

“Wow!”

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And the next day’s lunch…

“Kurt! What’s for lunch today?”

“Today’s lunch is tomato meat sauce pasta with plenty of tiger meat!”

“Tomato meat sauce?! You mean a sauce with both tomatoes and meat?!”

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And that evening…

“Hey! Kurt! Let’s eat!”

“Sure! Today’s menu is barbecue smoked with dried World Tree leaves!”

“Yay! Barbecue!”

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After nearly a month without meat, our cravings had built up to the max. And since the elves hadn’t touched the meat in the carriage, it had been preserved perfectly, sorted by cut and method.

Kurt’s group, rebounding from their meatless days in the Elf Village, enjoyed a meat feast at every meal during their journey.

For Kurt’s group, it was a fulfilling time to satisfy their long-suppressed desires…

But where there’s light, there’s shadow; where there’s day, there’s night.

Though Kurt hadn’t intended it, while his group healed through cooking, others were rapidly deteriorating.

“Ugh… those guys are eating delicious food again today!”

“I swear on my career as a guard, that food definitely looks incredibly tasty…!”

On the first day, the guards were disappointed when Kurt’s group, who had acted like addicts about to inhale some hallucinogenic wool, simply prepared an ordinary meal.

Some guards even scrutinized the food through their remote-viewing magic, wondering if they had ground up some hallucinogenic wool into the dish.

But in the end, it was just regular cooking, and the travelers were just acting suspiciously at mealtime.

By the end of the first meal, most guards had lost interest, with only a few stubbornly clinging to the dangerous criminal theory and continuing to monitor.

But…

As their meals continued into the next day…

And the day after that…

After several days of this…

The guards, who had initially watched with caution or boredom, gradually found themselves unable to look away.

Gulp…

“That looks delicious…”

“I swear on my career as a guard, that dish definitely uses magic! There’s no way it could look that tasty otherwise.”

Every day, the adventurers ate Kurt’s cooking with genuine delight and happiness.

Every time they put a piece of food in their mouths, the watching guards unconsciously swallowed their own saliva.

When they gulped down magically chilled beer to wash down the greasy meat, the guards also reached for their water pouches in the guard post.

And so…

Growl…

“I just ate, but I’m still hungry…”

“Ugh… I swear on my career as a guard, being a guard has never been this hard!”

Unable to avoid their duty, and even if they could, somehow unable to look away from the delicious food being enjoyed…

Before they knew it, they had fallen for Kurt’s cooking, which they had never even tasted.

This was a few days before Kurt’s group arrived in the Fairy Kingdom.