Chapter 19

Posted by Kuze, ? Views, Released on January 27, 2025

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The Shavel Tiger during mating season was ferocious.

Especially if it was a female, it was even more so.

However, it wasn’t ferocious enough to take down half of the surrounding Shavel Tigers and even an Awakening Species in a single blow.

Because monsters are ferocious, not insane.

They couldn’t help but realize that continuing this fight would no longer be meaningful but rather a pointless death.

And fortunately for the monsters, Kurt chose to retrieve skewers from the fallen monsters rather than chase after them.

Hee, heeong…!

Gyaak!

The Shavel Tigers took advantage of Kurt’s distraction and fled in the opposite direction without hesitation, fearing his mood might change.

It was a rather pitiful end compared to the monster march Karina had been prepared to risk her life to stop.

…

Karina watched as Kurt retrieved skewers from the fallen monsters and thought.

Only then did the mismatched stories in her head begin to connect.

20 years of experience.

The greatest hunter.

A youthful appearance that looked significantly younger than the age he claimed.

What if all of it wasn’t the childish lies of a teenager wanting to be an adventurer but the truth…?

It was common knowledge that humans who gained enlightenment about mana experienced delayed aging and prolonged youth.

But conversely, gaining enlightenment about mana only delayed aging; it didn’t make one younger again.

And the Lizardman before her looked no older than mid-teens.

Meaning, he had gained enlightenment about mana at least by that age, which was no different from saying he had talent comparable to the kingdom’s greatest swordsman, the Sword Duke, known as a genius with the blade.

So, for Karina, it was more reasonable to believe the Lizardman, who had begged to become an adventurer, was lying rather than having talent on par with the kingdom’s greatest genius.

But who would have thought all his words were true?

In fact, it was astonishing that with such skill and talent, he was merely the ‘greatest hunter.’

‘Come to think of it, not just Kurt, but Marisia, the half-elf, also kept trying to tell me something… Could it be!? That half-elf knew all along and was trying to persuade me!?’

“Kyaaak! Mr. Kurt! Why are you so strong!? You never said you were this strong!”

‘Ah. Maybe not that.’

…

After retrieving all the skewers from the fallen monsters, I approached Mari and Karina, who were gathered in front of the cave.

“Your words… were all true.”

“I told you from the beginning it was real.”

“I knew it from the start!”

At that moment, Mari shamelessly inserted herself between me and Karina.

I was the one misunderstood, so why is she acting more proud than me?

Then Karina bowed her head and apologized to me.

“Indeed… I formally apologize. For the disgrace in front of everyone at the Adventurer Guild… And if possible, I will do my best to restore your honor.”

“Forget it. I never cared about honor anyway. Let’s consider this matter settled with the life you risked earlier. Whatever.”

“No, it can’t be like that. If this misunderstanding was just between us, an apology would suffice, but since it spread to others… As an adventurer, you need to care about your reputation.”

“Really! I told you so many times! Mr. Kurt doesn’t lie!”

No. You didn’t say it that many times.

You started a couple of times but didn’t finish.

But despite Mari’s sly attitude, Karina sincerely bowed her head to her as well.

“I’m sorry, Miss Marisia. I didn’t believe you.”

“Ahem! I’ll forgive you specially!”

“Huhu. Thank you for that.”

“Ah. By the way, there’s something bothering me.”

“What is it? Ask me anything. If it’s something I can answer, I’ll do my best to respond.”

Karina straightened her shoulders, as if willing to say anything to lessen her debt.

“Why do you use honorifics with Mari but not with me?”

“Th-that’s…”

Karina immediately hunched her shoulders and trailed off at my question.

“Ah! I was curious about that too!”

With Mari also asking with shining eyes, Karina, having no escape, looked away as if wanting to hide in a mouse hole.

“W-well, Miss Marisia is my unnie… you see.”

What?

Younger than Mari?

I clearly heard at the Adventurer Guild that Mari was 24 years old.

If she’s younger, how old is she?

“So, how old are you?”

“Twenty… three… you see.”

What? Twenty-three?

She didn’t look like it at all, showing only the seasoned appearance of a veteran adventurer.

And her appearance seemed more like late twenties than early twenties.

What’s going on? Have I lived as a Lizardman so long that I’ve lost the ability to gauge human appearances?

But seeing Mari’s wide-eyed surprise at the words, it seemed that wasn’t the case.

“You’re younger than me!?”

“You called me a kid, but you’re the youngest here!”

“Ugh, ugh…”

At my words, Karina, having nothing to say, only turned bright red.

…

Though not all misunderstandings were cleared, the biggest one with Karina was finally resolved.

Since Karina promised to actively clear up the remaining misunderstandings at the Adventurer Guild, it shouldn’t be a big problem.

Though Karina still seemed uneasy about her misunderstanding.

Personally, since the misunderstanding was cleared and she apologized, I wanted to let it go nicely…

Grrr…

At that moment, an unknown growl of hunger echoed from within the cave.

Mari, is it you again?

I looked at Mari reproachfully, but she just looked back at me as if it wasn’t her.

“What? Isn’t it you?”

“Not me! What! Am I just an elf who always eats all the food!?”

Pretty much, right?

But if it’s not Mari, then this sound is…?

“Sorry… That sound came from my stomach…”

At my questioning gaze, Karina turned bright red and spoke in a barely audible voice.

It wasn’t hard to understand.

She had just prepared for a life-and-death battle, only for it to end anticlimactically, so her tension must have suddenly dropped.

Come to think of it, we hadn’t eaten lunch before coming up the mountain.

“This is a physiological phenomenon! Using aura consumes a lot of energy…!”

“True, I feel a bit peckish after exercising for the first time in a while. It’s almost dinner time anyway.”

“After using that much aura… just a bit peckish…?”

“Then shall we eat something before heading down the mountain?”

I also wanted to smooth over the awkwardness with Karina.

Most minor conflicts are resolved by sitting down and sharing a meal.

“Ah! I agree! I want fried potatoes!”

“Do you think fried potatoes are possible here?”

“No, eating in the Shavel Tiger’s territory! That’s too dangerous…!”

“Dangerous?”

“No, thinking about it, it can’t be dangerous… you see.”

Finally, Karina agreed to my proposal, and so dinner in the cave was decided.

…

We had some good meat from the hunt.

The menu naturally became a dish using the Shavel Tiger we had just caught.

Unexpectedly, there was good news: Karina had a considerable amount of rare ingredients I didn’t have.

Since my spices were almost running out and needed to be conserved, I gladly decided to use Karina’s ingredients for cooking.

Among Karina’s ingredients, peeled tomatoes in a small jar caught my eye. Tasting them, they weren’t just peeled and stored but had an exotic spice flavor that wasn’t bad.

“That’s my tomato…! I was saving it bit by bit when I missed the taste of home…!”

Hmm. The taste of home, huh.

Then the exotic flavor in the tomato must be from spices used by northern tribes.

Come to think of it, was Karina from a northern tribe?

Right. Decided.

First, I cut out enough meat from one of the Shavel Tigers Karina had hunted.

Since we couldn’t invest much time in cooking now, I decided on the tenderloin.

It was somewhat bothersome to cut out only the tenderloin without fully butchering the meat, but it was worth it for the delicious meat.

Then, I quickly diced the meat into cubes and soaked them in cold water to drain the blood.

Here, it’s crucial to add detox herbs from Karina’s bag to the water along with the meat, as monster meat can cause food poisoning if not properly prepared.

There are various types of detox herbs, and fortunately, the ones Karina had could neutralize the toxicity of monster meat when soaked together.

This type of detox herb is several times more expensive than regular ones…

As expected of a Silver Rank Adventurer.

“Ah…! My premium detox herb…!”

While waiting for the blood to drain, I started chopping the vegetables for the dish.

The vegetables were just carrots and tomatoes from Karina and potatoes from Mari, but I wished we had onions too, though that might be asking too much.

“Ah…! My carrot…! I was saving it as a snack…!”

Do people usually eat carrots raw? As a snack?

After preparing all the vegetables, I added them to the boiling pot.

I also poured in all the wine Karina had for flavor.

“Ah…! My wine…! It’s precious, brewed in the northern style…!”

No wonder the flavor was unique; it was northern style.

Finally, I added the Shavel Tiger tenderloin, drained of blood, to the pot and seasoned it with salt, pepper, and rainbow honey.

Karina couldn’t bring herself to complain but let out pitiful groans every time I used her ingredients without hesitation.

Hey, a Silver Rank Adventurer must earn a lot, so what’s the problem?

Anyone would think I’m forcibly taking them.

It’s not like I’m using them for something bad.

…