Chapter 20

“Here, it’s done. Eat up.”

Karina stared at the stew bowl Kurt handed her with dead eyes.

Somehow, she felt like her mistake had been forgiven too easily.

To think she had raided all the precious food she had been saving to overcome her homesickness.

These were rare foods that could only be obtained when merchants trading with the north came, worth more than just money.

The price itself wasn’t an issue for her, but on the contrary, even if she wanted to buy them, she couldn’t just get them whenever she wanted.

It would be a long time before the merchant came again…

And that wasn’t all.

A Lizardman, whose sense of taste was naturally dull, had personally cooked this.

It was common knowledge that Lizardmen had dull taste buds, just like Ogres were strong and Trolls had tough vitality.

To think he would retaliate with food…

But she was the one who had wronged him first, and she already owed him her life.

She had no right to refuse, and with a hardened heart, Karina put the stew Kurt handed her into her mouth with firm resolve.

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“Mmm~! As expected, the food Kurt makes is delicious! Kurt, wouldn’t you be better suited as a chef than an adventurer? Kurt! You suit a kitchen knife more than a sword! That kind of feeling!”

“Really… Stop exaggerating.”

Even though it should have had the taste of unfamiliar spices, seeing her enjoy it so much, it seemed the cooking itself wasn’t bad.

He had made the dish using tomatoes, aiming for a Western-style tomato beef stew, and the result didn’t look bad at all.

With one bite, the tangy and savory flavor of the tomatoes filled her mouth.

In Eastern cuisine, oyster sauce or kelp is used to bring out umami, while in the West, tomatoes are mainly used to enhance that savory taste.

Just the difference in how they bring out that umami flavor shows the distinct personality of each region’s cuisine.

This is a different taste from meat.

The chewiness of the meat, despite using tenderloin, still had the texture of carnivorous animal meat.

There was also a slight gamey taste that hadn’t been completely removed due to the short preparation time.

But the wild texture of the Shavel Tiger meat had a charm that made even that gamey taste feel like a unique flavor rather than a foul smell.

Still, he did a good job removing most of the gamey taste.

It feels like it’s just barely on the acceptable line where the gamey taste isn’t unpleasant.

Some might even find it appealing?

And not just the meat, but the carrots and potatoes were also boiled to the point where they crumbled naturally in the mouth without much effort.

This softness contrasts sharply with the intense texture of monster meat.

Finally, the broth, reduced to a thick consistency, combined the umami of tomatoes, the meaty aroma, the starchiness from the potatoes, the natural sweetness of the carrots, and the subtle fragrance of northern-style pickled grapes, all blending into one.

The rich aroma of the broth alone, without any chunks, felt like it could satisfy a meal just by dipping bread in it.

I was worried about not having enough time to process the meat, but the strong northern spices actually enhanced the wild flavor of the meat.

It wasn’t a bad meal.

“Kurt! Give me another bowl!”

“You already finished? Are you even tasting it while eating?”

Grumbling, I took Mari’s bowl and scooped a large ladle of stew to give back to her.

“Thank you!”

“Hey. Karina. Do you want more too?”

Turning to ask Karina if she wanted more stew, I saw her frozen with a spoon in her mouth.

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The moment she put the stew in her mouth, she felt the winter of the north.

It was truly ironic.

The current season in Astram was somewhere between spring and summer, with clear weather.

It was the kind of season where animals would start breeding.

But Karina, regardless, was reminded of the cold northern winds.

Ah.

This taste…

It was the taste her mother used to make when she was a mischievous child.

The slightly rough and gamey flavor of the meat, not completely removed, clashed with the northern spices, creating a taste that struck her palate.

The memory of when she, as a mischievous child, secretly hunted a bear and brought it back to the village.

Her parents scolded her for doing something dangerous but eventually smiled wryly, calling her a troublemaker, and told her to go inside and wash up to avoid catching a cold.

Her father, seemingly angry, heated water with firewood, and after a warm bath, her mother served a hot stew made from the bear meat.

Then, with her warm body fresh from the bath, she would mindlessly devour the stew her mother made.

Drip.

Before she knew it, Karina was crying without realizing it.

Yes. She had left her northern tribe to come to Astram to achieve her dream.

But before she knew it, she had forgotten her original dream and continued living as an adventurer.

At first, it was because she couldn’t ignore others’ requests.

She couldn’t leave people in trouble.

Living day by day as an adventurer, she had forgotten her dream, but now, eating the stew, memories of her childhood resurfaced.

“Ah, ah…”

Her voice, whether a sigh or a moan, was indistinguishable as her mouth, once opened, demanded more stew like a burst dam.

And so, Karina cried and mindlessly devoured the stew.

The stew tasted like home.

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The herbalist Huchi loved his wife.

And soon, it would be his beloved wife’s birthday.

He wanted to give her a wonderful gift, so he spent more time than usual gathering herbs.

The life of an herbalist wasn’t poor, but it was a bit lacking to give his wife a splendid gift.

So, while busily gathering herbs, he seemed to have gone a bit deeper than usual.

Swish.

“What was that just now…? Something just passed by. Must be my imagination.”

Though he felt something was off, Huchi’s mind was filled with the image of his wife happily receiving his gift, so he dismissed the unease as his imagination and focused on gathering herbs.

“Right. Just gather that herb over there and go home. And when I get home, I’ll tell my wife I love her.”

Just as Huchi said that and approached the herb in front of him…

Rustle rustle.

Grrr…

The bush right in front of the herb.

The bush shook, revealing a tiger with fangs as long as his forearm.

“Ah, ahhh!”

The moment he locked eyes with the Shavel Tiger, Huchi forgot all about the herb and ran in the opposite direction.

Fortunately, the monster didn’t seem interested in Huchi and didn’t follow.

After running for a while, Huchi realized nothing was chasing him and finally caught his breath.

“Ha… Ha… Did I lose it?”

Thud!

But as soon as he said that, something strong hit Huchi’s body, and that was his last memory.

When Huchi regained consciousness, what he saw in front of him was an elf with broth all over her face, eating stew, a tall beauty crying while eating stew, and a Lizardman offering him a bowl of stew.

“What is this?”

Huchi, bewildered, muttered as he accepted the stew bowl.

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After finishing the satisfying meal, we finally prepared to return to the Adventurer Guild.

“Karina. We’ll retrieve the Shavel Tiger’s body, so come with me.”

“Yes, yes!”

Karina, who had been hesitant around me before sharing a meal, now spoke to me more relaxed, as if the meal had eased the tension.

“By the way, if there are this many Shavel Tigers, I guess we can only take the valuable fangs.”

“What are you talking about? Are you saying we should just take the fangs and leave the rest?”

“Huh? But there are so many Shavel Tigers… Wait… It seems like the number has decreased…”

“Stop exaggerating over just three.”

“What are you… Huh!”

Karina, who had been questioning my words, soon gasped in shock at the sight of the fallen Shavel Tigers.

“Don’t tell me…! You subdued all these monsters without killing them?”

“Right. A hunter should only hunt what they can handle.”

As I said, the fallen Shavel Tigers were all injured, with broken or pierced parts, but none were dead.

No, some of them had already gotten up and fled to places I couldn’t see.

The hunter’s creed.

Do not hunt more animals or monsters than you can handle.

Even if I hunted all the Shavel Tigers there, I couldn’t bring all of them back to the city.

So, I only hunted the most valuable Awakening Species and spared the rest.

If I hunted monsters indiscriminately just because I could, the ecosystem would collapse before the year was over.

So, you can’t call someone a hunter if they just hunt any monster.

Though I’m no longer a hunter, I still follow that creed.

Hearing my words, Karina looked at me with a mix of awe.

“To think you not only subdued the monsters but also controlled your strength while doing so.”

“Stop talking and help with the monster.”

“Yes! Understood! So, which part of the monster should we preserve?”

“What are you talking about? I said help with the monster.”

“Huh?”

The hunter’s creed.

If you don’t hunt more than you can handle, then you must handle what you do hunt to the best of your ability.

With that, I slung the white-furred Shavel Tiger I had hunted over my shoulder.

Hmm. The weight isn’t an issue, but the size makes it hard to balance.

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In the bustling Adventurer Guild lobby, a woman sat unable to hide her anxiety.

It was similar to the anxiety of waiting for the results of an important exam.

Gemini, the herbalist’s wife, sat in the Adventurer Guild lobby, staring at the entrance with a tense expression, clutching her skirt.

“Wouldn’t it be better to go home for today?”

“No, please let me wait a little longer…!”

The receptionist of the Adventurer Guild, unable to bear it, spoke to her, but she didn’t budge.

In fact, this conversation had repeated several times, and her answer was always the same.

And it wasn’t just the receptionist who was concerned about her; the adventurers drinking and eating in the lobby were also paying attention.

They spoke in voices too low for Gemini to hear.

“Do you think the herbalist is still alive?”

“Tsk. It’s a pity for the young lady, but if he went missing in the Shavel Tiger’s territory, it’s already too late…”

“Haha… It’s really a pity.”

“But at least Karina is on the move, so we might recover the remains. Most people who go missing in monster territories don’t even have their remains found.”

With that, they shifted the gloomy topic to something else to lift the mood.

And naturally, the topic turned to Karina and the aspiring adventurer from earlier that day.

“By the way, do you remember that young Lizardman from today?”

“Of course. From what Karina said, it seemed like she was going to show that young guy the harsh reality of being an adventurer.”

“Hahaha. That guy must be trembling in the middle of a monster den, regretting his decision to become an adventurer.”

“But he lied and underestimated the adventurer life, so he deserves it!”

“Hahaha!”

And so, as usual, the adventurers chatted idly, eating greasy food and drinking.

It was their way of forgetting the fatigue of the day.

At that moment.

The door of the Adventurer Guild burst open, and an adventurer entered.

“Hey! Hans! You’re late! We started drinking without you!”

“That’s not important! Karina is back! Karina is back!”

“What? She already finished the mission? That’s pretty fast. But what’s the problem?”

“Karina is back, but…!”

“Back, but what?”

“Move aside, I need to get through.”

“Uh, uh…”

But the man named Hans couldn’t finish his sentence and had to awkwardly make way.

“Hmm… Isn’t the Adventurer Guild door too narrow?”

Of course, the Adventurer Guild door wasn’t narrow.

The Adventurer Guild was designed for various humanoid species specialized in strength.

So, the door was quite large to accommodate larger races like Ogres and Orcs.

But no one in the Adventurer Guild could argue with that voice.

Because what entered after Hans moved aside was a massive white-furred monster with fangs so large they seemed to scrape the ground.

“Sh-Shavel Tiger!”

“An Awakening Species! Everyone, run!”

“Ahhh!”

“Mommy! Mommy!”

“Meow!”

“What’s all this noise? This guy’s so big I can’t see properly.”

But the head of the white-furred monster slumped weakly to the side, revealing the face of a humanoid hidden beneath.

It was the Lizardman Kurt, who had been mocked at the Adventurer Guild that morning.

Following him, Karina, looking tired, carried another Shavel Tiger, smaller than the one Kurt carried.

And finally, Mari and the herbalist Huchi, struggling to carry the Shavel Tiger’s body, entered the Adventurer Guild.

“My love! Huchi!”

“Why am I carrying this too… Ah! My love! Gemini!”

As the herbalist couple had their emotional reunion, Kurt, carrying the massive monster’s body, went to the Adventurer Guild reception desk and said,

“You do monster dismantling here, right? Dismantle this. It’s a monster I hunted.”

At his words, the adventurers in the guild spilled their drinks or dropped their meat in shock.

It was the day Kurt first registered as an adventurer.

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