Chapter 201

What is the most necessary thing for life?

Be it continuing progeny or creating a living territory to live stably, those are important too.

But of course, the most important thing… isn’t it eating first?

Progeny? Sure, it’s needed to maintain a race, but lack of it doesn’t instantly kill life forms.

Maintaining living territory? It greatly helps in stable living, but it’s not essential. There are creatures who move around without settling down anyway.

Compared to that… eating. That directly connects to sustaining life.

Even if everything else is a mess, as long as eating is secured, life can go on.

So..

“First priority, the first contest is…”

“First contest? Then, is there a second one?”

Goma’s question. Hmm. Let me explain that part first.

“I plan to have three contests, and whoever wins two times first will be declared the victor. I feel if we end it in one round, the loser won’t readily accept it.”

At my words, Goma and Hwan nodded in agreement.

“Well then, let’s get back to the topic of food procurement.” “Food procurement?”

In response to my words, not only Goma and Hwan but also the chieftains they brought from their respective tribes asked unanimously.

“Yes. Food procurement. Considering both their skills, it shouldn’t be too difficult. Ah, if you can’t do it, just say so. We’ll change it to something else.”

Of course, thinking of other events does require some thought… though I haven’t decided on the last one yet.

“Gah, possible! Food procurement is our specialty!”

“I can hunt too.”

Goma and Hwan stepped forward, glaring at each other as if they couldn’t lose.

The chieftains of both tribes looked like they had many thoughts seeing these two, but…

“I can’t lose to this foolish bear!”

“I don’t want to lose to someone closer to a beast than a person!”

Since they were all fired up themselves, it was impossible to interfere.

“Then, let’s make the rules simple. Let’s see…”

I scanned the surroundings once, conjured a clean cloth, spread it on both sides of the rock where I was sitting, and said,

“Using this rock where I’m sitting as the base, place the food collected by Goma on the left cloth and Hwan’s on the right. Once you bring the food, stack it here immediately… Of course, without help from others, solely through your own strength. And…”

After pulling out a pocket watch from inside my clothes and checking the time, I continued,

“It’s around 6 PM now. Until this time tomorrow, within a day, collect food, and after weighing it, we’ll decide the winner based on who gathers more. However, mixing inedible items will result in automatic disqualification.”

“6 PM?”

Ah, hmm. I’m not really sure about exact timing. Most people estimate loosely.

I created a small fireball with my fingertips, shot it high into the sky, and made it explode like fireworks while saying,

“When these fireworks explode, return here immediately. Any food gathered after the fireworks start will be excluded, so remember that.”

Even if they try to gather as much as possible until the last moment, if they’re late, well, anything they have will be excluded.

No matter what, time limits must be respected.

At my words, Goma cautiously raised a hand and asked,

“Is anything edible acceptable?”

“Hmm. Exclude poisonous ones or those causing problems when eaten. Simple enough, right?”

To keep the rules as simple as possible.

“Can we use any means to procure food?”

“Yes. Hunting, gathering, fishing… but exclude raiding.”

If raiding was allowed, they might attack others and plunder their stored food under the guise of raiding.

“Alright then… Begin!”

With my shout, Goma and Hwan dashed off somewhere to gather as much food as possible.

Well then…

“To the chieftains of both tribes. Let’s talk.”

Smiling at the chieftains, I began.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Hwan, the tiger beastman, used his abilities to catch numerous prey.

Deer with broken necks, wild boars with crushed heads—Hwan brought back large and heavy prey.

Stacking them in his designated spot, Hwan glanced at what Goma had placed.

“Mostly fish, huh…”

“Your skill of striking fish swimming underwater and pulling them out is quite impressive.”

Truly remarkable, like a salmon-hunting grizzly bear.

Moreover, he caught quite a few small animals too.

But…

“At this rate, I’ll win.”

“Yeah, seems like it.”

Though Goma had many fish, deer and wild boars were heavier, so it looked like Goma would lose.

“But, I won’t let my guard down.”

After saying that, Hwan went off again to hunt.

Hmm, with this margin, relaxing a bit wouldn’t hurt, but I’ll just observe until the results are decided.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Thus, the food-gathering competition between the two proceeded.

“Alright, that’s all! Anything not placed here won’t be counted!”

A massive firework lit up the dimming sky, and the fates of the two hung in the balance.

While Goma diligently gathered fish, animals, and edible plants and stacked them in his spot, Hwan spent considerable time hunting large prey and repeatedly bringing them back to his area.

“Ugh…! Too late…!”

“Phew, that was close.”

The final outcome could only be determined at the last moment.

Just before the last firework illuminated the sky, Goma brought a mountain of grass to his spot, while Hwan, carrying an enormous cow, arrived just as the time limit ended.

Had that cow been placed on Hwan’s side, his victory would’ve been certain. But now, the situation was unclear.

Let’s weigh them.

After neatly bundling the cloths on the ground and creating a long rod,

A long steel rod. After attaching unbreakable iron chains in the middle and balancing the weights on either side,

I tied the bundles containing their food at the ends and started comparing the weights.

“Indeed, a hair’s breadth difference. Goma’s victory.”

The rod slightly tilted toward Goma’s bundle.

“Did it! I won!”

“Urgh… It took too long to catch that last cow… If I’d been faster…”

That cow was certainly big. With it included, Hwan would’ve definitely won.

But rules are rules. Regrettably, the decision has been made.

Then,

“Hold on. There’s a problem with what Goma brought.”

The tiger tribe’s chieftain raised his hand and spoke.

“Among the plants Goma brought, there are inedible ones. Poisonous plants.”

“Poison?”

Upon hearing that, I opened Goma’s bundle to check,

“Ah, indeed. There are poisonous plants.”

There was a significant amount of ferns mixed in the bundle.

Ferns… Hmm. Certainly, they contain harmful components for the body.

“Ahh… Well, it’s true ferns are poisonous, but in our tribe, we properly remove the toxins and eat them.”

“But I clearly stated during the rule explanation that anything poisonous or problematic should be excluded. You should’ve paid attention to that point.”

After saying that, I removed the ferns and re-bundled it.

“According to the rules, this should be a disqualification loss, but considering that your tribe removes the toxins and uses them as food… I’ll remove the ferns and weigh again.”

After removing the ferns, I weighed them again.

“Now it’s narrowly Hwan’s victory.”

Removing just the ferns changed the winner.

“I won!”

“Urgh… I lost…”

The moment of contrasting triumph and defeat.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

“The next contest is an eating contest. To be active, one must eat plenty!”

Eating a lot signifies having much, making it a measure of wealth as well.

“Since you’ve gathered so much food, let’s cook it all and have an eating contest.”

“I won’t lose…!”

“Eating is my forte!”

“And the leftover food you can’t finish will be shared with others.”

Meaning, we’ll host a grand feast.

“If it’s insufficient, I’ll supplement it, so don’t worry.”

“Will other people be able to eat their fill with the food we’ve gathered?”

“I alone can handle cooking enough for everyone to eat plenty.”

Asterios, who was quietly standing behind me, offered help, but I gently shook my head.

“I’m fine on my own, no need to worry.”

I intend to cook enough for everyone to eat heartily.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Thus began the eating contest.

“More, more is impossible…”

“I won!”

Like a bear preparing for hibernation, Goma’s overwhelming victory came from eating so much that he rapidly gained weight.

How on earth does someone gain so much weight in a day? Even bears fattening up for winter don’t grow THIS fast! Despite being a bear beastman!!

The wonders of the human body… truly amazing.

“I might’ve made a bit too much… but it’s fine.”

“Since the villagers got to eat their fill, it turned out great!”

Plenty of meat, plenty of fish, and countless dishes made from them.

All leftovers were devoured by the villagers, leaving no issues.

“With this, it’s 1-1. So… we must decide with the final contest.”

For the final contest… Hmm. After much deliberation, nothing else came to mind.

Slightly unfair perhaps, but…

“The final contest will judge endurance.”

Let’s see, are mugwort and garlic sufficient? Oh, garlic hasn’t reached here yet?

Meh, doesn’t matter. I’ll just create it myself.