Chapter 56 - New Food Sources
“Woof!”
“Lupi, good to see you again.”
I scooped up Lupi, who had leaped at me, and began streaming with my usual settings, a notification immediately popping up that Mion had started watching.
Shou-kun, Lupi-chan, hello.
“Welcome, Mion.”
“Woof.”
During club activities, I logged in, felt relieved that the stone wall bed hadn’t disappeared, fed Lupi some meat, and transplanted a bit more of the grown Luminous Moss onto another stone before logging out.
After returning home, taking care of a few things, and logging in...
“It seems Luminous Moss multiplies surprisingly easily, doesn’t it?”
It’s very beautiful.
Is this what they call indirect lighting? With the light leaking from the Ancient Ruins, it had become quite bright.
“Alright, I guess I’ll go outside today.”
The Western Forest?
“I want to go there too, but today I plan to set traps and retrieve the luggage I left on the coast. It might have some use.”
I left the cave and confirmed that the stone kiln I made yesterday was safe.
Until now, the hearth for grilling meat and the stone kiln for pottery were separate, but since I could now make bricks with
The
“If I could add an iron plate to this, I think I could barbecue.”
It’s all meat, no vegetables.
“That’s true, isn’t it?”
Even though it’s a game, eating only meat feels unhealthy.
I really need to find ingredients other than rabbit meat, but...
“Ah...”
“Woof?”
What’s wrong?
“I was thinking there might be fish in that small stream I found the other day.”
It was a pretty clean river, and I had a feeling there might be river fish.
Edible fish, or maybe crabs or shrimp?
Walking a short distance east from the plaza to the riverbank, Lupi dashed off again and plunged into the river.
Oh, Lupi-chan, if you jump in, the fish will...
“It’s fine. I’m not fishing.”
I stacked some larger stones a little upstream to create an enclosure. It was a simple weir trap, just arranging stones so that the entrance was easy to enter but difficult to leave.
Is that also trap setting?
“No, this is a method my dad taught me a long time ago. If fish gather here, I’ll try to make a cage trap with vines or Hermit Bamboo.”
That’s amazing...
Is it? I just knew it because my dad likes camping, I guess.
I had leftover lizard meat, so I tore it up and put it inside the enclosure. I wasn’t sure if the fish would eat it, though.
“Lupi, let’s go.”
“Woof!”
I decided to come back and check after retrieving the luggage from the coast.
I returned to the plaza once and then proceeded through the Dense Forest towards the coast.
I might reduce the number of traps in this part of the Dense Forest.
Lupi can hunt Bicobits easily, so maybe I should only target Saloon Lizards, whose paralytic venom and hide are useful...
“Hmm, the Sandy Beach is really refreshing.”
“Woof!”
I watched Lupi dash onto the Sandy Beach while I organized the junk I’d left behind.
“It’s been such good weather, I wonder if it doesn’t rain much here? It rains normally in the Kingdom, right?”
Yes. I’ve never seen a downpour, but I saw it raining in the Empire before I found Shou-kun’s live stream.
“Right. Well, I guess the weather will eventually turn bad on this island too.”
I was glad I had occupied the cave before that. If I had still been in the old tent, it would have been terrible.
Now I can take refuge in the cave, and there’s plenty to do, like digging for ore and Blacksmithing until the rain stops.
But I suddenly felt like investigating the Western Forest a bit more while the weather was good...
“I’m going to check out the Western Forest a bit too.”
Okay. Be careful of bears.
“Yeah. Lupi, let’s go.”
“Woof.”
The Western Forest probably isn’t just Forebit and Armor Bears, so I might set more traps there.
.........
...
...
“Somehow, the atmosphere feels calmer today.”
Is that so?
“Yeah. Before, it was more... scary, or had a tense atmosphere, and it was quiet, but today it feels like a normal forest.”
Then, something brushed the edge of my Presence Detection.
“Lupi, quiet now.”
“Woof.”
Confirming that my Presence Concealment was working well, I slowly advanced towards where I’d sensed something.
It’s a deer...
I nodded at Mion’s words.
It was a fairly large deer, with quite impressive antlers. It was peacefully grazing, so I almost felt bad about hunting it, but...
[Greydeer]
*A large deer with grey fur. Be careful of the male’s sharp, hard antlers.
Cuisine: The meat is exceptionally delicious. Material Processing: Bones, tendons, and hide can be used as various materials.*
Yeah, I’ll hunt it.
If I approached directly, it would probably run away, so I tried to circle around to the opposite side...
“Ah!”
It got away.
“Whine.”
“It’s not your fault, Lupi.”
I petted her to cheer her up.
It seems sensitive to presence, so until my Presence Concealment skill levels up, I probably won’t be able to get close. For now, I’ll set some traps around here. I’m not sure if the current vines can hold a deer of that size, but if not, I’ll think of another method.
“Is this what that deer was eating?”
[Lexon]
*A vigorous wild herb.
Cuisine: Strong spicy and bitter flavor. Becomes mild when boiled. Alchemy: Raw material for antidotes.*
...Cresson?
I tore off a small leaf and put it in my mouth, and the distinct spicy and bitter flavor of cress spread.
Is it safe to eat raw?
“The deer was eating it, so it should be fine. Besides, it tastes like cress.”
Cress?
Well, it’s not that common a vegetable, so she probably wouldn’t know.
I personally like it, and I feel like it would be delicious in a hotpot with chicken, but... seasonings, though.
Oh, I wasn’t supposed to be doing that right now. For now, I’ll gather a few stalks of this to take back, but I also need to set traps.
However, it’s questionable whether the current vines can bind a deer like that—a Greydeer.
“I think I’ll be able to do Blacksmithing soon, but it’s probably impossible to make wire, isn’t it?”
Are you planning to trap that bear?
“No, I was just thinking that even the deer earlier would probably rip through these vines.”
That’s true. It would be good if you had rope, though...
Rope. Ah, right. Rope would work.
“Mion, thanks! Lupi, let’s run back!”
“Woof!”