kscans

Chapter 11 - The Bounty of the Mountains (Part 4)

Having somehow cleared the bleeding stage, in a manner far beyond the ordinary, Yuri was confronted by his second trial.

"I remember reading that after bleeding the game, you soak it in water to cool it down... but where am I supposed to find a body of water..."

It had only been three days since Yuri was reincarnated into this land, so naturally, he had not yet grasped the surrounding terrain. Back in the village there was a well, but he could not very well sink the carcass into it. It was unlikely that the previous inhabitants had relied solely on the well for all their water needs, so it would not be strange for there to be a river or a pond somewhere nearby, but...

‘human? is something wrong?’

As he stood there at a loss, a familiar voice called out to him.

‘Ah... I think, you were in the village...’

‘thanks for the grass seeds’

‘is something wrong?’

‘Ah, yeah. I want to cool down my catch, and I was wondering if there’s a river or something nearby...’

‘a water place? there is’

‘yep, a river’

‘that way’

‘it’s pretty big’

‘it’s close’

Perhaps because he had been so lavish with the wheat and barley, even if it was old, the small birds’ favorability towards him had risen more than expected. They kindly told him the location of the river. No good deed goes unrewarded. He had never felt the truth of this proverb so strongly as he did today.

‘Thank you!’

‘you’re welcome. see you later’

‘see you’

‘see you tomorrow’

After watching the small birds fly away, calling out to him as they left, Yuri prepared to take his bled catch to the water source they had told him about...

"...This thing... weighs about a hundred kilograms, right..."

Yuri realized that if he put it in his Storage, the weight would no longer be an issue. He successfully transported the Mudderboar to the river and managed to submerge the carcass in the water. It was only after doing so that he realized he needed to tie it down to prevent it from being washed away. The realization that he did not have any rope came immediately after that. In a hurry, he used earth magic to extend a stake from the riverbed and hooked the carcass onto it to prevent it from being lost. After soaking it for about two hours, when he thought it was probably cool enough, he pulled it out and decided to do the subsequent work, the butchering of the game, back at the village. After all, this was a novice’s first time attempting to butcher a hundred-kilogram class boar, and without any help at all. There was no telling how long it would take. It would be safer to do it in a secure location.

"...Well anyway, I got the boar meat, and I have wild vegetables to go with it, so I’ll just sprinkle on some salt and pepper and..."

As he said that, Yuri realized. He had realized. Here, there were no seasonings like pepper, and not even a satisfactory amount of salt.

"...Calm down. I’m sure there’s enough for now in my Storage, and it’s not like I’ll die immediately without it..."

Though his meals would certainly be bland.

If there was something like a sumac tree growing, he could get salt from the berries, but that would be in the fall or winter. It was questionable whether any would be left at this time of year.

"...I guess I’ll head back to the village."

Yuri had something he wanted to check.