Transition to Another World, Land Mines Included. 047

Transition to Another World, Land Mines Included.

ACT 2: UNION
047: Tonkatsu (Ingredient) Appeared!

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After visiting two more Dindle trees, we finally managed to fill up all three backpacks. Along the way, Aera also pointed out some herbs that we harvested, so I was sure we’d be able to make a good profit.

“It’s almost noon. Shall we stop for lunch?” I suggested.

“Agreed. The plan is to hunt Tusked Boars on our way back, right?” Natsuki responded.

“Yeah. We’ll have to fight it, and it’ll be better to do that with full stomachs.”

We found an open space in the forest and sat down. While the backpacks full of Dindle were slightly heavy, I’d trained to the point where carrying it no longer tired me out. It was proof that all the training I’d done since transitioning to this world wasn’t in vain.

“Erm, would you guys like some?”

Aera was holding out three round items wrapped in leaves, each about the size of a fist.

“Oh, are these the takeout items from yesterday?”

“Yes. I made one for everyone.”

“Thank you!”

I took one and peeled away the leaf to reveal the meat-wrapped mashed potato dish from yesterday. While the one we had yesterday was slightly warm, this one had already cooled down. Its taste was also accented by the fragrance of the leaf wrapped around it. In short, it was delicious.

“It’s tasty,” I expressed my appreciation.

“Yep! This will surely sell well! If only your shop was nearer to our inn, Aera-san, I’d go to buy this every day~~” Yuki added.

“Yes, it’s really good. The fragrance of this leaf adds to the flavor,” Natsuki piped up.

“Thank you,” Aera replied happily, her face flushed as she listened to our compliments.

While she looked like a young child, she was definitely an experienced and capable chef. I mean, she did have Cooking Lv.3. If she had access to more types of seasonings, would she be able to make even more amazing food?

“Here, have some of our bread and jerky. The jerky is homemade, but really tasty,” Yuki said as she held out our jerky with much pride.

It felt a little strange, since it was only plain jerky. At least the taste was good, since it was made by Haruka.

“Oh! You made this yourself? I did it back in my hometown too… Mmm!? Delicious…”

“I know! It tastes so different from the ones sold at the market, right!?” Yuki exclaimed.

“The bread was bought from our inn, but it tastes OK too,” Natsuki added.

“…Yes, you’re right. It tastes better than the breads I’ve tasted from the bakeries in the city,” Aera confirmed.

Hoping to buy some bread as an ingredient to use in her cooking, Aera had visited numerous bakeries in Rafan. However, she didn’t find any that she liked, so she ended up baking her own bread instead. But because it was difficult to bake large amounts of bread, she hadn’t added it to her lunch special.

Aera didn’t really elaborate on her own baked bread, but I was sure it would taste better than the innkeeper’s. I hoped I’d get to taste it someday.

“Did you make this jerky, Yuki-san?”

“Nope, it was made by the other elf, Haruka. She’s not here today.”

“Oh, the other elf. The meat itself already tastes good, but the drying process was done really well too,” Aera praised.

“I think she’ll be glad to hear that coming from a pro chef,” I smiled.

Of course, Haruka’s Cooking Skill was only at Level 1, which wasn’t much compared to Aera, but she had the advantage of having lots of cooking knowledge from our previous world.

For example, it would be easier for an amateur chef to blend spices well and make a good curry, versus a professional chef who had never heard of or tasted curry before.

“I’d love to meet her, and maybe cook with her too,” Aera said.

“I’m sure you’ll get the chance sometime… So, shall we go?” I asked, after checking that everyone had finished their lunches.

“Yes. It’ll be good to get back soon.”

With a nod, we all packed up, shouldered our bags, and stood.

“We’ll hunt a Tusked Boar, then head back…”

“Will it be OK? I mean, it’s not easy to hunt those back in my hometown,” Aera asked with a frown.

“No problem, I’m good at locating them… Alright! Aera-san and I will go in front, and you two girls follow behind, OK?” I instructed.

“Sure.”

I reasoned that since Aera and I had the Stealth Skill, we could sneak up on the beasts without alerting them. However, the moment we started walking, I could sense that something was off.

I knew Natsuki was behind me, but I couldn’t sense her at all, especially since I could sense Yuki really easily.

…That’s right. It must be because Natsuki has Invisibility Lv.2.

My Stealth Skill helped to conceal the sound of my footsteps, but Natsuki’s Invisibility worked to conceal her entire person. And while each had its own advantages, I was sure being able to hide myself entirely would be super useful.

“Oh! There’s one. Shall I start the ambush, Nao-san?” Aera asked.

Through the trees, we could see a Tusked Boar, slightly above average in size compared to those we usually hunted.

“Sure. Thanks.”

“Got it.”

With that, Aera quickly scaled a nearby tree, nocked an arrow into her bow, and fired a swift shot. At the same time, Natsuki and I charged towards the boar as one.

The boar let out a roar at the sudden attack as our two spears pierced into it. Then, with a loud thud, it fell to the ground.

Yes, our two spears had pierced the boar at the same time, though I was clearly a few steps ahead of Natsuki. She’d obviously managed to catch up to me.

Spear Skill alone wouldn’t have been able to make up the distance, so it must have been her physical strength. Though I was quite certain that I was the more nimble one, it seemed that when physical strength was taken into account, Natsuki came out on top.

It must be because of our different races… Yep, I gotta train harder to catch up to her. Even if my specs weren’t as good, I’m sure training would make up the difference.

Of course, if Natsuki trained hard as well, there was a high chance that she’d forever be stronger than me.

“Wow, you two were really quick,” Aera commented.

“That’s because we’re adventurers. In fact, I think you’re amazing to hit the boar so accurately, since you’re a chef and all,” I replied.

The arrow Aera fired had hit the boar right in the eye. It didn’t pierce through very deeply, probably because Aera didn’t have a lot of strength, but it did enough to hinder the boar so we could attack it.

“I used to hunt lots in the past, though only as support when hunting such large animals,” Aera shared with a smile. “But I’m really good at hunting birds!”

I recalled how Haruka was great at hunting birds as well, especially compared to how badly I did so with magic the other day. It was definitely no easy feat.

I guess Aera was a pro hunter as well as a pro chef.

“So, shall we dissect it? I can do it, since I’m used to it,” Aera offered.

I looked at Yuki and Natsuki, and after seeing them nod, I turned back to Aera.

“Erm, OK. Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Drawing a knife out of her pouch, Aera started to dissect the boar with beautiful, smooth motions. She worked without hesitation, and it was clear that her Skill was much higher even than Haruka’s, who was the best among us. Quickly, she skinned the beast, cut up the meat, and passed it to us to put into our leather pouches.

“You’re really good at this,” Natsuki observed.

“Yep. I used to go hunting back in my hometown, and also worked with lots of carcasses during my apprenticeship. Knowing how to handle meat is a basic skill,” Aera explained.

Back in Japan, cutting meat was a butcher’s job, so most meats were already sliced up nicely by the time it reached the restaurants. In contrast, it seemed that restaurants here purchased meat as whole carcasses, probably because of issues with storage.

In a world without any established supply chains, it was slightly risky to slice meat up for sale, which meant that every chef needed to have the skills to dissect meat. Sounds like tough work!

Thanks to Aera’s Skill, we managed to cut the meat down into blocks, so we didn’t need to bring back any unwanted bones. However, I noticed that she was also holding on to some innards which we usually discarded, so I guess we’d end up carrying about the same weight of boar anyway.

I watched as she put aside the boar’s heart, liver, and was that its kidneys? And its tongue too! We’d never thought about keeping boar tongue before, even though we did eat pork tongue back in Japan.

Furthermore, Aera also sliced out the meat at the back of the boar’s neck. We usually discarded the entire head, so I was surprised to see that there was actually meat that could be harvested.

Of course, boars were similar to pigs, so I guess their ears and noses were edible as well, but the look of it was just too much, so we’d never thought about keeping those parts.

“Can anyone use Water Magic?” Aera asked.

“Oh, that’ll be Haruka, but she’s not here today,” I replied.

“I see. In that case, I won’t keep the stomach and intestines. It won’t be good to bring them back if I can’t wash them first.”

Digestive organs needed to be washed thoroughly and carefully, lest it contaminate the other parts. It was truly a job best left to the professionals.

“OK, I’m done. Let’s hurry back to the city. If we don’t, the quality of the meat will change,” Aera said.

“Erm, should we just leave the rest? How about burying it?” Yuki asked, pointing to the boar’s head and innards.

That was right, we hadn’t brought the hoe along today. Guess we had to ask Yuki to make a hole with magic?

“It doesn’t matter unless we’re taking a break or setting up camp nearby. Otherwise, the forest creatures will take care of it for us.”

Aera was right. In Japan, we had to bury any animal remains to prevent pests from gathering, but that was not the case in this world. If Yuki didn’t know this through her Otherworldly Sense, then this wasn’t common knowledge. Maybe it was common sense only for hunters and adventurers?

“Oh, is that so?” I asked.

“Yes. Oh, we also need to bury the remains if we’re near anyone’s home. Either way, it’s always good practice to bury remains if we have the time,” Aera explained, tying up her pouch full of meat and standing up.

The boar turned out to be smaller than I’d first thought, so we only had about 10kg of meat each to carry. Looks like there would be no problem here.

“Great, then let’s hurry back. Everyone OK?” I asked.

“Yes, since we already took a break,” Natsuki replied, and the other two girls nodded as well.

“Then let’s jog back. Aera-san, do let me know if you get tired.”

“OK, but I’ll probably be fine.”

Aera smiled, holding her heavy pouch as if it was the lightest thing in the world.

~

Surprisingly, Aera’s physical strength was better than I’d imagined. According to her, chefs needed to be really strong and tough people.

On our way back, we took some shortcuts and encountered a Goblin, but we managed to defeat it easily, Natsuki and I with our spears and Yuki with her metal rod. Aera didn’t need to use her bow and arrows, nor did we need any magic.

Because Goblins looked somewhat humanoid, it felt a little weird to attack it, but that also made the beast easier to take out. We just had to use our spears to aim for its heart, or for the brain through its eye, to take it down quickly.

It was also Yuki and Natsuki’s first time encountering a Goblin, but they attacked it without any hesitation. What brave girls.

However, instead of harvesting its Mana Stone, I used the excuse that we were in a hurry to avoid doing so. If we’d wanted to harvest it, I’d have to ask Yuki to use her metal rod to bash the Goblin’s skull open. I didn’t want to be the one to request that of Yuki.

And so, after a long day, we finally got back to Aera’s shop before dusk fell.

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