Chapter 90
Chapter 90
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: The Wild Boar Feast
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Kyaaaaah!"
"……."
Sir Evan froze in place. He had the feeling that if he moved even a muscle, the little girl in front of him would faint on the spot. After all, she had screamed the moment she laid eyes on him.
Nihil, who had been distributing hot water, glanced at Evan—covered in blood from head to toe after butchering the wild boar—and spoke in a half-hearted tone at the sound of her scream.
"…You couldn't have at least washed off the blood first."
"……."
Sir Evan set down the wild boar and looked at his hands. His fingers, stained red from gutting the beast, weren't exactly a pretty sight. Come to think of it, blood must have splattered all over him when he hauled the thing down from the tree.
"…Sorry for startling you."
The children, drawn by the piercing scream, stiffened at Evan's gruesome appearance but soon broke into bright smiles once they realized the boar on his shoulder would become their food.
"Meat!"
"Meat!"
The twins started circling excitedly around Evan, chattering away.
"I thought I was gonna freeze to death today! Good thing I didn't!"
"How could we die with meat like this?"
Yvon chuckled and teased them. 'You know, if you hadn't been so stubborn, you could've just drunk the herbal tea.' But Lianus, who hadn't felt a chill since coming to Sharton, tilted his head curiously.
"Was it that cold?"
"It was the usual cold, but today felt different! Some angel showed up in my dream or something?"
"Oh, yeah? Me too! I thought if I followed the angel, I'd die, but I was too sleepy, so I didn't."
"An angel…?"
The other kids, knowing the twins weren't the romantic, sentimental type, tilted their heads in confusion at the mention of an angel.
Lianus turned to Nihil.
"Nil, did you take off your hood?"
"……No."
Nihil, who answered only after a long pause, pulled his hood down tighter.
Sir Evan, having figured out who the "angel" was, burst into mocking laughter.
"Pfft, hahaha! An, an angel. Y-yeah, an angel… uhahaha! Fairies first, now angels? You should be grateful this boar was sent down by an angel himself."
"Wooow~ Meat! Meat!"
"Meat! Meat!"
The twins, oblivious to the angel's true identity, just cheered happily about the meat. Nihil ignored the stares from a few of the boys and quickly changed the subject.
"Butcher it before it cools. You know how?"
"What do you take me for? You go play hand games with the little one over there."
Sir Evan drew his dagger and shooed the kids away with a wave. He might not look it, but he'd survived since childhood by hunting beasts and monsters, selling the byproducts. He could butcher a pig blindfolded.
Nihil left the confident Evan to it and laid out the roots of herbs he'd gathered at dawn, explaining each one. They weren't valuable enough to sell, but they were useful in emergencies, so it wouldn't hurt to learn how to use them.
Sir Evan, having finished butchering the boar in no time, muttered as he washed off the blood.
"The problem is how to store all this."
He eyed the mountain of meat—enough for dozens of servings. Salting it would be ideal, but they'd need a huge amount, and salt was pricier here than in other countries.
Sir Evan wondered if they should just sell it, but Nihil dragged over a wooden crate from somewhere and set it in front of him.
"What's this?"
"I put in some grass that acts as a preservative. Put the meat in here."
Sir Evan shrugged at Nihil's explanation—fair enough—and crammed the prepared meat into the crate. Naturally, the box wasn't that big, and there was a lot of meat, so it didn't all fit.
"It won't all fit."
"……."
The puppy asked, but the lynx just stared up at him as if to say, now what?
The puppy had a solution.
"It's best when it's still warm like this."
"Nonsense…."
"Whoa! Are we eating our meat?"
"Meat! Meat!"
"Fairy brother, can't we grill it today?"
"My lifelong dream is to stuff myself with meat!"
"Haa…."
Nihil sighed softly at the kids' excitement, swallowing his protest.
Meat for breakfast, of all things.
With no choice, Nihil asked Bella to fetch some ingredients, milk for the puppy, salt, and spices. He couldn't just serve gamey wild boar to Lianus, who was used to fancy dishes.
After giving Bella her orders, Nihil glared at Sir Evan.
Sir Evan snorted.
"What? You shouldn't have asked me."
If there's no box, stuff it in your belly—that's common sense, right?
"Aaaack!"
"It broke again. Cut it cleanly."
"You think that's easy?!"
Sir Evan yelled at Nihil and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. A pile of broken stones rolled at his feet. Over twenty small rocks had already shattered. No matter how thinly and sharply he wrapped his aura, the rocks wouldn't slice cleanly—they just exploded.
Sir Evan seethed with frustration at his lack of control, but the watching kids gazed at him with admiring eyes, applauding each time he pulverized a stone like it was some stunt show.
Only that damn lynx nagged from the sidelines.
"Spin it thinner and faster. No, don't reduce the amount—condense it."
"…Damn it!"
Sir Evan focused again, gathering his aura. He couldn't remember concentrating this hard lately, and here he was suffering just to make a stone grill plate. Of course, he knew it was his loose lips that got him into this, so he couldn't complain more.
Nihil smiled satisfactorily at Evan's much smoother aura. Flat stones were everywhere if you looked. He'd already found some, and there were plenty of ways to grill without one.
Making Evan go through dog training was purely Nihil's whim. A price for adding extra work, a chance to keep up the dawn drills, and a way to sharpen the guard dog's dulled edge in this peaceful life.
"Too much tension in your body. It's sharp enough now—relax and slice slowly."
"……."
Sir Evan didn't reply, easing the tension in his shoulders. He took a deep, slow breath and swung down.
"……?"
But nothing happened. When the stone showed no change, Evan and the kids looked baffled.
Sir Evan scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"I definitely felt it connect… Did I relax too much?"
"No. Good work."
Nihil stood from the stone pile and approached the rock. When he tapped it, the stone smoothly parted in two with a clean slice, splitting apart with a thud.
"Woooow!"
The puzzled kids jumped up, cheering as if it were their own victory. A smile bloomed on Sir Evan's tense face.
"Too early to celebrate. Slice it once more."
Sir Evan's face hardened again. He needed a flat plate, not a hemispherical rock.
Nihil rolled the man-sized halves upright.
"I don't want to get sliced, so aim carefully."
"……."
"Shatter it, and we start over."
"…Damn it!"
Sir Evan cursed but ultimately succeeded in making the stone plate. The second cut was rough, like it'd been ground, but it was fine for grilling.
By then, Bella had returned with "Mama Cat Lady." Bella handed the puppy to Mama Cat Lady, and Nihil rounded up the kids.
While the stone heated, Nihil made simple potato soup and fed the kids first. Lianus, expecting roasted potatoes, gazed at his skilled friend with admiration.
Sir Evan took charge of the grilling. He skewered the well-cooked meat on branches, handing long sticks to each child.
After saving a share for Bella too, Sir Evan spoke suspiciously.
"Come to think of it, we could've just skewered it from the start—no need for a stone plate."
"……."
Nihil didn't answer. But Sir Evan caught the smug grin peeking from under the hood.
"Ugh! You damn lynx…!"
Sir Evan realized he'd been completely played and tore at his hair. Bella, arriving just as the plate was done, tilted her head innocently, cheeks stuffed with meat, not understanding why.
"Big brother was so cool, though!"
He really, truly was. Lianus beamed with pride at his knight. He was sure even his older brother's guards couldn't match Sir Evan.
How did someone this awesome end up as my knight?!
Lianus looked up at Sir Evan with sparkling eyes.
Sir Evan grinned broadly at his shining-eyed master, then handed him a skewer with a bigger piece. Eat up, he said. To the insolent lynx who'd mocked an adult, he gave a skewer with the charred scraps he'd set aside.
"Here, eat."
Sir Evan smirked, anticipating the lynx's irritation. But contrary to expectation, the guy took the skewer without complaint and bit in.
Sir Evan's face crumpled.
He had a point to complain about the discrimination—he'd caught the boar, after all—but he said nothing.
Sir Evan snatched the skewer as Nihil went for another bite, irritation flaring, and hurled it away with a shout.
"Look after yourself for once!"
"…What the hell while I'm eating?"
"Get angry! Be greedy! Secure your own share properly!"
Lianus nodded slightly in agreement, but Nihil furrowed his brows like he had no idea what he meant, then thrust a skewer of prime meat at Sir Evan.
"Puppy, quit barking and eat."
"……."
"Gotta eat a lot to keep that bulk."
"……."
As Sir Evan stared in disbelief with cold eyes, Nihil wagged the skewer as if to say what are you waiting for? and added,
"Puppy, let's eat."
"…Hey, you…!"
Dog—no… aaack! That dog-like lynx bastard!
"Ahh, so full."
"Can't eat anymore!"
The kids, who had seemed ready to devour all the meat in one day, collapsed after barely finishing one serving each.
Nihil wiped grease from Lianus's face and called Yvon and Jane over.
"Big ones, come here."
"…Okay."
"……."