Chapter 36
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: The Tamed Tricerator
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“Urgh!”
Even amid the pain, Dane calmly reflected.
He had focused too much on the meat bell and the Tricerator. It stung that he hadn’t noticed something else tying up his leg.
Still, there was no torn flesh or broken bones. He’d blocked the horn strike with his cleaver.
He quickly sliced through the line binding his leg and stood, bracing for the next attack.
But the Tricerator just snorted heavily in place, refusing to charge again. It was as if someone had reined it in.
The man standing right beside it was stroking the Tricerator, looking every bit the part.
‘He stopped the monster? What’s this guy’s deal……’
Mid-thirties, maybe. The man, layered in clothes of mismatched textures, pushed up the glasses perched on his nose bridge.
For someone who’d just attacked Dane, there was no hostility. Strictly speaking, he didn’t seem to have any energy in his body at all. His projected muscles and skeletal frame looked frail.
Yet he didn’t come across as ordinary. A strange human in every way. He spoke.
“Charging a mid-to-large monster solo? You’re no ordinary guy. But Dink’s my pet. I’d be thrilled if you’d just turn around and pretend you didn’t see.”
Dane got it immediately. A whirlwind of emotions and thoughts shook his mind. Despite the sudden attack, curiosity overrode anger.
“You tamed a Tricerator? Is that even possible?”
“It wasn’t easy. That’s what makes it precious, right?”
For a brief moment, he gazed into the distance, lost in memory. Out of nowhere, but it gave Dane a fresh perspective.
A monster that wasn’t prey. A monster that followed humans.
‘If this is the only one…… Do I have to steal it to eat it?’
An unfamiliar dilemma.
“There’s gotta be more than one Tricerator in the world, right?”
That was the key. That’s why he asked. Logically, this beast wasn’t the ultimate meat, but he couldn’t just ignore it either.
The man paused, as if the question caught him off guard.
“Does that matter?”
“It does.”
“Tricerators are all over. But this one’s unique. Just like you’re one of a kind in this world.”
An odd question met a wise reply. It was enough to set his standard. He’d steal if he had to, but not now.
Dane gave up on devouring the Tricerator before him.
It was a first. Even as the meat bell rang fiercely, he let the meat go. Instead, he decided to claim something more valuable in this moment.
“So you’re the owner of that beast?”
“Family, I’d say.”
“Any other monsters you’ve tamed like that? Or is it just this one?”
“……You hoping for more Dinks? Why?”
“I wanna buy one.”
“……Need accessories?”
“Nah. I need a live monster.”
“You wanna raise one?”
The man’s eyes gleamed oddly for a second. Then he laughed cheerfully. Stroking the Tricerator’s nape, he replied.
“Fun guy. Your style, the chat—love it. But no dice. You can’t raise monsters. You don’t even know what that means.”
“What’s that supposed to be?”
“That’s……”
The man glanced behind Dane and trailed off. His face went ghost-white, like he’d seen a specter.
Dane already knew who was there from the approaching presence and footsteps.
He turned. Sure enough, River. She looked even more shocked than the man.
“Lucas?!”
“River……? What are you doing here?!”
Now it was Dane’s turn to be stunned. Lucas was the captain of the hunting party Dane had joined. This guy was the captain?
As he sized up the stunned man and turned to ask River, she was already leaping forward.
“That’s my line!!”
Crack!
River charged in and smashed her fist into Lucas’s face.
Tricerator recoiled in shock too. The beast stamped the ground with a furious roar.
“Dink! Calm down! It hurts, but I’m not dead yet, right?”
The man called Lucas adjusted his crooked glasses and quickly soothed the beast.
What kind of situation was this?
The beast roaring in rage after its master got hit was weird enough. Calming it with a few words was astonishing. And the fact that this was the captain—and that River had swung without warning.
Lucas, grabbed by the collar and shaken like a ragdoll, finally managed to speak, his face slack.
“River, your punches got better while we were apart. Your build too……”
“What are you doing here?”
“That’s what I asked fir……”
“You vanish on some ‘tour’ for over a year with no word, and you’ve been holed up here?”
“Were you waiting? ……You do like me, huh? Why pick such a tough path?”
“What the hell! Why would I like a married old fart like you!!!!”
Lucas took a few more hits and apologized. River grabbed his collar again, shaking him as she demanded.
“Pibitz?”
“Uh…… No idea. Probably happy somewhere?”
“You don’t know? You lunatic…… How do you not know where your wife is!!! ”
Lucas ate more punches after that. Dane learned for the first time that River had a knack for fisticuffs—and zero mercy.
“Quit whining and get up. What are you doing here?”
Slumped on the ground, Lucas readjusted his glasses and knelt.
“……As you can see, I was feeding Dink here when this panty-only guy shows up trying to hunt it, so I stopped him, and then suddenly he wants to buy Dink, so I was telling him no. That answer your question?”
Gibberish. Lucas half-whined the truth, but River punched him again and snapped.
“Speak plainly!”
“It’s true…… Buddy, help a guy out? I might die if this keeps up?”
Flung to the dirt, Lucas pleaded seriously to Dane. Dane nodded.
“Yeah. He said he raises that Tricerator, so I asked him to sell it to me. Then you showed up, River.”
Lucas shot to his feet, pointing at River and Dane in turn.
“You two know each other?”
“……Yeah. New recruit Dane.”
River answered reluctantly.
“New recruit?!”
Now Lucas was shocked. Surprise, confusion, joy, worry—all bare on his face. Even with the swelling from River’s punches, it was visible. Weirdly fascinating.
“Recruit…… A recruit in the Lucas Hunting Party?”
Lucas dusted off his clothes in a daze. He straightened his outfit, buttoned to the neck, wiped his bloody nose, extended a hand to Dane, and forced a smile.
“Captain Lucas. And you are?”
“Dane.”
They shook hands casually.
“Dane…… Nice name. Taking on great recruits without a captain? Not bad, River.”
“Tch! You think now’s the time for compliments?”
She snapped, but River seemed a bit less pissed now.
“I’d love to catch up slow, but I’m not free. Was feeding Dink. Better when we’ve got time, right?”
What could be freer? Dane and River stared at Lucas in disbelief, and he spun around, hopping onto the Tricerator.
“You really…… taming that monster?”
River’s voice trembled. Lucas smirked lightly and patted the beast’s nape.
“There’s a dry root village north of Engola. Let’s plan our next meet there happily?”
Tricerator let out a sharp cry and bolted away, kicking off the ground.
Dane and River watched the vanishing figure until they realized why Lucas had dipped so fast.
Behind them, the heavily armed Engola Autonomous Squad was charging in. They looked furious.
“Who the hell are you!”
“Ah…… We’re the Dane Hunting Party on tour. You must be the Engola Autonomous Squad.”
River blurted it out. She’d ditched Lucas’s name, instantly clocking why they were mad.
“Dane Hunting Party? From Foldtown?”
“Yeah. Passing through Engola on a Zone 2 tour.”
As River fumbled, a few squad members checked the Tricerator’s tracks.
“Captain, Lucas was definitely here. Smashed the root fence and trashed the pasture.”
“Damn…… Let that bastard slip again. You guys see any weirdo with a monster?”
River subtly pointed off in one direction.
Slightly off from where Lucas went. She didn’t want her captain caught.
“Move! We’ll get compensation this time!”
After the squad left, Dane and River headed back to the wagon.
Bankers lounged on the roof, basking lazily.
* * *
“Heh heh, a tamed Tricerator…… Things are shedding skin now.”
“Yeah. I saw it. Obeyed him like a dog.”
“So we can achieve what we’ve been vaguely hoping for overnight?”
“Mid-to-large beast like that? Power like eight Harac moles.”
On the road to the dry root village north of Engola that Lucas mentioned, Dane and Bankers wouldn’t shut up.
‘These guys…… Captain’s an afterthought. All Tricerator talk.’
Watching them, River felt oddly slighted. They hadn’t seemed attached to the Lucas Hunting Party from the start, but sidelining the captain didn’t sit right.
“Oh, but the guy handling that beast being Captain Lucas? Lucky break, right?”
Bankers finally put Lucas center stage.
“Totally. Grade 5, tames mid-to-large monsters—shows up right when we need him. Captain joins, we head straight to the delta.”
Dane chimed in excitedly.
Hearing that twisted River’s gut more. What started as a simple trip to cook more monster meat was spiraling out of control.
Her plan to delay the Mecardor route even a bit? Bubbles.
‘Guess we’re going……’
As their thoughts diverged—two thrilled, one conflicted—the wagon reached the ruined village at sunset.
In the dead center of the dust-whipped wasteland stood the Tricerator and Lucas.
“Seeing that wagon move makes me so happy. And you’ve got an extra one? What’s going on?”
Lucas greeted them with a grin, then flung his arms wide at Bankers, expressing fresh shock wildly.
“Huh? Huh?! Why’s a lizardman driving?”
“He’s a new recruit too. Bankers, this is our captain Lucas.”
River sighed, introducing them.
“Nice to meet ya! Finally seeing the captain!”
Bankers thrust out a hand. They shook vigorously as Lucas beamed.
“Another recruit…… River, you’re something else. Never thought the Lucas Hunting Party would still be kicking, let alone growing. And…… where’d you find hunks like these?”
Welcoming his members with laughs, Lucas soon nagged River.
“New friends are great, but thinking of your cooking after so long? Thrilling. Figured you’d come, so I skipped meals waiting! Starving—what’ll you make, River?”
Beat to hell yet shamelessly begging food. Dane, Bankers—even River chuckled in disbelief.
“Haha, captain’s personality’s a winner! Long talk ahead—how about grilling meat with Fold distilled liquor?”
“Meat? Awesome. Fold liquor too! Bankers? Your taste’s perfect. What meat we got?”
Lucas asked eagerly.
“Ballurator neck and belly, Svanlowk thigh…… Perfect for four.”
Dane ticked off the Yadus-stored meats on his fingers. Lucas blinked in confusion.
“……Ballurator? Svanlowk? Those monster names, right?”
“Yep. Real treats, haha. Captain, you’ll be shocked.”
Bankers laughed heartily.
Suddenly, Lucas recoiled, arms out to block the Tricerator.
“You guys…… really eat monster meat?”
His face darkened fiercely in an instant.