Chapter 42
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Hungry Slayer
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Dane continued his explanation to those looking puzzled.
“The value of good meat is something chefs will recognize first and foremost. I’ll provide them with monster meat. To the chef or restaurant that makes the most outstanding dish, I’ll grant the authority to manage the Yadus Butchery Trailer.”
“Sudden, but intriguing. Whew… A monster meat cooking contest.”
“I’ve heard Mekardo has plenty of talented chefs and restaurants. Bortong and Rudelver? That’s the level we’re aiming for.”
He tossed it out casually while gauging Kreya’s expression. She responded with a faint smile instead. That confidence of hers felt oddly familiar.
“Bortong’s one we’ve visited, so you know. But I heard Mr. Rudelver doesn’t cook anymore these days. What do we do?”
“Oh, really? Still, his skills are top-notch, so if he’s interested, he’ll join.”
Kreya leaned back for a moment, running her fingers repeatedly over her lips trailing smoke. It was a gesture that seemed to reflect her pondering how to react to this abrupt development.
“Alright. I’ll check if there are any other places interested in participating.”
“The preliminary round will be judged by me on deboning and butchering. I’ll select two teams from there for the main cooking contest. For the finals, River will judge from our side, along with me and Bankers. You’ll add one representative from Kreya Trading Company. And I’ll leave the event logistics to Kreya Trading Company.”
It was phrased like a done deal. River and Bankers were used to it, but not Kreya.
She finally started to wear a troubled expression and opened her mouth to speak, but Dane didn’t give her the chance.
“The venue will be this square. The trials start at noon tomorrow. We’ll discuss specific trade terms after the contest ends.”
One-sided to the very end.
* * *
Once the Kreya Trading Company members departed, Bankers finally voiced what he’d been holding back.
“Kreya seems like quite the resolute character. Watching from the side, I could see why she runs a major trading company at such a young age.”
“I thought the same. She definitely calculates profits swiftly and judges coolly.”
“But can we trust her? I couldn’t read her at all.”
“We trust in the mutual benefits. We just met; we can’t blindly trust people.”
Even if words aligned, expecting blind faith and reliance was reckless. It was far better when goals matched.
He believed there was no stronger bond than the conviction that my gain was your gain. For now, at least.
Bankers pressed on.
“With Kreya Trading Company around earlier and merchants everywhere, I couldn’t ask even if I was curious. A cooking contest… You could’ve given us a heads-up. Makes you seem like such an unpredictable guy.”
His whisper carried a fitting grumble. Dane was the captain, but always like this—no shortage of heartburn moments.
“Sorry for not mentioning it sooner. It just came to me mid-conversation.”
He said that, but it was a decision made after seeing River’s reaction at Bortong. It had plenty of buzz potential, just as he’d weighed for promotional effect.
River said nothing special. Her mind seemed elsewhere. Dane glanced at her and spoke.
“Hope some skilled chefs show up. Curious about that Rudelver chef too. Hm… Guess I’ll head back to the wagon and catch up on sleep. What about you two?”
He poked Bankers in the side as he said it. Bankers winced, rubbing the spot tenderly before replying.
“…Gotta go see Dink too. Hay from Engola should be arriving about now.”
River, catching their looks, looked flustered for a second before mumbling she’d sightsee the city and head back slowly.
With that, they parted ways for once. River then set off straight along a path etched in memory.
Passing the bustling square into a quieter, modest residential area shifted her mood strangely.
It hadn’t changed much from when she’d left Mekardo five years ago. Memories sharpened as she neared her old home.
The angry voice when she’d declared she wouldn’t inherit the family business and would become a hunter.
The grueling road she’d fled along to Foldtown without reconciling.
Memories of drifting from place to place, cooking as the only thing she could do, rejected everywhere for being a talentless young woman.
Up until passing the hunter exam and settling with the Lucas Hunting Party.
‘And now I’m basically a full-time cook…’
It hadn’t been long since she’d realized, ironically, that the cooking she’d done to survive was actually what she was best at—and loved.
That might’ve made returning to Mekardo even scarier. She lacked the confidence to face her grandfather.
Lost in thought, her unconscious steps led her precisely to that place.
The building, with white walls and a low orange roof, could pass for a private home without its small sign.
Or maybe abandoned house now. Weeds grew waist-high, untended; the structure unmanaged, giving off an eerie, desolate air.
River pushed open the half-open door and stepped inside. Little different from when she’d left, but dust and cobwebs filled it from neglect.
She followed the faint light filtering into the small hall. By the hazy, light-catching window sat a lone figure.
The table was littered with empty bottles. The faint booze scent from afar suggested he’d been drinking still.
An old man slumped forward, drunk. The broad, imposing shoulders and back from her memory were now thoroughly hunched.
‘I didn’t come back to see him like this.’
River barely held back a surge of tears. The old man sensed her presence and turned.
“Who’s there… We’re not open…”
A slurred, cracked voice. Gone was the booming, robust tone that once commanded the kitchen.
Rudelver Lake.
Owner of restaurant ‘Lakes’ and River’s grandfather—he was now just a listless old man.
“Why… aren’t you open anymore?”
“No ingredients… Ah… No one to cook? Yeah… No, urgh… Nothing left. No one, hm…”
Rudelver pieced together jumbled, fragmented memories with effort. The sight fueled River’s sadness with irritation and anger.
“I heard you were Mekardo’s top chef. Did I come to the wrong place?”
Rudelver drew a deep breath at her question and spat a booze-soaked lament.
“Urgh… Not worthy of that anymore. Just… my karma. My fault… Or not? No… Cooking with that meat ain’t chef work. Right…? No… I ain’t qualified, so that crap meat shows up. Urgh, no right to stand in a kitchen… No right as a chef… No cooking for me now… River, Lui—they left ‘cause of that.”
River’s gut burned as her name surfaced in his ramblings. She reined in her emotions and asked again.
“Even if there’s new meat you’ve never handled? No—even the finest ingredient you’ve never tasted, you still won’t cook?”
Rudelver squinted hard, tilting his head. Then slowly spoke.
“…Meat? New meat…? Finest ingredient I ain’t tasted, hic… exists in this world…?”
A spark lingered in his heart after all. Remarkable he reacted through the haze.
“…Tomorrow’s a cooking contest. We’re providing meat you’ve never touched as ingredients. We’ll trade with whoever cooks the best dish.”
“…Th-that meat… What is it?”
A strange glint pierced his cloudy gaze.
River answered.
“Monster meat.”
Rudelver leaned toward her, as if doubting his ears. Meaning: say it again.
“Monster meat!”
No sooner said than he weakly slammed the table. He tried rising but staggered and slumped back. Even that flare-up mirrored River herself.
“…Don’t know who… but came to mock me, urgh…? Drunk old fool… Hic, monster meat as ingredients…? Insane… No basics on food…”
Rage laced his halting voice.
River couldn’t face him longer. Pent-up fury erupted at once.
“You’re the one with no basics! Don’t judge before seeing the ingredients! Always ‘this won’t work, that won’t work’—just your own assumptions. Drunk, burnout, not a chef anymore—you haven’t changed. Quit acting like everything’s set in stone!”
River poured out her passion in one breath.
Only then did Rudelver recall that faint voice from memory—right before his granddaughter left, the day she declared she’d be a hunter and they’d yelled at each other.
His lips trembled as he raised a hand, pointing at the masked woman.
“You… You…”
River didn’t reveal herself.
“If there’s still a path you want as a chef… No, if you remember what you told your granddaughter… Come to the square at noon tomorrow. Prove you were right yourself.”
With that, River turned and left.
-Bang!
Rudelver stared at the closed door for a long time.
* * *
While River vented at Rudelver, Mekardo buzzed with news of the cooking contest the next day.
The word spread swiftly even to distant Foldtown.
Foldtown, the base city, couldn’t ignore Dane’s Butchery Party stirring ripples everywhere.
Illein steadily reported their movements to Tebier. Of course, he’d have checked via Tienun in his office, but Tebier—the sly northern raccoon—always feigned fresh surprise.
“Leighton’s one thing, but hauling a Yadus ore wagon out of Harac Bar, taking over Lucas Hunting Party in Engola, ascending to 5th grade via succession, herbivore monsters pulling the wagon, and now… entering Mekardo!”
Today’s antics in Mekardo reached him, and Tebier’s grin grew endlessly. Each step was so audacious and bizarre.
“And a monster meat cooking contest… Hahaha, surpassing expectations nonstop. Finally showing their hand clearly. Fascinating human. Yes, that fits perfectly, hahaha!”
“It’ll cause quite a stir.”
Illein put it simply, but it was far from simple.
Wherever Dane went, the alien issue of monster meat trailed. Hard to gauge how elf society would take it.
“No place for us to meddle. Just watch, right?”
Tebier echoed as if reading Illein’s mind, then added.
“If they’re pulling that in Mekardo, means Kreya Trading Company’s cooperating… Kemora Hunting Party won’t be thrilled. Kreya and Kemora were long-term partners, no?”
“Different weight now than when he was just a Lucas Hunting Party member. Rookie then, but now a captain one grade below. Kreya Trading Company’s long ties will irk them too.”
For a hunting party to grow, ties with elves and trading companies mattered most. Hunting skill and rank alone weren’t enough.
Dane’s Butchery Party now faced the North’s largest, most influential trading company. Easy to imagine Captain Kemora seething, having monopolized their monster parts supply.
“Then let’s fan the flames. Thick Root Hunting Party’s confirmation nears too. Any good large monster sightings?”
“Yes, Elite sightings in the southeast.”
“Elite… Elite, huh… Perfect fit.”
Tebier smiled slyly. Illein still couldn’t read him.