Feast of the Starved Beast
Between the candles adorning the dining table, wild boar meat glistened with rivulets of fat. At this simple yet complete evening meal,
"So," Edwin said, skillfully slicing the meat on his plate with knife and fork as he summarized my story. "To put it simply, you drifted here from Monster Island in the Dead Sea?"
"In a word, yes."
"Hoo."
Edwin brought a forkful of meat to his mouth. His chewing face still bore an expression of disbelief, but these two were different.
"It must have been so tough. They say it's crawling with terrifying monsters... right, Mister?"
"Mm."
Nadia, eyes glistening with empathy for my suffering, and beside her, Drakan with arms crossed, eyes closed in a complicated expression.
Why the hell 'Mister'...
Among those reacting differently to my tale, the most intriguing expression came ironically from Drakan.
Flash!
His eyes snapped open, brimming with sharp curiosity now that he'd sorted his thoughts.
"So, you beat and slaughtered all the monsters there and washed up?"
"That's right."
"From goblins to cyclopes?"
"I nearly died, but I got insanely lucky and survived."
"Must be that body of yours."
"I won't deny it."
"And the guy who made that body—"
"Pauche."
I swept my eyes over the piles of wild boar meat on the table and uttered the name once more.
"His name was written all over that secret lab where I woke up."
"Mm!"
"Godfather, do you know him?"
"Not personally, but he's got quite a reputation."
Cough! "Is that so?"
"Yeah. You might not know, stuck away in these mountains, but he got pretty famous when the magic tower put out a warrant. The alchemist Pauche, who reached into forbidden realms to create the Ultimate Body."
"There was such a man. Cough!"
"I know quite a bit. Even tracked him down myself once."
"You tracked him?"
Drakan nodded at Edwin's question.
"Yeah. Wanted him to tweak my body."
"What?!"
"Or bring some decent guys and have him mod them up."
"What do you—"
"I was bored back then. No one worth a real fight out there."
Crazy bastard.
As I let out a hollow laugh, recalling the few on the continent who could match Drakan,
"Anyway, I'd heard the rumors. That he was kidnapping promising folks from all over."
Cough! "But you can't just take everything at face value—"
"That's true."
"What do you think? About that log you read there."
"Well, the parts I remember—"
By the time Edwin and Drakan had their heads together, debating the truth of my story,
Poke, poke.
Nadia prodded my arm with her finger.
"Eat up first. It's super tasty."
She whispered and shoved a huge pot my way. Inside was a whole wild boar leg, mouthwateringly appetizing, dripping fat and wafting a scent I'd never smelled in this world.
Gulp.
I snatched it up with my hand like I was possessed.
Slick with oil and seasonings, but who gives a shit.
"What do you think, Godfather?"
"For now—"
Keeping an ear on Edwin and Drakan's conversation, ready to jump in,
Crunch━━━!
The moment I tore into the boar meat.
......Wha-wha-what?
My eyes flew wide!
This... is fucking delicious!?
The savory, sweet seasoning that had been teasing my nose filled my mouth first, topped by the crisp skin's flavor! Creamy juices bombarding my tongue, chewy tender meat melting away, all blending into umami, chased by a sharp tang!
Gulp.
Swallowing the feast of flavors, my esophagus and guts happily churned, absorbing the rich nutrients and flooding me with insane satiety.
......
I closed my eyes, savoring it without thinking.
This electric thrill making my limbs tremble.
This... from just one bite?
Grabbing the bone-stuck boar with both hands, I crammed in enough to fill my mouth.
Crunch━━ crunch━━!
"Hah, shit—"
Some sound escaped my lips, but I ignored it. The intensified flavor assault had me nearly passing out.
In hindsight, it made sense.
This was my first 'cooked' food since entering this world, bearing traces of human civilization.
Gulp!
Ecstasy from swallowing the seasoned, marinated meat.
"Hic."
Tears leaking out unbidden was natural.
Best I'd had was fruit. Otherwise, days of gnawing raw meat.
Hell, I'd chomped straight into bleeding monster corpses to absorb mana and grow stronger.
Taste.
I'd forgotten my body even had such a thing during those desperate survival months on near-starvation.
Crunch crunch crunch━━ smack! Smack smack!
Gulp.
Crunch, crunch crunch━━ I must've been possessed, lost in devouring the meat.
Crack, craaack.
My body absorbing the new nutrients 100%, revitalizing my shrunken frame from the drift.
Above all, I was pretty moved right then.
Crunch crunch, gulp━━
"Hah...... shit—"
Tears of emotion streaming down my cheeks.
Drip drip.
Choking up genuine feeling from my parched throat.
"I wanted something like this... so bad..."
Sniff.
Wiping tears with my forearm, then stuffing my cheeks full of boar again—I didn't know.
"........."
That I'd evoked far more natural pity from the others at the table than intended.
Under the moonlight.
Squawk━━ caw━━
Amid the bushes on the ridge, only the occasional cuckoo's cry pierced the clarity.
I'd just woken from a short nap on the bed.
This was a small cabin attached to the Luminis estate.
Once used by the mountain keeper managing the territory before the fall.
Hoo.
Pitying my ravenous eating, Nadia's dad Edwin Luminis had offered it: rest a full day, eat breakfast tomorrow, then talk.
Honestly, a bit of a reality check.
I'd heard it clearly. Edwin's whisper to Drakan: If it's acting, it's polite to play along once━━
I ate like a starvation ghost possessed...
Still, the hearty meal left me brimming with energy.
Rising from the bed, rolling my shoulders—far better than when I first came to on the beach.
Crack.
Overfed with nutrients, plus decent sleep though short—near 100% recovery.
This should do it?
Berserk Mode.
Plus a few thunderbolts.
Now, I stepped from the bed.
Thud, thud.
Not that I had no questions.
Nadia's father, never directly described in the novel, and how Drakan became his godfather, etc.
Hoo.
But for my body now loosened, that wasn't important.
Walking slowly to the door, focusing senses.
Since earlier.
A faint sound wormed into my ears.
Rustle.
Rustle.
Yeah. I hadn't woken randomly from that short sleep.
Creeak.
Opening the cabin door, a white-haired giant bathed in moonlight stared at me.
"Hoo."
Drakan grinned ear to ear.
"Yeah, I walked too noisy, huh?"
Odd words for movements near top assassin stealth.
But having read the original, I knew.
If he wanted, he could erase his presence far better.
"What's up?"
"We got unfinished business, punk?"
"Business? We covered it earlier."
"Fucking nutjob."
Drakan spat the curse, covered his face with a pot-lid hand, and chuckled.
Shoulders shaking with mad laughter, he suddenly cut it off, sneering.
"Where's a monster punk get off pretending human and chatting."
His eyes flared, killing intent choking me anew.
"Listen up, whelp. I'm not here for human talk with trash like you."
Shiver shiver.
My body trembled suddenly.
Drakan smirked at me.
"Don't worry. Got some face to keep around the kids, so won't kill your gutsy ass for not running."
"Ugh."
"Let's move spots first."
Dangerous situation. Crystal clear—
"Follow nice to that clearing, and I'll mercifully dial back the interrogation—"
"Fuck that."
"......What?"
Creak.
Now my lip curled.
No, shit, mouth moving before conscious...
Body still shaking.
Hot rage surged up my throat and out.
"Hilarious. Trying to clear out for Nadia and her dad, acting like you're doing me a favor."
"This monster punk lost it."
"Monster?"
Pffft━━!
Laughter burst amid the shivers.
Like an unstoppable sneeze.
The laughter wouldn't stop, face twitching.
This battle-hardened body glitched out?
"You think I'm the only monster?"
Again, again! Like drooling over unseen meat, unconsciously signaling fight?
......No.
......Not unconscious body or mouth this time.
"Amusing. Shaking in fear, but mouth alive."
"Shaking?"
......Not just knowing Drakan couldn't kill me here, or relief at usable Berserk Mode.
Shiver shiver.
Trying to calm my trembling body, I realized soon.
......Ah.
No need to calm it.
Why? Not fear-shivers.
In other words.
All those 'pretend' voices from deep before—they were my true voice.
......For real? If mistake, grovel now?
So.
"...Hahaha! As if!"
Slapping my cheeks with both hands, laughing maniacally—I'd been dying to know for a while.
"I'm curious."
"Huh?"
"You and me."
How monstrously strong this 'monster among monsters' was.
"What monster chats are like between our kind."
"Ha! Crazy whelp—"
"Shut it."
And how far my strength went in this world.
"Let's see, you fucking geezer."