Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: You Were an Amazing Man, Myo!
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"You were an amazing man, myo!"
"Awoong?"
The puppy wolf, who had been wagging its tail furiously to greet me, tilted its head.
The wolf's gaze was fixed on the flat stone slab in my hand.
"Hold on a sec. I'll make something delicious for you soon."
I immediately placed the flat stone on top of two large rocks.
I stuffed some firewood underneath and lit it with magic.
A natural stone grill was complete.
"YouTube is god."
Praising my past self, who had been addicted to Shorts,
I pulled out the leaves of some nameless grass I'd plucked from the ground nearby.
They were the leaves from a flower I'd tried eating last time when I was starving, just to put something in my stomach.
I remembered they had a scent similar to perilla leaves.
That's why I'd gathered them this time, planning to use them as wraps.
"That should do it for prep."
Muttering to myself, I glanced to the side.
There lay a well-butchered Cryoraptor.
"How long has it been since I had protein?"
I wiped away the drool leaking out like a kid and slapped a leg onto the grill right away.
Since it was a bipedal walker, the leg meat had to be tasty.
And that thought proved right.
"So juicy!"
"Awoo woo woo!"
The moment I popped a piece into my mouth, tenderness and juices exploded.
The puppy wolf seemed to love it too, wagging its tail even harder.
"This is seriously good."
It was tastier than any meat I'd ever had back in the modern world.
Chewy yet tender texture.
Savory juices filling my mouth.
So this was the true taste of wild game.
"Grilled meat wrapped in kimchi stir-fried in meat fat, with a shot of soju... Ahh."
But you can't do much about what you don't have.
I was just about to settle for the present and wrap some meat in a perilla leaf
when I felt eyes on me.
I turned, and there...
Twitch-
...stood a pair of rabbit ears poking up over the stone slab.
A girl with rabbit ears was drooling over the grilling meat.
It was the bunny girl who'd thrown my fish away last time.
"...Hungry?"
As if she'd been waiting for those words, the bunny girl's eyes sparkled, and she nodded vigorously.
That's when I noticed the grilled fish she was holding.
I pointed at it and said,
"Eat that."
"...This isn't mine, myo. I'll get in trouble if I eat it, myo."
She'd caught it herself and even grilled it, but it wasn't hers?
I was about to call her out on the nonsense
when my eyes caught her body.
She was thinner than last time we'd met.
And there was a bruise on her right hand.
A clear dinosaur tail mark.
Did she notice my gaze?
She quickly hid her arm behind her back.
"...The adults said humans go into heat when they see us, and they were right, myo."
"What're you talking about."
I brushed off the nonsense and handed her chopsticks I'd made from twigs.
Did she get that it was permission?
She tossed the chopsticks aside and dove in like she was racing the puppy wolf.
"Nom nom nom nom nom!"
The bunny girl started scooping up meat.
"...Filthy."
I almost said it but held back.
Complaining about hygiene in the wild was ridiculous.
So I ignored it and reached for a piece myself.
"Gone."
The two had already devoured it all.
Not satisfied, they stared at me expectantly.
I sighed and fetched more meat to grill.
While I was at it, I asked what had been bugging me.
"But can rabbits eat meat?"
"Huh? Why not, myo?"
"Don't they usually eat grass or something? Like carrots."
At my question, the bunny made a disgusted face.
"Eww! Why eat that nasty stuff, myo?!"
"So what do you usually eat?"
"Meat! Meat is truth, myo!"
She smacked her lips over a perfectly grilled piece.
Not to be outdone, I wrapped three pieces in leaves and ate.
"Kimchi and soju sound so good right now."
I might be able to make kimchi, even if soju's out.
Wonder if cabbage exists in this world.
I pondered as I moved my chopsticks.
But once again, empty.
"...Did a beggar settle in my stomach?"
I slapped more meat on the grill and asked the bunny girl,
"Any safe spots around here worth living in?"
"You dumb, myo? This is the wilds, myo. Weaklings don't get nice places, myo."
Fair point.
Embarrassed, I scratched the back of my head, and the bunny sighed.
"Only one way to live here, myo. Bow your head to one of the four dinosaur bosses who own the forest, myo."
I updated her.
"Now it's three. Or three dinos and one human."
She glared, demanding an explanation.
I pointed at the butchered Cryoraptor.
She looked at the meat she was holding.
Then back at the dino.
Her ears flapped as she repeated it for a while, then...
"Myooooooo!"
She screamed.
After shrieking for a bit, she stared at me with wide eyes.
"You were an amazing man, myo!"
I smirked at the praise and asked again,
"So, any livable spots in my territory?"
Munching meat, she replied,
"Dunno. I only pass through when heading to the lake, myo."
Not helpful.
"Why ask, myo?"
"Thinking of building a base."
No more roofless living.
No more tunnel life with palm-sized bugs bursting from the dirt at every chance.
I wanted a house, defenses.
A bed, if possible.
"Guess I'll have to scout around."
Sighing, I opened the gallery.
Planning to crowdsource a base site.
I was wondering what aggro to pull today
when aggro pulled me instead.
💬 Comments — [Is Knowledgeable Person okay] The gallery was flooded with a familiar anon nickname. Curious, I clicked one post.
— [What to do about Knowledgeable Person] -His daughter gets that disease of all things. Phoenix Flower went extinct 100 years ago. Seemed Knowledgeable Person's daughter was sick.
I'd gotten tons of help from him before, so I searched his posts on this bad news.
— [Need help.] Author: Knowledgeable Person -My daughter's got Red Bloom Syndrome. I've scoured the world for treatment, but no Phoenix Flower. If anyone has one, please contact me. Sad story under a photo of Phoenix Flower.
My eyes went wide.
There were perilla leaves.
Specifically, the bud.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Reinhardt Kingdom, Valencia Count's estate.
A middle-aged man there was trembling.
His blond hair was striking. Rodrigo de Valencia.
Head of Valencia Count's family. Known as the Kingdom's library: Knowledgeable Person.
"...Is there really no way?"
He muttered sadly, staring ahead.
There lay something with the same bright blond hair.
Yes, something.
The figure on the bed was a genderless, faceless mystery.
Swollen like a bloated water balloon, unrecognizable.
"Nana..."
Clutching his swollen daughter's hand, calling her name.
Yes, this grotesque lifeform was his daughter.
Bloated from endless blood production via Red Bloom Syndrome.
"Ugh..."
She groaned in pain.
The count spoke watching her.
"Just hold on a bit longer. Father will soon..."
His words stopped.
He couldn't say "Father will fix you."
No way existed.
He'd tried everything.
Summoned 100 priests for group healing.
Even cut her to drain blood.
Mobilized 10,000 herbalists to scour every Eastern mountain.
All failed.
Not one success.
"...Powerless."
Called the kingdom's library, yet utterly powerless.
Knowledge meant nothing without the herb.
"As a father, I'm so powerless."
As self-doubt gripped him, the door opened.
A servant entered, followed by a priest in pure white robes.
"Eek!"
The priest grimaced at the daughter's state.
Infuriating, but the count let it slide.
Not important now.
"How is she?"
The priest shook his head coldly.
"At most... a day."
"...I see. Leave."
Dismissing the priest, the count collapsed into a chair.
Staring blankly at the ceiling like a soulless man.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ -Shihanbu-nim has started broadcasting. A notification: Gallery user Shihanbu, whom he'd bookmarked, started streaming.
Normally he'd have a servant prep tea and tune in.
But not today.
As he swiped to dismiss,
he caught the stream title.
— [Knowledgeable Person-nim. Is this Phoenix Flower?] Mesmerized, he joined the stream.
Shihanbu was reaching for a flower.
No leaves visible, but that hypnotic red bud.
Definitely Phoenix Flower.
He typed frantically.
— Knowledgeable Person Stop right now! Shihanbu's hand froze mid-reach.
— Shihanbu Why? Isn't it? The count bit his lip.
It was Phoenix Flower.
He'd recognize it anywhere.
But the problem...
— Knowledgeable Person ...Pluck the bud and it sprays poisonous pollen. Yes, a toxic plant.
Deadly instantly to anyone without mana in their body.
"Damn! Why there of all places?!"
Anywhere else, he'd send every family mage.
But barriers blocked teleportation there.
The cure right before his eyes, unreachable.
"That so-called god... What a bastard. Tormenting me with false hope to the end."
As he vented helplessly,
— Shihanbu So if I have a dantian, it's safe to pick? Got it. Making one now. Shihanbu said he'd make a dantian right now—for him.
Grateful, but the count shook his head.
— Knowledgeable Person ...Thanks, but no time. His daughter's clock was nearly out.
— Shihanbu How much time left? — Knowledgeable Person ...A day, they said. — Shihanbu Plenty. Right, Heavenly Demon-nim? — Heavenly Demon With your talent and that, it won't take an hour. At Heavenly Demon's words, the count's eyes went to Shihanbu's hand.
A blue demon core.
From the Cryoraptor's heart.
— Heavenly Demon Let's set a record for fastest dantian, vice cult leader. — Shihanbu Said I didn't join the cult. Grumbling, Shihanbu crunched and swallowed the core.