Wolves Are Good Leather Sources
"Haaam~"
Elsid yawned in the early morning and set off on his usual trek. He had been walking for days now, spending countless nights sleeping outdoors. When returning to his hometown of Ragna Castle, he had ridden comfortably in a carriage from the coach guild, but now that he had begun his journey, he traveled on his own two sturdy legs. Ragna Castle was a small, dangerous territory constantly swarming with monsters from the Thousand Water Forest, with fewer than a hundred residents, so there was no coach guild. Only one-way carriages existed; round trips were impossible. To make matters worse, the nearest village to Ragna Castle was Lime Village, a full week's walk away. Elsid pressed onward toward Lime Village with vigor, yet...
"This is boring."
He was utterly bored. The pitch-black wooden sword he had used for over ten years without a single crack, and the Arming Sword forged by his rival Vandel—these two blades hung quietly at his waist, left and right, without a single swing in days. As Elsid gazed up at the blue sky, lamenting the lack of anything happening, a rustling sound came from the bushes in the forest.
Rustle, rustle.
He lowered his head to look. Moments later, a black figure burst from the undergrowth.
"Grr."
It was a wolf with black fur. The creature stared at him and growled. Meeting its dark eyes, Elsid prepared to draw up his fighting spirit and reinforce his body at any moment.
"Awooo!"
Without the slightest hesitation, the wolf charged straight at him.
"Just as I thought."
Having anticipated the attack, Elsid reinforced his body and drew the wooden sword from his left waist, swinging it immediately. The wolf could not reduce its momentum in time and failed to dodge the strike.
Thwack!
Thud!
Like a baseball hurtling at high speed and being cleanly batted away, the wolf flew several meters and slammed into a tree in the forest. Yet it staggered back to its feet. Elsid had no intention of waiting for it to recover. He rushed forward and brought the black wooden sword down hard on the wolf's neck.
Crack!
"Yip!"
With the sound of something breaking, the wolf collapsed with a final cry. Its neck bone had snapped in an instant. But it was not over yet.
"Grr!"
"Grr!"
"Grr!"
A pack of wolves, far more than one or two, appeared before Elsid, their howls filled with rage. Wolves lived in packs. The one he had just killed must have belonged to this group.
"Finally, some fun."
Seeing the pack baring their fangs, Elsid drew the Arming Sword—still in its scabbard—from his other waist and assumed a dual-wielding stance. He showed no sign of fleeing. Instead, he smiled with delight, as if this were the perfect chance to shake off days of boredom.
"Here I come!"
With a battle cry, Elsid charged toward the pack himself. Five minutes later...
"Whew~"
His earlier worries proved unfounded. Whether eight or nine, the entire pack lay scattered across the ground as corpses, not a single drop of blood spilled. The man who had felled them all exhaled and took a moment to rest.
"The meat would be too heavy to carry, so I'll just skin the hides and take those."
A few minutes later, drawing the sword he had received from Vandel from its scabbard for the first time, Elsid began butchering the wolves while muttering to himself. How was it possible for someone who could not cut living beings with a blade due to his trauma—someone who fought only by crushing bones—to butcher so easily? Was it not simply a fear of blood?
"One last one."
After skinning the final wolf and gathering the pelts, Elsid swung the Arming Sword a few times to shake off the blood, sheathed it, and returned it to his waist. He packed the hides into his backpack, slung it over his shoulders, and resumed walking.
"Squeak!"
"Hiss!"
"Roar!"
The peace of the following days proved fleeting. Every few hours, wild beasts appeared as he walked—starting with wolves, then wild boars, vipers, deer, and finally even bears. Most of them left behind only their hides after dying. Most of them left behind only their hides after dying.
***
After several days of felling wild beasts, Elsid finally arrived at Lime Village. Unlike his hometown of Ragna Castle, proper guards stood before the low wooden palisade. Without any identification papers, Elsid had to pay an entry fee of five silver coins before he could enter.
"Pick and choose! Uncle, pick one! Miss, pick one!"
"Hey there, customer. This is the cheapest! Take a look before you go."
"You ate it? If you ate it, you have to buy it."
The village was far livelier than he had expected. From an auntie selling fruit at the market to a young man hawking wares and an old woman selling skewers, the scene brimmed with the scent of everyday life. Elsid smiled at the sight, then remembered why he had come and glanced around.
"Alright, let's work hard on that orc subjugation today too!"
"Honestly. Last time it was goblins, and now we're taking on requests that don't even pay well again."
"Hehe, that's Rain's charm, isn't it? He can't leave people in trouble behind."
His attention was drawn to a group nearby. A fiery-looking blond man wearing leather armor with a massive two-handed greatsword on his back, a middle-aged man in a green hood carrying a bow and arrows, and a young girl with a youthful air smiling at the two of them. A party of three.
'Adventurers, huh...'
Elsid murmured inwardly after catching a snippet of their conversation. Their equipment alone made it clear they were not merchants or desk workers. Every piece was specialized for combat. Still, he soon lost interest and hurried on, recalling his purpose in the village.
***
"It's still the same."
Though more than ten years had passed, the general store selling all sorts of goods remained exactly as he remembered it. Perhaps because it was a rural village, nothing had changed. The old shop was marked by its weathered signboard, where potion bottles and rolled-up scrolls crossed paths.
"Excuse me."
Elsid carefully opened the door and stepped inside.
Jingle!
"Welcome!"
A bell rang, and a young girl who looked no older than ten greeted him as the clerk.
"What brings you here today?"
"Ah, I came to sell some hides and other things."
After a brief hesitation at being welcomed by someone so young, Elsid removed the pack from his back and turned it upside down.
Clatter.
Naturally, all the byproducts he had obtained from slaying wild beasts spilled out.
"..."
"Excuse me?"
"Ah, yes. Please wait a moment."
Whether stunned by the number of hides or the variety of byproducts—including boar tusks and bear gallbladders—the clerk quickly regained her composure and began tallying the items with swift hands.
"Twenty-three wolf pelts, seven boar pelts and tusks each, twelve snake venom sacs, two bear gallbladders, and various other byproducts. That comes to seventy-seven gold and twenty-three silver."
Thud.
Moments later, the clerk placed a pouch brimming with gold and silver coins on the table, settling the full payment.
"Is there anything else you need?"
She asked Elsid if he required anything more after paying for the goods.
"Then I'll take a kingdom map, some spices, and these and those."
Pointing with his finger, Elsid placed his order. The kingdom map he had bought over five years ago needed replacing with a recent one, and he purchased plenty of spices and salt to vary the flavor of the meat obtained from the hides. Wolf meat was tough and bear meat bitter, so they were unsuitable for simple roasting during his travels and he had not bothered to butcher them, but boar meat and the surprisingly mild snake meat had been worth keeping. Having grilled that meat several times while camping, spices and salt were essential to avoid growing tired of the taste.
"Come again next time, customer."
"..."
After purchasing everything he needed, Elsid left the store. The clerk waved with a smile, telling him to visit again. Elsid said nothing in reply but waved back as he departed.
"Let's see. My location is here."
After waving goodbye and putting some distance between himself and the store, Elsid examined the kingdom map he had just bought and muttered to himself.
"To reach the trading city of Nao..."
Following the regular route marked on the map would take at least several days on foot. But cutting through the forest instead of sticking to the road would get him there in less than a day.
"Alright. Let's go through the forest."
Without the slightest hesitation, Elsid chose the forest path that would reach his destination in the shortest time rather than the regular route. He had no idea that orcs had recently begun appearing in that forest. Well, even if they did show up, they would pose no threat anyway...