Big Boar’s Thanks
The two who had taken down the Giant Snake circled around me.
“Geez—what’s with you all of a sudden?”
(Yeah. I thought you were just gonna finish it off.)
“Ah—sorry. I got mad when it started squeezing me, and I thought maybe I could go for it in the heat of the moment, but nope—couldn’t do it after all.”
“(Do what?)”
“… I’ve never been good with reptiles or amphibians, even in my previous life.”
“Reptiles?”
(Amphibians?)
“Uh, like snakes and frogs? That slimy feel just grosses me out…”
“Ah, I see. I figured you could handle anything. Just a feeling, you know.”
(Uh-huh, me too.)
“I’m fine with bugs, though~”
“… Speaking of which, what’d you throw at it earlier?”
“Ah—pepper and chili I had in storage.”
(Ah, that makes sense.)
While chatting like that, I packed the severed head into a bag without looking at it and stored it away.
“Got the bounty part! Now for the body.”
“It’s really big, you know? What’ll we do with it?”
(Maybe check if it’s edible first?)
“Oh, right. (Search).”
—
[Giant Snake]
A massive snake monster that lives in the forest.
Extremely strong, it quickly strangles prey to death and swallows it whole.
Material: The skin is elastic and can be processed into accessories.
Flesh: Firm and springy.
Fat: Moderately marbled.
Edible: Of course.
With this size, it’s enough for about 200 servings.
Delicious grilled or steamed.
How to eat: Same as eel.
Kabayaki, shirayaki, skewers, eel omelet, etc.
Note: From Westwoods in the Lampail Territory.
—
Eel—yes!!
I have to eat this! Steamed first like Kanto-style and then grilled would be great, but Kansai-style grilling from the start is tempting too…
But wait—this size means we can cook it all sorts of ways!
Giant Snake, you’re the best!!
“Hehehehe…”
“… Pearl, Joan’s laughing to herself.”
(Ah~ she gets like that sometimes when she starts thinking about cooking.)
“I see…”
(… Joan? Stop laughing to yourself already. You’re making Belle nervous. So, I’m guessing from that look it’s edible?)
“What!? It’s edible?”
“Yup!! And it’s super tasty!!”
“Huh~”
(Then let’s stash it quickly and go tell the Big Boar. But what’ll we do?)
“Do about what?”
(The request was to hunt the Big Boar, right? It’ll count as incomplete.)
“Oh…”
“Ah…”
(Don’t forget, Belle—this is you too, not just Joan.)
“… ‘Just me,’ huh. Well, fine. How about we consult the client? Think they’ll say no?”
“Hmm, stuff like this never happens, so I don’t know.”
(Anyway, let’s head back to the Big Boar.)
When we returned to the Big Boar family and reported the Giant Snake subjugation, Mama Boar nodded her head up and down. Looked like she was giving thanks.
“Then you’d better get back into the depths of the forest quick. If anyone sees you here, we’ll have to complete the request.”
Pearl explained to Mama Boar, then looked surprised.
“Pearl? What is it?”
(The Big Boar says we can break off her horn for the bounty part.)
“What—wouldn’t that make it hard for her without magic?”
(But she says she wants to thank us for saving them. And she doesn’t want the request to fail and cause trouble for us.)
“Mama… alright then. But breaking it won’t kill you, right?”
(It’s fine. You just can’t gather magic after that.)
“Then good… How should we break it? Think a sword would work?”
“No, probably not.”
(Then I’ll do it.) BANG!
A massive sound shook the ground, making us flinch and close our eyes. When we opened them again, Mama Boar’s horn was broken, and a large horn lay at her feet.
“Eh?”
“Eh?”
(Alright, now you can report it as complete.)
“Y-yeah…”
Sometimes Pearl’s more manly than anyone else.
That decisiveness and speed—I respect it.
After that, the Big Boar family headed back into the depths of the forest, looking back several times.
I stored the fine horn in my storage, showed the bounty part to Mac and the other sweet potato farmers we’d partnered with, and made our completion report.
“You two took it down? Miss Joan and this young lady?”
“Uh, Pearl here helped too.”
“Still, your strength’s as outrageous as ever.”
“Well, it’s Young Lady Joan after all.”
“Yeah, it’s Young Lady Joan.”
“Right, Young Lady Joan.”
“Of course, Young Lady Joan.”
(……)
(……)
… I don’t get it.
But thank goodness no one found out about Mama Boar.
When we’d finished the report and were about to head back to town—
(Joan, the Big Boar’s calling for you.)
“Huh!?”
“Huh!?”
(At the forest entrance. Want to go?)
“Yeah. Wonder what’s up?”
Riding Pearl to the forest entrance, just like she said, the Big Boar family was waiting there.
“What’s wrong?”
(She says she has something to give you.)
I looked over at the Big Boar family. At their feet was something wonderful.
“Th-this is bamboo shoots!? No way—can I really have all these?”
“Bamboo shoots? Aren’t those bamboo shoots? You can’t eat those, right? They’re bitter.”
“What are you talking about, Belle? Spring means bamboo shoots! They’re only bitter if you don’t remove the astringency properly. They’re delicious! Thank you, Mama!”
Overjoyed, I hugged Mama Boar.
—Oh, I’m so happy you’re this pleased.
“Of course—spring means these!”
—Exactly! Eating these makes you feel like spring’s here… I never thought I’d be saved by a human child and agree with them on food. You never know, huh?
“Totally. But from now on, live peacefully deep in the forest, okay? No more coming to human settlements.”
—Of course. Thank you, human child.
I stored the bamboo shoots—well, bamboo “shoots”—in storage. Counting them as I went, I found there were twenty. I might’ve been grinning halfway through, because Belle and Pearl looked a bit creeped out, but I didn’t care.
What do you think about this chapter?
