Chapter 8: Fleeing (Part 2)
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Translator: SFBaka
Suddenly, something jumped out in front of the road. It was a fang boar like the one I encountered previously.
However, it seemed about two sizes smaller than the boar I killed. I stopped myself from taking aim with the rifle. This seemed like a good opportunity, so let’s defeat it with a sword.
The energy reserves of my laser gun and rifle were limited. They could be considered my trump cards, so I want to reserve them as much as possible.
This boar looked like the first monster I killed in the RPG I played before. It was perfect for practice. If things got too close for comfort, I could still just finish it off with a rifle.
I pulled out my sword and took a stance. Somehow, the boar seems a bit too excited. It repeatedly pawed the ground. Do I have enough time to put down my luggage? When I thought that, the boar suddenly lunged forward.
I didn’t panic and slashed its side right after avoiding its charge just like how I did it in the game.
Hm? That’s it? It’s over just like that? Did it make for good practice?
Then, three wolves appeared from the side of the road next.
This fang boar was apparently chased out to this place by these three.
Nice timing. I happen to be lacking some practice opponents, guys.
I’ve already locked on to the wolves. If it looked dangerous, I just needed to put the rifle up and pull the trigger. I need to make sure they don’t get to Cleria who’s out back.
The wolves seemed to be angry that their prey was taken from them. They attacked immediately.
They jumped up and pounced from above, but that was a bad move.
I slipped from the side like with the wild boar from earlier and slashed out with my sword. One wolf’s head easily got separated from its neck and flew out. This sword sure cuts well.
Seems the other two learned from the earlier clash and attacked me simultaneously from both sides. Naive! I threw my electromagnetic bladeknife at the one on the left before it managed to jump. The knife accurately pierced the wolf’s throat. Throwing techniques are actually one of my strongest suits. I cut the head of the one on the right just like earlier. I then finished off the wolf who got struck with my knife.
That was honestly a bit of a let-down. Well, even if they’re wolves, they’re nothing more than big canines. When I turned to Cleria to see how she’s doing, I saw her gazing at me with a blank expression. Oh well.
Anyways, I got us some meat! And the timing’s perfect too. I didn’t have that many items packed inside the food bag. The only meat we had was of the dried variety. I wanted Cleria to eat some proper meat for her recovery after all.
Let’s butcher these guys right away.
I had Nanom indicate the parts I should secure. I dismantled them according to Nanom’s instructions.
Oops. Can this tendon really be eaten? I see. Let’s secure a lot then. Oh boy, even the innards huh?
Alright! We now have both meat and vegetables. We’ve also got cooking tools and salt. It’s a feast tonight!
We started walking again after I collected the meat. I threw bodies of the defeated wolves below the valley.
I finally spotted a river after some time. Been a while since I saw one. Hey, that’s it! How about camping near the water? Maybe we could even bathe in it.
Looks like we could easily go down the river. And it was relatively shallow, so there should be no dangerous creatures within it. I made my intentions known to Cleria by gesturing. It looks like she’s in high spirits as well. I wonder why?
Although we already went down to the river, I made sure to chose a spot where we couldn’t be seen from the road. This should be a nice spot. The shore was nice and wide. There was also a small pool formed due to the flow of the river being slow.
I made a simple stove using some stones I picked up from nearby. I also had to gather some firewood. Cleria also helped by taking out ingredients with her only remaining hand.
The cooking utensils available were just a saucepan, frying pan, and a small cutting board. The only seasonings were salt, pepper, and herbs. There were only a few types of seasonings, but the amount was decent, so I could use them up without worrying.
As per Nanom’s earlier instructions, I managed to secure some rib meat, thigh meat, liver and tendons. The liver goes bad easily, so I’ll cook it all up tonight.
First of all, I need to drain the liver of blood and remove the smell. Since there’s no strainer available, I divided some small stones on the river shallows and placed the thinly cut slices of liver on them, exposing them to the water. I’ll leave them like that for a bit.
I went back from the river and found that Cleria had started a fire already. What a sensible young lady.
The tendons were best when boiled well, but since there’s no time for that, let’s go with yakiniku instead. They would be too tough to chew if they were cut thickly, so I sliced them thinly instead.
The main dish for tonight is vegetable stir fry with rib and thigh meat. The vegetables I’ll be using are mock-potatoes… err, potos and the stem vegetable from earlier. They were still covered in some soil, so I headed towards the river once more in order to wash them.
Hey, there’s something in the water! I threw my knife at it.
Damn! A salmon-like fish broke the stone partition I made earlier to wash the liver and ate a good portion of the slices. There was only about half of it left. Well, I was actually thinking there was too much of it earlier to be honest, and I kinda wanted something other than boar meat too.
I pulled out my knife and pushed my finger inside the open wound.
[Suitable as food.]
I’ll have Cleria consume this thing as well. I cut this large salmon into three after washing the vegetables.
(Can this be eaten raw?)
[It is possible.]
This is nice! I had some hard bread stuffed inside the food bag, so let’s make a thinly sliced salmon canape. The rest of it would be grilled with salt. It seemed to have quite a bit of fat, so it should be delicious.
The appetizers are salmon canape, grilled liver slices, and tendon yakiniku. The main dishes would be salt grilled salmon and stir-fried meat and veggies. It’s quite a lot.
There were only cooking pots and pans but there were few serving plates, so let’s prepare one dish first, eat it all up and serve the next dish afterward.
First, let’s prepare the salmon canapes. Cut the hard bread into slices and place the thinly cut salmon strips seasoned with salt and herbs on top of them. Then let’s put them on the only available wooden serving plate.
When I checked out the herb container, it seemed to be a mixture of different types and had a rather complex scent and flavor. Was this a type of versatile seasoning?
Now that it’s done, I encouraged Cleria to eat. Her gaze was fixed on the plate.
Yeah, it’s good. I actually wanted to add some cheese as well, but the salmon was quite rich in natural fat, so it’s fine as is. The crispy texture of the bread also served as an accent, making it tastier.
Cleria was eating up like a storm. It’s good that she likes it.
Next would be grilled liver. I seasoned them with salt, pepper, and herbs inside the saucepan. Since the slices had a gamey smell, I added more of the herbs to counteract it. I grilled them on the heated frying pan. Since the slices were thin, I only needed to grill both sides. If grilled too much, the slices will harden up and shrink, so you need to watch the timing.
I also put it on the wooden plate after cooking it. I tried some together with Cleria. Yup, these are good too.
A slight odor remains, but the rich taste of the liver spreads inside the mouth. The crucial point is how much you grill it after all.
Cleria also ate this dish without reserve. Rather, this was a menu prepared for Cleria, so I did want her to eat a lot.
I didn’t use the herb mixture for the tendon yakiniku. If you ate meat dishes with the same flavor over and over, you’ll quickly get bored of the taste.
This stuff was also delicious after being thoroughly cooked. It’s a bit tough, but that chewy and crisp texture offers a unique sensation inside the mouth.
Cleria also ate it with gusto. She’s been eating so much since earlier. Will she be able to finish eating all the dishes? I feel like she’s eaten twice as much as me?
The next one is the main dish – salt grilled salmon. I also flavored this with salt alone. Cleria still seemed raring to go, so I grilled some more portions.
You need to pay attention to the grilling process here. I’ve already removed the scales, so I need to make sure the skin would taste great. First, grill the skin until it is lightly singed and gains a nice and crispy texture. Grilling it any more than necessary would ruin the dish.
Hm. This should be enough. I really do prefer the skin more rather than the fish meat. Cleria seems to share my opinion and finished off her portion in a flash.
The last dish is meat and vegetable stir fry. I cut the potato-like Poto into two portions each and the stem veggie into seven pieces. I cooked the Poto first. I added the thinly sliced rib meat and thigh meat next. I added the stem veggie cuts last since I wanted them to retain that crisp texture. I seasoned the dish with salt, pepper and a dash of herbs. It would be best to cook this dish quickly.
I tried it immediately after it was done. Delicious! The first thing you’d taste was the rich meat juices of the rib meat. The thigh meat was also similarly delicious. But its main draw was the fresh and crisp texture of the stir-fried veggies. This was a dish that makes people think food with only meat on them just won’t do.
I made quite the amount of stir-fried meat and veggies, but we managed to finish it all anyway. Cleria seems to be quite satisfied.
(Cleria seems to have eaten quite a lot. Is she okay?)
[No problems detected. Today’s quota has been cleared.]
I see. So that’s the case. Cleria’s increased appetite was most likely the result of Nanom stimulating it so that it could obtain the necessary raw materials to regenerate her foot. It must’ve stimulated her a lot. Otherwise, her appetite was abnormal.
What should I do? Of course, I could choose to stop Nanom from regenerating her limbs. But that would be a last resort.
I can’t possibly prepare this amount of food while traveling. We were just lucky today. And traveling long distances using a prosthetic was a tall order, to begin with. No matter how easy it was to walk with a prosthetic, it still poses some risk if used to walk for a long duration. If possible, I want to prioritize the regeneration process first.
Considering all this, our next course of action is decided. Let’s find a place near the river to serve as a base and stay there – at least until Cleria’s leg finishes regenerating. I also want to continue learning the local language.
Well then, how do I tell Cleria about my plans?
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