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The quest was a two-day walk north of the Royal Capital to a rocky area in the mountains.
Simply put, it was a canyon between cliffs where there was nothing but rock.
We confirmed the target of our quest with a picture in the monster encyclopedia. As Vinnie said, it was a horned rabbit, which was about two times larger in size than a common rabbit.
While the common Horned Rabbit inhabits grasslands, the Rock Hopper Horned Rabbit is a monster that lives in rocky areas, runs through rocks at a frightening speed, and attacks with the horns on its head.
They are more difficult to see than the ones in the meadows, so if they are targeted, the damage is much worse.
As soon as we left the guild, Keith and Margot joined us and we proceeded with a party of five to the rocky area where we planned to take it down.
I was in charge of luggage and food since I had a Magic Bag.
I had to check the rocket stove I had just made, and I couldn’t be the only one cooking and eating in the party.
With less baggage and the presence of [Physical Enhancement] I cast on everyone, we progressed quickly.
Normally, it would have taken two full days to camp in front of the target subjugation area, and then we would have started the next morning or the morning of the third day, but we arrived at the target subjugation area by noon on the second day and began the fight.
“Alan, I didn’t expect us to get here so early.” (Vinnie)
Vinnie smiled and said to Alan.
“Yeah, let’s take down as many as we can and bring them back. Are you guys ready? Let’s go as we planned.” (Alan)
“””Yeah! (Yes!)””” (Everyone)
The vanguards are Alan the warrior and Keith the spearman, with the magicians Vinnie and Margot in the rearguard.
Since Tamers aren’t very strong in combat, so it is normal for me to fight as a rearguard with my familiar in front of me, but as someone, who can use Sword and martial arts to a certain extent, was chosen to be in a middle guard.
I can also use [Exploration], so it would be just right.
I used [Exploration].
“It’s coming from about 50 meters away, two o’clock on your right.” (Louis)
A rabbit with gray fur and horns headed toward Keith at a speed that made me think it was a bullet, but it was easy to avoid if I knew which direction it was coming from.
The question was whether he could strike a blow, but with his skill, he was unable to strike a blow because he was too focused on avoiding it.
As Keith dodged, the Rock Hopper Horned Rabbit came at me.
I deployed my Magic Shield, so I dared to take it head-on.
The Rock Hopper Horned Rabbit slowed down the moment it hit the magic shield.
My magic shield is designed to reduce the power from the outside, so no matter how fast it is, it has no choice but to slow down when it hits.
Not missing the moment it slowed down, I decapitated it with my dagger.
For the first one, I immediately took out my Vampire Knife and drained its blood.
As Hector-san had taught me, I realized that it was amazing to be able to drain blood in an instant.
I immediately threw the carcass into my Magic Bag and continued.
“Another one, coming from 50 meters towards us 2 o’clock on the right.” (Louis)
This time Keith’s spear caught the Rock Hopper Horned Rabbit squarely.
He delivered a solid blow to the gut.
“Next one will come from 100 meters in front of you and one from 10 o’clock on your left.”
Alan met the Horned Rabbit coming from the front with his sword, and when Margot saw the Rock Hopper Horned Rabbit coming from the left, she deployed a thin double wall of water using water magic to slow it down, and Vinnie finished it off with a Water Arrow.
After confirming that there were no monsters in the 300-meter square area using [Exploration], the carcass of the Rock Hopper Horned Rabbit we had killed was drained of blood and thrown into the magic bag.
We repeated the subjugation until the evening and were able to kill 20 of them.
As the sun was beginning to set, we moved to the planned campsite and began preparing to set up camp.
We set up our tents after checking for safety by conducting a quick scan at the campsite, but I was the only one who had stored my tent in its original form, so I finished preparations in a flash and set up my rocket stove.
The fuel for the rocket stove was procured on-site, but I didn’t have to go through the trouble of collecting dead branches because I simply picked up the appropriate branches and used [Separation] on them to remove the moisture.
A stove made by piling up stones is fine, but for cooking, a rocket stove provides a more stable heat.
I can use the meat from the Rock Hopper Horned Rabbit, but this time I’m going to make a bowl of rice with the Jewel Boar Meat that I still have a lot of, but I need to check with the others first.
“Today I want to have a meal with rice. Is it okay for everyone to eat rice?” (Louis)
Everyone tilted their heads, so I told them that rice is a grain grown on the Green Continent for animal feed, but that it is very tasty.
Everyone assured me that if the rice was good, then it would be fine, and so I set to work cooking it.
While the rice was being washed and getting prepared for cooking, I cut up the Jewel Boar Meat and prepared it with flour, raw eggs, and breadcrumbs.
Once the rice is cooking and steaming, I heat the oil and chop the onions.
When the oil reaches the right temperature, I fry the cutlets.
It would be better to fry the cutlets twice, but there is only one stove on the rocket stove, so I fry them just once.
The cutlets are fried enough for the number of people in the party, but there will probably be requests for more, so I fry servings five times the number of people in the party.
The smell of fried food was in the air, stimulating my appetite.
I put the rice in a bowl, put the onions in a pot, and cooked two portions at a time, using the tsuyu I had prepared. [T/N: Tsuyu is a Japanese dipping sauce made from Japanese-style stock/dashi, soy sauce, mirin/sake.]
After cooking three times, the pork cutlet rice bowl was ready for the number of people, and the meal began. Next to me, Huey jiggled in happiness and sent a telepathic message, “Yummy!”
From other members of the party,
“This rice is delicious!”
“Jewel Boar Meat is the best!”
“Louis’s cooking never fails!”
“I’ve never tasted anything like it! It’s good! Delicious! Yum!”
I was glad the rice was accepted.
I continued to cook and finished the meal as seconds continued three more times.
Now we were all chatting peacefully over tea.
When I asked them about it, they told me that all four of the Tiger’s Roar are 20 years of age, all from the slums of Ares, the Royal Capital, or rather, they are all adults that didn’t even know their own birthdays.
They say they are all friends who have lived with other similar-aged people.
I was told that there are many abandoned children in the slums who have become street children and are living on the verge of committing crimes or stealing.
I heard that Alan and his friends have lived the same way, but that some of the adventurers came to check on them from time to time and provided them with food and clothing so that they could survive until adulthood.
It’s a serious problem, but I can’t do anything about it now.
I could provide food and clothing like the adventurers who have helped Alan and his family, but it would only be temporary.
I didn’t expect to be informed of a similar reality in another world as on Earth.
“Don’t feel sorry for us just because you heard this story, okay?” (Kieth)
Keith said with a serious expression.
“Oh, of course. I can’t do what everyone else does, and I’m too busy doing my own thing..” (Louis)
“I think it is all right, Louis. We’ll take care of the slums.” (Vinnie)
A motivated Vinnie said.
“Yeah, I guess so.” (Louis)
Alan replied with a deep nod, and Margot nodded in agreement.
“Yes, I wanted to ask you both of you magicians. Can you use Heal?” (Louis)
I asked to change the topic.
“I can’t use Heal, but Margot can.” (Vinnie)
“Margot, will you teach me [Heal]? I have an aptitude for the Holy Attribute, but I can’t use any of the spells.” (Louis)
“I will. It’s my thanks for letting me eat a delicious meal.” (Margot)
Margot then taught me about [Heal], which was difficult for me to understand because Margot is a girl of few words.
I learned from summarizing Margot’s words, that the image of [Heal] is to share a drop of life of the person casting to another person being cured, but I couldn’t do it when I tried to invoke it with the same image.
Later, after talking to Margot again, I learned that [Heal] can be used not only with Holy Attribute but also with Water Attribute, and the [Heal] that Margot uses is using Water Attribute.
I am someone who has no aptitude for the four major attributes. So, I could not activate [Heal] with the image used for the Water Attribute [Heal].
Ah, I felt like this was a waste of time and gave up.
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