Chapter 35

After defeating the boar monster, I emerged in an open area near the entrance to the fourth underground floor.

Today, I plan to stop hunting and spend the night here.

I used a lot of magic power in the battle with it, and I also lost a significant amount of protection to heal the complex fracture in my left arm.

There's an unwritten rule among explorers to camp near the entrance. It's easier to deal with monster attacks when explorers are grouped together.

"Hmm, hmm, hmm"

I hummed a tune as I began to dissect the boar monster. This monster, which is over 3 meters long, should provide a lot of meat.

Thanks to Kuna burning it from the inside, the lower half was blown away, but the upper half is mostly intact and should be edible.

First, I need to drain the blood. Using earth magic, I suspended it on a pillar and slit its neck artery.

Since the heart has stopped, not much blood flows. I forced the heart to pump by sending electrical signals through magic, efficiently draining the blood.

The purple blood quickly filled the stone bucket I made with magic. I prepared another stone bucket next to it.

"[Purify Water]"

Then, I used a magic spell I developed in the game era.

This is an evolved form of [Purify].

After successfully purifying water in the underground maze, we faced the next challenge: water sources are scarce, especially in the middle layers. To overcome this, we decided to obtain water from the most accessible resource: monsters.

[Purify Water] is the magic for this purpose.

A spell to collect moisture from the air was also developed, but it was inefficient, so this method became the mainstream in the game era.

I remove the miasma from the blood and separate only the water. The separated water flows into the stone bucket, while the impurities remain in the original bucket.

The removed miasma is absorbed into the miasma orb I carry.

"Hey, Soji-kun. Are you really going to drink that?"

"What is it, Kuna? Did you finish setting up the tent?"

I had asked Kuna to set up the tent. Her presence here means she has completed the task.

"Yes, I'm done. So, how about it? Are you really going to use that water?"

"Of course. I used valuable magic power to make it."

At that moment, Kuna made a very displeased face.

"Ugh, as expected."

"I don't understand why Kuna is so concerned."

I used a cup to drink the water I made from the boar monster's blood.

The water refreshed my overheated body.

"You really drank it. That's blood, you know."

"That's why, why are you so concerned? Kuna, you also eat bloody steaks and look like you enjoy them. This is far more hygienic since I've completely removed the impurities."

"…Now that you mention it, you're right."

It seems she had some internal conflict.

"Soji-kun, can I have some water too?"

"Sure, of course."

Where did I put the cup? As I was thinking, Kuna took the cup from my hand and drank the water. Her white throat moved. Just that simple action made me fixated.

"It tastes like regular water. Soji-kun, why are you staring at me?"

"Nothing, just thinking."

Joint kiss. I wondered what Kuna would do if I said that.

"Soji, I'm done with the preparations."

Anne, who had been setting up the campfire and cooking equipment, returned.

"Thanks. Let's start the dissection. Kuna, can you burn the fur without damaging the skin?"

"Another detailed request?"

"Can't you do it?"

"Of course I can! Just watch my skills."

Kuna gathered fire mana and activated the spell.

She burned the fur perfectly without leaving a single scorch mark on the skin. Her precision is still incredible. When it comes to the accuracy of fire magic, she surpasses even me.

"Preparations are complete. [Silver Magic: Form 2 - Sword: Slash]"

I activated the spell and transformed the mithril ring into a sword. It's a one-handed sword with a 60 cm blade, but the handle is slightly longer to allow for two-handed use.

I held it at my waist.

"[Crescent Moon]"

A horizontal slash enhanced by the concept of cutting.

When Anne used it, it only pierced the skin and cut a few centimeters. But when I use it...

"...Amazing, Soji, it's like this with you."

A silver flash, and the boar monster's head fell.

Magic is multiplicative. It doubles the power of a physical technique. This means the difference in the original technique's quality is also amplified.

That's why magicians, despite their overwhelming abilities, strive to master physical techniques.

"[Windmill]"

I compressed air between the skin and the flesh and released it, causing an explosion.

A silly "puff" sound, and the boar's body expanded like a balloon.

After the body deflated, I traced the skin with the blade without damaging the hardened surface. I grabbed the cut skin with both hands, and it peeled off smoothly.

It's difficult to damage the hardened surface, but applying force between the skin and the flesh makes it easy to separate them. After that, I can easily extract the meat by peeling it off.

Once the skin is removed, the rest is easy. I changed the sword's weight distribution to a cleaver and cut from the navel to the collarbone. Then I split the belly and removed the organs.

To finish it off, I destroyed the junctions between the spine and the ribs, resulting in three large pieces. Then I cut them into smaller portions.

"Phew, today I'll try the delicious parts around the ribs."

I cut out about 10 kg of meat, but that's only a fraction of the total.

I'll smoke the loin for preservation, but I can't carry it all.

"Ugh, it looks delicious even though it's a monster."

"True, once it's cut up, it looks like a regular boar."

"Well, it's just meat. But it's too tough for ordinary people to eat."

The meat is hard, not as much as the surface, but still tough due to the strong muscles supporting its ridiculous physical abilities.

But explorers should be able to chew it without a problem.

"How are you going to cook it?"

"Over the campfire, with salt. It's a fitting meal for camping."

"Saliva, my carnivorous instincts are kicking in. My mother and sister preferred stewed dishes, so this is a rare treat."

Indeed, a lady. She must have grown up eating elaborate, refined dishes. I'll let her enjoy the wild, explorer-style cooking.

◇

I grilled the rib meat over the campfire, thoroughly rubbing it with salt and pepper before cooking. The meat is skewered on a stick and placed on two Y-shaped pillars surrounded by stones.

By rotating the skewer on the Y-shaped pillars, the meat cooks evenly.

The smell of pepper and meat juice is overwhelmingly appetizing. My mouth has been watering since before.

"Hey, Soji, isn't the campfire strange?"

"Yeah, it's strange. I've been ready to adjust the heat, but it's at the ideal level, which is kind of unsettling."

Cooking over a campfire is surprisingly difficult. If you're not careful, it will either burn or be undercooked.

However, today's campfire maintains a strong enough heat to cook the meat thoroughly without burning it. It even seems to have a will of its own, first strongly cooking the surface to seal in the juices, then gradually cooking the inside.

No, it's not just that. I focused my magic on my eyes and observed carefully. Despite being a simple campfire, it emits strong infrared rays, cooking the inside thoroughly.

The only one who can do this is...

"Meat! Meat! Delicious meat!"

"It's you, Kuna!"

"Wha!? What's the sudden outburst, Soji-kun?"

The moment Kuna was startled, the flames burned more intensely.

"Oh, the meat!"

When Kuna hurriedly looked at the campfire, the flames calmed down.

"Really, it's very impolite to talk during cooking!"

Kuna's tail bristled, and she looked angry.

"Kuna, do you really need to go through the trouble of using a campfire?"

The moment she heard this, Kuna's ears perked up. This is her reaction when she's caught.

"N-no, that's not true. Directly heating the inside without using fire after cooking the surface is faster, keeps the juices in, and retains the moisture, so it's impossible to make it taste good."

"Anne, should we put out the fire?"

"Sure. It seems faster and the food will taste better."

"Stop, stop! The campfire rotation looks more delicious! It's more fun! Please, let it be, let it be! Rotate it more!"

Kuna desperately tried to stop us. She must really enjoy rotating the meat.

In the end, we gave in to Kuna and cooked the meat over the campfire. Indeed, the campfire rotation is romantic.

◇

"It's delicious. The campfire rotation is the way to go."

I cut the large ribs into pieces and distributed them to everyone.

There's plenty of meat from the giant boar monster.

"Kuna, that's not very ladylike."

Kuna bit into the bone-in meat and wagged her tail. Her mouth was full of meat juice.

"Anne, wild dishes should be eaten wildly. It's rude to eat such food politely."

"True, it would be odd to eat this food elegantly."

I also bit into the meat like Kuna.

I scraped off the best part of the meat attached to the bone with my teeth. Eating it politely would waste the flavor.

The strong taste of the meat spread in my mouth.

"If Soji says so. Here goes."

Anne also put down her knife and fork and bit into the meat like Kuna and me. Her face was slightly red, perhaps from embarrassment.

"The meat looks like a boar, but it has a beef-like taste. I've never had such meat before. Monsters aren't all bad."

Indeed, this meat is delicious. If the tendons are thoroughly removed or it's minced to make it tender, it could be sold outside.

However, since only I can purify it, it's difficult.

Occasionally, other parties camping nearby would be drawn by the smell of the meat and look at the pile of dissected boar monster meat I had stacked next to the tent, their faces showing shock.

They probably know that eating monster meat is suicidal.

"Kuna, Anne, here's some tea."

After we finished eating, I made tea with boiling water from the campfire and served it to the two of them.

This tea was bought in the city. I chose one with a relaxing effect. It was a bit expensive, but in the underground maze with few entertainments, such luxuries are a great help.

"Soji-kun, you're thoughtful. The meat was heavy, so this tea is a relief."

"Delicious tea. You're a better tea maker than our butler."

The two princesses drank the tea with genuine enjoyment. I'm glad they liked it.

We enjoyed some conversation by the campfire for a while when a ragged party approached us.

A group of six. From their equipment, four are combatants and the other two are porters.

They looked terrible. Their equipment was mostly broken beyond use, their cheeks were sunken, and their skin was dry.

They probably didn't have much water or food.

This is a common occurrence. While diving deep, they likely encountered a powerful enemy and barely escaped. While waiting for their injuries to heal, their food ran out, or they lost their supplies while fleeing.

Judging by the lack of supplies, the latter is more likely.

Kuna and Anne tensed up.

"Give us food and water. We'll kill you if you resist."

The leader of the group, who had reached us, pointed a sword at me.

Losing supplies is common, so robbing other parties for supplies is also common.

According to the statistics on deaths in the underground maze, being killed by monsters is only the third leading cause, accounting for about 20%.

The leading cause is lack of food and water, followed by being killed by other humans.

Even in their poor condition, a high-level party could still kill us all.

Resisting means death.

I need to choose my words carefully. So I...

"Refuse."

I answered with a smile.