Chapter 12

In a situation where the existence of magic could not hide his surprise, Xiaoming decided to first proceed with the task at hand, which was to deal with the boar in front of him.

The bloodletting only needed to be done to the point where the blood flowed out. When touched, it was still warm, close to body temperature.

"Alright. Since there’s a pond, let’s cool it down there."

He asked Lizathia, who had returned, to carry the boar.

"Sure. I’ll take it over there."

She lifted the boar by its front legs and submerged it in the pond.

"By the way, you seem to know how to hunt. Was it your livelihood?"

Sitting on the edge of the pond, he started talking. Despite her being taller, she looked up at him with a gaze from below. She’s quite tall.

"My grandfather was a hunter, so I know a bit. Although, this is the first time I’ve hunted with a stone spear."

"I see. Your grandfather was a hunter, huh?"

It was past noon, but he wasn’t hungry, still feeling the excitement.

He chatted idly while waiting for the boar to cool down.

Since his divorce, he hadn’t had many opportunities to talk to girls except for those at his company, and this was very enjoyable.

On the other hand, he felt a bit down about spending time with her in a situation where his livelihood was uncertain and he didn’t know what the future held.

Well, since the proposal was a misunderstanding, he decided to have a proper talk with her once they reached the village.

After about two hours, the boar had cooled down.

"Alright, let’s start the butchering."

Butchering a boar of this size was something he hadn’t done since middle school, and he had no confidence.

"Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of it."

Lizathia offered to help.

She lifted the boar from the pond and laid it on its back on a cloth-like tarp, spreading its limbs. Ah, it’s a male.

She stuffed the cloth into the anus and carefully peeled the skin, just above the fat layer.

Using a butchering knife, she cut off the head at the neck and tied the intestines near the anus with a string.

Avoiding the reproductive organs and bladder, she cut from the center of the abdomen to the throat in one swift motion. As soon as she cut through the diaphragm, the internal organs spilled out.

She carefully removed the remaining bladder.

"Can I have the liver? I want to make lunch."

"Sure. Please, go ahead."

"Also, do you have a frying pan? And could you lend me a knife?"

"I don’t have a frying pan, but there’s a thick pot in the utility bag. Please use that. There’s also a little salt in it."

She pulled a knife from her chest and handed it to him.

He had already confirmed that leeks and chili peppers were growing in clusters nearby.

He took out a thick single-hand pot and salt from the utility bag and headed to the makeshift stove from yesterday.

Since there was still some firewood left from yesterday, he started the fire. He gathered leeks near the pond and chili peppers from the edge of the river and forest.

He chopped the leeks and liver and ground the chili peppers with a stone after removing the seeds.

He dropped the boar fat into the pot and waited for it to melt.

Once the fragrant aroma of lard rose, he quickly sautéed the chili peppers.

When the spicy aroma rose, he added the liver. Once it was slightly colored, he added the leeks.

When the leeks were coated with oil and heat and turned a fresh green, he added salt and took the pot off the fire.

"Lunch is ready."

When he went to the pond, he saw Lizathia carefully washing the intestines.

"I’m done with this part. Let’s eat."

Checking the butchering site, he saw that the boar had been divided into sections.

The edible organs were sorted and placed in cloth bags and submerged in the pond, while the inedible parts were buried in a hole.

She held a wooden spoon, and he held makeshift chopsticks he had whittled, approaching the pot.

"I didn’t know you could make such a dish with those plants. I only knew them as herbs."

"It’s a dish from my region, but it’s a bit incomplete without more seasonings?"

She smiled and started eating.

"Mm... Mm. It’s delicious. This is just salt, right?"

She smiled with surprise and delight.

"Fresh liver is really delicious."

As a modern person accustomed to excessive salt, he realized that the saltiness was indeed important.

After finishing the meal, they cleaned up and finished dealing with the boar. All that was left was to head to the village.

"Let’s get going. It’s about 5 km to the village."

Hearing this, he felt a bit disappointed that they might have found a settlement in just an hour of walking.

He decided to pray to God to avoid camping if possible.