Chapter 165 - Wild Horse (2)

Thanks to Lackey, a troll for the ages, things had gone sideways right from the start. He had provoked a flame horse that looked anything but ordinary. I suspected he'd pulled this stunt to screw me over, but...

"Ook-aaaaagh!"

"Ne-e-e-eigh!"

What kind of place was the Forest of Four Seasons? Even its raccoons were clever, and its gorillas boasted intelligence on par with humans. Horses, meanwhile, were exceptionally intelligent animals even back where I came from.

Contrary to their image, wild horses lived in herds. Naturally, following established rules made them highly social creatures. We already knew all too well what happened when an intelligent animal lived in the Forest of Four Seasons, didn't we? Yes, this horse was far better at reading the room and assessing the situation than I'd imagined.

FWOOSH!

The flames pouring from the horse's mouth shot toward Lackey, not me. Unable even to use mana, he was too busy dodging to fight back. The flame horse focused exclusively on him. Maybe it knew I was innocent(?), or maybe it had simply caught the culprit red-handed.

Either way, I got to watch at my leisure from a little distance away. The heat was intense, but not unbearable.

"Neigh-heigh."

"This is tasty. Eat up."

I was also feeding the flame horse's foals while I was at it. I'd wondered why it had threatened Roundfur on sight. It turned out it had young in the cave. Babies being babies, their flames weren't as large as their mother's. Their eyes and manes merely flickered like tiny embers.

"Ooh-agh! Koo-agh! Kweeeek!"

"Wow. Look at him spin."

After chasing Lackey down, the flame horse caught him in its teeth and began whirling him around. He was pretty big himself, so those jaws must have been seriously strong. After toying with him for a while, the horse flung him off into the distance.

He was a wreck, his white fur scorched black. The occasional twitch suggested he was still breathing.

'That's what you get for being too clever for your own good.'

He'd probably planned to ask me to remove his suppressor once I was in trouble. Given the flame horse's strength, it could easily have come to that. I could tell he'd factored the speed-sloth into his scheme, too. Lackey knew that the sloth was our party's ultimate weapon, deployed only as a last resort.

'Did he catch on when I asked him to teach me?'

He'd also watched me train, so he must have been scheming since then. I had no idea what chain of reasoning had led him to provoke another creature, but one thing was certain. He'd fallen into his own trap.

'Moron.'

I inwardly mocked Lackey while cautiously watching the flame horse. Apparently satisfied that it had vented its anger, it approached its foals. Then it glanced at me and jerked its head as if telling me to get the hell out. I had no desire to fight, so I quietly backed away. Our side had started this, after all.

"Kweeeeng! Kweeng!"

"Kweeeing!"

The foals began crying as I moved away. All I'd done was give them some of the fasting pills I'd brought as emergency rations and pet them a few times, but they seemed attached already.

While their mother calmed them down, I went over to Lackey. His mouth hung slightly open, and he looked half out of his mind. To top it off, smoke was wafting from his mouth.

'He protected his glasses through all that.'

The funny thing was that he'd guarded those glasses to the bitter end. Apparently, he hadn't wanted to lose his new eyes.

'It's a waste of Elixir... but I don't have a choice.'

I administered Elixir to Lackey. A whole bottle would have been a waste, so I only used about half. His fur wasn't my problem; healing the serious injuries would do.

BZZZT!

"Ooooaaagh!"

Healing him was one thing. He still needed punishment. When I slapped my forearm hard, the suppressor activated. Lackey thrashed under the electric current, which stung worse than the flames. Given the situation, I kept it short instead of swearing.

"I'll deal with you when we get home."

"..."

Lackey said nothing. More likely, he couldn't. He might swear at me as he pleased, but right now, he was unquestionably a slave.

Today's stunt could have endangered me, so I felt the need to take this more seriously. In other words, I'd changed my mind. I needed to give a little more... thought to what to do with him. I'd have to find an efficient, effective approach, even if it was a little harsh on him. Carrots were all well and good, but it seemed I needed a stick, too.

I felt a couple of taps. Just as I'd more or less wrapped things up and was about to leave, the speed-sloth on my back poked the nape of my neck with its claws. Wondering what it wanted, I turned to look.

Speedy smoothly raised a claw to point at itself. It seemed to be asking me to leave Lackey to it.

As I'd mentioned before, Lackey was ultimately an animal. However fluently he spoke human language, animals would have their own ways of understanding one another. Since Speedy had volunteered, I might as well leave it to him.

'Speedy's at the top of the pecking order here anyway.'

Even I had to watch my step around him when I didn't have fasting pills. Besides, I owed him my life several times over. He might laze around all day, but he delivered when it mattered. I could trust him with this.

"Squeeeeal!"

"Wow. Are there nothing but fire-attribute animals around here?"

First, though, I needed to finish exploring. I marveled at a wild boar with blazing flames in place of a mane. A boar combined with fire... should I call it a fire boar? I instantly understood why this entire area had turned gray.

"Squeeeeeal!"

"Hot, hot, hot, hot!!!"

That aside, it had a nasty temper. I barely dodged the attack from the fire-breathing boar. Even if I blocked something like that with my shield, the flames would still burn me. I responded by wrapping my whole body in aura. It didn't have to absorb all the damage. Blocking even a little would be enough.

"Squeeeeal!!!"

The boar snorted flames and pawed the ground with a foreleg. It was unmistakably warning me, "I'm going to ram you." Soon enough, it charged just as promised. The sight of it barreling toward me engulfed in flames was immensely intimidating.

I smoothly moved my sword. But that charge was its fatal mistake. Did it have any idea what sort of sword I held? All I did was place the blade in its path.

The charging boar passed cleanly through Heavenly Demon's sword and collapsed. Normally, it should have been sliced in two, but the cold simply froze it solid instead. The ice held the severed surfaces together like glue.

'No need to worry about it spoiling, either.'

Wild boar it was for dinner tonight. I put it into my extradimensional backpack.

Then we headed back. We didn't encounter any other animals on the return trip.

"Kweeeeing!"

"Kwee-heigh! Kwee-heigh!"

The problem was the flame horse's foals clinging to me. I couldn't tell whether they wanted fasting pills or petting. I barely managed to send them back to their mother before returning to the shelter.

'Come to think of it, wasn't the reason animals liked being petted that we touched places they couldn't reach?'

That would make sense. I'd given them fasting pills, too, so they must have seen me as a friendly man.

I'd have loved to tame them, but unfortunately, their manes were made of fire. Riding one could burn my whole body, so I was better off giving up.

'Absorbing a fire-related essence wouldn't help, either.'

After all, I could manipulate cold now, but I had no cold resistance.

Once back at the shelter, I began preparing dinner. First, I'd butcher the boar that had been bisected and then frozen back together.

'... How am I supposed to butcher this?'

The tiger hadn't been split in two. This one, however, was already severed, with only ice holding the cut surfaces together. In other words, once it thawed, the membranes enclosing the organs would no longer hold in their contents, and everything would spill out.

'Bleeding it will be hard, too. I'll just pick out the edible parts.'

A shame. I'd wanted pork belly for the first time in ages. Though I wasn't sure if people here even considered pork belly a proper cut.

After puzzling over how on earth to butcher it, I finally posted on the forum.

Title) Caught a wild boar

Wild Grylls

(Photo of a boar split in half and frozen back together)

How do I butcher this? It froze after getting cut in half. Advice, please.

└Heavenly Demon) A sturdy-looking boar. You shall be eating meat for the first time in a while.

└Wild Grylls) I'm looking forward to it.

└Sword Masta) I used to hunt and eat boars often in my knight days. Brings back memories.

└Wild Grylls) Did you eat snakes, too?

└Sword Masta) Of course. Back then, I was hungry no matter what I ate.

└Oof. That's gonna be a bitch to butcher if it's cut in half.

└Best to take out the guts first, then drain the blood. Cut the head off right away.

└Looks like you'll only be able to eat the ribs?

└Wild boar's tough. Stick to the tender parts if you can.

└Starlight Lady) That boar looks a little unusual. Wasn't it dangerous?

└Wild Grylls) Its mane billowed like fire, and it breathed fire through its nose.

└Starlight Lady) From your description, it sounds like a fire boar.

└Wild Grylls) Is that a rare animal?

└Starlight Lady) Of course. It's a beast fused with an element. But rarity aside, its overall anatomy is no different from a wild boar's.

Its hide, however, was infused with fire energy, making clothes fashioned from it especially warm. She explained that this made the hide highly valuable to people in cold regions.

'It's already cut in half, so it isn't even a whole hide. Skinning it will be hard, too.'

Still, I ought to salvage as much as possible. Even if I didn't sell it, I could use it to prepare for winter.

I butchered the boar piece by piece and placed its organs in a bucket. Then I ordered Lackey to take the bucket and dump the contents in the river. Unlike before, he obeyed without a word of complaint. I wondered if he'd learned something from the flame horse incident, but...

'No. He's a crafty bastard. He might just be pretending to have changed.'

I couldn't let my guard down, ever. I'd only allow myself to get attached after he'd truly submitted.

Once I'd finished butchering the boar, I had a pretty generous amount of meat.

SIZZZLE...

"Oh, yeah."

I'd always thought it, but you could never go wrong with meat. Fish tasted good, too, but meat was on another level in looks and aroma. There was plenty of flesh, enough for us to feast today.

'And now I can store it frozen, right? Fucking sweet.'

It'd be a meat feast for a while. I'd have some fish in between, too.

I handed Roundfur a huge chunk of meat. His eyes sparkled with anticipation.

"Chomp! Chomp! Chomp!"

"Is it good?"

"Kyoo! Nom, nom, nom!!!"

Roundfur buried his entire face in the meat as he ate. I stroked his head, telling him to slow down.

"Want some, too?"

"..."

Even Speedy, normally content with fasting pills, took a bite, apparently tempted by the ribs. He chewed slowly and thoroughly, as though they suited his taste. That just left Lackey...

"Ooh-ooh!"

I didn't know what he thought he'd done to deserve anything, fussing for me to hurry up and feed him. I was giving him a disgusted look when it happened.

SMACK!

The speed-sloth darted over like an arrow and slapped Lackey across the face. Given how slowly he usually moved, I couldn't help being startled. If even I was shocked, imagine how Lackey felt. He stared wide-eyed, utterly dumbfounded.

"..."

After slapping Lackey, Speedy pointed alternately at the ribs and me. He seemed to be saying that if Lackey wanted to eat, he'd better show me some respect first. Apparently, Speedy hadn't liked his stunt with the flame horse, either.

He went a step further and waved Lackey away, telling him to get lost. What could Lackey do? With the suppressor on, he couldn't simply run away. More importantly, food was at stake.

In the wild, food meant life itself. He wouldn't actually die, but it was a terrifying punishment all the same.

"..."

In the end, a dejected Lackey slowly backed away. He glanced over occasionally, but what could he do? He'd brought this on himself.

I didn't particularly pity him. I just hoped this would break his will enough to stop him causing trouble. Anyway, forget Lackey. Time to enjoy these delicious ribs.

'Why does this taste flame-grilled, though? It's seriously good.'

Maybe because the boar was infused with fire energy, it had a naturally flame-grilled flavor. I was really glad I'd get to eat this sort of thing for a while.

BZZZZ...

An insect flew over as I was cleaning up after the meal. Soon, it landed on the back of my hand. Good thing I caught it before it bit me. Otherwise, I might have caught some disease.

'Come to think of it, I should get some bug repellent.'

Summer was creeping closer, so the bugs would be out in force.

I bought bug repellent and applied it throughout the cave and shelter. While I was at it, I took precautions against snakes, too. Bugs and snakes were nonnegotiable targets for pest control.

'What will summer bring? I just hope there aren't swarms of mosquitoes.'

And sure enough...

BZZZZZZZZZZ!!!

The next morning, I was struck speechless by the terrifying swarm of insects outside the cave. They formed a solid black mass, so thick I couldn't see an inch ahead.

What would have happened if I hadn't applied that repellent? They'd have come into the cave and had a field day chewing my flesh to bits. I was safe thanks to having pitched a tent to sleep in as well.

'... Is this that Dark Swarm thing?'

At this rate, Plague would be next.

"Ook-aaaaagh! Aaaaagh!"

"Oh. Right."

He'd been sleeping outside. I'd forgotten.