Hiyo~

It’s unedited, sorry. I’ll work on it a little later. Another long chapter btw, around 25 pages again.

Chapter 31: The Pursuit for Meat!

Two days have pa.s.sed since parting with Scheidt. Kousuke stood at the entrance of the harbor city. Asking around, he found out that all s.h.i.+ps are currently unavailable and the only time one would set sail is four days later. Having no choice, he decided to continue his sightseeing and find good food. Rather than walking, he flew from place to place every day, enjoying the country’s various sights and foods.

On the fourth day, he finally set sail towards Kalhode’s south western port and he reached there safely, unlike his previous experience.

Currently, he is looking for s.h.i.+p headed towards Sebus.h.i.+k. He did find one, but things didn’t go as smoothly as planned.

「We set sail in ten days」(???)

All s.h.i.+ps heading towards Sebus.h.i.+k have already left in the past two days. Anyone headed there would have to wait and it troubled Kousuke since he didn’t want to waste any more time. Ten days was simply too long a wait.

「I guess I’ll just sightsee some more. It’s not like I’m given much choice at this juncture」(Kousuke)

He decided to go sight see some more. With how much money he has, as long as he did not spend extravagantly, he would be fine.

His tongue has been slightly numbed by the constant seafood while on the s.h.i.+p and he began to crave meat so he approached a stall to find out more for a change of pace.

「Delicious meat? Yea, I know of some. The birds in the Sebule forest are delicious, especially when you roast them whole.

The skin has the just right amount of crisp, the breast meat is juicy and just melts in your mouth, and the thighs are soft, supple, and flavorful. Every part of this bird is truly delectable.

If you want some, you can get some in this town. However, if you want the true experience, head to the forest in the north, but I warn you, I wouldn’t recommend this. There’s a beastfolks village there where the bird’s dish originated from.

They have a stuffing’s recipe that’s out of this world, and their secret sauce, truly the best. Whatever they’re putting in there just makes all our dishes here pale in comparison.

I had it once and I can still remember every detail of it」(Stall owner)

The stall owner’s eyes were s.h.i.+ning in nostalgia as he explained.

「Why haven’t others tried to copy the recipe if it's that good?」(Kousuke)

「We tried, but it doesn’t taste as good. All the chefs that tried were baffled by this despite having gathered everything in the recipe.

In the end, they gave up and decided to find their own flavor, unique to this town」(Stall owner)

「I see, I think I’ll try some of that bird here if you have」(Kousuke)

「Unfortunately, it’s impossible right now」(Stall owner)

「Why?」(Kousuke) 【TL: WHY YOU TEMPT ME WITH DELICIOUS FOOD AND SLAP ME WITH NO!】

「It’s already a week past the usual s.h.i.+pment, but it hasn’t arrived to this town yet. Right now, none of the stores have it」(Stall owner)

「Wouldn’t this be quickly solved with some hunters?」(Kousuke)

「And trespa.s.s a beastfolks’s territory?」(Stall owner)

「Are the beastfolks in the forest dangerous?」(Kousuke)

『If that’s the case then I might just find something else instead』(Kousuke)

「No no, quite the contrary actually. Otherwise, how could we trade for those birds?」(Stall owner)

「Then why hasn’t anyone gone yet?」(Kousuke)

「Even if you ask me…」(Stall owner)

The stall owner paused and showed a difficult face, but finally continued.

「Well.. because you know.. they’re beastfolks」(Stall owner)

「That doesn’t really explain much to me, though」(Kousuke)

「Really? Everyone else here would understand if they heard that」(Stall owner)

It was a commonplace narrow-mindedness that’s shared by most inhabitants in this world. Individuals like Kousuke were, in fact, the outlier.

Beastfolks were evolved from beasts. Among the varied tribes, some were evolved from carnivorous beasts, a few of which would prey on humans. However, not all would aggressively hunt humans just to meet their taste. In the end, the few cases of predation combined with the doubtful nature of the humans have forcefully casted a rather negative view of all beastfolks.

In conclusion, the people of this town would refuse to get in contact with the nearby beastfolks village, if allowed.

Speaking of j.a.pan it would be ninjas, geishas, tempura. Americans would have their cowboys and hamburgers and the Indians their curry and yoga. These a.s.sumptions are there due to their factual backings, but not all Indians do yoga, and not all Americans eat hamburgers. Being unable to remove such pre-conceived notions from their minds, the humans of this town, despite knowing the nearby beastfolks village are not human eaters, are adamant in their refusal to interact deeply with them.

In truth, all it would take is just one step forward and everything would change. There have been cases where the relations.h.i.+p between a beastfolks village and a human settlement were harmonious.

「Then am I right to a.s.sume that if I want to eat some, I would need to head there myself?」(Kousuke)

「I guess so. If you do go, can you let us know what happened when you return?」(Stall owner)

「I’m pretty sure the guild would have a request like that posted」(Kousuke)

「It should be」(Stall owner)

The meat-craving Kousuke decided to head to the forest. It wasn’t like he needed money so he didn’t bother heading to the guild either.

Kousuke thanked the stall owner for the information and began preparing for the trip. After buying a few essentials, he immediately left town for the northern forest. According to what he gathered, the distance to the forest was roughly a day on foot.

As his travel distanced himself from the coast, the smell of the sea faded and the thick smell of gra.s.s became more prevalent. And soon, he reached the outskirts of the forest.

「Oh, I forgot to ask where the village was.

I wonder if I might find them if I just wander around in the woods」(Kousuke)

Still, even if he asked, it was unlikely the people of the town would have known. Their prejudice gave them a reason to not care where the village was. The only time they were near the forest would be to gather herbs and firewood at the edge of the forest. Not once have they set foot into the woods.

【TL: Honestly, this is very unhuman-like. Where there’s resource, people will flock. It doesn’t make sense to completely ignore it just to push through a silly prejudice. In fact, invading, usurping, uprooting, etc would have been a more plausible action since it can be justified as “removing danger”】

Kousuke concluded that if searching by foot doesn’t work, he can simply fly and observe from above.

The moment Kousuke set foot into the woods, he furrowed his brows.

「This forest is like Mt. Mubrant, it’s really quiet」(Kousuke)

The only sound entering his ears at the moment were the rustling of the tree leaves. On rare occasions, he heard a light cry of a bird.

From the information he gathered, there shouldn’t be anything dangerous in this forest. However, he felt that those rumors weren’t too credible. He hoped nothing dangerous would appear. It was a fact that some beastfolks would come to town to trade so it was most likely safe enough.

「Maybe the delayed s.h.i.+pment has something to do with this silence?」(Kousuke)

He slowly proceeded deeper, keeping his senses sharp. Eventually, he heard something unusual.

He immediately changed directions and headed towards the source of the sound. Around a minute later, a scream was suddenly heard.

Judging by the sound, it was a child, so Kousuke hurried to the scene with a sprint. While das.h.i.+ng there, he caught with the edge of his sight a large, bright-yellow object. He promptly ignored it for the time being and further raised his speed.

Upon reaching the scene, what greeted him was a three meter long wingless, western dragon chasing and snapping towards an escaping child. 【TL: Oh look.. a dragon