Chapter 23 – Episode 23. Leopold Is Displeased
The goal is the top of the mountain.
There is a flag planted at the top of the mountain, and once you retrieve the flag, the game ends.
The mountain wasn’t that steep, so it wasn’t difficult to climb, but there were quite a few monsters in between.
Starting with the first goblins, orcs, kobolds, and medium-sized low-level monsters appeared, but fortunately, the number of monsters was not so large, so Astrid still entered first, followed by Leopold after a period of time, and then Astain. ‘S magic and Erania’s arrows were able to proceed smoothly while shooting support.
And now it was around that time when the sun was setting halfway up the mountain. Sooner or later, it will be lunch time, around that time when hunger strikes.
“… It’s a deer, a deer.”
Eranya, who had climbed her tree trunk saying that she was there, jumped down on her and grabbed Astrid’s hands.
His eyes were full of intense desire to catch that deer and fill his stomach. Astrid and other squad members had the same desire, and they agreed to catch the deer without fail, thinking that it was meat that they could only see in a week.
“Whoa, whoa… Eranya, you can do it. The daughter of the proud World Tree, Erania… !”
‘Sometimes the world tree is just a big tree.’
She climbed back onto her tree trunk and took a deep breath, Eranya pulled out her arrow and hooked it to her string. Even though her posture looked very unstable, she did not shake the slightest bit, and the way she pulled her string with all her strength made her laugh because she could feel her tenacity to eat meat without fail.
“Whoa… “
She took another deep breath, and Eranya let go of her string.
Phishung! She did, and the arrow flew with the sound of cutting through her wind, and Eranya, who was watching it, raised both her hands.
‘If anyone sees it, they’ll think I’ve won a gold medal. Coincidentally, the sport is also archery.’
Even if I tell you, no one knows.
Anyway, the meaning of Erania’s gesture was clear, and Astrid felt very good.
“Astrid! Meat! Today’s lunch is meat, meat!”
“… Erana sister, are you really an elf?”
“That’s right!”
Erania, who jumped out of the tree, was the first to jump out, followed by Astrid and her squad members.
Hunger for a week.
At the end of it, the fact that she could now taste the venison made her run up to Leopold, who had been giving out that decent tea all by herself.
“Ugh, no. I can’t. Because I am an elf.”
“Sometimes elves also eat meat well.”
Her squad formed a circle with her dead deer in the middle, with an arrow lodged in her throat.
Meat.
The desire was good, but when it came to this, the question arose as to who would take care of her.
Since the deer looks exactly like a deer, it is necessary to change it to the shape of meat, but since it is bloody work, I am reluctant to do it.
“Stir… Will play a role in lighting the fire.”
“Oh.”
Astain sneaked out, claiming a job as a wizard.
“Oh, I can’t help it with doctrine.”
She was a goblin and a kobold, and anyway, I could clearly see Vera Shien smiling as she brandished her mace at the monsters, but she was now presenting her doctrine. Still, she had nothing to refute.
“Boo, I think it’s better for the squad leader to do it!”
“Yes?!”
Astrid hated Erania’s words.
I usually call her by the name Astrid, but it’s regrettable that the title is changed to Squad Leader.
Astrid didn’t like it either.
It’s about killing monsters. If you don’t kill them, you’re in danger, and there’s a cause, so you’re just getting used to it, but preparing meat to eat like this is another matter.
“I see, wouldn’t it be good for the squad leader to set an example for this?”
“Yes?!”
Veracian, a sheep who strongly agrees with Erania’s words, also helps.
“Hey, the squad leader too. You are an example.”
Even Astain laughed and helped.
‘That’s definitely a mocking expression.’
“… All right. I will do it. I can do it.”
What should I do? Should I cut my throat first? That… Can I cut it with a greatsword?
Than Astrid’s hand as she tried to pick up the deer’s neck while thinking. There was a hand that came a little faster and picked up the deer.
“Le, Leopold… Pupil?”
“The squad leader is not a chore. Stop looking for it only when you feel sad.”
Leopold’s blue eyes glanced over the squad members.
It was a little irritated eyes, so the squad members were not looking at each other, not looking at each other.
“The battle is also the most dangerous and the first to rush into it, but it doesn’t look good to postpone such chores. The squad leader is taking a break. Cadet Erana, please lend me your dagger.”
“Ugh, no. Yes… !”
Leopold snatched the dagger from Eranya’s hand as he slowly reached out, clicked his tongue lightly, and dragged the deer across the grass.
‘I thought it was good that I went out on my own.’
The squad members seemed to get along pretty well. Even Leopold admits that.
But as far as catching this deer, yes. It was good even there.
It was just a problem after that.
After hunting, you need to groom it, but the process is a bit dirty. Leopold knew that the process of removing the throat, scraping out the intestines, and removing the bones was necessary to make it edible, but the process was never clean.
Astrid must have known that too, but it was disgusting to see her squadmates accepting it without being able to win again just because they put it off.
– I will never marry you.
– Even if it looks like a man…
‘Eh.’
She shook her head and brushed the thought away.
Something to know But I didn’t like that those white fingers were being used for chores like this.
In other words, it feels like you’re cleaning fish with a treasured sword.
So, I was just about to leave because I didn’t want to do it.
However, Leopold had never done this kind of grooming before.
Hey Astrid, since she went to the battlefield so often, I don’t know if she has this kind of experience…
‘Did I just step out?’
Anyway, I’m going to take care of it, but when I saw that, I thought that Astrid might be laughing at it again.
“I guess so… “
“What do you mean?”
“Ugh?!”
Leopold was frightened at the sudden voice from the side.
Astrid was squatting beside her, staring blankly at Leopold.
“Shh, I told you to rest. Why did you come, Astrid? Not the squad leader.”
“Just. Grooming, I want you to know how to do it.”
“… I know. Hurry up and get some rest. Even so, make sure to take care of your break time.”
Whether it was lunchtime or dinnertime, Astrid was the one who guarded break time like a knife.
“Isn’t this also a break?”
It was as if he was actually going to sit next to me and watch.
“The truth is, I don’t know how to do things like trimming meat. If you’re going to laugh at my clumsy appearance, just go.”
“I don’t know how to do it either. And why are you laughing? It’s not something to be laughed at for taking on bad things first.”
“… That’s right.”
At this point, I couldn’t even clean up and it was time for lunch. Eat fast and move fast to outperform other squads.
“Anyway, don’t laugh at me.”
“Yes.”
“How come the amount of meat seems to have decreased a lot.”
“Eranya unnie, if you’re going to complain, you can do it yourself next time.”
Astrid frowned and scolded Eranya.
However, the meat was definitely reduced a lot. It had to be, because Leopold had never trimmed meat, so he was clumsy, and Astrid, who offered to help in the middle, had never done it, so things like disassembling leather couldn’t work properly.
Thanks to that, the meat was also greatly reduced.
“Anyway, it’s okay. It’s not enough to make everyone full, but it’s enough to satisfy hunger. I have to eat and move anyway, but it’s rather bad when I’m too full.”
Astrid’s words weren’t exactly wrong, so the squad members nodded their heads.
“Come on, let’s eat and move quickly. Still, we are in the 1st squad, so we have to be in 1st place. It annoys me when I hear that I am inferior to other squads.”
That was also true, so he quickly began threading the cut pieces of meat into branches.
There is no salt and no pepper, so if you grill it like this, the blood will not be processed and the smell will vibrate, but it will be much better than being hungry.
Looking at the faces of the squad members waiting for the meat to cook with the meat on skewers placed around the bonfire that Astain had lit, their desire for the first meat in a week bloomed.
“Go~gi, go~gi. Go oh oh gi.”
A strange hum that Eranya hums.
Suddenly, Veracien joined the hum and started humming.
“Sorry for the pepper and salt.”
“Iknow, right.”
“It would taste better if you sprinkled it lightly on it.”
“I mean.”
“… Your diet is still similar, squad leader.”
“I guess so.”
“Huh,” Astrid smiled lightly.
*
“Looks like it’s over there.”
Astrid’s finger pointed at the slowly emerging clearing.
So to speak, checkpoints.
There was a common space in the training ground that was separated from each other by space barriers, and that place was the checkpoint.
It is still a space where hostile actions are prohibited, and a kind of resting place where no monsters appear.
And, a space where encounters with other squads can occur.
“Ruler… Let’s take a little break here. I think we still have a long way to go to the top.”
As if waiting for Astrid’s words, the squad members put their equipment down and sat down. No matter how tough it is, a mountain is a mountain, so it was quite a chore to keep climbing it and slaying monsters.
“If I hadn’t eaten meat, I wouldn’t have come this far… “
At the words of the exhausted Astain, the other squad members also nodded slightly.
It’s good that I’ve filled my stomach, otherwise I would have had to rest every once in a while.
Just as Astrid was about to unpack his equipment and rest, he heard a familiar voice.
“Oh my, it’s just a coincidence. How could there be such a coincidence?”
