Earth Dungeon 84.2

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Chapter 84.2. Yajiri

A large amount of game hunted on the grasslands across the bridge had been gathered. 

Over the past week, they had conducted similar hunts, amassing plenty of fur and meat.

Today, they hunted as usual. Baba-san seemed to be taking the day off, but he'll help with the butchering.

"Ugh, how many more animals do we need to kill? That's a bit excessive. I mean, there are way too many rabbits. How many wolves do we have to defeat? I'm tired of hunting rabbits."

"Perhaps there's a dungeon every few meters? It does seem a bit excessive."

Sakimori-san climbed out of the jeep, looking frustrated, and Shingen-san, who came out later, smiled wryly. They had defeated nearly a thousand wolves, so their feelings were understandable.

Other people got out of the armored vehicles, and aside from Sakimori-an, everyone seemed thrilled. They must have been happy because they had caught a large amount of game.

"With this, we should be able to get through the winter."

"Should we smoke the wolf meat too?"

"How much fur are we getting?"

People who had returned from the hunt and those who had been waiting in the market began transporting the mountain of game piled up, ready to start butchering. 

The blood smell was quite strong, so they had refrained from doing this on the grasslands. Apparently, a lot of enemies were gathering.

They used the many knives they had made for butchering to strip the fur and cut the meat, transforming everything into smoked meat.

"It feels like we've gone back to medieval times." 

Baba-san said with a wry smile while cutting up rabbits. Was this the way they did things in medieval times?

"In medieval times, did they have magic users like you, Sakimori-san? Did they turn fur into tanned leather?"

In their line of sight, people were dumping fur they had stripped and rolled up into the water orbs Shingen-san had made. Strangely, when they were placed in the water orbs, the fat and meat bits came off, and the fur became clean and dry in no time, dripping with only water drops.

"No, they didn't tan it that way. I don't think they used this method."

"Huh? Then what is it?"

Hina was sitting beside Shingen, her face filled with frustration as she used her light magic to wrap the fur. The little girl was crawling onto Sakimori-san's shoulder with a big smile.

"I want to eat chocolate!"

"Alright, alright. I'll get you some later."

Once again, Hina was using her [Purification] skill. She had been called to tan the fur. While the little girl appealing for chocolate from Sakimori-san.

They continued to transform the fur into fluffy, clean fur using the same method.

"...Let me correct myself. It's definitely not the medieval era. Yeah, it's not tanning."

Sakimori-san showed a dry laugh as if he were astonished. Why was that?

The butchering process continued, and the meat was carried to the underground former business-use freezer. There, Sakimori-san had made a mountain of ice, and the room was being used as an icebox even without electricity.

"With this much, we'll get through the winter! We won't go hungry this year."

"We might run out of space in the freezer at this rate. It's a wonderful thing." 

"That's right. I wonder what's for dinner tonight." 

Baba-san answered. Hana said, her face excited. 

People who had helped with butchering would get tonight's dinner, smoked meat, and their daily wages. Just imagining it made their stomachs rumble.

After a while, they finished processing the game that had been brought in.

"Are the fleas okay?"

"I killed all of them with a sterilization event, so they should be fine. But why are we transporting wolf meat? Where is the appraiser?" 

"I don't know, what could that be? Are they going to bury it in a tomb?" 

Shingen was concerned about fleas, but I didn't feel itchy, so he assumed it was fine. Sakimori-san furrowed his brows, but Jyun didn't know why.

When they first tried to butcher deer meat, it had been challenging due to many fleas. They had to bleed the meat, making it a troublesome process. Now, Sakimori-san disinfected only the fur with sterilization and then cooled it down. 

I didn't quite understand how it was done, but it seemed like magic users could do these things. It was something to admire, but my [Metalworking] skill was impressive enough for me. Nonetheless, he couldn't help but feel a longing for magic.

"It's mealtime! Today, we have deer meat and cabbage stir-fry, coppepan, and mashed potatoes!" 

The women brought over large iron pots and a large saucepan. Those pots were the ones Jyun had made.

Everyone gathered to receive their meals. They received smoked meat as their reward for butchering today, along with their wages, and piled their plates high with food.

There was plenty of steam rising from the cabbage and meat stir-fry, mashed potatoes, and coppepan filled with meat. Since coming here, they no longer had to worry about meals, but it was still a feast.

They began eating with the chopsticks they received. They took a bite of the stir-fry. The saltiness was a bit light, but the sweetness of the meat-filled their mouths, and the cabbage had a crisp and delightful texture. It was delicious.

"Delicious!"

"It's so good!"

"Hehehe, I got some chocolate. Let's all eat it together."

As they enjoyed their full meal, they were all very happy. However, Sakimori-san had a complicated expression and seemed to be thinking about something.

"What's wrong?" Jyun asked.

"Oh... The folks from the outer town are mixed in."

It was quite remarkable that he could tell just by appearances. The people were sitting and chatting, and there was no way to distinguish them.

"I've seen those guys before."

"Really? Well, that's good. You can be friends with them." 

Hana said cheerfully, clapping her hands. Baba-san had an astonished expression, but he shrugged it off.

"Well... yeah."

He had a complicated expression, but what could it mean?