Chapter 7: I Was Taken To A Forest With Boss-Class Monsters In It

While riding on Fel’s back, I decided to ask him something that was on my mind. By the way, Sui was quietly sleeping in my shoulder bag.

“Hey Fel, how long is it going to take us to get out of this forest?” When I told Fel I wanted to go to either the kingdom of Erman or Leonhardt, he said that cutting through the forest would get us to the eastbound road faster, so I just went with him, but it’s already been three weeks since we’ve entered the forest.

“It will still take some time because I am slowing down as per your orders. It would have been faster if I could go as fast as I liked, though.”

Ah well, if that’s the case, I’m happy to go slower. Going at Fel’s speed was out of the question — if we went at that speed, I’d be thrown off.

“Even so, this is still faster than going through the road you humans have made.” Ah? Is that so?

“This forest contains the territories of both the orthrus and the griffon. Due to that fact, the road the humans made takes a large detour around the area, and thus takes a lot longer to travel.”

......Huh? Have my ears gone bad? I felt like I’d just heard him say something I shouldn’t have. He said, “orthrus,” right? He said, “griffon,” right? Wasn’t the orthrus that two headed dog monster? And if I recall, griffons have the front half of an eagle and the back half of a lion, right? I thought back on the illustrations of the orthrus and griffon from games and novels.

THOSE ARE BOTH BOSS-CLASS MONSTERSーーー!

“Why are we even going through this forest if you knew that this was the territory of both the orthrus and the griffon?” Wouldn’t it make sense to avoid this area like the plague if monsters like that existed?

“You are being annoying. Neither orthruses nor griffons are worthy to be mine enemies.” I don’t care if they’re your enemies or not, it’s an orthrus and a griffon!

“I remember telling you this before, but the only thing that can fight on equal grounds with me are beings on the same level as ancient dragons. Both orthruses and griffons fall short of that. Not to mention, those monsters know this fact. If any were to come and challenge me, they would have to be young and fearless.”

Hm? Wait a second...

“Wait, from the way you talk, it’s almost as if there’s more than one orthrus and griffon...”

“What are you saying? Both the orthrus and griffon territories are also their breeding grounds. Of course there would be several.”

WHAAAAーーT?! You should say these important things first!

Of course, this wouldn’t be an option if there were multiple boss-class monsters around. Even if there were only one, normally the option would be right out. And there were several...... No good, this is no good!

“H-Hey... Let’s avoid their territories, okay?” Yeah, that way is best. For my sanity.

“Why must we avoid them? Of course we are going to keep going. Also, we are already in the orthruses’ territory.”

“Whaaat? S-Say those things first!!”

“That is why I told you now. Really, just what are you afraid of?” Saying that, Fel kept proceeding forward.

“Hahhhhhh~” I couldn’t help but sigh. Well, it was Fel, I guess there was no helping it. He was too strong, so from Fel’s point of view, neither orthruses nor griffons could even raise a fang against him. But for me, just thinking that I might meet an orthrus or a griffon made me want to piss my pants in fear. I mean, it’s an orthrus or a griffon, you know?

‘A wimp,’ you say? That’s fine with me. Most people would be scared if they came face to face with one. The only ones who would be fine being near something like that would be strong ones like Fel.

I continued to turn it over in my head. It might just be true that with Fel around, they wouldn’t come attacking, but even still, I didn’t even want to see them. And from what Fel said, we were already in orthrus territory, too...

Don’t you dare come out, orthrus...

It seemed that the orthruses understood that Fel was stronger, at least. Ah, but didn’t Fel say that young orthruses might come to challenge him?

No, no way... Just stay quiet like this, orthrus...

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

I could faintly hear a dog’s baying.

“.........W............Woof...............WOOF......”

Guh... I... I think I hear the sounds of dogs getting closer... A-Are they coming? The orthruses?!

“Woof! Woof, woof, woof, woof! Woof!” A two-headed, violent-looking orthrus with black fur burst forth from the branches and trees to stand before us. It was comparable to Fel in size... not to mention, there were five of them.

“F-Fel...!!” This is bad, this is bad, so bad! It’s an orthrus!

“It is fine. They are not worth your fear.” N-No way man, you say that, but there’s five very dangerous-looking reasons to be afraid right there! The one in the middle looked especially vicious; it was baring its teeth with drool coming out and everything.

Hmm? Huh? Something seemed weird. The one in the middle was growling and howling, and looked like it had been trying to provoke Fel the entire time, but if anything, the other four looked like they were trying to dissuade the first one?

“So the one in the middle is an idiot that does not know fear, I see.” W-Wait a second. It looks like Fel is accepting the provocation... I thought, worriedly, F-Fel, friend, could you possibly be raring for a fight?

“You should take Sui and back up a little.” O-Okay. Yes of course I’ll be taking this opportunity to get somewhere safe. I hurried to get off of Fel’s back, and hid behind a tree.

I peeked around the side of the tree, to see Fel facing off against the orthrus. What is with this super dangerous atmosphere...?

“Do you understand what it means to oppose me? Just so you know, I cannot hold back. If you are prepared for death, come.” After Fel said that, the orthrus in the middle replied with a roar.

Then, after another loud and piercing bark, it jumped at Fel. In response, Fel did not even try to dodge; he simply swung down his right front paw in a large arc.

“Gyan!!” the orthrus yelped. At the same time that Fel slashed down his right front paw, sharp claws of light appeared and cut apart the orthrus.

“W-W-W-What the heck is that...” Was that a skill? It looked like an attack with some magic power mixed in. I thought back on Fel’s status. Now that I think about it, I do recall a skill named “Rending Claws”...

“Scatter.”

In response to Fel’s command, the remaining four orthruses ran like scared bunnies.

“Hey, it is over now.” At that statement, I came out fearfully while holding Sui and approached Fel. At that point, Sui had already woken up from the fuss, and was currently sitting worriedly in my arms.

《Uncle Fel sure is strongー》

“Yeah, he sure is. Fel, what was that skill?”

“Right. It is called ‘Rending Claws;’ I put magic power into my claws and release it, creating a slashing attack to cut my enemies to pieces.” To be that sharp with just one swing of a paw, that is too powerful a skill...

“I created this skill about 600 years ago.” Fel, you don’t have to make a smug face like that, you know? I thought, exasperated. Even so, creating a skill yourself? You really are a huge cheater, although it’s a bit late to be realizing this.

《Hey hey, will Sui be able to fight like Uncle Fel?》

“Uhhmmm, Sui, you don’t have any claws, so that might be impossible. But Sui, you have your own powerful skill, don’t you? That acid-shooting Acid Bullet skill is super strong, you know?”

《Really? Is Sui strong? Strong?》

“Yeah, you’re strong~ You’re number one.” I hugged Sui tight. The events just now were so savage... Ahhh I’m being healed.

That said, it was still smelling really raw around here.

“Hey, what do we do with this orthrus?” The corpse of the orthrus that met its demise at the wrong end of Fel’s Rending Claws was still here.

*Hurp* This is awful. It’s split apart from chest to hip......

“Orthruses taste bad. We cannot eat them.”

‘They taste bad?’ Fel, have you eaten an orthrus before? I pondered this revelation in my head, He’s the type that likes to try everything, I see. Normally a person would never think of trying to eat one if they saw something like this.

“If I recall correctly, its hide and claws should be considered precious among humans.”

Ohh, is that true? But I was pretty certain that if I brought this thing out, there’d be a commotion. And isn’t there a chimera in my Item Box, too...? I recalled, I’ll have this orthrus join the chimera in eternal sleep in my Item Box. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do. Peace really is the best.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

After that fight between Fel and the orthrus, I was once again riding on Fel’s back as he ran through the forest. The sun was just about to set, so I was thinking of camping out around here, but...

“H-Hey, is this area still in the orthruses’ territory?”

“Yeah, I think it is. It will be just a little farther until we leave it.”

So we’re still in their territory, huh? Is it ok to be camping here so carefreely? Concerned, I look around.

“Even if you worry about it, I do not think any more orthruses will come. They should have learned just who is stronger in that last fight.”

I guess. That orthrus that Fel killed was probably the strongest out of the bunch, and Fel slaughtered it easily with just one swing. Just as Fel said, they might not approach us any more. Even so, I couldn’t bring myself to calm down knowing that we were still in their territory. I’ll need to make doubly sure Fel puts up a proper barrier around us.

“More importantly, when will you start cooking?”

“Don’t ‘more importantly’ me, geez. Make sure you put up a good barrier if we’re still in their territory, okay?”

《Masterー Sui is also hungry.》

“Sui, you’re hungry? Okay I’ll make food.”

“...Hey, why is your attitude so different with Sui?” I think the answer is obvious. I mean, Sui is just the cutest thing ever.

Now then, let’s leave the slightly sullen Fel alone and make food.

I confirmed the contents of my Item Box to help me decide what to make. We had gone through a good chunk of the meat by now. “Fel, how long until we’re out of the forest?”

“Hm? We are currently a little more than halfway through.” In other words, since we took more than three weeks to get here, it should take about that time again.

Still more than three weeks to go... I think our stock should just barely hold. Well, in the worst case, I still have my Online Supermarket, and I can always save a little meat by making rice bowls.

If that was the case, I guess I’d try out that meat that I hadn’t laid my hands on yet — and by that meat, I meant the black serpent.

I mean, it’s a snake... The old man at the Adventurer’s guild did say that it was a high-class delicacy, so I think it should be fairly tasty... I’ve heard that snake tastes like chicken, so...

I’d been thinking like that, but every time I considered that it was a snake, I just couldn’t bring it out. But still, when I actually ate orc meat it was really good, so the black serpent should be the same way.

Yeah, I should try the black serpent. And if it tastes like chicken, I should make that.

Everyone’s favorite: karaage.

Before cooking, I bought any ingredients I would need through the Online Supermarket. I believe I still have soy sauce and sake, but shaving garlic and ginger is too much work, so I’ll buy some tubes of that, and I’ll also need some flour, potato starch, and salad oil. I also have a frying pan and pot, but not a pot for frying food, so I’ll need one of those.

Right, now to cook.

~◇~◇~◇~

Cut the black serpent into large bite-sized pieces, and make holes with a fork to allow the flavor to sink in.

Put soy sauce, sake, and the grated garlic and ginger into a vinyl bag, and shake it to mix the ingredients.

Add the black serpent meat into the bag and massage the meat. Leave the meat alone for a while to allow the flavors to marinate. The holes in the meat make it easier for that to happen, but it will still take about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, cover a plate with kitchen paper, and make sure to heat the oil as well. Right, it should be about time.

Coat the black serpent meat in a mix of flour and potato starch, carefully shake off any excess coating, and fry.

~◇~◇~◇~

Good, they’ve fried to a nice light brown color. It looks exactly like chicken karaage. Now I’m just worried about the taste... I won’t be able to eat it if I think of it as a snake.

Telling myself it was chicken, I popped one in my mouth.

*Crunch* Mgmgmg............It’s just plain good.

“That is unfair. Let me eat some too.” It seemed Fel couldn’t stand waiting and staring any more, and he mercilessly ripped through the just-fried batch of karaage.

“W-Wait!”

“Hm, this is tasty. There is not enough. Give me more.” I’ve just started frying them, you know? Wait a little, I complained, exasperated, in my head.

《Mwuー Sui wants to eat, tooー》 Ahh, yeah, yeah, you wait too.

“I’m frying them up now, so wait a bit.” I kept frying and frying.

As soon as they were done, both Fel and Sui ripped through them. I fry them and they’re gone, fry and they’re gone. It’s an endless loop. Both of them eat way too much. When will this end?

Actually, where’s my share?

“Hey, leave some for me!” It’s been a while since I’ve had karaage too...

I fried new batches over and over again, and eventually, Fel and Sui were finally satisfied.

“Yes, that was great. I would want to eat that again.”

《Yeah, it was great. Sui also likes this ー Want to eat again!》

That’s nice. So karaage is popular even here. Still though, they only left three pieces for me. Sadly, I had to eat them as a sandwich. Damnit.

“Oh wait, Fel, where is the griffons’ territory, roughly?” I had forgotten because of the incident with the orthruses, but the griffons’ territory was also in this forest.

“Their territory is a little further ahead.” A little further, huh? Then we have some time.

“Hey, let’s avoid their territory.” Griffons were dangerous, too. Not only that, but griffons could fly. We should obviously avoid them if we knew they were around.

“As I have said before, why must we?” Because Fel, I retorted internally, you’re the only one who can say that.

“They are not worthy of fear. Not only that, but their territory is larger than the orthruses’. If we have come this far, we cannot just avoid them.”

W-What the heck... “That’s why I’ve been telling you over and over, say these kinds of things earlier!”

“That is why I said it now.”

Hahh~ This guy’s never gonna get it. If we can’t avoid them now, then it’s basically decided that we’re going through the griffons’ territory. I hate this... May we never see griffons, ever. Don’t show yourselves, griffonsー!

“It will be fine even if you do not worry like that. I am always maintaining a barrier around you and Sui, and we are not yet in the griffons’ territory, anyway.”

Even if you say that, it’s already decided we’re going through there, right? The future looks bleak.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“Hm? How rare...” Fel stopped moving as he muttered that.

“Hm? What is?” Looking in the same direction as Fel was, I saw light-blue mushrooms growing at the base of a tree. Looking around, I found that there were several such trees with mushrooms growing.

“You see, these are called ‘healing mushrooms,’ and are a rare strain of mushroom. It has been a while since I have seen one, as well.”

Since healing mushrooms have ‘healing’ in the name, does that mean that if you eat it, it will have an effect like a healing spell, or maybe it’s an ingredient in potions? I wondered. Since Fel was over a thousand years old, and even he was saying it’s been a while since he’s seen one, it must have been pretty damn rare.

“These healing mushrooms have a fairly large effect even if you eat them raw. They even heal deep cuts or broken bones in a flash.”

Hehh~ What an amazing mushroom, if even just eating it has that much of an effect.

“If they have that much of an effect, I’ll take some.” I got down from Fel’s back to start picking healing mushrooms. When I did that, Sui crawled out of my bag.

《Something smells goodー》 What smells good?

Sui approached a healing mushroom. 《Hey, hey, master ー this mushroom looks delicious. Can I eat it?》

Fel just said earlier that you could eat it, so it should be fine? “Fel, this is edible, right?”

“Yeah. It just has a healing effect, so there should be no particular problems with eating it.”

“Sui, it’s fine if you want to eat it. But just make sure to not eat too much.”

I want to keep some just in case of emergencies, after all.

《Yaay!》 Sui started to happily absorb healing mushrooms.

“That is right, I remember now. These healing mushrooms are an ingredient for a medicine called an ‘Elixir.’ If I recall correctly, that ‘Elixir’ is a medicine that can heal any sickness. A sage that I had met a long time ago told me that it can save a man from death’s door, and even extend their lifespan.”

Th-There it is, the elixir! I thought, excitedly. Elixirs are a precious, hidden medicine, right? If the healing mushroom is one of the ingredients, that means it’d be possible to make one as long as I have these, yeah? But getting the other ingredients must be ridiculously hard, for sure. That’s why it would be really hard to make one, probably. As for other ways to get them, wouldn’t it just be something like finding one rarely in a treasure chest in a super hard dungeon?

It was that way in games and novels. Well, leaving elixirs as impossible for now, it was still lucky to have found healing mushrooms here.

Let’s take a lot — mainly for my benefit. I mean, looking at my party right now, the one who seems like they’d need the healing most would be me, no matter what.

From my point of view, Fel might just have been a glutton, but he was still strong enough to live up to his name as a legendary magic beast, and even Sui seemed like he might be a special slime since he was so strong no one would ever mistake him for a small fry. I’m the only normal one, huh?

I’d become able to use magic, so at the very least, I was getting stronger little-by-little, though.

At any rate, all this just boiled down to me having Fel and Sui do their best while I just prepared for emergencies.

While I was diligently harvesting healing mushrooms, Sui, who was absorbing more healing mushrooms next to me, started to shine a bluish white. “Woah! S-Sui?!”

《Masterー Sui’s body is shining for some reason.》

“S-Sui, are you okay? Does it hurt?”

《It doesn’tー》 Sui’s shining episode lasted for about a minute.

“Sui, do you feel anything weird?”

《Nothing’s wrong. Sui, healthy!》 Saying that, Sui jumped up and down.

Just what was that...? It looks like it’s fine, but for now I should appraise it just in case.

【Name】 Sui

【Age】 21 days

【Race】 Slime

【Level】 17

【HP】 367

【MP】 361

【Attack】 354

【Defense】 357

【Agility】 363

【Skills】 Acid Bullet, Potion Creation

Sui, so you’re already level 17... It sure levels up quickly just because it’s eating trash from my world every day. Hm? It’s got a new skill. Potion Creation...... huh?

“Hey Fel, Sui’s got a new Potion Creation skill, right?” I had Fel confirm the skill, since he could also use Appraisal.

“Yes, it does. Most likely it is because it ate so many healing mushrooms...”

“Huh? You can get a new skill just by doing that?”

“It is probably only because Sui is a slime. A long time ago, I saw a slime that only ate metals evolve into a metal slime. It gained a hardening skill to go along with that. This is most likely something similar.”

So slimes change what they evolve into and what skills they gain based on what they eat? Potion Creation isn’t a bad skill. In fact, in my case it’s something I’m grateful for.

“Sui, you’ve done it!”

《Hm? Sui is a good kid?》

“Yeah, Sui is the best kid.”

《Yay! Yay! Sui is a good kid! 》 Sui happily bounced all around me.

“Sui, I want to talk to you about something, so could you stop for a bit?” I tried to stop Sui.

《What, Masterー? 》 Sui stopped in front of me and started conversing telepathically.

“Sui, look, you’ve gained a new skill. It’s called Potion Creation, can you use it?”

《Hm? Sui doesn’t really understand, but Sui will try!》 Having said that, Sui groaned in effort as it tried to use its Potion Creation skill. 《Ah, Sui did it. Masterー, Sui did it!》

“Really?!”

《Yes, this.》 Some droplets dripped out of Sui’s outstretched tentacle.

“Oohh, wait a second.” I hurried and brought out a PET bottle from my Item Box. “Put it in here.”

Sui’s tentacle came closer to the bottle. The bottle was slowly being filled with a transparent bluish liquid. 《Masterー, this is all Sui has made for now.》

“I see I see. Thanks.” The stuff that Sui made (mostly likely potion liquid) filled half the PET bottle.

Is this really a potion? I tried smelling it, but it didn’t really smell of anything. I tried appraising the transparent, bluish liquid in the bottle:

【Sui’s Special High-Grade Potion】

“Huh?” What. The heck. Is. This? ... It says ‘Sui’s Special,’ here... and ‘High-Grade Potion,’ here... Sui, please tell me.

“Sui, Appraisal is telling me this is, ‘Sui’s Special High-Grade Potion’ here — do you know why?”

《Uhmm, it’s because Sui made it. Also, because it’s a medicine that will make a lot of pain go away.》

I-I see. “Can you make other medicines?”

《Yeah! Sui can make a medicine that heals some pain, and a medicine that heals only a little pain.》

So ‘some pain’ means a mid-grade potion, and ‘a little pain’ means a low-grade potion, right? Next is figuring out just how much effect the high, middle, and low-grade potions have...

“Sui, do you know just how much of an effect your medicines have?”

《Uhmm, the one that heals a lot of pain heals a lot of pain, and the one that heals some pain heals only some, and the one that only heals a little pain heals only a little pain.》

Right. I see. It was a mistake to ask Sui. I guess we can only figure it out by using it.

That being said, Sui now had Potion Creation. Sui even had the Acid Bullet skill, so with this, it had got healing down pat as well. Wasn’t Sui just crazy strong?

“I have lived a long time, but even I have never seen a slime that creates potions before.” Even Fel, who was over a thousand years old, hadn’t seen one...

“You did say that Sui might be a special individual.”

“There is no doubt that Sui is, but even so, Sui has very high intelligence for a slime. He truly is a special individual.”

If Fel’s going that far, then Sui really must be special. Looking at Sui, I just can’t think of slimes as easy prey anymore. Actually, who was it that decided slimes were small fry?

When I looked over at Sui as it jumped around, it went, 《Masterー》 and jumped into my chest. Of course I caught it safely.

Ahh, Sui sure is cute. I’m being healed~ Wait, I have something I need to ask.

“Sui, how much high-grade potion can you make a day?”

《Uhhhh, dunno.》 Yeah, that makes sense.

“Then, for now can you make enough of the same medicine as earlier to fill this?” I asked, showing him the half full bottle of “Sui’s Special High-Grade Potion.”

《Yeah, got it.》 Sui made more of his potion. It didn’t take too long before the PET bottle was full of it.

“It’s filled. Sui, thanks.”

This is good. I’ve got healing mushrooms as well as Sui’s Special High-Grade Potion now, so as long as something ridiculous doesn’t happen, I shouldn’t be in danger of dying.

I never would have thought that I’d get my hands on potions. Sui’s so versatile...

“Hey, it is about time to go.”

“Ahh, sorry, sorry. Sui, come hereー” Putting Sui into my bag, I climbed onto Fel’s back.

“Now then, let us go.”

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

After dinner, Fel reminded me of something important.

“By the way, have you remembered your offering to Ninrir?”

“Ah, crap. I completely forgot.”

“You damned fool! Go and do it now!”

“Right, right.” Fel was mad, but it had only been a week since the goddess used her oracle to beg for more, so I technically hadn’t broken the promise. It still seemed like that disappointing goddess would complain, though.

Well, it should be fine as long as I offer a little extra. I thought on what I should offer while paging through my Online Supermarket — though that goddess seemed like she’d be okay with anything as long as it was sweet.

Hrmー what should I do... mm, this section might be just perfect for getting that goddess into a good mood. I started scouring my way through the sweets section. They had quite a bit of variety.

I guess for now I’ll just buy anything that stands out. First, this custard pudding, and this cheesecake... I guess I should buy both the baked and rare cheesecakes. Other than that, I should get this choux creme and this roll cake, right? As well as this chocolate cake, mont blanc, and strawberry shortcake. And lastly... this pudding à la mode and tiramisu should do fine.

All in all, ten pieces. I ended up only getting western sweets, but, well, it would be fine. For that goddess it’s probably 100% A-okay.

That said, I never really looked through this sweets section, but they sure did have a nice selection. If I ever wanted sweets, I’d look through it again.

Now then, let’s check this out.

A cardboard box appeared immediately, just like always. Taking out the sweets, I arranged them on the cardboard box altar.

“Goddess of the Wind, Ninrir, I know this is a little late, but please accept this offering. I am forever grateful for bestowing upon me your blessing. I place myself in your care, thank you.” I prayed and gave my offering (tribute) to Ninrir (the disappointing goddess).

＜Ohhh, finally! Really, just how long were you going to make me wait?! ＞

“I beg your pardon. I was a little busy myself, you see—”

＜Do not lie to me! I know, because I have been watching you from here in the divine realm — you simply forgot!＞

Khh...! She knew! “I-I am very sorry. I will be more careful from now on; please forgive me.”

＜Hmph, I shall forgive you just this once, but make sure this never happens again. You were so late, I have lost count of how many times I was about to send you an oracle. However, even I have my own situation to worry about, so I could not...＞

I completely forgot because there wasn’t any oracle begging for sweets, but apparently, she had her own circumstances to deal with.

＜Those goddesses are always so sharp only when it comes to matters like these... They might find out if I were careless and sent too many oracles. Even I must pay the utmost attention. The other gods must not find out just yet...＞ The goddess was mumbling something under her breath, apparently troubled.

“Goddess Ninrir, it is but a small token of apology, but today I have offered you a large assortment of sweets. Please enjoy them.” Saying that, I bowed my head. When I lifted it, the sweets that were on top of the cardboard box altar had all disappeared without a trace.

＜Mmhooo!! Th-This is?!＞

What the heck is a ‘Mmhoo??’ She really is a disappointing goddess.

＜Are not these all different kinds of sweets?! And this many!＞

Goddess, you’re too excited. “Yes. Just like I have said before, it is an expression of my apology. I did think it might be too much, but...”

＜W-What are you even saying?! This is in no way too much. This is great! Offer this much next time as well. That is an order.＞

Sure, sure. Of course, this much was no problem. “Ah, Goddess Ninrir, all these sweets are fresh, so even if you refrigerate them, they’ll hold until tomorrow at the latest, so please eat them by then.”

＜I understand. However, I am a goddess, so both refrigeration or preserving them through stopping time are no problem. I am going to enjoy one every day. Muheheheh~＞

‘Muheheheh?’ Goddess... I could just imagine the goddess doing a small jig or something.

＜Now then, I will be looking forward to the same amount next time. Do your best to not forget.＞

“As you wish.”

Haーhh, I’m tired. It’s so much work keeping up with this disappointment of a goddess.

I had thought to go to sleep already, but I noticed both Fel and Sui staring in my direction. “W-What’s up, you two?”

《Sui wants some too...》 Ah, Sui, please don’t say that so miserably.

“That is right. Would it not be fine to share some with us?”

“But those were offerings for Ninrir. Also, we’re just about to sleep, so no.”

《Uuwwhh, Masterー》 Sui jiggled back and forth.

It looked like Sui was trying to suppress its desire to eat because I told it ‘no.’ Gh... Sui is way too cute.

I caved. “You only get three each.” Three was probably a small amount for both Fel and Sui.

《Master, really?》

“Yeah. But just like I said earlier, you only get three.”

“Yaーy!” Sui jumped around happily.

“Hey, what about me?”

“You’ll get your share too, don’t worry.”

“Very well.”

I bought one each of the desserts Sui cheekily pointed out when it looked at my Online Supermarket: a chocolate cake, strawberry shortcake, and a pudding à la mode. Three pieces each for the two of them was probably very little, but the both of them enjoyed the desserts greatly. Hahh~ My familiars are way too gluttonous...

The next day...

“We will be entering the griffons’ territory shortly.”

My heart skipped a beat at Fel’s statement. So the griffons’ territory is finally here. Man, I don’t wanna go in...

“Make sure our barrier is properly in place, okay?”

“I understand. Do not worry.”

That’s not gonna stop me from worrying, you know? They were griffons, after all.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

We were in the griffons’ territory. So far, we had not caught sight of any griffons. It would sure be nice if we got through their territory without meeting any.

Three days into the griffons’ territory.

At last, a griffon showed itself. A single griffon landed before us with a flapping of its outstretched wings.

In my case, I was so surprised I couldn’t even speak. Seeing a griffon, live, in front of me, almost had me wetting my pants.

At any rate, the griffon was huge. With the front half of an eagle and the rear half of a lion, it was even bigger than Fel. Said large griffon suddenly bowed and lowered its head.

“Oh great Fenrir, I have, a request,” the griffon intoned in halting speech.

“I-It talked?!” I had thought that the only beasts that would be able to speak human language would have to be something on the same level as Fel, so I was surprised. Sui was capable of telepathy, but that was probably only because we were a bonded master and familiar, and it could communicate telepathically with Fel for much the same reason, that they were both my familiars.

Griffons can speak, too......

“It is not able to speak human language because it is a griffon, all right? This one simply has especially high intelligence.”

“Ah, I see.”

“The only ones that would be able to speak human language fluently would be something like me, or an ancient dragon.” Got it.

“Great Fenrir, correct, human words, speak, only me.” Then, this is the only griffon that can speak?

“Leader of the pride, to become, trial, with me, fight, please.” Hmm? Did he just say that he wanted to fight Fel as a trial to become the leader of his pride?

“Strong, great Fenrir, fight, everyone, me, acknowledge.” Fighting with a strong Fenrir will get everyone to acknowledge it as their pride’s leader? Hmmー this griffon’s got guts.

“Very well. I will be your opponent. However, I cannot hold back.”

“I know.”

Sui and I fell back to safety. As I hopped off of Fel’s back, I said, “Don’t kill him” in his ear, but he only twitched a little, and didn’t respond.

He said that he couldn’t hold back, will that griffon be okay?

I’d use that if it really came down to it: Sui’s special high-grade potion. I only had one bottle’s worth, though. I was worried whether or not this much would be enough for a griffon of that size.

《Sui, can I get you to make some more high-grade potion?》

《Sureー》 Just in case, I had Sui make another PET bottle’s worth of special high-grade potion.

Fel faced off with the griffon. “Well then, here I come.”

Taking Fel’s words as a signal to begin, the griffon opened its large wings and ascended into the sky, launching countless black, arrow-like objects from on high. Fel dodged those projectiles like he was dancing.

Looking closely at what the griffon had shot at Fel, I found that they were feathers. They must have been extremely hard, as they had pounded a rock that was bigger than a volleyball into dust. “Woaahh, amazing...”

This time, Fel launched magic at the griffon that was still in the air. Is that Wind magic? A small tornado manifested around the airborne griffon. The griffon was caught in the tornado and forced into a tailspin...

Not only that, but it seemed like the tornado had blades in it (the magic itself seemed to me to be a higher version of the wind cutter spell), and the tornado was gradually stained red with the griffon’s blood. Isn’t that griffon in danger?

“H-Hey, Fel, you’ve gone too far!”

“Hmph.” The tornado dissipated, and the griffon fell to the ground with a thud. I immediately rushed over to the griffon and splashed Sui’s special high-grade potion onto it.

“I did say that I could not hold back.”

You did, but there’s something called a ‘limit,’ you know?! What the hell was that tornado? Don’t just go shooting off such cruel magic like that.

“Mm...” The griffon opened its eyes.

“Hey, are you all right?”

“Ahh... my wounds......”

“I sprinkled potion onto them, so your wounds should be fine, but does it hurt anywhere?”

“Human’s, medicine... expensive.”

“Ahh, you don’t have to worry about that. More importantly, are you okay?” The griffon’s feathers, which used to be a pure white, were now completely stained a painful-looking blood red.

“I am fine, sorry.”

Whew, that’s good. It looked like Sui’s special high-grade potion worked perfectly. It was worth using two entire bottles of it.

“Lost, unable, do anything...” The griffon hung its head sadly. It looked like the griffon didn’t expect to be able to win against Fel, but also didn’t think it would lose without putting up much of a fight.

It is a boss-class griffon, after all. It should be a monster that was strong even by this world’s standards.

For Fel to win so completely with just a single spell...He really is just completely overpowered for this world. Hm? Huh? I realized it as I looked over at Fel.

“You didn’t do nothing, you know. Look, there.” I pointed at a section near Fel’s shoulder. There was a faint bit of red blood welling up out of the white-silver fur.

“He probably got that from your first attack. It’s only a scratch, but you managed to wound a legendary Fenrir. Isn’t that right, Fel?”

“Grrrr, I hate to admit it, but that is true.”

Having heard Fel’s words, the griffon raised its head with a start. “I-I did, to Great Fenrir............ Piーhyororororo!!” The griffon suddenly raised a cry towards the sky.

When I looked up, there were several tens of griffons heading this way.

“W-Woah! W-What?!” Just one griffon was intimidating enough, several tens of them would be crushing. Or rather, I was just ridiculously scared.

The horde of griffons landed behind the griffon that fought Fel... and lowered their heads.

“I, leader, acknowledged.”

Oohh, I see, I see, that’s great.

“Great Fel, thank you, very much.” Sure sure, this kind of thing is nice.

“Human, this, give.” For some reason, the griffon plucked one of its own feathers and gave it to me.

Is this thanks for healing him with a potion? Griffon feathers seemed like they’d be an expensive item. I accepted it graciously.

“Also, human, you, next time here, not eat.”

...Yeah, not sure if I should be happy or just scared. It said they wouldn’t eat me, so that means that griffons eat humans. There’s no way I would come this way again after hearing that!

“Fel, let’s hurry up and go.”

“Agreed.”

Returning Sui to my bag, I climbed onto Fel again. In these situations, it was better to leave quickly. What a rowdy bunch of griffons.

“We are through the griffons’ territory.”

“Ohhh, finally.” We didn’t see any griffons other than the talking one that challenged Fel, but hearing that they ate humans had my teeth on edge the entire time. So, I was understandably relieved to hear that we’d left their territory.

“How long until we’re out of the forest?”

“It should not be long now that we are this far. Probably around three days.”

Ohh, finally out of the forest, huh? And then, at long last, we’ll be in the kingdom of Leonhardt... at least, I think?

“Fel, we’re in the kingdom of Leonhardt after we get out of the forest, right?”

“I do not know which country. However, this is the forest to go through when heading to the eastern ocean. Is east not our destination? If it is, we are fine.”

*Sigh* Leaving it all to Fel was a mistake.

Judging from Fel’s words, the forest we went through was part of a great wooded region that was at least partially considered part of the eastern region of Veenen. So, since we went into it from Veenen’s side, coming out the opposite end should have meant that we would be in Leonhardt, but......

I’ll have to ask someone once we get out of the forest, huh?

It would be nice if there would be someone to ask.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“Let’s stop here for the day.” I told Fel when I noticed that the sun was setting.

“That is a good idea. I am hungry, as well.”

Of course he is.

We were almost out of the forest, and I had gotten fairly used to riding on Fel’s back, so I agreed to Fel’s request to go a little faster.

Hmm, then I guess I should make something that fills people with energy. If that’s the case, then that seems perfect. I’m talking pork cutlets.

Personally, I had always eaten meat when I absolutely needed to succeed at something, and at those times, of course, pork cutlets are my meat of choice. I should still have some orc meat left...

After looking through my Item Box, I found that I did, in fact, still have some orc meat left. Good, let’s get Fel to do his best after eating some pork cutlet. But first, I’ll need to buy the rest of the ingredients, huh? Uhh, I have salt and pepper, and also eggs. I have cooking oil too... all I need is panko and flour. Oh, I also need to get cabbage and cutlet sauce. And pork cutlets need rice, don’t they?

I bought what I needed through my Online Supermarket. Now I had everything.

~◇~◇~◇~

First, steam the rice, and mince the cabbage before washing it.

From there, cut the orc meat into thick pieces, and soften the meat with the back of the knife after cutting the muscle fibers.

After lightly seasoning the orc meat with salt and pepper, coat with flour and dust off any excess. Then, coat the pieces with a layer of egg wash, then panko, and repeat the coating process again. Coating twice ensures the crispiness, so that is what I always make sure to do.

All that is left is to cook both sides until they are a nice light brown. The cutlets make a nice, crisp sound when cut into strips with the knife. Man, it looks good~

Lay the pork cutlet on a bed of minced cabbage on a plate, and the dish is complete.

~◇~◇~◇~

“It’s doneー”

Fel and Sui came over instantly.

Let’s just pour on the cutlet sauce, aaanndー “Here you go, guys. It’s hot, so be careful.”

Right as I said that, Fel bit into the food anyway. “Hot, hot! But it tastes great! Hot!”

Sui seemed to be fine with the heat, and absorbed the entire thing all at once. 《Yeah, it’s delicious!》

Yeah, pork cutlets are the best for motivation. I was happy, too, that the food got favorable reviews.

Right, let’s eat.

*Crunch* Oohhh, having pork cutlet after such a long time makes it taste even better. Next, with rice — pork cutlet combined with rice is unbeatable. Ah, I want some miso soup now. If I remember right... There it is, found it.

I had indeed bought some instant miso soup, so I took it out and made it. Cutlet, rice, miso soup, cutlet, rice, miso soup, and then, some cabbage for variety... Hahhh, delicious.

“Hey, seconds.”

《Sui tooー》

Sure, sure. Pressured by Fel and Sui, I was forced to fry up a mountain of pork cutlets. I had thought that there might be enough for another meal, but in the end, they ate all the orc meat I had left.

Both Fel and Sui really are huge eaters...

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

Fel raised his speed. I could see blue sky from gaps in the canopy now.

“Yes! We’re outー!!” We broke out of the forest into a wide plain.

Finally, after a month and a half of travel, we had cleared the forest.

“Hahh, finally, we can say goodbye to this forest.” It feels good to be in a big open space...... Wait, where are we? Is there a road somewhere? “Fel, you’ve been through here before, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Is there a man-made road near here?”

“A road? There should be one a little further ahead.”

“Then, can you head for it?”

“Why?”

“Judging from what you’ve said Fel, I think this should be Leonhardt, but I’d feel safer if we confirmed that by asking somebody. Not to mention, we’re almost out of meat, so we’ll need to go into town soon.”

“Out of meat?! Then this is an emergency. A road, right? I will head there immediately.” Ah, so running out of meat really is a disaster, according to Fel.

Just as Fel said, we found the road in no time. It would be nice if we could also find somebody to talk to along the way.

While moving along the road on Fel’s back, I saw a carriage far off in the distance.

“Ah, people...” I could faintly hear voices cutting in and out. To be able to hear their voices from this far away, they must have been yelling quite loudly.

“It looks like that carriage is being attacked by thieves.”

Huh? Th-Thieves?!

“F-Fel! Go save them! I’ll make an extra-special dinner for you!” I offered that in the heat of the moment. All I could think of then was that I needed to save them.

“Those words, do not forget them!” Saying that, Fel raised his speed and charged towards the carriage.

The carriage was already right ahead of us. The adventurers, probably hired as guards, were in front fighting against an ill-mannered looking group of men that anyone could tell were thieves at a glance.

The thieves were more numerous, and the adventurers were being pushed back.

“Cover your ears.” I did as Fel said and covered my ears. “AWOOOOOOoooooooーーー!!”

Even through my hands, my body instinctively froze hearing Fel’s howl. The adventurers and thieves that heard Fel’s howl unguarded were frozen absolutely stiff.

Sui crawled out of my bag. 《Masterー what happened?》

“There were bad people around, so Uncle Fel punished them.”

《Eh? Really? Sui wants to do it tooー》

“You do? Then, can you shoot your Acid Bullet at the men there and there who are holding weapons? It would be better if the bullet is small. I want you to make it so they can’t hold their weapons anymore.”

《Okayー》

*Sploosh* *sploosh* *sploosh* *sploosh* *sploosh* —

“GYAAAHHH!!”

“GUOOHHHH!!”

“GAAAHHHH!!”

“GYAーーー!”

“GIIYAAAAHH!!”

The thieves whose arms were hit by Sui’s Acid Bullets cried out.

It seemed like Sui’s Acid Bullet had leveled up or something. Sui wasn’t just shooting acid like a water gun, it was more like a high-speed jet of acid — almost a beam.

“You thieves, if you move one step, I will eat you whole. If you understand, throw away your weapons.”

The thieves who weren’t being attacked by Sui were turning blue in the face at the sight of Fel baring his fangs at them. They all threw down their weapons. Only the largest one among the thieves didn’t listen to Fel, and swung away with his axe.

“Don’t go spewing your nonsense when you’ve just appeared out of nowhere!” The man swung at me. I reflexively raised my arms to cover my head.

*Fsshhh*

*Blort*

Opening my eyes because the impact never came, I found that the axe man had been killed in such a grotesque way that the sight of his corpse made me want to barf.

.........*Hurp*

I really was about to throw up. Not only had he taken Fel’s Rending Claws head on, but he was also hit with Sui’s Acid Bullet... One could imagine what the body looked like. He deserved what he got for breaking the law like he did, but I’d never want to die like that.

The thieves who had completely lost their will to fight after seeing how the axe man died quietly let themselves be bound with rope. The ones who took care of that were the adventurers that had recovered from earlier. Since help had come relatively quickly, none of the adventurers were seriously hurt.

After that task was done, a male adventurer and a merchant that was in the carriage approached me.

“My name is Lambert, and I am a merchant from the town of Karelina in northwest Leonhardt. Thanks to you, all of us and my goods are safe. Thank you so much for saving us.” The one who said that and bowed deeply was a well-mannered old man who looked from his build to be in his mid-forties.

“I’m the leader of the adventurer party that’s guarding this merchant caravan, ‘Phoenix.’ My name is Lars. Thanks for the help.” The man who said that and bowed as well was taller than 180 centimeters and brawny, with red hair. He looked like the very picture of an adventurer around the age of 30.

“Don’t worry about it. We just happened to be passing by... My name is Mukohda.”

“So, are those over there your familiars?” Lambert asked that while looking at Fel and Sui with a fearful tone in his voice.

“Yes, they’re my familiars. It’s fine, they won’t harm any of you.” When I said that, Lambert put on a relieved face.

“That familiar is a Fenrir, isn’t it... So the rumors were true.” Lars muttered under his breath while looking at Fel. The rumors have already spread this far?

“According to rumors in the wind, there’s an adventurer with a Fenrir as his familiar. I thought it was just a tall tale and didn’t pay it any mind, but...” Well, normally you’d think that, right? But it’s actually true.

If the rumors had spread this far, then it would only be a matter of time until I was found out. Case in point, it looked like Lars knew with just one look at Fel. Just as I thought, Fel would be my biggest concern. Just by having him around, I’ll have to worry about people butting into my business, won’t I?

I had heard that Leonhardt was a relatively free country that didn’t promote prejudice, and I had also heard from just some light research that the country was proactively gathering high-ranked adventurers within its borders. That made me think: If they’re aggressively recruiting high-ranked adventurers, what about a super-strong legendary beast?

If possible, I’d like to hope for the best. Fel’s a legendary beast, and ridiculously strong, after all.

My ideal would be to be able to freely move between Leonhardt and its ally, Erman. I can only hope that happens. Well, at this point I can’t really stop, so whatever happens, happens.

I had a feeling that no matter what came to pass, everything would turn out fine because of Fel’s presence. I’d be crushed by anxiety otherwise.

“By the way, where are you all going?” It’s time for my 100% success rate conversational evasion skills. I’ll never admit that Fel is a Fenrir!

“We were in the middle of returning to Karelina.” So they’re in the middle of returning to home base after a job, I see. We need to go to a town anyway, so I wonder if we can ride along?

《Fel, Sui, this place seems to be our goal, Leonhardt, so want to try going to Karelina?》

《To procure meat, right? I am fine with that.》

《Sui is fine tooー》

Fel and Sui seemed to be on board.

“To tell you the truth, Lambert, we’ve just arrived at Leonhardt, so we’re not really familiar with the area. If possible, can we join you guys on the road to Karelina?”

When I brought that up, Lambert happily agreed with a smile. “It would be very reassuring to have you with us. It’s us who want you to travel along.” Like that, we set off toward our next goal, the town of Karelina.