Hen na Ryu to Moto Yuusha Party Zatsuyougakari, Shintairiku de Nonbiri Slow Life. - Chapter 14

Chapter 14 – Landing Celebration

The boar that Hippolius caught was very large.
It had the weight of about ten grown men.
Even the meat, once the organs and bones had been removed, still weighed a lot.
And so it was too much for even twenty gluttonous Adventurers to finish eating.

I ate the meat slowly while also feeding Hippolius.
And then Victor came up to me.

“Theo. There is left over meat. Can I ask you to process it tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow? But wouldn’t that affect its freshness? I could do it now?”
“No, no. You must be tired. Just take your time. Besides, we have the magic bag.”

The magic bag was very expensive. Perhaps there was magic cast on it that preserved the quality of its contents.

“If that’s the case, then I will do it when I have plenty of time.”
“Thank you.”

It wasn’t like we would be able to acquire meat every day. And it was likely that we would run out of food in the winter.
We would be able to sleep much easier if we had preserved foods.
Besides, if we turned it into dried meat, we would be able to carry it around with us.
Once the real investigations started, the Adventurers would be leaving this base more often.
And it would be necessary to have lots of dried meat.

“How should I process it? Surely you wouldn’t want all of it to be dried meat.”
“Indeed… It would be nice to have some ham.”
“Ham, eh? Yes, it would not be bad.”
“And you could smoke it, but stop just before it becomes as hard as regular dried meat.”
“Ah, that does sound good.”

But in order to make good ham and smoked meat, you needed various materials.
The key would be whether or not we could acquire the materials.

“Well, I’ll only be able to process them with the right materials. So I’ll do it slowly.”
“Yes.”

It was all thanks to the magic bag with the quality retaining ability.
Perhaps it would be better to prioritize the making of wells and furniture, rather than tools to preserve food.

Victor and I talked about such things and ate until we were full.
The Adventurers also looked like they were full, and they were taking it easy.
They and the scholars were now enjoying the wine they had brought out from the ship.

It was normal to bring lots of wine for long sea voyages.
Fresh water would stagnate, so wine was often drunk instead.

One might wonder why they didn’t just put the water in the magic bag, but its capacity was not unlimited.

Victor spoke to the others in a kind voice.

“Please be careful so that you don’t drink too much.”
“We know!”
“However, this is our first night on land. Surely we should be allowed to celebrate a little?”
“Why don’t you have some too, Sir Victor?”
“It’s a night to celebrate! Let’s drink.”

The Adventurers invited, and Victor smiled.

“Well, I suppose that I will then.”
“We wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The Adventurers poured Victor a glass, and he drank it happily.

“Yes, it really is good.”
“Indeed it is, sir. Have another.”

Victor was a dwarf.
They tended to be heavy drinkers. And Victor was no exception.
He had just avoided drinking while at sea, so as to set a good example for the men.

“I can see just how much you love it by the way you drink, Victor.”
“Well, it’s a crime to drink wine with an expression of distaste.”
“Will you have some too, mister Theo?”

One of the Adventurers came to me with a cup of wine.
I normally don’t drink much. But it was a night to be remembered.

“I think I’ll have one drink then.”
“Ah, don’t hold back. Drink all you want!”

And so we made a toast once again.

As the night advanced, people started to return to the houses.
Victor had assigned the rooms while I was still constructing them.

The Adventurers seemed to have all drunk a lot of wine.
They were all unstable as they moved.
That being said, they were still first-rate Adventurers. And not one of them was so drunk that they lost consciousness.
And they headed back on their own two feet.

The person who was the most drunk was the geologist.
He could not walk on his own, and Victor had to support him on his way back to the house.
Speaking of which, Victor was to share a house with the three scholars.

“Well, I suppose we should get some rest too.”
“Kyu.”

And so Hippolius and I headed back to the house. Hippolius’s tail wagged as it led the way.
There was a room made for me, but I wouldn’t use it for a while.
It would probably be used for storage.

“Kyu!”

Hippolius opened the door with its mouth and looked at me with a smug expression.
It wanted to show that it could open it without any help.

“Oh, thank you for opening the door for me.”

I praised Hippolius, patted it on the head, and then entered the house.
It was very dark inside.
I did have a lantern, but we were just going to sleep. It would be a waste of fuel.

“Kyu-kyu.”

Hippolius moved over to a corner in the house and rolled up.
Then it wagged its tail and looked towards me.
It seemed like it wanted to sleep together.

“Alright, then”
“Kyu!”

And so I decided to sleep next to Hippolius.