Taste Verification
Having been dragged off to war for a whole month, the mundane work during that time had fallen behind.
The construction in Legol’s expansion district was affected, as were many industries.
Most importantly, logging work for winter was completely behind.
We still need much more Baroa lumber for heating and construction materials.
It looks like helping with logging work near the entrance of Baroa Forest will be the main work until the end of this year.
But I get tired of just security work. I want to do subjugation…
“Are the nearby security jobs taken?”
“We prioritize newly-made Bronze members for nearby jobs. In Mongrel-san’s case, since you’re experienced, it would be missions deep in Baroa.”
“I’m also a shiny Bronze 3 though.”
“Your copper plate is quite tarnished, Mongrel-san. Shall we exchange it for a new plate?”
“It’ll probably turn silver when I come back, so it’s fine.”
“Hehe.”
While chatting with Milene-san at the guild like this, I’ve been getting bored with similar missions lately.
The remaining places are all annoyingly far too, and logging security work is tedious. Moving according to the workers’ pace is subtly exhausting.
That said, I can’t exactly do lumberjack work with my bastard sword.
“Milene-san, aren’t there any chimeras appearing around here?”
“Fortunately, we haven’t had sightings of such monsters for years… There aren’t any particular stories about other monsters right now either…”
I like subjugation. But I’m fatally lacking in skills to track prey or estimate their locations. This kind of thing can’t be found by searching blindly.
So I always rely on guild requests to head to promising locations, but without those, it’s quite tough. Even though monsters will actively attack when they spot you, it’s meaningless if you can’t encounter them.
Hmm, what should I do…
“Huh? Could it be that Mongrel-san is free right now?”
“Hm? Oh, Ulrika. Are you alone today?”
The one who called out to me while I was worrying at the reception was Ulrika. There were no other Artemis members around.
“That’s right. The leader took Raina horseback riding. She’s busy now.”
“Horseback riding? Is Artemis buying horses too?”
“Raina wants to practice mounted archery. She thinks it might be good to learn just in case.”
“What’s she planning to do with that skill… Well, I guess being able to ride is better than not being able to.”
“Well, setting horseback riding aside, if Mongrel-san is free, want to go on a mission with me? I took a delivery and clearing mission to the third work hut in the northern part of Baroa Forest.”
“Oh, a delivery mission.”
Delivery is basically like being a porter carrying supplies to a mountain hut on foot, like in my previous life.
You take necessary supplies to remote work huts in the forest and replenish them. Along the way, you ensure the surrounding safety, and if things are getting overwhelmed by nature, you clean that up too. If monsters are lurking nearby, subjugating them is also part of the job.
…The northern third work hut is pretty deep. It would probably take two days to get there.
“I was originally planning to go with Goriiana-san, but our schedules didn’t match… So, you know? Want to go together?”
“Oh, sounds good. I was just wanting to do that kind of work.”
“Great! Then Milene-san, please handle the paperwork.”
And so I decided to do the delivery mission with Ulrika.
Due to the nature of the mission, we’d be carrying a large amount of luggage from the start… but with my physical abilities, that’s no problem at all.
I’d like to do more of this kind of work. It’s a shame it’s so rare.
“Sorry about this, Mongrel-san. Even though it’s a mission I took, you’re carrying so much…”
“Ah, don’t worry about it. It’s nothing much for me.”
We took a carriage to get closer to the northern part of Baroa Forest, then got off.
From here, it’s on foot with heavy luggage.
I look like I’m about to start Death Stranding, while Ulrika has autumn cold-weather gear with a reasonable amount of luggage.
I’m probably carrying three times more than her. But considering marching speed, this ratio should let the two of us proceed at a good pace.
“I’ll use my sword if necessary, but if monsters appear, I’ll basically leave it to Ulrika. Is that okay?”
“Yeah, leave it to me! …But basically we’ll avoid monsters and prioritize efficiency, so if we don’t need to deal with them, we’ll ignore them completely, okay?”
“Oh, that’s fine. If we’re doing subjugation, it’ll be after we reach the work hut.”
With our policy decided, we set off.
With Ulrika in the lead, we pushed through the forest.
The luggage I’m carrying includes fragile items, so I really can’t be reckless. Suddenly dropping the luggage to fight would be difficult too. If there’s combat, it’ll be up to Ulrika.
“Ah, there’s a snare trap here, so be careful. Let’s detour around it.”
“Right… There really are a lot of traps around here.”
“It’s autumn after all. The numbers will decrease once we go a bit further, so bear with it.”
These traps were quite effective in my previous life too, but in this world, they can be torn apart normally. Flimsy wire could be quite dangerous.
So instead of wire, they use sturdy rope made from monster materials, but this rope varies wildly in strength depending on age, which is scary.
If you use cheap stuff that’s not sold by the guild, it gets torn apart.
You catch prey just fine, but when you approach, the prey gets excited and rampages, breaking free at the worst possible moment… there are many cases like that.
“Whoa, there’s a Crazy Boar caught!”
“That’s dangerous, let’s detour. It doesn’t seem like an illegal trap, but just to be safe.”
That’s why when you find prey caught in someone else’s trap, you shouldn’t carelessly approach.
Poaching is a crime, and you can’t be sure the trap is in perfect condition.
We listened to the excited boar’s snorting and walked toward the work hut, ignoring it.
“Come to think of it, it was exactly a year ago, wasn’t it? When I first entered Baroa Forest with Mongrel-san.”
“Ah, there was something like that. That was also a work hut-related mission.”
“That’s right. The one with poachers!”
“Did you know, Ulrika? The guy who was the poacher leader back then was recently freed from criminal slavery.”
“Eh!? Really? I had no idea…”
“I had a chance to talk to him. Seems like he’s starting over as a guildsman from Iron 1 again.”
“Huh…”
On the first day, we make camp partway, lighting a fire and staying overnight. As expected, you can’t reach the destination in one go while carrying heavy luggage.
We put down our loads, spread out fur, and eat dried meat and bread around the campfire.
Thanks to the large luggage serving as a good windbreak, it’s not very cold even in this season.
“One year, huh. I never thought I’d be talking regularly with the Artemis folks.”
“Ahaha. What did you do before? Mongrel-san, you weren’t strangers with Leader Sheena either, right?”
“We just weren’t unknown to each other, that’s all. We didn’t particularly talk, never went on missions together… If Raina hadn’t been there, I wonder if we would have had any interaction.”
Especially Sheena. She had sharp eyes, or rather, a strong unapproachable atmosphere. Still does, actually.
“Thanks to Raina, huh… Hey Mongrel-san, what do you think of Raina?”
“What do you mean? No, never mind, don’t answer. I can tell from that face. It’s about men and women, right?”
“Ahaha.”
She had the face of a girl enjoying gossip about romance, so I could tell immediately.
This kind of atmosphere is nostalgic.
“Raina is… well… before being a man or woman, and even before being senpai-kouhai… she might be my child…”
“No, that’s definitely wrong…”
“I don’t know. Lately I’ve been getting the feeling she might be my niece or some relative’s kid… I can’t look at her that way…”
“I kind of understand the feeling, but still…”
Maybe if she ate more and put on some weight, she’d look more feminine…?
Though I think growing her hair out would be better, but I can’t imagine Raina with long hair at all.
And even if such a Raina suddenly appeared before me, whether romantic feelings would arise is pretty doubtful. Raina is Raina, after all.
“Rather, what about Ulrika, who’s closer to Raina’s age? How do you see Raina?”
“Eh? Ehhhh, me!? Me and Raina!? No way, that’s impossible! Ahahahaha!”
“Well, it’s definitely more normal than me, you know?”
He burst out laughing, but in terms of being a man and woman close in age, Ulrika would definitely be closer to her.
“For me too, Raina is a cute kouhai. Ah, that’s funny…”
“Well, yeah. I feel like that kind of relationship with Raina will continue no matter how many years pass.”
“Ahaha…”
The campfire crackled, and sparks danced up into the air.
“…Mongrel-san, don’t you want to get married? You’re already at a good age…”
“Me, get married? I haven’t thought about that at all.”
“Hmm… aren’t you interested in women?”
Ulrika took off his boots and was warming his feet near the campfire.
I understand it feels good, but be careful of low-temperature burns. Burns on the soles of your feet are painful.
“It’s not that I’m not interested. It’s just that marriage seems troublesome, so I don’t want to think about it. Finding a partner and planning for the future is too bothersome.”
“Then… are you interested in men…?”
“No, that doesn’t follow. Besides, I’m half-Sunglaire, right? My children would be quarter. I’m not discriminating against races, but I wouldn’t want to give my children traits that would make their lives difficult.”
“Ah… s-sorry.”
“Ah, no wait, it’s not that serious. It’s just one reason. Most of it is just that living with someone else would be tough, so don’t worry about it, Ulrika.”
Close call, the atmosphere was about to get heavy again.
…When it comes to private life, it’s hard to hide things. Hygiene habits, culture too.
When values clash like this, I think living together would be seriously tough. It would definitely be tough for me, but it would be tough for the other person too. Nobody would benefit from that kind of marriage.
Plus, not being able to move freely when necessary is also bad.
When I settle down somewhere, I’ve decided it’ll be with a stylish café before a family.
“Come on, it’s already dark so go to sleep, Ulrika. We’ll be walking again tomorrow, and your calves will be even more swollen than now.”
“…mm-hmm”
He’s been wiggling his feet on the fur for a while now. Maybe it was because our pace was faster than I thought.
Tomorrow I might need to give him a massage or it’ll be tough.
“I’ll keep the monster-repelling incense burning, so hurry up and sleep. I’ll sleep in a bit too.”
“…okaaay”
Today there’s no rain and little wind. It’s not freezing cold either, so it’s a relatively comfortable night of camping.
If we walk according to schedule tomorrow too, we should reach the cabin by evening. That day we’ll just lightly clean the cabin and call it done, but being able to sleep indoors will be grateful.
Eventually Ulrika began breathing quietly in his sleep, and I fell asleep a little later as well.
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