Chapter 1-7 : Hunter (part 1)
As soon as I left Nansa old lady’s house, a notification board popped out.
〈Congratulations! You can learn【Compounding】without needing to spend any Skill Points.〉
「Wait, what? Is it because Nansa obaa-san taught me how to make ointment? I see. So that was indeed a hidden quest, huh? Not only did I get potions as a reward, but I can also learn this useful skill for free. Wonderful! Oh, right. I need to spend the Skill Points I got from killing that wolf too. Hmm… Let’s see…」(Alice)
I leveled up and got some Skill Points when I killed the wolf in the forest. Judging from the number of Skill Points I got, that wolf really was much higher level than me.
I decided to spend the Skill Points on【Sword Mastery】and some supplementary skills.
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ーSKILLSー
【Sword Mastery】Lv 2
【Cooking】Lv 1
【ATK Boost】Lv 2
【AGI Boost】Lv 2
【DEX Boost】Lv 2
【Gathering】Lv 3
【Perception】Lv 2
【Stealth】Lv 1
【Appraisal】Lv 3
【Storage】Lv 1
【Compounding】Lv1
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The sun had already set by the time I returned to the main street. It was past 7 pm IGT (in-game time).
When I revived in the church, my HP and MP were fully restored and the abnormal status and debuffs I had were gone. However, my hunger level didn’t change.
I thought of eating the bread I bought from Marl’s place at first, but I changed my mind. Since it would be dinner soon, I wanted to eat something heavier, so I searched for a good place to eat as I walked down the main street.
After walking for a while, I found a lively place but not too crowded with people.
「Hmm… A bar, huh?」(Alice)
However, the place was not a restaurant, but it seemed to be a bar. I saw this kind of bar in Western movies.
I didn’t know what kind of meals they serve but since my hunger level was already below half, I decided to go in.
As soon as I entered, I was greeted by a woman who seemed to be a barmaid.
「Welcome. How many people in your party?」(barmaid)
「Umm, I’m with no one.」(Alice)
「Alright, one person then. Do you mind sitting at the counter?」(barmaid)
「I don’t mind.」(Alice)
「Understood.」(barmaid)
The barmaid led me to an empty seat at the counter and handed me the menu.
「This is the menu. You can call me when you’re ready to order.」(barmaid)
「Okay, thank you.」(Alice)
I opened the menu. There were many meat and vegetable dishes, and of course, alcoholic beverages since it was a bar.
There were also several fish dishes on the list, but they had “Unavailable” annotations next to them.
I wonder if they’re unable to procure fish because the southern port town is currently occupied by monsters.
After looking at the menu for a while, I found two dishes that caught my interest; Earth Boar steak and Earth Bear stew.
I still don’t know what monsters in this world taste like, but I have a feeling they would taste great.
「Excuse me, can I order now?」(Alice)
「Yes, what can I get for you?」(barmaid)
「I want one serving of Earth Boar steak and one serving of Earth Bear stew, please.」(Alice)
「Alright. Please wait a moment~」(barmaid)
While waiting for my food, I guess I’ll think about where to go next.
Should I go hunt some monsters or… maybe I’ll go to the guild hall to get some quest. I heard you level up quickly from clearing quests.
While I was thinking about my next plan, the barmaid returned with my food.
「Here’s your Earth Boar steak and Earth Bear stew. You can pay after you finish your meals. Please enjoy~」(barmaid)
「Thank you.」(Alice)
Alright, let’s find out how they taste. Bon appetite~!
I started with the Earth Boar steak. I cut the tender meat with my knife and put a piece into my mouth with a fork.
The meat juice spread in my mouth as soon as I bit it. It tasted similar to pork but juicier.
It’s really good!
I finished the steak quickly and started eating the stew.
The Earth Bear meat was so tender that it melted in my mouth. What was good about it was that it wasn’t as smelly as bear meat in the real world. The vegetables were also flavorful.
The meals were so delicious that I couldn’t stop eating. I finished the two heavy meals in just ten minutes.
「Phew~ That was really good~」(Alice)
「Fufu. You ate really fast, Miss.」(barmaid)
「Ahaha… So, how much should I pay?」(Alice)
「The steak is 50G and the stew is 65G, so it’s 115G in total.」(barmaid)
「Okay.」(Alice)
I took out the money from my Item Box and handed it to her.
「Thank you. Ah, by the way, you are an Outworlder, right? Do you have monster meat? If you have any, you can sell it to us.」(barmaid)
「Ah, I’m sorry, I don’t. I haven’t hunted monsters yet. Well, I killed a wolf, but I didn’t get its meat.」(Alice)
「I see. Well, that’s too bad. I guess I’ll have to ask that hunter again…」(barmaid)
「Hunter?」(Alice)
I wonder if it’s some kind of job in this game.
「His name is Rick. We usually buy monster meat from him. Well, not just meat, he brings the whole corpse, so we get a lot of things other than meat.」(barmaid)
Wait, what did she say? The whole corpse?
Monsters will disappear when they die, and they will only leave drop items sometimes. How can he bring the corpses?
Now I’m curious.
Monsters drop meat sometimes, but it depends on the RNG, so you can’t get it every time. However, if the corpse doesn’t disappear, that means you can get meat every time you kill a monster!
I think I have to see this person.
「Do you know where he lives? I want to ask him about hunting monsters.」(Alice)
「Yeah, he lives near the farm on the north side of this town.」(barmaid)
「I see. Thank you. I’ll be going now.」(Alice)
「Please come again~」(barmaid)
I left the bar and headed north right away.
After walking down the main street toward the north side of the town for about fifteen minutes, I could see the farm.
I asked the residents nearby and they told me where Rick lived. It seemed that he was quite well-known in this neighborhood.
I stood by the door as soon as I found his house and knocked on it.
He didn’t show up right away, so I knocked on the door a few more times.
「Hmm… Is he not home…?」(Alice)
I was thinking about giving up and returning the next day, but when I was about to turn around, the door opened and a man with a well-built body but a lazy-looking face showed up.
「Hm? Can I help you?」(Rick)
「Umm, I’m sorry for disturbing you. Are you Rick?」(Alice)
「I am. What do you want from me?」(Rick)
「I heard about you from the barmaid in a bar on the main street. Is it true that the corpses of the monsters you hunt don’t disappear?」(Alice)
「Ah, so you want to know about my skill, huh?」(Rick)
「Skill?」(Alice)
「Come in. I’ll tell you about it.」(Rick)
He looked somewhat intimidating.
To be honest, I don’t want to enter his house, but… I guess I don’t have a choice. We can’t just talk while standing by the door after all.