Chapter 243: 15-year-old Inglis, the Dragon God and the Elder King (16)
Chapter 243: 15-year-old Inglis, the Dragon God and the Elder King (16)
Similarly, Liselotte was mainly involved in cutting meat as well. The ax head of her halberd Artifact was also suitable to chop up meat, and because she could fly with the power of her Gift, she could easily chop off meat that would normally be out of reach.
Except for helping to transport food to the villages, as she did today, Rafinha was mainly working on processing the Dragon God meat that Leone had cut up into cured or smoked meat so that it could be stored for a long time.
She found the work fun as she could sneak a bite and snack on the jerky as much as she wanted. Since Liselotte’s flying ability was also useful for curing the meat, she helped Rafinha with the work too.
The Knights under Lahti’s command were mainly responsible for distributing food to the villages and towns, as well as civil engineering work to turn the encampment into a full-fledged settlement. Pullum mainly focused on the latter task, while occasionally she would show up to help make the cured meat.
While they decided to set up a camp here mainly out of coincidence, it seemed like the reconstruction of Lekrea would be centered around this place.
「Leone, Liselotte! Good work today, how is it going?」
Rafinha called out to the two who were in the middle of their work. It was cold and snowy here, and the temperature was naturally low, and yet they were working up a sweat.
「Ah, Rafinha. Welcome back. As you can see…」
「The meat is piling up faster than we can carve them out…」
Other than the Dragon God tail that Leone and Liselotte were working on, there was another similar tail lying on the ground. Even the meat of the Dragon God would turn bad if left too long, so they had to quickly carve it out and distribute it to the towns, or process it into cured or smoked meat for preservation.
「Are you okay? Should I call Glis to help?」
「No, we’re okay. It’s good training, and Inglis seems to be immersed in her own work…」
「Not to mention, seeing our process quicken over time, I feel like we have gotten the hang of it.」
There was no doubt that the meat of the Dragon God was of the finest quality with superb flavor, but it was too flexible for the blade to cut. However, the meat instantly turned tender when you roasted it and the taste was exceptional.
For that reason, even when they were using their Artifacts, the butchering process was still a lot of hard work for Leone and Liselotte. Although, the work being a good training was a welcome byproduct.
「Anyway, I’m here to take some meat for tomorrow.」
「Sure! The others came for it too.」
「You can start with the pile over there! Should we help you with the loading too?」
「Ah, it’s fine. I’ll just call Glis, you two can continue your work.」
Rafinha left it at that and went alone to call Inglis. She went deeper into the woods, further from Leone and Liselotte’s workshop, and even further from the center of the encampment.
The closer she got, the louder and the more intense the noise became.
「S-, so noisy……」
So much so it hurt her ears.
Inglis was in the middle of a crater that suddenly opened up deep within the woods. She was in the middle of swinging her fist at something on the ground.
The sound that echoed all the way across the encampment was the sound of Inglis hitting that something hard. The ground, deeply crumbled and cratered, was the result of her impact.
「Glis! Hey, Glis, stop! Can you help me?!」
When Rafinha called out to her, Inglis immediately stopped her hands.
「Ah, Rani. Welcome back.」
The Lord of Environmental Destruction looked at Rafinha and smiled. If only she wasn’t in the center of a crater and swinging her fist cheerfully, it would have been a fantastically beautiful smile.
「Are you hurt anywhere? Did something happen that could have traumatized you?」
Then came her very worried looks. If only she wasn’t in the center of a crater and swinging her fist
, Rafinha repeated her inner monologue.This is why everyone keeps saying Inglis is cute but does things outside of human understanding. Because of this constant roaring, everyone in the encampment had come to see what was going on at least once, only to be taken aback by Inglis’ conducts. Although, now that they had grown accustomed to her, they’d just ignore her and say, “There she goes again…”
「I’m fine. You’re a worrywart, Glis. Forget that, look at the hole you made. It’s bad to destroy nature too much, okay? Filling the hole in later will be a chore, you know?」
「Uu……B-, but I couldn’t help it that a crater was made, it won’t change shape unless I hit it as hard I can!」
「Do you need to do it right now?」
「Maybe. It may be helpful someday later, you know?」
Inglis said as she grabbed a long, thin object that was lying at her feet. It hummed as it was raised, and although it was a bit warped, it was thin and long. That was what was originally the tail of the Dragon God.
To be more precise, it was the empty husk of the tail after its meat was completely carved out of by Leone and Liselotte. The dragon scale, so to say. Inglis was trying to process the scales of Dragon God Vufailbane locally.
At face value, her processing method was extremely primitive, as all it involved was striking it with her fist with all of her might. However, it was also true that Inglis’ fist, with Ether Armor activated, was harder than any tool or Artifact in the area. In short, while it was the most primitive method, it was the most effective to use.
「W-, well, do it in moderation, okay? I’m going to load the meat we’re going to distribute tomorrow onto the Flygear Carrier. Can you help me with it?」
「Yeah. Got it! Once that’s done, let’s go for dinner.」
「You’re right. Let’s eat a whole lot today too!」
「The meat is delicious, and it won’t run out no matter how much we eat it, so it’s just the best.」
「Tell me about it! It\'s a far cry from the snow we used to eat! I hope it stays this way forever until I get tired of it~」
「That means we might be here forever, you know? You might never get tired of it since the meat is just too good.」
「Ahaha. You could say that~ Ah-ah, talking about it makes me hungry! Let’s finish it fast so we can eat dinner!」
「Yeah. Let’s, Rani.」
But, the very next day, the 『stays this way forever』 that Rafinha wished for was shattered, while Inglis’ 『it may be helpful someday later』 arrived…