"So? In the village where you were born, is this thing what you call a bird, then?"
That was the first thing the Innkeeper, Claire Age, sighed out when I, Shin, and the two men brought the Wyverns back to the inn. We had managed to haul a whopping seven Wyverns in total.
Block and Dunder each dragged three big, scaly corpses, and I somehow managed to get one slung over my own shoulder. It was, of course, a grand spectacle, and a crowd of gawkers quickly began to gather. Children, bless their little innocent hearts, were even clambering atop the dead beasts, pretending to be fearsome dragon riders.
"Heh, what a very rare bird that is, ain't it?" Mel-san commented, her voice utterly flat, while Lieben-san added, with the same lack of feeling, "Aye, I've never seen one like it before in all my born days." Both of them were staring at the Wyvern carcasses with the expression of people who had truly seen it all.
"So, Guild report, I suppose?" I asked tentatively, and the two men who had helped me transport the bodies simply nodded their heads. Ah, yes. I remembered now that I'd dumped the entire problem onto the Guild back when I'd brought in the Giant Boar, too.
"The sun is going down fast, so that's good for now, but if we don't handle this soon, it's gonna rot, ain't it?" Block warned, his voice low with worry.
Dunder, ever the sage, reflected, "The magic energy is still quite strong in them, so I'd think they'd be fine for a few days usually. But, alas, we've got this awful summer heat upon us, haven't we?"
Hm. So a strong mana presence slows down decomposition. Valuable information, but the sheer panic of the moment took priority. I strode off toward the Guild at a brisk pace.
* * *
"...We had reports of Wyvern sightings, yup, but then they all said that I had shot them all down, ssu..." Raid-kun muttered, holding his head in his hands, while Milia-san, whose eyes had grown wide as saucers, simply declared, "We rather expected this." That was their initial response after I finished my quick, breathless explanation.
"And then you helped a mother and baby dragon and made a promise to them, ssu? I, you had to pull this off when I was the Deputy Guild Master, didn't you, ssu? You enjoy tormenting my poor heart, don't you, ssu?" Raid cried out, tears welling up in his eyes.
I was utterly at a loss for words, but a sudden, sharp, CLAP! echoed in the room. Milia-san's hand, sharp as a cleaver, had just SMACKED Raid-kun right on the head.
"It's because you were here that this whole thing is wrapped up without a fuss, now isn't it!" Milia snapped, pushing her glasses up her nose. "All we have to do is handle the cleanup! Hurry up! Get that 'Boomerang Squad' you gathered on the horn and tell them to call off the emergency alert! Do it now! I'm off to get the craftsmen to assess the Wyverns!"
She literally kicked Raid's behind to get him moving, and then I accompanied her back to the 'Clan' Inn, where the Wyverns were being stored.
* * *
But, naturally, problems piled up at the scene, one after the other.
Firstly, not one of the available butchery craftsmen had any experience cutting up a Wyvern. Secondly, the situation was completely different from the Giant Boar incident.
Normally, the ruling Count's house would buy the high-value carcass first, and then the court merchants would negotiate and manage the logistics with the Guild. But Count Doorn was away, and so was Carman-san, who was with the Royal Capital group, so any speedy decision-making was simply not going to happen. Since it was summer, we simply couldn't afford to waste time, either.
We had considered salting the meat for preservation, but someone mentioned that the Count Doorn's court merchant had an ice-house (himuro), so an emergency meeting was called. It gathered Raid-kun, Milia-san, the Town Magistrate's Deputy, and the Count Doorn's court merchant—the next most important person after Carman-san.
However, even the town merchant's ice-house couldn't hold seven giant carcasses that measured three meters from head to tail.
I offered my own idea right away: in exchange for using the ice-house, I would present two Wyverns to Count Doorn as a gift.
We quickly arranged for a carriage to take the two monsters to the Count's manor, which apparently had its own ice-house, too. Two down, the matter was settled for those two.
I also asked Pak-san if the Wyvern could be used for medicine.
Pak-san, a little dazed, said he'd need to check but that it would likely be an extremely valuable material, so I offered him one Wyvern for free. This one would be stored in the town merchant's ice-house.
"Huh? What is this? Seriously, what is this?" Pak-san mumbled, utterly bewildered, while I looked away to focus on the remaining four carcasses.
"How many more can fit in the court merchant's ice-house?" I asked.
"Three, at the absolute maximum," came the reply. "So, two more could fit."
"Right. I'll take one for myself and keep it there until I think of a use for it, and let's save the last one for the party that went to the Capital. As for the remaining two, well, let's just eat them, shall we? Wyverns are edible, aren't they?"
Raid-kun declared that he himself hadn't tried it yet, but he had heard tell of it being used as a super-luxury ingredient in the Capital on a few occasions. The others, upon hearing this, realized they were staring at a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
I added that it would be better to use the meat than let it rot, and that it would serve as an excellent practice dummy for the butchery craftsmen. Besides, since we couldn't store them all anyway, eating them was the most sensible, waste-free option.
And just like that, a Wyvern Party—not quite a Ritz Party—was given the green light!
With the help of Claire Age and the other local restaurateurs, the Wyvern was turned into skewers, tempura, and even, yes, mayonnaise dishes. The grand feast went on late into the night.
* * *
—And early the next morning, I, Raid-kun, and Milia-san all met at the town's western gate.
Raid-kun was heading out to the Capital to deliver the details of the Wyvern incident before Jan-san and the others heard rumors and worried themselves sick.
"Well, Milia-san, Shin-san. I'm off, ssu!" Raid declared, trying to sound brave.
"Don't think you're getting a vacation, now. Get back here as soon as you're done!" Milia ordered, not cracking a smile.
"Be careful out there," I added sincerely.
The journey, which normally took five days by a two-horse carriage through the town, the Count's estate, and then the Capital, could be cut down to three days if Raid-kun pushed his speed-up to the maximum. Since he was a living, breathing human, however, he'd likely stop at the Count's estate for a night to resupply, making the total trip about four days of hard travel.
Given that the Count's party had left two days ago in a four-horse carriage, Raid figured he'd catch up to them about two days later. Bronze-class adventurers were also being sent out as messengers to the surrounding villages to spread the news.
As for me, I was quite exhausted from the previous day's excitement and wanted a day off, but if I rested, the supply of birds and fish would stall.
Worse, Milia-san had officially requested detailed written records about the Wyverns, so I couldn't refuse. After waving Raid-kun goodbye, I followed Milia-san back toward the Guild branch.
* * *
"Right, so the current inventory in the ice-house is: one for my ownership, one for the medicinal material—that one's Pak-san's, technically—and one for the group currently at the Capital. Is the ownership of that last one set to the Orphanage?" Milia asked.
I simply nodded.
Milia-san, the professional bureaucrat, handled the process with practiced, efficient grace, reminding me of a busy general affairs staffer back on Earth. She handed me the stack of paperwork for confirmation after she was done, and I simply signed as instructed.
"Hah... I really can't believe I ate Wyvern for the first time in my life last night. I bet there are hardly any nobles who can say that, either," Milia sighed, rubbing her neck.
I recalled the taste of the Wyvern meat. It was similar to the alligator I'd had as fried chicken back on Earth, a delicate, perfect cross between a chicken tenderloin and white fish.
"Are you sure it was alright for you to give away such valuable goods for free?" she pressed.
"It was much better than letting it rot. Everyone enjoyed it, and that's what matters most," I explained. "Besides, I think it gave those butchers a valuable opportunity to hone their skills."
Milia pursed her lips into a thin line, furrowing her brow in a complicated expression. "Mmm..."
"Is something the matter?" I questioned.
"Oh, no... It's just that those very craftsmen will likely be heading straight to the Capital, you know?" Milia confessed. "Butchers with Wyvern-dissection experience are extremely rare. Plus, this town doesn't often have monsters that require such specialized butchery. If they head to the Capital and sell themselves, any nobleman or merchant will snatch them up in a heartbeat."
"Raid-kun did say it was a super-luxury ingredient," I mused.
This was one of the few ways to gain prestige and success in this world without relying on magic, and I couldn't blame them. Butchery and cooking couldn't be solved with magic.
You couldn't drain the blood properly with a simple chop, nor could you turn the meat into neatly portioned blocks. There was no magic to season the food with salt, miso, or sugar. Such things required human effort, practice, and learned skill.
"...But what about the chefs? I've heard the town's cooking repertoire has grown quite a bit since I arrived. Won't they try for the Capital, too?" I wondered.
I had dealings with most of the eateries in town, and no one had mentioned a chef leaving yet.
"They do get more chances to cook meat and fish now, true, but that's just the starting line in the Capital. It's not enough to stand out," Milia explained. "You need something truly rare, something they don't have even in the Capital, for them to make it big."
Ah, right. Being able to cook with plenty of meat and fish only put them at the Capital's baseline.
It was a weak position. But wait...
"What about the mayonnaise? The recipe isn't a secret, and if they could make that in the Capital..." I trailed off.
"Ah, that. If they could make that, they'd be fought over in the Capital, that's for sure," Milia agreed. "But I recall mayonnaise uses eggs, doesn't it? How many do you need?"
"About six per jar," I answered.
Milia crossed her arms, a look of deep thought on her face. "Aren't eggs incredibly expensive, though? If they try to make it themselves and fail, think of how much money they'd lose! They'd need a will of steel just to practice, wouldn't they?"
Right. Eggs were a luxury here.
I realized that if my ingredients cost tens or hundreds of thousands of Yen, I wouldn't be able to cook, either. Dried fish and tempura were easy, but those could be copied quickly.
"If we could secure a more stable supply of eggs, we could try other egg dishes and hold practice sessions for the chefs," I pondered, realizing that making all the mayonnaise myself was incredibly inefficient.
Suddenly, Milia's glasses seemed to GLEAM with a sinister light. "Hoh... Other egg dishes, you say? Please do your very best, Shin-san... Your Guild wholeheartedly supports such endeavors..."
Was it just my imagination, or was a subtly evil aura beginning to coalesce around Milia-san's smiling face?
In any case, my business here was done. I had arranged to meet Block and Dunder for work, so I decided to head back to the inn.
* * *
"Oh, Shin-san! Thanks for the feast last night!" Block greeted me upon my return to the 'Clan' Inn, where the two men were already waiting.
"Where are we heading today, then? Back to the birds?" Dunder asked with a spry curiosity.
"I'm a little worried, considering what just happened yesterday," I admitted, looking at the two. Block was fine, but Dunder was getting on in years.
"Well, no one got seriously hurt, did they?" Block dismissed the worry with a wave.
"And after that Wyvern meat, I feel like I've shed a decade!" Dunder chuckled.
It was good that they felt energized. I figured we should go catch some birds first. Yesterday had been all about the Wyvern panic, and we hadn't really finished our training. After that, I had something else I wanted to drag them along for. Grabbing the wire cages for hunting, we headed off to the nearby forest.
* * *
Not wanting to tempt fate by returning to the Wyvern ambush site, we simply went a little deeper into the woods and set the cages.
The task was easy, as we'd practiced it the day before, and soon we entered the 'waiting' period. I took this chance to gather more information about the southern, agricultural district.
"What are they growing, you ask? I don't think there's anything terribly exciting, ssu," Block answered.
"As we said yesterday, mostly grains and root vegetables. There are some patches where they grow vegetables, but nothing grand," Dunder mused.
I knew the main focus was staples, but there were varieties, and since there were plenty of people who could use Water Magic, they never had to worry about drought or water shortages. Compared to Earth, this was a massive advantage.
"Do they always grow them in the same spot?" I asked.
"Now, that I wouldn't know..." Block admitted.
"They do rotate the fields every few years, ssu. I've heard that if you keep growing the same thing in the same spot, the crops will start to fail," Dunder supplied.
Ah, crop rotation. So, even without the exact scientific knowledge, their experience taught them how to mitigate continuous cropping issues.
I decided I needed to see the farms with my own eyes. I wanted to know the size, the specific crops, and the methods used. I made a plan to have the two men guide me there after the morning's bird catch was done.
* * *
"Ooh, we got some, Shin-san!" Block exclaimed when we returned to the traps.
"I told you it was a magic thing, Block, but it truly is a surprise to see it work so reliably!" Dunder said, shaking his head.
The traps had caught several birds. Unlike fish, birds didn't need to be kept in water, which made the logistics much easier.
We set the traps twice in the morning and caught about twenty birds. That was still a small number compared to the fifty we caught weekly (about twenty-five per day on two hunting and two fishing days), but we had other plans, so that was enough for today.
We stopped for lunch and, as usual, ate our chicken-mayo and tuna-mayo-like sandwiches together.
"Say, about that bird-raising facility you got going... how many birds are in there now?" Block asked, curious about the business he was now helping with.
"We started with about sixty, but I've added a few more, so I think it's around eighty now," I replied. The facility was designed to hold a hundred birds, so there was still room. The success was better than I had hoped for, which was the main reason I was considering expanding the facility. If my new theory proved correct, the size of the farmlands would open up another new project.
"To think there's a way like this! I never thought I'd eat eggs so regularly, ssu. It's a miracle of a long life!" Dunder cheered.
"You're talking about a miracle after eating a Wyvern yesterday!" Block retorted, and we all burst into laughter.
After lunch, we returned to the town to drop off the birds at the 'Clan' Inn.
* * *
"Twenty birds today, then. I'll take seven for the inn, cook five for the orphanage, and distribute the rest to the others, is that the plan?" Claire Age confirmed.
"Yes, please. That's perfect," I agreed.
The birds were always delivered to Claire Age first, due to the convenient storage space and the Inn's priority in the distribution system. They sometimes delivered live birds to the orphanage, but since the Matron, Ribera-san, was absent, there was no one to cook them, so they had to be cooked beforehand.
Gil-kun and Luce-san, the usual escorts, were also away, but Kart-kun and the others had been arranged for the delivery, so that was fine. The only delivery I handled myself was the one for the Count Doorn's court merchant.
"Oh? What about the court merchant's share, then?" Claire Age asked, noticing the omission.
"A small change this time... I wanted Block and Dunder to get a bit more training first," I explained.
"Ah, right, those two are new faces! So, how is it? Doesn't this man keep things exciting, ain't he?" the Innkeeper asked the two men.
They both offered awkward, subtle smiles. A lot had certainly happened, but was it really my fault?
Leaving the rest to Claire Age, I took the two men and headed toward the southern, agricultural district of the town.
* * *
"Oh..." That single sound was my first reaction to the farmlands. I had pictured it, but seeing it in person was entirely different. I hadn't realized there was such a vast, empty expanse so close to the town.
Come to think of it, the northern residential area was big enough to house almost all of the town's five hundred residents, and a similar space dedicated to farming would naturally look like this. It looked about three times the size of a school track that could hold a hundred-meter dash, but there were noticeable empty spaces.
Dunder explained that about a quarter of the land was used for grains, half of that for root vegetables, and the rest for scattered vegetable patches. The rotation for preventing continuous cropping involved changing the fields within the same general area, which meant about a quarter of the land was always 'resting.'
This meant there was definitely room to expand the bird-raising facility, but another question began to bother me.
"But this is where the town's food supply comes from, isn't it? It feels a little... small," I noted.
I knew that adults could survive on minimal food thanks to their Body Enhancement Magic, but they still needed to eat. Given the town's population, especially with children making up a third of it, the supply seemed obviously insufficient.
"Nah, I think this is about right, ssu?" Block said, shrugging.
"If anything, we had a surplus before you arrived, ssu," Dunder added.
This only deepened the mystery. Wait a minute...
"Just out of curiosity, when was the last harvest?" I asked.
The two men looked at each other, trying to remember.
"Hmm? I think it was... about fifteen days ago?"
"Idiot! It was twenty days ago. The next harvest should be ready in about ten days, ssu."
The puzzle finally clicked into place. I had been using Earth's agricultural timeline as my baseline, and that was the mistake.
On Earth, growing potatoes from seed potatoes took four to five months. If it took only about a month here, it made perfect sense for the food to be supplied cheaply and in large quantities.
It was the Magic, the foundational concept of this world.
Mana was involved. And with that, my hypothesis hardened into a full certainty.
The clue had been the bird-raising facility itself.
It had been running for about two months since I started it to secure eggs, and not a single bird had died. That was the one thing I hadn't accounted for.
Starting a new poultry business, something I'd never done on Earth, came with a mountain of worries: the sudden change in environment, the stress of forced group living, unknown ecosystem and feeding requirements, and a count of countless uncertainties. I had prepared myself for the cruel reality of losing half, or even all, of the flock.
But none of that happened. And a new, simple truth emerged from the failure of my Earthly predictions:
It was all going too smoothly.
Of course, success was welcome, but for future planning, I had to figure out why.
I thought back to the Giant Boar I'd first encountered in this world.
The beast's colossal size and ability to support itself on disproportionately small legs were due to Body Enhancement (boost). But what maintained that giant body?
I had been going to that forest for a long time, and I didn't believe the ecosystem held enough resources to sustain the Boar's weight.
Then I remembered the people of this world: adults could live on minimal food, thanks to Magic Control and Body Enhancement.
What if that applied not only to humans but to all animals and living things here?
My conclusion was that since this was a magic-based world, a universal life force called 'Mana' was added to the base stats of all creatures. This meant their survival rates and life force were dramatically higher compared to Earth.
This realization meant that not only was poultry farming easy, but the fish farming I had once abandoned would likely be simple to do as well!
* * *
"H-Hey, Shin-san?" Block asked, looking genuinely concerned.
"You've been making complicated faces and then smiling to yourself! Is something the matter, ssu?" Dunder added.
Their worried voices snapped me back to reality.
"Oh, my apologies. I was just lost in thought..." I quickly covered. "But this area here is perfect for building a few more facilities, isn't it?"
I chided myself for my slow realization. I knew the local civilization was stuck in the Middle Ages because of how convenient magic was, but I'd only thought of it benefiting humans.
It turned out the whole ecosystem was getting a 'cheat code.' A stable food supply was the most critical problem for nations throughout Earth's history, yet here, it was practically a non-issue. It was truly an astonishing world.
With a clear direction for the future, I decided to head back and tell Milia-san, as she'd need to arrange for land and craftsmen.
"Thank you for the tour. I think that's enough for today," I said, bowing slightly.
"Huh? That's all, ssu?" Block questioned.
"We can still go for a bit longer, ssu!" Dunder insisted, eager to show his continued vigor.
"No, I'm done with the scouting. I need to get started on arranging the land and negotiating with the craftsmen," I explained. "I'll need you two for the new facilities, though. You might be helping me with the construction process itself. I'm counting on you both."
"O-Oh! You can count on me!" Block cheered.
"If it's just Water Magic you need, I'll be happy to help, ssu!" Dunder promised.
And with that, the day's work was concluded.
Summary:
The accidental hunter, Shin, dumped seven Wyverns on the town, forcing an administrative meltdown at the Guild. Milia-san, the sharp-witted bureaucrat, loved the chaos because of the valuable trade goods it created, turning the monster into a luxury Wyvern feast.
Meanwhile, poor Raid-kun was sent on a frantic, high-speed trip to the Capital, arriving to find the Count was already overwhelmed by good news (surprise marriage proposals for the orphans) and the shock of Shin's latest monster-slaying gift. Shin, completely oblivious to the administrative fallout, was back in town, having a Eureka moment: the world's inherent magic made large-scale farming and animal husbandry much easier than he thought, opening up a whole new world of business.
T/L:
¹ An ice-house (himuro) is a structure, common in pre-refrigeration Japan and other cultures, built to store ice and keep things cold for preservation.
A very valuable asset in a world without modern technology. ↩
Notes:
• Claire - The sharp-witted owner of the inn 'Clan,' which was previously famous for its private bath. She is a powerful water-magic user.
• Shin - An average, middle-aged Japanese salaryman who prides himself on his common sense and average abilities. He was forcibly sent to a fantasy world by a God and granted the 'ability' to prevent anything 'outside his common sense' from occurring in his presence.
• Dunder - An elderly yet spry man, recently hired, with a weathered appearance and seasoned, reflective approach to work. He’s pleasantly surprised by his second wind in life, especially after eating wyvern meat.
• Block - A newly hired laborer with a solid, working-class build, he assists Shin with hunting and odd jobs. Straightforward and excited about earning high-value meat.
• Lieben - A tall man Shin hires for his Wind Magic to help create his dried fish product. He has thin, tall frame and slightly tired eyes.
• Mel - A young girl Shin hires for her Water Magic to clean his catch. She has semi-long hair, and slightly foxy, sharp eyes.
• Milia - The young receptionist at the Adventurer's Guild. She has short hair, tanuki-face like (cute), wears round glasses, and business attire.
• Raid - A young, 'normie' adventurer who gets saddled with the job of escorting Shin. He is carefree and friendly but is instantly put on edge by Jandou's ominous warning. He has short black hair, sun-tanned skin, and wears casual adventure gear.
• Carman - The Count's official merchant in the town. A professional, elderly man who quickly recognized the unexpected value of Shin's processed fish.
• Jan - The sturdy branch manager of the local Adventurer's Guild. He is short, has muscular build, and gray hair.
• Ribera - The director of the local orphanage, deeply invested in the children's well-being. She is a middle aged woman.
• Luce - A Bronze-class adventurer, also an orphanage graduate and very close friend of Gil. She specializes in Fire Magic, but can only 'manifest' flames without projection. She has flaxen hair tied in a braid at the back, short stature.
• Gil - A Bronze-class adventurer and recent graduate of the local orphanage. He specializes in Earth Magic (Stone Bullet), but its initial power is weak. He and Luce are close, almost like siblings. He has short hair, slender build, and looks unhealthy.