Yukitaka was hungry, so he asked Iris about the monster he had killed, the Gray Six-Legged Demon Bear. "Can we eat the thing that was master of this nest?"
"A monster...?" Iris was caught off guard. "I've read records that say adventurers ate monsters they killed when they ran out of food, but the same records said it wasn't tasty, so I don't think many people eat them, you know?"
Yukitaka leaned forward. "What did they eat?"
"A goblin, apparently," Iris said. "It was in the same records."
"That does sound gross..," Yukitaka said, and looked away.
Yukitaka liked light novels, so he knew plenty about goblins.
He never ran into any in the Royal Capital's Dungeon, but orcs and slimes had looked exactly like he imagined, so goblins were probably the same.
"In my world, bears were eaten as game meat, so I want to try it," Yukitaka held out a hand. "Ms. Iris, can you lend me a butcher knife?"
Yukitaka was eager, partly because he was hungry.
"Understood, Mr. Goto. But I'll do it. I'm used to this kind of thing."
Iris always pulled magic stones out of monsters she defeated, and she was used to butchering captured beasts.
"Then I'll watch and learn too," Yukitaka said, and he took the monster out of his magic storage.
Iris drained the blood from the Gray Six-Legged Demon Bear and started butchering it.
First, she cut open the area around the heart and took out the magic stone nearby.
This was the biggest profit for an adventurer, so her hands moved with skill.
"This monster is one even I, a Gold Rank adventurer, couldn't have beaten alone," Iris held up the stone, and the light ran across it. "And look at this magic stone. It's beautiful, and it's big. This will definitely sell for a high price."
She explained it all for Yukitaka's sake as she kept butchering.
Yukitaka watched her hands desperately, trying to memorize every part of it.
"Ah, please take out the heart too. Back home, we eat it."
Yukitaka asked Iris, based on knowledge he had read in manga.
"Yes!" Iris was startled, but she did as Yukitaka said.
Everything she butchered went straight into his magic storage so it would not spoil.
Butchering a four-meter bear took hours, even with Iris's skilled movements.
During that time, Yukitaka asked Iris all kinds of things while she worked, especially about adventurers.
Iris seemed to be a Gold Rank adventurer, but Yukitaka did not know how strong that really was, so he tried to organize in his head everything she had told him.
=== ADVENTURER RANKS ===
Adamantite ....Legendary
Orichalcum .....Highest grade
Mithril ........Super first-class
Platinum .......First-class
Gold ...........Strong
Silver .........Skilled
Copper .........Average
Steel ..........Almost there
Iron ...........Beginner
Wood ...........Amateur
========================
Iris was pretty high up as an adventurer, and the average adventurer was apparently Copper Rank.
Iris also showed him her Adventurer Card, which proved it.
A small metal card with your name on it, one for each rank, proved your status, apparently.
While listening to all this, Yukitaka decided to grill meat beside the slow butchering work.
He skewered the heart on a thin bone he had collected.
Iris had salt, so he sprinkled it on and rubbed it in carefully.
Once the prep was done, it was time to cook.
The nest had plenty of small branches, so he used them as kindling and had Iris light a fire with her magic.
Yukitaka just slowly grilled the skewered heart.
The smell was strong and meaty, but how would it taste?
Yukitaka swallowed hard as he talked with Iris.
Iris had said monsters were not tasty, but the heart skewer in front of him did not look bad at all.
Yukitaka held back his urge to eat and kept grilling slowly until Iris finished butchering.
Iris finished the hours of butchering work.
"Normally after a job this big, I wish I could offer at least one ale," She laughed, a little embarrassed. "Tee hee."
Yukitaka laughed too and tried to hand her a cup of water from his canteen.
Then the contents of the cup started to bubble.
"Huh!" Yukitaka froze with the cup halfway over.
Yukitaka was surprised, and before handing it to Iris, he tasted it himself. "It's ale! This is amazing!"
Yukitaka raised his voice in awe.
Well, of course.
The ale he wanted to drink had come out of the canteen.
That meant it was not just water. Anything he wanted to drink might come out of the canteen.
Yukitaka downed the cup, enjoying his first alcohol in a long time, then handed the ale to Iris.
"Mr. Goto, your belongings might really be Divine Artifacts," Iris stared at the canteen. "I haven't had ale this good in so long."
Iris was moved, and she could only stare at the canteen in shock.
"It's a canteen that pours alcohol, after all," Yukitaka was starting to think so too, and he realized he could probably do business with just this canteen.
Then Yukitaka's stomach growled loudly.
"Tee hee. You can't argue with hunger," Iris set down the canteen. "So let's try the heart."
Yukitaka noticed her hesitation, so he used the butcher knife he had borrowed to shave off the burnt parts, cut the heart onto a plate Iris had brought, and put a piece in his own mouth.
He chewed hard, and then his eyes went wide. "This is? It's springy, and when you chew it there's umami, a rich savory taste. It's delicious!"
Yukitaka was amazed by the unexpectedly unique, non-fishy tastiness, and put a second piece in his mouth.
Yukitaka ate it so happily that Iris swallowed her saliva, worked up her courage, picked up a piece with her fingers, and put it in her mouth.
"...It really is delicious!" Iris said, and her hand reached for a second piece right away.
She was probably hungry too, and she was also amazed by the taste.
The meat was hot off the grill, but she did not seem to care.
The two of them exchanged smiles, silently enjoying the monster's heart and drinking the ale that poured endlessly from the canteen.
After enjoying the monster's heart, the two left the nest, tipsy, and decided to look for a way down while it was still light out.
Iris figured that since there were monsters and beasts wandering in, including the one that ruled the nest, there had to be a way down somewhere.
Yukitaka agreed, and they headed through the underground space that looked like a long crack in the ground.
Trivia:
- The canteen producing ale instead of water hints that Yukitaka's gear responds to desire, not just function, which quietly sets up how his Divine Artifacts actually work.
- Iris admitting a Gold-rank adventurer could not beat the bear alone tells us Yukitaka's combat power is already far above the standard rank system without him realizing it.
- The rank list placed in Yukitaka's thoughts is not just worldbuilding filler, it quietly shows that Iris, at Gold, is only mid-tier, meaning far stronger threats and people still exist above her.
Notes:
• Yukitaka - First given name of Yukitaka Goto. He is a twenty-five-year-old salaryman summoned to another world without receiving a skill, who maxed out his level at 99 in half a day without gaining meaningful power, spent about three months at the royal palace before being pushed toward the frontier, and discovered that his black-rimmed glasses let him appraise objects.
• Iris - A Gold-rank adventurer. She is used to butchering monsters and pulling out magic stones. She explains the adventurer rank system to Yukitaka and hesitates at first to eat monster meat, but ends up enjoying it. Carries salt and a plate, and owns a magic storage. A Gold-rank woman adventurer. She was saved by Yukitaka from a dangerous situation and now travels with him. She has a magic storage and knows about the world. She is calm but gets flustered in close contact. She has not been able to wash her gear properly for half a month. She wears light armor that hides a soft build. A female adventurer who spends the night in the den with Yukitaka. She is honest and sincere, and she warns Yukitaka to keep his Divine Artifacts a secret. She has lost trust in people because her comrades betrayed her. She is good-natured and pure-hearted. The only Gold-rank adventurer of the Silver-rank team 'Platinum Fang.' Good-natured and hardworking, but often used by her comrades. Betrayed and left as bait for a monster, then saved by Yukitaka. Left distrustful of people.
• Goto - First given name of Yukitaka Goto. He is a twenty-five-year-old salaryman summoned to another world without receiving a skill, who maxed out his level at 99 in half a day without gaining meaningful power, spent about three months at the royal palace before being pushed toward the frontier, and discovered that his black-rimmed glasses let him appraise objects.