A red cow. Originally, it was a black plowing cow kept by the gnomes.
The truth behind that red color was a lump of muscle that had grown too large and burst through the skin.
Lumpy red meat and white sinews were intertwined in vertical stripes, repeatedly tearing themselves apart and regenerating over and over.
The cow and Belze started running almost at the same time, and then they crashed into each other.
“Ho, it is sturdy even though I held back.”
The impact alone caused a gale to blow, and the trees around them were torn up along with the soil at their roots.
Belze’s legs, adorned with aurora-colored dragon scales, sliced across the cow’s neck like a blade—
But she stopped.
The muscles, growing larger and larger, trapped her sunken leg.
“That is a massive amount of muscle, but that is not all. A barrier of magical power spread all over its body, a crawling, veil-like manipulation… It is doing surprisingly advanced things.”
“A-are you okay?”
“I am fine.”
The moment the cow tried to thrash around, Belze pulled her leg out and jumped.
Its huge head, with even its horns buried in flesh, slammed against the ground and trees like a hammer, shaking space violently every time.
She had dodged it well, but Belze looked like she was struggling to attack.
“I should have severed the carotid artery but the pressure of the meat alone stopped the bleeding. What a tough body.”
“Is a cow that turned into a monster this strong?”
“There is no way. The demon said it was a cow kept by the gnomes for nearly a hundred years, but I have never heard of a cow living for a hundred years. The original material is unusual.”
While dodging the cow’s charge lightly and briskly, Belze wondered what to do.
“It is not difficult to tear it apart without holding back. But if we look at this as food, I do not know how to slaughter the meat without ruining it.”
I see. I understood very well what Belze was troubled by.
Then, my role is—
I took out a small bow and nocked an arrow.
“Eh!? Pino!?”
Me joining the battle must have been unexpected.
With Belze’s out-of-character surprise in the corner of my eye, I shot two arrows into the cow’s body.
The arrows were deflected. Naturally.
Even though I learned a bit of hunting in the hunting cabin, the power of my bow is not that great.
But that is fine.
“The place where I shot the first arrow just now is point A.”
“Ha!?”
“Next, the place where I shot the second arrow is point B, the third arrow I am about to shoot is point C, and after that, it is D, E, F, and G in order.”
Please remember them, I said.
“I will teach you how to dissemble the cow. First, cut the base of the tendons connected to point A and point B respectively, and peel off the blocks of muscle.”
“…!”
“No matter how enlarged it is, the way the muscles are attached should just be like a normal cow. Let’s trim away only the annoying muscles that are pressing on the carotid artery.”
“Understood.”
As soon as the plan was decided, Belze’s movement was fast.
Her slender body vanished with a swish, and the cow’s body was slashed across.
Sparkling dragon scales drew a trajectory, and before I knew it, the place I designated was cleanly cut. It was truly skillful work.
“Next, where is point C?”
“I will prepare it right now…!”
Belze and the crazy cow clashed many times. A gale blew every time.
Belze slashed the place designated by the arrow.
She concentrated on dismantling only the muscles stopping the bleeding of the carotid artery—the muscles from the right shoulder to the neck.
Just when the last block was about to come off—
The cow changed its course and ran toward me instead of Belze.
“—! Dodge, Pino!”
Belze shouted like that.
But I didn’t think I could dodge it.
This rampaging cow is not just blindly charging despite its appearance.
It has intelligence even while going crazy, and it will track you if you dodge. That is why it changed its target to me.
If so, launching an attack is probably better.
Blood was oozing slightly from the cow’s neck.
The muscles and strength blocking the wound of the carotid artery were not enough. So just one more, if I can just peel this off—
“Belze, please.”
I released the arrow.
I aimed carefully and tapped the target place gently. Just that.
Naturally, the arrow is deflected. The cow is approaching. And right after—
“Don’t do anything reckless…!”
Just in time, Belze cut in from the side.
“Physical enhancement x all-type chaos full burst—”
“Monster bird Yuta, bird toes x two!”
With both hands, Belze grabbed the head of the charging cow.
The shape of her arms had turned into the rugged legs of a monster bird. She sank her sharp claws deep into the flesh and held on tight—stopping the rampaging cow right from the front.
It was a reckless act like stopping an oncoming train with bare hands.
However, Belze did it. Her two legs clad in scales scraped the ground roughly, drawing two straight lines, and the two entangled monsters finally stopped right in front of me.
And Belze swung out one leg like a counterattack.
That was the finishing blow.
A counterattack. The moment the last tendon was sliced across, the cow spurted a large amount of blood from its neck.
The carotid artery that was slashed at first finally burst open just now.
The cow staggered heavily. Its feet stopped.
With its throat crushed by muscles, letting out a wheezing, voiceless roar, it collapsed straight onto the ground.
“…Did we do it?”
“Yes, we did. But Pino, I am going to lecture you later.”
With a slightly out-of-breath sigh, she gave me a glaring look.
However, before coming over to me, Belze gently stroked the head of the twitching cow that was on the verge of death.
“It must be painful, sleep. We will eat you.”
Whether that words got through, or by coincidence.
The cow slowly relaxed the strength in its body and stopped moving.
“…Shall we drain the blood?”
“Let’s do that. I will do the work, you give instructions.”
“Understood.”
We hung up the unconscious cow’s body and drained its blood while it was still alive.
We finished the work efficiently.
Drain the blood, cut it into blocks, drain the blood again, and take back even the bones without leaving anything behind. There is no point unless we return them to the gnomes.
As we were leaving, the scattered body of the black knight said something.
“M-Useless. E-Even if I die, the seeds are already s-sown. The D-Demon King’s victory will never waver—”
Belze stepped on the dead body.
“Gyak”
She ruthlessly crushed it along with the head, and finally the dead body didn’t say anything anymore.
“Was he trying to say something just now…?”
“Don’t worry. It is just like harassment.”
“Harassment?”
Belze nodded while carrying a large amount of meat and bones on her back.
“Strong magical power sometimes leaves behind a will or last words even after the person has died. But that is just a residue. The corpse is not actually talking, and even if you ask it something, an answer will not come back.”
I see.
So that is why it is harassment.
“Even so, Pino.”
“What is it?”
“I felt it while dismantling too, but the meat quality was so sinewy and hard. Can we really eat it?”
“Yes, we can. Even for tendon meat that is too hard if you just cook it normally, there is a way to make it delicious.”
Instead of having her carry the meat, I took a bottle of red wine out of my luggage and checked it.
I didn’t know how many days the expedition would take, so there is still a lot of alcohol.
“It is a stew. Without skimping on time and wine, let’s stew it plenty and eat the best beef that is melty and soft.”
I heard the sound of Belze swallowing hard.