Chương 67: First Meal Beyond the Forest

The saber-toothed tiger only slowed its pace when the sun had tilted. An evening wind passed between the leaves, and somewhere far away, a nameless bird cried long. The forest was still deep, but it was different from inside the village where the World Tree's branches completely covered the sky. The gaps between trees gradually widened, and the soil beneath their feet mixed with dry leaves and small stones. Kichan dismounted from the tiger and straightened his back.

"Ah, my back." Riphiel lightly jumped down.

"To ride a saber-toothed tiger for long, you must lower your center."

"Then I just won't ride it."

"Still, you rode quite well just now."

"Don't compliment me." The saber-toothed tiger snorted once. Riphiel stroked its neck, and Kichan immediately looked at the pack.

"Open that up." Riphiel set down the leaf-wrapped World Tree fallen flower and branch piece.

"It is now yours, not mine. Please, do put it to good use."

"It's not mine. Not until the procedure is finished."

"We ran away — does the procedure remain?"

"That's the problem." Kichan did not touch the flower and branch piece directly. When he brought them close to his fingertips, the Voynich sensation faintly reacted. The flower looked as if it had folded a life structure very thin, and inside the branch piece, there was a feeling of water channels and metal veins flowing together. Good materials. Too good, which made them more burdensome. Dust was already near the flower. Kichan said.

"Don't put your mouth on that." Dust flicked a leg. Valkyrie circled the flower once, then came back toward Kichan's sleeve. The leaf-shaped pattern was a little clearer than before. Kichan did not like that.

"Don't get cocky just because you got a name." Valkyrie went pop. Riphiel looked deeply moved.

"A child of the World Tree is responding to its name."

"I said don't take it that way."

"I already have." Instead of answering, Kichan looked for a clearing to make camp. There was a small rock and a spot with less wind. Nearby, a thin stream of water flowed, and there were enough fallen branches. Kichan pressed the ground slightly with the tip of his wake-up rod to check. It was not soft.

"We eat and sleep here." Riphiel nodded.

"A good judgment. The mobile meeting will be here—" This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Kichan immediately looked. Riphiel shut her mouth. For exactly three steps.

"It is not a meeting, but a post-movement situation summary—""Can you just be a little quiet." Riphiel shut her mouth again. Kichan took out the two pouches the orc chieftain had given him. The white crystals scraped roughly against his fingertips. Even just a tiny bit on his tongue brought up saltiness. It was not that the taste of salt itself had been absent since coming to this other world, but this was different. Clean and strong, a taste scraped straight from stone. The black grains were not exactly pepper.

Crushed between his fingertips, a spicy fragrance rose. The inside of his nose stung, and a woody-resin smell followed belatedly. Kichan was silent for a while. Riphiel asked low.

"Is it poison?"

"No." Kichan said very seriously.

"My joy." Riphiel's face became one of shock. Kichan took out the roots and herbs he had received from the elves, and the pieces of dried meat the orc had left. The meat was tough, and the elf roots were mild. Eating them as is, that clean and bland taste would come again. But there was salt and pepper. Kichan hammered the metal pieces into something like a small pot. It was not perfect, but enough to boil water. Gesturing toward Valkyrie, Valkyrie went over the stream and brought back a few small drops of water.

Kichan paused.

"So you do understand words?" Valkyrie went pop over the pot.

"Then from now on, water duty." Riphiel spoke immediately.

"You have given a role to a child of the World Tree."

"I just told it to fetch water."

"That is a role."

"Don't record it." Riphiel started to take a small piece of wood from inside her clothes, then stopped. Kichan saw it.

"Don't take it out." Riphiel meekly put the piece of wood back. Dust crawled toward the pepper pouch instead of the World Tree fallen flower. Kichan said immediately.

"If you steal that, you're really in trouble." Dust flicked a leg. Kichan pulled the pepper pouch closer to his side. Kichan said very seriously.

"This is important." Riphiel was impressed at a completely unrelated point.

"Is it more important than the World Tree fruit?" Kichan thought for a moment.

"When cooking." Riphiel nodded with a deeply impressed face.

"The world of cooking is strict."

"Don't learn useless things." The first broth was bland, as expected. The sweetness of the elf roots and the fragrance of herbs circulated, but something was missing. Kichan added a very small amount of salt, then crushed the black grains with his fingertips and dropped them into the pot. The smell changed. The saber-toothed tiger raised its head. Riphiel's ears moved. Dust gave up on the pepper pouch and came toward the pot. Valkyrie bounced happily in the steam. Kichan scooped a spoonful and tasted it.

The hot broth passed his tongue and went down his throat. Saltiness, spicy fragrance, the sweetness of roots, the fat of the dried meat — all rose belatedly. Kichan said quietly.

"Done." At that one word, Riphiel stopped her spoon for a moment. Kichan ladled the broth into a wooden bowl. One for Riphiel, a few pieces of meat for the saber-toothed tiger, a small torn piece of meat for Dust, the steam from the edge of the pot for Valkyrie. Dust received the meat with two legs, then immediately retreated backward to eat it. Riphiel sipped a little broth with the tip of her spoon. Her eyes grew wide.

"This is neither forest food nor orc food."

"I just threw it together roughly."

"Your standard of 'roughly' is dangerous."

"Well, it does taste good." Kichan set the pot down and looked in the direction the orc chieftain had pointed. Beyond the forest, the darkness below the mountain was deepening.

"Tomorrow, we go to that valley." Riphiel stopped with her spoon in hand.

"I said there is a terror of the valley."

"I've got salt and pepper."

"Is that more important than the terror?" Kichan looked at Riphiel.

"You tasted the food, didn't you." Riphiel could not counter. Her hand went inside her clothes, then stopped under Kichan's gaze. Kichan said quietly.

"Don't take that out." Riphiel meekly lowered her hand. As the night deepened, a low howl came from the direction of the valley. The sound was distant. But it was low, as if rumbling up from beneath the ground. The saber-toothed tiger immediately lowered its body. For the first time, Riphiel stopped speaking. Valkyrie hid inside the sleeve, and Dust, stopping mid-bite of its meat, looked at the darkness. Kichan held the pot and asked.

"What's that, then." Riphiel said in a very small voice.

"It is probably the valley's master." Kichan listened for a moment. Then looked at the pouches again. The white crystals and black grains still remained. Not a lot.