A Shining Jewel
I pulled the knife out of the rock lizard’s rear end and hurried with the disassembly.
My excitement plummeted when I saw the knife all gooey with some mysterious slime, but since it helped me calm down for the dismantling work, I suppose it’s fine.
The most valuable part is the rock itself, but it’s far too heavy to carry all of it.
Fortunately, the rock is divided into several chunks, and by inserting the knife from the back along the natural seams, they came apart easily.
I’ve heard the meat is delicious, but it spoils extremely fast and usually only the adventurer who killed it gets to eat any. I cut up various parts. I’m looking forward to dinner.
The innards also spoil too quickly and can’t be used as alchemy materials.
If someone with processing skills came along, it would be different, but nobody bothers—there are plenty of substitute materials available, so it’s not worth the trouble.
We finished the disassembly and carried the meat and stones together. When I hoisted a piece of rock, I noticed the difference. Is this what it feels like to break through a level wall?
It’s still heavy, but much easier than expected. I probably only went up by one level, but a level wall makes this much of a difference?
We reached the riverside where we’d camp tonight.
Setting up camp near a river can be dangerous if a flash flood comes, but the terrain looked safe and there were no signs of past floods.
We washed both our materials and our bodies clean in the river and reapplied wound medicine.
When we killed the rock lizard earlier, I was too hyped to realize that Gonz had smeared himself with the lizard’s dung to mask his scent.
I hugged him in excitement earlier, but touching a guy covered in dung while injured is insane from a hygiene standpoint. Without this world’s wound medicine, that would’ve been dangerous.
Thinking about that, we started preparing dinner.
The stone slab over the fire was nicely heated. I sliced thin slices from various cuts of rock lizard meat and sprinkled salt and pepper before grilling them.
It was a rock lizard barbecue.
The sizzling sound and the intoxicating aroma filled the air. I didn’t worry about attracting other monsters.
We were already far from where strong monsters spawn, close enough to town that we could handle anything that approached.
Since it was such good meat, I wanted to cook it in the best possible way.
Rock lizard meat was lean and had a matte texture that seemed to cling to the touch.
Unlike livestock, wild game is usually extremely tough. Boar meat, for example, needs aging or it’s too tough to eat except in stews.
This world doesn’t have proper refrigeration, so “aging” is basically the same as “starting to rot.” People say near-rotten meat tastes good, but that’s way too risky.
But rock lizard meat was incredibly tender despite being lean.
Because it’s protected by hard rock, it doesn’t need to harden its muscles, so its flesh is supple.
Its tendency to spoil quickly probably means it has digestive enzymes like mackerel, which break down proteins from the inside, making the meat softer and more flavorful.
Its fine, supple muscle fibers break down and turn into umami. It was an exquisite meat completely different from high-end Japanese beef and unique to this other world.
We grilled all the cuts at once on the big stone slab. After dividing the portions on wooden plates, everyone lunged at their share.
My teeth met slight resistance when biting into the meat. But once I snapped through it, the tightly bound muscle fibers instantly unraveled into tender texture.
Flavor burst out with every chew. It was unbelievably good, rivaling even the best wagyu I’d ever eaten in Japan.
It’s said that in this world, the higher the rank of the monster, the better the meat tastes. The church frames it as a “reward for overcoming trials,” as usual, but it’s probably due to mana.
Why does mana make it taste good? Humans find things delicious when those things are necessary for survival.
High-calorie food tastes good because our ancestors needed calories to live.
Humans are built to find necessary nutrients delicious. Mana must be essential for people living in this world.
Maybe there’s a sixth taste beyond sour, spicy, sweet, bitter, and umami1, which is mana flavor.
Thinking about that, I savored the exquisite meat. I thought I wouldn’t want to deal with Rank 4 monsters again for a while, but now I wanted to fight another one just for the meat.
Unlike me, who had eaten many delicious foods in Japan, Gons and the others were completely blown away by this meat they were tasting for the first time.
They started using my salt and pepper without permission and devoured more and more meat.
“Big Bro Gonz, that piece ain’t cooked yet! Calm down!”
They had gone full berserk in front of the delicious meat. They even used up my precious pepper, but oh well.
Watching Gonz and the others eat like starving kids, I savored the joy of fooling around with comrades.
When we returned to the town of Rock Cliff, the entrance was in an uproar.
People waiting in line to enter started buzzing when they saw us carrying rock lizard stones, and even the guards came to check, surprised.
Proudly holding our spoils, we marched toward the Adventurers’ Guild. A crowd of onlookers followed behind us like a triumphant parade.
Our party entered the guild carrying materials from a Rank 4 monster.
The tavern area buzzed. We handed the materials to the exchange counter, and Gons turned to the adventurers and spectators.
“We broke through the level wall! Today’s a feast! Eat all you want and drink ‘til you drop! It’s on me!!”
A cheer echoed across the room.
Gons tossed gold coins to some nearby adventurers, ordering them to buy whole barrels of alcohol from the liquor store.
The cheering grew even louder. One shout of congratulations came after another. We clinked our wooden mugs filled with ale.
The golden droplets that splashed into the air glittered in the sunlight. We were filled with hope, able to see the continuation of the dream we thought we’d lost.
We were elated. And we let our guard down. That’s why we forgot. Rock Cliff does not permit such radiance.
Shining jewels always attract the greedy.