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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“There aren’t many animals in this forest.”
“There are a lot of rabbits.”
“Ah, right. Rabbits… No, wait. If there are a lot of rabbits, why are you eating bugs?”
“They’re good for the body.”
“Ah, I see… They must be even better for the body…”
When it comes to pork belly versus health food, of course you’d eat the health food, right? If you compare pork belly and samgyetang, of course samgyetang is better, putting a spoonful of the hot broth in your mouth, enjoying the refreshing taste, tearing off the chicken leg meat, and eating it dipped in salt. That’s not to say pork belly doesn’t taste good, but… Ah, I don’t know, I just want to eat both.
I want to eat anything that’s Korean food.
Whatever it is, it would at least be a nostalgic taste.
“Rohan.”
“It’s Johann.”
My name shouldn’t be that difficult to pronounce. Renny often got my name wrong. According to her, she was originally bad at remembering names. Come to think of it, I think it was also written in the settings that she was clumsy at reading due to being an orphan. This was more because she didn’t have the opportunity to learn to read and write as an orphan, rather than a problem with her head…
But how am I communicating when I don’t know the language here?
Did I unknowingly receive some kind of automatic translation skill? I clearly perceive that I’m using Korean, but the conversation flows smoothly, so it feels incredibly out of place. Everyone’s faces are clearly Western, but it sounds like Korean to me, so it feels like I’m being secretly filmed. Maybe this is also a hidden camera show on a very large scale.
“Ah, sorry. Anyway, Johann, but where are we going now?”
Did I not tell her? Ah, I didn’t tell her. Then I should tell her. It’s better to inform in advance for smooth progress.
“We’re heading to the rabbit field.”
“Didn’t you say we were scouting?”
Renny looked at me with a puzzled expression. Do I need to explain? I thought she would roughly understand if I told her since she had rolled around on the battlefield a lot. Well, this kind of situation would be a first for her, so it was only natural that she couldn’t read my intentions. I kindly pointed my finger in the direction where the rabbits were gathered to explain and said,
“We’re going to catch rabbits.”
“Rabbits? Why rabbits? Weren’t we going to scout the area where the snakes live? Why are you suddenly catching rabbits?”
“Because it helps with scouting.”
“What the hell does that mean…”
Is my explanation lacking? I thought she would figure it out right away since she had also worked as a mercenary, but it seems she doesn’t understand my words as well as I expected. I collected my thoughts for a moment and summarized what I was going to do in one sentence.
“I plan to use the rabbits for scouting.”
“Ah, I see. You should have said it like that from the start. But how?”
“You don’t know… We catch the rabbits and take them. And… throw them.”
“What? Throw? Rabbits?”
Why are you looking at me like that? It’s obvious that bait is needed for scouting, right? Is that so strange? Renny had a face that couldn’t understand what I was saying at all. If you don’t understand, I’ll just show you with actions. I picked up a rabbit that was struggling in the open space where numerous rabbit traps were set.
“Catch and throw. Isn’t it simple?”
Snap.
The rabbit’s neck was instantly broken, and it went limp with a strange scream. As I handed the dead rabbit, which had died from my clean neck slice, to Renny, she grabbed the limp rabbit’s scruff with a disgusted expression.
“…You break their necks so roughly. You’re going to use rabbits as bait? Don’t people usually check with something like pebbles?”
“Rabbits are more efficient. There are a lot of them. Hold them. We need to catch a lot.”
I picked up another rabbit caught in a trap.
Snap.
Snap.
Snap.
The sound announcing death repeatedly echoed through the peaceful forest. Watching Renny’s expression change in various ways as that sound increased was quite an entertaining sight. From a face full of the world’s complexity to a face that looked at me as if saying this was a bit too much, and even making a crying face at the rabbit carcasses piled up in her hands. She might be more fun to tease than I thought.
Seeing a new side of Renny made me feel somewhat moved. Is this what communication is all about!
I wiped my tearful eyes with the soft fur of the rabbit whose neck I had broken.
“Just how many are you planning to bring?”
“A lot.”
I took out another pouch from my leather pouch and put the rabbits with broken necks inside. The leather pouch was quickly filled with rabbits. Although the harvest was plentiful enough to be a bumper crop, it was a bit unfortunate that I had to use them as bait. Should I just take a few and make them into jerky?
…No. If you’re going to do it, do it properly. Even if you prepare thoroughly, it’s not enough, but if you reduce the amount because you feel it’s a waste, who knows what might happen. Originally, the most appropriate preparation is to do it to the point where you think it’s a bit excessive. I looked at Renny, who was holding numerous rabbit ears, with the leather pouch full of rabbits with broken necks slung over my shoulder.
“…Don’t I get a pouch?”
“Can’t you just hang them on your waist?”
“That’s a bit… No matter what, I don’t have the bizarre taste of hanging animal carcasses on my waist.”
If you don’t like it, fine. I took out another pouch from my pouch and spread the opening so that the rabbits could be put inside. The rabbits, which were destined to become someone’s daily sustenance, fell into the pouch one after another like Isaac Newton’s apple. It would be difficult to catch rabbits for a while.
“You’ve completely wiped out the rabbits.”
“It’s okay. In about a week, as many as we caught will be there.”
Those beasts that are crazy about reproduction would obviously have their young ones running around and eliminating anything green within a week anyway. It’s not like I’m trying to turn all the rabbits into jerky for no reason. There are so many rabbits that even if I catch them for a week straight, there will be an overflow! Perhaps the reason why the bears and snakes didn’t actively fight over territory was because the rabbits served as food for everyone.
If there was plenty of food and territory, there would be no need to actively fight over power.
“Let’s go.”
“…You’re not doing anything else before scouting, right? Right?”
“I’m not.”
What would we do when we have to walk quite a distance to get to where the snakes are?
We have to walk swiftly.
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It was around the time when the sun was directly overhead that Renny and I arrived at the boundary of the forest where the snakes had been.
We frowned at the terrible smell of decay and the purple-stained ground emanating from the snakes’ territory.
“Just what happened to turn an ordinary forest into this state? Even if you go to a slime colony, it doesn’t get this messed up…”
“I don’t know either.”
I gave a somewhat politically neutral answer. I wasn’t the one who turned the forest into this state. It was because of the hydra that had an accident while trying to block the zombies. I was the one who stuck the zombies in the snakes’ living area, but the zombies just followed me on their own.
So I’m innocent.
“Let’s move along the perimeter for a bit. It would be too dangerous to go straight in.”
“Let’s do that. I don’t know the geography here anyway, so I have to follow the experienced one.”
We immediately observed the purple forest along the boundary line. A horrific land that was hard to believe had been a forest with lush greenery until not long ago. We were at a loss for words at this catastrophe created by the hydra.
“The inside is a complete hell…”
“It seems difficult to enter.”
No matter how tough the bear hide shoes were, it didn’t seem like they would be able to withstand stepping on that poisonous swamp. If it accidentally touched the skin while walking… Even if there was someone who could revive a critically injured patient by pouring recovery magic, we wouldn’t die, but we would go through a terrible time.
“Then what do we do? We need to check the inside for scouting or whatever, right?”
“First, we throw the rabbits. We’ll think about the rest later.”
I took out a rabbit from my pouch, its neck broken and feeling mushy, and threw it into a pool of poison. As the ball of yellow fur fell into the pool, the rabbit melted away in an instant, accompanied by a stench more pungent than the smell of sulfur.
“Ugh, we definitely shouldn’t step on anything…”
Hmm.
I took out James, who loved baseball and always claimed to be happy, and threw him into the pool once again.
It would have been a three-point shot if there was a goalpost, but unfortunately, there was no such artificial structure in the wilderness overflowing with shittiness. I clicked my tongue as I watched James, thrown with an overarm throw, disappear as if dissolved in sulfuric acid.
Should I try throwing it somewhere else? I had plenty of friends to throw.
And so, Momo, McCurry, Colin, MacBeth, and Duck-chun became family with the pool.
“What a touching family love…”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“I meant we can’t pass through using ordinary methods.”
“Are you sure you’re not talking to me in a different language?”
The reaction is strange. Weren’t we communicating? Did the translation skill, which may or may not exist, get lazy and go on strike?
Or maybe she’s still hallucinating from the drug effects.
“Why are you looking at me with a sympathetic gaze?”
“You should have rested at home. Your body hasn’t fully recovered yet.”
“What are you talking about? Explain it to me in a way I can understand…”
Renny rubbed her head vigorously with a half-crazed expression. It seemed the poisonous fumes emanating from the poison pool had disoriented Renny’s mind. I decided to pull Renny away from the boundary line for now.
“Let’s get away for a bit.”
“What? Why? All of a sudden?”
I grabbed Renny’s wrist without a word and moved away from the boundary line. Renny initially tried to resist but seemed to realize that she was also a problem and obediently followed me. We stopped walking at a position where the boundary line was barely visible and sat on a nearby rock.
Let’s rest for a bit.
Anyway, the plan to find a safe zone and scout the inside to create an escape route was already ruined.
Finding a safe zone in a place full of pools that looked like hydrochloric acid had been poured into the forest was too bothersome…
…Find it?
Oh.
Come to think of it, there was no need to find it.
I looked at Renny, who was sitting on the rock and drinking water. Renny also noticed my gaze and met my eyes with a wavering look. After carefully choosing my words, I cautiously threw a question at her.
“Renny. Can you move while wearing heavy armor?”
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