Chapter 174
Chapter 174
‘……A wolf?’
Blue eyes and a silver mane.
It wasn’t a monster. It must have been a wild animal that lived around here.
More importantly, my ‘Danger Detection’ skill didn’t activate.
That meant the wolf had absolutely no hostile intent.
“Rapin. There’s no need to be on guard. It’s not an enemy.”
At my words, Polia’s gaze turned toward me.
“……How does the boy know that?”
“There’s a way to know. You don’t need to draw your sword either, Ms. Polia.”
“…….”
Polia just looked at me as if she found it unexpected.
I didn’t mind and turned my gaze back toward the wolf.
‘……Did it come because it smelled the food?’
The wolf wasn’t showing any aggression toward me.
Its eyes were simply fixed on the octopus steak in my bowl.
“Do you want to eat too……?”
I picked up the bowl and stood up.
“It looks like you followed the smell because you’re hungry, so I’ll just give you mine.”
“You’re really going to give it?”
“I can just cook again. Besides, that octopus leg is more than we can finish anyway.”
When I approached it, Polia also stood up.
“Boy, be careful.”
“It’s fine. Please stay seated.”
‘Danger Detection’ still didn’t react.
Feeling reassured, I slowly approached and gently set the bowl down on the ground so as not to provoke it.
“Don’t worry. Eat.”
The wolf was cautious as well.
Lowering its head, it sniffed a few times, then finally took a bite.
As if it liked it, the wolf’s eyes lit up, and it emptied the bowl in an instant.
“Were you that hungry?”
Seeing it devour the food I made so happily naturally put me in a good mood.
“Eat mine too.”
At some point, Polia had come closer and held out her bowl.
The wolf hesitated briefly, then carefully accepted that as well.
“Weren’t you hungry?”
“If the boy cooks again, that’s fine.”
“Well, that’s true, but you’re saying it like it’s a given.”
“……I wanted to give it too.”
Rapin, whose eyebrows had turned into a 八 shape, also came over beside me, but her bowl was already empty.
“The food Billet made was so good that I ate it right away.”
“Well, that’s unfortunate.”
Having completely emptied the bowls, the wolf made no sound and quietly left the cave.
I watched it for a moment, then picked up the frying pan again.
“There’s still plenty left, so I’ll grill some more. This time, should I try adding a bit more variety to the menu?”
“Please! Chef boy! Is there anything I can help with?”
I took an axe out of subspace and handed it to her.
“I need to raise the fire a bit more. There are trees nearby, so please bring some more firewood from there.”
“Got it. I’ll be right back.”
Polia took the hand axe and went outside the cave.
It didn’t take long for her to return with firewood.
I lit another campfire and placed a pan on it.
I made buttered octopus steak and a spicy stir-fry to cut through the greasiness.
‘And this is something I made before for practice but never got around to using.’
It was a mold for making octopus balls.
I took out the high-grade milled wheat stored in subspace, made the batter, and poured it into the mold.
Then I added finely chopped octopus pieces and various vegetables and rolled them around.
‘I didn’t specifically train a skill for making octopus balls, and the ingredients aren’t exactly abundant, so the quality won’t be perfect…… but since the ingredients came from the animal farm, it should still taste good.’
I didn’t have common ingredients like dried bonito flakes, but spice powder would take their place.
Lastly, I topped the golden-brown octopus balls with pepper, dried green onion powder, and the like.
Rapin and Polia stared at them, then blinked at the same time. It seemed they had never seen food like this before.
“What are these cute, round things?”
“They’re octopus balls. I put octopus inside wheat dough.”
“You put octopus inside bread? Hmm, it’s a strange combination, but adventurers always live a life of challenge. I’m curious what the texture will be like. How do you eat this?”
“Don’t cut it. Just put the whole thing in your mouth in one bite.”
“Alright. Ah, hot…….”
Polia’s expression changed after she ate one.
At first, it was a subtly surprised look from encountering something unfamiliar.
Then, as she kept chewing, she slowly nodded as if evaluating it.
And before I knew it, a smile spread across her lips as she let out a short breath.
“Octopus balls, huh. I see. So this is how it is. Crispy on the outside, soft and gooey on the inside……. Oh, I found the octopus inside the bread. It’s chewy. Soft.”
After finishing it, Polia made no effort to hide her satisfaction.
“This is incredibly delicious too!”
“Of course. There’s no way it wouldn’t be good.”
The meal was in full swing when it happened.
Step, step…….
Once again, sounds came from outside the cave.
‘It feels like there are more footsteps than before.’
This time as well, the ‘Danger Detection’ skill didn’t activate.
With a smile, I could welcome them.
From between the dark shadows, silver manes appeared one by one.
“Did you bring friends this time?”
I had already made a lot of food.
I was about to put the dishes onto other plates to serve them, but once all of them revealed themselves, I could only give an awkward smile.
“……That’s quite a lot.”
There were roughly about twenty of them.
“With what I’ve made so far, it won’t be enough. I’ll have to cook more.”
Just as I was thinking that and reached for the frying pan—
A system window with a pink glow flashed into view.
Sudden Quest!
Please feed the hungry wolf friends of the snowy mountains until they’re full!
Reward: ???
‘……What, a quest?’
There were more than enough octopus legs left even after eating.
I was planning to feed them until they were full anyway, so the situation fit perfectly.
And if there was a reward on top of that, it was nothing but good.
However, the contents of the reward were obscured by noise and couldn’t be seen.
‘Well, I don’t know what it’ll give me…… but whatever it is, it works out for me.’
I briefly turned my gaze to Polia.
“I’m going to cook more, so is it okay if I give the ones I already made to them?”
“Of course I agree, but that’s something for the boy who cooked to decide.”
“Then I’ll just give it to them. Even if we cook with the remaining octopus, it’s enough that we’d be stuffed and still have leftovers.”
“To think you’d feed wild wolves that are called fierce beasts. Other adventurers wouldn’t even dare consider it. You’re bold, boy.”
“Well, that’s because I’m not an adventurer.”
The octopus steak seemed like it would suit their tastes best.
I propped rocks beside the campfire and fixed several pans in place.
……After grilling for quite some time, I placed the octopus steaks down where the wolves had gathered.
“Here, I don’t know if it’ll suit your tastes.”
The wolves slowly brought the food to their mouths one by one.
They seemed to like it, devouring it as it was.
‘Just seeing them eat well makes the cooking feel worthwhile.’
After some time had passed, the wolves that finished eating sprawled out on the ground. They looked much more at ease.
Among them, the largest wolf looked around the pack, then approached me.
At the same time, a system window with a pink background flashed brightly.
The wolf pack expressed their gratitude to you!
Sudden Quest Completed!
Looking again, I saw that something was clenched in the creature’s mouth.
Clatter…….
The wolf placed it down at my feet.
“Is this for me?”
It was probably the quest reward.
When I picked it up, a chilling sensation traveled across my palm.
‘……This is?’
My eyes widened.
It was slightly larger than my palm.
Its shape reminded me of a fang.
The surface was white and smooth, but near the root, silvery striations were embedded within.
As I stared at it for a while, a system window with a silver background appeared.
Snowfield Bud
High-grade Weapon Material
A fang from a snowfield wolf that once lived long ago. Several times larger than that of an ordinary wolf, it possesses strength surpassing steel while being lighter than metal. Its surface is as cold as ice, with the chill of the snowfields condensed within.
When the wolf pack finds a true friend, they offer one of the fangs they have preserved through generations.
The reason it is called a ‘Bud’ is because this fang is the seed of will that endures the severe cold of the snowfields.
‘……A weapon material? That’s a completely unexpected gain.’
It wasn’t even an ordinary material—it was classified as rare.
I couldn’t stop a smile from forming.
‘It’s my first time seeing it in person, and my first time touching it…… but somehow, it feels nostalgic.’
That was only natural.
It was one of the items I used frequently in the game. The dagger crafted from this material was one of the weapons that stayed with me until the later episodes.
Normally, it was an item you could obtain at a certain probability after defeating a gigantic wolf living in Kirhen.
‘But even encountering it is extremely difficult, and at my current level…… defeating it would be really tough.’
Even in the game, I only obtained this fang starting from the first semester of my third year. Yet I had acquired it more than a year earlier than that.
The reason high-level users climbed Kirhen’s snowy mountains was precisely to obtain this material.
Even with the atrocious drop rate, it was a reward worth pursuing.
‘And yet, I got it without even defeating the gigantic wolf.’
That was something I learned for the first time.
In any case, this secured me one weapon for my collection. I placed the fang into subspace.
Once the journey was over and I returned to the stable, I planned to begin crafting.
Some of the wolves approached us and even showed their bellies.
That was strange.
‘A wild animal…… and a wolf at that, famous for its strong independence.’
They were showing me tremendous goodwill.
“Wolves are Kirhen’s old friends and its guardian spirits.”
Polia said.
“Really? Are Kirhen’s wolves usually this friendly toward people?”
“……No, not usually.”
Polia scratched her head.
“I’ve seen wolves plenty of times too, but this is my first time seeing something like this. I guess they really took a liking to you siblings.”
One young cub cautiously approached Polia and then devoured the octopus steak on her plate.
“Looks like the wolves like you too, Ms. Polia?”
“Huh? ……Ah, hey, that was mine!”
She said that, but Polia didn’t take the plate away. She just sat there quietly, feeding the young wolf.
And just like that, all those octopus legs were completely consumed.
“Thank you for the meal!”
Polia said as she set the plate down.
It was just as the wolves were about to leave and we went outside the cave to see them off.
“……Ah.”
Polia said while looking up at the clear sky outside the cave.
“The blizzard stopped.”
After that, we were able to descend safely.
Conquer four of Kirhen’s mountains!
King of Namsan – 1/1
King of Dongsan – 1/1
King of Seosan – 0/1
King of Buksan – 0/1
Reward – Learning Device ( one-month rental )
Now, only two remained.
Dongsan and Namsan were relatively close to each other, but Seosan and Buksan were quite far apart.
It seemed better to change lodgings.
Polia, who was traveling with us, decided to move lodgings together with us as well.
Saying she would make the reservations, Polia left ahead toward Seosan.
When I told Hesti, the owner of the tent grounds, that we were leaving, she nodded with a regretful smile.
I stood in front of the mud house, holding Boogie’s card.
‘I’ve gotten attached to it in my own way over these past few days. Time to clear it out.’
If I used Boogie’s ability, it would disappear cleanly.
However, as if she had noticed that I was about to remove the mud house, Hesti stepped in to stop me.
“Ah, young master, young lady! If it wouldn’t be an inconvenience, could you leave this house as it is? I’d like to keep it as a memory.”
“……I don’t mind, but don’t come asking for demolition fees later, okay?”
“Yes!”
Hesti smiled brightly.
“Young master, young lady. We’ll meet again someday, right?”
“Who knows.”
I replied casually.
“Hopefully, we’ll meet again at the academy next time.”
“……!”
Hesti’s eyes sparkled as if she were deeply moved.
“Next time, I really want to call you senior!”
I answered her question with a smile and then left.
Rapin and I boarded a carriage and headed west, toward the lodging Polia had recommended.
The northwest was bustling enough to be called Kirhen’s central district.
Despite being a snowy mountain region, the streets were filled with human warmth.
After resting my body in the carriage for a while—
Our destination finally came into view.
Snow lay thick atop the roof of the lodging, which was built from thick timber, and behind the building, pale steam slowly rose into the sky.
On a large signboard, the following words were written.
Snowfield Open-air Baths, Beneath the Snowy Peaks.
It was a lodging famous for its hot springs.