Chapter 50: Chess
More than an hour had passed since Hiro's show of power against the Hill Giant. The settlement, which had been chaotic with the frenzy of survival, had now settled down as people busied themselves once more with their tasks.
In the Desolate Lands, afternoons already looked like evenings. And as for the evenings themselves? The already scarce rays of light receded almost completely, leaving only minuscule amounts of ambient light for the lifeforms.
In addition to the lack of light, the air was also chilly, carrying the scent of lingering blood and damp earth with it.
Fortunately, humans had the ability to utilize fire. Be it the chilly air, the lack of light, or the stench of dead monsters, fire could solve all these problems.
The cleanup was well underway. Men worked tirelessly, dragging the corpses of the slain monsters toward a pit outside the settlement. It was better to burn them before their rotten stench could taint the air.
A few of the dead monsters could serve a different purpose, however.
Their meat could become food, their sinew could become twine, and their skin could become leather. Whatever was possible to salvage with the currently primitive technology of Hiro's settlement was being salvaged.
Even right now, a group of men with combat classes kneeled over the remains of the dire wolves, their hands expertly skinning the beasts, stripping away the fur that would be used for clothing and bedding.
Their meat, enriched with scant quantities of mana, was carved from their bones and passed on to the women handling the cooking.
Light from a nearby fire reflected off the blades of the knives in the hands of these women, who gathered around a few makeshift tables to prepare the meat. The knives and some of the other utensils had been brought along by the refugees when they sought shelter.
The minds of many of Hiro's citizens were strangely at ease. Even though many of them were experiencing their first evening in the Desolate Lands, the despair and pessimism from earlier in the afternoon had diminished to a certain extent.