Chapter 13 – Boar Meat Party

Not much had been done with cooking the meat.
It was just seasoned with salt and pepper and then roasted.

Still, the Adventurers ate it as if they were starving.

“It’s delicious!”
“Aye, even with just salt and pepper, it’s great!”
“And pepper has been much cheaper recently.”

Victor said with a thoughtful expression.
Pepper had been grown on the demon continent, and was easier to acquire now that there was peace.

Pepper was useful when preserving meat, and was a wonderful condiment.
And so it was not considered a necessity for Adventurers.

“Thank you, Hippolius.”

I said, before taking a bite of the boar meat.
While it did have a distinct smell, it was fatty and sweet.
The fattiness also went well with the salt.

“The boars in this area must eat well.”
“Aye, Theo is right. This place is rich with things to eat.”

Kelly agreed as she hungrily ate the boar meat.

“Thank you, Hippolius! It’s very delicious.”
“Yes, it’s all thanks to you. We’re grateful.”

The Adventurers said to Hippolius.
Ever since we had encountered the creature at sea, it had helped us greatly.
Everyone could see that. And so Hippolius was accepted into the crew.

“Kyu.”

Hippolius squeaked and then wagged its tail.
Apparently, it was very pleased to be acknowledged by them.

“You should eat too.”

I said, and Hippolius opened its mouth.
And so I put some cooked boar meat inside.

“Is it too hot?”
‘Not too hot. Very good.’

That was a dragon for you. Their mouths were very tough. Not like a cat.

Eventually, the organs were cooked through as well.

“Hippolius, the organs have finished cooking.”
‘I’ll eat them.’

Hippolius said as it wagged its tail and opened its mouth wide.
And so I started putting the boar organs into Hippolius’s mouth.

“Is it good? Hippolius?”
“Kyu-kyu.”

It looked to be enjoying it.
And apparently, Hippolius liked to be fed like this.

However, when Kelly approached and attempted to toss some food into Hippolius’s mouth…
“Hippolius. Eat this too.”
“Kyu.”
Hippolius closed its mouth shut.

“Huh? Is it full already?”
“Kyu.”

Then Hipolius turned to me and opened its mouth again.

“Kelly. Apparently, Hippolius wants me to feed it.”
“…Is that right? Interesting.”

Kelly took out her book and started writing in it. She did not look particularly disappointed.

“Perhaps it’s like a baby bird who receives food from its parents.”
“They have such instincts?”
“Not hippopotamuses, but some dragons do.”
“I see.”

Yes, these sea hippos really were dragons then.
As I continued to put the meat in Hippolius’s mouth, I asked it,

“Which tastes better? Cooked organs or raw organs?”
‘Cooked.’
“What about cooked meat or raw meat?”
‘Cooked.’

So Hippolius preferred meat to be cooked then.

“Alright, what about cooked organs or cooked meat?”
‘Organs.’

I was starting to understand Hippolius’s tastes.
I then told Kelly, and she wrote everything down while chewing on some meat.

“Mochu-mochu. Kyu.”

Still, Hippolius really ate the organs as if they were delicious.
And they started to look appetizing to me as I watched.
Kelly had told us all that they tasted bad, but she also said that it wasn’t poisonous.
And since it was well-cooked, it would surely be harmless to eat.

“I think I might try some.”

And so I took a bite of the boar’s organs.

“Kyu!?”

Hippolius looked a little surprised as it watched me eat it.
It was almost as if it wanted to say, ‘hey, but that’s mine…’

“Sorry, Hippolius. I just wanted a little taste.”

I said consolingly while patting Hippolius on the head.

“…And it’s actually not terrible. No, maybe even good?”
“Kyu?”

Perhaps the information about it’s taste was wrong.
While Kelly was a monsterologist, she did not know about every beast in existence.

And so I chewed on it carefully.

“…Hmm. Ah!”

A sudden powerful stench erupted. As did a harsh bitterness.
It was incredibly acrid.

“Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting!”
“Kyu…”

Hippolius looked at me as if I was getting my just deserts.

“Yes, this really is exclusively for Hippolius.”

It was much too harsh for humans to eat.
However, I had already put it in my mouth, and so I was forced to finish it.

But as I struggled to swallow it, Kelly started to laugh.
She too had been staring at me intently ever since I started to eat it.

“It’s quite bad, isn’t it?”

There was something smug in her expression.

“…Yes. It really was bad after all.”

I somehow managed to swallow it.
And then I continued to feed the organs to Hippolius while I ate some more meat.

“But it’s good to find out such things for yourself. It’s true with many things in life.”
“You say that, but did you try it, Kelly?”
“Of course, I did. How could I not, when I know it is not poisonous?”
“I see…”
“That is the way of scholars. And so you might have the qualities of a scholar, Theo.”
“Uh, thank you.”

We talked about such things and the pleasant evening continued on.