Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Near the Northern Rock Tribe.

Only a few days had passed since we left.

But the moment the faint outline of the village appeared in the distance...

I felt like a soldier returning to base after a long march.

What does that mean?

It felt like coming home.

“Open the gate! Zakan and Izak are back!”

One of the children standing guard on the watchtower spotted us.

The heavy wooden gate creaked open.

“Zakan and Izak returned safely!”

“We didn’t open the gate for strangers! We protected the village!”

Jack came out beside the excited children.

“Chief! Shaman! Thank goodness you returned safely.”

He smiled.

“Other than Topu leaving to visit Teren, nothing happened while you were away. We followed your instructions and protected the village.”

I looked around.

Everything was exactly as we had left it.

Zakan nodded.

“Good. You worked hard.”

The children laughed noisily.

They really were carefree.

Then...

“POTATOOOOOO!”

Dust exploded from inside the village.

Gamjadori came flying toward me.

Its short, chubby legs moved so quickly that I could barely see them.

Pat!

It wrapped itself around my knee.

Then rubbed its face against me.

I smiled.

“Gamjadori. Did you protect the village well?”

I reached down to stroke the green leaves growing from its head.

Then...

Sniff. Sniff.

The little black Divine Beast that had been following beside my feet approached Gamjadori.

Its tiny nose twitched.

Gamjadori froze.

Completely.

Then...

Very slowly...

Its head creaked upward.

It stared at the unfamiliar black animal.

The wolf pup narrowed its eyes.

It glanced at Gamjadori.

Then...

Yawn.

It opened its mouth in a huge lazy yawn.

And casually rested its chin on the top of my foot.

“...!”

Gamjadori’s round eyes became enormous.

It looked at the wolf.

Then at me.

Its expression resembled someone discovering their partner cheating.

It began trembling.

“P-Potato... Potato!”

Huh?

What’s wrong with you?

Gamjadori stared at me accusingly.

Then stumbled away.

“Grrrr.”

The wolf pup bit my trouser leg.

It pulled impatiently.

Ah.

Food.

That was why it had followed me home.

It had come to collect payment for all its work.

“Fine. We should eat soon anyway.”

The children immediately reacted to the word food.

“Food! Good!”

“I want Izak’s food!”

To meet their expectations...

I searched the storage area.

Potatoes.

Only potatoes.

Hmm.

I don’t think potatoes alone will satisfy this guy.

I held a few potatoes and glanced nervously toward the wolf.

Zakan noticed.

He adjusted the greatsword on his back.

Then confidently stepped forward.

“If we need meat, leave the hunting to me.”

Oh!

Our teenage Chief is growing nicely.

I relaxed.

Our future S-Rank Chief could easily hunt one animal for tonight’s dinner.

“...Kyuurung.”

The wolf pup watched Zakan’s reliable back.

Then...

Its expression became incredibly arrogant.

“Hmph.”

It snorted.

Then jumped to its feet.

Without warning...

It sprinted toward the forest in the opposite direction from Zakan.

“Huh?”

“Hey, furball! Where are you going?!”

You were just demanding food!

Did I make it wait too long?

Did it leave?

I stared after it.

Then...

Only about ten minutes later...

Drag... drag...

Something heavy scraped across the ground.

Bushes near the village boundary shook violently.

Everyone turned.

Then...

Our mouths fell open.

“...It hunted that?”

The tiny wolf pup had its teeth buried in the neck of a huge wild boar.

The animal was nearly the size of a house.

The pup dragged it across the ground as if it weighed nothing.

How does that tiny body move something so heavy?

While everyone stared...

Rustling came from the opposite side.

Zakan returned from his hunt.

“...”

“...”

A thin mountain rabbit hung from his hand.

The enormous boar lay beside the puppy.

Zakan stood holding one skinny rabbit.

A strange silence descended over the village.

The wolf pup glanced toward the rabbit.

Then raised its chin.

“Hmph.”

“...”

Zakan’s eyebrow twitched.

I panicked.

“Z-Zakan! Amazing!”

I clapped awkwardly.

“You hunted something so quickly! As expected of the Chief!”

I stared at the rabbit.

“Uh... That rabbit looks... really delicious!”

Terrible acting.

Even I thought it sounded awful.

But how was I supposed to praise a skinny rabbit when a giant boar was lying right beside it?

Malko laughed loudly.

“HAHAHAHA! Zakan lost to baby Divine Beast!”

Oh no.

“Tiny Divine Beast is much better hunter than Chief!”

Stop talking.

“It brought big meat!”

Malko pointed.

“Zakan’s rabbit has nothing to eat!”

Please shut up.

“Izak is stupid too! Boar looks much better than rabbit!”

“...”

Zakan coughed once.

Then shoved the skinny rabbit into my hands.

Without another word...

He walked toward his tent.

I turned toward Malko.

“Malko.”

“Yes?”

“Please be quiet.”

He blinked.

“Is that request?”

“Yes.”

I stared into his eyes.

“Please.”

He genuinely looked like he had no idea what he had done wrong.

I sighed deeply.

At my feet...

Gamjadori had returned.

It clenched its tiny fists and glared angrily at the wolf pup.

The wolf pup alternated between looking at Gamjadori and Zakan’s retreating back.

Then yawned.

Seriously...

Can all of you please get along?

A little later...

I finished butchering the freshly hunted boar.

I had prepared meat countless times in my previous life.

But now...

Combined with barbarian strength...

Cutting through heavy bones and dismantling an enormous animal felt surprisingly easy.

It was almost fun.

I drained the blood.

Removed the thick hide.

Cleaned the organs.

Then separated the meat into useful cuts.

“Good.”

I pointed toward the lean meat.

“Store the lean cuts, shank, shoulder, and other pieces inside Gamjadori’s Piggy Bank.”

“POTATO!”

Gamjadori’s eyes shone.

It confidently placed everything inside the pink Piggy Bank.

Then...

It casually glanced toward the wolf pup.

Its expression clearly said...

You can’t do this, can you?

The wolf pup didn’t care.

Pant. Pant.

Its eyes remained completely fixed on the meat I was preparing.

“Looks good, doesn’t it?”

I grinned.

“I’ll feed you until your stomach bursts today.”

“Woof!”

What remained were the pork belly, jowl, neck meat, and other special cuts.

And...

Some of my favorite drinking foods from my previous life.

Makchang and gopchang.

I turned the intestines inside out.

Then cleaned them thoroughly with Wild Manong juice and salt.

The smell disappeared.

“Slurp...”

Just imagining the rich fatty flavor made my mouth water.

In the center of the village...

We built a bonfire as large as a house.

Then placed a broad, flat stone slab over it.

Once the slab became hot...

I placed thick boar fat on top.

SSSSSS!

Pork fat melted.

The smell spread through the entire village.

The children sat in a circle.

They swallowed continuously while staring at the stone slab.

Once enough fat covered the surface...

I added pork belly.

Neck meat.

And other cuts.

SHHHHHHH!

White smoke rose.

As the rich pork fat flowed toward the lower edge of the slab...

I dumped thinly sliced potatoes and Manong into the pooled oil.

Potatoes and Manong browned in pork fat.

That combination was ridiculously delicious.

I looked toward Zakan.

“Zakan. It’s cooked.”

Then I held out the first bite.

“Try it.”

“Grrrr...”

The baby Divine Beast had been waiting.

It protested.

Hey.

There’s an order to these things.

Chief first.

Zakan glanced toward the wolf pup.

Its muzzle was wrinkled in annoyance.

Zakan’s expression changed.

He looked strangely smug.

Then quickly took the meat.

Are you seriously bragging to a puppy because you get to eat first?

“Woof! Woof! Woof!”

Zakan bit into the grilled pork belly and jowl with Manong.

The rich pork fat burst into his mouth.

The spicy aroma of Manong fried in that fat followed.

Zakan slowly closed his eyes.

Until now...

These people had either eaten meat burned completely dry...

Or tiny scraps thrown into stew.

Now they were eating thick pieces of freshly hunted meat, properly grilled.

Of course it tasted incredible.

Zakan swallowed.

Then said,

“...Delicious.”

He raised his voice.

“Everyone, eat!”

That was all the permission they needed.

The children rushed forward.

I quickly placed plenty of grilled meat onto a wooden plate for the baby Divine Beast too.

CHOMP! CHOMP! CHOMP!

Only then did it calm down.

I lifted another plate.

“Here. Try these too.”

I pointed.

“Boar intestines.”

I cut the makchang and gopchang that had been grilled crisp outside and rich inside.

The barbarians took bites.

Then...

Their eyes almost flipped backward.

The chewy texture.

The rich fat and juices released with every bite.

“W-WAAAAAH!”

“SO DELICIOUS!”

“BEST FOOD IN THE WORLD!”

The children screamed together.

Malko stuffed so much meat into his cheeks that he looked ready to explode.

Then he started crying.

Jack wiped tears from his face.

“Truly... I could die without regret now.”

He sniffled.

“I never imagined I would eat this much high-quality meat in my life.”

Then he bowed toward me.

“Shaman, this Jack will bury his bones with the Rock Tribe!”

His voice shook.

“I will live for the Rock Tribe until the day I die!”

Raise front legs.

Yay! Potato Owner is best!

Rock Tribe is best!

The beetles danced while eating meat.

Ahh.

Stone-grilled pork belly really is unbeatable.

I watched everyone eat.

Then placed a perfectly browned piece of pork belly in my own mouth.

Fresh pork seasoned with coarse salt and pepper.

The subtle aroma of the meat.

The cool wind blowing past us.

The flavor of meat cooked on a natural stone slab outdoors...

Wow.

Best pork belly of my life.

But...

Something is missing.

It was already delicious.

Still...

As a Korean...

There were certain things you naturally wanted with grilled meat.

Perfectly fermented kimchi.

Salty ssamjang.

A spicy Cheongyang chili pepper.

Fresh lettuce wrapping everything together.

If I could place meat on lettuce...

Add ssamjang, chili, and a piece of garlic...

Then let the children taste a proper wrap...

They might faint.

There were so many things I wanted to do in this barren land.

So many things I needed to do.

And...

So many things I wanted to give these kids.

I quietly looked at the children laughing happily around the fire.

Then touched the precious thing stored against my chest.

But I got the most important thing.

The ancient Fire Chili Pepper seed sleeping inside the Dragonblood Stone.

I had Manong to replace garlic.

And now...

A Fire Chili Pepper seed.

The possibilities were endless.

Large chunks of pork.

Fluffy potatoes.

A spicy broth filled with rich chili powder.

Pork and potato gochujang stew!

My mouth watered just imagining it.

Every thousand-mile journey begins with a single step.

First...

I needed to successfully cultivate this Fire Chili Pepper.

But for today...

We feast.

I lifted another plate.

“All right!”

My voice boomed.

“Round two! Crispy grilled pork skin!”

“WAAAAAAAAH!”

“BARBARIAN!”

SIZZLE...

Delicious sounds continued across the village late into the night.

After the pork feast ended...

The full barbarians returned to their tents.

Everyone fell asleep.

I entered my own tent.

Then froze.

“...”

I couldn’t help laughing.

The baby wolf had taken the best spot in my tent.

It lay spread out comfortably.

Belly fully exposed.

Its limbs stretched in every direction.

“...Aren’t you leaving?”

Whether it heard me or not...

It covered its face with one front paw.

Then began snoring.

Its soft pink belly was so round that it looked ready to burst.

It ate a lot.

I stared.

Gamjadori also disliked the situation.

It stood nearby.

“Potato! Potato!”

It angrily shouted at the sleeping wolf.

But...

The pup merely twitched one ear.

It didn’t move.

I really can’t understand this thing.

With the snoring wolf on one side...

And furious Gamjadori on the other...

I had no choice but to lie down.

Then I closed my eyes.

The next morning.

I sat with Jack and Zakan.

We were having a serious meeting.

Jack pointed toward a rough village map.

“So, Chief... I explained many things, but the conclusion is simple.”

Zakan crossed his arms.

“What is it?”

Jack sighed.

“The current layout of the Rock Tribe is... complete chaos.”

He pointed around the map.

“No one can tell where the roads are or where the homes are.”

Then another spot.

“The tents are scattered without any standard.”

Another.

“Even the locations of the toilets and storage areas are terribly inefficient.”

Hmm.

He’s right.

This place looked less like a village...

And more like a refugee camp in a slum.

I pointed toward the map.

“That’s why we’re going to reorganize the entire village.”

We had a proper wall now.

But the inside remained a mess.

If we wanted future expansion to be easy...

We needed proper planning from the start.

And the farms are going to keep growing.

This amount of space won’t be enough forever.

I pointed toward one corner.

“First, Zakan’s tent is shoved into a corner.”

Zakan looked at me.

“Move it to the safest point in the center of the village.”

I continued.

“The tribe needs a clear central position before we can build a proper defense structure.”

Then I pointed toward another area.

“Next, destroy the communal tent beside the bonfire square.”

Zakan frowned.

“And replace it with a new building.”

“A new building?”

“A communal building.”

I nodded.

“A village hall and dining hall.”

Then another section.

“We also need underground storage.”

I continued.

“And a clean kitchen and dining area. Proper sanitation will help prevent disease.”

Jack carefully wrote everything down.

Then nodded.

“It is an excellent plan, Shaman!”

But his expression soon became concerned.

“However...”

Here it comes.

“If we want to construct proper buildings, we need far more materials.”

He tapped the map.

“The lumber we gather from the forest won’t be enough.”

Then he counted on his fingers.

“We need strong metal parts to secure the frames.”

Another finger.

“A furnace capable of working that metal.”

Another.

“And skilled workers.”

Jack had pointed out the realistic limitations.

But...

I smiled.

Because...

I had brought exactly what we needed.

Together with the chili pepper seed.