CH 311

“I’m sorry, Cow-san. B, but for the meat……”

“Moo–?”

Karua brandishes ice attribute dagger ‹Ice Me› with a sorrowful cry.

In the place where the cow vanished into effect, a ‹Safely packaged Yukohe› was left behind. They drop ‹Yukohe› when slashed with ice attributes.

It was the nth time that this scene has repeated itself, and Karua's expression remains overcast. It seems that she empathises with the cow she rescued from the goblins, unlike monsters.

“I will eat it while cherishing it.”

She looks like she is forcing herself to eat the meat. Can she really eat that Yukhoe?

Then Karua headed for the next cow, brimming with the desire to hunt a lot. Good luck, Karua.

Speaking of, the ‹Skillfully Roasted Beef Steak› is in her item bag. I gave it to her since she looked really eager to eat it. I guess she will have it for lunch.

Then Sierra approached me.

“Zephyr, I think we have gathered quite enough drops, so let's go back. It will also take time to prepare lunch so we should stop here.”

“You’re right, we have enough meat so let’s go back.”

This is just the beginning area in the lower strata, ingredients may already seem high quality but they’re still far from best. There are many things of even higher quality we get in the lower layers.

There's no reason to spend more time securing them in this area. In fact, I also want to have lunch soon.

“Alright, let me notify Rina and Karua too.”

“Hold on. They can still hunt for a while since it will take some time to prepare the meal. We'll call them on chat when the meal is ready.”

“You’re right in efficiency but……”

I looked at Karua. She is hunting the cows with an unnecessarily hard look on her face. If she wills, she can pile up the drops in a flash with her high speed. However, I feel uneasy to let her hunt in this state.

Ideally, I'd like to bring Karua along as well, but it would be cruel to leave only Rina behind.

“Fine, let’s return with everyone else. We can also ask other members for vegetables.”

Sierra, noticing my reluctant gaze, proposed so with a sigh. An apt sub master she was, that’s what I like about her.

“Thank you.”

“It’s fine. After all, it’s not fun if we’re only focusing on efficiency, right?”

“Right. There’s no use of such activities if one isn’t having fun.”

Prioritising efficiency isn't necessarily a bad thing, however making someone do something they don't enjoy is the quickest way to burn their enthusiasm.

One must have fun while playing games. This is my lifelong motto.

"Hey, you two, it's time to head back."

“Hn, got it, Zephyr. I hunted a lot.”

"Oh, wow, Kahlua. You did a great job."

"I did my best. Very much."

Karua swiftly returned back to my calling, however she was sporting an awfully stiff expression. I gave her head-pat to ease her expression.

"Isn't it unfair that only Karua gets the head pat?"

"Hnn, did you say something, Sierra?"

"I didn't...... Anyway, how far has Ekatrina gone?"

"It seemed like her firing reached even the distant cows so she is busy circling around to collect them. Her shot can easily reach over 100m, so she's having a hard time."

I pointed out Rina running around flapping her arms. to Sierra who was darting her eyes here and there to lock her position.

To be honest, she was running quite slowly, and with a girlish gait. As expected of someone with princess-like upbringing, her gait was the mirror to how much she must be accustomed to physical works. It once again reinforces her image of princess and I kinda, no, she looked awfully adorable.

I didn't know a girl's running figure could be so cute.

"Zephyr, has she fascinated you?"

"There's something in her that attracts you......"

I nodded in response to Karua who looked at me with upturned eyes while receiving my head pats. It's just the silent pressure emanating from Sierra was intense, though her stern gaze is more than welcome.

I can't put my word on it but head-patting Karua, looking at the cute running figure of Rina while showering in Sierra’s stern look...... kind of cheered me up..

"I'm sorry to make everyone wait. I'm done."

I had wanted to stay like this and watch her for a while longer but Rina was soon back with various meats, including minced meat, in large quantities.

Cows that are taken down by guns drop ‹Minced Meat›.

"It's over, huh?"

If there's a beginning, there's also an end. It's so fleeting, isn't it? I want to see it again.

"Pardon me?"

"No, don't mind, those were just my idle words. Let's go back."

"That's enough", because you see, Sierra's eyes had begun to narrow with a dangerous glint gradually colouring them.

I shook off the gaze from beauty Rina and led the way back to the farm area.

"Ah, you're finally back, Zephyr!"

"Good grief Zephyr! Just where have you been! do you know how big of a transgression you have committed leaving me behind!"

Hannah and other members were already preparing for lunch by the time we were back.

Hannah was quick to notice me surprisingly even though she was supposed to be focusing on lunch, and in contrast to her, Lana was in a bad mood.

"I have brought a lot of meat, so forgive me. How about you guys?"

"We've probably gathered most of the things around here. Celestan-san and the others are now looking for mushroom ingredients in the neighbouring forest area."

I gave a quick glance to see there were only four people; Hannah, Lana, Ester and Shizu.

Celestin, Lulu, Celia, Pamela, and Rika seem to be continuing their harvesting.

"Zephyr-dono, may I have some meat? I will prepare it here."

"Sure so, Ester. Err, I think 10kg should be enough."

I took out five blocks of 2kg raw meat and handed them over. Even though there are more than 10 students in their growth stage, half of them are princesses who care about their diet so they don’t need that much meat. But just in case, I gave her this amount.

"This is enough. I will get started right away."

"Ah, I'll help too."

"We're not much use in this, are we? Shall we go gather some vegetables, Karua-san?"

"Hn, let's go."

I offered to help with lunch preparation but RIna and Karua, seemingly not good at cooking, quickly ran away to some other place. Well, avoiding engaging in things you're not good at is important, too. Yeah.

After all the preparation was done, today's lunch was a lavish BBQ.

We should have done nothing special except just cutting and grilling the meat and putting sauce on it, but why does it taste so delicious?

Just having the high quality ingredients shouldn't be enough. I feel like this kind of atmosphere is more important than anything.

Ah, coming to the dungeon with friends and having a BBQ is the best!