“Well the food we usually have in camp isn’t just some normal animals. It’s from animals that were imbued with mana, and that makes the meat taste much better than regular animal meat. Manabeasts are still considerably dangerous but they’re not the worst. Though usually manabeasts don’t have much use in the ways of magic-” Marcus was suddenly interrupted by Jules.

“Well, sorry to kick you both out but I need to check on our supplies in the carriage.” Jules suddenly ended the ongoing conversation between Marcus and Viran concerning the food they’ve been eating. Viran was wondering why the meat was somehow better tasting in the camp than the food back home. That could mean only one thing.

‘They took all the manabeast for themselves!’ Viran came to that conclusion.

As Jules hurriedly pushed Marcus and Viran out of the tent, the cold air was finally felt by Viran outside. Though they were kicked out, Viran wasn’t necessarily done talking with Marcus yet and he turns around to ask more about manabeasts and other monsters…

… Yet when he turned around Marcus had already begun walking away. Completely ignoring Viran.

Viran could only feel disappointment as he watched Marcus walk away, and with a light shaking of his head Viran walked in the opposite direction.

While walking Viran suddenly pauses his feet and stares directly at a campfire already smoldering. Hanging over the campfire was Rufus tending carefully to a large piece of meat. As the smoke was blown away by the wind, the delicious smell reaches Viran’s nose. It was manabeast, yet Viran was unsure what species it was. Just the smell already made Viran hungry, and unconsciously his feet followed the source of the smell.

While slaving over the meat Rufus quickly becomes aware of the bright eyed brat that was coming towards him. An occasion he would usually be excited about, yet now he wasn’t due to Viran’s reason for coming over.

Viran walks over, his hands reach behind his back as his toes lightly tap the soil repeatedly. Seconds later he blurts out what he had been wondering all this long.

“So, Rufus, what kind is that?” Viran asked with no reserve.

“No. No. No. You’re not having any.” Rufus vehemently refused. He already knew how it would all turn out if he just played along…

“Oh come on! Just tell me what kind, I wasn’t asking for any!”

Viran quickly waved that notion away, yet Rufus wasn’t buying it at all. After all this wasn’t the first time Viran had taken the food Rufus had without restraint, and quite frankly he was tired of it. Although Rufus had become fond of the young boy, it wasn’t enough to give him any more food. Viran had eaten far too much of the precious supply Rufus had.

“... It’s a Twinhorn Boar. It’s relatively weak compared to other boars but when threatened it’s horns can grow into a massive size. It’s not uncommon for unsuspecting individuals to be skewered or unprepared magic users to be killed.” Rufus explained before putting all of his attention back onto the meat.

A common characteristic and difference between regular animal meat and manabeast meat is the difficulty in preparing the meat and cooking it. Yet just like with any high risk ventures there are high rewards, the rewards being a savory and delicious meal unlike any normal animal or plant. To be able to fully make the Twinhorn Boar meat edible takes hours slaving over a small fire and many precious herbs to nullify the remnant mana still roaming inside of its body. The tools, as well, had to be high grade and the skill of the user depended heavily upon it at all. Just as humans, manabeasts also possessed roots and magic circuits. Yet a difference between the two was the natural ferocity and size of the mana that went through their roots and magic circuit, a poor knife alongside a poor cook may accidentally cut directly through the magic circuit and saw the remnant mana to course directly into the flesh effectively making the meat inedible and dangerous to eat. Just as Marianne had died from remnant wind mana within her, a person could just as easily die after ingesting meat with remnant mana.

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“Mmm. But wow it really does smell good, it really does.” Viran said as he continued to stare at the meat.

Rufus was unwilling to relent to the obvious demands of Viran, even if it pained him so. Maybe. While being stared at by Viran, Rufus began to think that maybe he could just share a little bit, even if this bit of meat was all he had left in the end.

“Y-yeah it does, doesn’t it.” Rufus smiled lightly before shaking his head gently.

Viran continues to stand there longer, staring as the meat becomes closer and closer to finishing before Rufus finally lets out a large sigh. His eyes are red from the smoke as he finally gives in to the pressure.

“Hahh. Fine you can have some. Better now?” Rufus said while sighing, Viran could also see tears gather within his eyes. Whether or not it was over the smoke or having to share, Viran did not know.

Some minutes go by and Rufus finally lifts the meat away from the fire and onto a heavy platter. Immediately cutting into the meat a waft of blue mist is released directly from the cut. It was a great sight to behold as Viran only recently learned that was the remnant mana of the beast finally exiting, making the delicious meat finally edible.

Looking glum Rufus slowly cut the meat into small bits and added some garnish over the meat. There wasn’t as much as he originally wanted, but it was enough for Rufus. After all he had no one to blame over the smaller portion except himself, Rufus knew he could have stood his ground but he relented in the end.

He passes a plate over onto Viran’s outstretched hands, somehow Rufus can feel a small smile begin to grow on his face. Yet the smile suddenly freezes once he sees two more outstretched hands. His gaze follows the arms and he finally reaches to meet the gaze of the little Elena, Junia standing not far behind her silently laughing. Rufus looks back at the rest of the food he had saved, yet no sigh escapes him this time around. He cuts off the same amount he had for Viran and passes it towards Elena and she quickly scampers off to sit next to Viran.

“Do you want any?” Rufus asks Junia suddenly.

“Hmph. Like you’d actually give me any.” Junia snorted and sat by Rufus opposite of the campfire.

“If I wasn’t going to give any to you I wouldn’t have offered…” Rufus said in exasperation before slicing a large piece off of his plate as well, and passed it to Junia.

Junia looks down at the outstretched plate, and then towards Rufus. The amount he had left was obviously less than all of them there.

“How unfair…” Junia’s whisper was heard by none and she grabbed the plate firmly from Rufus.

As they all ate together, Viran picked his gaze up from the meat for a second. His heart becomes embalmed in a warmth he had never known, everyone around him ate happily while chatting. Expressions lined their faces showing their complete enjoyment of it all, something he had never experienced before. His heart still hurt from the past, from Marianne’s death yet a scene like this helped it heal still. Just when was the last time Viran could eat together with others like this? With no worries of his own wellbeing at all? How can he feel so at peace? His gaze liquidated into a soft and warm gaze, he felt his very soul was being healed from this. He wanted to thank everyone there, thank everyone there for his kindness.

“T...an...k….y…..ou” Viran’s small voice filled with emotion choked up, yet it was still clearly heard by everyone.

“Thank you…. Really.” His strained voice corrected himself and offered one set of words, yet his heart offered his true emotions in the raw. Something that he truly could not describe in words, the gratitude he felt for them.

Viran could feel the cold and wet tears well up in his eyes. He could feel his heart crack and the tears finally began to fall, and he silently sobbed.

Rufus and Junia clearly felt the warmth from Viran words and raw emotion, and all they did was smile in response to the tears of the child. They could see the tears falling from the boy yet they never moved a muscle, they simply let the child let out the pain he had shouldered until now.

“Eek! Why are you crying….. Kid?” Elena instead shrieked at the sight. She did not know exactly what to call Viran and instead opted for that.

Viran’s tears stop for a moment only to continue in a larger manner. A boisterous laugh exits out of him without his intentions, something about Elena calling him ‘Kid’ was funny to him.

“Hahahaha!” Viran couldn’t hold in the tears that leaked out as he held his sides from laughing much to Elena’s bewilderment and soon Junia and Rufus began to giggle alongside Viran. He didn’t take any offense from Elena’s sudden new nickname for him, after all it was true he never told them his real name.

“Why are you laughing? Did I say something wrong?” Elena asked to no avail, no one was able to answer her for quite some time.

Just the simple giving of food, just the warmth of another person, just having someone there with him to laugh with had an amazing effect on Viran. As though his worries evaporated, so did the intense weight on his shoulders. The tears continued to fall and each drop was filled with the resentment he held, the anger he shouldered, the fear he was cursed with, the anxiety he handled, the loneliness he was born with. Everything, and somehow Junia and Rufus felt exactly what they felt.

‘Maybe this is happiness…?’ Viran asked himself.

He felt at peace finally, this was the world he wanted to meet. This was why he trained so hard alone and with Sir Renault, all to find a new world. A world where his Father could not reach him, a world where he would not be ignored and forgotten. Even if the world Viran had found was cruel, exceedingly cruel, maybe he can find moments like these? Viran didn’t know whether he would be able to find moments like these anymore in the future, or if the other world outside of the estate is always as cruel. But he wanted to at least try. Viran had felt so much pressure and suppression from the estate that now he felt free, truly free.