Right after we dismembered the Nejol, we disposed of the organs. Well… it was more like Isak digging a hole, and we disposed of the intestines.

Still… I can say for sure we all anxiously did all of that. I mean… hell. It was all red! Very very red! The smell… was not pleasant.

“Isak… does this look alright?” I inquired as I showed him the parts we tied up.

We’ve drained the blood and so on. But I’m still unsure if I should freeze it. Since we’ll be eating it later, I thought that… it would taste better fresh?

“Uuuh—it’s fine, probably,” he responded, seeming a little nauseous.

I turned to the others, and they all seemed a little… unwell?

Usually, I’m the one that cooks in our family, and it looks similar to what I’m used to now—chopped-up flesh that doesn’t resemble a live animal!

Though… Mister Hilos was looking at us with this amused expression on his face. He was somewhat smug looking as he watched us struggle to cut things up. Also… the insects that came for the carcass—holy, they were huge!

We had to kill them, and I… I’m not sure I wanna eat insects, especially when they’re as big as a cat.

—I know that insects are considered a delicacy in some places, and they’re filled with ‘lost of protein.’

Yeah… no, still nah in my book!

— :::: —

And so, after all of our hard work and me almost losing my leg, we headed back to the small camp.

The others looked disheartened and caught fish and got vegetables. Only our group was able to hunt a beast.

To be fair, Princess Luna never said we couldn’t share, but… I’m not about to do that, it’s not free, and I almost died along with the others for this!

Well… we wouldn’t die since Princess and Mister Hilos would interfere before that, but it still hurt like hell!

So… I’d say my fair assessment of the situation is trade!

Sure, I can make a carnivore meal, but I like to mix things up a little, ya know? And I’m sure the other groups had some vegetables that we were too occupied to deal with.

Not only that, fish has good fat too!

…if they’re like fish at home.

But fish at home is like… nothing like these alien fish… I think….

And so, we began to trade, and there was not a single group who rejected the notion. They even traded with one another.

Some even shook my hand, thanking me with teary eyes. Uh… it was just a suggestion, don’t get too overly happy, people!

So… Julia and Hilda were helping me cook, even though Julia wasn’t the best at it….

“...I don’t think I can do this,” Julia complained. “I looked into its deep silver eyes, and… it just feels wrong….”

Ahaha… yeah, it does make it difficult when you murder the thing and later cut it up, seeing its innocent pleading eyes while you cook it up.

I totally get it…?

Wait…?

Do I?

“Just go and rest with Isak. He’s… a little nauseous as well. Seems like he’s not the best with these sorts of things either,” I calmly replied while patting her back.

“Okay…” Julia replied and walked toward Isak, who was lying down with a block of ice wrapped with a cloth on his forehead.

…wow, he really is bad with this sort of stuff, huh? Ah… well, I still have the memory burnt inside my head. But seeing people being sliced up sure caused quite the trauma….

I try not to think about it, but… it does remind me each and every time I see blood. Luckily, not all blood is red on creatures here, so it does help to think that it’s kinda something else.

Regardless, I think the thought still haunts us. At least, that’s my assumption.

I turned to Hilda. “...how are you feeling,” I hesitantly inquired. She seemed not to do all that well when we dissected it. But she’s never been bad at handling meat when we cooked together.

Perhaps it changed after this? I mean… she’s shaking ever so slightly.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Hilda turned her head away from the cutting board. Her gaze was now on me—she really is pretty…. Hilda shook her head, saying, “I’m fine, at least… it’s better now.”

With a somewhat conflicted look, she started to prepare, cutting the meat into smaller pieces, we also got fish and other stuff, but that was a lot easier to prepare, I feel.

I’ve cooked fish plenty of times and even went fishing a couple of times, so I’m totally okay with fish. Hilda seemed that way as well. Thought these purple fish with sharp teeth and steel-like scales and fins made it more difficult to cut.

Of course, the insides look like a fish—at least….

Using [Eye of Concept], I looked for weaknesses. Inbounding my dagger with mana, I carefully prepared it, skinning it and saving the scales in case they could be used for anything.

Of course, I threw away the intestine and stuff cuz I ain’t eating that!

“Aska,” Hilda suddenly called me when I was hyperfocused. “Do you eat the eggs?” she inquired.

“Oh? I kind of do. How about you, Hilda?”

“Um… if we make it into a dip, I think it could be tasty…?” Hilda shyly said with her gaze facing down the cutting board.

I could feel my face heating up, but the sight of her adorable fidgeting made me extremely nervous. “I-it sounds like a good idea…” I replied while scratching my cheek.

I look pretty awkward now, probably, but I can feel shy too, you know?

— :::: —

Ugh… I feel so bad right now. Although this was somewhat expected, I didn’t think it would be this bad.

But at the camp, before we were rescued, this never really occurred since fish and vegetation were pretty much all that we ate.

Monsters?

We’ve never really wanted to eat them. We just defended against them. But now that it’s like this. I know they’re edible. Just get used to it. And… try not to look into its eyes when killing it.

And this other concern I have?

Well, it’s this sad blond chick with a brother complex. Even if it’s not her real brother, she’s still blatantly into him.

I can somewhat understand her in some ways—not that I swing that way. But Aska is really nice. Despite having some screws loose, he’s really nice.

We only met when I transferred into his middle school. He was nice and helped me. And at first, I was wondering. “Is this chick into me?”

Pff… yeah, it’s a guy….

Albert was a bit surprised, having learned that we had become good friends. And… I want to help him out. He… as much as he pretends. I can tell he’s in a lot of distress. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something he’s not telling us.

“Hey, Julia.”

“Hm? Are you feeling better, Isak?” she asked, turning her gaze to me.

I got up and put the bag of ice on the side. “It’s about Aska. How does he look to you?” I bluntly asked.

Healing my inquiry, Julia blushed as her eyes started to dart around. “Wh-why are you asking me this all of a sudden!?” she flusteredly exclaimed.

“...shut it, will ya, you brocon!” I jokingly reprimanded her. But… I think I went a bit far this time.

With teary eyes, she apologised, “I’m sorry…” she meekly said.

“...sorry, I didn’t mean to go that far,” I apologised. I feel quite guilty about it now. But… sometimes she gets all meek like this, which makes it difficult to joke around….

“That’s not what I meant when I asked that. I mean… does he look any different?”

“...he’s dazzling as always?”

…..

…

“Idiot!” I said, giving her a chop on the forehead.

“Ugh~, v-violence!” she retorts.

“Look! I already know how much you wanna sleep with him!”

“Wh-what! Isak! Vulgar! You’re so vulgar!” she cried with a tomato-red face while pointing her fingers at me up and down in distress.

“...it’s true, though?” I nonchalantly replied with a shrug.

“~////~”

See…?

“Anyhow, he looks to be under a lot of stress and an abnormal amount.”

Hearing my comment, Julia calmed down. She crossed her arms, muttering, ‘Even I know that…’ in a low voice.

“I know,” she replied. “I can tell, but… isn’t that the case for most of us?”

“...that’s true, but he seems almost calm,” I pointed out.

“....” Julia went quiet. She’s probably thinking about it, and… “You’re right. I worry about that too. When I snuck into his bed, it seemed like he had nightmares….”

“……you did what now?”

“...oops… I mean. Aska is not the type to tell anyone unless it really becomes unbearable, so… I don’t think you have to worry, as he’ll probably deal with it himself.”

Fine… I’ll ignore the previous comment for now. “But, is he even aware…?”

Julia’s eyes widened for a moment before she began to hesitantly speak. “He’s… very self-aware, for better or worse.”

I know that….

“Hey, by the way, Hilda and Aska seem to have quite a good mood right now. You’re just going to watch?”

“...huh!?” Julia jolted in their direction. “Why didn’t you say anything earlier!” she said and rushed to them.

Seeing her rush over, I softly chuckled. But… it did remind me of a certain girl who wasn’t all honest and quite easily distracted. Of course, Julia doesn’t overlap with her but gives off a similar feel.

‘...she’s the one to break things off so abruptly. And despite that, I’ve yet to move on… I’m so pathetic….’