I had finished my second woodcutting trip and accepted the reward at the guild and was on my way out.
Of course, I would be dining at the Tiger Fire.
If anything, you could say that was my whole motivation for working all day.
âAre you open today?â
âAye. There were some accidents, but thanks to you, I was able to make our Angis Cattle with Lishia Leaves stew!â
Accidents�
I wasnât sure what he meant, but he had talked about his stew being their best dish here yesterday.
And you couldnât go wrong with eating the best thing on the menu.
âThatâs great. âŠUh, AngiâŠwhatever stew. Iâll have that.â
âAngis Cattle with Lishia Leaves Stew! Got it!â
The man said as he returned to the pot and poured some of the stew into a bowl.
The dish with the hard to remember name was steaming and looked very delicious.
This was why I had cut all of that wood.
With great expectations, I lifted a spoonful of it to my mouth.
âIt was too delicious.
The meat was so soft that it practically melted in your mouth.
And yet it had such presence.
It was fatty but somehow not overwhelming.
It would not have been possible if only the meat was in it.
It must be because of these Lishia leaves that are mentioned in the name.
âItâs so good! Yuji! Itâs delicious!â
Even the slimes liked it. They were becoming very excited.
Even though they just ate grass all of the time, they were able to tell the difference.
ââŠThat was good. Iâll have another bowl.â
I ordered some more.
There was no reason to hesitate.
âAye! âŠYou may not be able to eat it again. So you should have as much as you can get now.â
He said as he passed me another bowl. I fell on it immediately.
Ahh, it was so good.
âŠHmm?
Wait. I felt as if he had just said something very important.
âUh, what did you just say?â
âItâs possible that you wonât be able to eat it again. So you should have as much as you can now. âŠAngis Cattle is easy enough to get, but not Lishia Leaves.â
âWere they also affected by the cold weather then?â
It would be very disappointing if I could no longer eat this stew.
To think of having to wait a whole yearâŠ
As I pondered on thisâŠthe cook answered my question.
âNo, itâs still in season and they are strong to the cold⊠But monsters have wrecked our fields. And they donât grow them in neighboring towns. So if the last of our fields are ruined, then we wonât have any until next year. But Lishia leaves are half the reason that this townâs food is so good.â
âŠMonsters?
So it was monsters who were damaging the plants used for this dish and putting it in danger?
Mere monsters were hurting the plants that were the reason that Rikardoâs food tasted so good?
Fine.
Extinction it is.
âSo, what are these monsters called?â
âGreedy Boars. These monsters usually donât appear around here. But the cold seems to be affecting the behavior of different monsters these days.â
ââŠI see. By the way, Iâm assuming there would be no problem if I annihilate them?â
I asked, just to make sure.
If getting rid of them entirely would affect the ecosystem, I could leave at least 10âŠno, maybe just 3.
âAnnihilate? âŠI wouldnât say no to that. But they are not weak monsters. And there are many of them. I donât think it would be possible.â
âWell, Iâll just do what I can then. Iâll start by monitoring the area and protecting the Lishia leaves. âŠUh, what do these leaves look like?â
âThis is a Lishia leaf. âŠIâm grateful that you want to help, but donât push yourself too hard.â
He said as he showed it to me.
âŠAlright. I knew what they looked like now. I just needed to protect the field where they were growing and then kill every single one of the savage monsters hiding in the forest.
âDid you all hear that?â
I asked the slimes.
The slimes understood human speech, so they should have caught everything.
âYes! âŠThese bad monsters are eating all of the good leaves, right?â
âExactly. âŠSo, you know what to do?â
I asked and the slime nodded.
âBeat them!â
âKill them!â
âAnnihilate!â
They seemed a lot more enthusiastic than usual.
The slimes felt anger over the destruction of the fields of plants used for delicious food just as humans did.
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