Chapter 38: Wild Boar

“Oh, by the way, there’s some roast meat by the fire in the center of the settlement. If you need it, help yourself.” Su You wasn’t particularly picky about food—as long as it wasn’t some truly inedible abomination, and as long as it filled her up, she’d eat pretty much anything.

As for this berry-glazed roast, she didn’t plan to eat it herself. She intended to use it to build goodwill, or as a trade item.

Maybe because she already knew Su You’s goal was to keep her around, Duoya didn’t read too much into Su You’s gestures of goodwill, but she wasn’t about to accept them easily either.

After all, Su You had already done her a favor by letting her stay for a day. Regardless of whether Su You had other motives, that didn’t change the fact that she’d helped her.

But just as Duoya was about to refuse, she heard Su You speak again: “If you don’t want to owe me a favor, could you help me catch some small animals? I only need the hides. I can cook the meat for you for free—so even if you decide to leave tomorrow to look for materials, you’ll have something to eat on the road.”

Duoya: “……”

Duoya: “…Alright. Thank you.”

Duoya’s initial refusal was simply because she didn’t want to owe anyone, but since Su You put it that way, she had no reason to refuse anymore—especially since she really was a bit hungry.

She’d originally planned to go hunting in the forest after talking with Su You, or at least look for something to eat… Thinking of this, Duoya subconsciously touched the bow and arrows on her back, then walked over to the fire in the center of the settlement and took the berry-glazed roast.

Besides the roast, she also spotted a cup of water by the fire.

She hesitated for a moment, then sat down and slowly filled her stomach with water and roast meat.

After finishing, she took the empty wooden cup to the stream to rinse it, then put it back in its original place.

After that, she slung her bow and arrows over her shoulder and headed into the forest.

Watching Duoya’s figure gradually disappear among the trees, Su You, now rested, picked up her axe and went back to chopping wood.

……

……

By noon, Su You let out a breath, packed up the third batch of wood she’d chopped, and headed back to her territory.

Although there were trees everywhere nearby, for various reasons, Su You wanted to preserve the ones closest to her territory, so she’d gone a bit farther out to chop.

But this was a forest, after all—no matter how far she went, she was still surrounded by trees.

It took Su You three minutes to return. But before she even stepped into her territory, the scene inside made her freeze in shock.

Her previously empty territory was now covered with animal carcasses, big and small. Besides the rabbits she’d caught before, there were several roe deer, a fire-feathered chicken, a deer…

And even a wild boar!

Su You: “???”

Staring at the wild boar, Su You’s eyes filled with astonishment.

Anyone who knew about wild boars knew how formidable they were… and in the game, their combat power was nothing to scoff at either.

Frankly, Su You couldn’t even imagine how Duoya had managed to kill a wild boar.

When Duoya saw Su You return, she paused in her work of processing the animals. She seemed about to say something, but when she noticed Su You’s gaze fixed on the wild boar, she frowned slightly.

“Lord Su, you don’t know where this wild boar came from either?” The amount of information in Duoya’s question was enough to throw Su You’s thoughts into confusion for a moment.

What did she mean by “you don’t know where the wild boar came from either”…? Didn’t Duoya kill it?

Su You realized she might have misunderstood something.

She sat down beside Duoya and shook her head slightly. “No idea. I was out chopping wood all morning.”

Thinking about it, she felt a bit lucky she’d been out.

If that wild boar had been alive, Su You definitely wouldn’t have been able to handle it. It was even more troublesome than the Fire Demon Lord.

Duoya had already guessed the answer when she saw Su You’s shocked expression, but hearing Su You confirm it, her frown deepened.

“If it wasn’t us, then could it be…” Duoya glanced at the tightly shut tavern door, but left her sentence unfinished.

There were only three people here. If it wasn’t Su You or herself, the only other possibility was Dolly… but Duoya didn’t think Dolly had the strength to kill a wild boar.

So… was there a fourth possibility?

“I suspect there’s something…” Again, she trailed off, looking at the rabbit she’d already skinned and suddenly standing up.

“Consider these the payment for letting me stay tonight.” As she spoke, Duoya placed several processed animals, large and small, in front of Su You.

“I’m going to check the area.” What she’d left unsaid was that she suspected there was a large creature nearby, and that the wild boar had probably been killed by this mysterious animal.

As for why the wild boar’s corpse had ended up here, that was anyone’s guess.

If there really was a large creature, it would have left obvious traces, so Duoya needed to investigate.

Whether for her own safety or for other reasons, she had to figure out what was going on.

But just as she was about to leave, Su You stopped her.

“No matter what kind of creature it is, the territory itself is absolutely safe.” But if she left, there was no telling what might happen.

Every territory, once established, had a three-day protection period. During this time, the territory was invincible—not even a wild boar, or even a dragon, could harm it in any way.

But only Su You knew about this; Duoya obviously had no idea such a “protection period” existed.

“Does Lord Su know what’s going on?” Duoya’s gaze changed as Su You blocked her path.

She looked Su You up and down again, but aside from the fact that Su You’s shoes had changed from straw sandals to fur boots, she was the same as before.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but I do know the territory is absolutely safe.” Su You’s expression didn’t waver under Duoya’s scrutiny.

Whether Duoya believed her or not, she didn’t try to leave again.

She glanced at the wild boar and asked, “What do you plan to do with it, Lord Su?”

Seeing that Duoya wasn’t planning to leave anymore, Su You sat down and started sorting through the animal drops—storing what needed to be stored, preparing what needed to be cooked, and setting aside Duoya’s share.

But after hearing Duoya’s question, she realized she should probably deal with the wild boar first, so she walked over and began examining it from top to bottom."