The Story of a Middle-Aged Knight Who Tried to Live a Relaxed Slow Life in the Countryside, Only for a Duke's Daughter Whose Engagement Was Broken Off to Move in With Him

Butchering Monsters

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*****

I spent that day cleaning and tidying up the spare room, and before I knew it, night had fallen.

The furniture was in pretty rough shape, so for the time being, I managed to at least repair the bed.

When Watta was given her own room, she jumped up and down in joy.

Back in the dwarven village, she apparently had to share a room with her many siblings.

「It'll take a bit of work, but I should probably draw a bath.」

Although Watta had rinsed off in the river, she was still covered in mud, and Cistilia, being a duke's daughter, would surely want to take a bath as well.

I channeled water from the river using wooden flumes, stoked the firewood, and filled the manor's tub with hot water.

The two girls were delighted and went into the bath together.

In the meantime, I was outside monitoring the fire, but...

「Master Leonardo, fiancé, wife.」

「Le-o-nar-do-sa-ma. Fi-an-cé, wife?」

Cistilia's human language lessons carried over from inside the bathroom.

「Hey, don't go filling her head with things that only suit you.」

Watta already seemed to think Cistilia was my future wife.

I cooked dinner myself.

I felt bad asking Granny over and over again.

After asking around, it turned out dwarves ate mostly the same foods as humans.

Looks like what I'd heard before was wrong.

However, the part about adult dwarves being heavy drinkers seemed to be true.

Though that also meant the dwarves were highly skilled in brewing techniques.

Through Cistilia's translation, and occasionally using the broken human language she had just picked up, I chatted with Watta about all sorts of things.

Since Watta was a child, she went to bed early, and I turned in earlier than usual as well.

The next morning, when I woke up and came out—

「Ah, Master Leonardo! Look, isn't she cute?」

Cistilia said, pushing Watta forward, who was dressed in a linen top and skirt.

Watta's long, dark, wavy hair was braided in an intricate style.

「Huh. Suits her well. Is that a dwarven hairstyle?」

「She says that when you're invited as a guest, it's rude not to style your hair properly.」

「So yesterday she just tied it up because she was in the mountains, huh.」

「She asks, 『Do humans not braid their hair?』」

「Men don't braid theirs. But you braid yours for important occasions, right, Cistilia?」

「Indeed I do. I plan to braid mine beautifully for our ceremony, Master Leonardo. Or do you prefer it down?」

「Don't ask as if it's already a given.」

I offered a gentle rebuke to Cistilia, who was steadily trying to establish a fait accompli.

I made a simple breakfast for the three of us, and we sat around the dining table together.

Cistilia was explaining the various dishes to Watta.

(What a lively dining table.)

A gentle smile unwittingly formed on my face.

Ever since taking up this post, I had mostly been eating alone.

Back in my days with the Order, I used to eat boisterously with my comrades, so it would be a lie to say I hadn't felt lonely.

I had become a noble, if only in name, and possessed the status to eat in the dining room of a grand, albeit old, manor. Yet I wondered which was truly better: this, or those days spent talking nonsense with my companions over meals.

(Well, both of them will be leaving before long, anyway.)

When that happened, this dining hall would feel far lonelier than before.

Having experienced this warmth, the emptiness might sting all the more.

(Being able to enjoy pleasant things purely without worry is something only kids can do. At my age, the fear of the void left behind when it's over makes it hard to enjoy anything with a whole heart.)

I wanted to live peacefully, without stirring up waves in my heart.

That was the desire that brought me to this quiet countryside, but...

(Does wishing for that mean my heart was already quite unsettled to begin with?)

I had both fond memories and bitter ones from my time in the Order.

Somewhere along the way, my heart had worn down, and perhaps I had decided I couldn't handle any more turmoil.

Even standing before such a heartwarming scene, the warmth seeped into the scrapes on my heart, producing a dull ache.

(There's no way I could hold Cistilia in these scrap-covered hands of mine.)

I thought to myself as I looked down at my own rough, calloused hands.

Since Watta offered to show us how to butcher monsters right away, Cistilia, Watta, and I came to an unused old shed near the monster shed.

We had brought the carcass of the Boarfang the hunter brought down yesterday into this shed.

It was suspended upside down from a hook in the ceiling, but because of its immense size, its front legs still touched the ground.

I had also called out to the hunter, and since he was interested, he joined us at the shed.

Naturally, lookout duties had been handed off to another hunter.

「So, how do we start?」

When I asked, Watta stepped forward.

「Monster, ~~~~, have.」

She immediately tried to explain in human tongue, but she seemed to lack a specific word.

「Um, it means something along the lines of 'core', 'center', or 'heart'. There isn't an exact matching word in the human tongue.」

「Then let's just call it the 'core' for now.」

Watta pulled out her knife and slit the Boarfang's neck.

The blood apparently hadn't congealed yet, spilling out in torrents from its neck.

This shed seemed to have originally been a butchering shed for livestock, as channels were carved into the floor.

With practiced skill, Watta sliced open the Boarfang's abdomen vertically.

Peeling back the thick, dark layer of fat with her knife revealed pitch-black ribs beneath.

Unlike normal beasts, a monster's fat was impact-resistant, and its black ribs were as hard as metal.

Using her butchering knife as a lever, Watta pried open the tough ribs one by one.

Deep inside lay a massive black heart, and embedded firmly within it was something resembling pitch-black crystal.

Watta pointed at the crystal with her knife and spoke.

「'Core.'」

「So that's it.」

This was my first time seeing a monster butchered.

I had seen normal beasts being butchered before, and could even do it to a certain extent myself.

However, a monster's flesh was poisonous, and half-baked blades couldn't cut through their hide or thick fat.

Among humans, monster butchering was almost never practiced.

Watta retrieved a hammer from the pouch at her waist—one she had brought with her.

It was an iron hammer equipped with quite a large head.

「Hmph!」

She brought it down toward the core.

With a loud clank, a faint crack appeared on the core.

Next, Watta pulled what looked like a chisel out of her pouch.

She jammed its flat tip into the crack and struck the end of the chisel with her hammer.

With a sharp crack, the fissure widened.

She repeated this several times.

The instant the core split in two, countless cracks spiderwebbed across its entire surface, and it shattered into pieces the next second.

The shattered core dissolved into a mist and vanished into thin air.

At the exact same time, the dark discoloration drained from the Boarfang's fat and bones.

What remained behind was yellow fat, red meat, and white bones, just like a normal wild boar.

「What the... It turns out like this?」

My eyes went wide.

「Meat, eat, can. Bone, strong.」

Watta declared.

「She says the meat can be eaten, and the fat can be rendered into animal oil. Since the bones are tough, carving them allows them to be made into weapons or armor. Oil made from monster fat burns extremely well, and carved bones, while not as strong as steel, are supposedly stronger than iron. However, she notes that the meat isn't particularly delicious.」

「That's incredible.」

As I marveled, Watta puffed out her chest.

「~~~~, recommend.」

「She recommends making armor. She says it's light yet durable. As for weapons, dwarves can produce steel, after all.」

「Humans can only make regular iron, so it'd still be useful even for weapons. Ah, wait, since it's lighter than iron, maybe it's not suited for swords.」

The hunter let out a low whistle.

「This is amazing. From now on, it'd be a damn waste not to butcher monsters after hunting 'em.」

Watta said something to Cistilia.

「However, she says it's difficult without a dwarven-made butchering knife. So she says that makes it her job.」

「True enough. If another monster shows up while you're in the village, we'll count on you.」

「She says, 『Leave it to me.』」

I decided to give Watta free rein over this shed for as long as she stayed here.

After that, I helped Watta as she continued the butchering process.

Cistilia felt sickened by the butchering scene and had stepped outside.

Since the hunter couldn't help with his bad leg, he headed back to his post.

「Use, well, useful.」

「Yeah. Monsters that were nothing but a threat before turn out to be a source of materials.」

「Me, weapons, like, not.」

Watta said with a slightly somber expression.

「You mean you don't really want them used for weapons?」

Seeming to have gotten her point across, Watta nodded.

「Protect, use.」

「Got it. I'll make sure they're used for armor as much as possible.」

Also, I'd better ensure these materials don't circulate outside the village for the time being.

Troublemakers exist everywhere, after all.

*****

Loneliness is the number one enemy,

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