Chapter 581: A Simple Banquet

Chapter 581 -580: A Simple Banquet

They skillfully gathered firewood and lit a campfire. After slicing a leg of ham, they set up a small pot, tossed in the meat and some wild vegetables, and started making a stew.

It wasn’t more than a few minutes before a rich, meaty aroma began to spread on the heat from the campfire. Kase, sitting beside it, couldn’t stop swallowing.

“Colin, add a little of that Aboleth salt,” Dorn said, pouring beer into the stew pot.

Hearing this, the nearby Mage, who was smoking a pipe, began to cough. “Er, COUGH COUGH COUGH… If I heard you correctly, were you just talking about… an Aboleth?” he asked.

“That’s right,” Colin said, taking out his small jar to sprinkle some in. “We dealt with one of those monsters not long ago. The meat turned out to be pretty tasty, so we ground it up and mixed it with our salt.” 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

‘He was rather proud of his clever little idea. At the very least, everyone else in the squad seemed to love it.’

The Mage looked like he wanted to say something but held back for a long moment. Finally, he asked, “You’re sure eating this won’t make you grow strange tumors in your brain?”

“I don’t think so. At least, my head doesn’t hurt.” After adding the salt, Colin let out a long sigh and sat down comfortably by the campfire.

Seeing this, Ale, who was beside him, also stood up, took a deep breath, and sat back down.

“Are you… really sure?” The Mage glanced at Ale. Before Colin could reply, he went on, “If I recall correctly, the creature you killed in the Supreme Forest was a young White Dragon, right?”

“That’s right. If it were an adult White Dragon, I wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

“And if I’m guessing correctly, you didn’t receive any major commendation for killing the Aboleth,” the Mage said with a sigh. “That’s a real shame. A mature Aboleth is far more difficult to handle than a young White Dragon.”

“Is that true? I can’t imagine a fish being stronger than a dragon,” the nearby Halfling chimed in.

“See? A perfect example. The powers that be probably wanted to avoid an award ceremony where people weren’t asking, ‘Who’s the hero?’ but rather, ‘What’s an Aboleth?'”

As soon as the Mage finished speaking, the Halfling came over and kicked his shin in protest.

After batting his companion aside, the Mage continued, “Besides, they say the knowledge in their brains is beyond mortal comparison. If only I could get my hands on an intact Aboleth brain.”

“Didn’t you say knowing too much is no good?” Colin asked.

“That’s right. Knowing too much is no good.” The Mage broke into a sly grin. “But knowing *everything*? That’s a different matter entirely.”

“Too bad that monster damaged part of its own brain before it died,” Colin said with a shrug.

The Mage took out his pipe again and sighed. “What a terrible shame.”

“Esteemed Mages, it’s time to eat,” the Halfling quipped sarcastically, taking out a wooden bowl to ladle stew for the others.

Colin got up and took his portion. He then pulled out a piece of bread as hard as a block of wood, softening it in the broth before starting to eat.

“This tastes a bit like mutton… or maybe fish… Damn, how can just a tiny pinch make it taste this good?” the Halfling mumbled as he ate.

None of the members of Gray Squad had ever tasted anything so savory. They all ate in silence, too preoccupied to speak.

Just then, Dorn, halfway through his stew, held out his bowl and bellowed, “More salt, Colin!”

The Mage’s warning about brain tumors came to mind. “There’s not much of this salt left,” Colin said. “We have to be sparing. Besides, I get the feeling that too much of it can’t be good for you.”

Dorn grumbled for a moment, then quietly sat back down.

Just as Colin was about to go back to his meal, another bowl was tentatively held out to him. He looked up to see Ale watching him with wide, pleading eyes. “Could I have a little, Colin?” she asked timidly.

“…Alright, then,” Colin said, taking out the salt jar.

“Oh? Are you serious?” Dorn slammed his bowl down, leaping to his feet indignantly. “That’s not fair!”

“Calm down, I’ll give you some in a minute,” Colin said quickly, trying to placate the Dwarf.

‘It wasn’t that he was playing favorites. He just figured Ale didn’t need to worry about brain tumors, so he agreed.’

The lighthearted victory feast soon came to an end.

「The next morning.」

While Colin was still asleep in his sleeping bag, he heard a faint rustling. Opening his eyes, he saw that the members of Gray Squad were already awake and had their bags packed.

Colin glanced around; all of them were up and getting their things in order.

“Look who’s up. Our squad’s little prince,” Dorn teased as he finished packing.

“As a Mage, I have to say I’m envious of that quality of sleep. Insomnia is a terrible thing,” the Mage said with a chuckle. “Our mission is complete, Colin. Until we meet again.”

“Oh, until next time.” Still groggy from sleep, Colin quickly pulled a hand from his sleeping bag and waved.

“Until next time.” “See you around, short-timer.” “Goodbye.”

The other members of Gray Squad said their farewells one by one, then led their two packhorses out of the cave.

Once he was a little more awake, Colin also got up and began to pack his sleeping bag and gear, strapping it all onto Big Hoof Treasure.

It might have been his imagination, but as he was strapping the gear onto Big Hoof Treasure, Colin could have sworn the horse was glaring at him.

‘Either way, this more or less marked the end of the mission.’

‘Although, he still had to report back to Morel and the others, or he wouldn’t get his reward.’

The party slowly made their way down the desolate Witch’s Hammer Mountain Range. Colin wanted to buy some Casting Materials to scribe the spell Steel Wind Slash into his Spellbook, so they first headed east for some distance until they found a city of considerable size.

Once inside the city, Colin led the others, asking for directions as they went, until they reached the marketplace in the city square.

They walked past the small stalls in the center of the square and arrived at a shop on its edge called “Sneed’s General Store.” They headed inside.

—Since the large-scale antique guilds didn’t venture deep into the Northern Lands, most general store owners in the towns around here also ran a side business buying and selling antiques.