Chapter 141: Imoogi Meat

"Really? But if that’s the case, why do both armies withdraw once spring comes?"

"The kingdom simply runs out of soldiers. Once the weather warms up, the Demon King’s forces regain their strength, and the kingdom is forced to retreat."

"Then why doesn’t the Demon King’s army attack us while we’re retreating?"

"That is simple as well. For monsters, spring is breeding season, or rather, love season. They have more important things to do than fight."

Breeding season, love season!

Qiu Nuoya knew that when spring arrived, the stray cats living around his neighborhood would become much more active and noisy, but apparently monsters had a breeding season too.

At this point, he could no longer tell whether this world was peaceful or not.

"Then does that mean we’d be at a disadvantage if the Demon King’s army started a war during summer?"

"Well, if you look at it simply, then yes. However, the Demon King’s army hasn’t launched an invasion against any other countries for the past several hundred years. I don’t know why, but they have remained entirely on the defensive, so the world has been remarkably peaceful. That is why conspiracy theories like the one we discussed earlier, claiming that the Demon King controls the dungeon cores, have emerged. If he could effortlessly control such vicious monsters that have no will of their own, then conquering the world would be easy. But if he were truly capable of doing that, I believe the Demon King would have conquered the world long ago. If people want to force a conspiracy theory onto something, they can make one fit almost anything. Rather than that, I think humanity should be grateful for the Demon King’s mercy. That is how I feel as an elf who takes a neutral position."

Conspiracy theories, the Demon King’s mercy... Could it really be that the Demon King is the reason peace has been maintained in this world? Or is he simply watching from the sidelines because he has some hidden motive, just as the conspiracy theorists claim? He had no idea what the powerful people of this world were thinking.

"Leaving the whole Demon King thing aside, elves really know how to play their cards, don’t they? Whenever there’s a war, you always stay neutral and refuse to take either side."

"It’s not that we’re good at playing our cards. We’re simply pacifists. War brings a hundred harms and not a single benefit, after all."

Viktor certainly had a point. Conflict was a foolish act that created nothing but hatred. Even knowing that, humans were creatures driven by their own interests. The more their numbers grew, the more likely it was that some incident would eventually spark a conflict.

It would be nice if everything could be resolved through discussion, but the world was not that simple.

[ Hey, you guys. Stop talking about such boring crap all the time and eat already. It’s going to lose its freshness. ]

Long bit into the side of the Imoogi without the slightest hesitation.

Qiu Nuoya knew that fresh meat was best eaten as soon as possible, but still...

He took one of the Imoogi fillets he had sliced off and grilled it over the fire to taste.

The texture was similar to that of a white fleshed fish, but it also had a rich, meaty umami flavor. The taste was so incredible that Qiu Nuoya’s eyes lit up.

This is delicious even with nothing but salt and pepper. It would definitely be amazing sautéed or made into some kind of stewed fish too!

The meat had a satisfying firmness to it, yet the more Qiu Nuoya chewed, the more it slowly broke apart in his mouth, releasing an incredible savory flavor. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

This is seriously the best.

Qiu Nuoya offered everyone some grilled Imoogi meat. It seemed to be just as delicious to them, because they immediately began slicing off pieces of meat themselves and roasting them over the fire.

"Long! This stuff is seriously amazing!"

[ I know, right! It’d be perfect if we had some booze to go with it! ]

Long had clearly become completely addicted to alcohol. Even as he spoke, he continued gnawing away at the Imoogi with gusto.

"Oh, speaking of alcohol, someone from the Tamer’s Guild said they’d prepare it by the barrel if you gave them some scales."

[ Ohhh! Is that so? Then take these! ]

Long shoved his head beneath the base of one of his wings and rummaged around for a moment. Then he presented Qiu Nuoya with three scales, each one larger than his face.

They were completely gleaming black flawlessly and resembling polished obsidian. Qiu Nuoya had no doubt they were Long’s scales.

[ With these, three barrels are guaranteed once we get back! Now hurry up and finish what we came here to do so you can give me some delicious booze! ]

Hmm... I have a feeling that three scales would get me far more than three barrels. Probably more than three hundred barrels.

But if I let him drink too much and he becomes an alcoholic, that would be a problem. I’d have to think carefully before turning all of these into alcohol.

Qiu Nuoya gave a slight wry smile and stored the scales in his magic bag.

After that, although they had no alcohol to go with it, they had an enormous amount of incredibly delicious Imoogi meat right in front of them, far more than they could possibly finish.

So they ate until they were completely stuffed.

Mochi was no exception. [ This meat is delicious! ] it said, eating almost as much as Long.

By the end of the night, even the Imoogi’s enormous body had been reduced to a rather pitiful state.

A few days after entering the dungeon, they were still on the island. According to Viktor, defeating the dungeon boss on a floor should automatically open the path to the next floor. However, there was no path to be found.

Qiu Nuoya wondered if that meant the Imoogi had not actually been the dungeon boss, but Viktor said that was impossible.

"Most likely, some kind of key item should have appeared when we defeated the Imoogi..." As he said that, Viktor glanced at Long.

Until then, Long had shown no interest in their discussion. But after hearing Viktor’s words, he casually said.

[ Come to think of it, something sparkly did fall into the sea. ]