The sky was just starting to darken.
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.
“Are you open today?”
“Aye. There were some accidents, but thanks to you, I was able to make our Angis Cattle with Lishia Leaves stew!”
Accidents…?
I wasn’t sure what he meant, but he had talked about his stew being their best dish here yesterday.
And you couldn’t go wrong with eating the best thing on the menu.
“That’s great. …Uh, Angi…whatever stew. I’ll have that.”
“Angis Cattle with Lishia Leaves Stew! Got it!”
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.
—It 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.
‘It’s so good! Yuji! It’s delicious!’
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.
“…That was good. I’ll have another bowl.”
I ordered some more.
There was no reason to hesitate.
“Aye! …You may not be able to eat it again. So you should have as much as you can get now.”
He said as he passed me another bowl. I fell on it immediately.
Ahh, it was so good.
…Hmm?
Wait. I felt as if he had just said something very important.
“Uh, what did you just say?”
“It’s possible that you won’t be able to eat it again. So you should have as much as you can now. …Angis Cattle is easy enough to get, but not Lishia Leaves.”
“Were they also affected by the cold weather then?”
It would be very disappointing if I could no longer eat this stew.
To think of having to wait a whole year…
As I pondered on this…the cook answered my question.
…Monsters?
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 Rikardo’s food tasted so good?
Fine.
Extinction it is.
“So, what are these monsters called?”
“Greedy Boars. These monsters usually don’t appear around here. But the cold seems to be affecting the behavior of different monsters these days.”
“…I see. By the way, I’m assuming there would be no problem if I annihilate them?”
I asked, just to make sure.
If getting rid of them entirely would affect the ecosystem, I could leave at least 10…no, maybe just 3.
“Annihilate? …I wouldn’t say no to that. But they are not weak monsters. And there are many of them. I don’t think it would be possible.”
“Well, I’ll just do what I can then. I’ll start by monitoring the area and protecting the Lishia leaves. …Uh, what do these leaves look like?”
“This is a Lishia leaf. …I’m grateful that you want to help, but don’t push yourself too hard.”
He said as he showed it to me.
…Alright. 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.
‘Did you all hear that?’
I asked the slimes.
The slimes understood human speech, so they should have caught everything.
‘Yes! …These bad monsters are eating all of the good leaves, right?’
‘Exactly. …So, you know what to do?’
I asked and the slime nodded.
‘Beat them!’
‘Kill them!’
‘Annihilate!’
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.