Shortly afterwards, the giant fish landed by Grandpa Gon disappeared and was replaced by a Drop item.
I was so shocked by its appearance that I had forgotten to [Appraise] it.
Oh well.
I could still [Appraise] the items it left behind.
“Let’s see, a large piece of white meat, magic stones, oh my, a treasure chest? Wow, Grandpa Gon, you scored a high-ranking monster?”
[Emperor Dorado Meat (white)] [1]
Light yet savoury flavour. When lightly heated, the flesh becomes firm and fluffy, extremely delicious.
Woah, looks promising.
“It is good?” Grandpa Gon inquired.
“Yes, very. Looks like it would be good for a hotpot or something similar.”
Sui, Fer and Dora-chan immediately made noises of approval in the back.
“”Sui likes hotpot~~””
“”Woah, same~!!””
“Umu, I supposed it’s not bad…”
“I trust in Master’s skills,” said Grandpa Gon. [2] “I look forward to dinner.”
“M-me too!”
We all turned around to see Feodora-san looking at us with sparkling eyes.
“How brazen!” Gaudino-san scolded.
However, Feodora-san was too busy sparkling at us to listen to him.
“Hey, uh, just now, were you using some sort of [Appraisal] skill on the fish?”
Cough!
“Uh,” no way, no way, no way! I was careless!
“Also, your [Item Box] is… well, could it be that Mukouda-san is a… Hero?”
Cold sweat trickled from my forehead. Technically, I don’t have a ‘Hero’ title, but I did come from the same world where they sourced ‘Heroes’ from…
“This… Gideon! Stop prying into other people’s skills!”
“That’s right! It’s against basic manners!”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtSiegwald and Gaudino smacked him on the back of his head.
“Hey, quit it! I’m just curious, okay? It’s my dream to meet with a Hero…”
Siegwald and Gaudino suddenly laughed.
“Oi, don’t laugh! I grew up listening to stories about Heroes! I even had a picture book of Heroes growing up. It’s the main reason why I became an Adventurer!”
“Fuhaha, you have a surprisingly cute side to you, Gideon,”
“Shut up!”
Ughh… is it really obvious that I came from another world? Anyway, from that day onwards, I could feel two different gazes boring into my back all the time…
Ah, for those interested, the treasure chest contained five palm size golden scales, a small emerald and a ruby.
“Feodora!”
Arrows flew from Feodora-san’s bow at Gaudino-san’s command.
The [Ark] party was currently facing a Blue-Headed Otter, a C Rank monster with blue hair sprouting on its head.
It was much bigger and way more ferocious than any otters I know of.
“Gyaooooo!!!”
“Siegwald!”
“Hoh! Here I gooo!!”
Gagooonnn—-
Siegwalds Warhammer struck the Blue-Headed Otter on the head.
“We’re up, Gideon!”
“Yeah!”
Gaudino-san’s bastard sword slashed into the otter’s neck even as Gideon-san’s spear thrust into its stomach. The Blue-Headed Otter made a gurgling sound and disappeared, leaving a bundle of skin behind.
“Ooohhh~” I clapped my hands.
This is it!
This is what being an Adventurer should be like!
“What are you clapping for? They need four people to defeat a measly weakling,” Fer grumbled.
“Hey, don’t say that. That monster’s fur is pretty valuable for its water-repelling quality.”
Gaudino-san had requested for [Mizumaru] to stop when he spotted a small group of Blue Headed Otters. It was good prey for an A Rank party, and they wanted to hunt as many as they could.
Meanwhile, Fer and the rest sneered at the idea of hunting Blue-Headed Otters. The reason?
‘They tasted bad.’
Well, that’s our standard for hunting monsters.
While the [Ark] went after Blue-Headed Otters, I hung out on [Mizumaru] with Fer while the dragons flew off somewhere else. It was pretty entertaining watching the [Ark] members go after the Blue-Headed Otters in their coordinated manner. It was actually pretty exciting~
In fact, I really admire that kind of coordinated fighting skills, I wonder if I could do it…
Well, I guess it’s kind of impossible…
I guess it’s fine since I have powerful comrades. Safety and security is the most important thing for me.
While thinking of all this, I looked at Fer who lounging on Sui next to me…
“What?”
“Nothing, I’m just glad that Fer and everyone else is here.”
“W-why are you saying this all of a sudden?”
“No, I mean, it’s just that you guys are so strong that I feel really reassured. I’m just glad that you guys are with me.”
If I hadn’t met Fer and the rest, I would never have come to this dungeon in the first place.
“Fumu, it’s good that you know. Be grateful.”
“Hahaha, yes, yes, thank you.”
“Mu,”
“Hm?”
“Grandpa Gon and Dora are back,”
I looked in the direction Fer was looking and saw a black dot from the direction where the Dragon Corporation had gone off on a ‘reconnaissance’.
“Oi, what do you have there Grandpa Gon?”
Grandpa Gon was approaching with something long and thin held in his forepaws.
“It is a souvenir.”
“Souvenir?” I looked closer at the thin green thing. The thin thing was a snake that was about as thick as a log and wriggling restlessly.
“It is a so-so prey. I brought it back as a souvenir for Master.”
“… okay…?” I looked between the snake and Grandpa Gon. Just what do you expect me to do with this snake?
I cast [Appraisal] on the creature.
[Hunter Green Anaconda]
A Rank monster. Camouflage itself with its natural green skin in the trees to sneak up on prey. Has a vicious bite. Its skin is prized by dilettantes for its beautiful colour. Its meat is light and delicious.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm[3]
“Well, its meat seems to be light and delicious?” I said, still puzzled why this snake was brought to me as a ‘souvenir’.
“Hoh? Is that so? Well, kill it quickly,” said Fer.
I looked at him blankly.
“What? Me? Now?
“Grandpa Gon took the trouble to bring it back alive for you, didn’t he?”
“Umu, I thought it would be an excellent monster to raise Master’s level.”
The two titans of power exchanged a meaningful look. Well, it was meaningful to them, but I can’t fathom why they would do this?!
“Why would you… you know what? Fine, fine, I’ll do it,” I snapped as I rummaged through my [Item Box] for a suitable weapon.
I considered just lopping off its head with my Mithril Cooking Knife, but the thing opened its mouth to hiss at me, so I opted for the Mithril Spear instead. That way, I can stand far away and stab it through the head, or mouth. Whichever comes first.
“Tei!”
The spear went cleanly through its head and clanked off Grandpa Gon’s claw. Ooops.
However, Grandpa Gon did not look bothered by it, so I said nothing.
The Hunter Green Anaconda disappeared, leaving behind meat and skin Drops.
Haah… well, at least I managed to kill it…
“Mukouda-san…”
I froze.
With stiff joints, I turned around to see members of the [Ark] staring quizzically at me. Did they just…
“Mukouda-san, I’m sorry, but I have to say that this is not the best way to gain strength…” said Siegwald-san.
The rest of them nodded solemnly, even Feodora-san.
H-how embarrassing!!!???
No, no, no, you misunderstand! I don’t make a habit of thissss!!!!!
[Gumihou: Ah, I felt sorry for him…]
[1] Dorado Fish – This fish actually exists!
Most probably a monster variation of the ‘Salminus brasiliensis’
It has a ‘large head, powerful jaws filled with sharp teeth’, so it makes sense for a large version of these fish to go after caimans of all things. It is also a river fish, the South American rivers to be exact and yes, was named after ‘El Dorado’ for its gold-tinted scales
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salminus_brasiliensis
[2] Deleting repeats~ repeats~ yum yum, yeah yeah~
[3] Rewrite the ‘kill it you useless master’ scene.