The World of Tactics

Chapter Twenty-Two II: Dire Homecoming

"Remember this and I'll show you this only once, alright?

Okay, what you need to know is that 'this' is a smokehouse. You can see that salt is the key here. Here's how to properly do it. Next, we will leave it just like this for a few days. I'll show you what it looks like after a few days.

See that other smokehouse? Now, see this block of salt, this is what it becomes after a few days. Salted them real good. Break the salt and take the meat from it just like that, okay. Pretty easy, eh? Now then, moving on to the next part.

See this part on the bottom here? That is where you want to start a good fire with good quality dried aged wood. That is where your smoky flavor comes from. Once the meat is pretty much salted, hang it up high like this. Then get some smoking started. After half a day or so, long enough, the meat should be smoked. As for this final product, it is smoked pork belly. In another word, bacon. Get it sliced and cooked, yeah?

As for others, it works the same even without salt. Just make sure to season it well for it to taste as good. Move along now, lad." Said a meat smoker.

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The night supper was fish that was freshly caught and gutted on the side of the running stream. The fish was half of a palm and were roughly eight or nine inches long. These types of fish are commonly called silvery scale fish. Usually, the silvery scale fish are native to the Anuicia Kingdom and were uncommon in the neighboring kingdoms. Their flesh is quite tender and delicious. Likewise, being roasted on a stick. The bones will turn crunchy and be easy to chunk down. He quite likes to crunch the hardened bones.

Once dinner is served, he begins to work on setting up a mini smokehouse. To be exact, it was not a literal smokehouse. He had observed the process of smoking meat from a shop that sells dried smoked meat to be able to imitate a crude smokehouse. However, it would make do for now. Lawrence, on one hand, was a bit puzzled. But, Lawrence did not care to ask and went back to keep the iron lance. He continues to add wood to the fireplace with the ones that he bought from the general store.

To the side was the stack of wood and to the adjacent side was him using the pot to grind up the seasonings and mix them up. Once the mixing of seasonings was done, he moved on to coating the meat strips with the seasoning. After each strip of meat was coated, he moved on to hang the mini smokehouse over the head of the fireplace. He had to expand the fireplace so that it could easily accommodate all of the meat strips at the same time. This was not a problem, however, he had enough dry thick wood to keep the fire going for days.

Lawrence did not say anything nor ask anything because Lawrence already knew some of his unusual abilities. A normal soldier and retainer should just zip their mouth, not speak of it. This was always the case for all retainers and soldiers. Otherwise, their loyalty will be questionable. However, Lawrence was very loyal, even though a bit willing to lend some gold coins. He had a great impression of Lawrence because Lawrence had not abandoned him, even after a whole year after that incident. It was correct to call Lawrence a brave young man.

He stared at Lawrence working hard to keep the iron lance even though there were many cracks and scratches on it. This might have been the iron lance that Lawrence was wielding last year. The durability of this iron lance is about to break. It was hovering at six points of durability and would be destroyed after six successful attacks. Since he had got nothing to do, he stood up and utilized his mana. A quick shine and he absorbed back the mana. In his hand was a lance, a wooden lance specifically.

He walked over the pebble surfaces and handed the wooden lance to Lawrence. He said, "Here." Then quickly added, "You will not get stronger with a broken lance."

Lawrence looked back at him before taking the wooden lance, "Thank you, young master."

Lawrence's words came from his heart and he knew that it was not just because of the wooden lance that he had given him. It seems that Lawrence had also suffered a lot during the year. The eagerness to battle and the sharp looks that Lawrence sometimes made. The frown and the talkativeness had been fading quite a bit after they had set off from the cave. He had observed such differences and realized that Lawrence had been ready for a moment like this. Escorting him home was the mission and Lawrence had to make sure that no harm came his way.

It was a quick, radical change, but Lawrence was still loyal. He plans to keep it that way and ensure that Lawrence becomes stronger alongside him. This will ensure a smooth transition when his younger brother Hugo takes over. Lawrence is the perfect aide and bodyguard for Hugo. He did not like the idea of becoming a lord of the land anyway. Then he plans on becoming a monster hunter and selling monsters' parts for a living. At the same time, he smooches off from his younger brother Hugo.

He could not wait until he reached home, so his mind still wandered around while putting some dried wood into the extended fireplace. Tonight there was nothing, there were no monsters nearby nor any monster encounters. He felt quite happy lying beside the fireplace and using Dork as a pillow. Likewise, Dork was no longer afraid of the fire and was a bit closer to the fireplace tonight than before. The bracer of fire affinity was working its magic and he could feel a soft tint of heat that was emitted by Dork.

Now, he felt that it was fun because he finally had the shape of a 'heater' but from a living thing. The ground was still a bit mushy, so they had to lie on top of the dried pebbles which were cold, to begin with. However, a heater like a Dork is the prime air conditioner for the night. This made it seem like the night was nothing but a joke. He felt incomparability relaxed with the heat entering his body while countering the night's chill. It felt like he was sleeping on a warm and cozy bed and his eyes blanked.

He woke up startled by Lawrence. It was his turn to watch the night. As he rubbed his eye boogers, he still felt that he had not gotten enough sleep. His body is warm though and it made the watch during the night more relaxing. Lawrence had been using the pile of wood to keep the fire going and this area was already suffused with the aroma of smoked wolves' meat along with the seasonings. He was happy that his first time smoking meat turned out better than he had thought. At the same time, this area had no monsters nearby at all. The smell of smoked meat had already suffused into the surroundings.

He was fine with no monsters because he was still quite tired due to the lack of sleep. Once morning came, he would be able to get some sleep on top of Dork. By the time he had woken up, the journey back home would be less than lengthy. One hour passes by while he stares into the dark surroundings and adds fuel to the fire. He had wanted to check on the mini smokehouse, but that would not do because he felt that it was not the time yet.

For two hours, there were no monsters. He gave a yawn and a backstretch from carving some wolves' meat. While carving some wolves' meat, he had already sliced the prime and tender ribs of wolves' meat into portions. Each portion is roughly two pounds each and he had already seasoned two portions of it. He had left the seasoned portions to the side to marinate. Once morning comes, it will be for breakfast. He did not forget to take out two hard loaves of bread and a slice of cheese. He had also sliced the hard bread in half and put a quarter of the cheese slice each into both of the hard bread. The remaining portion of sliced cheese was thrown back into his inventory. He plans on having toasted hard bread with cheese to go along with his portion of roasted ribs.

He was on the fifth wolf's carcass now and the night was still as peaceful as ever. This time, to save time, he did not carve the meat nor turn the meat into strips. He only works on separating the bones and sorting out everything into neat sections. Ribcage to ribcage, thigh legs to thigh legs, and spine to spines. He had enough to make meat strips and the remaining was to be stored as emergency food. He had first thought of selling it, but he realized that food does not come easily and everything cost gold coins. In the long run, having enough food for his family during a history of long droughts. It is then that his storage of meat would come into use because his inventory acts like a time machine that freezes time.

By the time he is done with the last of the wolf's carcass, the morning sunlight has appeared over yonder. The side of the mountain that faces the east cast a long shadow overhead. The light had pierced higher and higher by the moment and he knew that it was time. Time to cook breakfast. He washes his hand through the running stream one last time before making his way back to the fading fireplace. He had already set up a flat stone and left it on the side of the fireplace an hour back. Now it was time to toast the hard bread and melt the cheese. As for the rib portions, he had already started roasting them on part of the remaining fireplace that is still going strong.

Half an hour had gone by and the two rib portions were well roasted. He had already set the toasted hard bread aside. The cheese perfectly melted, which slightly softened the hard inside of the hard bread. Dork had already gotten up by this time and was munching on the side road. Lawrence had also been struck by the sensational smell of roasted meat. He got his portion of ribs and easily pulled off the meat from the ribs and set them in the middle section of the hard bread where the melted cheese was. As for the rib bone, he carelessly throws it into one of the bushes on the side. He did the same for the other hard bread as well. This might have been his first time making a sandwich, but it had turned out better than he had initially expected.