Chapter 48

Well, whatever. It’s probably unexpected meat anyway.

It’s similar to taking a break from clumsy thoughts. Let’s give up and start dismantling quickly.

First, power up with magic. Otherwise, there’s no way to cut through the meat.

《Strength》

Anyway, it’s completely in half. First, stand in the middle of Elasmos’s body.

Hold the saw between the ribs, as if cutting between them, and swiftly pull it across the pure white fatty flesh.

And what do you get――

With a squishy sound, fatty residue showered down on the whole body.”

“Ugh!”

Instinctively, I close my eyes and taste the greasiness.

“…………”

The spiciness suddenly skyrocketed.

I step back for a moment and then contemplate.

“… I wonder if throwing a stone bullet in is a bad idea.”

I started feeling confident.

Let’s try shooting a large stone bullet or a tank shell from about 10 meters away.

But before that, I’ll have the dogs move to a position about 20 meters away from the meat.

“You guys, um… Lie down around here!”

Swiftly, they stand up and lie down side by side where instructed.

The little ones, not understanding, follow their parents and lie down facing each other.

Truly heartwarming.

“Alright, here we go!”

Aiming for the area where I had inserted the saw, I shoot.

《Chant, Large Stone Bullet Launch》

In an instant, a loud sound, like slapping the floor with a slipper, resonates, and the shock wave makes the grass on the ground tremble.

Simultaneously, the stone bullet pierces through the meat wall, successfully passing through the space between the ribs on the opposite side, and the projectile flies into the distance.

However, the pierced area has flesh blown away in a cone shape of about 1 meter.

The surroundings are now a pitiful sight, with a few ribs remaining in a state of wreckage.

“Arf arf arf (What’s happening!?)”

“Bark bark!!”

The dogs, surprised by the unexpected event, quickly get up and retreat.

The little ones are in disarray, running towards their mom and dad.

“Ah, sorry, sorry! It’s okay, so relax!”

Despite the gruesome sight of the meat, the first priority is to reassure the dogs.

I rush over, crouch down, and extend my arms. Then, I call them with an inviting gesture.

They were too shocked and wandered around for a while, but eventually, they came to me.

“Sorry, sorry. I won’t do it again.”

Since they seemed scared and had their ears down, I bring the two dogs close to my face and pet them. 

They then lick my face as if tasting the scattered meat.

“Hahaha, you can taste the meat, huh?”

The little ones come to my feet, so I pet them to calm them down.

Looking at the meat, it’s not just a large hole; it seems like the flesh has been gouged out.

“This won’t do. Is the meat getting pulverized?”

Feeling disappointed about wasting a good portion of the meat, I slump my shoulders.

Fortunately, it cleanly passed through the meat, but if it had hit the ribs, the shock wave might have pulverized the whole thing.

Since there’s no other choice, I decide to cut it with the saw. 

It’s a tedious task, and I can’t help but let out a sigh.

But I have to do it; otherwise, there’s no point in coming this far. I flick the motivation switch in my head.

“This is A5 Matsusaka beef! Incredibly delicious meat! Ten thousand yen per kilogram! Come on, me! Get motivated!”

I desperately pull the saw through the wobbly, jiggling meat.

After cutting it horizontally, I use earth magic to lay it sideways, exposing the spine from the ground.

I notice that there’s some dirt on the fatty part, but thanks to the grassy field, it’s not too covered in soil.

As I peel off the skin, I didn’t realize earlier that the bones protruding on the back side are quite large, and it surprises me.

“So, this is why the back looks so rounded…”

I aim for the seam of the spinal cord and insert the saw… surprisingly, it cuts more easily than I thought.

Suddenly, the front and back separate forcefully due to the weight, and I jump back.

“Whoa!”

It looks as if the boat snapped cleanly in half.

The bone itself seems extremely hard, but realizing that disassembling is possible by aiming for the seam, I feel relieved.

Next, I start working on the leg amputation.

It’s about the length of my waist, with the thickness of a log. If stepped on, it would probably crush a watermelon like a head popping.

The hooves are more like three odd-toed ungulate toes, or rather, these are like stones… I tap them with a “clink, clink” and chuckle.

Starting with the right front leg.

I aim around here… and strike it with the hatchet.

I hit it several times to expose the joint, then insert a small knife into the seam and vigorously hit it with the hatchet’s handle to remove it.

With a satisfying sound, the joint comes off, and the meat hangs loosely where it’s still connected.

“I’ve got three more of these to go…”

For now, I remove one and take a break.

Sitting on the ground and taking a break, the dogs quickly come over and sit beside me.

“Aren’t you guys going back home?”

I think the mother tilts her head. Maybe she doesn’t understand.

“Don’t you go back to where you live, sleep?”

“Woof (We’re staying here).”

Probably, they mean they won’t go back because there’s meat.

“I see.”

When I crumpled my head with my right hand, I squinted my eyes and seemed to be happy.

Then, the dad, seeing that, rests his head on my left thigh, and I, too, plead with my eyes.

Smiling gently, I scrunch up with my left hand.

The puppies, sitting cross-legged, place their front paws on my knees, looking at me with expectant eyes, almost like chuckling.

Grasping each of their heads with my right and left hands, I knead and knead, and they show expressions like smiling.

While looking at those expressions, I contemplate the races in this world.

There are cat people, but I haven’t seen cats yet. I’ve seen dogs, but I haven’t seen dog people. I wonder if there are cats and dog people as well…

After taking a break, I detach the remaining three legs.

It’s roughly noon when I finish, so I decide to have lunch.

However, a problem arises here; there’s only enough food for me. Naturally, when I try to eat, the dogs come over.

So, I cut a piece of Great Elasmos’s meat and give it to them.

“Let’s eat together.”

“Woof (Yay!)”

My meal is the “Skewered Meat Wrapped in Leaves” that I bought from a food stall the day before.

It’s heavily seasoned, so it might be too much for the dogs. If I had known, I would have brought plain roasted meat. 

But it seems the dogs are happy with raw meat, so there shouldn’t be a problem.

It’s supposed to be high-quality meat… I’ll savor and enjoy it.

Now, what to do with the body after detaching the legs… It moves easily when I grab it.

Huh?! Has it become lighter?

It seems that while the width is broad, the weight is not as heavy as expected.

But that’s probably thanks to the 《Strength》 skill; normally, it should be quite heavy. 

When I try to lift it, the fat becomes mushy, and my hands sink in.

However, it feels like it’s not an unbearable weight anymore.

I look at the backpack — it feels like it’s going to break.

My gaze shifts to the cut-off legs — it might be a good idea to carry these first.

Certainly, it’s not ideal to move around in the nude. I’ll use water magic to take a shower and clean my body.

I tilt my head upwards and begin the chant —

 《Chant, Water Spray Fire》

As a result, water sprays into the air like a fountain in the park.

It’s a bit too scattered, so I reduce the power…

“Woof! (Play?)”

“Woof! (Play!)”

Upon witnessing the fountain, the dogs got excited and started frolicking. They began running around me.

The little ones, without understanding anything, hopped around their parent dogs.

“No… no! It’s not like that…”

Due to the forehead fountain, I have to keep looking up to avoid getting water on my face. 

My neck is in an uncomfortable state, and the dogs cling to me.

“No, no, you guys, I’m just washing myself… your fur is dirty too!”

Reluctantly, I finish and direct the water spray toward the parent dogs.

Seemingly finding it incredibly fun, they try to escape from the water, and I chase after them.

The little ones, on the other hand, attempt to cling to my feet.

“Hey… little one, I might step on you! And you guys, don’t run away!”

“Hehe (ahaha!)”

“Haha (hehehe!)”

Laughter sounds like breaths. The translation from the ring is truly amazing.

Now then, after playing for a while, I’ll start preparing for transportation.

First, I wrap one leg with cloth.

Then, I carry one piece of naked meat in the backpack and hold two cloth-wrapped ones in my arms, making a total of two. I’ll start by taking them to the cart.

This should give me an idea of the time required for transportation.

“Wait a moment, I’m going to carry these… and no more playing.”

“Woof (okay!)”

“Woof (got it!)”

Saying that, I set out, utilizing 《Strength》 《Swift Legs》 and 《Leap》

— And then I returned.

Looking at the time, it’s 14:00. I left at 13:10.

About 10 minutes for preparation, 30 minutes for carrying out, and just under 20 minutes for the return.

“…This takes time.”

Realizing I don’t have time to contemplate, I immediately start carrying the remaining two legs.

— And now it’s 15:00. I’m quite tired after two rounds of movement.

“Hmm…”

Honestly, I’m starting to feel disgusted at the sight of the meat. But let’s push through a bit more.

The body, now divided into two parts, is still not suitable for the backpack in this state, and it will likely break.

Ideally, I would like to separate the spine and ribs, but it seems there’s no time for that.

So, I decide to divide one half into another half.

“Nuoooaaah!”

— And somehow, I succeed in dividing it into four equal parts.

I wrap the spine of one-quarter, the one from the head side, with cloth and try to put it on the backpack. 

The ribs extend in front of me, resembling open arms, giving it a somewhat weapon-like appearance.

“I can’t run with this.”

It’s more challenging than carrying the hide last time. I need to carefully balance it; otherwise, I might easily fall.

“I can’t make it with this four times… Yeah, it’s definitely impossible.”

It’s going to take at least an hour one way… I’ll end up reaching 6:00 PM after just one round.

Anyway, let’s try carrying one round and think about what to do next.

I call out to the dogs to wait, and they sit silently, watching.

–And then, I came back.

I tried my best, but it was already 5:30 PM. Even so, it’s impossible anymore.

I used up my energy in dismantling, and after going back and forth three times, I’m exhausted. It’s a distance that is normally transported by a light truck.

Honestly, during the third time of carrying it, I thought, ‘What am I doing…’

Suddenly, I tried putting on heels, and it seems to alleviate the fatigue from dismantling a bit.

However, the fatigue from moving doesn’t seem to go away.

Perhaps the fatigue from anaerobic exercise is reduced. It feels like the fatigue from aerobic exercise doesn’t go away.

It seems like endurance requires proper training of the body.

“I think there must be healing items specifically for stamina recovery.”

Anyway, I don’t want to transport today.

I see the two lying quietly and the little ones playing around them.

I was planning to go home today, but when I saw the dogs, I felt like camping tonight might be okay.

I couldn’t bring back any meat either.

Alright, camping it is.

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