Chapter 39
Monsters are beasts transformed by the influence of a force called mana, or descendants of such beasts.
Most are larger and stronger than the beasts they originated from, but that doesn't make them inherently evil.
Mana itself is simply one kind of force that exists in nature.
In other words, monsters could be called the evolved forms of beasts that have taken in mana.
But though I said they weren't evil, many monsters are ferocious.
That's because they're strong.
Their confidence that ordinary creatures cannot defeat them makes monsters arrogant and belligerent.
That is why humans need battle-hardened adventurers to defeat such monsters and reduce their numbers in order to protect their way of life.
...But this time, it seemed even the adventurers wouldn't arrive in time.
The Greed Boar must have taken offense at the farmers who, instead of simply running away, had been unable to leave because they were worried about their fruit trees.
It interrupted its meal, turned an angry gaze on them, and began stamping the ground in warning.
If the Greed Boar attacked them, it would end in a massacre.
I had no choice but to set my pack on the ground, draw my bow, nock an arrow, and take aim.
It wasn't as though that Greed Boar had committed any sort of crime.
It had simply wandered out of the forest and, following its curiosity, happened upon an abundant food source: a row of fruit trees.
It would be unreasonable to tell a beast or monster that knew nothing of the human world not to eat the food in front of it.
Even so, I had to hunt that Greed Boar.
If a monster approached me during my travels intending to attack, I could probably deceive it, evade it, and send it on its way.
In fact, whenever I sensed a monster nearby during my travels, I tried to hide and let it pass.
But since it was targeting the farmers, hunting it was the only way to stop it.
With a sharp twang, the arrow flew.
My arrow struck true, piercing the Greed Boar's left foreleg clean through from the side.
Its hide was so thick and tough that, depending on the angle, it could even deflect an iron arrow.
But the arrowhead I had just fired was a special one, carved from the fang of a Grand Wolf, another monster.
In the hands of a skilled archer, it could even pierce a monster's bones.
The sudden pain and the loss of use of its left foreleg made the Greed Boar stumble and fall, bringing its charge to a halt.
Its eyes fixed on the hateful opponent who had wounded it—in other words, me—and burned with rage.
But now that it had seen me, the commotion it had caused was over.
I nocked and fired another arrow, and once again it struck true, piercing the Greed Boar between the eyes, then driving through its skull and into its brain.
No matter how great a Greed Boar's vitality, it could not live with its brain destroyed.
It could no longer send commands to move its body, so its breathing and heartbeat stopped as well.
Some monsters have multiple brains... Ah, no—not just monsters. Other creatures have multiple brains too, so I couldn't let my guard down. Still, judging by its fallen body, the Greed Boar was completely dead.
Incidentally, the octopus I ate the other day was a non-monster with multiple brains—the species known in this world as the Eight-Legged.
Apparently, it had one brain in each leg.
Anyway, setting that aside, from here on it was a race against time.
This time, I had killed the Greed Boar.
But although I had done so to save people, simply killing it and leaving it at that would make its death meaningless.
That was why I had a responsibility to skin the Greed Boar, eat its meat, digest it, and turn it into my own flesh and blood.
...Though calling it a responsibility was also an excuse for wanting to eat it. In any case, I had to eat it.
I would tan the hide I removed and turn it into a cloak or boots as well.
That was simply my nature and my way of doing things.
When I hunted prey, I ate it if it was edible.
Even when it wasn't edible, I stripped away usable materials such as its hide and fangs and put them to use in some way.
I didn't like making a killing meaningless if I could help it.
I had to butcher the Greed Boar as quickly as possible.
In truth, though, perhaps nothing in the world was ever truly wasted.
When a living thing died, its soul returned to the cycle of reincarnation, while its remains eventually became soil, even if nothing ate them.
Humans, beasts, and monsters were all the same in that regard; from the world's perspective, their lives and deaths had no meaning, yet not a single existence was truly wasted.
...If I thought about it the way a spirit would, then my nature and my way of doing things were nothing but sentimentality.
But I was an oddball, and I didn't like reducing things to something so simple.
Would the high elves of the deep forest say that human lives and monster lives were no different, and that there was no point in getting involved without good reason?
"O-ohhh! Thank you, you saved me!"
The farmer who had been threatened by the Greed Boar must have finally grasped what had happened, because he came running toward me and thanked me.
I put away my bow, hoisted my pack, and headed toward the Greed Boar.
"I'm glad you're safe. Um, I'm sorry to impose, but I want to butcher this game and cool the meat at a water source. Could you help me carry the whole thing there?"
I was glad he was safe, and, though it was a little presumptuous to call it an afterthought, I asked him for a favor.
After all, it looked impossible to carry it alone.
No matter how badly the Greed Boar had ravaged the place, this was still an orchard.
If I butchered it beside the trees the farmers tended so carefully and let blood spill, they certainly wouldn't be pleased.
"Yeah, got it. I'll bring a handcart, so wait just a little. It is a big one, after all. You're right—we should butcher it quickly."
So the farmer agreed to my request and even offered to lend me a handcart.
As thanks for the cart, I would share the Greed Boar's meat with the farmers, since I couldn't possibly eat it all by myself.
I drew a large knife carved from a Grand Wolf's fang, just like the arrowhead, to cut through the monster's tough hide.
I wondered whether tonight's menu would be Greed Boar steak.
I did want to eat the boar meat in a hot pot, but at least around here, there was no miso.
A mountain lodge, hot springs, mountain greens, and a hot pot of boar meat... I wondered whether there was anywhere in this world where I could satisfy that sudden, luxurious craving.
The world was vast, and high elves had long lifespans, so if such a place existed, I thought I would like to go looking for it.